Buttermilk Mushroom Pork

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Ingredients:

¼ cup flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

4-6 boneless pork chops (6-8 oz each)

2 TBLSP butter
1 lb medium mushrooms, sliced
½ cup white wine

1 10.5 oz can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup buttermilk
Cooked egg noodles
Fresh basil for taste and garnish
Crushed Red Pepper (optional)

LET’S GET COOKING!

Mix flour and spices together in a bowl
Turn skillet on medium high
Put a pot of water on for boiling
Cook egg noodles, drain, set aside

Dredge pork in flour

Put butter in skillet
Put pork in skillet, cook both sides until desired temperature (Recommended 165f)

Remove pork, set aside

Whisk together soup and buttermilk in a bowl, set aside

Sauté mushrooms
Add soup mixture, reduce if necessary

Slice pork

Plate mushroom sauce over egg noodles, placing pork on top
Garnish with basil and crushed red pepper (optional)

Notes:

Feel free to use other vegetables with this meal. I added carrots because I had a lot left over that I needed to get rid of

 

Sausage Potato Soup

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 Approx 11 cups     359 cal

Ingredients:

1 tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried parsley
½ tsp mustard powder
1lb Italian sausage (mild or hot)|
2 TBLSP butter
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup carrots, diced (optional)
2 ribs celery, diced (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 TBLSP flour
1 tsp soy sauce (I use light soy)
1 tsp hot sauce
5 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1 ¼ lb red potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
Saltine or oyster crackes

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Crushed red pepper and parsley (optional)

LET’S GET COOKING!

Cook sausage, breaking apart, set aside(optional: you can discard the grease or keep it for more flavor)

Use 2 TBLSP of butter (and sausage grease if desired) to saute carrots, onions, and celery (optional: you can use white wine in place of butter and grease)
Add garlic, cook until golden brown and aromatic
Add flour, incorporate thoroughly
Slowly add the chicken broth in splashes
Stir in heavy cream, hot sauce, soy sauce, and seasonings
Bring to a boil
Add potatoes, cook 20-25 minutes (until potatoes are soft)
Add sausage back into pan
Reduce to low heat, sprinkle cheese on top, cover
Put in a bowl once cheese is melted
Optional: put over saltine or oyster crackers
Put in your mouth hole and enjoy!

Crock pot method:

Cook and crumble sausage, drain of grease
Use butter or oil lightly saute the onions, carrots, and celery
Add garlic, cook until golden brown and aromatic, drain well
Place sausage and vegetables in the bottom of your crock pot
Add chicken broth, seasonings, hot sauce, and soy sauce
Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3, stirring occasionally
Reduce heat, add sausage back
Slowly stir in heavy cream
Cover in cheese, replace lid, melt cheese
Serve in a bowl over saltines or oyster crackers
Put in your mouth hole and enjoy!

As always, never let anyone tell you how to season your food. You do what you want and use however little or much your heart tells you
You may use literally any kind of sausage. Just make sure if you use anything in link form that you remove the meat from the casing

Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry

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Serves 2    244 cal

This one is quick and easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Ingredients:

1.5 Chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

1.5 cups frozen broccoli florets
Olive oil (enough to coat your pan)
½ of ¼ cup of sodium free soy sauce
1½ TBLSP brown sugar
½ tsp ginger powder (you could use fresh ginger if you desire)
1tsp cornstarch
3 cloves of garlic, minced
½ yellow onion, sliced (julienne)
1pk 90 second rice (Jasmine or plain white work best)

Optional: Crushed red pepper, sesame seeds, parsley for garnish

LET’S GET COOKING!

Teriyaki Sauce:
½ cup soy sauce
1.5TBLSP brown sugar
1/2tsp ginger

1tsp cornstarch
3 minced garlic cloves
Crushed red pepper (for a little kick)
Sesame seeds (because it’s teriyaki, duh!)

