Parmesan Crusted Chicken and Mexican Cheesy Rice

Ryan made this for dinner last night.  It wasn't bad, but we were both hungry within a couple hours after dinner was done.  I think if we make this again, we'll have it with some sort of salad and/or fruit.  Chicken was easy and good - something that would be a quick thing to pull together for future dinners when we have very little on hand.

Ingredients for Parmesan Crusted Chicken:
⅔ c mayo
⅓ c grated parmesan
2 boneless chicken breasts, halved & pounded
4 t bread crumbs

Directions:
Combine mayo & cheese. Spread on chicken, and then sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake at 425, 20-25min.

Ingredients for Mexican Cheesy Rice:
2 T olive oil
1/2 T minced onion (dry - not fresh)
1 c white or brown instant rice
1 can diced tomatoes w/ chili’s, undrained
1 can of chicken broth (14 oz)
½ c shredded cheddar

Directions:
Heat oil in skillet and sauté onion until brown. Add rice, tomatoes and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Top with cheese before serving.

Ham & Spinach Couscous

Spring has sprung!  Out dinner plates tonight showed it : ) I love this time of year - everything looks and tastes fresh.  We've never tried couscous.  Beyond the ridiculous name, it's not that bad.  Heads up - it's a lot more filling than it looks : )

Ingredients:
½ c water
¼ t garlic salt
¾ c diced lean ham
2 c chopped fresh spinach
¾ c uncooked couscous
¼ c shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine water, garlic salt, ham and spinach; bring to a boil. Stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover & let stand 5–10 min or until water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and sprinkle with cheese.

We served with cooked carrots with dill, steamed asparagus and fresh strawberries.  We'll be doing this one again for sure.  It took a total of 15 minutes from start to finish to get it on the table.

Happy Easter!!! DC Road Trip

We took our first little family overnight road trip this Easter.  So glad we did!  We had a wonderful time in DC and figured out what we might need to do differently (additional stuff to bring/not bring) on our BIG trek back to Iowa we have planned in May.  We're going home for a full 2 weeks... so we have to make sure we have our ducks in a row.  There is no "turning around" for something once we hit the mountains.  Aiden LOVES traveling and checking all the new stuff out.  This child has to constantly be facing out so he can check everything out.  My biceps are feeling it from the time we spent carrying him around the American History Smithsonian museum and I'm sure Ryan's neck/shoulders/back are feeling it from carrying him around in the baby borjn on our walk around the National Mall.  Hope you had a great Easter!!!

Sausage and Chicken Gumbo

We have officially made and tried gumbo.  We didn't mind it, but it wasn't our favorite.  Glad we're stepping outside of the box a bit : )

Ingredients:
½ lb turkey kielbasa sausage, cut in small cubes
1 T oil
3 T flour
1 boneless chicken breast, cut in small pieces
6 oz can crab meat, drained
14 oz can Italian diced tomatoes, undrained
14 oz can chicken broth
6 oz water
2 c frozen cut okra
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
1 bag of uncle ben's brown ready rice (90 second kind)

Directions:
In large soup pot, sauté kielbasa in oil until lightly browned. Sprinkle flour evenly over kielbasa. Sauté until
flour is browned. Add small amount of water if needed to prevent burning. Add chicken pieces and sauté 5 min, until barely done. Add & stir in crab, tomatoes, chicken broth, water, okra, Worcestershire sauce and rice. Heat thoroughly and simmer 15-20 min, until okra is just done.  Serve with french bread and butter.

Spinach Chicken Salad

This recipe turned out well - it was easy and quick to pull together for a good lunch.  We had baked sweet potatoes with it too.  I think you'd need something else, the salad didn't seem like enough for a "dinner" type meal.  The red onions were really strong in it and we're not big fans of red onions.  I think if we make it again, we'll use sweet yellow onions instead.

Ingredients:
1 c chopped steamed broccoli florets
1 T red wine vinegar
½ t Dijon Honey Mustard
¼ t salt
¼ t pepper
3 T veg oil
1 pkg grilled and ready chicken - we use purdue all the time, love it!
10 oz bag spinach - from produce section
2 T finely chopped red onion
1 Granny Smith apple, cored & chopped
1 oz bacon pieces
1/2 c chopped walnuts

Directions:
Steam broccoli and set aside. Whisk vinegar, Dijon, salt, pepper and oil together. In a large bowl, combine 1 T dressing and desired amount of chicken. Let stand 10 min. Add spinach, onion, apple, bacon, walnuts, steamed broccoli and desired amount of remaining dressing. Toss to coat. Serve with sliced French bread.

Breakfast Pizza

We had this last weekend for brunch and it was really good and easy!  We'll be doing this again for sure : )

Ingredients:
1 pizza crust - we used freshetta thin pre-made pizza crust
1 package of bacon
2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes
1 cup chopped ham pieces (we used leftover ham steak)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 egg
1 c milk
1/4 t basil

Directions:
Place pizza crust on pizza pan. Layer bacon, ham, tomatoes, and then cheese on crust. Whisk egg, milk and basil together. Drizzle evenly over pizza. Bake @ 425°, for 20-25 min or until egg mixture is set. Serve with sliced oranges.