Tag Archives: Chicken

Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

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Let’s talk about college.

Most of you have been there. Done that. Lots of you are doing your little grown up things and what not. But I’m just getting started over here. Holy Canolli! There is a ridiculous amount of stuff that goes on when thinking about colleges. Not to mention cost! You can’t do anything without having to pay some weird fee. What the heck is up with having to pay $5 for every college I want to send a transcript to, on top of the application fees (which I have seen go up to $80!).

And then… picking a major. AGHHH! I’m 17 years old…and I’m supposed to know what I want to be doing till I’m 60?! Some college essays ask why you are interested and passionate about a certain major. I was kind of thinking about going as undecided…but how am I supposed to write an essay on my passion for being undecided?

I’ve figured some of the stuff out, it’s just super duper overwhelming. Sorry for the little rant. I’m not the least bit offended if you just looked at the pretty pictures ;)

Sidenote: I’m beyond excited for college and actually LOVING senior year of high school!

ANDDDD if you’re still with me here, you will LOVE this chicken! It’s super tasty and something different to spice up your weeknight dinner routine. I made this for my family on a Monday school night when I had soccer training and homework, you can for sure whip this up pretty quick so it’s perfect for you busy people out there! We ate the chicken with green bean, white or brown rice would be great with this chicken, too, because of the sweetness from the brown sugar.

Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

4 cloves of Garlic, minced

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 Tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

  1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Lightly spray a casserole dish with cooking spray (some people may want to line with tin foil, but I didn’t find this necessary)
  2. Saute minced garlic in olive oil in a small sauté pan, until tender. Remove from heat once tender, mix in brown sugar and onion powder.
  3. Coat chicken with brown sugar mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until chicken testes done! Be sure it’s cooked all the way through, chicken breast are hardly ever the same thickness, salmonella is NOT your friend!! ;) ENJOY

Random Fact of the Day: The Earth rotates 1.5 milliseconds slower every century

P.S. Julie over at Spinach and Sprinkles was just blessed with her first baby! Go on over and congratulate her on her little baby boy :)

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Lighter Cajun Chicken Pasta

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I’ve made cajun chicken pasta before. Lovved it! Funny, because I usually really don’t like cajun food at all. Anywhoo, I made it again!

Except this time it was a wee bit different. And a wee bit friendlier on the bikini bod. ;)

I’m just trying to look out for y’all, you know. Especially after all those double chocolate mousse cupcakes, and all of the “accidental” I-made-too-much chocolate mousse. Yeah, so here is some delicious pasta for the day you finally feel like eating a real meal with stuff that has good things for you in it.

Lighter Cajun Chicken Pasta

(Serves about 4-5 people)

16 oz. boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 4-4oz. breasts)

8 ounces pasta (I used spaghetti)

3 teaspoons Cajun seasoning, I just used my basic spice mix that I always have on hand

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

2 medium bell peppers, thinly sliced

1/2 white onion, sliced

2 teaspoons crushed garlic

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 cup chicken broth (I used low sodium & fat free)

1/3 cup skim milk

1 Tablespoon flour

1 ounce neufchâtel cheese

salt and pepper

  1. Prep all your veggies. In a small bowl, whisk milk, flour, and neufchâtel cheese until FULLY combined. Set aside. Season chicken generously with seasoning, salt, and garlic powder to your taste.
  2. Prepare pasta in salted water according to directions on package
  3. Heat a large heavy skillet and drizzle about a Tablespoon of olive oil, cook chicken until done. Set aside on a plate. Add olive oil to the SAME pan and reduce heat to medium, sauté bell peppers onion, and garlic for 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes and sauté for about 3 more minutes. Season with salt & pepper, garlic powder, and more seasoning, to taste.
  4. Reduce heat to medium-low and add chicken broth and milk-neufchatel mixture stirring and cooking for about 2 more minutes.
  5. Return chicken to skillet, add more seasonings to taste, cook for about a minute and a half  until chicken is warm. Add pasta, and toss to coat with sauce. Serve and enjoy!

 

Random Fact of the Day: Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s famous line in The Terminator ‘I’ll be back’ was originally scripted as ‘I’ll come back’.

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BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

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Remember that BBQ chicken grilled cheese sandwich that I made before? I pretty much wanted to marry that baby. It was a miraculous creation, if I do say so myself.

