I’ve been messing with different camera lenses lately. I really do like how close up I can get to the food pictures I take using my macro lens, but then I also like my 55 mm lens. You can pretty much do anything with your picture if you have a 55 mm lens. That is if you have the largest file size setting your camera can go pixel wise. The part I like most about using my 55mm lens is being able to zoom in really close to something, almost as if I was taking pictures with my macro lens and just crop the picture how ever I like it.

I made some chicken in the crock pot the other day ago, and the 2 main ingredients were apricot preserves and Catalina dressing. The recipe also called for a package of onion soup mix, which I didn’t have. The recipe was so so, makes me wonder how much of a difference the chicken would have been if I used onion soup mix? I hate it when that happens.

I do like this chicken recipe that I tried today a lot better. Who isn’t a fan of chicken cordon blue? I was nice to my husband and left off the Swiss cheese. Loved the cream sauce that went over this as well. Someone at work made a chicken cordon blue lasagna and it was FANTASTIC. I felt like I was part of a really exclusive supper club at work.

Recipe from Life as a Lofthouse

Ingredients

3 large boneless skinless Chicken Breasts, cut in half lengthwise, to form 2 thinner cutlets. (In total you will have 6 thin chicken breast cutlets)
12 slices deli Ham
12 slices thinly sliced Swiss Cheese
1 cup fresh Bread Crumbs
2 Tablespoons Butter, melted

FOR THE PARMESAN-DIJON CREAM SAUCE:
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Chicken Bouillon granules (or 1 bouillon cube, crushed)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan Cheese

DIRECTIONS: Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs and melted butter. Set aside.

Lay the cut chicken breasts in a single layer in the baking dish. Layer each chicken breast with two slices of ham, overlapping so they cover entire breast. Then over the ham layer two slices of swiss cheese overlapping to cover ham. Repeat over all chicken breasts. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the tops of the chicken.

Bake the chicken for 30-35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and cheese is bubbling, and bread crumbs are golden brown.

While the chicken bakes, in a medium saucepan on medium heat, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter. Stir in the flour, whisking constantly. Cook for about a minute. Slowly pour in the milk, still whisking constantly. Stir in the chicken bouillon granules, and salt. Continue to whisk constantly until the mixture begins to simmer and thicken, about 3-5 minutes. Once the sauce has thickened, turn the heat down to low and stir in the mustard, worcestershire sauce and Parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted. Keep the sauce warm until chicken is finished cooking.

Oh, Chicken, did you just cluck at me?”

Crap.

“No, ” I squawk hoarsely.

“I believe you did. Yes, you did. You remember what I said I’d do to you if you clucked?”

If you make this chicken for your loved one, he will cluck because it is good, but don’t kiss him because the chicken is coated in garlic. The skin was very crispy and flavorful and the chicken turned out so juicy and moist.  You can mess with the different types of mustards and herbs used in the recipe. I used rosemary, sage, and thyme instead of fresh basil. It came in this poultry seasoning packet.  I’ve never roasted a whole entire chicken in the oven before and this cook book inspired me to try something new. I want to make the Chicken with a Lardon next. It’s a whole entire chicken wrapped in bacon. The titles are also really funny. My favorite was Chicken under the covers which was a clever title for chicken pot pie.

To win this cook book, leave a comment and tell me what your favorite chicken recipe is. Also, please like my facebook page. Good luck!

Contest ends on March 1st.

Mustard-Spanked Chicken

Print recipe

Ingredients

• 3-4 pound chicken
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh basil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.

Directions

Step 1

Rub the chicken all over, including the cavity, with salt and pepper

Step 2

In a small bowl, stir together the mustard, basil, and garlic and slap it hard onto the bird everywhere you just rubbed the salt and pepper. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 1 hr so it can cover.

Step 3

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a rack i a roasting pan.

Step 4

Carefully lay the bird on the rack, breast side down. Drizzel with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Roast for 30 minutes. Thrust a wooden spoon into the chicken cavity and flip the bird over so the breasts are up; the bird is golden brown and quite done, about 30 to 40 minutes longer. Enjoy.

