Island Chicken

If you only try one thing on my blog then try this...I promise you won't regret it!  The first time I saw this recipe I was hesitant but after we tried it, we loved it, and I've made it ALOT!  It's really rare for me to make anything more than once every couple of months or so but this I've probably made atleast once or twice a month for the last 4 months.  And the best thing about it is you take 5min. in the morning to put it together and then in the evening take a minute to throw it in a dish and into the oven.  And then throw a vegetable with it like green beans or broccoli and your good to go.  I don't know if you've ever used the Ziploc Zip and Steam but I'd suggest putting some broccoli in one of those and you heat it for less than 5 minutes (directions on bag) and then you have fresh steamed broccoli.  You will have spent about 10 minutes of actual labor in the kitchen for a meal that tastes so good.  By the way this is a good meal to recommend to your friends that say eating out is so much quicker/easier because once they try this meal then they'll hopefully realize you can eat at home for less money and it's usually healthier!  This meal is so easy your teenagers (or husbands...Lee has made this atleast a couple of times) can cook it.

Island Chicken

1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1 lb. of chicken

Combine all the ingredients except chicken in either a Ziploc bag or a air tight container and shake/whisk ingredients together.  Add Chicken and make sure the marinade is covering the chicken, seal the bag or place the lid.  Refrigerate up to 10 hours. 

When ready to cook the chicken, preheat the oven to 350° F.  Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish and pour the excess marinade over them.  Bake in the oven about 45 minutes. 

Adapted from one of my favorite blogs, Annie's Eats.

Smokey Spanish Chicken

Above is the chicken without the cream cheese, below is with the cream cheese!

Have I told you all how good of husband I have?  Well let me tell y'all he is amazing, last week he brought me home a cookbook and then we went to Williams Sonoma and I got another cookbook so be looking out for recipes from them.  This chicken recipe is from the cookbook he picked out, it's a Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese cookbook.  And I got lucky with this recipe because I was looking for something, anything to cook as long as we had all the ingredients already.  Oh yeah the very last step is to add the cream cheese and I forgot to add it but then I remembered before I ate so I scooped my food back into the skillet and added it then fixed my plate again!  I had already taken a picture for the blog before I added the cream cheese but then I snapped a quick picture again to show you what the color is suppose to look like. 

1 Tbsp. oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken
1 onion, slivered
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. flour
2 Tsp. paprika
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup Cream Cheese Spread
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Place half of the oil and the chicken in a skillet and brown chicken on both sides.  Remove chicken and set to side.  Use the other half of the oil and add the onions and garlic and cook on medium heat until the onions are crisp-tender.

Stir in flour and paprika, cook for one minute.  Add broth and tomatoes.  Return chicken to skillet and cover and let simmer for 15minutes or until chicken is done. 

Add cream cheese, stir frequently until melted.  Sprinkle parsley over chicken. 

Adapted from Spread a Little Joy.

Cornflake Crumb Chicken with a Twist!

I grew up eating cornflake crumb chicken and I'm pretty sure all my mom did was dip the chicken in buttermilk, milk, or maybe even melted butter and then into cornflake crumbs.  Which it was awesome and one of my favorite meals ever as a kid, I used to dip mine in ketchup and I loved it!  Well when I ran across this recipe I knew I had to try it because it was the basic cornflake crumb chicken but with more flavor and I love cooking with spices!  So if you are like I was making just a boring cornflake crumb chicken then the next time you make it try it this way, it doesn't take anymore than maybe 3 extra minutes plus you probably already have the ingredients and it definitely gives an old favorite a new twist!

Cornflake Crumb Chicken with a Twist

2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 lb. chicken tenders
*cornflakes or cornflake crumbs

*I usually buy already crushed cornflake crumbs but I was able to find Kellogg's Cornflake cereal on ad plus used a coupon and bought some for about 25 cents so I used those but either work.  The original recipe says to used 1 1/2cup of Cornflake cereal and crush them to medium crumbs but I just always eyeball stuff like this.

In a bowl combine the garlic, spices, and buttermilk and mix together.  Add the chicken and mix together.  Let sit in the fridge for 1 hour, covered. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Coat the chicken tenders with the cornflakes and place on baking sheet, repeat until finished.  Cook for 15-20 minutes or until done. 

Adapted from Cook Yourself Thin Cookbook.

