Quick & Easy White Chicken Chili

1 jar salsa (my favorite brand is La Victoria)

1 (16 oz.) container sour cream

4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

1 can great northern white beans *

2-3 cups cooked chicken OR 1 large can chicken, well-drained

1 tsp. cumin or cumin to taste (I used 1 1/2 tsp.)

garlic powder to taste (I used 1 tsp.)

pepper to taste (I used 1/4 tsp.)

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot & heat on low until warmed through.  Alternately, heat on the stovetop on medium until hot, stirring occasionally.  If too thick, thin with chicken broth or water.  Serve with tortilla chips.  * The original recipe didn't say to drain the beans, but I drained and rinsed mine the first time I made this & the chili was a lot thinner, so next time I'll probably try it without draining.

First off, again I apologize for the horrible picture.  I'm desperate for a new camera, but unfortunately that'll have to wait a while.  I found this on What Megan's Making.  Thanks to Google Reader & some helpful hints from Annie's Eats, I know have access to even more recipe blogs w/ yummy new recipes to try (this can be both a good and a bad thing).  My kids turned up their noses at this when I first put it in front of them, but they eventually ate it & didn't complain.  The tortilla chips were an especially nice touch, because they both LOVED dipping their chips into the chili.  YUM!

Hearty Chicken Noodle Casserole

1 can cream of mushroom soup (I know I say this a lot, but I HATE mushrooms so I used cream of chicken)

1/2 cup milk

1/4 tsp. ground pepper (I used 1/2 tsp.)

1//4 cup Parmesan cheese (I've used both freshly-grated & the powdered kind & both taste good)

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables (no need to thaw)

2 cups cooked cubed chicken

2 cups cooked egg noodles

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Stir soup, milk, black pepper, Parmesan cheese, vegetables, chicken & noodles in a greased 1 1/2-quart casserole dish.  Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until hot.  Stir & then top with cheese.

I found this recipe on Sister's Stuff.  This is one of those super easy & quick dishes to just hurry & throw together when I don't know what else to make for dinner.  Both of my kids love this & Tyler loves anything with egg noodles, so this is great for our family.

Hawaiian Haystacks

Sauce:

1/4 cup poultry gravy

1 1/4 cups water

3 chicken bouillon cubes

2 cups chicken broth

2 Tblsp. soy sauce; the first time I tried this it was way too salty for my taste, so next time I'll only use 1

4 Tblsp. cornstarch

chicken

Topping Choices:

shredded cheese of choice

pineapple

chow mein noodles

slivered almonds

celery

coconut

mandarin oranges

tomatoes

broccoli

other toppings of choice

Mix first two ingredients over low-medium heat.  Add next three. Then slowly stir in cornstarch.  *If your cornstarch looks too lumpy & looks like it isn't mixing in very well, don't panic like I did.  If you keep stirring, it will all work out.  :)  After you've added the cornstarch, turn up the heat and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat back down and simmer for a few minutes & then it'll be ready to serve.  * The sauce will be really watery until it boils & until the cornstarch kicks in, so again, don't freak out the way I did.  :)  I added the chicken right in with the sauce, but this is entirely optional.  Serve over rice & then assemble your haystack to your liking.  

I found this recipe on a blog called My Girl's Kitchen.  One of the best things about this dinner is that it has the potential of being an entire, food storage-based meal if you use canned chicken.  After having this sauce I don't think I can ever go back to using just plain cream of chicken soup again.  My whole family loved this & it both my kids LOVED putting their very own haystacks together.  :)

Oven-Fried Chicken

3-4 chicken breasts OR 6-8 chicken tenders

1/4 cup flour

dash of salt

dash of pepper

1/8 tsp. paprika (I like to add at least 1/4 tsp., sometimes 1/2)

2 Tblsp. butter

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Cover a cookie sheet with foil.  Place flour, salt, pepper and paprika in a bag.  Add chicken and shake well.  Place chicken on cookie sheet and top each piece with a pat of butter.  Bake one hour.

