Chicken Ranch Spinach Rollups Recipe – the all in one meal!  

Seems like I’ve been specializing in ultra-quick recipes lately, and you can make these Chicken Ranch Spinach Rollups in about 20 minutes or less. This is an all in one meal, you really don’t have to serve anything else – and these are so tasty you’ll have to stop yourself from eating more than 3 or 4.

I often pick up items at the store “just because”, and figure out what to make with them later. Earlier in the week I bought a few packs of flour tortillas, and a medium sized bag of baby spinach. When I was figuring out what to make for dinner last night – I made up this recipe based on what I had in the fridge.

Here’s what you need:

• Â about 2 lbs frozen breast of chicken (we use frozen boneless skinless chicken tenders)
• about 1/2 medium sized bag of baby spinach leaves
• Ranch dressing (we use light)
• 1 pckg shredded cheese (we use co-jack, marble, or monterey jack)
• flour tortillas
• real bacon bits (optional)

You want to cook and chop your chicken into chunks, like what you would use for tortillas. If you’ve been paying attention the last dozen recipes, you’d know that what we do is place 2lbs frozen boneless skinless in the microwave on defrost just long enough to make pliable (but not cook) – about 6-7 minutes. Then, with the pan drizzled with extra virgin olive oil – we put them on the stove on med-high heat for about 5 minutes, then turn and cook another 3-5 minutes, then we chop them up in the pan with the spatula into chunks.

While you chicken is cooking on the stove, wash your baby spinach leaves and place in a medium mixing bowl. Add about 2/3 cup of Ranch (and the optional bacon bits) and mix well.  When your chicken is done on the stove and you have it well chopped up into chunks you can start to assemble your rollups.

Microwave your (opened) package of flour tortillas for about 60 seconds. For each rollup, spread the spinach ranch mixture on a flour tortilla (about 10 leaves or so), place cooked chicken on top, and then a small handful of shredded cheese. We usually drizzle a little extra ranch on top – and there you have it! You are ready to eat!

I’ve had one or two people be like “spinach, ewww!”, but this is NOT like cooked spinach at all. Baby spinach leaves are not only excellent for you – but they even have a slight sweet taste. That taste is brought out even more so in this recipe by the ranch dressing. With a chicken ranch spinach rollup you’re getting a serving of bread, meat, a vegetable, and a dairy!

Question about the recipe? Do you have a way to make it better or a similar recipe? Comment now!

Lo-cal Spread and Wheat Pita Snack – Only 250 Calories  

Do you want a quick low calorie snack that will keep your tummy full for a few hours? I’ve got a quick one for you that might surprise you. You can make this in 5 minutes and keep it for up to a week. I was very surprised how tasty this was, and so was the family.

All you need is this:

• 1 regular container low-fat ricotta cheese
• 2 tbsp honey (I use sugar free)
• about 1/2 jar low-fat peanut butter, creamy or crunchy (about 3 heaping tbsp)

In a medium mixing bowl that has a lid, mix all the ingredients. That’s it! Spread a thin layer inside a wheat pita cut in 1/4′s and you have a tasty snack that really keeps you full much longer than most others. Eat between meals, or give to your kids for a snack! Take in your lunchpail to work for break time. The mixture keeps up to a week in the fridge – you can eat it every day!

Have you own version of this or a lo-cal snack? Comment now!

Cheesy Lasagna Recipe Twist – Healthy Vegetarian Surprise  

Looking a healthy vegetarian way to do lasagna? You would be surprised how much <b>you won’t miss the meat</b> in this recipe and none of the taste is sacrificed. If you’re just trying to eat better a day or two per week, or if you’re on a diet and trying to find recipes to lose more weight – this is a pretty good alternative to that 15 lb grease-bomb lasagna you’ve been making for years.

Keep an open mind, and put those thoughts right out of your head about vegetarian dishes that taste like cardboard. You won’t find any soy products or tofu in this recipe. This is a bit different than your traditional lasagna – but very tasty and cheesy. Your kids will love it, and this may become a favorite you’ll want to make time and time again.

