Spicy Pepperoni-Jack Chicken Panini

A four ingredient meal!  Six, if you count the condiments.  We've been eating "pantry"meals lately before we make our next grocery shopping trip.  This is helping us to save some money plus eat what we have.  And who doesn't want to eat a chicken panini sandwich?

We absolutely love our panini pan and use it all the time.  Every time we make a sandwich we comment on the fact that we're eating an $8 sandwich, just like you would find in a gourmet cafe.  This is homemade gourmet on a budget.

The chicken is first grilled and then layered between the bread, cheese and pepperoni and then the whole sandwich is grilled on the panini pan or press.  What results is a delicious, melted-cheese chicken sandwich.

I recommend not using a regular sandwich bread as the bread, once grilled, will become very thin.  If you use a bakery bread such as Sourdough or French, the bread will maintain it's thickness.

Spicy Pepperoni-Jack Chicken Panini

Makes two sandwiches

Olive oil
Mayo
4 slices of Sourdough bread
1 Chicken breast
Pepperoni slices
Pepperjack cheese

Lightly spray panini pan with olive oil and grill chicken breast until it's thoroughly cooked on medium heat.  Cut open with a knife to make sure it's not still pink inside.  Cut chicken breast in half to use for each sandwich.  Spread the bread slices with mayo (or your condiment of choice) and layer the chicken breast half, pepperoni slices, and pepperjack cheese.  Brush both sides of the outside layer of the bread slices with olive oil.  You can use a knife or a basting brush.  Put your sandwiches on the panini press and top with the lid.  Grill until both sides are lightly browned, flipping it once during cooking to ensure both sides get browned.

Slow Cooker Pork with Mushroom Wine Sauce

Now before you run away because you saw the words mushroom wine sauce, know that this recipe is a simple stir-the-sauce-ingredients-together and pour it in.  I did sear the meat before I put it in the crockpot as this adds more flavor.  If you want to skip this step, go for it.

I didn't even measure, but for you I'll provide measurements!  This was really a pantry recipe and I had made something similar before in the oven but I wanted to try it in the crockpot.  And the pork came out so tender that my husband told me he snuck some out of the crockpot before we ate dinner.

I do realize that there should probably be rice on this plate but we don't do a lot of extra sides as we like to keep it simple in our house.  So serve this with whatever you like.

Slow Cooker Pork with Mushroom Wine Sauce

(click for printable)

1 pkg bone-in pork chops

Olive oil

Salt 

Pepper

1/4 cup chopped onions (you can increase if you like onions)

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup white cooking wine

Pour 1-2 Tbs of olive oil in a pan and sprinkle it with salt and pepper.  Lay the pork chops on top and sprinkle the top side with salt and pepper.  Let it brown on both sides for about five minutes each.  Sprinkle your chopped onions and mushrooms in the bottom of the crockpot.  Lay the browned pork chops on top.  Mix 1 can of cream of mushroom soup with the wine and pour on top of the pork chops.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours.  Serve with your favorite sides.

Skillet Parmesan Chicken

Yesterday I came home from work, raided my pantry, and served up Parmesan Chicken for dinner.  We always have extra cans of tomatoes on hand and they came in handy.

I had already thawed two chicken breasts in the fridge so I was ready to go.  I dipped them in an egg and then Italian bread crumbs and set them to cook in a skillet with some olive oil.  Once they were halfway done I added a can of stewed tomatoes (that's all we had on hand) and let it simmer.

Then I topped everything with cheese and set the lid on top so the cheese would melt.  Dinner was done in about 30 minutes!



Skillet Parmesan Chicken by kSk


Skillet Parmesan Chicken
(click for printable)

2 chicken breasts, thawed (or thighs)
1 egg
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 T olive oil
1 can of stewed tomatoes (or crushed or diced)
Mozzarella cheese

Heat up 1 T of olive oil in pan on medium heat.  Set up two bowls.  One for your egg and one for the bread crumbs.  Beat egg with a fork.  Dip chicken in egg and then dip into the bread crumbs until both sides are well coated.  Place in skillet and let them brown on one side before flipping it over and browning on the other side.  Once chicken is mostly cooked through add your tomatoes and turn down the heat to let it simmer.  I cut my chicken in half at one point to make sure it was cooked.  Top with mozzarella and let it melt and add the lid so the cheese will melt.  Serve with pasta and veggies.

Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells

This is the most glorious, wonderful Italian dish you will ever eat.  I promise.  It's not lasagna.  It's not spaghetti.  It's stuffed shells!

Chicken...yum.

Spinach...healthy.

Cream cheese, ricotta and mozzarella...yes, please.

Tomato sauce...the icing on top.

See?  How can you resist?

This recipe makes a ton of food (a 9x13 plus an extra casserole dish) so make half for yourself and the other half you can freeze or give away.

