Sunday Dinner

Grilled Pesto Tilapia

Tilapia filet
Pesto
Whole Garlic Cloves

Spray foil with cooking spray and lay Tilapia filet on it. Coat top liberally with pesto and place whole garlic cloves on top. Roll top and sides of foil making a pouch and grill on medium until fish flakes easily, 20-30 minutes.

We made this camping and the whole family loved it.

Sunday Dinner

Grilled Chicken and Pesto Pasta

4 chicken breasts, cut into strips
3 tablespoons oil
2 fresh clove garlic squeezed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoons Worchestershire
2 tablespoons cooking wine
1 teaspoons italian seasoning

Mix all ingredients and marinate chicken for a few hours or longer. Grill chicken until done.

Pasta

Pesto

Sun dried tomatoes

Olives

Feta cheese

Boil the pasta while the chicken is on the grill. Drain and add enough pesto until well coated. Add sun dried tomatoes, olives and top with feta cheese. Serve with the grilled chicken and your favorite veggie.

Sunday Dinner

Chicken Tacos/Nachos

One of our favorite meals is Mexican, but we hate spending the money to eat out so we have found ways to make it like the fabulous little Mexican restaurants around town.

Put approx. 4 chicken breasts in the crock pot with a couple cans of Rotel tomatoes and a packet of taco seasoning. I prefer this recipe and then you don't have MSG or other nasty fillers in your food.
Cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours.

When chicken is done cooking, chop up in the crock-pot and serve on tortillas or chips for nachos. Top with all your favorite taco toppings.

 **Note**
If you don't care for the spiciness of Rotel tomatoes use canned diced tomatoes.

Sunday Dinner

Broccoli Cheese Soup

¼ cup butter
1 cup chopped onion
½ teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
2 ½ cups chicken broth
2 cups almond milk, unsweetened (or half and half)
1 (32-ounce) package frozen broccoli florets, chopped
1 cup matchstick carrots, chopped
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme 
3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (plus more for garnish)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 

In a large dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add flour and cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Whisk in chicken broth and almond milk, whisking constantly. Stir in broccoli, carrots, salt, pepper and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Add cheese, stirring until smooth. Serve immediately.

Sunday Dinner

Super Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 Chicken breasts
2 tablespoons mayo (approx.)
3/4 cup bread crumbs
8 thin slices ham
4 slices swiss or provolone cheese

Coat chicken in mayo and then bread crumbs. Bake on 400 for 30-40 minutes or until juices run clear. Top each chicken with 2 ham slices and a piece of cheese. Put back in the oven until cheese is melted.

Serve with your favorite veggie.

Sunday Dinner

This is a recipe my mom used to make growing up, and it is one of my favorites.

Chicken Tortilla Casserole


4 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped (I cook them in the crock-pot with broth)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
2 cans ortega green chili salsa (or regular salsa if you can't find it)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
8-12 corn tortillas cut in 1" pieces
1lb cheddar cheese, grated

Butter a 9"x13" pan. Pour a little chicken liquid in bottom of pan. Combine chicken, soups, milk, salsa and onion. Layer half of tortillas, half chicken mixture, and half of the cheese. Repeat with cheese on top. Refrigerate overnight. Bake 350 for 45 minutes covered and 15-20 minutes uncovered.

Extra things you can add:
Black beans
Black olives
Corn

Sunday Dinner

This is what I served for dinner today and everyone scarfed it down. I love the cookbook Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur because we can have the restaurant goodness at a very low cost.

Cracker Barrel's Chicken and Dumplins

By Todd Wilbur

Chicken and Broth

3 qts water

1 3-4lb chicken, cut up

11/2 teaspoons salt

1 small onion, sliced

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and quartered

1 bay leaf

4-6 whole parsley leaves

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Dumplins

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

11/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

1. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Add the chicken, 1 teaspoon salt, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf and parsley to the pot. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook the chicken, uncovered, for 2 hours. The liquid will reduce by about one third.

2. When the chicken has cooked, remove it from the pot and set aside. Strain the stock to remove all the vegetables and floating scum. You only want the stock and the chicken, so toss everything else out.

3. Pour 11/2 quarts of the stock back into the pot (keep the leftover stock, if any, for another recipe-it can be frozen). You may also want to use a smaller pot or a large saucepan for this. Add coarsely ground pepper, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the lemon juice, then reheat the stock over medium heat while preparing the dumplins.

4. For dumplins, combine the flour, baking powder, 1/14 teaspoon salt, and milk in a medium bowl. Stir well until smooth, then let the dough rest for 5-10 minutes. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface to about a 1/2-inch thickness.

5. Cut the dough into 1/2-inch squares and drop each square into the simmering stock. Use all of the dough. The dumplins will first swell and then slowly shrink as they partially dissolve to thicken the stock into a white gravy. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until thick. Stir often.

6. While the stock is thickening, the chicken will have become cool enough to handle. Tear all the meat from the bones and remove the skin. Cut the chicken meat into bite-size or a little bigger than bite-size pieces and drop them into the pot. Discard the skin and bones. Continue to simmer the chicken and dumplins for another 5-10 minutes, but don't stir too vigorously or the chicken will shred and fall apart. You want big chunks of chicken in the end.

7. When the gravy has reached the desired consistency, ladle four portions onto plates and serve hot. Serve with  your choice of steamed vegetables, if desired.

**Trauma Mama's Changes**

I simmer the veggies until tender after the chicken has cooked. I see no point in wasting perfectly good veggies and I add a few more.

Sunday Dinner

Best Roast Ever
1 chuck roast
½ onion sliced
½ cup red wine
2 cups beef broth
1-2 tablespoons corn starch
garlic and pepper to taste

Combine beef broth and corn starch in a saucepan. Heat to a boil and stir constantly until thickened. Spray crock-pot with cooking spray. Put ½ the onions in and then the roast. Sprinkle with seasonings. Pour in wine and gravy.
Cook low for 8 hours or high 4 hours. When the meat is done it should fall apart. If it doesn't cook longer.

Serve with mashed potatoes and your favorite green veggie.
Leftovers ideas:

roast beef sandwich

pot pie. -Combine with a can of mixed veggies. Place in pie plate and top with pie shell. Flute edges and cut slits in top to vent. Bake on 400 until golden brown.

If you have a great recipe to share link up!