Chicken and Dumplings (Slow Cooker)

When I told Shane what I was making for dinner last night I got the rolling of the eyes that normally accompanies new recipe try-outs for him.  I don’t know if he’s never had chicken and dumplings before or if it just isn’t his thing, but he’s always said he doesn’t like dumplings.

Well…  I’ll take some credit now because he liked MY dumplings!  😉

This is a slow cooker recipe, although the timing isn’t great for a working person.  Only requiring 5-6 hours, it isn’t quite long enough to start in the morning and leave on all day (unless you have one of those fancy crock pots that will automatically switch itself to the ‘warm’ setting when it’s done.)  For me though, this is a great weekend dinner.  Start it around noon on a Sunday afternoon and you’re good-to-go.

And using the frozen chicken breasts is an added bonus!  I did some research, and the Crock-Pot website says (link here) you can use frozen meats in your slow cooker, but obviously make sure the meat is fully cooked before eating it.  (Duh?)  The below recipe was enough time for mine to cook, but please do double-check your meat with a thermometer.

So throw your chicken in, season to taste, add a pat of butter on top of each…

Like so…
And then add the rest of the ingredients (which I didn’t take a picture of because my camera ran out of battery, but I think you can handle it)

And voila!

Super easy and super tasty chicken and dumplings!
I took that pic when it was piping hot straight from the cooker, but it does thicken a bit upon standing.

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless frozen chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 (10.75oz) cans cream of chicken soup
• Chicken broth
• 2 cans refrigerated biscuit dough (I used 2 of the small cans)
• Seasoning, to taste.

Directions:

1. Place the chicken in the slow cooker.  Season as desired (I just used salt, pepper, and a generous sprinkle of garlic powder)
2. Add 0.5 tbsp of butter over each piece and then pour the cream of chicken soup on top.
3. Dump in the entire container of chicken broth and then top with enough water to cover the top of the chicken.
4. Cover and cook on the high setting for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
5. Remove the chicken breasts and cut each breast into 3-4 pieces.  Put the chicken pieces back in the slow cooker.
6. Tear your biscuits into little bite-size pieces.  It doesn’t need to be perfect.  Place the biscuits in the slow cooker and cook for an additional 1 1/2 hours.  Your biscuit dough should have a dumpling-like consistency and shouldn’t be raw in the center.
7. Enjoy!

Cheddar Baked Chicken

Recipe adapted from: Allrecipes

I’m going to start off this post by apologizing for the bad pictures.  I am far from a photographer, and when the settings on my camera are changed I have no idea how to get them back.  But, nevertheless, this chicken was really good!

Flour, pepper, salt, garlic powder

Cheese, bread crumbs, cereal

Egg & milk

Buttered dish

Coated and ready for the oven

The finished product

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup AP flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
• 1 pouch Shake n Bake Extra Crispy
• 1 cup Rice Krispies
• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Pour your melted butter to coat the baking dish.
2. Mix the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the  egg and milk.
4. In a third bowl, combine the cheese, bread crumbs, and cereal.
5. Keep your bowls in that order and work down the line.  First, dredge your chicken in the flour mixture, dip in the eggs, then press it in the bread crumb mixture to coat.  Really push the chicken down in the bread crumbs.  Transfer to your baking dish.
6. Bake for 35 minutes or until coating is golden brown and chicken is done.  (35 minutes was just a tidge too long in my oven, so keep an eye on it)

While the chicken was in the oven, I noticed that I had my first bloom on this batch of flowers from my Aero Garden.  Pretty, isn’t it?

And now back to the chicken:

Shane took that last picture.  You can tell he didn’t use a paper towel to soak up the butter from the bottom  🙂

Chicken Noodle Casserole

Ambyr at TheCoupoNinja asked if I’d be interested in posting some recipes for her readers that would incorporate some ingredients from her weekly shopping list…  and I was very happy to accept.  This week I came up with a classic comfort food dish:  Chicken Noodle Casserole.  

You’re very welcome to use the recipe here, but if you want to find out how I made it for under $2 a serving you’ll need to visit her site.  

  

The only thing you’ll need to imagine adding in your head would be some peas.  I think they’d really top off this dish, but I couldn’t include them or Shane wouldn’t have eaten. 🙂  Picky husband hates veggies.  

Saute some chicken

  

Mix up your noodles

  

Noodles ->

  

Chicken -> Cheese ->

  

Noodles ->

  

Topping or...

  

just some more cheese

  

Ingredients:  

• Boneless skinless chicken breast tenders
• 1 box fettuccine pasta
• 1 can cream of chicken and mushroom soup
• 2-3 tbsp sour cream
• 1.5 cups shredded cheese
• a couple handfuls of Lay’s potato chips

Directions:  

1. Slice your chicken into bite sized cubes, season, and then saute in EVOO until cooked.  Once the chicken is done, remove it to a paper towel covered plate to remove any excess oil.
2. Meanwhile, cook your pasta accordingly to the package directions, however subtract about a minute from the cooking time.  You want a firm ‘al dente’
3. Drain the pasta and then return it to the pan.  Add the soup & sour cream and mix to combine.
4. Put a few handfuls of Lays original potato chips in a plastic bag and crush to form crumbs.
5. Layer the ingredients in your baking dish.  Pasta ->Chicken -> Cheese -> Pasta -> Chips
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

I wasn’t sure if I would like the chips on top, so I did half with the chips and half with just some extra cheese.  It’s no comparison.  For me, the chips win hands-down.  I even crumbled up some extra while I was eating because I wanted some chip in every bite 😉  

I also made it with sharp cheddar and I should have used something a bit more subtle and a little less sharp.  But those are my only suggestions  🙂  Hope you enjoy.  

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

This is by far the easiest recipe you’ll ever try for chicken cordon bleu-ish!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

The ingredients

Ingredients:

• Boneless skinless chicken breasts (I buy the thin-sliced breasts, but you can pound regulars to the desired thickness)
• A slice of regular sandwich meat ham for each chicken breast
• A slice of provolone cheese for each chicken breast
• olive oil (optional)
• Salt & Pepper (to taste)
• Extra crispy Shake ‘n Bake
• Toothpicks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Season both sides of chicken with salt & pepper if desired.  I do, and it makes it taste better.  Go figure.  🙂
3. Top each chicken breast with a slice of ham and then a slice of cheese.
4. Roll up and secure with a wooden toothpick.
5. Brush chicken with olive oil and then gently place in the Shake ‘n Bake bag.  You’ll want to shake the bag gently because otherwise the toothpick will poke holes in it.
6. Put coated chicken on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or so – until chicken is fully cooked.
7. Enjoy.  (Don’t forget to take the toothpicks out!)

On the baking sheet

Enjoy!

As you can see, I served it with the homemade alfredo recipe from my last post.  They went together very nicely 🙂

Katie’s Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Here’s a recipe courtesy of my lovely sister.  She took one of Mom’s basic recipes (for broccoli casserole — haven’t posted that one here yet, but I will) and tweaked it up into an entrée.  Yummy!

I must apologize for this picture though.  To be perfectly honest, I have the incredibly bad habit of “losing” stuff in the fridge.  It goes in, and never comes back out.  This casserole was one of them.  The recipe makes enough for a large 13×9 pan, but I broke it down into two 8×8’s because I was taking one to my book club meeting.  Hubby put the extra one in the fridge under a pizza box, and I forgot about it!  I was so disappointed because I love this casserole, but I don’t like eating leftovers more than a day or two after the fact.  So this one got tossed, but not before I snapped a pic of it so I’d at least have something to show on here.

Katie's Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of “microwave in bag” broccoli florets
• 1 bag of extra wide egg noodles (I use No Yolks brand)
• 2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cans ‘Cream of Chicken and Mushroom’ soup
• 1 can milk
• 5 tsp sour cream
• 2 cups cheese (16 oz)
• Ritz crackers (crushed)
• Butter (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into cubes and cook in pan (saute with a lil EVOO)
2. Cook pasta as directed, but subtract 1 or 2 minutes from the cooking time.
3. Cook broccoli for half the time recommended on the bag (or even a little less)
4. In a saucepan, heat the cream of chicken/mushroom soup and the milk.
5. Once all of that is done and ready, you can begin layering.  She does broccoli, chicken, pasta, soup, cheese.  Repeat those layers.
6. Then top with the Ritz crackers (she pours the melted butter over the Ritz, but I leave it off completely)
7. Here’s where her recipe got even more shaky.  She says, “Bake in probably an 11×9 baking dish.  I think it is 350? Can’t remember how long.  Wow, this recipe is inexact”  LOL
8. I baked it at 350 for about 30 minutes.  Just keep an eye on it.  The cheese should be nice and bubbly and the crackers will have a nice, toasted brown color.