Chicken Spaghetti

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! If I had known this is what they were talking about all this time when they used that phrase then I would have cashed in a lot sooner. This meal (I used a weird filter and it looks rather red) was so simple to make and everyone loved it! The neat thing about it too is that you can substitute things in or out according to your preference. Another Six Sisters' Stuff win!

Chicken Spaghetti by Six Sisters' Stuff, adapted slightly

2 cups cooked chicken, cut up (I used a precooked Costco chicken)

3/4 to 1 lb. package uncooked spaghetti noodles (I used 3/4 lb.)
2 cans 98% Fat Free Cream of Mushroom (or Cream of Chicken) soup

3 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided (I used a conglomerate of cheeses that were opened in the fridge)

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained (or use fresh)

1/4 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1 t seasoned salt
Dash of cayenne pepper (optional- I didn't use it)
1 (14.5 oz) can chicken or vegetable broth

Break noodles into 2" or 3″ pieces and cook according to package directions. Place cooked noodles into a large bowl. Add chicken and toss together. Add soup, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, 2 cups of cheese, seasoned salt, and cayenne pepper. Mix all together. Add about 1 cup of the chicken broth and stir it in, then and add a little bit more if needed. You want it nice and moist, but you don’t want it to be too runny. I used the whole amount and it was fine. Lightly spray a 9×13″ glass pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the mixture into the pan. Top with remaining 1 cup of cheese. You could also top with bread crumbs or after it has baked for 25-30 minutes you could add french fried onions to the top. 

Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes (or until hot and bubbly). 

Other substitutions that would be tasty would be chopped celery, mushrooms, zucchini, or whatever sounds good to you. Really, you can't go wrong. 

Avocado Chicken Enchiladas

I have a dear friend who can no longer process animal protein. We've been spending some extra time with him and to give his sweet wife a break, I've been cooking some of the dinners. While these are avocado chicken enchiladas, I just left the chicken out of a few of them so he could still eat the dinner too. 

                                          

If I keep blogging Six Sisters' Stuff recipes I'm going to have to give them their own label like I did for Our Best Bites! This starts with a homemade enchilada sauce which makes these super tasty. I spooned extra sauce over the top of this enchilada, so you aren't really seeing the cheese under there.

Avocado Chicken Enchiladas from Six Sisters' Stuff

Sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 T butter

1 T all-purpose flour

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

1 cup mild or medium salsa verde

1/2 cup chopped cilantro (obbbbbbviously, I left this out!!! Blech!)

Enchiladas

3 to 4 cups cooked chicken breasts, shredded

2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided

3 avocados, peeled and chopped

8 flour tortillas

1/2 - 3/4 cup French Fried onions

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a medium saucepan, sauté garlic in butter about 1 minute on medium heat. Stir in flour and cook about 2 more minutes. Stir in broth, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream, salsa verde and cilantro (if you're using it). 

Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Add about 1/2 cup sauce to the pan and spread until bottom of dish is evenly coated. 

On each tortilla, add some chicken, cheese and avocado to one end. Roll it up and place it seam-side down in pan. Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas. Cover with 1 cup of cheese and bake uncovered about 20 minutes or until cheese is bubbling. Sprinkle the French Fried onions over the top of the casserole and bake 3-5 minutes longer until the onions are golden. 

Makes 8 servings.  

Chicken Taco Soup

This recipe can also be called Food Storage Soup, but that might scare some people away. 

                         

I know sometimes it is scary to try a new recipe. Not to worry, I've got you covered. I've kind of been going through Six Sisters' Stuff's Teal-colored book and this is another gem. 

Slow Cooker Eight-Can Taco Soup from Six Sisters' Stuff

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (15 oz.) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (15 oz.) sweet corn, drained

1 can (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes

1 can (10.75 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup (I used mushroom because I was out of chicken)

1 can (10 oz.) can green enchilada sauce

1 can (12.5 oz.) chicken breast, drained (I had leftover cooked chicken in the refrigerator, so I went with that). 

1 pkg. (1 oz.) taco seasoning 

grated cheese

avocado, sliced

Pour all ingredients into slow cooker and stir together. Cook on low heat 2-3 hours. Top with shredded cheese and serve with tortilla chips and sliced avocado, if desired. 

Note: I was in a hurry and chose not to use the slow cooker. I poured everything into a pot and brought it to a simmer, then cooked it for about ten minutes on low heat. Worked just fine! 

Crispy Onion Chicken

 Have you heard of Six Sisters' Stuff? I have two of their cookbooks and really love everything they do. Being in Santa Clara, I've lost my built-in cook (my daughter), so I've had to get back into the kitchen again. My sister told me she fixed this for dinner the other night, and since I had everything I needed to make it too, I gave it a try. Hello, yum!