Here’s what you are going to need:

• a 1lb box of elbow macaroni
• 1 container low-fat ricotta cheese
• 1 container of low-fat large curd cottage cheese
• about 5oz frozen broccoli pieces (about 1/2 a normal bag)
• 1 medium green pepper
• 1 medium sized yellow or white onion
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• about 4 tbsp minced garlic
• salt and pepper
• garlic powder
• italian seasonings
• shredded mozzerella and romano cheese
• Low-fat mozzerella cheese, shredded
• extra virgin olive oil

Preparation is a lot simpler than you may think. Start a 4 quart pot to boil on the stove 1/2 full with hot tap water. Throw in a dash a salt and 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil. Then finely chop your onion and green pepper and set aside. Put your frozen broccoli in a medium sized bowl, put 1/2 inch of water in the bottom and microwave for 2 minutes. Take out the bowl, stir, and microwave for 2 more minutes. Your water should be boiling by now – place the macaroni in the boiling water, stir after 30 seconds to keep from clumping, and turn heat down to med-high. Stir every 3-5 minutes while you prepare everything else, and at this point pre-heat your oven at 375 degrees.

Next, in a large mixing bowl mix up cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, about 1/2 cup of mixed shredded parmesan/ricotta cheese mix, 2 tbsp of minced garlic, and about 2 tbsp italian seasonings. Oh – and some salt and pepper to taste. About now your elbow macaroni should be done. Drain in the sink in a colander and rinse, drain again. Place the macaroni back in the pan, toss with salt, fresh ground pepper, 2 tsp garlic powder, and 2 tbsp Italian seasonings.

Now, put a saucepan on the stove and drizzle the bottom with extra virgin olive oil. Place the onion and green pepper mix in the pan, mix the veggies with the olive oil and turn up to med-high heat. Stir up every few minutes, if too dry add just a little more olive oil or a few dollops or margarine. While this is cooking drain the broccoli and finely chop it up. Add to the pan with the onion and green pepper, along with the remaining 2 tbsp of minced garlic, cook about 2 minutes more add the jar of spaghetti sauce. Four cheese seems best for this. Just cook long enough for the mix to bubble while stirring every few minutes.

Time to assemble the lasagna! Just grease up a 9×13 baking pan with extra virgin olive oil and place a thin layer (1/3 of what you have) of elbow macaroni in the bottom. Top with 1/2 the spaghetti and veggie sauce mixture. Then another 1/3 of the noodles. Top with the entire cheese mixture and spread evenly. Add the remaining 1/3 of elbow macaroni and then top with the rest of the sauce mixture. Top with about 4 oz of shredded mozzerella cheese (1/2 a bag) and a few handfuls of shredded parmesan and ricotta cheese. Then bake for 30 minutes and bubbling and it’s ready to serve! The entire pan should server 8-10 people depending on serving size.

Do you have any questions or suggestions for this vegetarian lasagna? Please comment now!

Tasty Tuna Salad Sandwich Recipe – gourmet taste on a dime  

I’ve been making tuna sandwiches for years, but people have always thought the way I made them was weird. I just love my recipe, and usually if I can get someone to be open minded long enough to try it – they love it too. You should try my tuna sandwich recipe for yourself – I’ll think you’ll love it!

First, the basis for this recipe comes from my mother. But the additional things I like to add – well that’s just my twist on it!

What you need:

• 1 can or pouch of Tuna in water (never oil)
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 sm. onion or a few stalks of green onion
• green bell pepper (if you have it)
• 1 tsp or 1 clove minced garlic
• dash of salt
• dash of fresh ground pepper
• 1 tbsp sweet relish
• 1 tsp sugar or splenda
• 1 tsp mustard
• 2-3 heaping tbsp mayonnaise or miracle whip
• a handful shredded cheese (optional)

I think my mother learned this recipe from her mother, which is kind of designed to get kids to eat Tuna without them really knowing that they’re eating something “fishy”. All I know is that I don’t even care for fish or Tuna that much, but I could eat these tuna sandwiches all day long! To get started get a medium mixing bowl and finely dice up your celery and onion. You can use any type of onion, last week I used a small white onion, this week I used green onions. Both were great. Also, (if you like) chop up about about 1/4 of a medium green pepper -finely mince it and add it to the bowl. Add your salt, pepper, sweet relish, sugar (or splenda), minced garlic, mustard, then the tuna. I usually mix it up pretty good at this point so it’s easier to mix when you add the mayonnaise. I start with about 2 heaping tablespoons of mayo and add more if it’s too dry. Last add a handful of shredded cheese (if you like) and mix one last time. Then you’re ready to make your sandwiches! You can use fresh soft white bread, warm french bread, or even a toasted bagel – all are wonderful!

