Sweet & Spicy Chicken with Veggies

Sweet & Spicy Chicken with Veggies

Preheat oven *425

For the marinade:

1 cup of soy sauce

1/2 cup of brown sugar

4 tbsp. Sriracha hot chili sauce

3pds. of boneless,skinless chicken

1 head of broccoli

1/2 cup of carrots

2 medium sweet onions

3 tbsp.  of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tbsp. of minced garlic

1/2 lb. of fettuccini noodles

Okay first of I have to tell you about the heavenly marinade I made for my chicken.

While I was at the grocery store I spotted Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce and decided I would try creating a marinade for my chicken with it.

I am in love with this stuff!!! The amounts for the marinade seem like a lot but that is because I only use half as a marinade and reserve the other half to use as a sauce.

For the marinade I whisked together –

1 cup of soy sauce

1/2 cup of brown sugar

4 tbsp. of the chili sauce

Chop up 3 lbs of skinless chicken breast into bit size pieces and place the chicken and half of the marinade into a storage bag.

Allow it to marinade about 2-3 hours (in the refrigerator) to soak into the chicken.

Chop up –

1 head of broccoli

2 medium size sweet onions

1/2 cup of carrots ( I like to use baby carrots and slice them in half lengthwise)

Place the veggies on a baking pan ( I use foil to keep clean up easy) and drizzle with 3 tbsp.  of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (you can use more or less depending on how health conscious you are).

Then sprinkle the veggies with 1 tbsp. of minced garlic.

Place the chicken on another baking pan (again I cover it with foil) and place both pans in the oven at *425. The veggies took about 20 minutes but the chicken took about 30 minutes. I always check my poultry with the meat thermometer just to be safe. And also keep in mind that all ovens cook different, so adjust time according to how fast or slow your oven cooks.

While the chicken and veggies are baking, boil  1/2 pd. of fettuccine noodles (follow directions on box.) Keep the eye hot while you drain the noodles and pour the other half of the reserved sauce into the pan (I do not use any of the marinade that has been on the raw chicken.) After the sauce heats for a minute add the noodles back in and turn off heat.

In a large mixing bowl combine veggies, chicken, and noodles. And enjoy!!

If anyone has any recipe ideas for the sriracha chili sauce I would love to hear them!! 🙂

 

Buffalo Ranch Chicken Casserole

So last nights dinner was great and after cooking all 5lbs of chicken in the ranch and taco mix you should have somewhere around  2lbs of chicken left for tonight.

I started out today sautéing 2 onions, 1 green pepper and a couple small red and yellow peppers with 3 cloves of minced garlic. Talk about a heavenly aroma!  After I got those nice and soft I removed half and put it in a container for another meal.

I love a one dish meal.Also it didn’t have as many veggies in it for my liking…. However my kids always like something on the side. So I decided to try my hand at making spinach stuffing balls to go with this meal. That recipe will be next.

Buffalo Ranch Chicken Casserole Recipe

2-3 lbs. of shredded pre-cooked chicken
2-4 tbls. of hot sauce
1 bag of herb stuffing (crushed)
2 cups of Colby and Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup of cheese is to mix in with the chicken other cup is for topping.

Pre-heat oven at 350
Coat bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish
Mix shredded chicken (if starting from scratch add ranch dressing mix) with diced onion and pepper mix and 2-4 tbls. of your favorite hot sauce and 1 cup of cheese.
Put chicken into casserole dish.
Crush the stuffing and layer it on top of the chicken.
Top with 1 cup of your favorite shredded cheese (we love Colby and Monterey Jack).
Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Kids loved it! I thought it needed more hot sauce

 

Ranch Chicken Burrito’s ~ Crock pot style

 I used 5 pounds of chicken in this because I will be getting 2 meals out of the chicken. The Ranch Chicken Burrito’s for tonight and Buffalo Ranch Chicken for tomorrow. My kids can never get enough of anything with ranch flavor.

* 5 lbs. of Chicken

* 1 packet of Ranch Dressing Mix

* 1 packet of Taco Seasoning

* 1 can of Chicken Broth (or one cup of water and 2 Tbsp. of chicken broth granules)

* burritos shells

 

 

 

Pour the chicken broth into the bottom of the crock pot and then place the chicken into the broth. Next sprinkle 1/2 of the packet of ranch and 1/2 of the packet of taco seasoning onto the chicken. You can cook for 6 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

 *Time will vary depending on the size of crock pot. With any poultry or meat always be safe and check with a meat thermometer.

Once the chicken is done take 2 forks and pull all of the chicken apart. The liquid will absorb into the shredded chicken. Next take the rest of the ranch and taco seasoning and mix it into the chicken. Place the lid back onto the crock pot for 30 min. to allow the chicken to absorb all the wonderful flavors. During the last 10 minutes put your tortilla shells inside of aluminum foil and put them in the oven at 325 to warm them up. Next place your shredded chicken onto the tortilla and top with shredded cheese and shredded lettuce. So simple but so yummy!

Check back tomorrow to see what you can do with the other half of the shredded ranch chicken.