Crispy Ranch Chicken

I believe I have been cooking this recipe since March 2010 and have probably ate it 20 times since.  There for awhile we had it weekly, when I have surgeries or don't feel good it's easy and quick enough for Lee to make it or for me to when ill.  I also passed the recipe on to my sister and her and her family love it too!  It's definitely one of the top easy meals I would recommend for all my friends with kiddos and hectic schedules because it's quick, easy, and delicious!  If you make boxed or canned sides then you could possibly be looking at only 15minutes of actual work in the kitchen!  Also if you have little ones this is a meal that they would like making...some of my first memories in the kitchen were me helping my mom do cornflake crumb chicken.  And if you like cornflake crumb chicken, shake n bake, or just good ol bread crumbs then you'll for sure love this an this will give you variety! 

By the way...I'm not sure if anyone has noticed or if I even have readers but I'm a bit obsessed with CHICKEN.  After a couple of months of marriage my poor husband asked me if I could please cook him something besides chicken.  I love chicken!  But I'm very good about cooking a variety of different kinds, I should've probably named my blog Brooke's Chickens because I can guarantee you I can look back in a year and it'll probably be more than 50% of Chicken recipes....so if you like Chicken as much as I do stay tuned!  (FYI.  No worries, I do feed Lee other meats...usually when I make my menu for the week I do 3 chicken meals and 2 beefs/nonmeats.)

Crispy Ranch Chicken

1lb. boneless skinless chicken tenders
1oz. pkg of dry Ranch dressing mix
2 cup crispy rice cereal
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 egg whites beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a big Ziploc bag add the Ranch packet, cereal, and cheese.  Crush and shake.  You don't want to crush the cereal all the way, leave some semi big pieces.  Now you can either leave this in the Ziploc bag or pour into a coating tray.  It turns out better in a coating tray but I have done both depending on the amount of time I have.  Now dip the chicken in the egg whites, then coat the chicken in ranch mixture, and then place on baking sheet.  Repeat till finished.  Bake 30-35minutes.

I got this recipe from an Iphone app. called Spark Recipes.  This app. is also suppose to be healthy food and it says 1 breast which is about 3 tenders is suppose to be 245 calories.  Not sure how accurate that is but thought I'd throw that out there.

"Healthy" Buffalo Chicken (Salad)

I was frustrated when I went to the store and forgot my stuff for salad therefore it ended up being just chicken!

I haven't made this in a long time but I used to make it somewhat often because I was obsessed with Frank's Red Sauce.  I'm not sure what started my obsession but it got so bad that I made a homemade Buffalo Chicken Pizza with Frank's as the pizza sauce and yeah it did not turn out good.  That was in April (And I can only tell you when it was because I had Lee make it for me the day after my last surgery) and I had retired my bottle of Frank's until now just so I could make this to share with you.  Well and because Saturday night we ate at Buffalo Wild Wings and I was craving some wings again. 

Ok a couple things you should know about this recipe...1st thing is that there is a recipe for homemade Blue Cheese dressing but I've never made it because even though I love blue cheese I don't know anyone else that does but if you want to try it out go to the link at the bottom to the original recipe and you can try it out and let me know how it is.  And the 2nd thing is Lee loves HATES this...he says it's TOO healthy tasting, he's never said he didn't like the flavor but just that it's too healthy.  But for the record my friend Kourtney has had this and she liked it, a couple months ago she even asked me for the recipe, so I know I'm not the only one that likes this. 

Healthy Buffalo Chicken (Salad)

1lb. chicken tenders
2 Tbsp. Frank's hot sauce
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2cup bread crumbs or Panko bread crumbs (I had never heard of Panko but it is right there along with all the other bread crumbs, usually with the flour, it's worth buying it if you need or want another recipe to use the Panko in look here, it's the best shrimp scampi you'll ever have, even better than Red Lobster to me)

I also highly recommend eating this chicken over a salad that consists of chopped celery sticks and romaine lettuce! 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Whisk together the salt, sugar, vinegar, and hot sauce.  Add the chicken and stir to coat, let set for 10-15minutes.  Put the bread crumbs in a coating tray and coat all the chicken.  Bake on a baking sheet for 20-25minutes or until done. 

Take out and slice in small bite size slices and serve over salad.  I would recommend using additional hot sauce for drizzling along with Ranch or Blue Cheese. 

Adapted from Cook Yourself Thin Cookbook.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Growing up my Mom made these and they are so good.  I don't know if she made this exact recipe because since I started making them she doesn't remember what all spices she put in there but she did remember she used Lawry's Mesquite Marinade so this recipe is part my Mom's and part mine.  And my mom always made these on the grill and we did too till we moved to Arlington and now I bake them in the oven so make them however, they are good both ways! (Once we moved we had to get rid of our grill because we can't have a grill on our balcony.) 

