I think everyone knows how to prepare roast chicken, and there are so many variations out there and family recipes passed down from generation to generation.

Much as I love cookbooks and trying out new recipes, some days I prefer to stick to the way I have grown up cooking, the meals that I remember from my childhood.

This is a very simple way to make roast chicken, it may seem a little different to what you're used to making but it's equally delicious.  It is also a one pan meal, and that is always great as it saves on having a pile of dishes to clean up.

I do hope you'll give it a try :)





1 pound chicken (I used thighs, but you can use a whole cut up chicken, or legs, or breasts, whatever you prefer)
Vinegar
Minced Garlic
Mustard
Mayonnaise
Paprika
Salt and Pepper
2 large potatoes
Small red onion


Now here's the deal, if I'm not following a specific recipe, I always cook from the heart, which means I eyeballs the ingredients.  It's hard for me to give specific measurements, but I'll try to give you an idea of how much I used.

First thing, wash and clean your chicken well.  Place the chicken in a big ziploc bag, then squirt in some vinegar, add about 1/2 cup of mayo and 1/4 cup mustard, some minced garlic cloves (I used about 4 that I mashed in my mortar and pestle), salt and pepper to taste and some paprika.


Close the ziploc tightly and give it all a good mix, then pop in the fridge for a few hours.  It's even better overnight, but usually I'll do it either in the morning, or around noon to cook for dinner.


When you're ready to cook.  Dump the whole contents of the chicken into a casserole dish, or a baking dish covered with foil.

Add a layer of sliced onion on top, and then top with thick sliced potatoes.  Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for about an hour or until chicken and potatoes are completely cooked through.

When done, you can serve right away, or if you wish, you can remove the foil and place back in the oven to broil a bit.

Oh my goodness!!!

Just oh my goody, gosh, this is delicious.  I've shared a recipe before for an actual Crunchwrap like the ones from Taco Bell, and then I also shared one for a Sheet Pan Crunchwrap which is phenomenal as well.

Today, I'm bringing you a Sheet Pan Chicken Fajita Crunchwrap just is just as delicious.

What I love the most about these Sheet Pan meals, is that they are perfect for get togethers, family dinners and so on.  I love meals that I can stretch for a big crowd and this is one of those, for sure.

Give it a try.





4 chicken breasts, sliced
3 onions, sliced
5 peppers, sliced
2 tbsp fajita seasoning
3 tbsp olive oil
9 large flour tortillas
1 tsp melted butter
2 cups cheddar, grated
2 cups spicy tortilla chips

For the dip:

1 cup sour cream
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp fajita seasoning
1/2 cup pickled jalapenos
1 tbsp honey
juice 1 lime
salt, to taste


Pop the chicken, peppers and onions on a large roasting tray with the 2 tbsp fajita seasoning and oil. Roast for 25 minutes at 200°C, stirring occasionally.


Meanwhile, mix everything together for your dip and set aside.

Brush your butter across the base of a sheet pan. Lay 7 tortillas down on the bottom of the pan.  Put in half your cheese, half your chicken, all of your chips, then the rest of the chicken and cheese.


Fold over the tortillas, then lay over a sheet of wax paper, and weigh down with a heavy tray.

Bake for 30 minutes at 180°C.

When my husband and I were newlyweds, we traveled to Oklahoma to visit his family.  We had our daughter at the time, she was just about a year old and at my husband and his family's request, we had her baptized in their local family church.

As we arrived at the church, there were a stack of cookbooks, you know the church cookbooks that used to be so common?  My mother in law asked me if I would like one, she knew I loved cooking, and wanted to gift me one because there were recipes from her, her mother and her niece featured in the book.

I was thrilled.

Over the years I've tried many of the recipes and maybe because they're simple homecooked dishes, they tend to be some of the best family meals around.

One of the recipes featured in the cookbook is from my husband's cousin Cindy.  I just made it again a few weeks ago and realized I hadn't shared it on the blog, so here it is.

A simple Mexican flavor inspired casserole that I'm sure your family will enjoy :)




1 pound chicken, cooked and cut into bite size pieces (you can use leftover roast chicken as well)
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles

1 cup chicken broth
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
12 (6 inch) corn tortillas



Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Put the chicken into a mixing bowl. Add the chicken soup, mushroom soup, green chiles and broth. Mix well.

In a 9x13 inch baking dish place a layer of corn tortillas to cover the bottom, then a layer of the chicken mixture, then a layer of cheese. Continue to layer, like you would lasagna, until all of the chicken mixture is gone.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and brown. Let cool and serve.