Anyhow, I made almost the same thing except quesadilla style! I LOVE quesadillas, just about as much as I love grilled cheese. If you think about it, I guess quesadillas are pretty much the tortilla version of a grilled cheese. Enough of this thinking nonsense, though!

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Let’s make quesadillas! Super, super easy! I love making quesadillas and this was super simple, pretty much the same steps to make the bbq grilled cheese sandwich, except with a tortilla.

Oh, and did you see that up there!?! A slideshow! I’m feeling pretty fancy and techie right now :D Those pictures basically show you the steps to making these quesadillas, but as usual, I will give you all the directions below!

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

(for one quesadilla, makes 3 small triangles-serves one!)

1/4 cup caramelized onions

1/2 cup chicken, cooked

1/4 cup BBQ sauce, separate

2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

2 Tablespoons bacon bits (optional)

butter or oil

tortilla

  1. In a small bowl, combine caramelized onions, cooked chicken, and 2 Tablespoons of BBQ sauce until thoroughly mixed and combined. Set aside.
  2. Heat pan with about a tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. When hot and butter is melted, place tortilla in pan. Flip tortilla every 30-45 seconds, until large bubbles start to form.
  3. Turn down the heat to low. Spread remaining BBQ sauce on tortilla in thin layer across entire tortilla. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over BBQ sauce. Drop caramelized onions and chicken on ONE HALF of the tortilla (this is important that you just put this on one half, or else you will have chicken and onions everywhere). Sprinkle mozzarella cheese and bacon bits (if using) over entire tortilla.
  4. With the heat on as low as possible, place a lid over on top for about 1 1/2 – 2 minutes, or until mozzarella is melty.
  5. Fold the tortilla, flipping the side that doesn’t have chicken on it over the side that does have the chicken and onions on it. Place on a plate, cut into triangles, and ENJOY! :D
NOTES:
  • this recipe is super flexible, use your own judgement on the amounts of stuff you like on here. I’m not a huge BBQ sauce person so I like to go light on mine-do as YOU like!
  • this would be super awesome with black beans, too! (for some reason I feel like baked beans could be kind of good on here, too weird??)
Random Fact of the Day: With the invention of the light bulb, Americans averaged 1.5 hours less sleep per night.
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Honey Grilled Chicken

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Today is going to be a great day. I KNOW it! Want to know why?!?

Of course you do! Because we’re all buds here and everything, right?

First off, I have no school! Woohoo!! Thanks Good Friday :) You rock

So for my day off, I am visiting Red Hen, touring where all the magic happens! I’m pretty excited to see what goes on in there and take a peek in their kitchens. I think it is the coolest thing to watch shows like Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, and Restaurant Impossible where they show what goes on in a kitchen and everything. Yeah I know, not quite the normal 17 year old girl mind there.. Anyways, the stuff fascinates and excites me!

Last, but certainly not least, my brother is coming home for the weekend!!!! I am SO excited to finally see him. I have not seen him since Christmas and I miss him more than I ever would have thought. Who knew I loved my brother so much? It must be that since he lives in L.A. now and is working and all grown up and everything that made everything seem so final. It feels like he is just SO FAR all the time. It will be great to spend just a couple days with him under the same roof and be able to sit at the same table.

So as I said before…Today is Good Friday! Which means…Easter is in like two days. Translation: CHOCOLATE, CAKE, COOKIES, and CANDY AGAIN!!!! Can you tell I’m pretty excited? Therefore, this is one of the last “real food” recipes I may be posting for a while. I’m pretty sure I will go crazy in the kitchen and bake up quite the storm the next few weeks. Anyways, this chicken recipe I’m sharing today you can of course not eat today because it is meat, but this is a delicious way of cooking chicken that is perfect for the spring time and grilling out in the summer!

Honey Grilled Chicken

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon worcestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons honey

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or 2 chicken breasts)

  1. Mix oil, vinegar, worcestershire, and honey in a bowl. Add chicken and allow to marinate for at least 5 minutes. We kept ours in the fridge in a tupperware container for a few hours.
  2. Heat grill over medium heat and add chicken. Cook and flip until fully cooked. Cooking times will vary depending on the thickness and size of your chicken. The middles of your chicken should be pretty firm when poked. If your unsure, make a small cut into chicken just to be sure it is done. When done, take chicken off the grill, serve and enjoy!
Random Fact of the Day: It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
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BBQ Chicken Grilled Cheese

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I have to tell ya…I’m not a big fan of saucy stuff.