I like my version of Tuna salad because it’s slightly gourmet and the flavors mix nicely. It’s a little crunchy, a little sweet – it’s just really good! If you like it or have your own version, a question, or something you think would make the recipe even better comment now!

Baked Potato Stuffed with Veggies and Cheese fills you up!  

I’m going to give you a recipe for delicious baked potatoes with veggies and cheese where you can literally be eating in 20-25 minutes and be full for hours!

A couple of nights ago we need something quick (really quick) and the first thing that came to mind was veggies. I had canned, I had frozen, and I had fresh. A good baked potato sounded good, but I really didn’t want to fire up the oven any more than I wanted to wait an hour or more for the potatoes to get done. The only time that I’ll cook something for a long period of time is if I have other things to do either in or out of the kitchen while it cooks in the oven. I didn’t have that luxury of time this day.

I want to talk to you a minute about the usefulness of the microwave. If you don’t currently use the microwave in your everyday cooking you are missing out! You need to learn (and I will teach you over time if you keep reading my recipes) how useful the microwave can be. You can save time and have just as tasty food using the microwave to your advantage. Just make sure that you have a good sized one that is at least 1200 watts or more, and preferably one that has a good defrost cycle. We have a very nice one with an advanced defrost cycle, it’s 1600 watts, average size, and cost less than $120 I believe 3-4 years ago.

What you need for this recipe:

• Some baked potatoes (about 2 med-large potatoes per person)
• Some frozen veggies (about 2-3oz+ per person)
• Some shredded co-jack cheese

Like I said – this recipe is dirt simple. Wash your potatoes, stab with a knife or fork a few times, and place in microwave. I cooked as many as 10-12 potatoes at once in a standard microwave. Don’t place in bowl, cook on either microwavable plate, platter, or the carousel itself. Start the cooking on high for 10 minutes.

While the potatoes cook get your frozen veggies, place in a medium 1-2qt pot covered with hot tap water. Place on high heat until it boils, and then reduce to low heat. The type of veggies depends on what you like. I almost always use a mixed bag of frozen veggies with broccoli, carrots, and other assorted good stuff. On this night I was fortunate enough to find a bag of frozen veggies that included broccoli, carrots, green beans, corn, and also kidney and black beans. Even though we were eating a vegetarian dinner, we got our protein with the beans included in the mixed vegetables! Once the veggies boil and you turn them down to low, just simmer a few minutes longer and turn off.

When the potatoes hit 10 minutes, take them out (check them), turn them over – and place back in microwave on high for an additional 4-5 minutes. By the time you put these back in the veggies will be done. Drain the water off in a colander in the sink and place back in pan. Butter, salt and pepper if you like, and then add a bag (6-8oz) of shredded co-jack cheese on top of the veggies in the pan.

Take out your potatoes from the microwave, and place 2 per plate, slice lengthwise and split open. Then I butter them, salt and pepper, a place a dollop of sour cream on the bottom of each one. Go back to the veggies, mix the melted cheese and veggies well, and then place heaping tablespoonfuls of veggies and cheese on the top of each potato and you’re ready to eat!

Once again – you can twist this recipe hundreds of ways! I’ve done that with different types of leftovers stuffing the potatoes with ham and broccoli, leftover sloppy joe and cheese, leftover chinese vegetables, left over goulash or spaghette, or even leftover fettucine – or broccoli with fettucine sauce! It’s really tasty with turkey and crumbled bacon, or barbequed chicken! The possibilities are endless! If you have a question or different way to make this recipe – please comment now!

Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup – sticks to your ribs!  

My Cheesy Chicken Tortilla soup is so filling that you won’t need to serve anything but this dish for the entire meal. Be forewarned – if you eat more than one bowl than you may need to just ‘veg’ out the rest of the day! The ingredients are very basic, but by adding specific ingredients that you like you can customize the recipe to suit your own taste very easily.