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

1 boneless skinless chicken
1 bottle of mesquite marinade
1 tbsp. worchestershire sauce
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
pepper jack cheese
small can-canned jalapenos or 1 fresh jalapeno
1 pkg bacon 
skewers or toothpicks

Pour the bottle of marinade in a bowl along with all the spices and mix together. Cut the chicken in long strips and pound with a meat tenderizer, place in bowl of marinade as you go. Mix the marinade with the chicken and let set in the refrigerator for 30minutes to 1hr. (The mesquite marinade I use is 30min. marinade but I like to leave it in there for an hour)

Cook the bacon 1/2 of the way, if you don't your chicken is going to be done and parts of your bacon will be raw. Let cool to touch.

Slice the cheese and jalapenos in small pieces.

Start your grill or turn on your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Take your chicken and place a jalapeno and cheese slice at one end and roll up. Take a piece of bacon and wrap the opposite way around it. Now slide it on a skewer or put a toothpick thru it.  You can also make different variations with or without cheese, jal., bacon, or even without the chicken.  After you get all the chicken rolled up bake for 40-50minutes, covered. 

Original recipe from me!

Avocado Enchiladas

Please excuse this picture, it doesn't look that great...

I don't know why but I was craving avocados and lots of them and so I started going through recipes with avocados and nothing looked good till I ran across this recipe and I knew I was going to have to make it ASAP.  Lee had taken me to Abuelo's for my birthday and we had both tried avocado enchiladas then and liked them but we we're both iffy about the avocados being hot.  Well after I made these at home I loved them even more and Lee said the flavor was really good he's just still not sure if he likes avocados hot so keep that in mind before you make them.  Also I had cut the original recipe in half but if it's just 2 of you I would recommend cutting my measurements in half because that's what I'll do next time.

Avocado Enchiladas with Chicken

1 boneless skinless chicken breast
3 avocados
1/4 of a onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp chili powder
2 1/2 tbsp. ground cumin
1 cup dry white wine
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth or stock
1/2 cup cilantro
1/8 cup lime juice
4 cups plus 1T vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt\
pepper to taste
12-corn tortillas
1lb. monterey jack cheese

Place chicken breast in water and boil. 

Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in skillet over medium heat.  Add onions, garlic, cumin, chili powder, oregano, brown sugar.  Mix and then add wine and cook till onions are soft.  Add tomatoes and broth and let simmer for 20minutes.

Peel, pit, and roughly chop avocados.  Remove chicken from water and shred.  Toss avocados and chicken with cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat remaining 4 cups oil in a wide, heavy saucepan over medium heat until very hot but not smoking, 7 to 10 minutes. Using tongs, fry 6 tortillas, one at a time, for 2 to 3 seconds. Drain on paper towel-lined sheet.

Pour 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce on the bottom of a deep casserole dish.  Spoon roughly 2T. on tortillas and roll up and place in dish seam side down.  Repeat until done.  Pour remaining enchilada sauce over it and top with cheese. 

Bake Enchiladas until heated thru 20-30minutes, depending on your oven you might need to cover them for part of the time so you don't burn the cheese. 

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Crispy Mexican Chicken

So my Dad lives nearby and he asked for me to make him this chicken one evening so I did.  He kept telling me how good it was but it didn't seem like it was going to be really awesome but it was!  It had alot of flavor and I will definitely be making it again.  It's one of those meals that are super easy and super quick! 

Crispy Mexican Chicken

3 cups French Fried Onions 
4 tsp. chili powder
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup nacho/taco blend shredded cheese

Place 2 cups of the onions and the chili powder in a plastic bag and crush the onions with a rolling pin or however you feel like it.  (The lazy method to coat the chicken would be to leave the onions in the bag and throw the chicken in there to coat it but I wouldn't recommend it with this type of coating)  Place the onions in a pie plate or coating trays.

Dip chicken into egg mixture then coat with the seasoned onion crumbs.  Place chicken on a baking sheet.  (also I would recommend baking your chicken on a cooling rack on top of your baking sheet so the bottoms of the chicken aren't all hard) 

Bake chicken at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20min. or until done.  Sprinkle with cheese and remaining onions, let stand until the cheese melts. 

Oh and usually I adapt a recipes ingredients a little bit but I had strict instructions from my Dad to make it like the recipe!  And this recipe came from French's!  Also if your going to make this I would recommend going here and getting some coupons for the french fried onions!

