Creamy Ricotta Pasta

Look!  I'm getting back into the groove of posting on the blog.  New Year's Resolutions people.  I'm doing what I can. :)

Often times, I need a quick dish.  Something that I can whip up fast so we can eat and get the kids to bed.  This dish fit that parameter quite nicely! The longest part was cooking the chicken.  

One of the things I liked most about this dish, is the fresh tomatoes and spinach.  Those, to me, are what makes this dish a perfect summer dish.  That, and not having the oven turned out.  Cherry tomatoes are also a BIG hit in our house.  Well, with my husband at least.  The little ones don't really care for ANY sort of vegetable.  But if I have cherry tomatoes in the house, I need to hide them before they get eaten.  

So what about you?  Do you have certain foods you need to hide when you buy them so they don't disappear right away? 

CREAMY RICOTTA PASTA

Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

Ingredients

1 chicken breast, seasoned, cooked, and chopped

1/2 lb pasta

1/2 of a 15oz carton ricotta cheese

1 clove garlic, minced 

1-2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half or quarters

2 cups spinach leaves

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

approx 1/4-1/2 cup pasta water (save when draining the pasta)

Directions

Bring a pot of water to boil.  Add the pasta and cook until done.  Before straining the pasta, reserve 1/4-1/2 of the pasta water.  While the pasta is cooking, mix together the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper.  When the pasta is finished, add the pasta water to the cheese mixture and stir to thin it out and make more of a sauce texture.  Add the pasta, chicken, tomatoes, spinach, and cheese sauce together and serve immediately while it's still warm. 

Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

Meals that are quick, and seem fancy are awesome, right?  Sometimes (ok, a lot of the time) I can't spend huge amount of time preparing dinner for my family.  It's just not feasible.  And I don't like cleaning the dishes up either.

This dish was quick, besides letting the chicken marinade during the day.  And even that?  Not a huge process!  Plus the flavor was fantastic.  I kept eating the tomatoes while the chicken was cooking.  While i altered this recipe from the original to pan cooking, you could easily throw the chicken on the grill.  

I also am still lucky to have fresh tomatoes from my garden in the fridge.  The taste of fresh tomatoes from a garden cannot compare to the ones you buy in the store.  The flavors are completely different--in a good way!  Love my fresh home-grown tomatoes.

BALSAMIC BRUSCHETTA CHICKEN
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com
Adapted from: Picky Palate

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, butterflied completely into 4 pieces
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• approx 4 slices mozzarella cheese
• 4 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 Tbsp dried basil 
• 1-2 Tbsp minced garlic (more or less depending on the taste)
• salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Combine the 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and olive oil with a dash of salt and pepper.  Add the chicken and let marinate for a few hours.  When the chicken is marinated, pan-grill in a small amount of oil until the chicken is done.  Place the chicken in a serving dish and top with the mozzarella cheese.  While the chicken is cooking, combine the tomatoes, basil, garlic, dash of salt and pepper, and the tablespoon of vinegar.  When the chicken is all cooked, and topped with the cheese, place in the oven and broil it for just a few minutes until the cheese is melted.  Top the chicken with the tomato mixture and serve.

Grilled Brown Sugar Chicken Wings

I threw a party over the weekend (for my birthday!) and we grilled up these chicken wings, along with an assortment of many other grill-friendly foods I'll be sharing with you over the coming weeks.  So stay tuned for those!  

This chicken was perfect.  The flavors mixed together just right, to give it a nice mix of the sweet and spicy.  Neither overwhelmed the other.  Even picky 4-year olds were gobbling it down and requesting more.  If that's not a definition of a cooking win, I don't know what is!

GRILLED BROWN SUGAR CHICKEN WINGS
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com
Adapted from: damndelicious.tumblr.com

• 4 lbs chicken wings (1 large frozen bag from Walmart was used here)
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 5 heaping Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1-2 tsp chili powder (depending on the heat you want)
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

Combine all but the wings in a bowl.  Place the wings into a large ziplock bag and pour the seasoning mixture over the wings.  Seal the bag up, getting as much air as possible out.  Mix thoroughly, letting the seasoning coat all the pieces.  Let it sit for about 3-5 hours, mixing it around about every hour or so.  Grill on a hot grill (medium heat) for about 5 minutes per side, until cooked thoroughly.

Linked up at: See Ya In The Gumbo,

Fried Chicken--Crazy Cooking Challenge

It's that time of the month!  No, not THAT time, but time for the Crazy Cooking Challenge!  When I saw that the challenge was going to be fried chicken, I knew exactly what blog to go to.

Deep South Dish.  I knew Mary would have an amazing fried chicken (along with loads of other Southern favorites!) and I was right!  Not only did she have a perfect fried chicken recipe, she also has included tips for beginners and how to get the perfect fried chicken.  Go check out her post for the tips.