During the week my main goal when cooking meals is to get something different and tasty – but get it cooked quick and fast. I just don’t have the time to cook a 2 or 3 hour meal – and even if I did I’m tired from work. On the weekends I usually don’t mind if I have to cook a dish for many hours – or even all day. A lot of times I’ll start a meal somewhere between 11am-2pm and let it cook all afternoon until dinner at 5pm-7pm.

Usually a dinner like this starts out when I head to the kitchen to make a snack earlier in the day on a Saturday or Sunday. Someone in the house wanted a tuna sandwich – so that’s how it all began. I went to the veggie drawer to make sure we had some celery (yes celery, I’ll give my special tuna recipe after this one) and I saw that we had to celery and carrots that should be used up. I also checked the potato bin and found we had a bag of potatoes and a few onions that were getting old. The first thing that came to mind was potato soup I got one suggestion for loaded baked potato soup. But I wanted something with chicken in it and I thought of chicken tortilla soup – and that’s when this recipe was born. The recipe may not be like many you are used to making – but I promise you if you follow my instructions you will be more than satisfied with the end result!

This is what you will need:

• About 2lb chicken breast – “chicken tenders” work best
• About 2/3 gallon of milk (fat free, 2%, D, whatever you use)
• About 2/3 cup butter (or margarine, or what you use)
• 1 large or 2 medium onions (white, yellow, or Vidalia)
• 3-4 green onions
• 1-2 stalks celery
• 1 carrot
• 8 medium to large sized potatoes (baking size)
• Peppers you like (bell pepper, mild chili, jalepeno – 1-2 of the type that suits whether you like mild, medium, or hot)
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 bag torilla chips
• 1 tbsp minced garlic (if you like garlic)
• 2 tbsp Cumin, 1-2 tsp chili powder (use 1 pack taco seasoning if you don’t have this)
• salt and pepper to taste
• About 8oz of shredded colby-jack cheese and 8oz of traditional mexican melting cheese (white) or famer’s cheese

Ok, now let’s get going. You need a large pot – the big 4-6 quart one will do. This recipe serves 6 more than healthy portions, you can double it if you have a big enough pot and more people to feed. Peel your potatoes, slice them in half and then 2/3 times lengthwise, and slice the opposite way dicing them into 1/2-1″ cubes. Let your hot water run when you are dicing, and then place them in the pot and cover with the hot water about 1″ above the potatoes. Throw a dash of salt in the water and put on high on your largest burner.

Now dice your onion, put the green onion in a small bowl for later and the regular onion in a small mixing bowl. Clean and dice the stalk of celery and place it in the same bowl. Also peel and then shred (like hashbrown size) the carrot and place in same bowl. Whichever kind of pepper you are using also clean, de-vein, seed, dice, and also add to the same bowl. Remember, add however much heat (hot peppers) you are used to using when you regularly cook Southwestern food. If you don’t like spice just go with one regular bell pepper. Then place that bowl aside for later.

You are going to watch your potatoes while you chop these veggies. Leave them on high until they boil, and just before they boil over turn them down to medium high heat. Stir them every 5 minutes or so while you prepare everything else.

Next get your chicken going. If you’ve been paying attention to the last month of recipes you’ll already know that I like to keep a few bags of frozen chicken tenders in the freezer. These are boneless, skinless chicken breasts about 1/2 the size of a normal breast with virutally no fat. This means you can just place 8-10 of them in a medium sized mixing bowl and defrost in the Microwave (on the defrost cycle) in about 4 1/2 minutes. Then I place 1/4 cup of oil in a pan, pre-heat to high for 3-4 minutes, and add the chicken directly from the microwave to the pan. If you want to use fresh chicken breast, regular sized breasts, or chicken on the bone this is all fine – just realize that once it’s cooked you’ll have to chop it up on the cutting board. The advantage to using the chicken tender is that when they’re about 3/4 cooked you can just chop them up right in the pan with a spatula quickly and easily just like cooking ground beef. Season the chicken the same way you would taco meat. Also, what I do is let the chicken cook on one side for 5-6 minutes, season and turn and then dump on the the content of the bowl of chopped veggies you set aside earlier. Then when they are 3/4 cooked and you chop them up with your spatula you are mixing in and pre-cooking the onions and peppers at the same time.

