Chicken Empanadas

I just realized that I use chicken a lot in my recipes! We all like chicken so it’s not a problem. I like to take my leftover roasted chicken and make something yummy with it the next day. I have also used this recipe with leftover roast beef and used my leftover broth from it and it’s also delicious! Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp flour
3/4 cup chicken broth
10 oz peas and carrots, frozen
1 cup chicken pieces, leftover shredded-can use more
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
2 refrigerated pie crust, 9 inch (I haven’t used my crust for this yet)

Directions

Heat oven to 400° F. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

Slowly stir in the broth. Cook until thickened, about 3 minutes. Add the peas and carrots, chicken, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

Cut each pie-crust in half. Spoon the chicken mixture over one side of each half-circle, leaving a ½-inch border. Using your fingers, wet the border with water. Fold the crust over the chicken. Press to seal. Make three 1-inch slits in the top of each.

Transfer the empanadas to a baking sheet. I have found it easier to make it on the baking sheet. I make mine too big to transfer!!

Bake until golden, 15 to 18 minutes.

Take out and enjoy!  Have a great day!

Chicken and Noodles in Slow Cooker

Last night for dinner I found a recipe in a slow cooker cook book that I thought I would try. I threw it together in less than 10 minutes and have to say it was pretty tasty! I made a chicken and noodles recipe, but used mashed potatoes instead of noodles. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:
3-4 lbs of boneless and skinless chicken
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup ( I used cream of celery soup)
4 cups of chicken broth
1 package of wide egg noodles ( I skipped this part and made mashed potatoes)

Directions:
Combine the soup and chicken broth in the slow cooker
Cut chicken into cubes (I cooked mine uncut) and add to slow cooker
I also added a bag of frozen peas to the slow cooker
Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 3-4 hours until is done
Add the noodles and cook for 30-45 minutes until noodles are tender (I didn’t add noodles, but I did add flour to thicken the broth up to make it thick like gravy for the mashed potatoes
Season with salt and pepper

That’s it! Easy isn’t it? This isn’t my picture because, again, I forgot to take one!

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

Good Friday to you!  Today is a beautiful, sunny day, though it is a bit cold out!  Today is one of those days that we have nothing scheduled!  I LOVE those days!  No ballet, no 4H meeting, no co-op…….just school at home!  It’s nice to have those types of days sprinkled in the week!  Next week we only have two days of school since it is Thanksgiving.  My daughter is in the Nutcracker next week so we will be busy going downtown to dress rehearsals all week, besides Monday, which is my oldest daughter’s 14th birthday.  It will be a fun, but busy week!  Today’s agenda for dinner is Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas.  I took my chicken breasts and put them on low in the crock pot last night so they would be ready to be marinated this morning.  I took them out of the crock pot, shredded them and put them in the marinade sauce for the afternoon.  Talk about easy!  Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

6 tbsp honey
5 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 lb chicken, cooked and shredded
10 tortillas
1lb cheese, shredded
16 oz enchilada sauce
1 cup heavy cream

Notes / Directions

Marinade:
6 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:
Whisk the first four ingredients and toss with shredded chicken in a Zip-loc bag.Let it marinate in the fridge for at least a 1/2 hour, but preferably a half day or so.

Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan.

Fill the tortillas with chicken, saving marinade, and shredded cheese, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas.
Put rolled tortillas in 9×13 pan as you go.

Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover marinade (if there is any). Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas.

Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top.

Enjoy your day!!  Remember to ‘Like” me on Facebook and pin anything on your Pinterest if you want!

Honey Sesame Chicken

As I’m sitting here writing and enjoying my leftover Egg Casserole from dinner last night, I thought I would take a minute to write out the recipe for tonight’s dinner.  Tonight we are having Honey Sesame Chicken.  I can either make it in the crock pot or in the over.  I’m opting for the oven so it will be crisper.  We are having Crock Pot Rice with the chicken.  I froze my leftovers from last time, so I only needed to pull it from the freezer and thaw out.  Chinese food is the best!!

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

5 chicken breast, boneless
1 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup onions, diced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 cup sesame seed

Notes / Directions

Instructions:Place the chicken breasts in the crock pot insert and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine well. Pour over the chicken in the crock pot.
Cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours.
When done, remove chicken from stock pot and cut into chunks. Prior to putting the chicken back in the stockpot, combine some cornstarch in water and whisk it into the crock pot to thicken up the sauce a bit. Throw the chicken back in and stir around to re-coat the chicken in the sauce.
Serve hot over a bed of white rice(optional) and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.Enjoy your day!

Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken Breast

Even though this is not what I am having for dinner tonight( I’m actually making potato soup from a kit tonight!), I thought I would share it because it is one of my very favorites!  This is also a good item to make ahead of time and freeze until you need it.  This tastes so good that you will want to make it over and over! Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

2 cups flour
4 tsp salt
3 tbsp ginger
2 tbsp nutmeg
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp sage
2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 eggs
8 tbsp water
2 tbsp olive oil, for sauce
4 cloves garlic, for sauce
1 cup honey, for sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce, for sauce
5 tsp black pepper
4 chicken or pork chops

Notes / Directions

Make an egg wash by whisking together:4 eggs
8 tbsp waterSeason the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then dip the meat in the flour and spice mixture. Dip the breast into the eggwash and then a final time into the flour and spice mix, pressing the mix into the meat to get good contact.

Heat a skillet on the stove with about a half inch of canola oil covering the bottom. You will want to carefully regulate the temperature here so that the chicken does not brown too quickly. The thinness of the breast meat practically guarantees that it will be fully cooked by the time the outside is browned. I find just below medium heat works well. I use a burner setting of about 4 1/2 out of 10 on the dial and fry them gently for about 4 or 5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy.

Drain on a wire rack for a couple of minutes before dipping the cooked breasts into the Honey Garlic Sauce. Serve with noodles or rice.

Honey Garlic Sauce

In a medium saucepan add

2 tbsp olive oil
3 – 4 cloves minced garlic

Cook over medium heat to soften the garlic but do not let it brown. Add:

1 cup honey
¼ cup soya sauce (low sodium soya sauce is best)
1 tsp ground black pepper

Simmer together for 5-10 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Watch this carefully as it simmers because it can foam up over the pot very easily.

Enjoy!  I know I do!!