A couple of years ago, my friend Rebecca Wolfenbarger gave me a CD with a collection of recipes.  I found this one on that same disc from one of Rebecca's friends named Jane McKenna.  I was so surprised by how yummy this chicken was.  It's also has a lot less calories than KFC's fried chicken does.  ;) It's a great dinner to just put into the oven & then relax for the rest of the evening until it's time to put dinner on the table.  Just add your own coleslaw, biscuits, mashed potatoes & gravy & you're set.  :D

Chicken Parmigiana

4-6 chicken breasts OR 6-8 chicken tenders

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp. salt

1 Tblsp. steak seasoning OR fill a Tablespoon with equal amounts of paprika, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes or lemon pepper.  (I used lemon pepper because I didn't have red pepper flakes on hand).

2 Tblsp. butter

3-4 cloves minced garlic (I always use 1/4 tsp. per garlic clove because it's easier & faster)

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

1/4 tsp. sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

salt & pepper to taste

6-8 basil leaves, chiffonaded

fresh fat leaf parsley (I didn't use this or the basil because I didn't have either of these either)

Whisk the flour, parmesan cheese, salt & steak seasoning together in a medium-sized bowl.  Place chicken breasts in between two pieces of wax paper & whack them flat.  Coat both sides of chicken evenly with breading mix; set aside.  Melt the butter in a skillet & then add the garlic.  Stir constantly so that the garlic doesn't get too brown.  Open up the tomatoes, but don't add them quite yet.  It's so much easier to open the can now so that you can just pour it all in instead of worrying about burning your garlic while you're fiddling with the can.  Make sense?  Anyway, back to the recipe.  Once your garlic is golden, add the tomatoes & sugar.  Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Be sure to be careful while you're stirring.  When I made this the mixture was splashing tomato all over the stove!  Once the sauce has simmered, stir in the cream & salt & pepper to taste.  Cover & simmer for an additional 3 minutes, then lower the heat to keep warm until you're ready for it.  While the sauce is simmering, start your noodles to boil.  I used spaghetti but you can always use whatever noodles you have on hand.  Bring the water to a boil, then add 1 tsp. of salt for flavor, and 1 Tblsp. olive oil to prevent your noodles from sticking.  Once you've gotten your noodles into the pot, start cooking the chicken by melting 2 Tblsp. butter and 2 Tblsp. olive oil in another large skillet (I used my electric one) over medium-high heat until it's nice, hot, melted & brown.  Add your chicken breasts & cook on each side for 4-5 minutes.  Once the chicken is ready, put onto plates with noodles, top with marinara sauce & then top everything generously with mozzarella cheese right away so it can melt & get all gooey & yummy.

I found this recipe on Kevin & Amanda.  I've searched endlessly for a good chicken parmigiana recipe ever since I've been married.  Everything I tried with just regular spaghetti sauce didn't taste nearly as good as this did!  I've always been a huge fan of The Olive Garden's Tour of Italy, but this chicken parmigiana was SO MUCH BETTER than the one included in this dish.  Ahhhh; I love love LOVE Italian food!!!  :D

Cheddar Broccoli Chicken with Potatoes

1 can chicken, drained

8 oz. frozen broccoli florets, thawed & drained (or more, if desired)

1 can Campbell's cheddar cheese soup

splash of milk

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and heat thoroughly.  Serve over hot mashed potatoes.  That's it!  This is one of the fastest, easiest dinners I have on my list, and it's very good comfort food too.  :)  I found this on Campbell's website.  Even the kids love this!

Sweet n' Sour Chicken

3 pounds chicken breasts (approx. 16 chicken tenders)
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 beaten egg
6 Tblsp. flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock
3 1/2 Tblsp. ketchup
1 Tblsp. soy sauce

Cut up chicken, sprinkle with garlic salt & pepper.  Let stand for one hour or more.  It's almost always too late for me to do this by the time I'm trying to cook dinner, but it still tastes good if you don't let it sit for this amount of time.  The flavor is more strong if you do.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Dip chicken pieces in beaten egg, then get it good & covered with flour.  Brown in hot oil.  Place in greased baking dish.  Mix sugar, vinegar, chicken stock, ketchup and soy sauce in a saucepan.  Heat & pour over chicken.  Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Serve over hot, cooked rice.

Another recipe from The Recipe Society.  This dinner was sooooooooooo YUMMY!!!!!  If you're ever craving Chinese, but don't want to pay the price for it, this is a recipe I've found that tastes just as good (if not better!) than the sweet n' sour chicken that you can order from any Chinese restaurant.  Tyler raved about this dinner.  He's never been so excited to take leftovers with him to work the next day for lunch!  :)  You have GOT to try this, especially if you love Chinese food!!!

Poppy Seed Chicken

4 chicken breasts
2 cans cream of chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
1 sleeve Ritz or Town House crackers, crushed
1/4 cup butter
3 Tblsp. poppy seeds

Cook chicken & cut into bite-sized pieces. Place in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Mix together soup and sour cream and pour over chicken. Melt butter, add crushed crackers and poppy seeds. Stir to combine, then sprinkle over soup and sour cream mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until bubbly. Serve over rice.

Here's another recipe that I found on The Recipe Society food blog. This was soooooooo yummy!!! Tyler cleaned his plate in nothing flat when I served this earlier this weekend. The kids were a little skeptical because of the poppy seeds, but they still ate it without complaining. I only buy chicken tenders because they're more kid-friendly, so for this recipe I cooked 8 of them. I also prefer Town House crackers over Ritz. I've tried a few other poppy seed chicken recipes over the years that Tyler & I have been married, & this one is definitely my favorite.

Baked Parmesan Chicken

2 cups crushed Ritz crackers or bread crumbs
3 Tblsp. grated Parmesan
Dash of garlic salt
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup butter, melted
8 oz. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup

Combine cracker crumbs and cheese. Dip each chicken breast in yogurt to coat, then dip into crumb mixture. Arrange in greased 9x13 pan. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Serve with sour cream/cream of chicken sauce (all you need to do to make this is to place both ingredients into a saucepan & heat) and rice.

I got this from The Recipe Society. The first time I made it I served it with mashed potatoes. Tyler really liked the potatoes with it but I prefer the rice with the sour cream sauce. Last night I served this with steamed broccoli & it made the entire dinner even more yummy & satisfying. Both of my kids never complained; their plates were both clean by the time dinner was over. :)

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen broccoli, cooked
approx. 2 cups chicken, boiled until fully cooked
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tblsp. lemon juice
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 to 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Spread broccoli evenly into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Mix chicken with remaining ingredients. Pour on top of broccoli mixture. Sprinkle desired amount of bread crumbs and more cheese over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve on top of baked potatoes, rice or noodles.

I have my cousin Megan Murphy to thank for this recipe. She & her husband Ryan invited us to dinner at their new house a couple of months before we moved, and this is what she served us. She put the casserole on top of baked potatoes and it was SOOOOOO scrumptious. Broccoli, chicken & cheese are quite the winning combination. Thanks Megan!! :)

Cream Cheese Crock Pot Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts, or 8-10 chicken breast tenders
1 envelope Italian dressing mix
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
4 Tblsp. butter
1 clove garlic, minced *
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup water or chicken broth

Spray crock pot with Pam.* Put in chicken & sprinkle with dry seasoning packet. Mix butter and cream cheese. Add soup, then water (or chicken broth), and then the garlic.* Place mixture directly on top of the chicken. Cover and cook on low heat for 4 to 6 hours. Serve with rice or noodles.

