meal planning – Page 3

Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken with Garlic Lemon Orzo

Recently I asked my Instagram peeps what recipes they need to make their lives easier in the kitchen as we return back to our regular routines. Summer is over (insert sad face here) and although it wasn’t the summer we could have hoped for hopefully we still got some fun in. Now it’s back to school and work for some. It’s different because usually this time of year is the start of a lot of extracurricular activities and fall fun but with this virus we don’t have those options. I pray though that everyone is healthy, well and happy in spite of. Food & cooking is always something that brings me joy so maybe I can spread some by sharing delicious & easy recipes. The consensus from my question was easy recipes that are not time consuming. Those include crockpot, instant pot (pressure cooker), sheet pan, one pot and casserole recipes. I plan to bring one or two to the blog every week with corresponding videos on instagram (follow me @severalpeoplesmama) and a few additional recipes I’ll be writing up for volume 2 of Cook Yo Meals which will be out in a few months!

Today I am sharing my version a crockpot meal that I’ve been wanting to try for awhile along with an easy tasty side dish. Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken is soooo good and even tho it requires a little more work than the normal dump and go crockpot recipes we’re used to, it is worth the extra effort! Let’s cook!

Ingredients for Tuscan Chicken:

3-5 cloves of fresh garlic minced or 2-3 tablespoons of Jared minced garlic (y’all know how I feel about the jar of minced garlic, however since this cooks in the crockpot for a few hours this would be an exception to use it, I still didn’t but you can)
1-2 tbsp of butter
1-2 tbsp of olive oil
1 bag of fresh spinach
8-10 skinless bone in chicken thighs (you can use boneless but the bones add great flavor which is needed in a crockpot recipe)
1-2 cups of chicken broth
2-3 cups of half and half (can use a cup of heavy whipping cream with milk or chicken broth)
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese (and more if you like it cheesier but I wasn’t going for an Alfredo sauce, just a taste of Parmesan)
1/4 cup of sun dried tomatoes chopped (I used the jar in oil)
Various seasonings, I used what was pictured
Fresh basil chopped (optional but makes a difference!
Juice from half a lemon (optional)

Directions:

Start by adding a tablespoon of butter and the olive oil to a non stick pan on medium high heat. Then season chicken thighs generously. Remember this will cook in a sauce and chicken broth in the slow cooker for a few hours so you still want to taste the seasoning. Add chicken thighs to pan and sear about 3-5 minutes each side. Side note: in most of the recipes I researched they did not sear the chicken. Not searing the chicken is not something I recommend but it’s not necessary. However searing the chicken adds a deep flavor that you would define miss if you didn’t. After chicken has seared, add to your sprayed slow cooker insert. After all chicken has seared it’s time to make the sauce. Turn heat to medium. Pour out all but a tablespoon of oil for the pan. Add another tablespoon of butter. Add garlic stirring quickly, we don’t want it to burn. Sauté for about 20 seconds and then add half and half. Stir until heated thru. Add seasonings to taste and then add sun dried tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and lemon juice. Taste for any additional seasoning and let simmer for 23 minutes. Turn off heat and allow sauce to thicken as it cools. Once thicken led (should coat the back of a spoon easily) pour sauce over thighs in slow cooker. Add 2-3 cups of chicken broth to slow cooker and mix in. You want the sauce and chicken broth mixture to almost cover the thighs. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Towards last 20 minutes turn slow cooker to high and add fresh spinach til wilted and also half and half if you’d like the sauce thicker. Make sure you taste to see if you’d like anymore seasoning but you should be good. Once spinach is wilted you are ready to serve over the orzo.

Ingredients for Garlic Lemon Orzo:

1-1/2 cups of orzo
2 cups chicken broth/water (I used 2 cups broth and the rest water)
1-2 cloves of fresh minced garlic (no jar! Lol)
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp of olive oil
Garlic salt and Italian seasoning, fresh basil can be added but it is optional
1-2 tbsp of Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

Heat heavy bottom pan or pot on medium high. Add butter and olive oil. Add fresh garlic and sauté for about 20 seconds. Add orzo and sauté for about 2-3 minutes. If you fear burning garlic (like me) add your garlic after your orzo. Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for about 3-5 minutes and then turn I low until orzo is cooked thru. Add seasonings, lemon juice and Parmesan if using and stir.

Add your chicken with sauce over this lemony orzo pasta and you have a complete meal with so much flavor from cooking for hours. Also with the addition of spinach you already have a veggie built in!

The Tuscan Chicken is keto/low carb friendly and you can just add a salad, serve over zucchini noodles or roasted veggies instead of the orzo to keep it that way.

