Chicken

What to Make for Dinner When It’s Too Hot to Cook

What is worse than the dreaded question, “What’s for dinner mom”? In the summer, it’s the thought of turning on the stove or oven to make dinner. I thought it would be good to share some great summertime dinners, everyone in your family will love. Not only do they not require any cooking, but they are healthy and delicious as well.

In the summer many families enjoy some wonderful salads. Here are a few of favorites. Of course you can incorporate whatever ingredients your family prefers.

Not your traditional tossed salad: A traditional tossed salad is awesome and easy to make, but sometimes as a standalone meal, it may not fully satisfy those hungry appetites at dinner. To enhance a traditional tossed salad try adding some of the following ingredients for extra flavor and protein:

· Chunks of cubed cheddar cheese

· Slices of lunchmeat, like turkey, chicken breast or ham

· Leftover chicken breast

· Zucchini squash slices

· Yellow squash slices

· Crumble some leftover taco meat, tortilla chips and Catalina dressing for a taco salad

Chef’s salad: Basically a chef’s salad is an upgraded tossed salad. Just add hardboiled eggs, chunks of cheese and sliced ham, turkey, chicken breast and roast beef and voila, you have a chef’s salad. Hearty and yummy!

Spinach salad: Made with yummy spinach leaves or baby spinach leaves, a spinach salad is cool, refreshing and yummy! I like to add shredded cheese, slices of ham, turkey and roast beef, cucumbers, pickles, black olives and for added zest some jalapenos! I top mine with an Italian dressing or balsamic vinaigrette.

Sandwiches: Another great meal idea you can create without cooking is sandwiches. Yes, sandwiches for dinner. When it’s too hot to cook, some cool sandwiches are the ticket. Not only are they easy and heat free, but they are also less filling than a big huge dinner! Some great summer sandwiches are:

Chicken salad: I love chicken salad and love to have a batch made up for last minute, easy on the go meals. Serve some on a pita or flat bread, in a tortilla or in a croissant to change things up a bit.

Deli style sandwiches: I love to sink my teeth into a yummy, thick sandwich filled with all of the fixings of a deli. Pile on the meats, cheeses, and veggies! Some of my favorites are:

· Ham

· Turkey

· Roast Beef

· Chicken Breast

· Corned Beef

· Salami

· Pepperoni

· Bacon

· Alfalfa or Bean Sprouts

· Cucumbers

· Pickles

· Tomatoes

· Romaine or leaf lettuce

· Green Peppers

Serve on thick bread with brown mustard, if you like, and mayonnaise.

Dinner doesn’t always have to be a huge 3 or 4 course cooked or baked meal. A hearty salad or sandwich will satisfy your kids, hubby and guests, while keeping you cool at the same time.

Chicken

Crock Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos- 4 WW pts per serving

2 lbs boneless chicken breast
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 envelopes Saison seasoning
black pepper
3 sprays olive oil cooking spray
3/4 cup fat free chicken broth
1/2 cup Sofrito Sauce
1/2 cup water
3-4 dashes mexican hot sauce (not Louisiana hot sauce)
12 Whole wheat low-fat soft tortillas
assorted fixins (see notes)

Instructions

Put chick in ziplock bag. add 3 quick sprays of olive oil and all of the dry spices.
Mix around until chicken is coated.

In a crock pot add the broth, Sofrito, water and hot sauce. Mix it all together and add the chicken. Cook 4-5 hours until chicken can be shredded adn mixed with the juices.

Chicken

Super Bowl Recipe-Barbeque Chicken Pizza

2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

2 kaiser or hard rolls, halved horizontally 1/4 cup canned tomato

sauce 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 425*F. Combine the hot pepper sauce, mustard, and honey in a small bowl. Toss the chicken and half of the hot pepper sauce mixture in a medium bowl; let marinate 15 minutes. Arrange the roll halves, cut-side up, on a baking sheet.

2. Spray a nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken, turning once, until browned and just cooked through, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the remaining hot pepper sauce mixture and the tomato sauce.

3. Spoon the chicken and sauce evenly onto the 4 roll halves, then sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until heated through and the cheese melts, 10-12 minutes.

Chicken

Stretch That Chicken to Make It Go Further

Chicken is routinely eaten at evening mealtime in American households. We each have our favorite ways of preparing it. When cooking a whole chicken, you can do wonders with what you don’t eat for dinner. Here are some ways to make that roasted chicken appealing to the family.

Learn to slice a whole chicken. Slicing one properly makes it easier to remove the rest of the meat from the bone. The skeleton can be used to create broth. Boil it in some water until the rest of the meat falls off.

You can season the broth with herbs and spices. After it cools, pour it into jars for storage. You’ll be able to keep the broth for a few weeks. Use it to flavor soups and casseroles.

Do your kids carry their lunches to school? Instead of buying lunch meat, slice leftover chicken breast for sandwiches. It will be a nice change from the usual lunch fare.

On the weekends, instead of ordering a pizza or going to McDonald’s, use that chicken. Cube a few pieces to toss on top of a salad with some cheese and croutons. Combine with peppers and onions in a skillet to make filling for fajitas or soft tacos.

Does your family like chicken pot pie? Add some of that chicken, along with vegetables (canned or frozen) and a can of creamed soup to a pie crust and you’ve got an instant dinner that takes less than an hour to prepare. It is a quick meal idea perfect for busy families. A salad on the side will make a complete and healthy dinner.

Chicken based casseroles can be made and frozen for future meals. The family may be all “chickened out” for the week, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make the most of the chicken you have left for future weeks.

Do you still have more chicken? Well let’s keep going with more ideas. Hey, our mothers and grandmothers learned to use chicken in many ways and so can we. What tastes the best when you have a cold and are feeling under the weather? Why, chicken noodle soup of course.

Don’t settle for canned soup with small noodles. Make your own soup with juicy chicken pieces and wide egg noodles. That broth you jarred up will serve as a nice base and best of all it is already seasoned.

Add wide egg noodles and sliced vegetables like carrots, celery, and onions to your soup. When the noodles are tender, add the chicken. Since it is already cooked it just needs to warn up. Ladle up a bowl for the sick and the healthy as a light weekend lunch.

What are you doing with your chicken after dinner tonight? Try some of these ideas to make that chicken do double and triple duty to save on your family’s grocery bill. The best part is that the new meals are just as tasty as the original dish.

Chicken

Creamy Chicken Noodle Bake

mail	Creamy Chicken Noodle Bake
Recipe Name	tinabutler@sbcglobal.net
Ingredients	3 c. cooked chicken, cut up into bite size pieces(boneless chicken breasts or tenderloins) 2 – cans cream of chicken soup (10 3/4 oz cans) 1 1/4 c. milk 1 – 10-oz. pkg. frozen peas 1 – 12 oz – package wide egg noodles, (cooked al dente)(I use no yolk dumplings) 2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese (seperated) 2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
Instructions	In an large bowl mix together chicken, soup, milk, peas and 1 cup cheese. Add noodles; stir to coat. Add mixture to a 2 quart greased casserole dish and pour on the melted butter. Top with remaining cup of cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.
Variation to Recipe	I like to season my chicken and grill on my stove top grill. It taste so much better then just boiling the chicken.
Servings
Company or Site Name	Mommy’s Kitchen
URL address	http://tinamommyx3.blogspot.com/
Short Bio	The weather is getting cooler so If you want a quick & easy dinner that also warms the tummy this would be perfect. Serve with a salad, hot rolls or french bread. There are peas in the casserole so a veggie on the side is not needed.