Menu Plan Monday....errr, Tuesday

Yeah, I'm behind on this once again but I promise this post will be worth it.  :)  My plan for this week is:

Monday - Chicken enchiladas, salad

Tuesday - Wine-braised Italian sausages, salad

Wednesday - Chicken sandwiches, pasta salad, cut up veggies

Thursday - Cranberry pork roast, rice, broccoli

Friday - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas

Saturday - Ham, scalloped potatoes, glazed carrots

Sunday - leftovers or a $20 family meal at a local take-out place


But what's so worth it about this post?  The chicken enchilada recipe.  Honestly, this ROCKED our dinner last night and I just finished it today for lunch.  My whole family rated this a 10+ which is pretty rare for everyone to think something was that good.  I got the recipe off of All Recipes and only did two things differently than the original recipe:  1)  I used a small chicken that I had used to make chicken stock for soup for a very ill friend of mine.  2)  I used a large can (28 oz) of enchilada sauce since we like things on the saucy side.  Hubby actually said this was better than the awesome Mexican restaurant that we love to go to on special occasions!!  Wowza!  THAT is good!  So here's the recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Angelas-Awesome-Enchiladas/Detail.aspx#

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cut into chunks 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 1/4 cups sour cream 1/4 teaspoon chili powder 1 tablespoon butter 1 small onion, chopped 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained 1 (1.25 ounce) package mild taco seasoning

mix 1 bunch green onions, chopped, divided 1 cup water 1 teaspoon lime juice 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 5 (12 inch) flour tortillas 3 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded, divided 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce 1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place the chicken in a large pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the chicken pieces are no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Shred chicken by placing two forks back to back and pulling meat apart. Set the shredded chicken aside. Meanwhile, combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and chili powder in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, then turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.
2.	Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the shredded chicken, chopped green chilies, taco seasoning, half of the bunch of chopped green onion, and water. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the lime juice, onion powder, and garlic powder; simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
3.	Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Stir 1 cup of the soup mixture into the skillet with the chicken mixture. Spread the remaining soup mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
4.	Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture. Sprinkle Cheddar cheese over the chicken filling before folding the tortillas, reserving half of the shredded cheese for topping the enchiladas. Fold tortillas over the filling and place seam-side down in the prepared pan.
5.	Pour enchilada sauce evenly over the enchiladas. Cover with the remaining 1 1/2 cups of Cheddar cheese. Sprinkle the reserved chopped green onions and the sliced olives on top of the cheese. Bake in the preheated oven until filling is heated through and the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 25 minutes.

Maple-walnut Chicken

This recipe is one I've had on the menu for a while now but haven't yet made it so I have no assurance that it's good or now.  However, it looks really good and we WILL try it this week.  I'm going to use the fresh spinach but a boxed pilaf to make enough for the family.

Maple-Walnut Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6-7 oz. each)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. packed fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup walnuts
5 Tbsp. cider vinegar
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 pkg. (8.5 oz) precooked whole grain pilaf
1 bag (9 oz) microwave-in-the-bag spinach

1.  Rub chicken breasts with oil, then rub with thyme, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper.  Let stand.
2.  In 12 inch non-stick skillet, toast walnuts on medium 4-6 minutes or until golden and fragrant, stirring occasionally.  Transfer walnuts to dish; do not remove skillet from heat.
3.  Add chicken to same skillet; cook 12 minutes or until golden brown and juices run clear when pierced with the tip of a knife, turning frequently.
4.  To same skillet; add vinegar and cook 1 minute, stirring.  Add syrup and 1/2 cup water; simmer 6-7 minutes or until mixture has thickened; stirring occasionally.
5.  Meanwhile, cook pilaf, then spinach, in microwave according to package directions.
6. Stir walnuts and any chicken juices into sauce.  Divide pilaf and spinach among 4 dinner plats.  top with chicken and spoon maple-walnut sauce all around.

Chicken Pot Pie

Hmmm - I thought I posted this but apparently I didn't!  This is our chicken pot pie recipe.  It's SOOO popular around here and I'll make it whenever I make a roast chicken or else I'll pop two chicken breast halves in some boiling water and cook that up instead.  This is also my go-to recipe to bring to another family for illness or death or some other need in their lives.  I can't wait - it's the ultimate comfort food!

Chicken Pot Pie

1/3 c. butter or margarine
1/3 c. flour
2/3 c. chopped onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2+ cups cut up cooked chicken
2+ cups frozen peas and carrots
1 double pie crust (I use Pillsbury)

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter over low heat in saucepan. Blend in flour, onion and seasoning. Cook, stirring, until mixture is bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in chicken broth and milk. Heat to boiling; stirring constantly. Boil and stir one minute. Gently stir in chicken and frozen vegetables. Pour into pie crust. Top with other pie crust, flute and slit. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Chicken Piccata

When planning my menu this week, I asked DH what he wanted - if there was anything special he'd like to have and he asked if I could find a recipe for chicken piccata. So I went to handy-dandy AllRecipes.com and looked it up and sorted on ratings. I found a recipe that looked really good and easy so I took it and modified it for our situation.

So here's the recipe as I made it. We LOVED it and I served it over angel hair pasta and had green beans on the side.

Chicken Piccata

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut in 1/2 horizontally and pounded thin (so 8 pieces total)
2 eggs
2 Tbspl lemon juice

3/4 cup flour
3/8 tsp. garlic powder
3/8 tsp. paprika

2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
6 tsp. chicken bouillon powder
1 1/2 cups boiling water
6 Tbsp. lemon juice

1) In a small bowl, beat the eggs together with the lemon juice. Set aside.

2) In a shallow bowl or dish, mix together the flour, garlic powder and paprika. Dip the chicken in the egg/lemon mixture then in the seasoned flour.

3) In a large skillet, melt one stick of butter and brown the coated chicken pieces. Remove as they finish and put them in a baking dish. Place them in an oven at 350 degrees and cook about 10 minutes or until cooked through and no longer pink inside. Drain remaining butter and clean pan. (I did this because by the time I was done, the butter was browned and I didn't want that for the sauce.)

4). In the same pan (that is now cleaned), melt the other stick of butter. In the meantime, dissolve the bouillon in the boiling water. Add the dissolved bouillon and lemon juice to the melted butter and cook for about 5 minutes. (I added some cornstarch dissolved in water to this to thicken it but you can keep it thin if you prefer).

5) Serve the chicken with the sauce poured over the top.


My dad loved it. My kids loved it. My husband loved it. *I* loved it. A definite keeper recipe and one I'd make for company too. :)