Two Quick & Easy Dinner Recipes!

The title of this post says it all....

"Easy" Chicken

2-3 chicken breasts, cut up in bite size pieces
1 cup low-fat mozzarella cheese, finely shredded
1/4 cup water
1/2 bottle Italian dressing (I used Zesty Italian)
2 tbsp basil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In 8 x 8 pan, pour 1/4 cup water in bottom of pan. Place chicken on top of water. Pour Italian dressing over all chicken, making sure that each "piece" gets covered well. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and then dried basil. Bake 25 minutes or until cheese is lightly golden and melted. We typically eat this over rice, using some of the juices to pour over it.

Best-Ever Chicken Marinade *I might have put this on here before, but if not, then here it is.

3 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp dried tarragon
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Mix all above ingredients together and then whisk in 1/4-1/3 cup olive oil until well blended. Pour over your chicken breasts in ziploc bag and let marinate for at least 15 minutes, but as long as overnight. Right before grilling, sprinkle each chicken breast with a little bit of salt and grill until no longer pink in the middle. (This sounds like a bizarre combination, but it is soooo good.)

Another Recipe: Saucy Chicken

When you are a working momma, and you work in the evenings, dinners can get a little "tricky." Most of the time, I cook Saturday night and Sunday night, and Hudson will have those leftovers on Monday and Tuesday nights. Often, if there aren't leftovers, he'll have salad and pasta waiting on him once he gets home from picking up Micayla at my office. Yesterday, I cooked this chicken in our crock-pot (which we love using) and it turned out really well! I served it with rice and green beans. Here's the recipe for Saucy Chicken:

(I cut the recipe in half to only make 3 servings, 2 for last night, and 1 for leftovers.)

Saucy Chicken
5-6 chicken breasts
2 jars (12 oz) apricot preserves
1 package dry onion soup mix

Mix preserves and onion soup mix together. Lay chicken in bottom of crock-pot and spoon preserves/onion soup mix over each chicken breast. Let cook on low 4-5 hours, or high 2-3 hours.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

So when Micayla and I flew to Memphis over Spring Break (that post is coming), my sister Lesli had made this dressing for salads that I was really surprised that I liked. So much so that when I got back to my honey and we did grocery shopping, I went ahead and got the ingredients for it. We've eaten it all week, and I've even used it on some sandwiches, and it was yummy! So I thought I would share!

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

1 package Buttermilk Ranch dressing mix
1 jalapeno, seeds removed (because I don't like much spice)
2 tomatillos
1 bunch cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lime, juiced

Make dressing mix according to package directions. Cut up jalapeno, lime, garlic, tomatillos, and cilantro and place all in blender, along with mixed dressing. Blend until well mixed. Refrigerate for several hours. (See how easy was that!)

A Couple of Recipes

1. It is still hot here.
2. We got rain this past weekend. Thanks be to God! However, there were two major thunderstorms that came over our house, thundered ferociously, and then dropped all of 3 drops on our grass. Seriously, I could count them. Then, on Saturday evening, we'd headed to Sonic for a little treat (have you tried the new strawberry limeade chiller? YUM.), and came back to ominous looking clouds overhead. These clouds did not disappoint---the grass got watered, the plants are looking a little less thirsty, and we had a window that flooded our guest bedroom. So, while I'd been praying for rain, I maybe should have quantified that with a little side note to God. "God, please bring your rain to our grass, our plants, but not necessarily inside the house." Of course, He knew what He was doing....so I'm just left to trusting Him all the while.
3. Trusting Him is probably another post for another day, but suffice it to say that I've really been ruminating on His provision for us in the midst of some uncertainty. I've really clung to His Word that helps me remember that He cares for us and wants the best for us, even if that doesn't always agree with our own plans. His plans are higher, His will is perfect, and I'm to have faith. Fairly simple to write, a lot harder to live out.
4. My child is not a good napper. I'm afraid about playschool in the fall when all the other one year olds are supposed to be napping, and mine is going to be "the one." The one child that disrupts everyone else's nap time and the teachers, who most definitely need a little bit of quiet, have to occupy her because she refuses to take a nap. Some days, we do really good--she takes a good nap around noon to 2 or so. Other days, I'm lucky to have her sleep half an hour total. For. The. Day. And have I mentioned that she has energy that has no bounds? Seriously, reading a book is great--but about page 3, she's ready to move on to the next thing. She's not a snuggler unless she is asleep, and she rarely sits still for anything. Advice would be appreciated. I've tried the crying it out during nap time, and she will fall asleep, but she'll also cry for over an hour before crashing. (I check on her about every twenty minutes and have the monitor on so I know what she is doing. I do the sneaky mom thing where I can see her, but she can't see me. I've picked her up and rocked her, laid her down when she's asleep, only for her to wake up right as I put her down. I've not picked her up but just patted her while she lays in her crib and told her that it's time to take a nap.) I need a nap just thinking about the fact that my child doesn't nap.
5. Picked up homegrown peaches the other day and decided to make a classic...peach cobbler. It was so good I'm going to share my recipe with you. This time I made it with peaches and blueberries, but I've also done blackberries before. This cobbler is really good (if you like a lot of cobbler with a lot of fruit). Perfect with ice cream.

The Best Peach Cobbler

Preheat oven to 400. Place one stick butter in 9 x 13 pan and place in oven until melted. Mix 7-8 cut up ripe peaches with approximately 1/2 cup sugar. If peaches are really tart, you might need to add additional 1/4 cup of sugar to sweeten. Mix the following in a bowl: 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 3/4 cup milk, 1 tsp vanilla. Pour this batter over the melted butter in your pan. Pour fruit on top of the batter/butter and sprinkle wit cinnamon. Bake for approximately 30 minutes at 400.

6. Because I'm in the sharing mood, and because we have another new family favorite meal...here's a bonus recipe for you. I think Hudson found this one on allrecipes.com.

Skillet Chicken

2 chicken breasts (I pounded two thick ones and cut them in half so we could have leftovers)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced Italian tomatoes
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1 small bay leaf
Pepper to taste

In skillet, brown chicken in oil. Once browned, add onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Saute until tender. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 30-40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked (not pink in the middle).

I served this with steamed broccoli and couscous and it was good!

7. I like making lists, which is why today's post is in list form. Makes me feel much more organized.

8. The end. Happy cooking!