*Instead of using fresh garlic, I just use 1/8 tsp. of garlic powder, which is equivalent to 1 clove fresh garlic. I also use Reynold's plastic crock pot liners every time I use one & it saves tons of scrubbing time. I have my sister Elena to thank for this yummy recipe. :) She served this one night while the kids & I were over at her house, and it was soooooooo good! When she went to serve the chicken, she drizzled the gravy over the rice. It was VERY tasty. I made it last night after church and even both of my kids loved it, which usually doesn't happen very often. :)

Chicken Salad Casserole

2 cups cooked, diced chicken
4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
3 cups cooked rice (1 cup regular=3 cups cooked)
1 cup mayonnaise
salt to taste
1 Tblsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 cans cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sliced almonds
crushed potato chips *

Mix together mayonnaise, soup, salt & lemon juice. Add to and mix with chicken and rice. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. After about 25 minutes, remove from oven & top with cheese, almonds and potato chips.* Return to oven & bake 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted.

*I used Baked Lay's potato chips when I made this recipe because regular potato chips are too greasy for my taste. I also found that by adding the chips on top & baking them with the casserole, the chips became more soggy when I went to serve the leftovers. So, the next time I make this I'll serve the chips to the side.

I want to thank my Mom profusely for sharing this recipe with me! One of the sister missionaries, Sister Rust, who serves with her in the Madrid temple invited my Mom over to dinner a while back & this was what she served. Mom then emailed me this recipe & said that I just HAD to try it because it was so yummy. When I first looked at the ingredients I was a bit skeptical about it, but I made it last week and we all LOVED it! I was pleasantly surprised. This recipe makes GREAT leftovers too! I know there are some people out there who don't like hard-boiled eggs, or eggs in general, but if you love eggs the way me & my family do, this recipe is a MUST TRY! :)

Velvet Chicken

6 to 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked & cubed
10-3/4 oz. can cream of chicken soup
1 8 oz. container sour cream
1/2 cup butter (or margarine), melted
1 8 oz. pkg. pasturized processed cheese spread, shredded *
1 sleeve buttery round crackers, crushed *

Combine chicken, soup and sour cream. Spread in a greased 9x13 baking pan. Pour melted butter over top; sprinkle with shredded cheese, then crushed crackers. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serves 6 to 8.

*I used Velveeta and Ritz crackers the first time I made this. I came across this recipe in one of my Gooseberry Patch cookbooks (http://www.gooseberrypatch.com/) and it is really yummy. If you love cheese, you've got to try this recipe.

Chicken Potato Bake

1 (3 pound) broiler or fryer chicken, cut up *
1 pound red potatoes, cut into chunks
1/2 to 3/4 cup prepared Italian dressing *
1 Tblsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 to 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Place chicken in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Arrange potatoes around chicken. Drizzle with dressing, sprinkle with Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese. Cover and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 to 30 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender and chicken juices run clear.

This was a very easy dinner to prepare. I remember making it for the first time back when Tyler & I were newlyweds, and how happy I was when Tyler commented on how good it was. *I've used chicken breasts and tenders with this recipe and they've all turned out very good as well. I've also used ranch dressing in place of the Italian. YUM!!

Island Chicken Salad

1 10-oz. can chicken, well-drained
1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple, well-drained
1-2 celery stalks, chopped
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tblsp. mayonnaise

Mix all ingredients together well and chill. Serve with croissants.

I found this recipe in one of my cookbooks from Gooseberry Patch (www.gooseberrypatch.com). I made it for the first time last night and our whole family loved it! It's always nice to have a meal that doesn't require heating up the oven or turning on the stove when it's hot weather. I also served this meal with a tossed salad, and it was great!

Cobb Salad

shredded lettuce *
3 to 4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
cooked, cubed chicken breast *
3 to 4 tomatoes, sliced & chopped
approx. 2-3 slices cooked bacon, crumbled *
shredded cheddar cheese, if desired

All of the measurements are approximate. I love tomatoes so much that I always add more of them than others might with their salads. I also use canned chicken (from Costco or Sam's Club) and pre-cooked, pre-packaged Oscar Meyer pieces of bacon to speed up the preparation process. And, Tyler loves quite a few things that have cheese on them, so it really is a matter of preference with this salad. With summer coming so fast now, I always try to think of meals that I can make that don't require using the stove or the oven too much. Tyler really likes this recipe. I'm sure that you can use any dressing that you would like with this salad. Personally, ranch is my only favorite, so I've never had this salad with any other kind.