Now, I've done some frying in my life.  My ravioli's and gyoza (potstickers) are about as far as I've gone though.  But with Mary's awesome tips, I felt confident that I could fry me up some chicken!  She brines her chicken first, overnight, but I was short on time.  She also prefers to have it sit for a while after salt and peppering it.  Like I said. . .short on time and all that. . .and fridge space.

However, my chicken still turned out nice and juicy.  It was perfect.

FRIED CHICKEN
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com
Adapted from: Deep South Dish

• 6 drum-sticks
• salt and pepper
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 cups self-rising flour
• oil, for frying (I used vegetable)

Generously salt and pepper your chicken on all sides, while your oil is heating up in a large cast iron skillet (or dutch oven).  Only fill it about 1inch full.  Set up a dipping station of milk and eggs mixed together, and flour with salt and pepper mixed in.  Dip each chicken piece in the milk/egg mixture, allowing the excess to drip off, then the flour.  Place on a plate.  When your oil is about 350degs, slowly, CAREFULLY, add 3 pieces of chicken to the oil.  Let it fry for about 8-10 minutes on that side, then carefully turn it and let it fry for about 6 minutes on the other side.  Drain the chicken on a paper bag, or on a rack over paper towels.  Repeat the process until all the chicken pieces are cooked.  You can keep the chicken warm in a low-temp oven, and if the chicken isn't cooked all the way through, finish it up in a 350deg oven, until juices run clear.

**If you could be so kind to click on #3 down there in the linky group (hop on over to the blog if you're in a reader!) I would love it!  This is a challenge, and every click helps me win!**

Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken Kabobs

It's grilling season 'round these parts folks!  And that makes me happy--first, because we finally have a grill.  No more faux grilling on our Forman!  Our gas grill does a MUCH nicer job.  Second, Captain Jax seems to think it's his responsibility to grill the food when we grill.  That means I only have to do the prep work.  I'm not complaining about that 1 bit!

This chicken was so fresh and juicy tasting.  Even K-girl, who has been on a "I'm 4 and don't like anything" kick lately, ate this chicken.  Cooking WIN!!!  If you have kids you totally understand what I mean about that.  We didn't even have any leftovers, which was amazing.  We couldn't stop eating this chicken.  

LEMON GARLIC GRILLED CHICKEN KABOBS
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com
Adapted from: One Perfect Bite

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoon minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more, to taste
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more, to taste
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

Mix together all the seasoning in a large bowl or bag and then add the chicken pieces.  Let the chicken marinate all day or even overnight, mixing the chicken occasionally to insure all pieces get marinated.  Skewer the chicken pieces on a kabob stick (if using wooden sticks, make sure you soak them beforehand so they don't burn too much on the grill) and spoon extra marinade over the chicken.  I placed all the skewers into a 9x13 pan, and then spooned the marinade over the top.  Grill for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally.  Check the chicken in the middle to make sure it's cooked completely.  

Baked Dijon Chicken

How we loved this quick chicken dish!  As a mom with two little ones under feet, I love being able to quickly pull together a dinner.  Mix together the mustard sauce, pour over chicken, throw in oven.  Ad some quick steamed veggies and we're good to go!  Easy clean up too. 

For this recipe, (and many others lately) I cut the chicken breast in half--butterfly style.  This helps if they're partially frozen, and you have a VERY sharp knife.  I use a ceramic one, which I LOVE.  Cut them in half with your blade parallel to the cutting board.  Cut them all the way through so you have 2 skinny pieces.  

BAKED DIJON CHICKEN
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com
Adapated from: Skinny Taste

• 2 chicken breasts--butterflied to make 4 skinny ones
• 3 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp mayo
• 1/2 tsp crushed garlic (1 clove)
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• salt
• dried parsley

Preheat oven to 400degs.  Sprinkle the chicken with some salt and pepper.  Mix together the mustard, mayo, garlic, lime juice, and pepper.  Arrange chicken in a pan, spoon some of the mixture on the chicken.  Flip and spoon the rest over the chicken.  Bake for about 30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Lemon Chicken Cordon Bleu

I'm a fan of chicken cordon bleu.  It's somewhat fancy, and pretty tasty.  But it can be rather time consuming.  And I'm not very good at rolling my chicken up.  This method of butterflying them down the middle, giving you one large flat piece was nice.  Instead of rolling it up though, you just lay the ham and cheese on it, and fold the chicken back over it.  I had NO cheese leaking out, which was fantastic!  The cheese stayed where it should have been.  

I used just a few toothpicks to secure everything.  The lemon slices on top though were perfect.  So perfect.  They gave the chicken such a nice flavor, and I think I liked this over the breaded chicken version that you normally see!