Just about the time that your chicken is done your potatoes will be getting done. You know this when they start to break down a bit and the water just starts to become more cloudy. You want the potatoes done enough that when you try to break one apart with your spoon or fork it instantly splits right in half easily. If they are just falling apart or the cubes start falling apart and loosing their corners and edges you cooked them too long. You are basically just cooking them just a very short bit before where you would if you were making mashed potatoes.

If you chicken is done when the potatoes are, just turn the chicken off until you need it. drain the potatoes in a colander in the sink, rise with water, drain, and place potatoes back into the pan. Add the butter and some salt and pepper to taste. Add the milk and the sour cream, and mix everything up real good in the pot and then turn the heat back on med-high. Add your chicken and veggie mixture and mix again. Last add your spices, the cumin and chili powder, additional salt and pepper if you like (I add fresh ground pepper), I personally usually also add 2 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp italian seasonings, and about 2 tbsp minced garlic.

You are only going to leave this on the stove on med-high heat until it begins to boil. Then you are going to turn it down to low and simmer for at least 90 minutes, but it can go as long as 2-3 hours if you like. I think the pot we use is 4 quart, and what I usually do is get everything in that pot up until the point we just ended, and then I’ll get out the milk and put in just a little more to bring the level of the soup to within 2″ of the top of the pot. That will leave me with like an 1/8th or 1/4 of the gallon left. Also one last ingredient that can put an awesome twist on this recipe is just 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro. If you have some on hand – chop it up and add it at this point!

You’re going to cook this uncovered, the goal is for the soup to “reduce” and all the ingredients will break down and meld together making this one of the tastiest soups you will ever eat. The combination of the potatoes, and the milk, and the chicken also make it very, very filling.  You want to stir this up about every 10 minutes while cooks – I just set a timer while we watched a movie in the other room and just went back and reset it every time so I didn’t forget.

I said that this had to cook for at least 90 minutes because it takes at least that long simmering to reduce about 15% and break down the veggies and potatoes and getting the flavors all mixed together. If you ate it any sooner it just wouldn’t be the same. When you are satisfied it’s done you want to add the cheese. Just dump in the shredded co-jack and stir, and I cut the mexican melting cheese into cubes, dump in and stir. Mix up real good and get it all melted. Then fill your bowls with the soup, and what I do is add a handful of shredded co-jack on top of each bowl, then the chopped green onion from earlier (a small handful) and a dollop of sour cream in the middle of each bowl. Take your tortilla chops and place a big handful over 1/2 the bowl – and serve!

You eat Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup with the actual tortilla chips in the bowl (like nachos), and when you dip and eat each chip in the soup you’ll find that the combination of the salted chips and the cheesy soup is delicious! When your chips run out either use a spoon or get more chips! If you like this recipe – please let me know and comment now – especially if you have a question of a variation of this that would make it even better!

Garden Garlic Cheeseburgers Taste Great Grilled or Fried  

Keeping with the recent theme of “quick meals”, last night we had to go to the grocery store – so dinner ended up getting made an hour or so later than usual. This means an extra quick meal needed to be made. We had some onion buns and ground chuck fresh from the store – so cheeseburgers it was! I turned on the oven to bake some fries while I made the burgers.

You might wonder why I would write a recipe about burgers – but I’m going to tell you how to create a better burger. Also – this being the winter time, for us (living in Michigan) the burgers had to be cooked on the stove and not the grill.

Burger Basics

• For best results use ground chuck. Ground sirloin has too little fat, and standard hamburger or ground round has too much fat (for my taste)
• Make thick patties about 1/2″ thick and 4″ around for moist juicy burgers
• Mix in the right seasonings depending on what you have on hand
• Add a few select veggies to the burgers to cook in extra flavor
• Cook on Med-High heat the entire time (grill or stove)
• Always cook burgers covered
• Cook time 15-20 minutes (or your heat is too hot

Necessary Ingredients:

• 1/3 – 1/2 lb fresh ground chuck per person you are feeding
• 1 packet hidden valley ranch or lipton onion soup mix
• seasonings you like – salt, pepper, galic or onion powder, cumin, etc
• diced veggies you like, onion (red, green, or yellow), green pepper, tomato, shredded carrot, etc.
• 1 slice cheese per burger (american, swiss, muenster, provolone, etc)
• Burger sized buns – Kaiser or Onion buns