It's super simple too! "Paint" a chicken breast with honey mustard and then press the chicken into some crushed french fried onions. I placed them onto a small cooling rack that fit inside my 9x13 inch pan to lift them up off the pan so the underside would be crispy too. I baked it for 30 minutes at 375°F. It was tasty! Here's the link to see how the Six Sisters made theirs. They use a lot more mustard than I did. 

A Rare Occasion

When you think of my blog and recipes, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Dinner? Of course not! However, from time to time, I do cook dinner and occasionally it turns out well. Bud not only had seconds but complimented it...TWICE! He doesn't usually take seconds, so that's a rare occasion.

I snapped the following picture before I remembered to add the freshly grated Parmesan cheese, so just pretend you can see it there.

The recipe is in the family cookbook, page 90. Thank you, Samuel, for including it (or should the thanks go to Holly?). I changed a couple of things.
Because I know that not all six of my readers own the Lystrup Family Cookbook, I will post it for you. I'll type out the recipe as is, then tell you how I changed it.

Bow Tie Chicken Supper
1 lb chicken
1 T oil
1 small red pepper, julienned
1 small zucchini, cut into 1/4" slices
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp salt-free seasoning blend (it probably means Mrs. Dash)
1 cup bow tie pasta, cooked and drained
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
In a large nonstick skillet, sauté chicken in oil until no longer pink. Remove from skillet and keep warm. In the same skillet, stir-fry red pepper, zucchini, onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp tender. Add the peas and seasonings; stir fry for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and pasta; cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in chicken and sprinkle with cheese.

Here's where I made changes- I had a green pepper, not red, and my onion was red, not yellow. I used Old Bay seasoning instead of the salt-free blend. My chicken was already cooked so I skipped straight to sautéing the veggies. I added the cooked chicken to the almost cooked pasta while it was still boiling in the water, just to heat up the cold chicken, then drained it and added it to the veggies. I used "grape" tomatoes instead of cutting up big tomatoes, and I loved how they burst in my mouth when I bit them. I also added a good pinch of kosher salt (so, less than 1/8 tsp).
This dinner was ready to eat in just a few minutes which was a good thing because we had to squeeze it in between Bud's home teaching assignment and his scout assignment, which was a very small window.

Chicken Chili Casserole

Yesterday I told you about our planned leftovers. Wendy asked that I post the recipes I have used so far, so here is the first one.

Chicken Chili Casserole, or whatever it was that Karen re-named it :)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3 T cornmeal
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup tomato sauce
4 cups cooked chopped or shredded chicken
2 cups fresh or defrosted frozen corn
1 can (15.5 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 cups tortilla chips (6-8 oz)
1 12/ cups finely shredded mild cheddar cheese
1/2 cup finely shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Heat the oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and oregano and sauté for three minutes. Add the cornmeal, stirring to incorporate it into the vegetables (about 2 minutes). Slowly add the broth and tomato sauce. Bring mixture to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the chicken, corn, beans, salt and pepper. Simmer (uncovered) an additional 30 minutes, stirring frequently.
Coat the inside of a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray (I used two 8x8 pans to divide it in half. If you have a larger family, you could double the recipe and make one for now and freeze one for later). Line the baking dish with enough chips to cover the bottom of the pan. Spoon the chili over the chips, top with remaining chips and sprinkle cheeses over the chips. Cover pan with foil.
At this point, you can either bake it immediately at 350°F for 20 minutes or if you want to freeze it, do the following:
Freezing- Allow the dish to cool a little bit, then freeze for up to one month. When ready to bake, defrost the casserole in the refrigerator overnight. Allow casserole to come to room temperature before baking (about 30 minutes). Bake (covered) for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for another 20 minutes or until it is hot and bubbling.
Another way to do this is to fill individual gratin dishes with about 1 cup of chili per serving. Bake for 10 minutes covered and an additional 15-20 minutes uncovered. This way you can cook up the number of dishes needed to feed the number of people that are hungry.
We really liked this dish and we will keep it in our rotation of dinner menus. Even Bud liked it, so that means it wasn't too spicy.

They Liked It

Last night we had a yummy dinner. In fact, the first thing out of Agnes' mouth after tasting the chicken was "MMMMMMMM!" Laura finished her first plate and declared she was full, but took seconds anyway, not knowing where she was going to put it, but still wanting to eat more.
I found the recipe here from Your Homebased Mom, Leigh Anne, but I changed it slightly.

