Chicken Parmigiana

This is my husbands all time favorite meal. It is yummy! Fresh basil is a MUST. It adds such a great flavor. This recipe comes from Better Homes and Gardens. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, chopped (1/3 cup)    - I don't love onions so I do a bit less
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 T butter or margarine
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 t sugar
• 1/2 t salt
• dash black pepper
• 1/4 C snipped fresh basil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/3 C seasoned fine dry bread crumbs
• 4 T grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 t dried oregano, crushed
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 T milk
• 3 T olive oil or cooking oil
• 1/4 C shredded mozzarella cheese (1 oz.)

Directions:
1. For sauce, in a medium saucepan cook onion and garlic in hot butter until onion is tender. Carefully stir in the undrained tomatoes, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or to desired consistency, stirring occasionally. Stir in basil. Keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, with a meat mallet, pound each chicken breast half between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4-inch thickness.

3. In a shallow dish stir together bread crumbs, the 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, and oregano. In another bowl stir together the egg and milk. Dip chicken breast halves in egg mixture, then in crumb mixture to coat. In a 12-inch skillet cook chicken in hot oil over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until golden. Transfer chicken to a serving platter.

4. Spoon sauce over chicken. Top with shredded mozzarella and 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese. Let stand about 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Makes 4 servings.

I copied the recipe directly from the website, but I like to prepare the chicken before I start the sauce, so I can control the consistency a little better. I also like to put it in the oven for 5 min or so to let the cheese melt. Delish :)!

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

(Sorry this is not the best photo)

This recipe comes from my sister. This was one of the first real meals I ever made for my husband when we were newly married and it has been good enough to stick around. When I make this I usually eat a lot more then what I should. What can I say... I LOVE the sauce!

* I half the meatball mixture part (it still makes enough to fill up a 9 x 13 pan ~24 meatballs or so) but still make the same amount of sauce. We like the extra sauce to pour on our rice. I usually steam some green beans to go with the dish. 

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Meatballs:
2 lbs lean hamburger
1 c oatmeal
2 eggs
2/3 c milk
1 small onion chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Sauce:
1 1/2 c brown sugar
3/4 c vinegar
3 tsp mustard
3/4 c BBQ sauce
3 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Prepare meatballs by combining all meatball ingredients together. Form into 2 inch balls. Place meatballs in a casserole dish in a single layer. Blend together all sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Heat through and pour sauce over meatballs. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until meatballs are done.

You can also slice up a red pepper and add to this dish while cooking. I add a can of pineapple (towards the end of cooking... when there is about 15 minutes left)

Serve over rice.

-Angela Mencl

Mexican Lasagna

This recipe always seems to make an appearance in my menu planning when I ask my hubby what meals he wants me to make. It is a pretty simple recipe and I like it because it is so colorful! It is definitely one of our favorites. I usually pair this with salsa rice (basically rice cooked with taco seasoning and salsa) and some corn.
Enjoy!

Mexican Lasagna

1 ½ lbs ground beef

1 ½ tsp. ground cumin

1 Tbl. Chili Powder

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. red pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 can (16 oz) tomatoes, blended

10 to 12 flour tortillas- (I have tried wheat and it does not taste as good.)

2 cups cottage cheese

1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese with peppers

1 egg

½ cup grated cheddar cheese

2 cups shredded lettuce

½ cup chopped tomatoes

3 green onions, chopped

¼ cup sliced black olives

Brown ground beef; drain thoroughly. Add cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, red pepper, salt, pepper and tomatoes; heat through. Cover bottom and sides of a 13 X 9 baking dish with tortillas. Pour beef mixture over tortillas; place a layer of tortillas over meat mixture and set aside. Combine cottage cheese, Monterey Jack cheese and egg; pour over tortillas. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven; sprinkle rows of cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, green onions and olives diagonally across center of casserole.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

-Angela Mencl

Pizza Anyway You Like It

Pizza at the Bradys is a regular occurrence, so I had to post it. We make it a variety of ways.... cheese only, vegetables only, sausage, pepperoni, BBQ chicken. Here are the basic tenets and you can add whatever toppings you'd like. I'll add some tips at the bottom for variations.

Pizza Dough
from Julie Knight
(makes 1 pizza pie)
1 cup warm Water
1 tsp. Yeast
1 TBSP. Sugar
3 TBSP. Salt
3 cups Flour
Add ingredients in order. Mix well. Rise 1 hour. Roll out dough and put in pan. (We spray the pan with oil and then sprinkle the pan with cornmeal- can't remember where we got that tip.)

Pizza Sauce
from Gayle Johnson
(makes sauce for 1-2 pizzas)
2- 8oz. cans of Tomato Sauce
1/2 Onion diced
1/2 tsp. Oregano
1 tsp. Basil Leaves
1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/8 tsp. Pepper
Cut up onion (you can saute the onion first to shorten cooking time). Mix together all ingredients and simmer 1 hour. Wait to add to pizza dough until sauce is no longer hot so it does not kill the yeast in the dough.

