Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Pasta

Cheddar. Bacon. Ranch. Chicken. Pasta.
All in one dish? Seriously? This is the definition of comfort food. This recipe makes quite a bit- enough to feed me, 3 men, a hungry 5 year old and still have leftovers!

I think this would be even better with mushrooms!
Original recipe found at Cassie Craves

CHEDDAR BACON RANCH CHICKEN PASTA
Cook Time:
Serves: 6

Ingredients
1 lb. mostaccioli or other short pasta
6 strips of bacon, diced
1 Tbsp. butter
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into bite sized pieces
2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 packet ranch dressing mix
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp. diced green onions
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions
1 Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to pot.
2 Meanwhile, cook bacon in large skillet until crisp. Drain on paper towels and dice. Drain all but one Tbsp. of bacon drippings from the pan.
3 Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the butter to the reserved bacon drippings, then add the chicken to the same skillet. Cook until tender, no longer pink and slightly browned.
4 Sprinkle the flour and ranch dressing mix over the chicken, stirring to coat evenly. Stir in the milk and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened and bubbly. Stir in the cheddar cheese and half of the diced bacon. Cook and stir until the cheese is melted.
5 Add cooked pasta to the chicken/cheese sauce. Serve with more crumbled bacon and diced onions on top.

Crockpot Honey Chicken

I'm a fan of crockpot meals. They are among the easiest and most delicous in my book. This is called Honey Chicken. It's similar to teriyaki chicken, so if you like that, you'll love this. It's delicious served over rice or with chow mein.

HONEY CHICKEN
Cook Time: 3 hours
Serves: 4

Ingredients
4-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into large chunks
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup chopped onion or 1/16 cup onion flakes
1/8 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Directions
1 Put chunks of chicken in crockpot
2 Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over chicken
3 Cook on high for 3 hours

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I love Chicken Cordon Bleu. Chicken, ham and melted swiss cheese all rolled into one bite.. yum! If you've never had it, now is the time to try it. It's really not that hard to make, and you'll have dinner on the table in 20 minutes!

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients
4-6 pieces thinly sliced chicken breasts (you can purchase them already sliced or do it yourself)
4-6 pieces deli ham
4-6 pieces sliced swiss cheese
Italian bread crumbs (I sometimes use Panko, too)

Directions
1 Lay a piece of chicken on a cutting board. Place a piece of ham on top and then a piece of cheese. If the ham and cheese overlap the chicken, trim accordingly.
2 Roll the chicken, jelly-roll style and secure with a toothpick
3 Roll it in the breadcrumbs.
4 Place on a cookie sheet lined with foil and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray
5 Spray all of the rolls lightly with cooking spray and Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle

Hummus Chicken Salad

So, Hubby and I are trying an all chicken diet. By all chicken, I mean no other kind of meat. We've also cut out fast food and most carbs at dinner time.It's only the first week, so wish me luck! It's our attempt at eating healthier. But, this also forces me to be more creative at meal time. I threw this together for a quick summer dinner and it was amazing! And it's so versatile. You can use whatever veggies you want to, whatever flavor hummus you want to and you can eat it a hundred different ways: On a sandwich, in a pita, with crackers, as lettuce wraps or on a bed of greens. Did I mention it's also Gluten Free?

Why hummus?
Only 60 calories and 3.5 grams of fat vs. the 180 calories and 20 grams of fat in Mayo.

Total calories of my version below: 275 for the entire thing!

HUMMUS CHICKEN SALAD
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Serves: 1-2

Ingredients
1 (5oz.) can of chicken breast (or diced chicken, leftover rotisserie, etc.)
1/2 roma tomato, chopped
1 green onion, chopped
1/4 avocado, chopped
2 Tbsp. hummus (I used Athenos Original)

Directions
1 Mix ingredients together.
2 Eat.

Chicken Rollatini

I love it when I can sneak vegetables in to my boy's food. They are usually fans of corn and green beans. That's it. But, I found that if I incorporate it in to the main dish to combine flavors, then I can get away with more. Like this recipe with Spinach. I mean, it did help that I called it Popeye food and claimed that it would give them big muscles. (This speech worked on LC, not so much on the hubby, but he still ate it and loved it). Even better news? It's low calorie and healthy for you. Yes!

CHICKEN ROLLATINI
Serves: 4
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
4 thin sliced chicken breasts
1/2 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
6 Tbsp. egg whites or egg beaters
5 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry of any liquid
6 Tbsp. part skim ricotta cheese
4 slices part skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
olive oil non-stick spray
1 cup marinara sauce

Directions
1 Preheat oven to 450. Spray baking dish with non-stick spray
2 Combine breadcrumbs and 2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese in one bowl. Put 1/4 cup egg beaters in a seperate bowl
3 Combine shredded mozzarella cheeese, remaining parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, spinach and 2 Tbsp. egg beaters
4 Spread spinach-cheese mixture onto pieces of chicken. Loosely roll each piece, keeping seam side down
5 Dip Chicken in egg, then coat in breadcrumb mixture and place seam side down in baking dish. Lightly spray with olive oil
6 Bake 20-25 minutes. Topp with sauce, then cheese. Bake for an additional 3 minutes or until cheese is just melted.

Healthy Cheesy Chicken Rice Bake

Casseroles are always comfort food- and this one is healthy for you! Chicken, Brown Rice, Black Beans, Corn... and NO sour cream, condensed soup or mayo! Put this one on your must try list. Both hubby and LC loved it. The original recipe can be found on Tasty Kitchen.

HEALTHY CHEESY CHICKEN RICE BAKE
Serves: 4-6
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
4 cups cooked brown rice
1 can (15 oz.) corn
1 can (15oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup plain Greek Yogurt
1 can (4oz.) diced green chiles
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (plus extra for topping)


Directions
1  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients until mixed thoroughly. Make sure the cheese and yogurt is mixed throughout.
2 Transfer to casserole dish and sprinkle with extra cheese.
3 Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until warmed throughout.

I used instant rice and chicken thighs and it turned out yummy! If you like your food spicy, you can use hot salsa and chiles. Enjoy!

Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

Looking for a new way to cook chicken? How about one that only takes 5 ingredients? Sounds good to me!

This is my first time making this dish and my photos didn't quite turn out like theirs, but the taste is amazing! The brown sugar carmelizes and creates a sweet, garlicky sauce underneath the chicken. Definitely worth a try! And the fact that it only takes 30 minutes and you probably have all 5 ingredients on hand? Bonus!

INGREDIENTS
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
3 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onions

DIRECTIONS
1 Preheat oven to 500 degrees and lightly grease a casserole dish
2 In a small pan, saute the garlic and onion with the olive oil until tender
3 Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar
4 Place chicken breasts in the baking dish and pour brown sugar mixture over the top
5 Add salt and pepper to taste
6 Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes

Hubby likes onions, so we added extra