While stationed in Arizona, we came to find a ton of amazing restaurants, and to this day, some of our favorites remain in Phoenix, AZ.  It is one of the reasons we are looking to visit sometime next year.

One such place was Ono Hawaiian BBQ.  Their food was so good, but so good, that we went back constantly.

I only wish there was an Ono's in Texas, but alas, there isn't.

So with that in mind, I went on the look for copycat recipes that could recreate this wonderful food, and found one for our favorite chicken, so I thought I would share it with you.  If you have an Ono's nearby, I highly recommend checking it out.

By the way, the proper way to make this chicken is by grilling it, but I adapted the recipe to use my cast iron skillet instead.





Boneless skinless Chicken Thighs (thin, if needed use a mallet to flatten the chicken)
1 C. packed light brown sugar
1 C. soy sauce
4-5 cloves of garlic chopped
1 1/2 T. fresh ginger root chopped
1/4-1/2 large onion sliced

For the prepared chicken:
1 stick of butter
Green onions


In a bowl, mix the brown sugar and soy sauce together. Add in the garlic, ginger and onion.  Pour the mixture into a ziploc bag, add the chicken thighs, make sure the bag is closed tightly and then give it all a good shake.  Let it marinade for a few hours, or even overnight. 

Heat up a cast iron skillet with a little bit of butter, add the chicken thighs and cook until brown and cooked through. 

In the meantime, place a 13x9 inch casserole dish in the oven, at about 250 degrees F.  Add a stick of butter and let it melt. 


As the chicken gets done, transfer to the casserole dish and keep it in the oven where it will be swimming in all that buttery goodness.

Once all the chicken is done, cut up some green onions and add to the chicken. 

My 15 year old gets easily bored with food, and for some reason he has an issue with chicken.  It's not that he doesn't like chicken, it's just that he finds it boring at times, so I'm always looking for new ways to prepare it.

This is a super easy and simple way to make chicken in your cast iron skillet.

It is chock full of flavor, and perfect with a salad, rice, mash or buttery garlic noodles which is what I served with it last night.

If you're interested in how I make the noodles, I just cook them al dente, and feel free to use whatever noodles your family prefers, I use the same method whether I'm making spaghetti, fettucine, rigatoni or penne.

Once the noodles are cooked, drain them and then add a tablespoon or two of butter, little drizzle of olive oil, chopped garlic (you can use powder if you don't have fresh on hand) and a sprinkle of parsley.  That's it!!!

Now onto the chicken....



1 pound chicken breasts
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chopped garlic

Place the chicken breasts in a ziploc bag, add the remaining ingredients and shake well.  Let rest in the fridge for an hour or overnight.

Heat a cast iron skillet and when it starts smoking a little, add the chicken breasts.  Discard the marinade.

Cook for about 5 minutes on each side until nice and brown.  Transfer to the oven, and bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or until chicken is done.

To serve, sprinkle with fresh parsley and some sliced lemon.

Serve with rice, mashed potatoes or pasta. 

My family loves Mexican food, and my husband's favorite are Fajitas.  It's not something I make too often, but when I saw this recipe for sheet pan fajitas I thought "now that's brilliant".

It saves time, the clean up is easier with everything in one pan and I can pop these in the oven while I get the rest of dinner finished off.

Go ahead and give these a try, you won't be disappointed.




3 tbsp. vegetable, grapeseed or avocado oil, divided**
3 bell peppers, seeds removed, ¼-inch thick slices
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 - 1½ lb chicken breasts, ¼-inch thick slices*
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. kosher sea salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper
½ tsp. paprika
½ tsp. coriander
⅛ tsp. chili flakes or cayenne pepper (optional)
1 lime


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a standard size rimmed baking sheet in the oven while it heats so that it's nice and hot.
In large bowl toss 1 tablespoon oil with the bell peppers and onions. Carefully remove the hot baking sheet from the oven and spread the peppers and onions evenly across the sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, in the same bowl, combine the remaining oil along with the chicken, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, paprika, coriander and chili flakes.

Remove the sheet from the oven, drain off any excess liquid and add the chicken, making sure to separate the pieces of chicken from each other. Return to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the vegetables are roasted and the fajitas are golden brown.

Remove, squeeze the lime juice over top and serve with desired toppings.

