Chicken Spaghetti

Sorry for the lack of photo. I forgot to take one but think you will enjoy this recipe if you try it so I am posting without.

6 chicken breasts
1/2 cup picante sauce
1 small can green chilies
2 cans cream of chicken (cream of mushroom or sour cream)
1 small can sliced black olives (optional)
1/2 medium sauteed onion (optional)
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. ground pepper
2 cups grated cheese (whatever you like; I use Colby/jack)

Boil chicken then boil the spaghetti in the broth ( I don't do this. I cook my chicken in the crock pot and just boil the spaghetti with a few bouillon cubes in the water). Mix all other ingredients, including chicken. Drain spaghetti, saving 1 cup of broth. Add spaghetti to other mixture and mix well, using extra broth (if needed) to make a creamy consistency, (should not be too soupy). This recipe will make tow large casseroles; diving the mixture into two greased 9 X 13 pans. You can make these ahead of time and freeze or refrigerate. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until bubbly.
**This recipe is easily halved. I make only one dish all the time.

Cheesy Chicken Tetrazzini

Wow. It has been over a week since I have put up any recipes. So sorry about that. This baby in my belly makes me tired so when I get a few minutes to myself I usually want to rest. Not that sitting at the computer is such hard work but you know what I mean. This dish was good. I found a recipe but didn't have everything it called for so I started making stuff up. Here is what I came up with

3 boneless skinless chicken breast cooked
1 (7 ounce) package spaghetti (just how ever much you want really)
1/4 cup of butter or margarine
1 medium onion chopped
2 1/2 TBS flour
1 cup milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup chicken broth (I just use what I have cooked the chicken in, close enough)
1 (4 ounce) can sliced mushrooms drained
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
8 slices of American cheese
1 cup cheddar
Cook spaghetti. In a saucepan saute onion in butter until tender. add flour and stir well. Reduce heat and stir in next ingredients thru the American cheese. Cook slowly until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add to sauce and stir. Remove from heat. Drain spaghetti and combine with sauce mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Stir well. Spray a 9 X 13 dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour in casserole. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes.

Natalies Mexican Chicken Dish

My sister-in-law Natalie gave me this delightful little gem of a recipe. My brother said that he enjoyed this dish so I thought I must try it. The boy knows a thing or two about good food. The photo is of the leftovers the next day. My darling two year old had hidden my CIF card to the camera so I couldn't snap a photo of the original dish.

4 cups of cubed cooked chicken (she said she didn't use this much. I used three cooked breast)
1 can cream of chicken
1 can green chilis
1 16 ounce sour cream
pepper jack cheese shredded. ( I didn't have shredded but I did have some sliced which was fabulous!)
corn tortillas (I used flour)
paprika (1 tsp)
garlic salt (2 tsp)
chili powder

In a sauce pan mix cooked chicken, soup, green chilis, spices, and 8 ounces of sour cream. Mix well and heat until warm. Place torn up tortillas in a pan sprayed with cooking spay. I used a 8 1/2 X 11 pan. cover with chicken mix, then cheese, repeat layers. Top with sour cream and sprinkle with chili powder. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes.
This dish was wonderful. A little on the spicy side but not too much for my kids. It was a great variation of mexican chicken casserole. I love pepperjack cheese. Try this one. It's good.
Note: You can make this a quick dinner but cooking your chicken ahead of time. Just put your frozen chicken in the crock pot. Cover with water and cook on low all day. Your chicken will be ready to put in the mix and you have a quick and easy dinner.

Janice's (aka My Momma) Tortilla Soup

I was at my Mom's house and I saw some avacado's stashed away. I pulled them out and said what are these for? Thinking I might see some mexican food in my near future my mouth began to water. Those are for my Tortilla Soup she says. Gag, hiss, boo I say to myself as I roll my eyes. She is like it's good! I said well make it for lunch then and I will see for myself. As I stood watching, judging over her shoulder and she mixed her "soup" I must admit I did not think it would be good. Then she started adding all of these tasty little bits of goodness to the bowl. So in August in the 100 degree weather I sat and sweat as I ate three giant bowls of this amazing soup. Here is her version of the recipe below. I did not modify her comments in any way. Don't you love her?

