Tuscan Chicken and Wild Rice

This recipe I made tonight as a quick dinner for myself. It was super easy and super yummy!

“It is always the simple things that change our lives. And these things never happen when you are looking for them to happen. Life will reveal answers at the pace life wishes to do so. You feel like running, but life is on a stroll."

Tuscan Chicken and Wild Rice

Chicken Breasts
Roma Tomatoes
Minced Garlic
Green Onions
Wild and Brown Rice
Lemon Pepper Seasonings
Dried Thyme
Ground Sage
Dried Oregano
Dried Basil
Salt
Pepper

Chop tomatoes into large chunks and chop green onions from white all through green sections.
Slice Chicken Breasts into large cubes

Heat olive oil in large skillet.
Combine all ingredients except rice into skillet on medium-high heat.
Cook for about 20 minutes or until onions and chicken breasts are cooked all the way through

Cook wild and brown rice. This takes a long time so I like to use the packets of wild and brown rice medley from trader joes. They are a quick 3 minutes steamed in the microwave.

In a bowl or dish put rice mixture and top with all ingredients in skillet.

Enjoy!

Ruth Chris' Sweet Potato Casserole

This is a recipe from Ruth Chris Steakhouse that I learned to make for Thanksgiving Pot Lucks at work. I also started making this for our Annual Friendsgiving. I am not the biggest fan of it personally because it is so sweet but a lot of people love it! It hits the spot for a sweet tooth. You can even make a small portion as a dessert.


“Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!” - Mae West

Ruth Chris' Sweet Potato Casserole


Ingredients

CRUST
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans preferred)
1/4 cup butter ( melted)

SWEET POTATO MIXTURE
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes ( can use canned to save time, just drain)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs ( well beaten)
1/2 cup butter, melted ( 1/2 cup)

Directions
Combine brown sugar, flour, nuts and butter in mixing bowl. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs and butter in a mixing bowl in the order listed. Mix thoroughly.
Pour mixture into buttered baking dish.
Sprinkle the surface of the sweet potato mixture evenly with the crust mixture.
Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to set at least 30 minutes before serving.

Avocado Chicken Parmigiana

Made this one last night for dinner with some friends. Came out pretty good but I forgot to take a picture of it. It was pretty easy and super adaptable to be change per your liking. I didn't use flour or eggs to bread the chicken to make it a bit healthier. You can also just get already marinated chicken breasts or marinate the breasts for an hour beforehand and you can skip the olive oil which is really only used to make the breadcrumbs stick to the chicken.

"If you want to be happy, be." - Leo Tolstoy

Avocado Chicken Parmigiana

Ingredients

4-6 Chicken Breasts
 Box of Shake and Bake Chicken (2 packets)
Olive Oil
½ Cup of Pasta Sauce
3-4 Avocados, Sliced
½ Cup of Grated Mozzarella Cheese or Monterrey Jack Cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Coat Chicken Breasts in Olive Oil
Shake with Breadcrumbs and any added seasonings you would like
Place on prepared baking tray lay with foil or baking paper
Cook for 35-40  minutes
Remove from oven and spread each chicken breast with 1 heaped tablespoon of pasta sauce.
Arrange avocado slices over sauce and sprinkle with decent amount of cheese.
Return to oven and bake for another 5 - 7 minutes or until golden and chicken is cooked through.

(not my photo)

Hagan Stuffin'

I have made a tradition with my friends. Every year, the Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving, we do our Annual Friendsgiving! I make all the fixings, my guy friends deep fry the turkey, and others bring deserts. Throughout the year I will post my recipes. I makes several things: baked mac n cheese, sweet potato casserole, green beans, au gratin potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, stuffing, and ham. Every year I am going to try making something new. I make stuffing that is a lot like my mom's recipe but slightly tweaked.

Hagan Stuffin'

Ingredients:

1 (24 ounce) box mrs. cubbison's corn bread stuffing mix 

1 (24 ounce) box mrs. cubbison's herb seasoned bread stuffing mix 

2 cups celery , chopped

2 cups red onions , chopped

1 lb mushroom , chopped

4 cups butter

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup of dried pomegranate seeds

1 8 oz can of water chestnuts

3 swigs of fresh rosemary

1 cup of slivered almonds

3 swigs of fresh thyme

3 swigs of fresh sage

3 tbsp of ground sage

2 tbsp of ground thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

6 pieces of fresh garlic

Veggies:
Chop up celery, onion, and mushrooms.
Chop half of the pieces of garlic finely. The remaining garlic leave whole cloves.

Melt butter in a large pot.

Add celery, onion, garlic and mushrooms.

Simmer about 5 minutes to soften vegetables.

In a large casserole dish (I use a large roasting foil pan), butter the pan first.

Toss in both boxes of dressing mix and stir to mix evenly.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Stir in cooked veggies.

Chop water chestnuts.

Add water chestnuts, swigs of herbs and all ground herbs.

Stir in chicken broth and toss.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Uncover the last 15 minutes for a crisper top.

Hope you enjoy!

Friendsgiving 2011:

Friendsgiving 2010:

Chicken and Rice and Everything Nice Casserole

So this recipe was one of my very first creations years ago when I started putting my mind to cooking. I have to admit, its not the healthiest but it is so very yummy! This is a casserole dish that is super easy, anyone can do it and it feeds a lot! Its perfect for cold weather! Today I made it after a day of snow up in Descanso and Julian! How fun that we can have this warm comfort food in the snow and still be in San Diego! Just one of the many reasons to love San Diego!

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”

Chicken and Rice and Everything Nice Casserole


Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (or you can get one large can of chicken and mushroom soup combined)
1 can of french style cut green beans
1 can of cut asparagus
2 packages of turkey bacon
1 package of sliced cheddar cheese
2 packages of Uncle Ben's Ready Brown Rice and Wild Rice Pilaf
Salt and Pepper
1 tsp of dried rosemary
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of dried thyme

In a large mixing bowl, combine all canned ingredients (veggies and soup) and all herbs and seasoning ingredients. Set aside.

Cut chicken into square cube pieces.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat up Ready Rice packages per the directions on back of package. Normally it is: separate rice from clumps by pressing on closed package. Slice the top of the package open and microwave for 90 seconds.

Use a standard casserole dish. Line the bottom of the dish with a layer of turkey bacon.
Then empty contents of hot rice packages into a layer across the dish.
Pour in 2/3 the mixing bowl of the soup and veggie mixture in the dish making a layer across it.
Place a layer of the cubed chicken pieces across the dish with the pieces very close to each other but not quite touching.
Pour the remainder of the soup and veggie mix for the next layer.
Make a layer of cheddar cheese across the top of casserole.
Make another layer of turkey bacon  across the top of the casserole.

Cover the dish with foil tented in the middle.

Cook for 45 minutes covered and another 15 minutes uncovered.

Let cool for ten minutes and serve.

Before placing in oven:

Done and ready to serve: