super simple chicken,mushroom and onion quesadillas.

 An easy dinner for those lazy days.  I just pulled out what I thought would be a good combo.  You can add anything else you want.  I kept the flavors simple because I was using the homemade whole wheat tortillas and they we're already super flavorful with oregano and garlic.  I didn't want flavors to try and compete.  If you're not using flavored tortillas then maybe add some garlic or some cayenne powder for an extra kick. 

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups cheese of your choice

2 Tbsp butter

2 cups mushrooms sliced

1 quarter red onion thinly sliced (more to your liking but hubby's not a big fan of onions)

Chicken (I didn't weigh it but I used about 5 tenders)

6 tortillas

recipe yields 3 quesadillas.

 Salt and pepper both sides of chicken and cook until no longer pink in the center.  I used my nuwave and they we're done in about 10 minutes.  You can make them any way you want it..Just like Burger King, have it your way.  When done, dice into small pieces.

While the chicken is cooking add 1 TBSP butter to the pan over medium heat.  Add red onions and saute until opaque, tender and a little browned. about 3 minutes

Remove onions from pan, add another TBSP butter and saute mushrooms about 5 minutes until done.

Remove mushrooms from pan.  

Over low heat spray the same pan with cooking spray.  Place tortilla in same pan, layer with cheese, onions, mushrooms, chicken.  I also put more cheese on top after I took the picture.  Place another tortilla on top and press down with spatula.

let the tortilla get hot and the cheese melt about 1 minute then flip over carefully so the other side can melt and get hot as well. 

Cut into slices and enjoy. 

 Yummm cheeeeeeese!!

Next time I'll add BACON!!!!! but we we're out.

w.w. friendly chicken parmesan.

 

Thank you Gina for another delicious weight watchers recipe.  The recipe calls for the obvious mozzarella but this dum dum went to the grocery store and completely forgot it, so I had to use what was on hand...but who can discriminate against cheese? Not me! My husband and I really enjoyed this dish.  Not heavy at all and you don't feel bad about eating it because it's HEALTHY!! woo hoo!! I served it with some whole wheat thin spaghetti sprayed with "I can't believe it's not butter" and sprinkled a little grated parm on hubbys pasta.   This took little prep and will be made again and again. Of course next time I won't forget the mozzarella. ;) Also you only see 4 chicken breast in my photo. I used 2 and cut them in half so I had to half the recipe because it calls for 4 chicken breast halved into 8 but when it's just the two of you that's a lot of food. Wow I hope that made sense.  

Baked Chicken Parmesan
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 8 • Size: 1 piece • Time: 40 minutes • Calories: 231 • Points: 5.5 ww points

• 4 (8 oz) chicken breast halves, sliced in half
• 3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 3/4 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese (I used Sargento)
• 1 cup marinara or Filetto di Pomodoro
• cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450°. Spray a large baking sheet lightly with spray.
Combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese in a bowl. Melt the butter in another bowl. Lightly brush the butter onto the chicken, then dip into breadcrumb mixture.  

Place on baking sheet and repeat with the remaining chicken. Lightly spray a little more cooking oil on top and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Turn chicken over, bake another 5 minutes. Remove from oven, spoon sauce over chicken and top with shredded cheese. Bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

 ENJOY!!!

Sandra's Chicken Piccata

 I went to my friend Sandra's for dinner a few months ago and she told me she was serving chicken piccata.  I must have looked puzzled because my face totally gave away that I had NO clue what that was.  She seriously said "You've never heard of chicken piccata? where are you from?" lol. My reply was I did not eat a lot of Italian food in San Diego because as some of you know if you live in San Diego you pretty much eat a lot of Mexican food. My Italian food consisted of Buca di Beppo & Olive Garden and even then, I never remember seeing a "chicken piccata".  It is by far the best chicken dish...ever! I fell in love at first bite.  I love cooking but I can honestly say Italian food is not a cuisine I cook often.  I figured I'd attempt to make it as good as hers and asked for the recipe.  I was also risking my husband to throw a fit and push his plate aside.  He hates lemony chicken and let alone things he's never heard of or tasted.  capers? yeah ok. I was sure as soon as he saw those he'd think they we're peas and it would ruin the whole meal for him. I figured I would just put them in and pray he didn't ask what they we're.  For those of you who don't know, Mike is kind of like a child in the sense you can trick him and he wouldn't know the difference.  Ha Ha does that mean I trick him often? of course not. Does that mean when I serve a meal I somewhat leave out what's actually in it? Of course it DOES! 5 years ago I made a watermelon koolaid which was pink in color and he said "Ugh that better not be watermelon, I hate watermelon." and I replied "No it's strawberry kiwi." he took one sip and said "mMm this is good." I smurked to myself and let him drink the "strawberry kiwi" that whole week. At the end of the week he asked "do we have more strawberry kiwi?" I said "No, but we have watermelon." He then proceeded to say "I told you, I don't like watermelon!!"  Imagine how happy I was inside. :) I told him "Well apparently you DO because you drank the whole damn jar!!" The oven timer rang and I could smell that delectable smell all throughout the kitchen. I served up our plates and I didn't say a word about what was in them. He took one bite and excuse my language, said "This is fucking WICKED good."  Holy crap.... did my husband seriously just like a lemony chicken dish? with capers none the less??  I knew this recipe was a keeper and he is requesting it as a weekly rotation. I think I will serve this to our guests and in laws when they come over. It is that good!  Thank you Sandra for sharing your delicious recipe!! I hope you guys Enjoy it as well! but I know you will.  I followed the recipe exactly except I used 1/2 cup white wine because I didn't want a super strong wine flavor, but it wasn't strong at all and probably would've been fine using the whole 3/4 cup.