So tonight's dinner came about purely by accident.   When I got groceries two weeks ago, it was right before Memorial Day and they had a few sales going on, one of which was a huge bag of Chicken Leg Quarters for only $4.  It was a 10 lb bag, so even though it wasn't on my list, I grabbed it.

For dinner tonight, I knew I wanted to make the chicken but I wasn't wanting the usual roast chicken that I make, I wanted something different.

I've also been dealing with some major sinus issues and feeling a bit light headed and achy etc, so I wanted something simple that I could throw together using what I already had on hand.

Something else I had purchased on my last grocery trip, was Teriyaki sauce but from a different brand that I had never tried before.  It is now my absolute favorite and I don't think I'll buy any other kind.  It's the Soy Vay Island Teriyaki.  Truly delicious.


The chicken was extremely easy to prepared, the trick though is to bake it for a long time, about an hour and a half to 2 hours.

But enough talking, let me show you.




Ingredients:
Chicken Leg Quarters (but you can use whatever chicken you have on hand)
Soy Vay Island Teriyaki Marinade and Sauce


Method:
Clean the chicken and place in a roasting pan.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Pour some of the teriyaki marinade on each piece of chicken and using a basting brush, slather all over making sure to cover well.

Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for about an hour.  My chicken leg quarters were huge so they took a while to bake, but if you're cooking smaller pieces just adjust the cooking time accordingly.

About an hour into the baking time, remove the foil, flip the chicken over and using the basting brush, baste the chicken with the juices in the bottom of the pan.

Continue cooking, basting every 20 minutes or so until the juices run clear.

Turn the heat up to 450, and finish off by allowing the skin to crisp and brown.  When done, you can baste with a little more of the juices, move to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Folks, you have got to make these for your family.

One thing my family loves is Mexican food, or Mexican inspired food of any kind.  I had chicken thighs on hand and was racking my brain trying to decide what to do with them.  Usually I follow a menu plan, always have, for the past almost 20 years, but since moving to Texas, we have had family dropping in on a constant basis and I've found myself flying by the seat of my pants.

I hate it.  I can't cook that way, it's just not me.

I need to go grocery shopping but I still have a bag of frozen chicken thighs in the freezer.  I wanted to use those up, plus some pantry items on hand, and so this recipe came about.

A bit of this, a bit of that and out came these Grilled Burritos which my husband and children raved about. It's been added to the list of favorites and requested to be made again, real soon.

So here we go.....oh and did I mention it's a crockpot recipe? No? Well it is, which makes it even better.



For the chicken:
Chicken Thighs (I used 6 big ones)
1 cup salsa (I used Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa)
1 (12 oz) jar Taco Sauce, Mild
Tortillas


For the rice:
2 cups of rice, cooked
Leftover Sauce from the chicken

Throw the chicken thighs into a crockpot, add the salsa and the taco sauce and cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4.

When done, shred the chicken using two forks, and throw out the bones.

Take some of the sauce from the chicken and add it to the rice, stir well until combined.  I didn't have an exact measurement I just eyeballed it according to our taste.

In the middle of a tortilla, add some rice, top with shredded chicken, and then put on a good helping of shredded mozzarella cheese.  Roll up like a burrito and then place on a hot skillet, grilling both sides for a few minutes until nice and brown.

Without a doubt one of my favorite food to eat, aside from the Portuguese, obviously, is Mexican.  I just love everything about it, the flavors, the combinations, the copious amounts of cheese, yeah, everything.

I have not yet been able to completely and successfully recreate a lot of my favorites, but I keep trying because even if they are not authentic, they are delicious.

One thing I do like doing, is following Authentic Mexican Food Blogs, I believe that is where I'll find the best recipes and I have yet to find one I didn't like.

The Chicken Fajita recipe I'm about to share comes from Cooking Mexican Recipes.  I have found quite a lot of gems on that website.




1 - 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
2 medium yellow onions sliced into 1/4 inch strips
1 large red bell pepper sliced into 1/4 inch strips
2 medium zucchini, sliced into strips

Marinade

1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp. liquid smoke
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. honey
1/4 cup water
1 tbs. fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. oregano leaves
1 tsp. soy sauce


Combine the ingredients for the marinade and place 2/3 in a glass bowl or Ziploc bag and the other 1/3 marinade in another glass bowl or Ziploc bag.

Rinse chicken in cold water and slice into 1/4 inch strips. I happen to like chicken thighs so I use them in this recipe. If you are concerned about fat intake use chicken breast.

Remove any remaining fat. Add chicken to the bowl with 2/3 of the marinade.