LEMON CHICKEN CORDON BLEU
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com
From: Can You Stay For Dinner

• 2 chicken breasts
• 4 thin slices ham
• approx 1 cup shredded provolone/mozzarella cheese mix
• 4 slices lemon
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400degs.  Take your chicken breasts and carefully split down the middle.  Think of them like a book--you're opening them up, but not cutting the spine.  Layer your ham, and then sprinkle with cheese.  Approx a cup per breast, but if that seems like too much/not enough, adapt! Fold the chicken back onto itself, tucking in all the pieces of ham and cheese sticking out, otherwise they just burn.  I used a few toothpicks on each breast.  Spread a little bit of oil on the top and bottom of the chicken pieces, and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Top each piece with 2 lemon slices and bake for about 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked thoroughly.

Pan-Roasted Chicken With Lemon-Garlic Green Beans

You know how have you certain meals that are 'special occasion' meals?  You make them for birthday's and dinner parties, when you want to impress someone with a fancy meal.  I have my fair share of those recipes, and I thought for sure this would land in the pile.  It does, but it also placed itself in my 'quick-to-make' pile! I couldn't believe how fast it came together.  Throw it all together and toss it in the oven.

And the presentation was beautiful as well!  I loved how the chicken crisped up nicely.  And the garlic and lemon. . .{{drool}} yeah, totally my favorite type of mixture.  No doubt.  

PAN-ROASTED CHICKEN WITH LEMON-GARLIC GREEN BEANS
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com
Adapted from: Real Simple

• 6 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1-2 tsp pepper
• 1 lb green beans, trimmed
• 2 large potatoes, cut into 1" pieces
• 6 chicken drumsticks, or 4 bone in with skin, chicken breasts
• parm cheese, for topping

Preheat oven to 450degs.  Coat a large baking dish with 1 Tbsp oil.  In a large bowl, combine the rest of the olive oil, the lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper.  Add the green beans and toss to coat.  Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the green beans and arrange them in the bottom of the pan.  Add the potatoes to the oil mixture and toss to coat.  Follow the same procedure to remove the potatoes and arrange on the green beans.  Add the chicken in the bowl next and coat.  Place the chicken (skin side up) in the dish.  Pour the remaining oil mixture over the chicken.  Roast for 40-50 minutes, depending on the type of chicken you use.  Remove the chicken from the dish, sprinkle the veggies with parm cheese and place them back in the oven for 10 more minutes, or until the potatoes are done.  Serve warm.

OPTIONAL:  For extra lemon flavor, try slicing a lemon and laying the slices in the bottom of the pan, before you put your veggies in.

Creamy Lime Chicken Taquitos

This taquito recipe is very similar to my chicken rolls, only with a change of seasoning.  I loved how quickly this recipe came together, which made it perfect for a weekend dinner.  The seasonings use give them just enough of a smokey/spicy flavor without losing the creamy taste from the cream cheese and sour cream. 

Perhaps I'm not skilled enough in the baking of taquitos, but a lot of mine split open during baking.  I'm not quite sure what to do about that.  Perhaps my tortillas were too old and were more prone to splitting?  Or I cooked them to long?  Either way, quite a few spilled out onto the baking sheet.  Still yummy, just not as pretty.  :)

This would also be a perfect addition to a Cinco De Mayo party, or to throw in your child's lunch box!  maybe even an after school quick snack.  

CREAMY LIME CHICKEN TAQUITOS
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

• 1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded/diced
• 4oz cream cheese, softened
• 6 oz shredded cheese
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• spices to taste: cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper (use as much or little to suit your family's spice tolerance)
• approx 12 six-inch tortillas (corn or flour)

Combine everything but the tortillas in a bowl and mix well.  Soften 3 tortillas at a time for approx 20 seconds in the microwave.  Spoon about 2Tbsp of the chicken mixture onto the tortillas and roll tightly.  Secure with toothpick(s).  Place on a greased baking sheet.  When all your tortillas are rolled, spray them lightly with cooking spray.  Then bake at 425degs for 15 minutes.  OPTIONALLY: you can heat up some oil and fry these babies!

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

I cannot get enough of soup recipes lately! It's odd to me, because winter never really showed up here.  We've had MAYBE 2 inches of snow the whole season at our house.  It's unheard of!  I haven't even unpacked my winter coat from storage yet.  

Regardless of the lack of snow here, this soup hit the spot perfectly.  Nice and creamy, yet with plenty of chunks.  Just how I like 'em!  It made a lot as well, as a heads up, and it takes some time to cook so plan accordingly.

