Sunday, October 15, 2006

Mom's No-Peek Chicken

Preheat oven to 325.

1- Grease baking dish.
2- Pour 1 & 1/2 cups of rice into the bottom of dish, spread evenly across the bottom.
3- Melt 1/4 cup of margarine or butter and pour over rice.
4- Mix 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup and 2 cans of cream of chicken soup in a separate bowl.
5- Pour 1 soup-can-full of milk over rice.
6- Then spoon soup mixture over the rice
7- Press your chicken down into the soup mixture, so that they're at least halfway down into the mixture (you can use all varieties of boneless or boned chicken; it's all good! Just let people know if there's bones in it!)
8- Then take one packet of Lipton's dry onion soup mix, crush it inside the package (the glass base of a drinking glass can work great for crushing it nice and small), and then evenly pour the crushed mix over the top of the chicken.
9- Cover with foil.
10- Bake at 325 for 2 & 1/2 hours(it's called No-Peek because you DO NOT peek at it until the 2 & 1/2 hours is up!) .

ENJOY! This is my favorite recipe from my mom!

Melanie's Salad

I would like to call this one the Best Salad in the World, cause in my mind, that's what it is, but I feel I must name the salad for the person who introduced it to me.

~ 3 Tbsp. lemon juice, or one squeezed lemon
~ 1 finely chopped avocado
~ 1/2 tsp. celery salt
~ 1/2 tsp. onion salt
~ 3 chopped green onions
~ 1/4 cup vegetable oil
~ 1/4 cup of Romano or Asiago cheese
~ 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
(Or, you can strike the last 2 ingredients and replace with 1/2 cup of Italian Cheese blend)

Mix ingredients. Toss with romaine lettuce right before serving. (I like to garnish this with additional thin avocado slices because I'm an avocado-fanatic!)

Cheesy Spaghetti-Lasagna

Ingredients:
~ 8 oz. finely shredded mozzerella
~ 8 oz. sliced mozzerella
~ 3 eggs
~ 8-12 oz. spaghetti noodles
~ parmesan cheese, as desired
~ 1 lb. beef
~ * 16 oz. tomato paste
~ * Basil
~ * Oregano
~ * Garlic Salt
~ * Sugar
~ * Water
* Can strike these ingredients if you just want to use approximately 20 ounces of canned spaghetti sauce.

Preheat oven to 375. Boil noodles according to directions on package. Cook beef until browned.

While those things are cooking, get a separate large mixing bowl. Take tomato paste and add enough water to make smooth, like a spaghetti sauce, approximately 1/2- 1 cup. Add basil, oregano, and garlic salt to taste (I like it with more oregano than garlic salt or basil, and more garlic salt than basil.). Add approximately 1 tbsp (up to 2 tbsp) of sugar (again, to taste). Once beef is browned, mix beef into this spaghetti sauce mixture.

In smaller mixing bowl, beat 3 eggs. Combine with finely shredded mozzerella. If desired, add in 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese as well. Mix together.

Once everything is cooked and ready, layer the lasagne in the following order:
1) spoon small amount of meat sauce mixture into the bottom of the 9 x 13 baking dish, just to lightly wet the bottom.
2) 1/2 of pasta noodles, smoothed out
3) 1/3 of sliced mozzerella, spread out across the dish (it will not cover the noodles)
4) 1/2 of meat sauce mixture
5) other 1/2 of pasta noodles
6) spoon and smooth all of the shredded cheese mixture out over the noodles.
7) other 1/2 of meat sauce mixture
8) top the whole thing with the remaining sliced mozzerella, and (if desired) sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top.

Cook uncovered in 375 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes, or until cheese is melted and starting to brown.

Cheesy Chicken Soup

Our family's favorite soup, bar none.

~ 5 cooked boneless chicken breasts (or 6-7 boneless chicken thighs), cubed or shredded (your choice; we preferred cubed)
~ 1 lb. Velveeta
~ 7 oz. can diced tomatoes with the juice in can
~ 1 can cream of mushroom soup
~ 1 can cream of chicken soup
~ 1 can cream of celery soup
~ 3 can-fulls of water
~ 2 cloves of minced garlic
~ 6 slices of cooked, chopped bacon (optional)

Combine ingredients and heat in a crockpot, 3-4 hours on high heat, 5-7 hours on low heat. This is one of those recipes you can make early in the day, during a child's nap or something, and let it sit all day. It makes enough that you'll be able to at least have seconds, and maybe thirds, depending on how much you eat for each meal!

My Most Versatile Chicken Recipe

Here's an easy chicken recipe, easily adaptable to create many different flavors. Each combination is simple and delicious.

Preheat oven to 350.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHOOSE ONE:
A: Ranch dressing (you can use the already-mixed kind or mix: 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of mayo, and 1 Hidden Valley Ranch packet to make your own). You will only want to use about 1/2 cup or less for the recipe, so set the rest aside.

A: 1/2 cup mayo, 1/2 cup milk. Mix with whisk.

A: if all else fails, and you don't have enough for either of the others, choose one: mayo, water, or milk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHOOSE ONE:
B: Crushed potato chips

B: Mix: 1/4 cup of Italian bread crumbs, 1/8 cup parmesan cheese

B: Mix: 1/4 cup parmesan cheese with 1 packet of Italian dressing seasoning mix

B: Crushed corn flakes


Directions: Choose one A grouping and one B grouping. Take boneless chicken breasts, thighs, cutlets, or fingers, and pat dry. Cover and coat with the A mixture. Immediately roll in the B grouping and put in metal or glass baking dish. Bake in 350 degree oven 20-35 minutes, depending on the size of your oven, and eat. Serve with rice, pasta or freshly-cooked vegetables.