We enjoyed this meal so much and it is being placed on our dinner rotation as we speak. Because this dish requires a little extra prep time this would be perfect for Sunday dinner and then make extra for an easy Monday of leftovers. If you know me you know I don’t like cooking on Mondays so this is a trick I use often since most folks are off and have a little more time.

Let me know if you tried this recipe and as always tag me on Instagram. In the comments let me know what other recipes or ideas you’d like to see on the blog. I always appreciate and take y’all’s input into consideration!

Love Ricki

Philly Cheesesteak Ring – Yes another Ring!

Hi y’all I am back this week with a not so original recipe but DEFINITELY a fav! Listen we love rings in this household. The crescent roll dough is delicious and easy to work with and you can take just about any filling you can think of and add it for a delicious combination. Of course I’ve made Cheesesteak sliders here and Cheesesteak egg rolls here so naturally a ring was next. This recipe was super easy and you can add chips and fruit for easy sides and dinner is done! Let’s cook!

Ingredients:

Thin sliced steak
1 yellow onion sliced into half moons
1 pepper sliced into strips
2-3 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp of olive oil
Sliced mushrooms (optional)
1-2 tsps of minced garlic
Seasonings: I used Tony’s seasoning, onion and garlic powder and steak seasoning
2 cans of crescent rolls
5-6 slices of provolone cheese
4-5 slices of Gouda (this is optional, you can use all provolone or any cheese you like. Smoked Gouda would have bee delicious here as well)
Cooking spray

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Add butter to skillet on medium high heat. Add peppers and then after a minute or so add onions. Sauté veggies and turn heat to medium. I add a little salt to this mixture to help it sweat and give a little flavor but that’s optional. After veggies are softened add mushrooms and minced garlic. Sauté til mushrooms are softened. Turn heat on high and add steak. I season steak while in the pan but you can season ahead of time as well and just add seasoned meat. Once cooked thru which should be 3-5 minutes, turn off burner and take pan off heat and set aside. In a round pizza pan or cookie sheet spread triangles of crescent dough around until it forms a shape resembling a sun (see pics). Add veggies and meat mixture and then add cheese on top. Bring points of the triangles to the center. Spray with cooking spray to help crust brown. Bake for 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and completely baked thru. Slice and serve.

We will be making this again and believe me I am dreaming up more ring recipes to add to the blog! If you try this please tag me on Instagram @severalpeoplesmama

Love Ricki

Alice Spring Chicken – Copycat Recipe

Confession: I have never actually heard of Alice Spring Chicken before I actually made it. I have never actually ate at Outback Steakhouse either. I stumbled upon this recipe when I was searching Pinterest trying to find something different to do with boneless skinless chicken breast. It seemed like it would be delicious except the mustard part so I decided to adapt it for my family’s taste and make it keto/low carb friendly. We like mustard but only a touch on a sandwich or in our foods. Also the recipes I found called for honey but I decided to use pre made honey mustard (not the dressing) to cut the carbs. We definitely don’t like it to overpower a dish. Here is my version of Alice Spring Chicken.

Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, butterflied ( I would also take an extra step and pound it thin) You should end up with 6 thin breasts
1/2 tbsp of honey mustard
1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard
2-3 tbsp of mustard
1/2 packet of dry ranch dressing mix
1 tbsp of minced onion
5-6 slices of bacon
1 1/2 cup of fresh sliced mushrooms (I used white)
2 cups of Colby Jack Cheese
Seasonings: I used onion and garlic powder and Tony’s seasoning
1/2 cup of fresh green onions chopped (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Mix the Dijon and honey mustard with the mayonnaise and add the dry ranch dressing mix and dry minced onion. Mix thoroughly and set aside. Spray enameled Dutch oven or oven safe pan (if you don’t have an oven safe pan that’s okay, just start with a pan and transfer to a bacon dish at the end) with oil spray and then add bacon on medium high heat. While bacon is cooking season chicken and spread mustard/mayo mixture on each side. Set aside. You can marinate the chicken ahead of time in this mixture for a few hours or o/n but again we didn’t want a strong mustard taste. After bacon is crispy remove from pan and add mushrooms. Once mushrooms are cooked removed from pan and set aside. Turn heat to high and add chicken searing on both sides. Turn heat off and top chicken with mushrooms, bacon (crumbled) and cheese. Cover with lid or foil and bake in oven for 35-40 minutes until chicken is cooked thru. I was just gifted a meat thermometer so that is an internal temp of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Lol get a meat thermometer! It’s awesome!

Surprisingly the kids loved this meal. I enjoyed it to and was something different that we could all enjoy since I’m currently on the keto diet. The hint of mustard was just enough for us so if you’re not a big mustard fan you can try this and enjoy it.

