Smothered Chicken

I eat a lot of chicken. It's pretty much my go to meat. So, I found a recipe a few months ago for smothered chicken and I was so excited because it combines several of my favorite foods; chicken, cheese, and mushrooms...Yum!

This is a super easy meal and can be spiced up by adding different veggies.

Smothered Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
half an onion chopped
1 small can mushrooms
1 green bell pepper chopped
2 T olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves minced
1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
half cup colby jack cheese shredded
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in skillet. Brown chicken breasts in skillet about 10 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet and set to the side. Add onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, and garlic to skillet and cook until onions are translucent.
Place chicken back in skillet.Cover the chicken with cheese and then place a lid on the skillet. Reduce heat and keep covered until cheese is melted. I usually leave it for about 5-10 minutes.So good! Last time I made this I added some black beans and tomatoes in and it was really good. This time I added some spinach leaves. Serve with rice or potatoes. You can really change this up to your liking. Yumm!

Snow Day Chicken Chili

We had a snow day here today which only happens in Texas because no one knows how to drive when that white stuff starts coming down. It was really fun having Mark home with me and the kids and also a nice break for me.



When I first saw this Chicken Chili recipe over at The Cutting Back Kitchen I wanted to make it right away. But, last week it was 70 degrees and no one wants to eat chili when it's 70 outside. I knew it was supposed to be crazy cold this week so I decided I would make it today. This turned out so well, it's definitely a keeper. One weird/cool thing is that the black beans turned the chicken purple. So, this would be great for all of my TCU tailgating friends! I adapted this recipe from Katie at The Cutting Back Kitchen, if you want to see her original recipe click here.


Chicken Chili

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and cubed
3 cans (or one bag dry) black beans
32 oz chicken broth
16 oz jar of salsa
8 oz shredded Colby jack cheese
2 tsp cumin
1 small can green chilies ( I have awesome in-laws that bring us real green chilies from New Mexico so I used these)

This is so easy! Place all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours and then on low for 2 more hours. Scoop into bowl and add some shredded cheddar or sour cream. I served it with tortilla chips.

If you use a bag of dry black beans be sure to sort and soak them over night and then put them in the slow cooker on high by themselves for 2-3 hours before you put the rest of the ingredients in.

Yumm!

Menu Plan Monday, it's back!

After a busy few weeks, graduations, brothers becoming doctors, out of town job interviews...I'm getting back on track with the menu planning.

Monday: Even though it's a holiday, we did our cookout on Saturday. I'll be doing Crockpot Chicken.

Tuesday: Shredded Chicken Tacos, Freezer Refried Beans, and Spanish Rice

Wednesday: Trying a new recipe Pork Chops Deluxe

Thursday: Leftover Buffet

Friday: Homemade Pizza and Breadsticks

Saturday: Grilled Cheese sandwiches and veggies

Sunday: Breakfast for dinner!

Usually, hubby has a gig on Saturday and Sunday evenings so, I make C and I sandwiches or we have leftovers from the week.

Have a great week everyone!

Menu Plan Monday

I came across I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday about 6 months ago. When I was working and before C we would eat out at least 3 times a week. I look back now and I think "Oh my gosh! Think about how much money we wasted eating out!!" If you add that up, let's say 3 times a week at $25 a meal. That's $75 a week for 52 weeks... that's $3900!! Think about what you could do with an extra almost $4000. Crazy.

So, when we went down to one income we needed that extra money. I started looking for ways to save and one of the first things to go was eating out, insert sad face here. I started first by using Hamburger Helper meals and premade foods and realized that wasn't saving much money either. I had to come up with a food budget and stick with it. I had to find a way to make meals that are good too. I started searching recipes and blogs for ideas. Generally, I like to cook and I'm pretty good at it. I just hate to make things that take forever.

Then I stumbled across I'm an Organizing Junkie. She has great reasons for menu planning and it works, not only to save money but, to save time in the kitchen. Check out her 13 Reasons to Menu Plan. I started menu planning immediately after I came across this. I would plan out my meals a month in advance, make my list, cut my coupons and go shopping. I managed to keep my grocery budget at $250 a month. It was awesome but, I got burnt out. So, I started doing it in 2 week increments instead of 1 month. This helped a lot. I stuck to my budget and I have the freedom to move the meals around in the 2 week period if I need to.

Each Monday, I'll start posting my menus for the week and I'll start linking the related recipes.

Monday: Pork Chop Surprise
Tuesday: Chicken Breasts and Veggie Pasta
Wednesday: Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Thursday: Spaghetti Casserole
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Homemade Pizza and Breadsticks
Sunday: Leftovers

For more information and recipe ideas head over to I'm and Organizing Junkie to check Laura out!