Chicken and Green Bean Stir-Fry

2 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut in bite-sized pieces

1/2 lb green beans

3 T sesame oil

salt and pepper to taste

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T grated ginger (use your microplane)

5 T soy sauce (reduce sodium is okay)

3 T vinegar

1 T brown sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

1 T water

Snap the ends off the green beans, and cut into about 1-inch sized pieces. Place in a Ziplock baggie and microwave about 2 minutes.

Heat 2 T sesame oil over medium-high heat in a frying pan or wok (does anyone still own a wok?). Add chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken from pan, and add remaining 1 T oil to pan. Add green beans, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar and brown sugar. Cook about 2 minutes, return chicken to pan and cook an additional minute or two. Dissolve cornstarch in water and add to pan, stirring until thickened, about one more minute.

Serve over hot cooked rice (because cold rice wouldn't taste as good). Leigh Anne sprinkled sesame seeds over her dish, but I didn't notice in time to copy that since it wasn't specified in the recipe, it was just shown in her photo.

You can switch up the vegetable in this to whatever you want, or add some red pepper flakes if you like it spicier.

Food For The Fourth

On Monday afternoon we had a little family get-together. Since Laura is the party-planner extraordinaire, we did it up with a "bang." Earlier in the week, I found this drink stand at World Market, but they were out of the buckets. We found this white one at Target.
Laura made the little sign for the bucket, but in the future I'm going to pop some vinyl lettering on there to match the occasion- whatever it might be.

Here we have homemade buns, pulled pork, baked beans in a jar (isn't everything cuter when it is in a jar?) topped with cornbread...
over there in the corner is Kate's (from OBB) Grilled Chicken and Berries Salad- yum.

Blueberry pie "shooters" (as Seth put it). Loved these because the crust to filling ratio was perfect.

Look at Laura's cute star-shaped cornbread.
The tablecloth is actually the back of a "quilt" that I made but haven't put it all together yet.

And now we get to the cool stuff...
Cheryl made the strawberries. Aren't they cute? And the jello salad (which wasn't Jell-O, it was made from scratch with Knox gelatin) was reeeeeally good!
And ta-da! The cake! Here comes the cake! Isn't the little bunting so cute? Good job, Laura.
Here's our patriotic flag cake.

My mom was SO surprised to see a flag inside.
The cake was a lot of fun to make. The whole day went well, and it was fun to see everyone.

Kisses and Salad

Today we tried baking something (that failed miserably!) which necessitated pulling out the chocolate boxes. The kids had a blast with it.

Alien eyes...

Alien eyes, up close and personal...
And later in the day, we had this absolutely fantastic salad. The dressing is a strawberry vinegrette (you can get that on the link's page as well).
Of course, it's Our Best Bites. We've been making nothing but OBB recipes for the last 2 1/2 weeks! Kate has come through with a total winner on this one!
Laura had to leave the table early because the baby was demanding her bedtime. Laura made sure to tell me NOT to clear her plate as she would be back to finish it shortly. She also said that it was too bad that Karen was not here because Karen would have LOVED this salad. I can think of more reasons than that why it's too bad that Karen isn't here. Frown. But yay for this way delicious salad!

Swings and Kabobs

Last night I was on barbecue duty (third time this week- it's the only way to go!) and while I was outside, my older grandchildren decided to teach my youngest grandson to cowboy up to the big swing. Here's Agnes helping Eliot get seated. I love how they used the wagon to give him the height he needed to get on it.
Look at Agnes holding it steady while he gets seated. You may wonder what Caleb is doing. First, take a look at his mighty cape that Laura made (Eliot's birthday party is on Saturday- it is a super hero theme, so all the kids will be caped. Caleb pretty much never takes his off. He loves it).
Okay, ready to go. Next Agnes will kick the wagon out of the way before she gives him a push (I didn't get a picture of that- they didn't even know I was watching, let alone documenting it all).
She's making sure he's okay. It was funny- Agnes and Caleb kept saying "Remember, safety first!" Cracked me up!
Looks like he loves it! Great smile, Eliot!
Now you can see Caleb's part in the whole thing- he's the brakes! When Eliot wants to stop, Caleb grabs the chain and pulls him to a stop so Eliot wouldn't get nervous.
Then there was the changing of the guard, and it was Caleb's turn to push and Agnes' turn to brake.
They had a good time. So what was for dinner? Kabobs. Super yummy kabobs, I might add.
And easier than anything! Pour a half bottle of Italian dressing over bite-sized chicken breasts and marinate that for 2-3 hours. Cut up your veggies (yellow squash, zucchini, mushrooms, red onion, and peppers) and marinate them for only about 20 minutes. Soak your wooden skewers for 30 minutes so they won't turn into firewood on the barbecue. Thread everything onto your stick and Q-away until the chicken is cooked through. Super tasty.
Oh, I did give it all a dusting of sea salt before cooking and just a touch of Montreal Steak Seasoning as well. This recipe is modified from Our Best Bites cookbook, page 116, in case you were wondering.