2 cans chicken broth
1 diced cooked chicken breast (if you have)
1 can rotel (mild if you don't like it spicy)
place in saucepan and bring to simmer-cover

cut 6 - 8 flour tortillas into strips, coat with oil and brown slightly in oven on cookie sheet you have to watch them so they don''t burn

place soup in individual serving bowls
top with diced avacado
tortilla strips
grated cheese
diced green onion (if you have it)

If you use bullion cubes instead of canned broth it will be very salty and not quite as tasty- but last time I used 7 cups of water and 6 bullion cubes (no cans of broth)

Chicken Salad

I tried to think of a clever name but it is what it is. Now when you look at the recipe it will seem shameful that you would make a chicken salad in such a way. But it is so good so just try and let the guilt go as you sink your teeth into this baby.

4 to 5 chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces. (Ya'll know I just use the whole bird for this part)
1 stick of butter melted
2 cups mayo (thats mayo not miracle whip!)
1/2 tsp. curry powder (DO NOT LEAVE THIS OUT)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
2 cups red seedless grapes cut in half
1/2 toasted sliced almonds.
I use pecans instead of almonds. It's an Oklahoma thing.....

Cook the chicken (duh). Melt the butter in the microwave and let it cool on the counter. Chop cooked chicken into bite-size pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Toast almonds (aka pecans). In a bowl, combine butter and mayo with a wisk until creamy. Add curry and garlic; stir until well blended. Stir in chicken, grapes and toasted almonds. Refriderate until well chilled. The end.

Mexican Chicken Casserole

This is one of many Mexican Chicken dishes that I make. My current favorite. It came from Carol Adams originally but has been modified by my Mother and aunt and then me. But we give credit where it is due, don't we girls? I use the leftover chicken after I cook a whole bird for this recipe. For more frugal cooking ideas check out The Grocery Cart Challenge.
2 cups cooked chicken (give or take)
2 cups cooked white rice
2 cans green chile's (I use one for the sake of the mini me's)
2 cans cream of chicken (or mushroom or celery) This is my addition. My Mom uses only one can but what does she know?
8 ounces grated Velveeta (yes you can grate it just try it and see)
8 ounces grated colby/jack (I use cheddar sometimes, Mommie Dearest uses the jack blend)
Mix it all up and bake at 350 for 30 minutes uncovered. Now how easy is that? And you know it's good.

Chicken Lasagna

I tried out this recipe I saw at Tammy's Recipes. You know when I make a recipe I like to show you a picture of what mine looks like. That way we can see how it really turns out when a regular gal such as myself makes it. I thought this was a tasty treat. I could tell JR didn't really LOVE IT! But he ate it just the same. His Momma didn't raise no fool after all! My kids ate a large helping which they never do so that was a treat. I also ate a large helping but nothing out of the ordinary there. HERE IS THE RECIPE. I hope you will try this. The Alfredo sauce was divine.

Chicken and Cornbread Casserole

This isn't a great photo. My friend Julie was at my house and I split this in half to share with her. Next time I would just double the recipe instead of splitting this one. It is a small casserole anyway and wasn't as thick as it should have been once I split it. Anyway it was still tasty. I got this out of Southern Living a couple of years ago and have been making it since.

Ingredients

2 celery ribs, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cups packed crumbled cornbread
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
3 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 1/4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon dry crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions
1Sauté celery and onion in hot oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat 7 minutes or until vegetables are tender; set aside.

2Combine cornbread and poultry seasoning in a large bowl.

3Layer half of cornbread mixture on bottom of a lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish.

4Combine onion mixture, chicken, and next 6 ingredients in a bowl. Spoon mixture evenly over top of cornbread mixture in dish.

5Top evenly with remaining half of cornbread mixture, and drizzle with butter.

6Bake, covered, at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

7Remove from oven, and top with cheese.

8Bake, uncovered, 10 more minutes or until cheese is golden.