The filling can be made a day in advance and then the shells stuffed the night of your dinner.  I came home from work determined that I was not going to eat beef stew for one more night so I got this together and into the oven after work.  We did eat a later dinner but it was absolutely worth it!



Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells by kSk

 Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells
(click for printable)


1 box uncooked jumbo pasta shells (we got by with one but you could probably use two)
2 c chopped cooked chicken
1 box frozen spinach
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15oz) container ricotta cheese
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (5oz) package shredded Parmesan cheese (about 1 2/3 c.)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 Tb dried parsley flakes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
26 oz can crushed tomatoes (I make my own sauce.  See below.  You can also use jarred spaghetti sauce).
Thaw spinach and press papertowels agains the spinach in a colander to drain excess liquid.

Cook shells according to package directions.  Drain and let cool.

In large mixing bowl (I did this in my Kitchen Aid), combine chicken, spinach, onion, garlic, ricotta, cream cheese, egg, spices and one cup of mozzarella. 

Pour half of tomato sauce into bottom of two 9x13 pans.  Place stuffed shells on top.  Top with remaining sauce.

Cover pans with aluminum foil.  Bake one and freeze the other.  Or bake two and eat two.

To bake:  Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.  Uncover and sprinkles remaining one cup of mozzarella on top.  Bake another five minutes until cheese has melted.

To freeze:  Cover pan with aluminum foil until ready for use.  Thaw in refrigerator and bake according to the directions above.

Tomato Sauce
Saute two cloves of garlic and however much onion you like in a pan with some olive oil.  Stir in can of crushed tomatoes.  Add whatever Italian seasonings you like.  I use basil and Italian seasoning.  Let it simmer for about ten minutes and then use in whatever recipe you need it for.
Makes 8-10 servings.

Adapted from The Sisters Cafe

Smoked Mexican Chicken

Mexican food in a slow cooker!

I had the opportunity to make dinner for a friend who I knew was having a stressful week.  When the guys decided to take over the living room watching football, I scoured my freezer for ingredients because I was nervous they would be staying for dinner and I would need to come up with food FAST.  I decided to split what I had on hand with my friend for dinner and the guys.

This is two frozen chicken breasts in my crock pot.  On top I added some homemade taco seasoning I had on hand, salsa, and chipotle chiles in adobo sauce.  Chipotle chiles are sold in a can in the Mexican food section of the grocery store.  The dishes I use them in only require about one or two of these so I keep the rest stored in a container in my fridge.  Then I have them on hand to use whenever I want.  Two is the max I would use on a dish because the more you use the spicier it will get.  However, I don't attribute the spicy flavor to SPICY flavor.  It's more like a smoky, spicy heat that doesn't burn your mouth.

I cooked these on high for 3 hours in the slow cooker and then shredded the meat....

 which I turned into enchiladas!  The only ingredients I didn't have on hand were the tortillas and the cilantro.  Everything else I had.  The filling is the shredded chicken mixed with a combo of black beans and kidney beans.  The beans I had previously cooked in my slow cooker and then stored and frozen in ziploc bags.  I poured queso I had on the top and chopped up sprinkled them with cilantro.  I gave up on trying to chop it up because it just never seems to do well for me.  Pop in the oven for 30 minutes and dinner is served.  Or rather delivered to my friend.

And I ended up not having to feed all the guys from this split so that means more for us. 

We used the leftovers in soft tacos the next day because Korey doesn't like enchiladas at home.  But he'll order them at a restaurant.  Go figure.  Maybe he just doesn't like my enchiladas.

Smoked Mexican Chicken by KSK

Smoked Mexican Chicken
(click for printable recipe)


2 T taco seasoning

2 chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (found in Mexican section of grocery store)

1/2 cup salsa


Put two thawed chicken breasts in a slow cooker.

Top with 2 T of taco seasoning, 2 chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, and salsa.

Set on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 3 hours. Shred when cooked.

5 Ingredient Dinner

We had this for dinner but it would also make a great lunch. I would like to thank Paula Deen for her contribution to cooking because she created this simple recipe. Let's just pause for a moment before we dig in...

Here are the ingredients. Only 5!! We have tortillas (I chose wheat because I try to sneak in healthy stuff when I can), shredded parmesan cheese, caeasr dressing (again the healthy version), lettuce, and rotisserie chicken. What you can't see is that the chicken has already been nibbled on because I have a meat-loving husband. See previous day's post for proof.


Here is the recipe in Paula's recent magazine for those of you who want to see it.

Here's a better pic of the end result...chicken casear salad wraps.

Have your meat-loving husband tear the chicken into pieces while you mix together lettuce, dressing, and the cheese. There are measurements in her recipe but you can do it to taste. You could also add in extras like croutons or substitue Ranch dressing for the caesar.

Here's the mixing stage of all the ingredients minus the tortillas.

Fold it into the tortillas, slice in half, and voila you're done! Easy and fast!