BBQ Chicken Sliders

Hope everyone has had a wonderful summer.
Ours had been super fun and super busy.

I will be back in the recipe writing once school starts.

If you would like to see what we have been up to, check out

our family blog:
http://www.thechavarriafamilyblog.blogspot.com

Now for the good stuff!

So easy,so good and pretty darn healthy!

Recipe:

1 lb ground chicken breast

1/4 cup plain bread crumbs

1/4-1/2 cup your favorite bbq sauce

1 tablespoon bbq seasoning(dry)

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes(optional0

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon olive oil

8 slider buns

lettuce

tomato

mayo

bbq sauced for topping

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and form in to

eight equal size patties. Heat your olive oil in a large skillet

or grill pan. Cook burgers about 5-7 minutes on each side.

Serve warm!

You could also cook them on your outdoor grill.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Dumplings

4 boneless skinless chicken breast

4 medium potatoes peeled and chopped

2 large carrot ts peeled and chopped

4 cups of chicken broth

1 can refrigerated biscuits

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons garlic salt

1 teaspoon parsley

In a large crock pot place chicken,seasonings and 1 cup

of chicken broth on low for 8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.

When chicken is done place all remaining ingredients in a large pot except

for the biscuit dough, bring to a boil and cook until veggies are fork tender.

In the meantime cut each biscuit in to fourths, roll into a ball and

cover with flour, set aside. Once veggies are done, drop all dumplings

into boiling soup mixture and cook until float to the top and

our done one the inside(about 10-15minutes).

Enjoy!!

Chicken Noodles

Recipe:

2 Boneless/skinless chicken breasts

1 Teaspoon Black Pepper

3 Cups Chicken Broth

1 lb Favorite Noodle's(we love the old fashion/Amish style)*

**cooked according to package directions**

In a large crock pot, add 1 cup chicken broth,chicken breasts,and

black pepper. Cook on low for 8 hours until chicken is falling apart.

Once chicken is done add your cooked noodles and remaining broth.

Let cook on low for an additional 1 hour.

Serve over mashed potatoes.

This recipe makes enough for left overs and to freeze.

Have a wonderful week.

Lowfat Chicken Almond Pasta

This turned out better then I had thought it
might!!! It was really good, and the best part..
THE KIDS LOVED IT!!

Recipe:
2 boneless skinless chicken breast-cubed
1 lb whole wheat pasta(rotini or penne work great)
1 cup blanched almonds
1 glove garlic
1/2 -3/4 cup of skim milk
1 cup reduced fat parmesean cheese
1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
1/2 italian parsley
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2-1 teaspoon salt
1 cup reserved pasta cooking water

Prepare pasta according to package directions.
In the blender or food processor: add almonds,1/2 cup milk,
all the seasonings,garlic clove and 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese.
Blend until smooth and creamy, transfer to a large pan.
Bring sauce to a boil, adding more milk if to thick, at this point
taste to check the need for salt. Add pasta and chicken to
the sauce, mix well and then stir in remaining cheese
. If sauce is to thin add in some of
the reserved pasta water a little at a time until
desired consistency
Want to make it extra healthy? Add chopped and steamed
carrots,broccoli and/or cauliflower.

Lowfat Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

These were wonderful!!!
I like them better then enchiladas made

with red sauce.  And I tried to make them

as healthy as possible.

Recipe:

2 boneless/skinless chicken breast

1 can of low fat cheese soup

2 cans of low fat/reduced sodium cream of chicken soup

1/2 onion-minced

1 glove garlic-minced

1 1/2 packets taco seasoning (about 6 tablespoons)

1 cup of skim milk

2 cups shredded colby jack cheese

8 tortillas(flour or wheat)

1 teaspoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9x13 pan.

In a large skillet, heat oil and saute onion and garlic, add in chicken and

shred as you cook. Next add in 1 can of cream of chicken soup and 2 tablespoons of

the cheese soup and 1/2 of milk, and 1/2 a packet of taco

seasoning,  mix well and bring to a boil.

Once mixed well and thickened remove from heat.

Now assemble your enchiladas, by place 2-3 tablespoons of

chicken mixture in the center of a tortilla and tightly roll up and

place seam side down in the baking pan. Continue until

all meat is used.

Finally in the same pan add the remaining soups,milk and the whole packet

of taco seasoning and bring a boil. Remove from heat and

pour over the enchiladas in the baking pan. Top with shredded

cheese and bake covered for 45minutes. Let stand

10 minutes before removing from pan.

Serve with salsa and cream cheese.

Hope you all try these and enjoy them.

* If preparing ahead to freeze, prepare

as above and the day before baking remove from

freezer and let thaw over night in the refrigerator.

Whole Wheat Garlic, Herb, and Chicken Penne

I am horrible with pictures these days!!!!!!!!!
So sorry!!!!

And so here is a new recipe that is loaded with healthy pasta

and chicken and sure to please.

Recipe:

2-4 Boneless/skinless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces

1 lb of whole wheat penne

1 small onion diced

2 gloves garlic minced

3 cups of spinach diced

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspoon olive or canola oil

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese or Italian blend cheese

In a large skillet or pan, heat oil and add in onion and

garlic, until tender and frequent.In the meantime cook pasta according to

package directions. Add chicken and all other spices (except lemon zest) and cook until

cooked through and tender. Stir in lemon juice and cook until mostly absorbed.

Once pasta is done reserve 2 cups of cooking water and drain pasta.

Add pasta and spinach to pan with chicken and cheese's, and lemon zest. 

Add enough of the reserved pasta water

to make a smooth and creamy sauce.