Secret Sauce

Laura went to "play" with a friend of hers and when she came home, she asked what I was making. I told her stir-fry because it was on the menu. She stopped me and said she had a special recipe for the stir-fry. What could be so special about stir-fry? The answer is the sauce! The same friend she was out playing with is where this sauce recipe comes from, so thanks Kate (no, not Kate from OBB).

Stir Fry Sauce1/2 cup Yoshida's sauce (I buy it from Costco in a huge bottle)
1/2 cup pineapple juice (or whatever you can drain from a can of pineapple)
2-4 T brown sugar (alter to how sweet you like things- I used 4 T)
1 T freshly grated ginger
and the "secret" ingredient- lemon gelatin, about 1/2 of a 3 oz box (I used a generic brand)

2 T cornstarch

Create your stir fry by sautéing the vegetables you prefer (broccoli, carrots, peppers, celery, etc.). Add some cooked chicken if you'd like.

Stir all the sauce ingredients together and pour over vegetables when the carrots are tender (but not soft). If the sauce needs to be a little thicker for your preference, mix one more tablespoon of cornstarch in a little water and add to the sauce, stirring over medium-high heat. Serve over cooked rice. Get ready for yummy in your tummy.

This picture is only related to this post because Nora says I can't post without a picture, so here is a picture of Nora's daddy. Isn't he the cutest?

Another Ugly Yummy

I am still working on getting my oddball recipes organized. In the process of doing that, I stopped long enough to get my binder recipes organized within their respective categories. This red binder is desserts. No surprise, right Jenny? Except there are no cookie recipes in this binder, because cookies have a binder all to themselves. Yes, I have that many cookie recipes.
It's funny (not ha-ha funny) that I have oodles of recipes and yet I almost never use them. I have a husband who is content with some type of pan-fried meat, a frozen veggie heated in the microwave and a potato (he'd prefer it genuinely baked, but he never gets it that way) also cooked in the microwave. He thought this dinner was gourmet. Yes, it's ugly. Well, maybe not as ugly as yesterday's recipe, but still ugly.
Especially if you look at it up close. But it has all the yummy flavors I like.
It's on page 160 if you have the family cookbook, Lattice-topped Chicken. If you don't have the family cookbook, that's really so sad! We love this book! Don't we, family?

Lattice-topped Chicken

1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed cream of potato soup (didn't have any- used mushroom)

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

2 cups cooked chicken, cubed

1 (16 oz) pkg. frozen broccoli, carrots and cauliflower mixture, thawed (and drained, if necessary)

1 cup grated cheddar cheese, divided (too lazy- I had some Monterrey Jack already grated)

1 (2.8 oz) can French Fried onions, divided

1 pkg. crescent rolls

Combine soup, milk, chicken, vegetables, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 can onions. Pour into baking dish (something just a little smaller than a 9x13 if you have it). Cover with foil, and bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Separate crescent rolls into 2 rectangles. Press perforations to seal. Cut each lengthwise (or whatever fits your size pan) into strips. You can't really form a lattice top because as soon as the dough hits the warm stuff, it becomes too goopy to lift. Therefore, instead of making a lattice top, just twist the crescent roll dough and place it in one direction and then do the same for the opposite direction. Bake uncovered for 12-15 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and onions. Bake 3-5 minutes longer.

That's two french fried onion recipes in a row. I think it might be my favorite food, those onions.

Loving The Ugly

I was craving a little Mexican food. Okay, so this doesn't exactly qualify for real Mexican food, but it's as much spice as my husband can handle, and it satisfied my craving. Yes, I know it's ugly.
I didn't even follow a recipe. Here's what I did...

I put a few boneless chicken pieces in a crock-pot and covered it with a small can of green enchilada sauce. Then I went to church for three hours. When I came home and it was time to think about dinner, I shredded the chicken (still in the crock-pot, but with the heat turned off) and stirred in a can of cream of mushroom soup. You could use any "cream of" soup if you don't want to use mushroom. From a second small can of green enchilada sauce, I poured just enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan. I cooked up some tortillas (I only buy the uncooked kind now- you can get them from Costco) and scooped up some filling, added some grated (do you say shredded? I say grated) Monterrey Jack cheese, rolled it up and placed it in the pan. When the pan was full, I poured the remaining sauce over the tortillas, sprinkled some french fried onions on top, along with a little more cheese. I popped it in the oven until it was bubbly. It took about 20 minutes. We had rice and corn with it, and I thought of my son, Danny. I love you, Danny!