Grilled Taco Chicken

We have had our eyes on this recipe ever since we opened up Our Best Bites new cookbook. They always have such great ideas and yummy recipes. Like all of their recipes, you will love this one too. It is fantastic and a great summery night meal. We served ours with the Cafe Rio Tomatillo Dressing, that we posted on Monday. It was the perfect accompaniment. You could chop the chicken up and have it on a salad, or just eat it plain. We decided to eat ours as a chicken wrap. It was great!

Grilled Taco Chicken

recipe from Our Best Bites

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (we used tenderloins, but it is best to use breasts)

2-3 juicy limes

1-2 T red wine vinegar

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Place chicken breasts (or tenderloins) in a zip-lock plastic bag. Squeeze limes over chicken and add vinegar and garlic. Seal the bag and shake to distribute the marinade evenly. Marinate 4-8 hours. After they have marinated, preheat grill to medium-high heat (400 degrees). Combine chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Remove chicken from bag and discard the used marinade. Rub the spices into the chicken. Place chicken breasts on the hot grill. Grill for 7 minutes, turn, and grill for an additional 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat to a clean plate and allow to stand for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad

This is a great salad for lunch, but filling enough for dinner. The dressing really is amazing. You can lighten this salad up by using grilled chicken and light mayo. Try it out!

Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad

DRESSING:

3 Tbsp Honey

1 1/2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar

1/4 C Mayonnaise

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

1/8 tsp Sesame Oil

SALAD:

Lettuce--Romaine, Iceberg, Spinach

Shredded carrots

Red Cabbage

Mandarin Oranges

Chow Mein Noodles

Shredded Cheese--optional

Slivered Almonds--optional

Jicama--optional

Spicy Sticky Chicken Wraps

 

If you have been to Winger's, the restaurant, you've probably had these before or have at least heard of them. Well, I have never had them, and now I know I have really been missing out! I saw these on Life as a Lofthouse's blog, and they looked so easy and yummy that I tried them out. So so glad I did. I loved them so much, that I ended up eating them for the next 4 days, yep, you heard me. I couldn't get enough of them. They were so easy to heat up for lunch, and they tasted just as good as the first day I had them. They are spicy, but not too much where it is distracting. They're perfect in every way!

Spicy Sticky Chicken Wraps
adapted slightly from Life as a Lofthouse

6 tablespoons Franks Original Hot Sauce *has to be Frank's!

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

4 tablespoons water

1-25oz bag of frozen breaded chicken fingers (you can buy chicken fingers from the deli too)

10 Flour Tortillas (the size that comes in 10 count)

Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Tomatoes, chopped

Lettuce, chopped

**the sauce was enough for the entire bag of frozen breaded chicken fingers. So if you aren't using the whole bag that night, just save the leftover sauce and have leftovers for lunch tomorrow or dinner the next day! 

If using frozen Chicken fingers, start by baking the amount you want to use for dinner (we used 1 per wrap, 2 if they were short chicken fingers), in your oven, according to package directions. In a medium saucepan heat the hot sauce, brown sugar and water over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and sauce is heated thoroughly. About 5-10 minutes. Place cooked chicken fingers in a large tupperware. Pour in the sauce. Seal shut with the lid and shake to coat all chicken fingers with the sauce. Place one or two sauce-coated chicken fingers, depending on their size and length, onto the tortilla. Add desired amount of cheese, lettuce and tomato. Wrap up and serve!  You can even dip them with ranch if you'd like, but they're so delicious by themselves.

**Remember to save the remaining sauce for leftovers!

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Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

 Another casserole from The Pioneer Woman that we love! It is creamy, delicious and easy to prepare! Enjoy!

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

adapted from The Pioneer Woman

3 cups uncooked spaghetti, break into 2 inch pieces

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed*

1 quart chicken broth (low sod), set 1 1/2 cups aside for later

1 green pepper, diced

1 jar pimentos diced

½ onion, diced

1 tsp. Lawry’s season salt

Pepper

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper *optional

*Pioneer Woman cooks her chicken by boiling a whole chicken in a pot and then pulling the meat off the bones and using that water for her noodles. I prefer to just cook my boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or tenderloins, in a little olive oil and season them with salt and pepper and use chicken broth to cook my noodles. It doesn't matter what method you prefer to use, just cook 2 cups of chicken and dice them up! :) 

Preheat oven to 350. Break spaghetti into 2 in. pieces until you have 3 cups! Cook spaghetti in half water/half chicken broth. Dice green pepper, onion and chicken while noodles are cooking. Drain noodles and pour into large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients. Then pour 1 ½ c chicken broth into mixture. It should be creamy and smooth. Pour into a casserole dish and bake for 40 min.

Best Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

I am really not kidding you when I say this is the best pot pie you will ever eat. Just promise me that you will try it at least once! Once is all you need though, because it will keep you coming back for more. Such a delicious comfort food. It is creamy, and full of flavor! It requires a few pots and pans and a bit of prep work, but it is worth it, oh so worth it. We LOVE this dish!

Best Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
made it my own, with a little help from allrecipes.com

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
• 1 cup sliced carrots *You can just use 2 cups of the frozen pea/carrot combo, but I do prefer the taste of fresh carrots over frozen. It sure is a big time saver though!
• 1 cup frozen green peas 
• 1 cup peeled and cubed potato *or 1 cup frozen hashbrowns southern style (the cubed kind)
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/3 cup butter 
• 1/2 of an onion chopped
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth *Use the chicken broth that you cook the veggies in, save it don't drain!
• 2/3 cup milk

• 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts 
• 
  
• In a skillet cook your chicken and season with salt and pepper and a DASH of poultry seasoning. When chicken is done, let set until cooled and cut into cubes. During all of this this you can get your chicken broth boiling. Boil 3 cups of chicken broth in a saucepan. When it reaches boiling, throw in your peas, carrots, potatoes, and celery. Boil for about 15 minutes, or until veggies are soft. Put a bowl under the strainer to catch your chicken broth and drain the veggies into the strainer. DON'T throw the broth away!!! 
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Now in another large skillet over medium heat, cook onions in 1/3 cup butter until soft and translucent. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, poultry seasoning and celery seed. Slowly stir in the chicken broth that you have set aside and the milk. Simmer over medium low heat until thick. Now pour the veggies and cubed chicken into the sauce and mix until combined.  
• 
  
• Pour mixture into prepared pie crust. Cover with a top pie crust. Seal the edges and cut away the excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape. I then brushed the top of the crust with milk to add color, but you could do an egg wash or nothing at all! Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 15-20 minutes before serving.

***A few tips! I have doubled this recipe and frozen one of the pies. The frozen pie came out perfectly when it was cooked! (Just lower the temperature to 325 and cook for an hour). The other tip I could give you is cutting the vegetables and cooking the chicken the night before. It saves you SO MUCH time and dishes for the next day.

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Honey Lime Enchiladas

Looking back through my bookmarks, I had bookmarked this recipe 4 times on 4 different websites. All of the reviews they were getting were out of this world good, so we were pretty excited to try them out. They lived up to their expectations and them some. You guys HAVE to try these. They are so delicious! The flavor combinations all complement each other perfectly. I really don't know what else to say but dang, these were good, and not only that but super simple. Your family and guests will be so impressed! I believe this recipe, from what I can tell, originated from Brittany at Sister's Cafe and many others have adapted to make it their own. 

Honey Lime Enchiladas
recipe from a combination of Sister's Cafe and Peach Tree Cooking via Phemomenon


1/3 c. honey
1/4 c. lime juice (approx. 2 limes)
1 tablespoon chili powder (use a little less for a milder version)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 
1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (2 large chicken breasts approx.) I used rotisserie chicken from the deli, delicious.
12 corn or flour tortillas (I only ended up using 8, because I stuffed mine larger. I used flour, but I think I'll try corn next, why not?!)
2 cups Mexican cheese blend
1-15 oz. can green enchilada sauce (Use more sauce if desired! I used La Victoria and it was fantastic)
1/2 cup heavy cream *optional, but it does add a little somethin'. I used milk because I didn't have cream. *gasp!

In a small bowl, place the honey, lime juice, chili powder and garlic powder. Whisk together thoroughly to combine. Pour this mixture over the chicken and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to marinate up to 1 hour, in the refrigerator. 


To prepare corn tortillas, warm them in the microwave or on a griddle until they are flexible and ready to roll. Spray the sides and bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish lightly with cooking spray. In a medium bowl combine the enchilada sauce and the heavy cream, if desired. Spread about 1/2 cup of the mixture in the bottom of the oiled baking dish. 