Orange Chicken

I saw this and thought I would give it a try since I love the Chinese food and it is something I like to eat out. Yes, it does require some frying. I know, shameful. Just the other day I was telling Buffy how I wanted to start eating more healthy foods and start being more aware of what I put in my body. She goes, yeah right you fat pig. Get in the kitchen and fix us something to eat! Can you believe she said that to me? The nerve! Not really but I did just tell her I was going to get healthy and then look what I go and do. Here is the recipe. It was a hit at the Reid house and I will be serving it again. Now let me give you some tips should you decide to try your hand at this. It took a little more time that I usually spend preparing the evening meal. If you were having guests this would be a tasty treat.

1. 3 pounds of chicken is a lot. You will have leftovers by the truckload unless you are serving a bigger crowd than just your family. I realized this about halfway through trying to fry up 3 pounds of chicken. Benjamon woke up from his nap (not good) so as I was trying to finish he sat at my feet crying out Momma, Momma. Then he proceeded to pull my shorts down to my ankle as he attempted to pull up on my leg (again not good) but what could I do? I must get this chicken cooked I thought to myself as I stood there with my pants around my ankles. Granny panties fully exposed as I stood there and fried chicken. No shame in my game, right?

2. Slow down sister! I know you’re going to try and dump all this chicken in one pan. You must fry a little at a time leaving room around the sides. If you put it all in it will stick together and make a scene from a Freddie Kruger movie. For real ya’ll!

3. You need a big ole pan to bake it in! I started off with a 9 X 13 and couldn’t fit it all so I moved up a size. A big fine woman such as myself has larger pans than 9 X 13 in her house. If you don’t then you might want to cut this in half or use two pans.

I served this with my fried rice recipe minus the chicken as a side dish. I hope that you will try this. It is oh so good and well worth the effort. Benjamon enjoyed it too by the way.

Chicken Spaghetti

This is an easy and inexpensive recipe that we enjoy at the Reid house. It does freeze well. The recipe is to make two casseroles. If you just want one cut it in half (duh, right?)

6 Chicken Breasts
½ cup picante sauce
1 small can green chilies (I sometimes leave these out as my son is sensitive to spicy food)
2 cans cream of chicken (cream of mushroom or sour cream) *This time I used cream cheese since I had so many
1 small can black olives (optional)
½ medium onion sautéed (optional)
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp ground pepper (or to taste)
2 cups grated cheese
16 oz spaghetti

Stew chicken (*I either cook the chicken in the Crockpot, or use any leftover chicken that I have. It doesn’t have to be breast). Boil spaghetti in broth (I don’t do this. I boil the spaghetti in water with a few chicken bouillon cubes added but plain water is fine). Mix all other ingredients including chicken. Drain spaghetti saving 1 cup of broth. Add spaghetti and mix well. Use the extra broth if needed to make a creamy consistency. (Should not be too soupy). This recipe will make two large casseroles; divide mixture into two greased 9 X 13 pans. I add a little more cheese on top just because I like cheese. The recipe does not call for it. You can make this ahead of time. Again it freezes really well so go ahead and make two so you will have one for later. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until bubbly.

NOTE: To cook chicken in the Crockpot just put the chicken in the pot frozen or not it doesn’t matter. Add water to fill and add a few chicken bouillon cubes for flavor. If you have any onion or celery throw that in also for the flavor. Cook on low all day or overnight.

Mama's Spaghetti

Okay. I told you I would show you something I do with leftover chicken. This is a recipe from Hubs Mama. It is super easy and cheap and wonderful. Here’s the deal.

Boil spaghetti. However much you want.

In a separate pad sauté some onion and bell pepper in oil. In this case you can see I only had red but this dish is lovely with green or really just whatever ya got on the veggies.

Add the noodles to the veggies.

Then you add some smoked sausage (which you see I always get with the coupons) and the leftover chicken.

Add olive oil until you have all noodles covered.

Then sprinkle with spaghetti seasoning. We use the kind in the big container from Sam’s but any will do. And we add a lot to give the dish plenty of flavor.

Try this it’s good.