First, take the total amount of ground chuck you are going to need and place it in a large mixing bowl. We’re going to mix some things in before we make the patties. I always keep a wide variety of spices and spice packets in the cupboard and grab what I need for times like this. Typically I use either a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch (dressing or dip) when making this kind of burger, or the old school lipton onion soup mix packet. Both are great and lend great flavor to the burgers. Dump one you like in the bowl. Next add in some seasonings you like. I add a few dashes of salt and pepper, then usually some garlic powder and a little bit of cumin. For these garlic garden burgers I typically add in a tablespoon of minced garlic as well – but that’s my taste. I always keep a big jar of minced garlic in the fridge. Last dump in the bowl whatever diced, chopped, or minced veggies you like. I prefer some sweet onion and green pepper – and sometimes just a big of shredded carrot is nice too. Now – get to mixin’! Dig your hands in there and mix it all up good, and then form your patties.

As I said earlier, for best results I make about 4″ around patties 1/2″ thick. I like to make the big thick burgers like you would get at Red Robin, Applebee’s, etc. Place them in a large skillet (on the stove) or on the grill on Med-High heat and immediantly cover. The key to good burgers is not to have the heat to high or low, and to only turn them as many times as necessary (3-4 times). Do not press down or flatten them with your spatula. You want to turn them over about once every 4-5 minutes. This is the key to keeping the burgers juicy AND done. I can never get over the fact that people (I know) think a burger has to look dark, dry, blackened, or burnt to actually be done. You don’t have to cut into a burger or burn it to know that it’s done. I’ll cook the burgers like I just described and the entire time they will be “leaking” out of the top – usually blood. On the last turn (at the 20 minute mark) they are almost always leaking clear fluid (which means they’re done). I will actually use my spatula to flatten them after that last turn to squeeze any excess fluid out (they will still be juicy – but you don’t want a mouthful of hot grease), and again you are checking the fluid to drains out to make sure it’s clear and not bloody (which means they aren’t done). If they aren’t done after 20 minutes on med-high heat on your stove either your burners are bad or you made the patties way bigger than I said to.

Last – after that last turn and flattening you are going to “cheese” the burgers. Place one slice on each – and cover (with the heat off) for about 2 minutes, then remove cover and place on your bun and serve! Gotta comment to make the better garden burger even better? Comment now!

Instant Mashed Potatoes Coated Baked Chicken – better!  

Today I’m going to show you how to make Chicken in a whole new way! Well, ok – I’m sure you’ve made shake and bake before, but this is even better – and you don’t even have to buy a seasoning packet. Sometimes the best recipes are invented by accident because you have either limited time or limited ingredients. We watch a lot of shows on the Food Network, but sometimes I wish they’d have just one show that helps real people cook better with the ingredients they have. Yeah, I know – they had that doorknockers one a few years back where the guy shows up and makes dinner out of what’s in the fridge, but he’s still making semi-gourmet stuff. I want to know what I can make out of what I have when I get home from work at 5:30, and I’d like to be eating it by 6:15 if possible. I was making a quickie dinner tonight as I often do – and as luck would have it I saw a recipe on a box that was actually new, different – and that I’ll try this week.

I like chicken, and we always seem to keep many 4 lb bags of boneless “chicken tenders” in the freezer for all kinds of purposes. This recipe is the perfect quick meal because all you have to do is put some frozen boneless skinless chicken in your microwave and defrost it about half way – and then pre-heat your oven to 375.

These are the ingredients you’re going to need:

• 1 cup instant mashed potatoes
• boneless skinless chicken
• seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic and/or onion powder)
• butter or margarine

While you’ve gotten this stuff around your chicken should be thawing out in the microwave. When I say you want it about half way (or more) thawed out – I mean it should be pliable, but you should be thawing it out not cooking it. You shouldn’t have the ends turning white and cooking – they’ll get hard or rubbery in the oven. I freeze nearly all my meat and thaw out only what I need when I need it.