If you do give this meal a try, make sure to tag me on Instagram @severalpeoplesmama

Love Ricki

The Infamous Seafood Boil

If you don’t already know from looking at my past recipes WE LOVE SEAFOOD! We especially love the spicy savory seafood boils at different restaurants across Houston. But with a family of five eating at these places can get expensive so from researching different recipes I came up with my own version of a seafood boil. EXCEPT I don’t boil the seafood lol. I actually steam it in an oven bag you would use for turkeys in the oven. This seafood steams and the flavors get infused which tastes much better to us than boiling it and letting it sit and water where sometimes the flavor gets diluted. After many requests for the recipe I figured I better write this down and share on the blog so everyone would have one point of reference. So let’s make a seafood boil!

Ingredients:

2 oven bags – I use the large size. We use two because we will double bag our seafood. You will also need a rectangular dish to lay the bag in.
Assorted seafood – we use snow crabs and shrimp but you can use what’s our family prefers- if you use frozen make sure to thaw out prior to cooking
5-6 sticks of real butter (salted or unsalted)
5 cloves of minced fresh garlic (don’t use the jar!)
1 tsp of garlic salt
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of Cajun seasoning
2-3 tbsp of spicy crab or crawfish boil seasoning plus extra for sprinkling on the seafood
2 tbsp of paprika
1 tsp of lemon pepper
1 tsp of dried minced onion
Juice from 1/2 fresh lemon or you can use the juice in the bottle
1 tbsp or brown sugar (optional)
1 tbsp of dry ranch seasoning
1 tbsp of old bay
Hot sauce or cayenne pepper (optional)
3-4 small red potatoes (you will want to cook these in the microwave ahead of time for about 3-5 minutes
3-4 small ears of corn
1 sausage chopped (optional)

Directions: preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make sure seafood is thawed out and rinsed. Place seafood, corn, potatoes and sausage in bag and then double bag it (similar to how you do your groceries at the store). Place bagged seafood in dish and sprinkle crab boil seasoning over seafood and set aside.

Place medium sized pot on medium low and add butter. Once butter has melted add minced garlic and stir. Add the seasonings, lemon juice and stir (with a whisk or fork). Mix in the brown sugar last if using. Let mixture come to a simmer for about 3-5 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool slightly (just a few minutes so it isn’t scorching hot and burn your bag). Pour a little of the mixture into a bowl for dipping later. Pour rest of the mixture in bag. Now I physically massage the seasoning into my seafood but you can just tie a knot in the bag and massage thru the bag. Place pan with bag in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes. Remove form oven and let sit for about 5 minutes. I cut open the bag and let the juices flow into the pan and sit there for a few minutes prior to serving. We serve this family style by bringing the pan directly to the table and picking the seafood out to eat.

We love to do this for our family but it would be great for parties too. I hope you make this and your family enjoys it as much as we do! And if you do try it make sure to tag me on Instagram @severalpeoplesmama

Love Ricki

Easy Artisan Bread

Hi y’all! This past weekend I purchased one of the items on my cook’s wish list – an cast iron enameled pot or Dutch oven. Of course I wanted the Le Creuset and one day I will have it but for now my new pot by Martha Stewart works just fine. And it’s pink! You can find the pot I purchased here. One thing I always wanted to try once I got this pot is baking Artisan Bread. And so I did and I am excited to share the recipe and how easy this was to make! Let’s bake!

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups of flour plus more for sprinkling
1/2 tsp of salt (I used garlic salt and garlic bread seasoning, found at TJ Maxx)
1 1/2 cups of warm water (you want the water to be warm enough to stick your fingers in without burning, “baby bottle warm”, too hot and you will kill the yeast)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

In a bowl big enough for the bread to rise later, mix the flour and salt together. This is also the time of you want to flavor the bread by adding extra seasoning such as garlic powder or cinnamon. Then pour yeast on top and lightly mix in. Pour in water and mix until combined. This will form a sticky wet dough but this is what you want. Now cover bowl with plastic wrap and set on the counter for at least 8 hours but I would suggest 12-24 hours so it’s best to start this process the evening before.

Set pot or you can also use any oven safe (up to 500 degrees) pot or baking dish with lid in oven. Set oven to 450 degrees. After dough has risen for the allotted time you can punch it down and turn it into a clean surface covered with flour. I would suggest also covering your hands in flour because the dough is very very sticky but again this is what you want. Form dough into ball. After 30 minutes remove pot and spray with oil or place parchment paper in it and put in the dough. Cut 2 slits in the top with a sharp knife. Cover with lid and back 30 minutes. Then remove lid and bake an additional 15 minutes. The you will have a beautiful loaf of bread! Let cool completely and then slice with a serrated knife. Dough will be crusty in the outside and moist and chewy on the inside.

Serve with butter and enjoy! We made a garlic compound butter which you can get the recipe here.