Friday, February 6, 2009

Chicken: It's What's for Dinner, Again...

SO EAT IT AND BE HAPPY ABOUT IT!

Sigh...

I swear it is like the Twilight Zone for me.

Every single night, 2 hours before dinner, I am wracking my brain, while the nagging question crawls all over me like a million tiny spiders- WHAT WILL I MAKE FOR DINNER TONIGHT?? I rock back and forth, with a pool of my sweat and tears collecting on the floor around me, as the kids bounce about endlessly, screaming,

“we’re huunnnnnngry! What’s for diiiiiiiiineeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrr!?!?!?!?!?!?”

In my nearly manic state I manage to squeak out, “ch…ch…chicken…” to which they say, “yuck I don’t LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE chickeeeeeeeeeen!”

Couple that with finding out that John Mayer’s Bold as Love is just a cover of a Jimmy Hendrix song, and the pain is almost unbearable.

I run to my Happy Place!!

Ahem…

Since we don’t eat out any more, or order out, (hubby makes the BEST home made pizza on Sundays, PTL!) I am making dinner every night of the week, and I must admit, it drives me insane. Mostly because I have an "apartment" stove (translation, a piece of crap) and it challenges me everyday by refusing to heat the coils or by burning the food to a crisp. I miss my new gas stove (sigh) and my huge kitchen (wimper!) and the lovely island I used to prepare at (before we became poor college students, SOB!) but I digress…I HAVE a stove so…no more blubbering…

Now after all of that, I am sure it is hard to believe that I actually like to cook, but really, I do. I have about 35 dinners on my cupboard that I coordinate grocery lists with so we can rotate through quite a few dinners. They all take about the same amount of time, which is about 45 minutes (Rachael Ray I am not).

So of course, with all of this cooking going on, cost of ingredients comes into play, as well as the actual ingredients, as well as my feeble attempts at keeping my fragile sanity. Because of this, chicken, is my friend, my BFF (Best Food for the Family) if you will.

I don’t normally want to eat my friends, but this friendship is one-sided, with a minimal internal temperature of 170.

I buy the frozen, boneless, skinless breasts at Sam’s and can make several different chicken dishes with them, because you can start cooking them while they are still frozen, and I never have to worry about being out of ready-to-use chicken! In fact, half of my recipes I rotate through are chicken, and the rest are divided up between organic beef, fish (or shrimp), and some turkey and pork dishes. If my hubby didn’t give me the wonderful break on Sunday’s with his AMAZING pizza, I would truly go insane. Wait…

So, I thought, I would share with you all, 15 of my chicken recipe TITLES. Then, I want someone, anyone, to go back to this post, read it, and share with me a fantastic, yet easy recipe? Please? Then, if you like, let me know if any of the recipes down below sound good, and I will share it with you. And, if you have any other good chicken recipes, let me know!

Tonight I am making my lemon chicken with artichoke hearts and capers. If I had some mushrooms, I would add those! I serve this chicken over pasta and sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese…it is just delish…

So c’mon y’all, DISH!!!



1. Simple Baked Chicken

2. Chicken Parmesan & Pasta

3. Chicken Enchiladas

4. Malibu Chicken

5. Teriyaki Chicken w/ Broccoli

6. Chicken Fajitas

7. Fettuccini Chicken (and shrimp) over Pasta

8. Pad Thai with Chicken (and shrimp)

10. Stir-fry Chicken w/ Rice

11. Italian Chicken Cutlets w/ Veggies

12. Chicken Salad Sandwiches

13. Lemon Chicken w/ capers and artichoke hearts over Pasta

14. BBQ Chicken

15. My FAMOUS Chicken Soup (this is my personal fave)

9 comments:

The Retired One said...

I use Shake n Bake on my chicken and that's about it...but it always comes out great! Sorry I can't be more creative. Yours sound wonderful. I am a pasta lover, but my hubby is a meat and potatoes guy, so that really limits the pasta and stir fry dishes I would like to try at home. So, I usually order those when we go out. How do you spell boring again?

Mary K Brennan said...

