Chicken Salad Sandwiches

I'm not usually a fan of chicken salad fan but these are so tasty I make them often.  One day I had some chicken I needed to use and since hubby likes chicken salad I was looking for a recipe that I thought would be quick and good.  I came across this one and decided to give it a try and I'm glad I did.  I'm not usually a raisin or celery person but they both work in this recipe so don't be scared if you're not a fan either give it a try.

I follow the recipe exactly.  I use mayo and again I'm not a fan of mayo by itself but it works here.  And I always warm my croissants in the oven for a few minutes before...yummy!

Original recipe found on Tasty Kitchen.

2 cups Cooked, Cubed Chicken Breast
¼ cups Diced Celery
¼ cups Golden Raisins
¼ cups Sliced Almonds
¼ cups Dried Cranberries
¾ cups Mayonnaise Or Salad Dressing (your Preference)
2 Tablespoons Chopped Red Onion
¼ teaspoons Salt
¼ teaspoons Pepper
4 whole Croissants, Split

Preparation Instructions:
In a bowl combine everything except the croissants. Spoon about 1/2 cup salad onto each croissant. 

Looking for a quick weeknight meal then this one is for you!

Chicken With A Twist

Another crock-pot meal…yay!  This was super easy to throw together.  I served it with potatoes, bread, and corn.  It turned out good.  I would make it again for sure.  It screamed of something Mexican for leftovers so I made some tacos for lunch.  I had flour tortillas, sour cream, cheese, tomatoes, and corn.  I wish I would have had an avocado!  It was yummy like that too.  And best of all the little monster liked it too which is always a plus!

I used 3 boneless skinless breasts (2lbs) instead of buying bone in with skin.  Everything else I kept the same.  I cooked mine for approx 8.5 hours, I think 7 would probably work.

Recipe taken from – W.M.U Centennial Cookbook (1988)

4 to 6 chicken breast, skinned

¼ c chopped onion

2 Tbsp butter

Juice of 1 lemon

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp thyme

¼ tsp paprika

Garlic powder to taste

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Place chicken in crock-pot.  Add all the other ingredients, letting them fall in and around chicken.  Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours.  Good company recipe.

Tired of the same old chicken recipes then give this a go and use your imagination on how to serve it up!

Chicken Casserole

Growing up my mom made a yummy chicken and rice casserole.  I asked her for the recipe and she gave it to me but it wasn’t as good as I remember hers being.  So, in my cookbooks there are lots of chicken and rice casseroles and I have plenty of them marked!  I chose this one first just because it’s the first one I looked at when making my grocery list and it sounded good.

The only thing I really did different is I used minute rice uncooked (approx 1 ½ c) in the dish and used more than a 1/3 cup of green peppers (probably ½ cup).  Everything else was the same.  I think next time I will sprinkle my chicken with salt and pepper though.  Oh, and I did add some shakes of pepper to the mix when I added the salt.

Overall, this was a good dish and easy as well.  We served with salad, toast, and the marinated carrot sticks.  I will make again unless I find one of the other ones I have marked is better!!:) 

Recipe taken from – Feeding the Flock (1988)

¼ c butter

¼ c flour

1 c chicken broth

½ c water

1 ½ tsp salt

1 (4.5 oz) evaporated milk

Cheddar Cheese

3 c cooked rice

2 ½ c diced chicken

1 (4 oz) can mushrooms

1/3 c green peppers

¼ c chopped pimento

Melt butter; blend flour; add broth, milk and water.  Cook and stir over low heat until thick.  Add salt rice, chicken and vegetables.  Pour into greased dish; bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Add cheddar cheese.

Give this quick casserole a try.  The whole family will love it even the toddlers!

Chicken Spaghetti

I've always been on the lookout for a good chicken spaghetti recipe that is quick.  Every cookbook I got had several recipes in them for chicken spaghetti.  This one caught my eye because it had mushrooms and used cheddar cheese and not velveeta.  I still may try some of the other ones though to compare and see if there is a better one!

I did make some adjustments to the recipe though.  I only used 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and a half of stick of butter to sauté the veggies in and it took about 10 min to get them soft.  I also used 1 lb of chicken breasts cut up into small cubes which I cooked in 1 T of oil and 1 T of butter, 1 min per side.  I used a 16 oz package of spaghetti noodles.  I used a large skillet to cook the sauce in but then transferred it to the big pot with the spaghetti at the end and mixed it all together.  We did put more cheddar cheese on top before serving but I really don't think it needs it.  It has enough cheese and creaminess without the addition.

Overall, this was a good dish but it had a lot of dairy which my husband can’t tolerate as well.  So, I probably won’t be making it to often but I will make it again for sure.  It also heated up very well the next day…I thought it might have been even better.  Oh, and another positive our 20 month old loved it too!

Recipe taken from – Thalian’s Society Cookbook

1 c chopped green bell pepper

1 c chopped celery

1 lg chopped onion

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 lg can pimientos

1 sm can mushrooms

3 cans Swanson’s chicken

2 T Worcestershire sauce

¼ c catsup

1 c grated sharp cheese

Sauté pepper, celery and onion in 1 stick of butter, 20 to 30 minutes or until tender.  Add soup, pimientos, mushrooms, chicken, Worcestershire sauce, catsup and cheese.  Simmer 20 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add 1 package of cooked spaghetti.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese when served, if desired, or melt cheese on top if desired.  Serves 6 to 8.

Give this unusual version a try and you just might be surprised!

Deep South Baked Chicken

This was our first main dish out of the new cookbooks and it was good but not great.  I think with some tweaking it could be really good but the chips just didn't stick well so it didn’t make a nice crust.  We were basically eating baked chicken.  The marinade was good but I think next time I would put salt and pepper on the chicken before I breaded it.  Also, I think I would use egg and not butter for the dipping next time because once the cold chicken went into the butter the butter hardens back up which is another reason I think the chips didn't stick.  I’m also wondering if frying the chicken a couple minutes on each side would help the crust get crispy and golden before putting it in the oven?  Any thoughts?  If so please leave a comment!

The 1 hour baking time is also way off I used thick chicken breasts (1.5 lb for 2 breasts) and cooked it for 35 minutes and it was perfect.  Since I only used two breasts I halved the marinade and turned the chicken every hour.  I baked on aluminum foil on a cookie sheet.

Recipe taken from – Thalian Society’s Cookbook

4 chicken breasts, split in half

1 c lemon or lime juice

1 tsp salt

1 tsp white pepper

5 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp basil

1 c melted butter

3 c potato chips, crumbled

Mix juice, salt, pepper, garlic, and basil.  Marinate chicken in this.  Refrigerate for 4 hours.  Turn occasionally.  Remove chicken and pat dry.  Dip each piece in melted butter.  Roll in potato chips.  Arrange in greased, flat baking dish.  Bake uncovered, at 350 for 1 hour.

Give it a try to see what you think.  Please let me know if you have ideas on how to make a better crust.  I also think this would be a good marinade for grilled chicken…yummy!