Chicken Piccata

Servngs - 2-3 people

2-3 boneless chicken breasts
2-3 Eggs - beated
Flour mixed with salt and pepper (enough to coat chicken)
3/4 cup white wine (preferably Pinot Grigio or any decent white drinking wine)
3/4 cup chicken broth
Juice from ½ of a lemon
½ cup Capers
1 stick of butter
3 tbsp. of any frying oil
Grated whole milk mozzarella cheese

 DIRECTIONS:
Slice chicken into cutlets and pound until thin.

Add 1 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of oil into warm frying pan

Coat chicken in flour mixture, then dip both sides into beated eggs

Add battered chicken to pan browning on both sides and adding remainder of frying oil and butter as needed to fry all of the chicken pieces. (Do not use all the butter just add ½ tbsp at a time as needed and keep the remainder of the butter aside) I cooked them for 2 minutes each side because they're already super thin so they cook up fast.

Once all chicken is fried set aside in a baking dish.

 Set oven to 300 degrees.
Do not clean frying pan. Add white wine to pan to deglaze scrapping all the brown pieces into the pan for flavor.

Once wine bubbles add remainder of butter, lemon juice, chicken broth and capers to pan. Let saute for 5-7 minutes.

Depending on how much chicken you made, you may want to add a little broth, butter, lemon juice, wine for the desired amount of sauce…just keep tasting it…you should taste all of the ingredients evenly.. Capers, make it salty so if it needs salt just add extra capers instead of salt.
Lay chicken flat in baking dish, poor sauce over chicken, add a little mozzarella cheese to each piece and bake in the oven on 300 for 10-12 minutes, (just enough time to melt the cheese but not dry out the chicken.)

Bon Appetit! I wouldn't change a thing with this recipe, it is delicious as is. :)

Chicken cordon bleu stuffed with prosciutto and smoked Gruyere topped with white wine sauce.

My husbands parents are in town and we all know how that can be. His mom is an amaaazing cook and the last thing I want is for her to think her son married a girl who can't cook!! Even though she has taught me so much, we've been married almost 6 years and she compliments my cooking when they're down.... it's still better to be safe and stay on my toes. :) I never try "new" dishes when they're down. No need to experiment and make them my guinea pigs. I like serving dishes I've made before that have already been stamped with my husbands approval.  We...let me rephrase that, I play a game with my husband called 1 thru 10. In this case 1 means "This is extra shitty and it belongs on the bottom of a SHOE!" and 10 meaning "God damn that's hella bombtastic!".  Well I had Dvr'd Tyler Florence ultimate chicken cordon bleu. I have made chicken cordon bleu a million times, with a white wine sauce. However, I have never used prosciutto and Gruyere cheese, let alone panko bread crumbs. I stick to the traditional seasoned bread crumbs. Sooo of course I want to try this dish when his parents are here, but I couldn't possibly risk everyone not liking it and all of us awkward at the table because the food tastes like a 1!!!  They aren't staying with us until Friday so I thought might as well try it tonight right? I couldn't find regular Gruyere cheese so I bought smoked. It is VERY flavorful, to the point I'm glad I did a trial run because it kind of overpowered the dish. All in all my husband gave it an 8, because of the "too smokey" flavor. Friday, I will pair the prosciutto with Gouda. I think that will get a much better result. 10 worthy even! lol. recipe as follows.

ngredients

• 4 chicken breasts skinless and boneless
• 4 thin slices prosciutto di Parma
• 1/2 pound Gruyere, grated
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lay the chicken breast between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, gently pound the chicken to 1/4-inch thickness.

Remove the top sheet of plastic and lay 2 slices of prosciutto neatly over the top to cover the breast and sprinkle a quarter of the cheese over the prosciutto.

Tuck in the sides of the breast and roll up tight like a jellyroll inside the plastic wrap. Squeeze the log gently to seal and twist both ends tight to form a nice log.

 Repeat with remaining chicken. (I let mine rest in the fridge for about 10 minutes to hold their form)

Season the flour with salt and pepper. Mix the bread crumbs with thyme, garlic and kosher salt, pepper, and melted butter. The butter will help the crust brown. Beat together the eggs and season so the flour, the eggs and the crumbs are all seasoned. 

 (Look at the well rested beautiful ball of chicken! and best part, NO TOOTHPICKS NEEDED!!)

Remove the plastic wrap. Lightly dust the chicken with flour, dip in the egg mixture and gently coat in the bread crumbs.

 (all dipped and coated and ready to be baked.)

Lightly coat a baking pan with olive oil and carefully transfer the roulades onto it. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until browned and cooked through. 

For the white wine sauce you'll need

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

I cut the recipe down drastically because I was just making it for me and my husband. This makes a lot of sauce.  If you don't like a strong wine flavor, I would cut the wine down to 1/4 with the rest of the amounts staying the same. If you cut the recipe down, maybe put just a few splashes of wine, and add more to your liking. You can always add, but you can't take out.

1. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the wine and bouillon. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.    
2. Blend the cornstarch with the cream in a small bowl, and whisk slowly into the skillet. Cook, stirring until thickened, and pour over the chicken. Serve warm.