Easy-Peasy Baked Chicken & Cheesy

I admit it, most of my recipe that I picked up while in college are things I've never actually made until now. And I feel really bad, because at that point in my life, I didn't really care where I got the recipe. I just copied it onto the computer and saved it to try at some future date. I have no idea where most of them came from, but now that's neither here nor there. I have yummy recipes and you can, too. Because nice girls share.

This is a recipe I actually have made once or twice, and I know for a fact that Buppy has made it for himself and the kids once (before we were cohabiting). I think they liked it; I know he did, but I'm not 100% sure about the kiddos. Who cares though, since their tastes change quicker than my undies. Is that sharing too much? Probably. Back to my point --- this recipe uses pantry ingredients, is quick to throw together, and you can pretty much forget it once you stick it in the oven. Unless you're like me and have an oven that bakes unevenly. Then you have to think about it again halfway through the baking process so one side doesn't over bake while the other doesn't fully bake. Take my advice and set a timer! What a pain. Ah, story of my life: the uneven-baking oven. Seriously.

Baked Chicken & Cheese
I got nothin'.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (Mine generally run rather large, so I cut them in half and then they're the size of normal chicken breasts; if yours are small, use more.)
8 slices Swiss cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
½ c. skim milk
¼ c. reduced-fat sour cream
1 ½ c. herb stuffing mix
¼ c. melted butter
Mushrooms (optional, but I really love mushrooms!)

Place chicken in buttered 9"x13" baking dish; top with slices of cheese. Mix soup, milk and sour cream (and mushrooms, if using) together and pour over chicken/cheese. Top with stuffing and pour melted butter on top. Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 30-40 minutes more.

Buppy's problem was that he thought this was a faster recipe than it is because he neglected to read the part about "bake 30-40 min. more after uncovering." I think he got mad at me. Not my fault Mr. I-didn't-read-the-recipe-through-before-beginning-dinner! If you've got the time, give it a try. I promise you won't be disappointed! Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday - Feb. 8, 2010

Here we are, Monday again. How does the weekend fly by so quickly?

Last week Buppy and I stayed on track quite well with our menus. We deviated a little during the weekend because of the snow and leftovers, but all in all, I'd consider it a success! We still have some leftovers to work on, so they'll probably be up for grabs on Wednesday & Thursday nights, but also for lunches throughout the week.

Monday: Baked chicken teriyaki, steamed broccoli [new recipe for the chicken]

Tuesday: Crustless pizza [new recipe]

Wednesday: [Bugaboo home alone, Buppy at work] Leftovers

Thursday: [Bugaboo home alone, Buppy at work] Possibly leftovers (depending on how much food we still have) or easy chicken tortilla casserole

Friday: Indian tacos

Saturday: Lunch will be leftovers, dinner will be at a friend's house for the wine/promotion party

Sunday: Lunch will be grilled cheese or something along those lines, dinner will be Crockpot scalloped potatoes with ham [new recipe]

So there we have it. Some new recipes to try with some oldies-but-goodies thrown in. We have a lot of the ingredients needed for most of these dishes, so I'm hoping for another week of relatively low grocery spending. Now I just need to decide what to make for the wine/promo party on Saturday.

Bloody Mary . . . Chicken?

Yup, you read right folks. I tried a bloody Mary chicken recipe I found waaaaay back in the day that I've been holding on to. Once again, I have no idea where I found this puppy.

The ingredients were pretty simple and all things I had on hand, which meant no special trip to the store, which meant a happy Bugaboo. And everyone loves a happy Bugaboo! Right . . . ?

I took some chicken out of the freezer before leaving for work the day prior to making this and let it thaw all day and over night in the fridge. That night, before heading to bed, I gathered the other few ingredients I'd need so assembly'd be a snap in morning. And that's exactly what it was.

The recipe said to cook for 7-10 hours on low, and by the time I got home, it was approximately 10 hours. Damn commute time. Oh well, at least I hoped to have an awesome dinner! It suggests to serve over rice and, while I had leftover rice in the fridge from a stir fry we'd made recently, I still didn't go for it. I should have used it up; that would have been the right thing to do. But I had a different idea. I love English muffins and think they make a great bed for things like this that have a sauce or gravy, so that's what I used instead.Bloody Mary Chicken
No credit given here since I have no idea where this came from --- sorry. Man I suck at this game.

2 whole chicken breasts
1 can cream of something soup
1 c. V-8 juice
3 cloves garlic
Dash celery seed
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
4 dashes Tabasco sauce
I also added a cap full of lemon juice because my bloody Marys have to have lemon juice in them

Put all ingredients but chicken into a crock pot and stir; add chicken and bury in the sauce. Cook on low 7-10 hours; serve over rice.The verdict? It was actually pretty good, but it didn't really taste anything like a bloody Mary. Ten hours for the size of my chicken breasts was too long and it had started to burn around the edges. I soaked the crock pot overnight, but Buppy said he still had to scrub it 3 times! Thanks hunny! Back to the chicken --- I garnished it with some chopped green olives because they're a staple in bloody Marys (mine anyway). It was great to have something salty mixed into the sauce, and the texture was a nice addition.

