Friday, June 02, 2006

3 chicken recipes, as promised!

(Please refer to previous post for the instructions for cooking a whole chicken in the crockpot)

When you're done cooking the chicken and you've strained your broth and gleaned your meat, you'll have approximately 4-5 cups cooked chicken and (I get) about 8 cups of chicken broth. Here's what you'll need for 3 nummy recipes (go ahead and grab these when you buy your whole fryer chicken):

Shopping list:
1 large bag of frozen mixed veggies (the mix I like has green beans, peas, carrots, and corn)
1 pkg. of Pillsbury pie crusts (comes with 2 crusts)
3 cans of Campbell's "cream of" soups (I got 1 regular cream of chicken, 1 cream of chicken with herbs, and 1 cream of mushroom, but these can be substituted...will explain later)
1 pkg. Ritz crackers
1 pkg. frozen egg noodles

items you'll probably already have on hand:
white rice
milk
garlic salt
salt & pepper

Recipe #1
Individual Chicken Pot Pies (taken from a Real Simple magazine a few years ago)
8-12 ounces (that's 1 to 1 1/2 cups) of the frozen veggies, thawed
the piecrusts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
2 cups of your cooked chicken meat
garlic salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and defrost your veggies (microwave for about 2-3 minutes). Roll out piecrusts and cut into fourths. Spray the interior of 4 ramekins or small bowls with Pam, then place a quarter of pie crust in bottom. Mix your other ingredients together, then spoon into pie crust (divide equally between the 4 bowls). Top with the remaining quarters of pie crust and pinch together the 2 crust pieces. Cut 2-3 slits in the top of each pie crust. Place all 4 bowls on a baking sheet and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. These are sooooooooooo good; one of Adam's favorite meals!

Recipe #2
Chicken and Noodles (my friend Dawn Hawkins taught me this one)
the chicken broth from your cooked chicken
1 bag of frozen egg noodles
about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of your cooked chicken

Take out the chicken broth you've saved in your soup pot in the fridge and place it on burner. If you want more brothy chicken & noodles, add 1-2 cups water; if you want thick chicken & noodles, no extra water needed (although I'd recommend a little bit of water...if you save some of this for leftovers, the extra water will keep noodles from absorbing all the broth and drying out). Heat on medium until boiling; add egg noodles and follow instructions on package (it usually says to boil uncovered for 20 minutes until cooked). When noodles are cooked, add your cooked chicken and simmer on low so flavors can blend. I usually bake a Pillsbury French Loaf and serve with green beans. You can also serve over mashed potatoes. Very Sunday-after-church kind of meal.

Recipe #3
Ritzy Chicken & Rice Casserole (I sort of invented this off of a blander recipe from allrecipes.com)
the remainder of your cooked chicken
8-12 ounces (1 to 1 1/2 cups) of your frozen mixed veggies, thawed
2 cups of white rice, cooked
2 cans of "cream of" soups (I like cream of chicken with herbs and cream of mushroom for this recipe)
2 cups of crushed Ritz crackers
garlic salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Defrost your veggies, crush your Ritz crackers (put them in a baggie and just squish with your fingers), cook your rice. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients but the crushed crackers. Pour into 8 x 12 (I think...I'm writing this all from memory and I know it's not the big 9 x 13 pan) glass baking dish and evenly sprinkle and spread crackers on top. Bake for 20 minutes. Very good for a quick weekday meal.

5 comments:

Mark Keefer said...

Hi Becky,

My wife Chana (s.l. Shawna) and I happened upon your blog thru looking at comments from the Laura VanRyn blog. You and my wife have much in common as far as taste in literature, movies and Starbucks. One shock to her was your entry about mourning doves. She has a deep connection with them as well, dating back to childhood. We had a nest of them on our back fence a couple of years ago; a mother hatching two eggs - could send great pics sometime.

Chana has spent the last year writing a novel, and she's in the editing stage right now. Hopefully it's a novel you'd enjoy someday. She has the same opinion of most Christian literature you have. She has described her book as modern Jane Austin. "Delusions of grandeur" she says, but I think it's great.

We also noticed your preference for the show Dallas. Chana actually was in 3 episodes in season 7, when Christopher Atkins was in the cast.

Anyway, we felt compelled to write a note to you after recognizing the probable kindred spirit in you two.

Please stop by my blog if you are bored.

Best to you and everyone in Indiana!

Mark and Chana Keefer

Becky said...

Update!

I just read a similar recipe to my Ritzy Chicken casserole on another blog...this girl pours melted butter over the crushed crackers before placing in the oven; I'm sure it makes a crispier crust and I'll try it myself next time! Just wanted to share.

Becky said...

oh, and thank you Mark! I have replied to you over on your blog. How fun to meet you!

Anonymous said...

Greetings from Scottsdale! It is 110 degrees here - ACK!!!! Forget what they say about "dry heat".

Just a quick tip - If you don't have time to do the crock pot - you can pick of one of the chicken roasters for $5 from Walmart or Sam's any day - you don't get the broth but still a good tasting chicken!

And, a 4th and 5th recipe:

Chicken salad. (2 servings)
1 c. of your pulled chicken
1 egg
Miracle whip (till it looks right)
Grapes (optional - but I always use them)
Walnuts (Optional)
Celery - 1 stalk diced
Peper to taste

I like to serve with crackers and it is great for a picnic!!

BBQ chicken Baked Potatoes.
Take some of your shredded chicken and add you favorite BBQ sauce. Heat over low heat until heated through - then simmer

Bake your potatoes in a 350 oven for 45 minutes to an hour.

Cut open the potato and top it with your BBQ chicken. Top with your favorite toppings. My standards are green onions and cheese :)

Anonymous said...

Can you make the chicken pot pies with just chicken breasts (I don't do the whole chicken thing)? If so, how?