Crispy Parmesan Chicken Strips

There is nothing I despise more than coming home from school, slaving over five hours of homework, and having to cook for two hours. I have been searching relentlessly for quick but delicious recipes that I can have made and eaten in under an hour. These yummy chicken strips hit the nail on the head. If you have pre-thawed chicken breasts, the prep time should be no more than 10 minutes (about the time it takes to heat the oven up!) I have made these twice: once with homemade Alfredo noodles, and this time with garlic mashed potatoes, which take the same time to prepare as the chicken!

Crispy Parmesan Chicken Strips

1.5 cups season croutons, crushed

1.5 oz. (1/3 c) fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

1 tsp. dried parsley, optional

1/4 tsp garlic salt

2 egg whites

1 T. water

1lb boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1'' pieces

1/4 c. prepared Ranch dressing, can be lite

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Crush croutons into resealable bag. Grate Parmesan cheese. In large bowl, combine crushed croutons, cheese, parsley, and garlic salt. Whisk egg and water in a separate bowl. Dip chicken pieces into egg mixture, then into crumb mixtures to coat evenly. Arrange on 13" round baking dish. Bake 14-16 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center.

What You Need:

crouton mixture^

egg and water mixture^

1st, dip chicken in egg mixture...

then evenly coat chicken in crumb mixture

YUM!

Hearty Chicken Gnocchi Soup

I fell in love with this soup last night! It is the ultimate cold weather-warm your insides kinda meal! The garlic bread complimented the soup nicely... made me feel like I was at Olive Garden eating their chicken gnocchi soup!

Hearty Chicken Gnocchi Soup

*Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)

1 cup chopped carrots

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups fat free half-and-half

1 cup lowfat milk

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

16 ounce package gnocchi

1-2 cups cooked, shredded or diced chicken breasts

1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped (left this out)

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a 4- or 5-quart pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot and rippling. Add the chopped onion, carrots and thyme. Cook until the onion is translucent and carrots are slightly tender, stirring often, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking or stirring constantly, until the flour is lightly golden, 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the half-and-half. Whisk in the milk and chicken broth. Stir while bringing the mixture to a boil over medium to medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until the mixture is slightly thickened, 5-7 minutes. Stir in the uncooked gnocchi and simmer over medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. The soup should thicken up quite a bit while the gnocchi is cooking. Stir in the chicken and spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Step One:

add olive oil

Step Two:

add onions, carrots, and thyme

Step Three:

add garlic

Step Four:

whisk in flour

no photo

Step Five:

add half-and-half

Step Six:

add low fat milk and chicken broth 

Step Six:

bring to boil

Step Seven:

add gnocchi

Step Eight:

add chicken (and spinach*)

This soup seriously made it to my favorites list with the first spoonful! Don't skimp on the pepper at the end... makes it that much better!

Churros {The Mexican Funnel-Cake}

"I hate funnel cakes"- Said by no one ever.

"I hate extra credit"-Said by no one ever.

In Spanish class, the opportunity arose to use cooking for extra credit...I snagged that opportunity up like no ones business. The food to be created are known as Churros. In Spanish speaking countries, Churros are a dessert served with a drink similar to hot chocolate. Churros taste a lot like funnel cakes, but with regular sugar instead of powdered sugar.They are simply amazing... but a little difficult to create. This tutorial is my first attempt at making these, so bare with me.

My Spanish teacher told me my churros were very good and tasted as they should. However, they didn't look as they should. Real churros are piped into the oil using a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch star tip, which makes them straight and pretty. I used a sandwich bag with the end snipped off. As you can see, they look like strips of a funnel cake.

These are how they will look if you use the pastry bag and star tip!

What You Need:

-1 cup of water

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-4 large eggs

-1 cup sugar

-1/2 cup unsalted butter (one stick)

-1 cup all-purpose flour

-oil for deep frying

1. In a heavy saucepan, bring water, butter, and salt to a full boil.

2. Remove from heat. Add flour all at once, stirring briskly. Stir until mixture pulls away from the side of the pan and forms a ball.

3. Put the mixture in a bowl. With an electric mixer on medium speed, add one egg at a time. After adding the last egg, beat mixture for one more minute.

4. Heat 2-3 inches of oil in a deep, heavy saucepan at 375 degrees F (the number 6 on the stove).

5. Transfer the mixture to pastry bags with the 1/2" star tip, or seal-able bags. Do not cut the tip of the bags until you are ready to squirt into the hot oil.

6. When oil is hot, pipe out 6 inch-long tubes of dough into the oil. Fry, turning a few times, for 3-5 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

*This is where things got messy for me. When I began to squeeze the dough out of my baggie, the tip would jerk back and forth, making the dough go into the pan in a wavy-fashion. I do believe this is where the star-tip would come in, making the end of the bag stay straight.*

7. When all the batter has been fried, place the sugar on a plate, and roll the churros in the sugar.

I am now thinking of these as funnel cake- bites. And I will be making these again, soon. They are to die for!

Best of luck to you! This is a perfect excuse to have "Mexican Night" every night.

Birthday Wishes & A Cupcake Tutorial

Today isn't just any Friday... It's my boy friend, Tyler's, 16th birthday!! You're sixteenth birthday is such a huge day in your life and I am so thankful I get to spend it with Tyler. In honor of his special day, I am giving you a special recipe! I made these last night and they were sooo amazing! I hope you're family and friends enjoy them as much as mine have!

My little cousin went bananas over these! 

*The brand names do not effect this recipe. I got the recipe from my iFood assistant app, which is a Kraft brand app, so that reflects the brands mentioned in the recipe. My photo of ingredients will indicate that I didn't stick to the recommendations. Cheaper= better (in my book)

Aren't they beauties? I thought so.

The decorative thingy around this cupcake came from Marshall's!

What You Need

1 pkg.  (2-layer size) spice cake mix
1cup  BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
1can  (15 oz.) pumpkin
1/4cup  oil
3  eggs
1pkg.  (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/4cup  butter, softened
1tsp.  vanilla
1pkg.  (16 oz.) powdered sugar
1-1/2tsp.  ground cinnamon

Make It
HEAT oven to 350ºF.

BEAT first 5 ingredients with mixer until blended; spoon into 24 paper-lined muffin cups.

BAKE 20 to 22 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 min.; remove from pans. Cool completely.

BEAT cream cheese, butter and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until blended. Gradually beat in sugar. Blend in cinnamon. Spread over cupcakes.

SUBSTITUTE
Prepare using PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese.

HOW TO STORE
Store frosted cupcakes in refrigerator.


I hope you are drooling over this little cupcake as I was. The only thing to make it better would if I could have enjoyed a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks along with it... perfection♥

Have a wonderful Friday!

FAQ's

Morning readers! A lot of the time I receive random questions pertaining to my best kept cooking secrets! I would like to create a post for the purpose of answering those questions! Id love if you'd comment below with any specific questions and I will answer them all, plus add a few I think you all should know!

Thanks lovelies! Have a blessed day!

xoxo, Rachel
blogging from iPhone