The leftovers are in the fridge right now; I saved some for Buppy so he gets to judge it and let me know if he thinks it's worth making again. I think I do. While not knock-my-socks-off fabulous, it was good for the amount of time and effort that was put into it. I'll probably just doctor it up a little more next time. Give it a try and see what you think!

Thanks to Mo' Nature!

While a good friend of mine (who, oddly enough, I've never met) is headed to Disneyland this weekend, I'm anticipating anywhere from 12"-24" of snow. What we like to call a nor'easter. From the weather.com website: "Major nor'easter to slam mid-Atlantic." I can definitely say I'd rather be spending this weekend with De-Mc-Rita. Well, have fun for me ladycakes, and don't forget the hand sanitizer!

Our storm was originally supposed to start dumping on us Friday night and into Saturday. They've now moved up the timeline and are predicting the snow to begin mid-morning tomorrow, Friday. I arrive at work "mid-morning", 10am. And according to weather.com, conditions will "deteriorate rapidly" in the afternoon. I'm thinkin', "Shitters, this is gonna suck!" But then my DOS starts telling me that she knows I have the right work ethic and that I have nothing to prove to her. Meaning I don't have to come into work tomorrow. Luckily, if I have anything that really needs to be done (which I don't), I have my sales software loaded onto our laptop at home, so I can still work from there. But it's a relatively slow week, so that's not even going to be necessary.

I'd like to give a big shout out to Mo' Nature for granting me a 3-day weekend. I just hope Buppy's drive in on Saturday morning isn't too treacherous. Yikes. Stay safe everyone, and stay off the roads. Unless you're headed to Disneyland.

Random Thoughts Today

I feel bad. I've been a lazy, lazy girl today at work. I'm mean seriously lazy. As in, I didn't really do much productive at all. I guess the saying is true: when the cat's away, Bugaboo will dick around. Wait, what? That's not the saying? Well, you get the point.

I arrived on time for work this morning, only to find out my DOS was feeling queasy. I hope I haven't given her whatever I've been dealing with for the past 89.23 days. It felt that long anyway. She left around 10:30am or so, and soon after I went down to our restaurant to help set up lunch for a seminar group we have in house today. They were asking for menus so they wouldn't have to go out for lunch since the weather isn't really warm and fuzzy today. Our F&B director decided to whip up (in roughly half an hour!) a buffet that included chicken Marsala, steamed broccoli, wild rice and assorted desserts. What's more? He did it working with frozen product (chicken breasts), which made it all the more impressive. Our clients seemed to enjoy it, and it only made me all the more certain that we selected the right candidate to fill the F&B slot. Such a relief in my mind, as him being good at his job makes mine about 79.2% less stressful. Ahhhhhhhh. (Did you know that 64.893% of all statistics are made up?)

I was excited at the prospect of heading out to what I hear is a beautiful topiary garden in Monkton this weekend . . . and then it occurred to me: are they open? No. Silly me! They've been called "The most outstanding topiary garden in America" by The Garden Club of America. Who knew I've been so close for so long? Buppy has to work, and while I enjoy my time at home alone on the weekends that he's gone, I figure I should get out and enjoy some of what my area has to offer. I live just outside Bmore for Pete's sake! And can take the metro down into DC if I want. There are so many outstanding museums, exhibits at universities, etc. that I'm not taking advantage of, and it needs to stop. So what if I have to go alone. And if I don't want to, I'm willing to bet I can find a friend or two who'll wanna come along. This weekend though? We'll have to see if Mother Nature is kind to me; if not, I'll stay home with a good book, some recipes to try and some Real Housewives of Orange Co. reruns. But I'll now be on the lookout for more things to enjoy.
Next weekend, even though the Ladew Gardens aren't technically open yet, they'll be hosting Maple Magic. We have the wine/promotion party to attend on Saturday night in VA, but I might try to go on Sunday. Buppy and the kids will be home, but it's suggested that only ages 4+ come; C is almost 3, so I'm not sure if I'd go it alone or try to bring the whole fam along. I just haven't smelled or seen the making of maple syrup since I was a child growing up in Wisco. Ah, the memories. I'm sure it'd be a good time.

By the way, anyone have any suggestions as far as something to bring to the wine/promo party(besides the wine, obviously)? Almost everyone drinks red wine (besides Buppy), so what's a good dish that blends well with reds? Something chocolate perhaps? That might work well, especially since it's the day before I-Heart-You-Day (a.k.a Valentine's). Hmmm, De-Mc-Rita --- you got any suggestions? 'Cause I know you be a wine drinkin' gal!