To add some extra health benefits to this you could add in

bite size veggies, broccoli or carrots.

White Chicken Pizza on Whole Wheat Crust

Who doesn't love pizza?!?!? This is

a white version and just as tasty as the

other pizza!!

Before baking...

After baking!!

Recipe:

1 pizza crust any style

2-4 boneless,skinless chicken breast-cooked anyway you desire

2 cups of alfredo sauce(jarred or homemade)

1/2 cups  grated parmesan cheese

2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried italian parsley

Misc chopped veggies

Top pizza in the following order

crust,sauce,grated parmesan cheese,oregano,parsley,chicken,

mozzarella cheese,veggies and a little more of your mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes

Enjoy!!!

Chicken Carbanara

This was so much better then I had thought it 

would be and the whole gang loved it.
Even my picky Max!!

So here is goes
Recipe:

2-4 boneless/skinless chicken breast-cut in bite size pieces

1 lb of whole wheat pasta(i used linguine)

4 slices of turkey bacon cut in bite size pieces

1 garlic clove

2 whole eggs beaten @ room temp or to lighten it up more use 3 egg whites

1/2 grated parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon  oregano

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook pasta according to 

package directions. In the meantime add your olive oil

and garlic to a large skillet, and cook chicken and bacon.

Reserve about 3 cups of the pasta water and drain pasta, deglaze the

pan with 1/2 cups of pasta water. Mix together in a small

bowl, eggs or egg whites, parmesan cheese, black pepper,

and oregano. Now add the pasta to the skillet

with the meats stir well, now  while the pan is on medium heat

poor egg mixture over pasta and continually mix. Mixture will look 

odd, now slowly add in the reserved pasta water to help make

the sauce have a better consistency. (i used 1 1/2 cups) 

once desired consistency is reached remove from heat and serve with

grated parmesan cheese!!
 

Enjoy!!

Fried Rice w/Teriyaki Chicken

Yummy Chinese!!

Its pretty easy but a little time consuming.

But it makes enough for 2 if not 3 meals so its worth the extra

time for all those meals covered!

Recipe:

2-3 cups of rice cooked follow package directions

2-3 chicken breasts cooked anyway you like( i throw mine in the crock pot w/teriaki and garlic)

1/2 head of cauliflower (aka white flower in our house)

1/2 head of broccoli

3 carrots peeled and diced

1/2 cups teriyaki sauce

2 gloves of garlic-minced

2 eggs beaten at room temperature

1 tablespoon butter or oil

*any other veggies you want to throw in it

* In a large pan steam veg until aldente, drain and set aside. In an even bigger pan! Melt butter or oil and saute garlic, then add in beaten eggs and stir,scrape the pan until eggs are done. At this point you may add a little bit more oil then add in your cooked rice and stir and "fry" until slightly browned about 5 minutes or so, you will need to continue to stir.

*For veg and chicken, chop/shred chicken and place pan with your teriayki sauce and veggies, cook till mixed and warm.
ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy almost Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whole Wheat Chicken and Dumplings

This was really good and with the wheat dumplings

it still tastes the same and has the same texture as

the originals!

For stew part:
3-4 boneless/skinless chicken breast
2 chicken bouillon cubes
4 cups of h20
1-2 carrots chopped
1 teaspoon black pepper

For Dumplings
2 Cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons of baking powder
1-1/2 cups of water
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon butter

In crock pot or on a large pot on the stove combine chicken,water,bouillon cubes,carrots and pepper and cook until chicken is falling apart. About 6 hours in crock pot on high.

Once chicken is done you want to make sure that the chicken is covered in broth if not you may need to add more...bring to a boil. then mix up dumplings.
TO mix dumpling combine all ingredients in mixing bowl and then drop on top of stew by teaspoons, steam for about 12-20 minutes on the stove or for 1 hour in the crock pot.

Menu for the week of 1/17 through 1/22

Monday January 17-Chicken Lasagna

Tuesday January 18-Oven Baked Pork Chops

Wednesday January 19-Leftovers

Thursday January 20-Homemade Pizza w/whole wheat crust

Friday January 21-order food out

Saturday January 22-Breakfast(undecided as to what yet)

I will post the recipes through the week!
Hope this helps you plan your upcoming meals!!
:)

Chocolate Tapioca Pudding

Tapioca is pretty yummy, but can be

kind of boring! So how about super yummy,creamy

and chocolaty tapioca? Its wonderful!!!

The finished product with some

vanilla whipped cream on top

Before chilling the in fridge for 4 hours
Before the magic of the stove topRecipe:

1 cup of milk(either variety is fine)

1 cup of whipping cream

2 eggs

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup of tapioca granuals

Beat together,eggs,sugar,salt and cocoa powder, over medium heat stir

in the milk,cream and tapioca granuals, bring to just a boil

Once it starts to thicken remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Chill for 4 hours before eating.

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Lemon Pepper Chicken the easy way!

All ready for the oven!
With all the yummy stuff!

What a cute lil guy!

Recipe:

1 roaster chicken, thawed and rinsed

zest of 1 lemon(about a tablespoon)

juice of 1 lemon( about 3 tablespoons)

1 garlic glove minced

2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano

Preheath oven to 350

Prepare your cooking bag (following package directions)
Place your bird in bag and pour lemon juice on

top of bird. Place garlic around and inside the cavity of the

chicken. Then add teh rest of the seasonings and tie up your bag.

Place in oven and bake for about 2-2 1/2 hours

usually 20 minutes per pound. Or until juices run clear.

**if its a busy week prep it and stick it in the fridge until

the evening your having this yummy meal**