Add a large spoonful (about 2 tablespoons for 12 enchiladas, more if going for a more stuffed enchilada) of the chicken mixture to the center of each tortilla in a line. Cover the chicken with a large tablespoon (or big pinch) of cheese, then roll the tortilla up from one side to make a rolled enchilada. Place the enchilada seam side down in the baking dish. 


Repeat with the remaining chicken, cheese and tortillas. You will use about 1 1/2 cups of the cheese for the filling and set the remainder aside for topping the enchiladas in the pan. Add the remaining marinade mixture to the enchilada sauce and cream mixture, if desired. Pour this mixture over the top of all the enchiladas. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake the enchiladas for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and starting to brown on top. 

Peach Tree served her's with black beans and rice, and here's how she did it!

Cook white rice according to package directions (I made 1 1/2 c.). Drain and rinse your can of black beans. Put them in a small pot over medium-high heat on your stovetop. Pour chicken broth over the beans until they are just covered- sprinkle with salt. Let beans boil until the broth is entirely absorbed, stirring occasionally. Mix the rice with the beans- delish!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

This is a family favorite that I have always loved, and I know everyone in the family does too. It is so easy and so yummy! There are so many different and great enchilada recipes out there, always room for one more right? Be sure to add this one to your repertoire too! You'll love it!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
makes 8 enchiladas

8 flour tortillas (not the largest size)
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken breasts
2 cups grated cheddar or colby jack cheese
1/2 onion diced small (you can add more if desired)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can diced green chilies
1 small can enchilada sauce

Cook chicken and set aside. Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x13 casserole dish with non stick spray and pour a little of the enchilada sauce into bottom of casserole dish until lightly covered. Combine cream of chicken soup and sour cream. Add chilies, cheese and onions. Cut chicken and add to filling mixture. Combine until well blended. Take one of the tortillas and scoop an 1/8 of the filling onto middle of tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down into casserole dish. Continue until all 8 tortillas are rolled and placed in dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over rolled tortillas, until covered. Use as much as desired. You may sprinkle more cheese on top if desired. Cook for 30 minutes. Serve on a bed of fresh lettuce and tomatoes!

Hawaiian Melts

These were SO good and SO easy. It reminded me of Hawaiian haystacks, but with a fun twist. This is a perfect meal for when you REALLY don't have a lot of time. We're talking takes 10 minutes or less.  They were so yummy and we will be eating these again and soon! Thank you See Jane in the Kitchen!

 

Hawaiian Melts

adapted from See Jane in the Kitchen

bread
tuna or chicken *Can use canned to really make it easy
mayo *or cream of chicken soup
celery
green onions
crushed pineapple
tomatocheese

Toast bread and place on a cookie sheet. Mix your chicken or tuna with mayo;, celery and green onions. Put chicken mixture on each piece of toast, top with crushed pineapple, tomato and cheese. Put under broiler until cheese is melted and bubbly. Salt and pepper to taste.

Shoyu Chicken

Moving to Hawaii has its benefits, and I'm not just talking about the sandy beaches or warm weather. I'm talking about the food! They have some serious "ono grinds". We have picked up a few recipes from the locals here, recipes we will most certainly be bringing back home. This is one of them and it quickly became my favorite chicken and rice dish ever! The chicken is tender and has a perfect sweet and salty combination. My favorite part of the dish is the shoyu sauce to pour over the rice. Together, with the chicken, makes this the perfect Hawaiian dish! It is so unbelievably easy too. You can have this dinner ready in 45 minutes!

Shoyu Chicken

1 cup Shoyu (soy sauce for us mainlanders, Aloha brand best, but pretty sure that it is just a Hawaiian thing. Kikkoman is okay, not as sweet, more salty, so add a bit more water if needed)

1 cup sugar

1 cup water, may need a little more if it is too salty

12 chicken drummies, skin removed (the slimy hard part)

1/2 onion, diced *can use green onion, or use green onion to garnish after

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

Cooked rice

Combine shoyu, sugar, and water. Heat until sugar dissolves. Throw in garlic and onion. Stir. Throw in skinless chicken drummies.* Bring to boil. Simmer for 45 minutes, stirring a couple times throughout. Serve with cooked rice, and the extra sauce poured over the rice. Garnish with green onion if desired. Enjoy!

