Easy Shredded Chicken

This is where I remind you that I am in no way an "experienced chef" or a "professional". Because I just found out the easiest way to shred chicken, and I'm kind of embarrassed I didn't discover this before. You can shred chicken like this for pretty much all of my chicken recipes - baked penne, chicken pot pie casserole, or chicken and noodles, It even works for the slow cooker recipes, if you make it sans slow cooker: cheesy chicken and broccoli and chicken spaghetti 
*Note - this really only works if you have a Kitchenaid or some kind of mixer with a paddle attachment.

Teriyaki Chicken - Sarku Japan Style!

So I know I already have a post for teriyaki - and it's super easy and definitely still tasty! - but if you're willing to work for it, this chicken teriyaki recipe is TO DIE FOR. When I was pregnant last year, Sarku Japan was a huge craving of mine, so I learned this recipe, and it is excellent! It does involve a lot of prep, though. I always have to set a lot of reminders for myself when I make this recipe because you need to marinate it overnight! So be warned!

Ingredients
3 lbs boneless chicken thighs (if you're using less, make sure to make half the amount of the teriyaki sauce. I don't usually use this much chicken, so I make less sauce otherwise I have wayyy too much leftover)

MARINADE 
1 cup water 
⅛ cups Shaoxing wine or cooking sherry  (I omit this)
1 tsp garlic powder 
1¼ tsp pepper 
1 tsp baking soda 
½ cups Kikkoman soy sauce 
¼ cups Canola oil 

TERIYAKI SAUCE 
2½ cups chicken stock 
¾ cups + 2 tbs Kikkoman teriyaki sauce  
¼ cups Kikkoman soy sauce 
2 garlic cloves sliced (I didn't have this on hand, so I just added more garlic powder)
a piece of ginger, sliced (I omitted this)
¾ cups + 2 tbs of brown sugar 
2½ tbs cornstarch 

2½ tbs cold water

Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

So I know I've been pretty quiet lately... but I have a valid excuse. We recently found out I'm expecting Baby #2, and my aversion to normal food has been terrible! I can't eat anything anymore! But now that I'm in the second trimester, things are normalizing a little bit, so I'm able to try new things, like this recipe.

We were expecting a big crowd for dinner, so I wanted to find something that would feed a lot of people. This easily fed ten people, and we had an extra serving leftover that Hubby took to work the next day. 

This recipe is a bit time consuming - if you can manage to cook and chop the chicken ahead of time, that really helps. Or your could buy chicken that's pre-copped or pre-shredded. 

Ingredients
1 lb chicken breast (I used 2 lbs)
12 oz frozen peas and carrots, thawed
2 cups frozen diced potatoes (like hash browns)
1 onion diced (I used half a cup)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup water (because of the larger amounts, I used 2 cups)
2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning (omitted because I didn't have any)
salt and pepper to taste

Pesto Sauce

This recipe was certainly an adventure for me! I'll walk you through my trial-and-error experience, but in the long run, the sauce came out a success! It all started when I was trying to hunt down jarred pesto sauce in the grocery store and it was surprisingly difficult to find, so I thought, "Why not make my own?"


Ingredients
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 cup walnuts/almonds
4 cloves garlic, peeled
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

First of all, it's really hard to find this much basil, so I actually ended up buying an entire plant haha. The leaves weren't even a third of what the original recipe called for, but the sauce was still pretty strong so I think 1 cup was plenty. And if the plant thrives, then awesome! More pesto sauce. If not, well, then, I would've spent $5 on basil leaves if they'd been available anyway, so no harm done.

Baked Penne

I love pasta dishes, and this one is excellent. It requires a bit of prep, but you can get it done the night before if you prefer and just combine all the ingredients before you bake it.

This recipe calls for two jars of Alfredo sauce, but I ended up doubling my recipe for homemade Alfredo sauce and it was delicious!

Also, please note that this meal serves 9, so if you're cooking for a small group, make sure to half the recipe.

Ingredients

1 box (16 oz) penne pasta

1 tbsp olive oil

2 lb uncooked chicken tenders, cut into chunks

Salt and pepper to taste

1 bag (12 oz) frozen broccoli cuts

2 jars (16 oz each) Alfredo sauce (or double my Alfredo sauce recipe)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 

Chicken and Noodles

So I'm breaking the norm a little bit since this recipe is pretty time-consuming. It also isn't as cheap as my other recipes, but it feeds a lot more, so it evens out.

This is a recipe I attempted to recreate from what my grandmother used to make me and my sisters when we were kids. She loved to work all day to make this meal and feed her constantly hungry grandkids. We could seriously eat this stuff all day (and we did). It was especially important to me that I try to make this exactly like she did. It's been seven years since she passed away, and it made me feel closer to her. 

