Pan Roasted Chicken & Vegetables

4-6 chicken thighs (bone in and with skin on)
1 pound baby red potatoes,  quartered
2 cups baby carrots, quartered
1/2 medium yellow onion, coarsley diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon rosemary, crushed

1/2 teaspoon thyme
3 Tablespoons olive oil (plus some for chicken)

For Chicken: Additional olive oil, seasoned salt, pepper & paprika

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix vegetables, seasonings and olive oil in large bowl.  Spread in Pampered Chef bar pan (or 15x10x1 pan of your choice.  There should be enough oil that it doesn't stick but you can spray with cooking spray if you think it might.).

Lay chicken thighs on top of vegetables.  Rub them with olive oil and season them with a little seasoned salt, pepper and paprika.

Bake for 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

ALTERNATE: This also works great with Shake'N Bake. Just prepare the chicken as directed on the package and bake it on top of the vegetables.

Crispy Baked Buffalo Style Wings

These wings are delicious! Very crispy for baked wings and as good as many restaurant wings I've had. I found the cooking method online. They are boiled on the stove, then broiled in the oven, then tossed in a mild traditional Buffalo style sauce. Adjust the amount of hot sauce to your taste or try them with your own favorite sauce.

24 wings (used Kroger brand frozen chicken party wings)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Seasoned salt to taste

Place wings (frozen or thawed) in large pot and cover with water. Add salt and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil 15 minutes.

Place wings on aluminum foil lined baking sheet and season with seasoned salt. Set oven to broil on high heat. Place baking sheet on lowest rack and broil for 15 minutes. Make sauce (see below) while wings are cooking. After 15 minutes, remove from oven, turn wings over, and return to the oven to broil another 10-15 minutes.

SAUCE
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup hot sauce*
1/2 tsp. garlic (optional - adjust amount to your taste)

Melt butter on medium heat. Add hot sauce and stir. Cook on low until wings are done. Toss wings with sauce using tongs. If you prefer, you can brush the wings with sauce after the first 15 minutes.

Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing and celery or carrot sticks if desired.

Serves 2.

*The above measurements are for a mild sauce. Increase hot sauce to 2/3 cup for medium wings; 1 cup for hot.


iPhone photo - didn't know I would like them enough to post the recipe so just snapped a quick pic.

Crockpot Turkey Breast

1/4 cup butter, cut into patties
1 bone-in turkey breast, thawed
Seasonings

Spray crockpot with Pam and place butter in bottom of crockpot. Turn on to low.

Rinse turkey breast and pat dry. Place in crockpot.

Season liberally with your favorite seasonings - I used garlic powder, seasoned salt, dried minced onion and Mrs. Dash. When the turkey cooks, the seasonings are watered down so be generous with your seasonings. Turn over and season the other side as well. Season under the skin also.

Cook all day on low - meat will be falling off the bone. I pour the drippings over the meat when I serve it.

Tomato Basil Skillet Chicken

1 packet Grill Mates Tomato Garlic Basil marinade
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
1 package thin sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts

Combine marinade mix with water, olive oil and white wine. Marinate chicken in mixture in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Place chicken and all the marinade liquid in large skillet. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes. Add a little more wine if you need more liquid. Turn chicken, reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered 10 minutes or until done. Stir and turn a few times while cooking. (NOTE: If you don't use the thinly sliced chicken, you may need to cook it longer).

Pesto Pasta with Chicken & Veggies

• 1 13 oz. package pasta (I used whole grain penne)


• Olive oil


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1/4 cup minced onion


• 1 zucchini squash, sliced and quartered


• 1 yellow squash, sliced and quartered


• 1 cup sun dried tomatoes, cut into bite sized pieces


• 1 small jar sliced mushrooms


• 2 6-oz. packages Perdue Italian Style chicken shortcuts


• 10-oz. jar Classico Traditional Basil Pesto sauce (more or less, to taste)


• Sea Salt


• Fresh ground pepper


• Italian seasoning


• Parmesan cheese (I used approximately 2 Tbsp.)

This is a very flexible recipe - add or change vegetables and adjust seasonings to suit your taste.

Cook pasta according to package directions. While it cooks, saute garlic, onion, zucchini and yellow squash in olive oil, approx. 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in tomatoes, mushrooms and chicken and cook until warmed through.

Drain pasta and return to the pot. Add pesto sauce and chicken mixture and toss to coat evenly. Add enough olive oil so that it's not too dry. Season with remaining seasonings to taste and stir in Parmesan cheese.

Heat up again if necessary (by the time I got the seasonings the way I wanted them, it needed to be warmed up a little) and serve.

Serves 6.

Creamy Garlic Mushroom Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Seasoned meat tenderizer (or regular seasoned salt)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. dried or fresh minced onion
1 cup Weight Watchers shredded Mozzarella cheese
2 cans 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup
1 small jar sliced mushrooms
1 cup Weight Watchers shredded Mexican cheese blend (optional)

Spray casserole dish with cooking spray and preheat oven to 375.

Coat the bottom of the dish with a spoonful of soup.

Place chicken in dish. Sprinkle a little seasoned meat tenderizer on top of each piece of chicken. Top with garlic, onion and 1 cup mozzarella cheese.

Mix remaining soup with mushrooms and spread on top.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. If you want it extra cheesy, add the Mexican blend cheese on top now and return to oven for 10-15 minutes.

Chicken ala the Fighting Sophias

My office recently had an iron chef competition, and the name of my team was The Fighting Sophias. Long story. Anyway, I tried to recreate the turkey dish we made at the competition using chicken. It is not exactly the same but it is good nonetheless. Problem is, I didn't measure anything so you have to guess at how much of everything to use. If you're up for that challenge, give it a try!