I don’t like pasta drowning in marinara. Fettucini with Alfredo sauce almost always makes me feel sick to my stomach. A piece of chicken smothered in BBQ sauce makes me want to cry. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that it makes me want to cry.

I can be a total drama queen when I want to. There was a particular time that I remember where I threw a pretty big fuss over a sandwich I got at a restaurant. This was a couple years ago…I’m actually kind of embarrassed to even think about this, but what the heck. I’ll tell you anyways.

So my parents and I went down to U of I to visit my sister for the day and we had a nice time as we always do. I love going down to the campus and feeling like I’m some big bad college kid. Anyways, we decided on going to the Barbecue joint that was in the area that was supposedly pretty good. The place had a very southern atmosphere and I really liked how it felt in there! It took me a bit to decide what I wanted to order and I finally picked the shredded BBQ chicken sandwich. We got to see them on the other side of the counter as they assembled our meals and I watched the girl pick out a nice fluffy bun, plop some chicken on top, and then it happened. I wanted to scream. My eyes literally started to water. I know, I’m weird. She took a big ‘ol ladle and poured barbecue sauce all over. Everywhere. I decided that I would just suck it up and take the sauce sandwich. I didn’t want to throw a fit. I’m a high schooler, I should be able to handle these things right?

Wrong.

I took a couple bites out of the sandwich when we sat down, but I just couldn’t do it. The bun was totally ruined (to me it was). It felt and tasted soggy from the monstrous amount of sauce. It felt like I was eating a sandwich of bread soaked in sauce with a teeny bit of chicken. Now, I told you I am definitely capable of being a drama queen. So my mom noticed I was having troubles getting myself to eat the sandwich. So we went up there, got another sandwich and this time I was SURE I ordered it with sauce on the side.

I don’t even know how I became like this. I mean when I was really little, I would take the bottle of Ranch dressing and just pour and pour and pour that stuff on my salads at dinner. It was usually Ranch soup with some lettuce. Thinking about it totally gives me the gags now, but back then it was just the norm for me. Funny how people’s palates change.

Anyways, I made this version of a grilled cheese sandwich. It’s kind of a hybrid of a grilled cheese and a panini. What’s going in here is some chicken that has been drizzled, yes just barely covered, with BBQ sauce. I still totally embrace BBQ sauce, but I’m more of a dipper than a smotherer. Then there’s some parmesan and mozzarella cheese, with a little bit of sautéed onion. It’s almost like my BBQ chicken pizza in sandwich form! This is probably my absolute favorite sandwich I have ever made. I can totally see myself making this on a weekly basis. It takes hardly any time to prepare and most of the ingredients are usually hanging around the house.

BBQ Chicken Grilled Cheese

2 slices of bread (I used whole wheat)

about 1/4 cup chicken, cooked and cut into bite size pieces*

about 3 Tablespoons barbecue sauce

about 1/4 of an onion, sautéed*

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

about 1 1/2-2 Tablespoons butter or oil

1 Tablespoon of bacon bits, optional

  1. Place cooked, cut up chicken in a small bowl and combine with barbecue sauce and sautéed onion. Set aside.
  2. Heat up skillet (if you have a panini press I recommend using that because it will save you a little mess because the chicken pieces can make flipping the sandwich a bit of a challenge) on stove on about medium heat. Butter one side of each piece of bread. Place one piece of bread, buttered side down, on hot skillet. Turn heat down to low-medium. Place parmesan cheese on bread. Spoon chicken mixture on top of parmesan cheese. If you’re in a meaty kind of mood, throw in your bacon bits. Add mozzarella cheese. Top with final piece of bread, buttered side facing up and away from chicken and cheese. Turn the heat back up to about medium.
  3. About 2 minutes after the first piece of bread was laid down, or until the cheese starts melting a little bit, flip the sandwich over. Cook for an additional 2 minutes or until desired doneness (<– apparently that IS a word). Keep flipping if you are not yet at your desired doneness. Enjoy!
* I cooked my chicken and sautéed the onions a day ahead to make preparation fast and easy.

Random Fact of the Day: Every cigarette smoked cuts at least five minutes of life on average, which is roughly the time it takes to smoke one cigarette.

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