*I know it seems like there is not enough water, but the water level will rise as the chicken cooks. I promise you don't need to add more water. The chicken will come out great. Just mix the chicken a couple times while it is cooking, to give them all a chance to sit in the broth. It will be fine!

Garlic Noodles aka Chicken Scampi

I think this recipe started at my mom's house, and got passed along to my sisters. Since I live far from home, I was never around to try this, but boy did I hear about it! This is one of Jamie's family's favorite meal! They call them Garlic noodles, but you may know it as chicken scampi. It definitely lived up to its' expectations. I can't wait to eat this one again!

Garlic Noodles
Jamie Matthews



Chicken tenderloins cubed (I used about 8 tenderloins, whatever fit in my pan. You could use chicken breast)
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 red pepper
1 green pepper *I used frozen red, yellow, and green pepper strips
1 can chicken broth *I don't use the whole can, but most of it
1/2 cup cream *I used milk and it was great
2-3 T flour
5-6 T Butter *divided, and you could always use more if desired
2 T olive oil
Salt/Pepper
1/2 lb cooked linguine or spaghetti noodles


Cook your chicken in a little olive oil and butter.  Flavor with salt and pepper or I've used Salad Supreme before and really liked it. Once chicken is cooked, put on a plate with tin foil over it to keep warm.

Prepare noodles by cooking them according to package directions. Drain and set aside. 

In same saute pan as you used to cook the chicken, add a few more TBSP butter and saute 1-2 cloves garlic, 1 onion and 1 each of red and green peppers. Let saute until soft. If needed added another 2 Tbsp of butter, if no butter left in pan. Then sprinkle the 2-3 T flour on top of the veggies. Stir in flour, then add slowly the chicken broth, while heat is on HIGH. You don't need the whole can of chicken broth. Add about 1/2 cup of milk or cream. Let it thicken. 
Place cooked noodles in the pot you cooked them, pour in thickened garlic sauce. Throw the cooked, cubed chicken in and mix well. Then enjoy!!! 

Hawaiian Haystacks

 

This is one of my top 5 favorite meals of all time, easily. Remember I am the one who loves all 5 food groups in one bite! This is one of those meals. You got your rice, chicken, tomatoes, cheese, pineapple and creams chicken sauce. Those little chow mein noodles give great texture and taste too! Oh I really do love my Hawaiian Haystacks. These are such a cinch to make and I always have the ingredients on hand. To make it even easier, just use canned chicken, so easy. You can make them your own by adding whatever you like! Sometimes we use olives, green onions, even grapes! Yum!

Hawaiian Haystacks

Cooked rice, as much as you need to feed your family. *I use a mix of brown and white rice

Chicken broth

Cream of chicken soup *mix with chicken broth to give it the consistency of gravy

Shredded cheese

Chopped tomatoes, or cherry tomatoes

Cooked or canned diced chicken

Chow mein noodles, the hard kind

Crushed pineapple

Diced onion, or green onion, give it a little color too

Sliced olives

Salt and pepper to taste

Honey Glazed Garlic Chicken

My grandmother has celiac disease so she's always had to be careful with what she eats. Until recently it has been hard to find many recipes that are gluten free, now they are abundant! When grandma would come over to eat we would usually just prepare something separate than the rest of us were having, because it was hard to find something we all could have! Well, my family bought this gluten free cookbook "Gluten-Free Family Favorites" (available at Honeyville Farms retail locations) and they have been having a good time making recipes for grandma. I think grandma has enjoyed it too! This recipe came from that cookbook and the whole family enjoyed it! It really was DELICIOUS! 

Glazed Honey-Garlic Chicken
Joyce Schrock


1 T vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 c. honey
1/3 c. gluten-free soy sauce (such as La Choy)
1/4 c. unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 tsp white vinegar
1/2 c. ketchup
4 (4oz) skinless, boneless, chicken breasts *we used tenderloins


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine oil, garlic and honey in a small bowl. Stir in soy sauce, pineapple juice, ketchup and vinegar. Grease a 6x10 inch baking dish. Arrange chicken in prepared dish. Pour sauce over chicken. Bake about 30 minutes. Serve over rice.