Finishing the Pizza
We put mozzarella cheese on the sauce and then add our favorite toppings. Peppers, Mushrooms, Tomato, Olives, Sausage, Pepperoni, spinach, pineapple, ham, etc.
Bake 425 degrees on bottom rack of oven for 12-15 minutes (more or less depending on your oven).

Variations
Pesto Pizza- for sauce we use pesto and add cheese, spinach, and chicken.
BBQ Pizza- for sauce we use BBQ sauce from a bottle and add cheese and chicken.

Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts with Garlic-Sherry Sauce

This recipe comes from a recipe book created by the editors of Cook's Illustrated, entitled The New Best Recipes. It is now one of our favorites and every time I make it for guests, they rave about it. It's not that hard to make, but it tastes quite gourmet. To feed my husband, me, and our two small kids, I usually half the chicken portion using only 2 split chicken breasts, brining in 1 quart of water/salt solution. However, I do make the full recipe of the sauce since it doesn't make that much after it simmers down.

Chicken (I usually half this portion)

4 split chicken breasts with skin

1/2 cup salt

2 quarts cold water

black pepper to taste

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Garlic-Sherry Sauce (I make this full portion)

4-6 garlic cloves cut crosswise into very thin slices

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup dry sherry (I use sherry cooking wine found near the vinegar and salad dressings)

2 sprig fresh thyme (I use a dash of dry thyme since I don't keep fresh thyme on hand)

3 tablespoons butter, cut into 3 pieces

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

1. For the chicken: Dissolve the salt into the water in a large bowl. Immerse the chicken in the brine, cover and refrigerate until fully seasoned, about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the brine, rinse under cold water, and pat dry with paper towels. Season the chicken with pepper.

2. Adjust the oven rack to the lowest position and heat the oven to 450 degrees.

3. Heat oil in a 10 or 12 inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl the skillet to coat with the oil. Brown the chicken, skin-side down, until deep golden, about 5 minutes; turn the chicken and brown until golden on the second side, about 3 minutes. Turn the chicken skin-side down and place the skillet in the oven. Roast 15-18 minutes. (The juices should run clear when the chicken is cut and the thickest part of the breast registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.)

Using an oven mitt or potholder, remove skillet from oven. Keep oven mitt on hot handle so you don't accidently burn yourself when you handle the skillet later. Transfer the chicken to the platter and let rest while making the sauce.

4. For the sauce: Still using the oven mitt, pour off most of the fat from the skillet; add the garlic slices, then set the skillet over medium-high heat and cook, stirring frequently until the garlic is lightly browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, sherry and thyme, increase the heat to high, and simmer rapidly about 5 minutes, scraping the skillet bottom with a wodden spoon to loosen the browned bits, until slightly thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup. Pour the accumulated chicken juices into the skillet, reduce the heat to medium, and whisk in the butter, one piece at a time, until incorporated. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Discard the thyme if you used a fresh sprig. Spoon the sauce around the chicken breast and serve immediately.

Red and White Baked Pasta

This is one of our favs!! I got this recipe from Real Mom Kitchen (I have gotten a lot of recipes from here) Once again it's really easy and so good. I love it because it's a mix of red sauce and white sauce, and you use ground sausage (a nice change from chicken and hamburger). I have modified the recipe a little. I also half this recipe when it's just the 2 of us. Hope you like it as much as we do!!

Ingredients

• 4 cups penne noodles (one box)
• 1 (15 oz.) jar Alfredo sauce
• 1 (24 oz ) jar marinara sauce
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 lb ground sausage

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook and drain pasta according to package directions.
3. Brown sausage in skillet (drain excess fat)
4. Mix the two sauces together in a large mixing bowl.
5. Add mozzarella cheese (leave a little extra for top) and combine. Add drained pasta and sausage.
6. Pour into a 9×13 casserole dish and bake covered about 20-25 minutes until hot and bubbly.
7. Sprinkle mozzarella on top and bake another five minutes. 

 Serves 6-8

Mexican Pot Pie

I got this recipe from Angela Johnson, who got it from Campbell's Kitchen. It's super easy and really good. The original name is Fiesta Chicken Casserole, but Mexican Pot Pie fits the dish much better, so I changed it. Haha. I also usually half the recipe because it makes too much for just Matt and I. Hope you enjoy it : )

Ingredients

• 1 jar (16 ounces) Salsa
• 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Cream of Chicken Soup 
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)
• 1 package (12 ounces) frozen whole kernel corn
• 2 cans (12.5 ounces each) White Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained
• 1 can (about 15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 package (about 14 ounces) refrigerated pie crusts (2 crusts), at room temperature (or you can make your own)

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 400°F.
2. Stir the picante sauce, soup, sour cream, cheese, corn, chicken and beans in a large bowl. Spoon the chicken mixture into a 3-quart shallow baking dish.
3. Unfold the pie crusts on a lightly floured surface. Lay the crusts side-by-side so that they overlap by about 3 inches in the center. Press the seam to seal. Roll the pie crust into a 14 x 10-inch rectangle. Place the pie crust over the chicken mixture. Trim the excess crust. Press the crust to the rim to seal. Cut several slits in the crust.
4. Bake for 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.