I feel your pain! I have come to the conclusion that the only reason I have a kitchen is because it came with the house. I do have an island, but it's just to display the flowers and fruit, and it's often used to set my computer upon so I can keep up with the mommies. Anyway, I have no secret recipes to share, but let me introduce you to kraftfoods.com (An awesome site) The recipes are easy to follow. Many have very few ingredients and are budget friendly. Hope this is a bit helpful. If all else fails, there's always Sunday (thank God for hubby)!

w said...

i just put on some gloves to prepare myself for your list.

malibu chicken makes me think of david hasselhoff.

i want your lemon chicken recipe. it'll help us re-connect. as we've grown so far apart. like chicken wings. on different chickens. in different coops.








oscar john mayer's bologna love?

Cheeky Greek said...

The lemon chicken recipe sounds good! Do you like coconut? Do you like curry? I have a really easy and good recipe for coconut curry chicken. It's good even to those that do not like curry, or so I have been told. Oh, and another one of my go-to recipes (which my sister introduced me to) is a super easy tortilla chicken soup...and it's great!

Stacy Uncorked said...

Do you have a crockpot? Because I have some killer chicken crockpot recipes... ;) I don't have any fried chicken recipes, but I'll ask my friend in Louisiana - she always has some yummy Southern recipes, so I bet she might have something good! ;)

I would LOVE to get the recipes from your list of the following:

Chicken Parmesan & Pasta

Malibu Chicken

Teriyaki Chicken w/ Broccoli

Fettuccini Chicken (and shrimp) over Pasta

Lemon Chicken w/ capers and artichoke hearts over Pasta

(Your) FAMOUS Chicken Soup

And I have to say, I have been in that same predicament...I buy the boneless/skinless chicken breasts from BJ's (just like Sam's, but BJ's is closer driving distance to me) and love them for the same reasons you do. But I get the same reaction from the Princess Nagger when we have chicken more than one night in a row. :)

BTW - I have a little something for you over at my blog...you might have to scroll down a bit to find the "Catching Up" post... :)

Insanitykim said...

Retired One - For some reason, I don't think anything in your life is boring!! ;)

Thanks for the tip, Mary, I'll check it out! :)

Cheeky - yes! I'll take that coconut curry recipe! Please! Email it to me! joshnkim@gmail.com

Stacy! How did I miss that post! I was reading your blog and missed it! Thanks! I shall steal the award! :) And yes I have a crock pot, what recipes do you have?

I will email the other recipes to you, and for now, here is the lemon chicken for ALL of you that asked for it!

LEMON CHICKEN W/ARTICHOKE HEARTS AND CAPERS

Brown the chicken (I usually do two breasts) in a large skillet with olive oil (about 3 TBS) and minced garlic (1 TBS)

-Set the chicken aside, add a TBS of butter to skillet and melt
-add 2 TBS of flour to make a roux
-add enough milk to make a cream sauce
-add 1 tsp of capers and a little juice
-add half the juice of a lemon
-add 1/2 (or more!) cup of chopped artichoke hearts and a little of the juice

cut chicken into pieces and add back to sauce and bring to boil

simmer (while you boil pasta) and sprinkle in some Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste

when pasta is finished, add it to the skillet and mix it all together

garnish w/ more Parmesan cheese!

enjoy!

An FTB Bloggers Blog said...

Well Kim,
I guess I better cherish these days now while I have them. It's just me, so dinner is usually something heated in the microwave eaten while standing over the sink...but wait today is Sunday. Gourmet night! Sunday I get a $5.00 footlong from subway....lol!
-Cosmo

Cassoulet Cafe said...

This is THE most perfect post!!!! We have vowed not to go out to eat anymore, unless we are treating ourselves, which to BE a treat, has to be rare.
I NEED YOUR RECIPES. and tomorrow, since you already posted the Lemon Chicken, THAT'S what's for dinner here. Yes!
(And Cheeky's coconut chicken is GOOD)

Insanitykim said...

MJL...I can totally recommend some bagged dinners for when you are ready to move up and away from the microwave and sink, like, to maybe one skillet, a spatula, and a plate...small steps though, ok? ;)

CC...welcome back! You have recipes coming to your inbox! Maybe I'll have a "How I Avoid Mad Cow Yet Still Eat Burgers" post soon! Unless, no one likes the recipes once they try them (hiding in the corner!)I want that coconut chicken recipe soon!!! :)

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