Creamy Italian Bell Pepper Chicken

 

 

I threw this meal together last night, and it was a hit at the Bohannon house. I had all the ingredients on hand, and I knew if we didn't eat those bell peppers in the fridge, they would go bad.

 

Ingredients:

2 medium bell peppers, chopped

2-3 large chicken breasts - sliced

1 jar of Alfredo cream sauce

1 heaping spoonful of minced garlic

White wine of choice - I used about 1/4 - 1/3 c.

Pasta of choice (I used penne)

Italian seasoning

salt (optional)

 

Start by grilling your chicken slices. (I used coconut oil since this dish has a slightly sweeter flavor.) Add the minced garlic & a dash of Italian seasoning when the chicken is about half way done. Reduce heat to medium-low.

 

Add wine and peppers when chicken is almost done. Let simmer for about 3-4 minutes before adding the cream sauce. Stir well and allow to sit for about 5 minutes before serving over penne pasta. Garnish with chopped provolone cheese and Italian seasoning.

 

 

I love garlic bread, and my favorite way to fix it is by cooking refrigerated crescents flat. No need to separate or press together. Just bake until golden brown which is only about 6-7 minutes.

 

Slather with butter and top with garlic salt = perfection.

 

 

This dish was incredibly easy to fix and didn't take a significant amount of time or energy. Not to mention the flavor was spot on. Enjoy!

Creamy Cajun Chicken & Shrimp

So I made another really delicious meal for my family last night, and shhhhhh, I'm actually on a diet. So, here is a little sumthin sumthin to make your taste buds do a dance. AND the best part, it's balanced and doesn't break the bank in calories. Here goes.

Ingredients
1 jar LITE alfredo sauce (half the calories and fat of traditional!)
3 oz. shrimp per eater (because that is a serving size)
1 chicken sausage per eater (I used Savory Kitchen brand Bacon & Cheddar flavored sausages from Sam's Club - they are only 120 calories each - not too shabby since they are incredible) *sliced*
1 small zucchini chopped chunky
1 small yellow squash chopped chunky
1 yellow bell pepper chopped chunky
1 small-med. onion chopped chunky
heaping spoonful of minced garlic
cajun seasoning


I started off by grilling the veggies until they are golden, but still crunchy. Remove from pan and toss in your sausage slices. Once those are browned, throw in the shrimp. Stir for about a minute and return the cooked veggies to the pan. Pour in the sauce, garlic, and any extra seasoning you prefer to taste. I used a good amount of wedding spice in addition to the Cajun, but it's mostly Cajun seasoning anyways. Stir and simmer on low for about five minutes - or until your shrimp are completely pink.

I served mine with rice and red beans - it was phenomenal AND healthy. Boom shakalaka. Oh and it only took about 30-35 minutes to prep and make this entire meal.

If you are trying to eat healthier, the bulk of this dish is veggies and substituting the lighter version of the sauce is a much wiser choice. You could also go as far to serve with brown rice instead of white but that's all we had in the cabinet.

Enjoy y'all!

Repurposing Chicken For a Week's Worth of Vastly Different Meals

Many of my mom friends enjoy cooking up a big batch of chicken on Sunday so they have plenty of cooked meat to incorporate into recipes throughout the week. I think this is a great idea, but my picky taste buds are already screaming 'chicken overload.' Here is a meal plan idea for repurposing cooked chicken in order to create completely different dishes with entirely unique flavor combinations.

Sunday - Grilled Chicken + 2 fancy side items of your choice - this is your chance to go all out on an accessory dish since the majority of my time is usually dedicated to the main meat.

Monday - Cube some chicken for chicken Philly cheese steak sandwiches.

Tuesday - Slice chicken into strips for fajitas or shred for chicken tacos.

Wednesday - Shred chicken and create a BBQ chicken pizza

Thursday - Use shredded chicken to make this awesome chicken roll 'casserole' dish. I add broccoli in between the chicken rolls so I can pat myself on the back for a one-pot dish that includes vegetables.

Friday - Use chicken chunks to create chicken pie or chicken n dumplins.

Saturday - Chicken teriyaki with stirfry vegetables

The easiest way to add variety to a meal plan that incorporates a limited number of ingredients is to stock your spice cabinet with various 'ethnic' themed items.

For example, consider making your menu with a different cuisine inspiration in mind.

Italian, Asian, American, soul food, Mexican

If you think about it, these categories of cooking styles tend to incorporate entirely different spice and sauce varieties.  Regardless of which meat you have on hand, you can add variety to your meal plan with a thematic alternation of these cultural trends.

Spicy Honey Garlic Lime Chicken

I'll admit, I threw together a delicious chicken marinade the other night, and honestly, it's probably one of my favorites that I've ever made - especially on a whim, without much inspiration from somebody else. Here are the ingredients for the marinade:


Juice of 2 limes (after squeezing, I let the squished lime halves sit with the remainder of the mix)
~1/2 to 3/4c of a lime based beverage (I used Budlight's Lime-arita, but you could really use anything that you wanted to to add some liquid volume to your marinade)
1 heaping spoonful of minced garlic (the fresh kind, not powder)
~1/4 c. honey
a few pinches of your favorite seasoning


That last bit is where you can get creative. I prefer to use a house seasoning mix that I created a few years ago. I'll share that combination in a later post, but for now, just get a little crazy. Chili powder, spicy pepper, seasoning salt - all of those are great additions to this marinade. After all, when you're only using a few pinches, it's really just to give your marinade some saltiness and kick. If you want to play it safe, stick with just plain ol' salt and pepper.

I chose to marinade some chicken breast tenderloins because they thaw quickly.

After grilling, I served with white rice (big fan of the 5-minute, instant variety myself) and this Southwestern Black Bean Medley:

1 can black beans (drain ~1/2 the liquid off)
1 can diced tomatoes (drain ~1/2 the liquid off as well)
2 large zucchini sliced
1 med-large onion (chunky diced)
small spoonful of minced garlic
few pinches of southwestern seasoning (I used the Tastefully Simple brand for this one)

Toss all this stuff in a pot and simmer on medium (covered) while you cook your chicken. Stir often to prevent the beans from sticking.


This combination of dishes also makes a spectacular burrito. Throw in some mango salsa, shredded cheese, & sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt) and enjoy!


Once your chicken has marinaded for about an hour, this meal only takes about 20 minutes to cook. Basically the order of operations for the most efficient cooking time = prep marinade while chicken is thawing. While chicken is marinading, cut up veggies. While cooking chicken, cook rice & bean medley.

For an even more efficient cooking experience, toss the marinade and the frozen chicken in a bag so it marinades while it thaws. This can be done ahead of time. In fact, you can freeze the marinade with the chicken.