Chicken and Spinach Manicotti

Ingredients


1-1/2 cups finely chopped cooked chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1 container (16 oz.) 2% Milkfat Low Fat Cottage Cheese
2 egg whites
1 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
10 manicotti shells, cooked, drained
1-1/2 cups spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

How to make it

HEAT oven to 350°F.

COMBINE chicken and garlic in large bowl. Add spinach, cottage cheese, egg whites and 1/4 cup mozzarella; spoon into manicotti shells.

PLACE in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with spaghetti sauce.

BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining mozzarella; bake 5 min. or until melted. Sprinkle with basil.

Cheesy Chicken Pasta Salad

What You Need!

2 cups multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1-1/4 cups of your favorite salsa
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 large green pepper, cut into short thin strips
1 cup cheddar cheese

Make It!

Cook pasta as directed on package.

 Heat large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat. Add chicken until cooked

Drain the pasta

Add in chicken

When cooled off add in corn, peppers, salsa, and cheese

Serve

We did add a dollop of sour cream and it was good

Variation: You can serve this warm, add sour cream, add onions

Spring Green Salad

Ok tonight's dinner was super simple but YUM YUM YUM! 

spring salad mix
spinach (added extra because I had a package at home already and the salad mix did not have enough for me)
feta
grilled chicken (I cooked it w/ a little garlic powder and salt)
pecans
craisins
Light Raspberry Vinagrette

Put all items together and mix.

I served with some toasted french bread that was leftover from the night before.

Crock Pot Chinese Chicken w/ Pineapple

This was ok but not a favorite it needed some work after we got home to get it where we liked it and I'm not sure what all went in.

Ingredients

6 chicken thighs  (we used chicken tenders)
salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons oil
1 1/2 onions, chopped
1 1/2 red peppers, seeded and chopped
2 cups chicken stock
4 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 (10 5/8 ounce) cans pineapple chunks, drained
1 tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat crock pot on high.

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in skillet and brown chicken on all sides, transfer to crock pot.

Mix all remaining ingredients, except the cornstarch, into the skillet and heat through, stirring well, transfer to crock pot.

Turn crock pot to low and cook for 8 hours until chicken is tender, depending on your crock pot.

Half an hour before serving, blend the cornstarch with a little water and stir into the crock pot to thicken sauce.

Serve on rice.

Chicken Pepper Sandwiches w/ German Potato Salad

For the sandwiches:

4 teaspoons olive oil
4 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 reserved cooked chicken breast halves, sliced into thin strips
1 cup diced chorizo or andouille sausage
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and ground black pepper
4 long rolls (submarine or hoagie rolls)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell peppers and saute 5 minutes, until tender. Remove half of the peppers from skillet and set aside.

Add onion and saute 3 minutes, until soft. Add sliced chicken and sausage and balsamic vinegar. Cook 2 minutes to heat through. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.

For the potato salad:

6 small to medium Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped green onions
4 slices turkey bacon, cooked until crisp
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil

To make the potato salad, place potatoes in a large saucepan and pour over enough water to cover. Set pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Boil 8 minutes, until fork tender. Drain and while still warm, transfer to a large bowl and add onions, cooked bacon, vinegar, and oil. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.

Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore

2 onions, sliced thin

1 chicken, cut up (or use browned chicken breasts cut in bite sized pieces)
1 lb. can tomatoes
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 to 2 tsp. crushed oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1 bay leaf
1 (4 oz.) can mushrooms (optional)
1/4 c. dry white wine or apple juice (optional)

Make a layer of onion slices in bottom of crock pot. Place chicken pieces on onions. Add remaining ingredients. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. (If you've used cut up chicken breast, cooking time can be reduced.)

We served over angel hair wheat pasta.

Balsamic Chicken Pasta Salad

This recipe was ok but it was missing something that I haven't identified yet.  I would try it again with a different balsamic dressing the one I picked was not the best.

Ingredients

3 cups rotini pasta noodles
1 package chicken tenderloins
1 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing, divided
2 carrots
1 bell pepper
1 cucumber
1 tomato (or more if you like more)
Salt/Pepper, to taste

Directions:
Make sure the chicken is cooked.  I had precooked chicken in the crock pot and this was my last portion of it.

Cook the pasta until it is at your desired tenderness. Drain it and cool it down.

Chop up the veggies and chicken

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  I made this the night before so that it could marinate.

Barbecue Chicken Sandwich

Enough chicken to feed the amount of people you want to feed.

BBQ sauce of your choice

Buns (we used whole wheat)

The chicken was prepared in advance.  I had cooked a bunch of chicken tenders in the crock pot over the weekend and sorted it into containers. 

When the chicken was still warm I pulled it apart and added bbq sauce (Cattlemens original was what I had on hand)

I warmed it up on the stove tonight and added in more sauce stirring occassionally until warm. 

Served on the bun, with baked lays, and pickled okra.

YUM!!!