Herbed Roast Chicken

I remember looking at my Nannie's (great-grandmother) Taste of Home magazines when I was a kid.  I always loved that magazine so when I ran across a a deal on Hip2Save to get a year subscription for less than $4 I had to take it!  So as I was flipping thru my 1st magazine I tagged a couple recipes and this one was by far the most interesting to me so I had to try it first!  I like trying things that sound a little out there because in the past some of my favorite recipes sounded a little strange before I made them.  But the only strange thing in this recipe I think is the orange juice, everything else seems normal, or at least the way I made it because I did change up the spices some.  But I was surprised at how good it tasted, I loved it and so did Lee.  And the added bonus, it was EASY!

Herbed Roast Chicken

1-2gallon resealable plastic bag or a big airtight bowl
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
1 Tbsp. dried basil
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
3/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary
1 roasting chicken

In the plastic bag or the bowl combine all the ingredients and mix.  Add chicken, turn to coat.  Refrigerate for 8hrs turning at least once.

Drain and discard marinade.  Place chicken on a rack in a shallow roasting pan or a glass casserole dish is fine too.  Cover loosely with foil and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 1/4-2 3/4hrs.  (it only took me 2 1/4hrs)  Cover and let stand for 15 minutes before carving!

Adapted from Taste of Home June & July 2010 Issue

Three Cheese Chicken Pasta Bake

I used to always cook recipes from Kraft Foods till I discovered the food blog world so I wanted to share this recipe.  We had it tonight and it was really good and easy to make!  Though today I guess was the first meal I've made 100% on my own since my port was placed a little over a week ago and my left arm is still a little weak and I found out the hard way I probably shouldn't of been cooking on my own.  I was using my pampered chef stoneware that is kind of heavy on it's own w/o food in it but when I went to take it out of the oven I dropped it and about 1/4 of it spilled and splattered all over me burning me, so now I have red burns on my arms and legs.  I don't think I've ever burned myself like that but I'm blaming it all on the port since my arm is still sore/weak! 

1-1/2 cups multi-grain pasta
uncooked 1 pkg. (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 jar (14-1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained
2 oz. Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese divided
2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

heat oven 375ºF.


Cook pasta as directed on package, omitting salt and adding spinach to the boiling water the last minute.

Salt and pepper the chicken and add some Italian seasoning to it as well, cook and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 3 min. Stir in spaghetti sauce, garlic, and tomatoes; bring to boil. Simmer on low heat 3 min. or until chicken is done. Stir in Neufchatel.

Drain pasta mixture; return to pan. Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole or 8-inch square baking dish.

Bake 20 min.; top with remaining cheeses. Bake 3 min. or until mozzarella is melted.

Adapted from Kraft Foods.

Green Beans with Chicken and Crumbled Feta Cheese

I try to cook healthy but sometimes it’s not so easy well I came across this recipe and I fell in love and it is EASY. I saw it when Lee was sleeping and Lee sometimes is a picky eater especially about things like this so I just added it to the grocery list and hoped for the best! I ended up asking him before hand if he would eat it and of course he wouldn’t eat the feta cheese but that’s easy to leave off just for him! After I made this Lee loved it, he actually requested it the following week so I made it 2 weeks in a row which is really rare for us!



Green Beans with Chicken and Crumbled Feta Cheese
1lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
6oz. fresh green beans
1/2cup crumbled feta cheese
1 tomato chopped
1 avocado
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
lemon (optional)
italian dressing (optional)


Trim and remove skin from chicken breast if you didn’t buy boneless skinless.


You can bake the chicken many different ways feel free to use your own method but the way I would recommend is to place the chicken in your pan of choice, salt and pepper, and put a lil italian dressing on it and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25minutes. Or another way you can bake it is salt and pepper chicken, drizzle with olive oil, and slice a lemon into slices and lay the slices over the chicken to bake. I prefer the italian dressing because it adds more flavor but both tasted good.

Next trim your green beans, I always do them with my kitchen shears because it makes it so much easier than snapping them off. Place in a pot of water and boil to your taste. I believe they are healthier when they are still bright green and crispy but I prefer them to be cooked a little longer. While your chicken is cooking and your green beans are boiling cut up your tomato and your avocado.


When your green beans are done drain them and then toss them with 1T olive oil. And if your making this for ALL feta cheese lovers then you can throw the feta cheese in now and it’ll melt a little. Sadly I can’t do this since Lee won’t eat feta cheese. Now you can toss everything together-green beans, feta cheese, avocado, tomatoes, and chicken and serve or you can do it like me and serve individually like a buffet and everybody can get what they want. ENJOY!


Adapted from Pampered Chef Celebrity Cookbook.