The Whole Bird

I told you I would show you how to cook a whole chicken. Well here he is in all his beauty. We can get two or possibly three meals out of this guy. The first night I serve just as chicken like you see him. Then I will pick the rest off the bones (don’t care much for this part) and put it in a casserole or other dish. I will show you a recipe I will use this chicken for later this week. You can also just freeze the picked chicken for later. Now you can purchase the fancy chicken dish I use here or you can use your Bundt pan. Just put a piece of foil over the hole so your juice doesn’t run out into the oven (added that for my semi-retarded friends).
Take your chicken and wash it off. If all the “junk” is in the middle clean it out. Then dry the chicken with a paper towel. Rub it down with olive oil or butter. Just whatever you have. Then season it. I just use whatever I have. Shown is a Cajun seasoning and some season salt. Then I stick him on the roaster and sprinkle some seasoning down in the hole. If you had some lemons you can do a lemon pepper seasoning and cut up a whole lemon and stick that in the hole. That makes a lovely chicken!

Preheat oven to 450. Put the chicken in for 15 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 and rotate the chicken every 15 minutes. Cook the chicken for an hour like this. But if it’s a larger chicken I will do the 450 for 20 minutes and then rotate every 20 minutes so I know it’s done.

Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

Hubs saw a can of black beans in the pantry and asked me to cook something with them. Hmmm. I only have really used them in a black bean salsa recipe (I will post later) so I was searching the net for something and came up with this that I had everything to make. They were super good. Go over to http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robin-miller/chicken-and-black-bean-enchiladas-with-gooey-jack-cheese-recipe/index.html to see the photo and get more details. Sorry I don't know how to make it say go "here" instead of the whole link. If you know how to do that let me know and I will stop giving you these long links. There were really good and really easy and budget friendly.

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces *see cook's note
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles
1/3 cup prepared salsa, mild, medium or hot
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
1 1/3 cups shredded Monterey jack and or Cheddar
*Cook's note: this is enough chicken to make this meal and another meal. If you are only making this meal, use 1 pound chicken.
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute 2 minutes. Add chicken and saute 5 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove half of the chicken and reserve for another use.
Stir in black beans, green chiles, and salsa and simmer 5 minutes, until sauce thickens and reduces. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
Arrange 4 tortillas on a flat surface. Top each tortilla with an equal amount of chicken mixture. Roll up tortillas and place side by side in a shallow baking dish. Top tortillas with shredded cheese (1/3 cup per tortilla).
Bake enchiladas 15 minutes, until cheese is golden and gooey!

Chicken Fried Rice

This was an excellent and cheap dish. I cooked that chicken that I bought last week for $2.38. We had the chicken one night and I used the leftovers to put in this rice. So we got two dishes out of it. I forgot to take a picture of my chicken. Next time I cook one I will post how to cook a whole chicken that is super good and easy! Whole chicken is the cheapest way to buy it but I know it can be weird if you aren’t used to handling a whole bird! Back to the rice. I used this recipe from a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I hope you will try this. I doubled the recipe below so that we would have leftovers for lunch. Also the picture was taken after we had eaten because my battery was dead. So this is a photo of the leftovers.

Ingredients
· 2 eggs, beaten
· 1 teaspoon soy sauce
· 1 teaspoon sesame oil or vegetable oil (I used olive oil because that is what I had)
· 1 clove garlic, minced
· 1 tablespoon cooking oil
· 1 stalks celery, thinly bias-sliced (1/2 cup)
· 3/4 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced (left this out because I didn’t have any)
· 1 8.8-ounce pouch cooked white rice
· 1 medium carrot, shredded
· 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
· 2 tablespoons soy sauce
· 2 green onions, sliced (about 1/4 cup)
Directions
1. In a small bowl combine eggs and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Set aside.
2. Pour 1 teaspoon sesame oil into a wok or large skillet. Preheat over medium heat. Add garlic and egg mixture and stir gently to scramble. When set, remove egg mixture from the wok. Cut up any large pieces of egg mixture. Remove wok from heat.
3. Pour 1 tablespoon cooking oil into the wok or skillet. (Add more oil as necessary during cooking.) Return to medium-high heat. Stir-fry celery in hot oil for 1 minute. Add mushrooms, stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes more or until vegetables are crisp-tender.
4. Add cooked rice, carrot, and peas & chicken. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Cook and stir for 4 to 6 minutes or until heated through. Add cooked egg mixture and green onions; cook and stir about 1 minute more or until heated through.
5. Makes 6 side dish servings