Homemade Crispy Chicken Tenders

My little helper

It feels like I haven't posted anything in a while, I guess I have just been preoccupied with other things. But, I'm back!

Because I have been busy, like a lot of other times I have been looking for quick meals. We usually have a chicken nuggets or tenders a couple times a month and finding ones that are gluten free (and reasonable priced) isn't always the easiest. So, I decided to make our own. These are so easy to make, you can make ahead and freeze, make the night before or like me prepare them in the morning before work. (All the picture were taken via my phone and the ones of the tenders themselves were taken by my husband...so if they aren't the best quality, I'm sorry.)

So here it is:

Gluten Free Crispy Chicken Tenders

1 pound chicken tenders
3 cups corn Chex cereal
2 cups regular potato chips (any flavor would work to, and probably be quite good)
1 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp pepper

uncooked

4 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Combine Chex cereal, potato chips, paprika and pepper in a food processor, pulse until a desired consistency. (My son did about 4 good pulses.) If you don't have a food processor, combine in a large plastic bag and smash. Set aside, can be made well in advance if kept in a sealed container. (Save any left over crumb for later use.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, mayonnaise and mustard. Place all the tenders in the egg mixture, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat, if you have time let sit for about an hour in the refrigerator.

Place about half of the crumb mixture on to a large plate, a pie pan would work great. And take one tender out and cover in the crumb mixture then placing it on a greased cookie sheet. Repeat until all the tenders are coated.

Cooked (not much changed, a little more golden)

Bake at 425 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, turning half way through.  (I drizzled a little honey on mine...Yum!)

To make ahead and freeze; prepare all the way through but line your cookie sheet with foil. Once all the tenders are laid out, place the whole cookie sheet in the freezer for about an hour. Remove from the freezer and place the tenders in a large zip top bag, return to the freezer. When ready to bake place frozen tenders on a greased cookie sheet, bake at 425 degrees for 30 mins or so depending on your oven.

SO Easy! Enjoy!

Another take on chicken...

I wanted to do something a little different with chicken, we always tend to just roast our chicken with some rub or glaze, which by all means is fine.  But, I was wanting something different.  I rummaged in our fridge and decided to make a mushroom stuffed chicken breast and wrap it in prosciutto...sounded good to me!

Chicken Prosciutto Roll with Mushroom Stuffing

served 3

2 large chicken breasts
1 pint mushrooms, chopped, use your favorite!
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 slices of prosciutto
2 tbsp dry sherry
1/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Chop one slice of the prosciutto and combine with the mushrooms and garlic in a large saute pan, add the sherry and cook on medium heat until the mushrooms are tender, season with salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside to cool.

Mean while, butterfly the chicken breasts and lightly pound them out until you have a uniform thickness.  Lay out two pieces of the ham, lay one of the chicken breasts on top of the ham. Spoon half the mushroom mixture over the chicken breast and sprinkle with half the cheese.  Carefully roll the chicken and prosciutto, place in a baking dish seam side down. Repeat with the other breast.  You can use tooth picks if needed.  (A good amount of cheese will ooze out of the rolls while cooking, add more cheese if you would like.)

Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes (may vary depending on your oven)

Slice and serve with rice and a salad.  Enjoy!

**This can be made a day ahead and refrigerated or you could even make ahead and freeze. To freeze, after they are rolled you could either wrap individually with plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag or lay on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for about an hour, remove and place in a freezer bag.  Thaw in the fridge before cooking.

Chicken Vegetable and Rice Soup

Right now is seems that everyone is feeling a little under the weather. One is finally getting over it, one in the heart of it and one starting to feel it. Luckily whatever we seem to have in the house is more on the lines of a cold then the flu (knock on wood). I was originally going to make chicken and dumplings but instead decided on chicken, vegetable and rice soup.

Chicken, Vegetable and Rice Soup

2 chicken breasts
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
3 celery stalks
2-3 carrots
1 small to medium zucchini
5 mushrooms (about 1/2 cup chopped)
6 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1 bunch fresh thyme
1 tsp dried tarragon
2 bay leafs
1 cup brown rice
Salt and pepper

In a Dutch oven, cook the chicken in a little olive oil. While the chicken is cooking, chop all the veggies. When the chicken is almost finished cooking, add the onions. Cook until translucent. Add in the garlic and celery, cook until the celery is just starting to get soft. Remove the chicken, set aside, and add the carrots. Cook carrot until they start to get tender. Add the zucchini and mushrooms. Stir to coat. Add broth and herbs, bring to a boil then add rice.  Continue to simmer until the rice is cooked, about 20 minutes.

I added a little sriracha on mine for a bit of spice, I recommend it, but it is up to you. You could also omit the chicken and use vegetable broth for a vegetarian/vegan option.  I hope you enjoy and stay well!

Mom's Meet: Almond Breeze Almondmilk Product Review

Saturday evening was our first Mom's Meet, I think it went pretty well. Like me it wasn't very organized, but we tried some milks and nibbled on food, some people stayed for a cookout after which made for a very nice evening.  