Steam broccoli, set aside
Steam rice, set aside
Cook chicken until golden brown AND 165f
Remove chicken and sauté onions
Add chicken back to pan
Stir teriyaki sauce to ensure cornstarch hasn’t settled
Add teriyaki sauce and broccoli to chicken
Reduce until the sauce is at your desired thickness
Serve over rice
Garnish with fresh chopped parsley
Put in your mouth hole and enjoy!

Notes:
As always, the seasonings and their measurements in this recipe are suggestions. Use as little or as much as you want! Feel free to add other flavors if you desire
Follow your heart when it comes to garlic. I never use what the recipe calls for, I use more!
The most important thing is that you’re having fun and creating memorable experiences. The rest is just a gateway to them

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

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Makes 8 pot pies (I had 3, so maybe 2 servings)

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken (about 1 large breast), cut into baby bite sized pieces
3/4 cup cream of chicken soup

1 cup frozen vegetables (I used a peas, green beans, carrots, and corn mixture)

8oz tube of crescent rolls
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning

A pinch of pepper
1/4 cup sour cream
Optional: Shredded cheese of choice (I used Colby Jack and parmesan), crushed red pepper for a little kick

LET'S GET COOKING!

Set vegetables out to thaw or microwave for roughly 2 minutes
Preheat oven to 350f
Cook chicken in a sauté pan until golden brown and 165f
Mix soup, sour cream, poultry seasoning, and pepper (and any other seasonings you want) in a bowl, combine with chicken, set aside
Unroll crescent rolls and pinch together at seams (you may want to throw a little flour down first to prevent your dough from sticking to your countertop/cutting board/whatever you use)
Cut into 8 even squares
Spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray
Line the 8 muffin cups with each square of crescent dough, make sure you press the bottom into the creases to ensure there are no air gaps
Spoon the chicken and soup mixture into each crescent dough cup
Optional: top with your cheese of choice

Bake in oven for 15-18 minutes, until crescent dough is cooked thoroughly and cheese is melted to your desire

Serve on plates
Put in your mouth hole and enjoy!

Notes: This is roughly the recipe I got off the internet, but I did my own thing with it. You should too.
Feel free to use any spices and seasonings not listed here. We all have our favorite flavors, use them!

 

Honey Garlic Chicken

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Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breast
2 TBLSP cornstartch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 TBLSP vegetable oil
1 TBLSP unsalted butter
4 (recommended, I used 6) cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup chicken broth
1 TBLSP rice wine vinegar
1 TBLSP light soy sauce
1/3 cup rough chopped parsley 
18oz Jasmine 3 minute rice
Crushed Red Pepper (to taste or not at all)
Ginger (fresh or powder) (to add a little more flavor but totally optional)

LET'S GET COOKING!

Combine honey, chicken stock, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce in a bowl. Set aside
Dice chicken in to bite sized pieces
Mix Corn starch, salt and pepper, a pinch of parsley, (and crushed red pepper and ginger if you choose) in a bowl, toss chicken in this 

Heat a pan over medium-high, add oil when hot
Add chicken, brown and cook to completion (165f) 

Microwave your 3 minute rice

Add in butter and garlic, cook until garlic is golden brown and aromatic
Stir sauce in bowl once again to ensure that honey has fully incorporated, pour over chicken
Turn heat up and bring to a boil
Reduce sauce until it thickens a little
Stir in rice
Serve in bowls, garnish with parsley

Put in your mouth hole and enjoy!

Notes:
I don't know if it actually makes a difference, but I always cover my chicken while it's cooking to retain moisture. I hate dry chicken. Just my two cents lol

 

French Onion Chicken Bake

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There are two ways to do this dish. You can go the purist, starting from scratch way or you can go the quick and simple way. I will give instructions for both. (I went the simple way this time)

Ingredients:

1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup (10.5 oz)
1 can of condensed French onion soup (10.5 oz)
    - DO NOT use reduced fat versions of either soup. They will not break down properly and your recipe will fail.
15 oz of chicken broth
1 cup of long grain or brown rice (really, it's whatever you want to use)
    - For the simple route you may use 90 second rice. I suggest 2 packs
Olive/Vegetable oil
1/2 yellow onion
1 lb chicken breast
2 cups shredded cheddar (or whatever kind of cheese you want. I used Colby Jack)

LET'S GET COOKING!