Slice the vegetables and place them in the bowl with 1/3 of the marinade. Refrigerate both dishes for 2 hours or more.

Pan fry the chicken in a cast iron skillet, remove, and fry the vegetables, toss together and serve with warm flour tortillas.

When we lived back in Arizona, I picked up a little binder cookbook called A Taste of Arizona.  I was supposed to try out some of the recipes but never got around to doing it.

Two weeks ago when I was organizing my pantry and cookbooks, I came across it again and set it aside for my menu planning.  This chicken dish was one of the first that caught my eye and now I'm so glad I made it.

My husband and kids devoured it, had seconds and thirds and couldn't stop talking about it.  I even had it for lunch the next day and wished I had more.  It's on our favorite list, for sure. 


1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 chicken, cooked and boned
1/2 pound mushrooms
1 cup chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
1 cans diced green chiles
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Salt and pepper the chicken and place in a casserole dish.  Melt 1/2 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet and saute the mushrooms.

Scatter the mushrooms over the chicken and pour 1/2 up of the chicken broth over over all.  Cover and bake 10 minutes.

In the same skillet, melt the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons, butter and saute the onion.  Add chiles, garlic, and flour.  Cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove the chicken, from oven and drain off pan drippings.  Combine drippings with the remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth to equal 1 cup of liquid.  Stir liquid into the onion mixture.  Mix in yogurt and heat gently.

Spoon sauce over chicken and top with cheese.  Bake another 15 minutes. 

Here is a really yummy casserole for those who enjoy Teriyaki Chicken.  It was a bit time consuming but only because I made the Fried Rice too, if you already have leftover fried rice I think it would work pretty well in this dish.

It got a big thumbs up from the recipe and I even enjoyed it the following day for lunch.





3 cups fried rice
1 breast of chicken
1 small package (found in produce department) stir fry vegetables including broccoli, sprouts, carrots and snow peas
teriyaki sauce
3/4 cup LOW SODIUM soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 small garlic clove, minced fine
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons cold water


Make the fried rice per the link above.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Teriyaki sauce
in a medium saucepan, stir together the soy sauce, water, brown sugar, honey, ground ginger, sesame oil, and garlic. bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute.
in a small bowl, stir together the water and cornstarch. add 1 teaspoon of the hot soy mixture to the cornstarch mixture and then slowly pour everything into the boiling soy mixture, whisking until it begins to thicken. set aside.
Place the chicken in a baking dish and pour 1 cup of the teriyaki sauce over the chicken. Bake for 30 minutes, remove from the oven and shred.
Steam the veggies and then add the veggies, rice and chicken to an 8x9" baking dish. Add 3 tablespoons of the leftover teriyaki sauce and stir to combine. Place the dish back in the oven for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and drizzle with a little more sauce. Serve immediately.

Notes
Using low sodium soy sauce is a must! It's less salty!

Chicken and Rice.  Something so simple but kicked up with Spanish inspired flavors.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite, favorite food blogs.  Marie at The English Kitchen.  I love her, she is the sweetest lady and she can cook some of the best meals ever.  I think something else that I really enjoy about her recipes, is that they are nothing fancy, just good home cooked comforting meals, and that is what I'm all about.

My husband is not a huge fan of Chicken and Rice, and this has to do with the fact that when he was deployed over in Bahrain, many many years ago, that is basically all he ate for months on end.

I've slowly gotten him used to it over the years, and now he loves my Portuguese Oven Baked Chicken.  He also really enjoyed this meal.



2 TBS olive oil
210g of long grain rice (I used 1 and 1/2 cups)
500g chicken breast pieces (a generous pound) cut into cubes
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 small green pepper, trimmed, seeded and chopped
250g of chestnut mushrooms, sliced (I used a small can)
1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and finely minced
1/2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of oregano
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice (14 oz tin) undrained
1 tin of water
1 TBS chicken stock powder
grated cheddar cheese to serve

Heat 1 TBS of the oil in a large skillet. Add the rice and stir so that the rice is lightly coated with the oil. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the rice begins to brown. Scoop out and set aside. Heat the remaining oil in the pan. Add the mushrooms. Cook, without stirring, until they begin to brown. Stir and add the onions and peppers. Cook for several minutes until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the chicken pieces and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is almost cooked through. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add the paprika and oregano. Stir in the tin of tomatoes, the water, stock powder and the rice. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until all of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Serve hot, with or without cheese sprinkled on top.