Get a 9 x 13 baking dish and grease it up with some oil – we like olive oil. You’re going to take either a very large mixing bowl or a big ziploc baggie and put the instant mashed potatoes in it. Add your salt, pepper, and any other seasonings you want to taste in the bag or bowl. You’re going to place one chicken breast piece in at a time and shake it up coating with the instant mashed potatoes mixture. Then place each in the greased baking dish. How many chicken pieces you use depends on how many people you’re serving. If you are using the “chicken tenders” like us – then usually 2-3 pieces per person is fine. If you’re using an entire “chicken breast” I would use one per person.

Once you get them all coated and in the pan – add a little pat or 1/2 tsp of butter or margarine on top of each one to melt in as they bake. Bake 35-40 minutes on 375, how long depends on how many pieces of chicken you use. You want to take the chicken out when nice and tender – not “crispy” (unless you like it that way).

Twist the recipe:
If you’ve read my other recipes than you know I love to “twist” or have multiple variations of the same thing. This is because you can’t have everything on hand all the time. So – instead of instant mashed potatoes you could use saltines, or ritz crackers, or even club crackers. Also you could add some veggies like carrots or potatoes to the pan and bake an entire meal at once ready to serve! If I did this I would add a cup of either water or chicken broth to the bottom of the pan and cover with foil to steam the veggies nice and moistly as the chicken bakes. Do you have a comment or variation? Comment now!

Twice Baked Potatoes – You can’t eat just one  

The twice baked potato – everyone seems to want this every holiday. Christmas or Thanksgiving, or for any type of get-together the twice baked potato is perfect. We’re taking it this Saturday as a “dish to pass” – and I guarantee that we won’t come home with any.

I can remember over the years only a few people that have not had a twice baked potato (at our dinner), and every single one simply demanded the recipe. Honestly, once you make them you will never need a recipe again – they are that simple. They are slightly time consuming, but well worth it for feeding many people or when taking food as a side dish, dish to pass, for a holiday office party, or even to Mom’s or Grandma’s house!

What you will need:

• A Bag of Potatoes – large Russet variety work best
• Some butter
• Some Milk
• Salt and Pepper
• Some Cheese
• Spices to taste

Ok – you’ll note that I was pretty vague about the ingredients. That’s because this recipe can be made 100 different ways. You will develop your best way over time. First – you want big potatoes, as big as your hand if you can get them. A 20 lb bag of Idaho Russet’s is usually what we get. We usually make about 2 large baking trays of twice baked potatoes, which is about 15-20 potatoes I think. This is what you do – take your first baking tray and as you wash your potatoes place them on the tray one by one until it’s full. When it is – you have enough, because you will cut each in half – so you’ll have enough for 2 trays. Once your tray is full stick each potato with a fork once or twice and place the entire tray in the oven on 475 until done – about 70-90 minutes is normal depending on size and how many you cook. You want the potatoes to be soft enough that you can smush them a but while wearing an oven mitt. If they start to wrinkle or become very, very soft you have cooked them way to long. You could accelerate the cooking time by wrapping the potatoes in tin foil – but this is tedious and the skins don’t get as crispy at times. When the potatoes are done – take them out and let them cool for 10 minutes or so while you get out your other ingredients.

About the other ingredients – what you use it up to you. For instance, we use margarine and fat free milk. You and I both know that whole milk and real butter would taste best – but you’re going to pay the price fat and calorie wise. Use the milk and butter that suits you best. Same with the cheese – I have made twice baked potatoes in many different versions from Southwest, to Italian, and even veggie. But I’ll give you the “authentic” version first.

Get out your other baking sheet, but each potato in half (use an oven mitt in one hand, the potatoes will still be very hot), and place the new half on the new baking sheet. Cut all the potatoes until both sheets are full. Now take a large metal tablespoon and begin to scoop out the insides of the potatoes into a large mixing bowl. Scoop out all but about the last 1/8″ on each potato. If you begin to break the skin of the potatoes or rip them – you are digging out too much.

Once you get all the potatoes hollowed out, it’s very simple – we’re going to make mashed potatoes here. Add some butter (what you like, we usually do about a cup to cup and a half for two trays), and then your milk (start with a cup). Everyone seems to make mashed potatoes differently, but we like to use a mixer on high and really whip them up. Once you get the butter and milk mixed in salt and pepper, and mix a little more. If they are dry, of course add a little more butter and milk until you get the fluffy consistency you like. DO NOT add so much butter and milk that your potatoes become a soup! Also – one twist on this that I’ve seen a lot of people do is to add one container of cream cheese to this mixture (like an 8oz package), and that is actually very good, but we don’t do it all the time. Also – you can add any seasonings that you like. This is the point where you would add some minced garlic, garlic powder, Italian seasonings, etc. It’s also where you could take it from traditional twice baked potatoes to Southwest (taco seasonings), or Italian (add garlic and parmesan cheese), or even veggie (add some finely chopped cooked broccoli). The traditional version is just whipped mashed potatoes.

