Kitchen Creations: Buttaaa Chicken

Seriously, ya'll there's nothing butta than this chicken.  (I had to share one of my many puns I dish out when making this chicken.)

There's a whole lot of healthier things to eat, but we put our butter chicken on top of salad so that kind of balances it out, right? 

This is my husbands favorite chicken recipe, but I only use it with salad. And since chicken salad is one of our weekly go-to's, as you can probably tell (I have at least 4 posts mentioning salad).  I probably cook this once or twice a month.  

Like I said the recipe isn't for the health conscious, but it is delicious and super easy.  And it's so perfect on top of salad.  

I  take a cup/one stick of butter, 3 chicken breasts cut into chunks, and my choice of seasoning, and throw them in a iron skillet on medium.  I stir every 3 to 4 minutes, and the chicken is done in 15-20 minutes. It's not a lot of work at all.  

If you're wondering, my seasonings of choice are: basil, onion powder, parsley, paprika, garlic powder, lemon pepper, pepper, and a little bit of spice (hot sauce, pepper flakes, etc.).  I skip the salt on this one because there's so much butter.  But I change my seasoning occasionally, and the butter chicken always comes out perfect.  So if you ever try it, just season to taste and do what's comfortable.

Deliciousness is butta few steps away.

  

Kitchen Creations: Chicken & Potato Casserole

Ever had one of those days where you just don't care? 

Well, today I'm sharing my I dont care enough to care meal! It's also my I ran out of grocery money meal.  So this dinner isn't just easy and one-pan, it's frugal! 

The meal isn't the cutest thing on the planet, and I am usually in a mood when I make it, so I don't have any photos of it... 

You need: 
Butter
Cut up Precooked Chicken (Yes, use those leftovers! But if the chicken isn't precooked, it will still work, just make sure it is in little bits.)
Potatoes
Broccoli
Cheddar
Salt
Pepper
Parsley
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder

1. Cut the potatoes into chunks.
2. Throw the potatoes chicken and broccoli into a skillet, pan or crockpot.
3. Season and add butter to taste.

I do not use measurements with this recipe, but they aren't really necessary...Everything is pretty much to your need and preference, which is why this is my "I don't care meal".  I'm literally throwing stuff into a pot. 

4. Bake at 400 for about an hour.
Or cook in the crockpot on low for 4 hours.
Or add a little water and cook in the skillet on medium for 45 minutes, stirring occassionally.
(It's done when the potatoes can easily be stabbed with a fork, and the chicken is cooked through.)

5. Add the cheese 10 minutes before the meal is done, or after the meal is done.

And that's it. Easy, not-so-fast, but definitely easy. It's not the most delicious homemade meal, but no one will go to bed hungry! It's a loaded baked potato in casserole form, I don't think anyone will complain. (Assuming everyone is a baked potato fan.)

Kitchen Creations: Beef Teriyaki & Rice

There's a restauraunt nearby that serves Korean Beef Teriyaki over a spicy rice.  Well, it is delicious! It is also $13.  Which isn't very expensive, but it still isn't a price I am willing to pay every time I have a craving for it.

So I made it myself, and it's pretty delicious.  Now I'm going to share it, so I have a reference if I go a while without making it.  And because it's pretty good and cheap, and ya'll may like it, too! I've made this recipe twice for $7 - $10, and it feeds about 4 people.

The rice is super easy. I buy two boxes of jambalaya and follow the directions.  I just don't add any meat.

Then there's the beef: I buy whatever is on sale stew beaf or any steak.  If it's stew beef, make sure to cut it into small pieces, so the teriyaki flavor is in every bite.  Different cuts will have different flavors.  But if you're not a meat connosour, it isn't a big difference.  I season the beef with garlic powder, onion powder, and werchestershire sauce.  Just enough sauce that it's on every piece of meat, but not enough to wear the meat is swimming in it.