We sampled four different Almond Breeze Milks; Original, Vanilla, Almond Coconut and Almond Coconut Unsweetened.  We tasted and talked about which we liked, which we didn't and why.  Once we were done we filled out a questionnaire that reflected the majority.

Taste was the biggest attribute that we judged by, followed by texture.  It was agreed that the Vanilla had the best taste out of the flavors tried. The Original came in second. We were also in agreement that the Almond Coconut had an unpleasant taste, but it worked really well in the recipes that I made.  So for cooking purposes it was great.  We all agreed that we don't know if we would have a big glass of any of the milks, but then again non of us seemed to drink big glasses of cows milk either (at least those who I asked). So here is a quick break down of the four we tried, in order of best to worse:

1. Vanilla Flavor

2. Original

3. Almond Coconut

4. Unsweetened Almond Coconut

Side note: I didn't pickup the chocolate flavor because they didn't have it our local grocery store, but we all thought the chocolate flavor would probably be really good. I may have to pick up a carton just to try.

As for me, personally, I would and may continue to by the original or vanilla for myself.  It was much cheaper at Trader Joe's then it was at my local grocery store.  Those were I only two stores I priced out, and were almost a dollar different.

The recipes...both were good.  The chicken was really good, even my husband and son enjoyed it. The muffins, I thought could use less almond extract, but were good.

Coconut Cherry Muffins

(from Almond Breeze Almondmilk Coconutmilk Blend Recipe Collection)

1 cup Almond Breeze Vanilla Almondmilk Coconutmilk

½ cup cherry preserves

3 tbsp. melted butter

1 tsp. almond extract (Next time I would use half of this, it was a little too strong for my tastes)

1 egg

2 cups prepared GF baking mix (I used Gluten Free Bisquick)

2/3 cup shredded coconut

½ cup sugar

½ cup dried cherries

Chopped Blue Diamond Oven Roasted Almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 400*F and spray 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray or line with paper wrappers. Whisk together Almond Breeze, preserves, butter, extract and egg in a medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon into prepared muffin cups (they will be very full) and bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Coconut Curry Chicken

(from Almond Breeze Almondmilk Coconutmilk Blend Recipe Collection)

1 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almondmilk Coconutmilk

1/2 cup minced onion

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 Tbsp. sesame oil

1-1/2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger

4 tsp. curry powder

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper (I may use more next time)

6 cloves of garlic, minced

2 lbs. thinly sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Cilantro leaves and sesame seeds for garnish, optional

Place Almond Breeze, onion, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, curry, red pepper and garlic in a gallon-size zip top bag; squeeze gently to mix. Add chicken and seal well. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.  Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Grill or broil for about 5 minutes on each side or until nicely charred and cooked through. Sprinkle with cilantro and sesame seeds, if desired.

You can find more recipes on the Almond Breeze website, here.

Short-cut Chicken Enchiladas

So I while back a found this recipe for enchilada suzia (see my blog titled Mexican fiesta) well I decided I wanted to make something nice for my fathers birthday so I had it in my head that I was going to make the same enchiladas I made before. Well that didn't quite happen, what did happen was a happy accident if you will.




The main ingredient in the sauce is tomatillas, I grew these over the summer so there was no problem finding them. But when they aren't in season and your closest grocery store doesn't have the best produce selection you need to improvise. So I was about to give up and just do a plain tomato base when I found a tomatillo salsa. The salsa had most of the ingredients that I would have put in the sauce, minus the roasted tomatoes so I decided to give it a try. The result...delicious! Now I must say if you have the time and ingredients I would still recommend the homemade sauce.

Ingredients:
10-12 corn or flour tortillas*
3/4 rotisserie chicken, shredded
1-15oz. Can fire roasted tomatoes
1 1/2 cups tomatillo salsa, such as Frontera Grille
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup shredded Colby-jack cheese

In a blender or food processor blend the salsa, tomatoes and sour cream. Take about half of the salsa mixture and mix with the chicken. Spread some of the salsa mixture on the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish. Fill each tortilla with about a 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture. Roll and place seam side down in the baking dish.
Pour the remaining salsa mixture over the tortillas and then top with cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees until hot and bubbly. About 30 minutes.

*Note: I think that corn tortillas taste best with this, but they get mushy if you freeze then cook later. So if you plan on making this ahead of time and freezing I would recommend using the flour tortillas.

Cheesy-Broccoli with Pasta

I have been trying to get more vegetables into my sons diet, right now it seems I always have a lot of fruits on hand and not as many vegetables, or maybe just not enough of a verity.  The staple vegetables that I have are carrots and sweat potatoes, I tend to get a lot out of just a little.  This past week at the farmers market I loaded up of summer squash and broccoli.  As you know from the last post the squash was a hit.  The broccoli I haven't tried yet, it has been steamed, pureed, and frozen; now i am just trying to figure the best combination to serve it.  Broccoli on its own with no seasoning can be pretty bland and gross if you are a kid (or my husband), so I want to jazz it up a bit.  I grew up with my parents adding cheese sauce on our steamed broccoli, and in college I added a pasta to the mix for a complete meal.  So using that as my starting point, I will try Cheesy-Broccoli with Pasta. Simple? I hope, but I think I am going to add a bit more for more nutritional value.