Other than that party, I'm also excited for the bull roast coming up on the 27th. I've only been to one since my arrival in MD, which was almost 2 years ago. Have I really been on the east coast for 2 years!?!? Wow. Anyway, no kids allowed, so it's an awesome night of good food and great company. What more could you ask for in a night out? February is going to be a pretty great month!

Thanks to the Rez & De-Mc-Rita!

So what the heck are Indian Tacos? Well, had I not been privileged enough to attend high school on the Blackfeet reservation in Montana for most of my HS years, I'd be scratchin' my head too! They're messy. They're fattening, 'cause the dough is deep fried. And they're oh-so-worth it!

They're basically a taco like you've come to know and love, except they're built on fry bread instead of on a tortilla of some sort. So . . . what's fry bread? It's basically a bread dough that you flatting into a circle and deep fry. But you have to make a hole in the middle so it cooks right and doesn't balloon up in the middle. Think of a flattened doughnut (but not sweet). Yeah . . . that's it. So you make your fry bread, then top it with all the yummy stuff you normally top your tacos with: meat, cheese, veggies, condiments --- whatever tickles that fancy of yours. Then presto: Indian Taco!

Fry Bread

4 c. all purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1½ c. warm water (110F/45C)
4 c. shortening for frying

Combine flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in 1 ½ c. lukewarm water. Knead until soft but not sticky. Shape dough into balls about 3 inches in diameter. Flatten into patties ½ in. thick and make a small hole in the center of each patty. Fry one at a time in 1 in. of hot shortening, turning to brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. 12 servings.

This awesome Indian Taco photo is courtesy of De-Mc-Rita. No, I don't know exactly how she became know by that name, and I can tell you that it'll probably change within the next 24 hours. I think she's in the witness protection program. Anyway, I told her all about how fancy-fly Indian Tacos were and she whipped up a batch for her fam that very night! And guess what? They loved 'em --- yay! Since I haven't made them in a long time, I'm stealing her picture; it's ok though since I asked first. Because that's what nice girls do. She said I could use it 'cause she's jazzy like that. Thanks De-Mc-Rita!

Menu Plan Monday - Feb. 1, '10

I've been trying to menu plan for the past few weeks, but we haven't done really well following our plans. Both of us are guilty for veering off course, partly due to work schedules and being sick. Therefore, we've decided (with my prompting, I admit it) to set 2 goals for the month of February.

Goal #1: To menu plan and follow it. We have 3 $50 restaurant gift certificates on hand to use [Chili's, Parks Landing (a seafood restaurant) and J&P Pizza] if we decide we want to go out to eat. I don't want to actually spend any money on dining out this month, just to see if we can actually stick to this. It shouldn't be hard since we don't actually go out to eat a lot, but it's still a challenge I'd like to complete. We've begun a monthly dinner with good friends of ours, but they'll be coming to the house. We also have a wine/our-good-friend-was-promoted party to attend, but dinner will be at their home and I'll bring something along. We also have a bull roast to go to at the end of the month, but that's a ticket purchase and doesn't really count as "eating out" since it's a fundraiser for a fire department.

Goal #2: To spend $200 or less on groceries. I know exactly what we spend on groceries each month since I track it and have been since April '09, and I think we're spending more than necessary, especially since we now have a freezer full of different meats and seafood. This shouldn't be a hard challenge to complete either, so long as we pay attention and become a little more aware of how much we're spending on what, and if it's really a needed purchase. 'Cause some shiot ain't!

So here's the menu plan for this coming week, using mostly stuff we have on hand. Will this be failed attempt #2,394? I hope not.

Monday - [Bugaboo home alone; Buppy at work] Turkey sandwich with lettuce & tomato and some kind of raw veggies & dip

Tuesday - [Bugaboo home alone; Buppy at work] Bloody Mary chicken [crockpot recipe] over rice

Wednesday - Pork noodle casserole [recipe from Taste of Home] & green salad

Thursday - Salisbury steak [I still have to find me a recipe for this bad boy!], mashed potatoes, gravy & steamed carrots

Friday - Bleu cheese stuffed hamburgers with sweet potato fries [we have a sweet potato we need to use up that's been around since the dawn of time, or at least since Thanksgiving, and yes, it still looks good!] & green salad

Saturday - [Bugaboo home alone; Buppy at work] Cajun chicken sandwich with some variety of raw veggies & dip

Sunday - [Bugaboo home alone; Buppy at work] Tuna salad sandwich or melt, chips, raw veggies & dip

So that's the plan as it stands now. Tonight we're roasting pork spareribs with sauerkraut. We just put 'em in, but I'm really looking forward to them; I hope they turn out as tasty as I remember my grandma's.

For more great ideas, head on over to I’m an Organizing Junkie. I'll be linking this post up to her site, and she has plenty more!