Lemon Garlic Chicken

My father-in-law and Andy's paternal grandmother stayed with us last night. This was the very first time his grandmother had been to our house, so I knew dinner had to be special. The only problem was that I had a late work meeting and Andy would be in charge of making dinner. Now to be fair, Andy is an excellent cook and I totally trust him to come up with something, but I wanted the dinner to nice and thought out.

So I looked in the freezer over the weekend and found a whole cut chicken. I was really inspired by this recipe I found on Pinterest. After thawing the chicken I threw it in a gallon bag with the zest and juice of one lemon, two minced cloves of garlic, some olive oil, parsley, rosemary, salt, and pepper. I let it marinate all day and gave Andy instructions to put the chicken in the oven at 375 degrees and cook for 45 minutes to an hour with an extra squeeze of lemon.

Holy smokes, this was good. Tons of flavor and easy to throw together. I love that the original recipe suggests freezing the bag of chicken and marinade and then using it when you need it. I need more meals like that in my life. Plus the flavors are totally customizable.

Best Chicken Salad Recipe

I love chicken salad. Like, really, really like chicken salad. 

I order chicken salad pretty much where ever I go. I like when the chicken is shredded and the salad is more of a spread. I like it plain, with herbs, with slivered almonds, the list goes on and on.

A couple years ago on our honeymoon I read Mary Kay Andrews', who I met here, book called Little Bitty Lies. There was a fabulous chicken salad recipe in the book and I've been making it ever since. Be warned, it's time consuming and the ingredient list is a little different, but the end product is so worth it. (P.S. The name is odd too, but it makes sense if you read the book.)

Beyond the Grave Chicken Salad

(Recipe from Mary Kay Andrews' site)

5 lbs. chicken breasts
2 quarts water
parsley sprigs
1 large onion, quartered
1 tsp. seasoned salt
2 chicken bouillion cubes

In large pot, bring water and seasoning to boil, add chicken, lower heat and simmer 40 min. Remove from heat and shred chicken. (I like using my standup mixer to shred chicken like I did here)

Dressing:
1/2 cup bottled Italian salad dressing
1 cup Duke’s mayonnaise (It must be Duke’s!!!)
1 Tbsp. white vinegar
1-1/2 tsp. celery seed
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
dash paprika

Blend well together.

For salad:
Toss shredded chicken with one cup of dressing and let stand at least one hour to marinate.
Combine remaining dressing with:
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. honey
Add to chicken and mix well. 

*As a side note, I like to toss the chicken with all the dressing to start, then make another full batch of the dressing with the sour cream and honey for the second round. It just heightens the flavors. 

5 lbs. chicken breasts
2 quarts water
parsley sprigs
1 large onion, quartered
1 tsp. seasoned salt
2 chicken bouillion cubes
In large pot, bring water and seasoning to boil, add chicken, lower heat and simmer 40 min. Remove from heat, cool. Shred chicken and refrigerate.
- See more at: http://marykayandrews.com/recipes/test-recipe/#sthash.m3fm1ze3.dpuf

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

I’m not always the most adventurous when it comes to trying new recipes. I am a creature of habit and I like knowing that I’ll like whatever I took the time to make. But I’ve been trying to push myself to experiment in the kitchen, especially with all the great recipes I find on Pinterest.  Well I definitely found a winner with the Crispy Cheddar Chicken. I totally forgot to take pictures during the assembly process but it’s super simple, just follow the blog. We will be making this many, many times.

 Here is the link at Jamie Cooks It Up!

Shredded Chicken with my KitchenAid Mixer

I have a new favorite use for my KitchenAid mixer, SHEDDING CHICKEN! I know, say what? I found a cool tip on Pinterest and actually tried it out. This was awesome. Shredded chicken is my favorite way to add protein to a meal, but it’s such a pain in the butt to bake the chicken and then sit there with two forks or a knife and shredded it. I know, cry me a river but it can really slow down prep time. So in walks the KitchenAid and you have beautifully shredded chicken in no time. So here’s the low down.

Buy chicken, duh! If you have frozen chicken breasts in the freezer those will totally work.
Boil the chicken. I’ve never done this before but it’s easy. Bring a pot of water to a boil, throw the chicken in, and let it do its thing for about 20-30 minutes. It won't look very appetizing but it will, I promise. Take the chicken straight out of the pot while it’s still hot and throw it into the mixing bowl. Use the paddle attachment and turn it on for 20-30 seconds. And voila! You have fabulous shredded chicken that you can use in pasta, soups, tacos, etc. I highly recommend you try this!

Chicken and Dumplings Ya'll

I’m a little behind on my cooking blog. I’ve been really good though and I’m trying lots of new recipes. I was not very adventurous when it came to food growing up. We had a handful of recipes that the family would eat and that was it. (I must say that this was in spite of my mother’s desperate attempt to expose us to new things.) Anyway, I don’t want Ace to get bored with dinner and he is willing to try pretty much anything I want to make. It’s been a fun experiment. I love the idea that I could be finding our ‘family recipes’, the meals that my family will ask for over and over again.

My new favorite tool in the kitchen is definitely my crock-pot. It makes cooking super easy and you pretty much cannot mess it up. With the weather getting cooler, it got down to the 50’s in the Carolinas this past weekend!!!!, the crock-pot is awesome.

Chicken and Dumplings
Adapted from Allrecipes.com
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (a little over 1 lb)
2 tablespoons butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 onion, diced
1 can refrigerated biscuit dough
Pepper
Garlic salt
Chicken stock

Sprinkle chicken with pepper and garlic salt. Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough chicken stock to cover. (You can use water but stock adds flavor.)
Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 90 minutes before serving, place torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Stir everything and shred chicken if you want. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.

I, of course, forgot the take a picture of the final product but that’s okay because it’s not particularly pretty. But oh it is sooo good and comforting.

Slower Cooker Test Run

Growing up, my family never used a crock pot. However the more I get into cooking the more I wanted one. Everyone says slow cookers are so easy to use and everything always tastes great. So I was super excited when my fabulous future sister-in-law and her mother gave me a crock pot at my bridal shower. I immediately found a ton of recipes I wanted to try and I thought I would show you my first attempt.

P.S. I cut the portion down to two instead of four because it’s just Ace and me and we aren't great with leftovers. However I did make the full sauce recipe because I like sauce. ;)

Slower Cooker Angel Chicken
Adapted from Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour

I used:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Half a pack of 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms – diced
1 can condensed golden mushroom soup
1 stick of butter
1 pkg. dry Italian salad dressing mix
½ cup chicken broth

1/2 cup diced white onion
Half of an 8 oz. tub of chive and onion cream cheese spread
Angel hair pasta

Here is all my stuff!

First melt the butter in the pan. The original recipe didn't call for onions but I had some in the fridge that needed to be used up so I threw those in too. When the onions were translucent I stirred in the Italian dressing mix, condensed soup, chicken broth, and cream cheese. Stir until all melted together.

Next place the diced mushrooms on the bottom of the crock pot. Place the uncooked chicken on the mushroom layer and top it with the sauce. It's not crazy pretty but it smells amazing by this point.

Cover with the lid and cook on low for 5 hours.

When it's all done we spooned the chicken and sauce over angel hair pasta, although you could use rice too. It was sooo good! We will definitely be making this again and it was crazy easy to make. Try it!