CHICKEN AND WILD RICE SOUP

Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup frozen corn
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup carrots, sliced
• 1-2 cups shredded chicken
• 1 can mushrooms, drained
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup cooked wild rice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half or whole milk

Melt the butter in a large pan.  Add the corn, celery, and carrots.  The vegetables are interchangeable, just aim for about 1 to 1 1/2 cups worth.  Cook for about 5-7 minutes on medium heat until the veggies are tender.  Add the mushrooms and chicken and cook for a few minutes longer.  Add the flour and stir well.  Slowly add the chicken broth, and bring to a boil.  Once it hits that point, reduce the heat, and stir for a few minutes until the soup has thickened.  Add the rice and other seasonings and let it all heat up.  Add the half and half or milk and let the soup simmer for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick.  This helps it thicken slowly.  Don’t let it boil!  Feel free to sprinkle with cheese before serving. 

Adapted from: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

This is one of my favorite party foods.  For things like baby showers, and bridal showers, I love to make this chicken salad.  It's quick and easy to make, as well as tasty!

The problem with my chicken salad recipe is it's all approximate.  I know, that's hard for a lot of people in the kitchen.  I do a lot by taste and texture/consistency.  Let me tell you the basics though, and you can play with it to suit your tastes!

CHICKEN SALAD
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

• shredded chicken (rotisserie works great for this)
• Mayo
• Diced celery
• Diced grapes
• seasonings: celery seed, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper

Combine mayo and chicken in a bowl.  Add more mayo or chicken until it's a spreadable consistency--err on the side of more mayo.  Add diced celery and grapes, then check the consistency again.  You want it to be chunky, not too runny.  Add more grapes/celery/chicken to get it to a nice texture.  Add seasonings and taste.  Make sure you can taste enough of what you want--I like being able to taste the onion and celery flavor.  Spread mixture on croissant rolls and serve.

Linked up at: This Week's Craving,

Jerk Chicken Kabobs

JERK CHICKEN KABOBS

It's grillin' season 'round these parts!  Which actually means for us to bust out the Forman and use that.  Sigh.  Someday. . .hopefully before summer's end. . .we'll have a REAL grill to cook on!  I've been craving my steak. . .medium rare. . .I want to try make some herb butter to melt over the top!

But kabobs work great on the forman.  However, don't trust it when it tells you it's done.  The chicken might not be cooked fully, so check it before you dig in.  We had to cook it twice to get fully cooked chicken!  Next time we'll cut the heat down a bit.  WAY too spicy for my weak mouth!

JERK CHICKEN KABOBS
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com
Adapted from: Kraft Kitchens

• 1 env. (0.7 oz.) GOOD SEASONS Italian Dressing Mix
• 2 Tbsp.  brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 2 Tbsp.  soy sauce
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp.  ground thyme
• 1/2 tsp. ground red pepper (cayenne)
• 1-1/2 lb.  boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces
• 3 red bell peppers, cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces
• 1 fresh pineapple, cut into 1-1/2-inch chunks2 small yellow squashes, cut into rounds

Mix together the italian dressing mix, sugar, oil, soy sauce, cinnamon, thyme, and ground pepper.  Add the peppers, squash, and pineapple.  Mix well, and transfer them to another dish along with a spoonful or 2 of the marinade.  Add the chicken to the sauce, and mix well.  Let everything set and soak for at least 30 minutes, longer won't hurt!  Thread onto kabob sticks, and grill over medium heat until the chicken is cooked through, turning often to prevent burning.  

Chicken Parm

 CHICKEN PARM

 There's something about things smothered in cheese.  I love it.  That's how my dad would get us kids to eat leftovers. :)  When I was looking for a chicken parm recipe, I couldn't believe how many were out there, and how much SAUCE they all had.  I'm not a sauce person. 

 So I created a recipe to make it have less sauce.  And since Captain Jax (my husband) doesn't like large amounts of parmesan cheese, I couldn't coat the chicken in parmesan cheese like most recipes had.  Instead I mixed together some cheese with some italian flavored breadcrumbs.  Gave it a tasty crunch!

CHICKEN PARM
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

• 2-3 chicken breasts--cut in half, so they're thin
• Flour for dredging--season with salt and pepper
• 2 eggs, mixed
• 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
• 1/4-1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• oil for pan frying
• approximantly 2 cups marinara sauce
• mozzarella cheese

Heat oil in the pan at a medium heat.  Mix together the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Take the chicken and coat with flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumb mixture.  Pan fry the chicken--chances are it will cook completely on the pan.  Pour enough sauce in a baking dish (you might need 1 9x13 and 1 9x9, depending on the size of your chicken) to JUST cover the bottom.  Add the cooked chicken, and spoon about 1-2 Tbps sauce on the chicken; don't drown it!!  Cover the chicken with the mozzarella cheese, and cook at 350degs until the cheese is melted (10-15 minutes).  When the cheese is melted, turn the broiler on for just a few minutes until the cheese is browned.  Serve over pasta, and add more sauce as you desire!