Roasted Vegetable Combo

This was SO GOOD. and actually healthy! I have a hard time finding things that are both 'healthy' and 'good'. So this is definitely a keeper!
I served this with the Homestyle Chicken and Gravy. Yea, I know, the gravy totally ruined the 'healthy' aspect. It was still good. SO good.
The veggies take almost an hour between prep and roasting time, so I got them started and then went on to the chicken.
Here are the ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups fresh baby carrots
• 1 pound small red potatoes, unpeeled, quartered (about 3 cups)
• 1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil (I used the olive oil - yummy)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 - 14 ounce package frozen whole green beans (that's 'beans', not 'beens' for those of you who confuse easily) (private joke, just for Mel)

This couldn't be much easier to throw together. Here we go:

Heat your oven to 425. Spray a 15x10x2 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl combine everything except the green beans. Mix well so everything is pretty evenly coated. Spread evenly on the pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven, mix in green beans.

Bake 20 to 25 more minutes, or until the veggies are tender, stirring once.

DEE-LISH!!

Home-Style Chicken and Gravy

Did you know that Paprika is made from a pepper? I did not know this. All I knew, was that it was a spice. Now, according to what I've found online about paprika, it's not real spicy. Here is the link: http://www.mccormick.com/content.cfm?id=8225
Well, I am here to tell you, SOMETHING about it is spicy. This recipe was delicious - the only problem was, the outside was a bit on the spicy side. Okay, some bites were a lot. Now we use seasoned salt a lot - it's never been spicy. The garlic-pepper blend is black pepper, and I went light on that. But the PAPRIKA - now THAT I went a little crazy with.
So my tip of the day, before you go making this is, USE THE MEASUREMENTS BELOW. I did not - I 'eyeballed it'. Hey it works for Rachael Ray.
Didn't work for me though.
Paprika aside, this was some good chicken. On with the recipe....

Your ingredients:

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (I actually used 3 - but they were HUGE)
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 3/4 teaspoon paprika (trust me on this - do NOT use more)
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic-pepper blend (you can buy it all blended. If you don't want to, it looked to be about a 50/50 mix - just do it yourself)
• 1 - 12 ounce jar home-style chicken gravy
• 2 tablespoons half-and-half or milk (the recipe actually says "fat-free half-and-half" - I didn't know it came that way)
• 1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce (I shared with the husband what is in Worchestershire sauce. He was disgusted. But he enjoyed the chicken anyway.)

Let's throw everything together:

Spray a large skillet with nonstick cooking spray. I don't have a large skillet, so I used the medium one I have. They were crowded, but it worked. But then, I only had 3 pieces. But, like I said, they were HUGE. Anyway, back to the recipe. Heat skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Sprinkle chicken with seasoned salt, paprika and garlic-pepper blend. See, here's where I went wrong. I thought, "Why measure? I can sprinkle without measuring..." So I did. The hubby ended up with hickups because of it. It was kind of funny. He NEVER has hiccups.

On with the recipe....

Add the chicken to the skillet. Cook 4 to 6 minutes or until browned on both sides. I did mine a little longer because they were so thick. More like 4 to 6 on EACH side. I really wanted to make sure the inside was done.

In a bowl, combine the gravy, half-and-half (or milk) and Worcestershire sauce, mix well. Poor over chicken. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 mintues or until chicken is fork tender and juices run clear.

Everyone loved this recipe, other than the spiciness of it, which really wasn't supposed to be there. We gave the peanut some chicken without coating so she could enjoy it too. I served this with the Roasted Vegetable Combo. We had NO leftovers, and we were all stuffed when we were finished.

Parmesan Chicken

This was good, good, good. Even the little peanut ate like crazy, having 2 helpings of everything. She's usually bored with eating and ready to be done long before that. This one is definitely a keeper.

What you need:
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves. Okay, this is what the recipe says. I bought 4, but they were so big I could only fit 2 in my skillet. And they were THICK. I ended up only cooking the 2, and we'll be grilling the other 2 (which are currently in a bath of BBQ sauce in the fridge - oh yummy!) tomorrow.
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups meatless spaghetti sauce (per the recipe - I actually used a whole jar, which was about 3 cups)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (per the recipe - since it's mixed with the spaghetti sauce, I increased it to 3/4 teaspoon)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
hot cooked pasta of your choice - fettuccine, spaghetti....(I had spaghetti, so that's what I used)

It's a long list. Lots of ingredients. Trust me, it's WORTH IT.
Let's get started:
In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon of the oregano, the basil, salt and pepper. In another bowl, combine the egg and water. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture, then in the crumb mixture. Cook the chicken in the butter (melted of course) in a skillet, on both sides, until done. This took awhile for the chicken I had, because, like I said, it was THICK, and I had to be careful not to burn the outside while I was waiting for the inside to get done. Of course, when I say done, I mean the juices should run clear. This is chicken - we want it done THROUGH.
While the chicken is cooking, combine the spaghetti sauce with the garlic salt and remaining oregano. I added another 1/4 teaspoon of oregano since I had extra sauce and garlic salt. Heat through. I just did this in the microwave, covered, since we have a crappy stove with only 2 burners. Instead of 2 more, we have a grill on the other half of the stove. We use our outside grill, so I'd rather have the extra burners, but we didn't buy the stove - it came with the house, so we make do. Anyway, on with the recipe. Spoon some of the sauce on the finished chicken and sprinkle with mozzarella and the remaining Parmesan cheese. Mix the rest of the sauce with the cooked pasta. For kicks I sprinkled this with mozzarella and Parmesan as well.
I served this with green beans (in case the peanut didn't like it - but she did - as I said, a LOT) and garlic bread.
We did not have ONE BITE of leftovers. We were all stuffed and happy, too. Can't beat that!