Ingredients

1 whole chicken
1 package of No Yolks extra broad egg noodles
2 celery stalks
3 carrots
1/4 onion
3 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

Fried Chicken

Hey there! Sorry it's been a long time, but holiday madness is here in full swing!

This was a spontaneous attempt on my part. We're trying to save as much money as we can to give ourselves a little cushion for the new year, so I didn't do any meal planning. But we had chicken, eggs, flour, and bread crumbs, so I thought I'd give this recipe a shot!

There are many different ways to make fried chicken. Obviously this isn't going to be the "finger-licking" fried chicken you can get from fast food or anything, but it sure is delicious!

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1 large boneless skinless chicken breast
3 tbsp butter
1 lemon cut into wedges (I omitted this. I think lemon with chicken is gross)

Chicken and Gravy

Easy, easy, easy!! Aside from just putting chicken by itself into the slow cooker, this is the easiest recipe I've used.

Ingredients

1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts

2 packets dry chicken gravy mix

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 3/4 cups water

1 dash freshly ground black pepper

Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli

Another favorite of mine! Super easy, very delicious, and very healthy! This is a slow cooker recipe with very minimal prep. It's a great recipe to have because it includes ingredients you usually have on hand. On a regular basis, the only ingredient I need to go out of my way to buy is broccoli, but that's only if I don't have frozen florets somewhere in the depths of my freezer.

If you usually follow my link to the original recipe, you'll notice I altered it quite a bit. The original recipe says to add the broth a little at a time throughout the cooking duration, but who has time for that?? If I'm at work all day, I can't keep adding broth. So instead, I increased the quantity of rice to make sure it's thick enough for an entire container of chicken broth.

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1½ pounds chicken breasts, cut into large chunks

1 small onion, chopped (I never use an entire onion, just half or a quarter so I can save it for other recipes)

2 1/4 cup uncooked long grain rice (white or brown, your choice)

1 32 ounce box chicken broth

1¼ teaspoon salt

⅓ teaspoon pepper

2 cups of chopped broccoli

1¼ cheddar cheese

Chicken Teriyaki & Fried Rice

This one is a double feature! The fried rice is a good recipe to make by itself - just add bacon and some extra veggies. In this case, I'm using the teriyaki chicken as the meat, so I'm omitting the bacon.

If you're like me, then with every recipe that calls for chicken, you just put in one package of chicken, from Publix or Costco or wherever, without checking how many pounds it is, because you know that's what will feed your family. However, I tried that with this recipe, and it was way too sweet. So, if you don't often measure your amounts of chicken, make sure to put two packages of chicken in the slow cooker. You'll thank me later!

This combination of recipes may seem complicated, but I omit a lot of unnecessary ingredients. Often I have so many of the main ingredients on hand that I don't need to buy anything extra. Keep in mind, you will have to buy a bottle of soy sauce and a bottle of rice vinegar the first time you make this, but they last a long time!

Chicken Stew

This is definitely in my top 3 favorite meals. While it requires some prep, it's delicious and very healthy. It's also a great way to get rid of any extra veggies you have on hand. Regardless of what this recipe calls for, I just use whatever I have (sometimes, only onion and carrots).

Ingredients

1 - 1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast, chopped into chunks (I don't bother chopping it - it tears so easily once it's been cooked)

1 cup baby carrots, chopped

1 stalk of celery, chopped

3 medium sized red potatoes (or several baby red potatoes), chopped into chunks (I just use russet potatoes - the giant bags are so cheap)

½ onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced or pressed (I never have garlic on hand, so I omit this - or just use garlic powder instead)

1½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp dried parsley (also omitted)

1 cup water

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

½ cup milk (2% or whole preferably)

This recipe offers lots of flexibility. I don't think I've ever made it with every single ingredient, and it still turns out delicious every time.

Chicken Spaghetti

This recipe is so easy! Hubby and I like to use it on days we both work because you just throw ingredients into the crock pot, turn it on, and it's ready when you get home! Very little prep. Perfect for lazy chefs like me.

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law, so I can't take full credit for it. But we make this at least once a month because it's easy and so tasty!

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts

1 can cream of celery soup

1/4 cup onion

1 8 oz package cream cheese

1/4 cup butter

1 pack dry spaghetti sauce mix

1 box of spaghetti noodles

Given the cream cheese and the cream of celery soup, you can tell this recipe might be a little heavy for some. Here are some tips to make it a bit healthier:

• Add frozen peas, if you have some on hand. A great way to get extra veggies.
• Use "Healthy Requests" cream of celery soup instead of the normal stuff. Less fat!
• Try using Hidden Veggie or whole wheat spaghetti noodles instead of the normal kind. If I have toppings on my pasta, I really can't taste the difference.