In a seperate bowl I make my own teriyaki sauce. I used to make teriyaki chicken a lot, so I have this down to a science.  I basically combine soy sauce and brown sugar until I reach my desired taste.  (If you don't have brown sugar, you can use a little honey and regular sugar.) You can make it to your own taste preference, so it won't be too sweet or too bitter.  You can also just use teriyaki sauce.

Then I drown the beef in the teriyaki sauce, and cooked it on medium in a skillet for about 30 minutes; I let the edges get slightly charred.

Plate the rice.  Top it with beef.

And it's an easy 30 minute dinner, that tastes like you went out to eat.

I made this scrumptious-ness twice in a week, and I am making it again next week.

Kitchen Creations: Steak Bites & Sides

I'm going to give you guys the entire dinner recipe today. Because some days I feel like I belong on the food network. 

I bought stew meat because it was on sale. But let's be honest here, it is literally cut up steak.  So I threw the stew meat in the crock pot (that's what it's made for!) and made a delicious, tender steak dinner.  

With the stew meat, I seasoned it to taste, added butter, and put it in the crock pot for two hours. I did one hour on high and one hour on low, because those are our only two settings.  I imagine you can just do two hours on medium.  This made the meat tender, pink, and juicy just like we like it. Obviously, if you like your steak well-done you'll have to cook it longer. 

I paired our meal with unsweetened applesauce. I warmed up my applesauce for a minute in the microwave and sprinkled cinnamon on top. My husband ate his plain and cold, like his soul. (Ha, I found that funny!) Seriously, y'all applesauce is a very versatile side dish, especially without the added sugar. It's slightly sweet, but not too sweet and it genuinely compliments most of our meals that aren't chicken or pizza. I love having it with dinner! 

Balancing out our applesauce we had no-bake baked potatoes. This idea came from my husband's awesome cousin! We boil the potatoes for 30 minutes (or until you stick it with a fork and it'a soft in the middle) and then microwave them for 5 minutes. The inside is perfect and soft, and the microwave gives the outside a slight crunch and makes it so easy to peel (if you don't eat the outside). It's quicker than a regular baked potato and just as good! 

And there you have it: Medium steak bites, baked potato, and cinnamon applesauce. From your wannabe bootleg food blogger of the day, Kayla. Enjoy! 

Kitchen Creations: Fried Whisky BBQ Nuggets

Usually, I use Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce. It's my husbands favorite, but I decided to try a different sauce this week- just to switch things up. Because of my husbands love for straight liquor (unlike me), Jack Daniel's Barbeque sauce caught my eye and I thought he would love it. (It was also like 15 cents cheaper than Sweet Baby Ray's.) 

Despite insisting that he's tried and hated the barbeque sauce, I decided to use it anyway....on chicken, fried chicken. Because you can fry with Barbeque sauce, right? And because we always eat chicken; it's versatile and delicious. So it's always on-hand. Here's how I made my Fried Whiskey BBQ Nuggets. 

I didn't take any pictures, so you're going to have to pay attention. It's only like a 2, 3 step process.  I soaked 1 pound of nuggets (cut up tenders) in half a bottle of  Jack Daniels Barbeque Sauce- Master Blend, 1/4 cup of water, 5 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon of malt vinegar, and seasonings of choice for 45 minutes, you can always soak them longer. My seasonings of choice were garlic powder, salt-free seasoning, parsley, pepper, and onion powder. 

Then I threw it in the fryer with the oil at the halfway mark. The oil rises every time you drop a batch, I'm guessing because of the sauce

I separated them into three batches, fried them 5-10 minutes each, and let them drain for a few minutes on a paper towel.  

Because of my sheer laziness and eagerness to take a bath, we just ate nuggets for dinner.  It took an hour to prep and cook them, but it was super simple.  And these fried nuggets were pretty awesome. You could taste a hint of everything: honey, BBQ, whisky flavour, even the garlic and pepper. It was mild yet flavorful, and not at all messy. I answered my own question last night: yes, you can fry with barbeque sauce.