Impromptu Chicken and Rice

Hi there! I made a meal tonight that my husband and I enjoyed so much that I had to share it. I call it "Impromptu Chicken" because I had no idea what I was going to cook when I started. I knew I had chicken so I started googling some ideas. I knew I wanted to do it semi-slow cooker style on the stovetop. I came across this recipe for Chicken and Potatoes, but quickly realized I had neither potatoes, nor italian dressing. So, I improvised with a few of the ingredients from the recipe plus a few more!

Impromptu Chicken & Rice

Yield: 2

Prep: 5 Min.

Cook Time: 30 Min. - 1 Hour (or so)

Ingredients

2 chicken cutlets or breasts, frozen

2 tsp worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 cup sesame ginger dressing

1 cup chicken broth

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tbsp italian seasoning

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp cornstarch

Rice

1 cup long grain white rice

2 cups water

2 tb unsalted butter

Directions

As I've said before, I always forget to take meat out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge so I love any recipe when I can use frozen meat. That was the goal in doing a slow cooker stove top meal. I didn't really measure when I made the dinner so feel free to do the same. When typing up the ingredients, I just guessed at what I put in but it should be pretty close! 

First, stick the chicken breasts or cutlets in the bottom of a medium-large pot. I chose cutlets purely because that's what I had in the freezer. If you are cooking for more than two people or want to have leftovers, just put more than two in. If that's the case, you'll want to increase the other ingredients as well to compensate.

Add worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, dijon mustard, sesame ginger dressing, seasonings, garlic, and chicken broth. You may have to add more chicken broth if it looks like it's getting too low later on. For the sesame ginger dressing, I used Waldon Farms, which is carbohydrate free, sugar free, gluten free, fat free and everything! I like a lot of their dressings. You can find them online at Waldon Farms or at your local grocery store. 

Bring all of that to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cover. Let sumer until chicken is cooked. I ended up cooking it for 1.5 hours but that was just because I was waiting on the husband to get home from the gym. I'd say 30 minutes to 1 hour but you can let it cook until you're ready. Get the rice started about 20 minutes before you want to eat. 

Cook the rice according to the package - 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice. Throw in 2 tablespoons of butter too. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes.

Add some cornstarch to the chicken, make sure to mix in it really well. Continue to simmer until the sauce thickens (about 5-10 minutes). 

Pour the sauce over chicken on a bed of rice and serve. You will not be disappointed.. this is just amazing and delicious!

Husband Rating: A+

Baked Mac & Pimento Cheese

Hello!

So last night we had BBQ Chicken and Mac & Pimento Cheese. I'm just sharing the side dish because Ethan made the chicken. He marinated it in Sweet Baby Rays and EVOO then grilled it (just in case you were wondering). Now, on to the Baked Mac & Pimento Cheese. What is a Pimento, you might ask? According to Wikipedia, a pimento is a large, red, heart-shaped variety of chili pepper. To be honest, I bought a jar of diced pimento, having no idea what it actually was. I recommend finding out what things are before buying them but in this case, it worked out just fine.

Baked Mac & Pimento Cheese

(Brought to you by 7-Day Menu Planner for Dummies)

Prep: 20 min     Cook time: 20-25 min, plus pasta

Yields 12 Servings (I'd say closer to 6 or 8 unless you only eat really small servings)

Ingredients

8 oz. elbow macaroni

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups skim milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

8 oz. shredded 50% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

1 4 oz. jar diced pimentos, drained

1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook macaroni according to directions; drain. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter on medium. Gradually whisk in flour until smooth; cook, whisking constantly 1 minute.

3. Gradually whisk in milk, salt, cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Cook, whisking constantly, 3-5 minutes or until thickened (Kara Note: if it isn't thickening, stop whisking for a minute to give it a chance to heat up and continue whisking)

4. Stir in cheddar cheese and pimentos and cook until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in pasta. Spoon mixture into a 9x13 baking dish coated in cooking spray.

5. Stir together bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in a shallow dish (Kara Note: I did this with my hands in a bowl). Sprinkle over mixture.

6. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

And again I'm reminded I need to clean our oven.

By the time I had mixed everything together and poured it into the 13x9 pan, I was already pretty impressed with it. I'm standing there thinking wow, I just made homemade mac & cheese. Not too shabby.

I am thinking that I might prefer bread crumbs with a little more to them. The fine bread crumbs from the store worked out okay but it's almost too fine. I don't think I would put any effort into changing this though. It was great as is. The cayenne pepper and pimentos add a little kick to heat up the mac & cheese. It's a nice twist on a classic. Two thumbs up from me and Ethan thought it was...

I hope you all enjoy your evening!

Hmm.. I wonder what is on the menu tomorrow...

Broccoli Chicken Parm

Hello! Welcome back. Sorry I didn't post this on Thursday when we cooked it but it's been a busy couple of days. And we didn't eat until 8:30pm that night. I'm currently blogging during the Emmy's. I think this is my favorite awards show because it is actually funny and fun to watch. Anyways, back to the beginner dinner.

On Thursday, we had Broccoli Chicken Parm which was okay. Not terribly great but edible. I'm thinking this isn't one where you need the recipe because I wouldn't make it again. It was quick and easy but I reheated some today for lunch and it was bad. It was tasting pretty gross. Those leftovers will definitely be thrown out.

Husband rating:

In case you are confused, the thumb is sideways, not up or down, but sideways. :)

In conclusion, this isn't worth sharing.

hehe

Maple-Glazed Chicken with Cranberry Arugula Rice

Well, the kitchen is a complete disaster but it was well worth it because that was delicious. My husband gave it an A which is usually a very good thing. I have some tips for making it so I'm going to start by giving the recipe:

Maple-Glazed Chicken with Cranberry Arugula Rice (7-day Menu Planner for Dummies)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2 cups grilled, sliced chicken breast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3 cups cooked brown rice

1 6-oz package (5 to 6 cups) fresh baby arugula or spinach

1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Directions

• Cook brown rice! Takes about 30 minutes.
• Melt butter in a large (and I do mean large) nonstick skillet on medium. Stir in syrup and cranberries; cook for 1 minute. Add chicken, salt and pepper; cook 1 minute or until hot. Remove chicken using slotted spoon and set aside.
• Add rice and toss to coat; remove from heat.
• Toss in arugula (into pan with rice); spoon rice mixture onto platter. Top with chicken and cheese. Serve immediately.

Okay so now some notes on preparing this meal. It sort of turns out to be a salad with chicken, rice, cranberries and cheese. It is very tasty even though these are things I would never have thought to put together. I think that's what makes it so good. I need to think outside the box a little more when it comes to food. We fall into comfortable patterns that become boring which then drives us to pick up food after work just to mix things up. It's a vicous cycle.

I would definitely recommend an extra large skillet because once you put in the arugula, it becomes a bit tight. I used spinach instead of arugula because I couldn't find any. Also, I threw in a little bit more syrup and that worked out well since it was all gone by the end. For the grilled chicken, I ended up using some left over rotisserie chicken from Tuesday. I wouldn't recommend this. The chicken was all shredded and there were too many small pieces that I couldn't get it all out when the recipe told me to. If you don't want to grill the chicken yourself, you should be able to find pre-grilled chicken cut into pieces at the grocery store. I looked this time but couldn't find it. It's usually with the prepackaged deli meats. If you have trouble, I would just ask your deli counter.

Don't forget to cook the rice first. Being such a beginner, I've never actually cooked brown rice before (probably because I use white). I hadn't realized how long it takes! But the timing worked out ok because I started the skillet right before the rice was finished. Also, as for the cheese, I'm thinking you can do any kind of crumbled cheese you want (like feta). The gorgonzola was great though.

I didn't have a neat platter or anything so I used a pyrex 9x13 pan to put it all in.

Interesting looking right?

The final product

Bear was waiting by to clean up my mess

 

The aftermath

 All in all, I'd say this was a great night cooking!