What can I say about this recipe? It tasted like corn flakes on top of chicken and that was it. The cornflakes on the bottom of the chicken were soggy and not crispy at all. Ben suggested to cook it on a wire rack. Not really sure if I’d make this again. I really wanted to like this recipe because usually  I’ve liked most of Trisha Yearwood’s recipes of hers that I’ve tried so far. They’re such easy recipes. I like the idea of this though. I want to try it using different flavored potato chips.  If anyone is interested in trying this recipe it can be found here. It’s also supposed to be healthier fried chicken, but the nutrition info on the link is kind of high in points.

There was some pretty frost covering the trees on Friday morning so I took some pictures.

I took the two things my husband hates the most: Mac and cheese and Buffalo Chicken, and combined them together to make Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese. The only reason I did that was because he was gone for the weekend. We also had some bad weather so I thought, this would be something warm and comforting to make when there’s a blizzard outside.

This was good. I halved the recipe because if I didn’t, I’d be eating Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese for at least two weeks. Awhile ago, I posted a recipe for Buffalo Chicken Casserole and I think I like that better then this mac and cheese. The cream cheese in the casserole made it more creamy.  I find mac and cheese to be kind of bland depending on what kind of cheese is used most of the time, and this is a good way to spice it up. I just wish I had added more buffalo sauce. What I really want to do is take this mac and cheese, wrap in some bacon, and then dredge it in some bread crumbs and deep fry it. It’s a good thing I joined a gym huh?

recipe adapated from Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

Print recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound pasta
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 4-6 tablespoos butter
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 ounces grated monterrey jack cheese
• 1/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup buffalo sauce
• 1/3 panko bread crumbs

Directions

Step 1

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Step 2

In a skillet, melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Let the flour cook out for a little bit. Add in the milk.

Step 3

Add the cheeses and buffalo sauce into the milk mixture.

Step 4

Stir in the noodles and add the mac and cheese to a greased 9X13 in pan. Layer some more cheese and bread crumbs. Bake at 350 until the cheese is melted and the bread crumbs have browned. 30 minutes.

Wow, I can’t believe how good and super easy this was! I’ve never tried Lawry’s marinades until now, but I’ve always used their seasoned salt in recipes. The marinade makes the chicken so moist when it’s cooked on the grill. To save even more time, I had a jar of queso cheese dip in the fridge and all I had to do was warm some of it up in the microwave. Ben doesn’t like cheese sauce on top of anything so that was really nice and I could just portion whatever of that I needed to use.  The cheese sauce on top of the orzo and chicken almost made me think I was eating some kind of nacho pasta. So delicious. I will definitely make this again, and now I want to try more of Lawry’s marinades.

Thank you Plain Chicken, this was an awesome recipe.

Queso Smothered Chicken

Print recipe

Ingredients

• 1 bottle Lawry's Baja Chipotle Marinade
• 4 boneless chicken breasts (without skin or bone i)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons chili powder or Southwestern Seasoning
• 8oz velveeta cheese
• 1 can rotel tomatoes
• 1 cup orzo

Directions

Step 1

Pour Baja Chipotle Marinade over chicken and let marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight. When ready, grill chicken until done (165 degrees).

Step 2

While the chicken is grilling prepare the orzo.

Step 3

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add orzo. Cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned. Stir in Southwestern Seasoning or chili powder, tomato paste and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Step 4

Combine Ro-tel and Velveeta in a medium bowl. Heat on HIGH in the microwave in 30 second intervals until cheese is melted.

Step 5

To assemble the Queso Smothered Chicken - place 1/4 of the orzo on a plate, top with grilled chicken. Pour 3-4 Tbsp cheese dip over chicken and orzo.

Now I think I know how all the restaurants out there get that great authentic Mexican taste with their chicken tacos. They use fresh ingredients. That means no store bought jars of salsa. I had some fresh tomatoes sitting in my garden so I thought I’d give this a whirl. I didn’t have any bell peppers or jalepeno peppers on hand but those peppers probably would have helped. Used a dried chipotle pepper instead. Chop the fresh tomatoes up and cook them in a pan with some onion. Puree the tomatoes and onion together in the blender. I used my emersion hand blender. Wear an apron too. This splatters. Add in spices such as cumin, fajita seasoning mix, whatever your favorite taco seasonings are. Voila, spicy chicken tacos.