CHICKEN

• Marinate chicken breast (thinly sliced or pounded flat) in a mixture of white wine, olive oil, fresh garlic, Italian seasoning, basil, fresh ground pepper and sea salt for at least 30 minutes, turning a few times.


• Bake on aluminum foil 10-15 minutes or until done (or better yet, grill)

CHUTNEY

• Mix chopped red pepper, chopped onion and minced garlic.


• Add Italian seasoning, pepper, salt, a little olive oil and a dash of crushed red pepper.


• Saute 5 minutes over medium heat

Serve chicken topped with the chutney. At the competition, we also included yellow peppers in the chutney and served it on a bed of sliced grilled zucchini. I just had sauteed zucchini and yellow squash on the side.

Italian Turkey Meatballs

1 lb. lean ground turkey
2-3 slices stale bread or buns, crumbled
1/4 cup Egg Beaters
1/3 cup minced onion
2-3 tsp. garlic powder
2-3 tsp. Seasoned Salt
2-3 tsp. Italian seasoning

IMPORTANT NOTE: I don't measure the seasonings, so you may need to experiment with the amounts to your taste. Turkey is a little more bland than beef so keep that in mind.

Mix all ingredients well and form into walnut-sized balls. Spray frying pan with Olive Oil cooking spray. Add meatballs and cook over medium heat, stirring and turning frequently, until done. Add to your favorite pasta sauce.

Garlic & Herb Baked Chicken

We need lots of good (and easy) heart healthy chicken recipes, if you have any! This is what I made last night. I experimented with cooking it in foil and it came out pretty good.

1 envelope McCormick Grill Mates® Garlic, Herb & Wine Marinade
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil (actually I used a little less than this)
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts.

Mix marinade with water then add olive oil and stir well. In glass bowl or plastic bag, coat chicken with marinade and refrigerate for 15 minutes or so. [The marinade mix calls for some vinegar also but I didn't have any.]

Line baking pan with a couple of layers of aluminum foil. Place chicken on foil. Top with another layer of foil and seal edges. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

I served this with Uncle Ben's whole grain brown & wild rice mix that you cook in the bag in the microwave for 90 seconds and steamed green beans.

Ranch chicken

2 Chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
Soft butter
Ranch dressing
Garlic & herb flavored bread crumbs

- Preheat oven to 350
- Spray baking dish with Pam
- Pound chicken until 1/4 inch thick
- Spread some butter on one side and roll up (butter inside)
- Coat with ranch dressing
- Coat with bread crumbs
- Bake at 350 for approximately 45 minutes

Cheesy Ranch Chicken

2 tsp olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup Ranch dressing
1 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat bottom of baking dish with olive oil. Coat chicken breasts with ranch and place in pan close together. Top with remaining ranch. Bake for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle cheese over top. Bake for another 15 minutes, until cheese is nicely browned.

Salsa Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 jar Pace picante sauce
1-2 cups of shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375F.

Place chicken breasts in baking pan. Cover with salsa. Cover baking pan with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle cheese over the top and bake another 30 minutes.

Cheddar Delight Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups Kraft 2% shredded Cheddar cheese
Seasoned Salt

Preheat oven to 350. Place chicken in lightly greased baking or casserole dish and lightly season with seasoned salt. Spread soup over chicken. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake 30-45 minutes.

For variety, change the cheese to Kraft's cheddar/mozzarella mix.

Also good fixed in the crockpot - cook on low 6-8 hours.

(Recipe modified slightly from recipe from Victorian Guest House in Towanda PA.)

NOTE: Sprinkle a little meat tenderizer over the chicken before topping with soup for more tender chicken. When I did this, I skipped the other seasoning.

Baked Parmesan Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 slices provolone cheese
1/2 stick butter
Tabasco sauce
1 cup Italian style bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400F.

Place chicken between two sheets of wax paper and flatten to about 1/4 inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. On each chicken breast place a small pat of butter and 1/2 slice provolone. Roll up and secure with toothpicks.

Mix bread crumbs and parmesan. Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in a dash of tabasco. Dip chicken in butter mixture and then in bread crumbs, coating well. Arrange on baking sheet.

Bake 30-40 minutes at 400.

Chicken & Stuffing Casserole

4 Boneless chicken breasts
4 Slices Provolone cheese
1 Can Cream of Chicken soup
1/3 Can water (using soup can)
1 Box Chicken-Flavored Stove Top Stuffing, prepared

Preheat oven to 375. Place chicken in lightly greased baking or casserole dish. Cover each piece with a slice of cheese. Mix soup with water in a separate container, then pour evenly over chicken and cheese. Spoon prepared stuffing evenly over top.

Bake for 30 minutes hour at 375.

(Cut chicken into strips or large pieces if desired. Leftover chicken or turkey can also be used - reduce baking time to 25-30 minutes)

Baked BBQ Chicken

1 package chicken breasts
1 package chicken thighs
1 large Reynolds cooking bag
2 Tbsp. flour
Seasoned Salt
1/2 bottle BBQ sauce

Preheat oven to 350.

Open cooking bag and place in 9x13 pan. Add flour. Hold bag closed and shake to coat bag.

Pour BBQ sauce into bag, hold bag closed, and squeeze to mix flour in with the sauce.

Season chicken lightly with seasoned salt and add to bag. Hold bag closed and turn to coat chicken with sauce. Arrange chicken into even layer.

Bake 1 hour. Remove from oven. If breasts and/or thighs have skin, remove to broiler pan and place under broiler 5 minutes (or less) to crisp skin (watch carefully so you don't burn it!).