Here is the recipe that I am going to try out (may get adjusted once I actually prepare the dish):

Cheesy-Broccoli with Pasta

10 oz. frozen or 1-2 heads fresh Broccoli

1 1/2 cups of a small Pasta (cooked)

5 medium carrots, cut into small 1/4 cubes

1/2 pound ground turkey

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

First start off by steaming the vegetables, you can steam them together if you want to just mix and store everything as one.  As the vegetables are steaming in a separate pot start to cooking the pasta (you could even use Israeli couscous if you would like).  While both the pasta and vegetables are cooking, start the turkey by adding about 3 tablespoons of water to a frying pan, add the turkey.  Break the turkey up into small pieces and cook until no longer pink.

Drain the vegetables, pasta and turkey (reserving some of the cooking liquid).  Set the pasta and carrots aside.  Puree the broccoli and turkey, use some of the reserved liquid to thin out the puree if you need to.

In a bowl, mix together the puree mixture along with the pasta and carrots.  Add the shredded cheese into the mix.  Serve, refrigerate or freeze as desired.  Since there is meat in this meal, use within 1-2 days or freeze for up to 2 months.

Since I mentioned the nutritional value, I figured I should look it up and report my findings.  (I did my research on Nutritiondata.com.)

{Updated} Mexican Fiesta

*Updated: April 23, 2013 Since Cinco de Mayo is coming soon I thought I would update my very first blog post updated to reflect gluten free options!  Enjoy!

So I have been craving Mexican for a while now and was just looking for an excuse to make a great meal from scratch. My mom bought me The Ultimate Mexican magazine so I decided since my in-laws were coming over I was going to go all out Mexican.

I made Enchilada Suiza with sides of seasoned black beans and Mexican rice, along with a Tres Leches cake for desert. It was wonderful, so I wanted to share.

Enchilada Suiza (Swiss Enchilada)

I made this recipe the night before so I was able to just put it in the oven, I found that the corn tortillas got a little soggy and the sauce thickened up quite a bit. The flavors were great, and if made the day of I am sure it would have been even better. I think next time I will use flour tortillas, it will change the texture, but because I am big on making meals ahead of time so they become quick weeknight meals, I think the flour tortillas would hold up better. *Update: I was informed that if you lightly fry the corn tortillas before hand they shouldn't get soggy when made ahead. 

Ingredients

1 purchased roasted chicken (2 to 2 ¼ pounds)
4 large tomatillos, husks removed
½ medium onion, cut into thin wedges
2 jalapeno peppers
2 cloves garlic
1 14.5-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained
¾ cup packed fresh cilantro sprigs (I use less, because of the strong flavor)
1 cup Mexican crema or 8-oz sour cream
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour or rice flour
½ tsp. salt
12 6-inch corn tortillas
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 oz Chihuahua cheese or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (I use more, because I love cheese)

Preheat broiler. Carve or pull meat from the chicken. Using two forks, shred meat. Measure 2 ½ cups of the chicken for this recipe. (Save remaining for another use, like chicken pot pie.)

On a large baking sheet combine tomatillos, onion, peppers, and garlic. Broil 3 inches from heat for about 14 minutes or until tender, with black spots and pepper skin blisters, turning once during broiling. With gloved hands, use a pairing knife and peel as much of the skin off the peppers as possible; halve and seed peppers. Core tomatillos (I just squeeze as much out as I can). Reduce temperature to 350°; adjust oven rack to center of oven.

In a blender combine broiled vegetables, undrained tomatoes, and cilantro. Cover; blend until smooth. Add Mexican crema, flour and salt. Cover and blend until smooth. (I have used home made salsa instead of the vegetables and tomatoes listed and just added the sour cream, it may change the taste some but you can adjust per your tastes.)

In a medium bowl combine shredded chicken and ½ cup of the tomatillo mixture. Spread about ½ cup of remaining tomatillo mixture in a bottom of a 3-quart rectangular baking dish; set aside.

Lay tortillas on baking sheet. Brush both sides of each tortilla lightly with oil. Bake for 2 to 3 minutes or just until softened. Remove from oven; stack and wrap in foil.

Removing one tortilla at a time, divide chicken mixture among tortilla, spreading evenly over each. Arrange tortillas, seam side down in prepared dish. Pour the remaining tomatillo mixture of tortillas. Top with shredded cheese. Bake uncovered, about 25 minutes or until heated through and cheese starts to brown. Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 12 enchiladas. (Can be frozen, just thaw in the refrigerator than bake as directed.)