6 Week Menu Planner

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Quick Italian Chicken (Dena)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 cans Italian stewed tomatoes

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. oregano (opt.)

1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

Slightly flatten each chicken breast or cut into strips or bite sized pieces. Place in a shallow baking dish. Cover w/ foil. Bake at 425 for 20 min. or until tender. While the chicken is baking, Combine tomatoes, cornstarch and oregano in a sauce pan. (I usually blend up the tomatoes w/a small handheld blender because my family prefers it smoother.) Stir to disolve cornstarch. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. When chicken is done, remove foil and drain. Pour tomato sauce over chicken and top w/ cheese. Return to oven and bake for 5 min. uncovered, or until it is heated through. Serve over/with rice.

Cranberry Chicken (Kristi H)

2 1/2 pounds chicken breast, no skin, no bone (can use bone-in)
1 envelope onion soup mix
8 ounces French salad dressing, or 1000 Island
1 can cranberry sauce, whole berry
4 cups rice, cooked

1. Combine cranberry sauce, soup mix, and salad dressing and mix well.
2. Lay chicken breasts in 9x13 pan and cover with sauce.
3. Cover pan with foil and bake at 350 for 45 min. (1 hour if using bone-in chicken). Serve with rice.

Sweet and Sour Chicken (Shiloh)

Sweet and Sour Chicken

(This recipe originally appeared in The Friend in April 1991.)

4-8 skinned, boned chicken breast halves (about 2 pounds)

1 egg, beaten

cornstarch

oil

sauce (recipe follows)

1. Dip the chicken breast (or bite-sized pieces) into the egg, then roll them in the cornstarch.
2. In a small amount of oil, fry the chicken until just browned.
3. Place the chicken in a shallow baking pan, pour the sauce over it, then bake it uncovered at 325 degrees (160 degrees C) for one hour, turning the chicken every 15 minutes.

Sauce:

¾ c. sugar

4 Tbsp. catsup

½ c. vinegar

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

½ tsp. garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together.

Notes: If you like pineapple, then open a can of pineapple tidbits. Drain the juice and reserve 1/2 c. of it for the sauce. Then add the pineapple juice to the sauce, instead of using vinegar. Add the pineapple tidbits to the chicken.

Also, if you don't want to bake the chicken in your oven, then you can cook it on your stove top. Cook the chicken as directed in the recipe. For the sauce, add about 2 Tbsp. of cornstarch. Stir it all together with a whisk so that you get rid of all the lumps. Then add the sauce to the chicken that has already been cooked. Stir everything together and allow the sauce to boil and thicken up. It will probably take 5 minutes or less for the sauce to thicken.

I like to serve this chicken recipe with rice.

Chicken Breasts Supreme—Crock pot recipe (Robin B.)

I love to make this for dinner. You can start it after lunch and it will be done in time for dinner. I usually keep bacon and Swiss cheese frozen so I have the ingredients on hand. I usually don't bother with the chives and you can really serve it with any vegetable.

2 slices bacon 3 oz. sliced Swiss cheese (or shredded is fine)
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 ½ lb.)
1 (4.5oz.) jar sliced mushrooms, drained
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
3 cups frozen broccoli florets
Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet; drain on paper towels and refrigerate. Reserve bacon drippings in skillet.
Add chicken breasts to bacon drippings in skillet; cook over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, until lightly browned, turning once. Transfer chicken to 4-to-6 quart slow cooker. Top with mushrooms. Spoon soup over mushrooms. Cover and cook on low for 3 to 4 hours. Top mixture in slow cooker with cheeses slices, sprinkle with chives. Crumble bacon over the top and increase heat to high; cook an additional 10-15 min. until cheese melts. Meanwhile, microwave broccoli until crisp-tender. Serve chicken and broccoli on a dish, with juices from slow cooker on top, if desired.

Chicken Crunch (Winnie)

INGREDIENTS:
2 chicken breasts, cooked and deboned
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1/2 cup butter
40 buttery round crackers

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Chop chicken into small pieces and place in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
3. Mix soup and sour cream and pour over chicken. Dot with butter or margarine. Crumble crackers finely and put on top of chicken mixture. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

P.S. I didn't use 1/2 cup of butter, I only used 2 Tbl of butter.

Bean-N-Cheese Tacos (Kristi H)

These sound so... not exciting, but they are YUMMY!

2 cans whole pinto beans
12 corn tortillas
garlic salt
pepper
Monterey jack cheese, sliced
avacado , sliced
salsa

Heat a griddle or large skillet over fairly high heat. While your griddle is heating, warm up one or two cans of whole pinto beans (we use two cans for our family of 4 eaters), undrained, in a saucepan on your stove. Season with garlic salt and pepper. Keep warm. Place corn tortillas on the griddle and heat on one side until starting to crisp. (I like mine more crunchy than soft so I let them heat for a little while.)

Turn the tortillas over and top with two slices of Monterey Jack cheese. Let it heat through until the cheese is melted.

Spoon warm beans onto your tortilla with a slotted spoon. Top with sliced avocado and your favorite salsa. Fold and eat with plenty of napkins.

Basil Pesto

12 leaves fresh basil
1/4 c parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 c nuts (pine nuts, almonds, walnuts)
2 lg garlic cloves, quartered
1 tsp salt
1/4 c olive oil
chicken, optional
pasta, your favorite

In a blender (or food processor), combine everything but oil. Blend until a paste forms, stopping often to scrape sides. With blender on low, gradually add the oil and blend until smooth. Use just enough to lightly coat hot pasta when tossed. If there is remaining Pesto, store in fridge for up to a week or freeze for up to a month. Chicken is great with pesto. If you have leftover chicken you can heat up, in a frying pan, small chunks with a sprinkle of parmesan and garlic salt. Toss in chicken and enjoy!

Greek Pita Sandwiches (Kristi H)

pita bread

Filling:
chicken breast
greek seasoning
onion (green, red, yellow - your favorite), chopped
tomato, chopped or sliced
lettuce, torn
olives, sliced

Greek Sauce:
3/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream (or use some of both)
1/3 cucumber, diced very small
1 tsp. mint (optional)
1 tsp. dill
a sprinkle of garlic salt (optional)
greek seasoning (to taste)

How much you need of each ingredient depends on how many sandwiches you're making. One chicken breast will fill about 3-4 pita halves. The quantities for the sauce will make enough for about 6 pita halves.

Brown your chicken in a skillet with a nice coating of greek seasoning on each side, then cut it into bite size pieces. The chicken is good warm or cold in these sandwiches. Chop or slice the other filling ingredients and the cucumber.

The secret is in the sauce. Mix all the sauce ingredients together and use a heaping spoonful or two (or more) for each pita. You can pile everything on top of a whole pita and fold it like a taco or cut the pita bread in two and open up to stuff. Use all the filling ingredients you like and none you don't.

Oven-Baked Chimichangas (Karina Andersen)

-2 1/2 cups chopped chicken
-2 3/4 cups salsa
-1 tsp cumin
-1/2 tsp oragano
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 cup water
-1/4 cup butter
-8 flour tortillas
-shredded cheese
-toppings of your choice (guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes)

Combine first 6 ingredients on stovetop. Simmer until most liquid has boiled off. Melt butter, and brush tortillas on one side. Flip tortilla over and fill with 1/3 cup of the mixture. Add 2 TBSP of shredded cheese. Fold and place on greased cookie sheet with fold flap down. Bake at 475 for 13 minutes. Top with favorite toppings.