Now, carefully spoon the potatoes back into the shells. While you do this, turn your oven down to 375. Don’t add much over the top of each potato skin or you won’t have enough to fill all the shells. It’s better to under do it than have to go back and scrape some off of every shell at the end. When they are all full it’s time to top them with shredded cheese. Again the type of cheese is up to you, but the traditional way to do it (for us) is about a pound of Colby Cheese shredded for the two trays. Co-jack or Cheddar cheeses can be just as good. And again the variations for Italian or Mexican should be obvious. When you add the shredded cheese to the potatoes, try not to get too much on the baking sheet or it will burn on it.

Side both baking trays back into the oven and bake about 15 minutes or until the cheese is very bubbly and starting to brown. There you have it – perfect twice baked potatoes! This recipe should easily feed 10-12 people, and that’s if you count on each person eating 2-3 each! Do you have a variation on twice baked potatoes you’d like to share? Comment now!!

Chicken Parmagiana – The Quick, Easy, and Tasty Way!  

So the other day I was trying to think of something quick and easy to make and one person in the house wanted spaghetti and the other wanted chicken patties. In addition – one was a vegetarian. What can you do? Make two meals with the same ingredients, and one vegetarian and one not.

This is what you need:

• 1 box or 1lb spaghetti noodles
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce of your choice
• 2-4 frozen chicken patties (1 per meat-eating person you’re serving)
• 1 cup or so shredded Italian cheeses (blended or mozzerella)

This is a quick and easy meal, and something you can easily be eating in 20-25 minutes. Put your oven on 425 to pre-heat, turn on your hot water and let run. Grab a large 4 quart saucepan and fill with the hot water, put on the stove with a dash of salt and 2 tsp of olive oil. Leave it go until it boils. While you are waiting on that get your chicken patties and put on an ungreased baking sheet and stick in the oven for about 20 minutes. If you have a vegetarian person in the house, they do make fake breaded chicken patties (by Boca?) you can put in the oven with these as well. Get a 2 quart saucepan and add the jar of spaghetti sauce, cover and leave on medium heat. Add a tbsp of minced garlic to the sauce if you like (we do!).
Once the water boils, add the spaghetti (I usually break them in half), stir after 30 seconds, and then about every 2-3 minutes on high boiling (but not over). Once the sauce starts to bubble turn on med-low. Put a colander in the sink and when the noodles start to rise to the top of the water they are usually done (10-12 minutes) – taste one to be sure, don’t over cook. When you put the noodles in the colander rinse with hot water first, then dash about 1/8 cup olive oil on top and fold into the noodles. Sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper (or Italian seasonings if you prefer) and fold in again. I find the seasonings or salt and pepper make for a much better tasting end results, and the oil is to keep them from sticking while you get everything plated. Take out the chicken patties when done, when they come out of the oven immediantly turn them over and sprinkle a handful of shredded Italian cheese on each one. The vegetarian person of course either gets noodles and sauce, or the fake veggie chix patty.

At this point I usually turn off the sauce, grab some plates and forks, put noodles on each plate, then go back to the patties (and the cheese is usually melted by now) – and then I cut each patty into 4-5 slices and put one chicken patty on each plate of noodles. Put one ladle (like 1 cup) of sauce over each patty on plated noodles (more if you like), and then a little bit more cheese on top. By the time you serve the plates that cheese should be melted too.

The nice thing about this recipe is if you like garlic bread, you can stick some in the oven when the chicken patties are about half done, and when they come out put some shredded Italian cheese on that as well! But a lot of the time the breaded chicken patty is just enough to make this a nice full meal!

Do you have a variation of this recipe that would make it even better? Comment now!

I have spent many years trying to make pizza crusts, with 100% failure rate...This was hands down the most amazing pizza I have ever eaten.

John F.

 

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