I cooked the chicken in the crock pot all day long with just some water and shredded the chicken up with a fork. This was so yummy. The recipe almost reminded me of the spicy chicken tacos I had at the new taco truck in town here. Fargo finally has it’s first food truck and I wish they’d get more. The truck is called Taco Bros Food Truck. It was awesome, I’d go back there and order one of everything on their menu. Now you can re-create this same spicy taste.

Spicy Chicken Tacos

Print recipe

Ingredients

• 2lb boneless skinless chicken breast (shredded)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 5 medium tomatoes
• 1/2 large onion
• 1/2 medium bell pepper
• 1 small jalapeno
• handful cilantro
• 1/2 lime
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons taco seasoning (chile powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, etc. )
• 5 to 10 cups water
• 2 tablespoons salt

Directions

Step 1

Place chicken with garlic, water and salt in a large stock pan. Bring to a boil and cook for approximately 35-40 minutes, until. cooked thoroughly. You will not over cook it in the water as the water helps the chicken retain moisture as it cooks.

Step 2

While the chicken is cooking, combine tomatoes with onion, 2 cloves of garlic and 1 tsp sea salt in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil and allow to cook until the tomatoes break down, about 20 minutes.

Step 3

Remove tomato mixture from heat and allow to cool slight, about 10 minutes. Once cooled add tomato mixture to a blender or food processor with the bell pepper, jalapeno, 2 garlic cloves, lime juice and cilantro. Puree until smooth.

Step 4

Shredded your chicken (it should just fall off the bone) and set aside.

Step 5

Add your butter to your medium sauce pan and allow to melt over medium low heat. Return your tomato mixture to the pan, add taco season and sea salt/black pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.

Step 6

Place your chicken in a medium sauce pan over low heat and spoon desired amount of sauce over chicken. I used about 1/2 the sauce to get it really moist and juicy.

Step 7

Once heated through, remove from heat and enjoy as is, on tacos, burritos, chimichangas, quesadillas, salads, etc. Enjoy!

Recipe from Danica’s Daily

I’ve never had the store bought chicken taquitos. I always avoided them, because they were deep fried and these you can bake. I  love it how you can turn just about any unhealthy/fried food into something healthy and bake it. Egg rolls are next on my list.:)

These were stuffed with chicken, salsa, spices, and cream cheese. I thought they lacked in flavor a bit, but I had left some things out like scallions and cilantro. Don’t leave those out, like I did!  At my favorite fast food restaurant they have these stuffed rolls kind of like taquitos, but with beans and cheese called Mexi rolls. That would be a great way to make this dish vegetarian.

Don’t forget to like my Facebook page!

Ingredients from Pennies on a Platter

Yield: 12 taquitos

3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup green salsa
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice (juice from half a lime)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp sliced green onions
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup shredded Mexican flavored cheese
small flour or corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 425˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, salsa, lime juice, ground cumin, chili powder, onion powder and garlic. Once combined, stir in the cilantro and green onions. Add the chicken and cheese; mix thoroughly.

(If you decided to prep this in advance, refrigerate the mixture at this point until ready to continue.)

Working with a few tortillas at a time, heat them in the microwave between two paper towels until they are soft enough to roll (about 20 – 30 seconds).

Spoon 2-3 Tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto the lower third of a tortilla. Roll the tortilla as tightly as you can.

Place the rolled tortilla seam side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas until the mixture is gone.  Make sure the taquitos are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until crisp and golden.

Serve with salsa, sour cream or guacamole.

**To freeze:  Before baking, chill the taquitos on the baking sheet in the fridge.  Once completely cooled, wrap each taquito individually with plastic wrap.  Place in a labeled freezer bag and freeze.  To bake a frozen taquito (no need to thaw first): Preheat oven to 425˚F and bake for 20 minutes.