The longer but probably better way:
Preheat oven to 350f
Cut onion into thin slices, sauté in a pan 
Dice chicken into bite sized pieces
Whisk soups and chicken broth together in a bowl
Place uncooked chicken in the bottom of a 9x9 or 11x7 casserole dish
Sprinkle rice on top of chicken
Lay out onions evenly
Pour the soup mixture on top of everything, cover tightly with foil
Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes or until chicken is 165f and rice is cooked
Remove from oven, cover in cheese and put back in the over until cheese is melted
Remove from oven, top with crispy onions
Serve in bowls
Put into your mouth hole and enjoy

The faster way:
Preheat oven to 350f
Heat a skillet (I like to use a cast iron because I'm a bougie bitch) over medium heat 
Add about 2 TBLSP of olive/vegetable oil to pan, heat
Place chicken breast in the skillet. Cook halfway through, flip cook until chicken reaches 165f
Remove from pan, set aside to cool
Cut onion into thin slices, sauté in skillet
Shred chicken with fork or hands (be careful it's still pretty hot)
Cook 90 second rice, lay in bottom of a 9x9 or 11x7 casserole dish
Add chicken, onions, and soup mixture to skillet (you may need a pot at this point depending on how big your skillet is)
Bring to a low boil
If your mixture is super runny you can mix 1TBLSP of corn starch with 1 TBLSP of water. Add this to your skillet and cook until the mixture thickens
Carefully transfer contents of skillet to your casserole dish
Top with desired amount of cheese (I used a whole 2 cup bag of shredded Colby Jack)
Place back in oven until cheese is melted and golden
Remove from oven, top with crispy onions
Serve in a bowl
Put in your mouth hole and enjoy

NOTES:
A metal pan will cook faster than ceramic, glass, or pyrex
Again, DO NOT USE reduced fat soups
For an even quicker meal, use a rotisserie chicken. Shred with hands/forks
Roasted Brussel sprouts would make a GREAT side for this dish 

Italian Chicken and Gnocchi

 

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4 Servings    732cal

Ingredients:

1 TBLSP olive oil
2 TBLSP unsalted butter
6 garlic cloves, minced (use more or less, it's up to you!)
1/2 cup white wine (I used a $4 bottle of Pinot Grigio from Kroger)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 1/2 cup chicken broth/stock
Salt and pepper to taste
6.3 oz cream cheese (roughly 1 1/3 blocks ,Kroger brand)
1 lb gnocchi
3.5 oz spinach (roughly chopped optional, keep whole optional)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
12 oz chicken breast

LET'S GET COOKING!

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, mix with Italian seasoning, paprika, and Salt and pepper, and a few drops of olive oil
Mince garlic
Chop/Chiffonade spinach (I rough chopped it)

*For this recipe I used the very old cast iron skillet that my wife's grandma gave us*

Heat pan over medium-high heat
    - Add olive oil, coat bottom of pan
    - Add butter, melt
Once the butter has begun to foam, add the diced chicken
    - Cook until lightly browned
Add in garlic, cook until it has lightly browned and is aromatic
Add white wine, cook for 1-2 minutes
Add chicken stock/broth, bring to a simmer
Add cream cheese, ensure that it has broken down completely. You should have a smooth, creamy sauce
Add gnocchi and spinach, cook 3-5 minutes (until gnocchi  is soft)
Remove from heat and stir in parmesan

Ladle into bowls

Put it in your mouth hole and enjoy

*Recipes often call for garlic and they tell you how many cloves to use, don't listen to them either. You garlic the hell out of it, or lesson the garlic. You're in charge of your garlic destiny!
*The seasoning measurements came from the original recipe I found, but you do not have to go by that. Season to the extent your heart tells you to

*The seasoning measurements came from the original recipe I found, but you do not have to go by that. Season to the extent your heart tells you to

*Recipes often call for garlic and they tell you how many cloves to use, don't listen to them either. You garlic the hell out of it, or lesson the garlic. You're in charge of your garlic destiny!