Santa Fe Stir Fry

1 large can fully-cooked chicken, drained
2 cups mixed frozen vegetables, cooked & drained *
1 envelope Lipton Onion soup mix *
1/4 cup oil
1 Tblsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

In a large skillet, blend dry soup mix, oil, water, lime juice and garlic powder; bring to a boil. Stir in chicken and vegetables. Cook, uncovered, 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently. Serve over hot rice.

*With the vegetables, I almost always just use regular mixed blends, because I always have them on hand, and I hardly ever buy stir-fry vegetable blends. The very first time I made this, I used the entire envelope of the soup mix, and for me, the onion taste was way too strong. So, the next time I made this I only used half of the envelope, and I was able to save the remaining mix for another time. However, it's all a matter of taste. That's what I love about cooking; if you come across a recipe that you'd like to change, it's always possible.

Bisquick Chicken Pot Pie

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 chicken breast, cooked & cubed*
1 2/3 cups frozen mixed vegetables, cooked & drained

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all of the above in a large bowl. Pour into greased 9" pie plate. In another bowl, mix together 1 cup Bisquick, 1/2 cup milk and 1 egg. Pour evenly on top of vegetable mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Whenever I make this recipe, I only use 1 large can of fully-cooked, cubed chicken. These are available at Costco or Sam's Club, and I always try to keep them handy. This always makes the prep-time go by much faster. I am not very talented when it comes to making pot pies, (I hope to be a good pie baker someday), but this was a pot pie recipe that didn't intimidate me!

Chicken Lasagna

1 box oven-ready lasagna noodles (about 12)
1 jar alfredo sauce*
1 16 oz. cottage cheese
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese (or as much as you prefer)
2-3 chicken breast tenders, cooked & cut up *
16 oz. pkg. fresh spinach *

In a large bowl, mix alfredo sauce, spinach* and chicken. Place 1/2 of mixture in the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Place 3 lasagna noodles on top of chicken mixture. Add a generous layer of cottage cheese and mozzarella on top, then noodles; repeat layers. Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 45 minutes to one hour.

* Whenever I make this recipe, I always use 1 large can of drained chicken. This makes the prep time go by much faster, and I always have them handy. I buy mine at Costco, but they're available at Sam's Club, also. I only use "Bertolli" brand alfredo sauce. I LOVE alfredo sauce, and this is by far the best store-bought brand that I've ever tried. As for the spinach, it's really just a matter of taste. I only use half of one 16-oz. package. If you choose to use the whole thing, I would double the amount of sauce and chicken that is added. I'm not very fond of regular lasagna, but because I love alfredo sauce so much, I just came up with this recipe on my own one day. It's very good, even if I do say so myself.

Biscuit Pot Pies

1 can golden corn biscuits *
1 can cream of potato soup
1/3 cup milk
1 can mixed vegetables, drained *
1 can chunk chicken breast, drained

Cut each biscuit in half to form 2 circles. Grease 2 muffin pans and press 1 circle into each cup. Mix soup, milk, vegetables and chicken in a bowl. Season to taste. Spoon chicken mixture into biscuit cups. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

*When I first made this, I couldn't find golden corn biscuits, so I used buttermilk instead. They still tasted great. I also never use canned vegetables, so I thawed and drained frozen vegetables & used them instead. Another tip is that you can also use canned tuna instead of chicken. Or, you can fill the biscuit cups with cooked taco meat and top with cheese, etc. after baking (I haven't tried this yet).

I also wanted to mention that when I first made these for dinner one night, Tyler wasn't completely satisfied after having 3 of them, so in my opinion, this recipe is much better if you have an appetizer you need to prepare, or if you need a quick, satisfying lunch. Either way, they are YUMMY!