The Chicky's Cooking

Chicken and Pierogi Dinner

2011-10-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

We all like pierogies in our house. They are a treat for us, maybe once a month or even twice a month. I have mixed different meats with our pierogies and tried different ways of making them but there are two ways that are the favorites here. You can use chicken tenderloins or if you like kielbasa, you can use ground kielbasa (this was awesome when we made it but harder to find ground kielbasa.)

chicken, margarine, peppers and spices

pierogies right before draining them

Chicken and Pierogies meal

What you will need (This is the amount I use for our liking. Some people may not use as much butter or they may not need to make as much to feed the family. Adjust to fit your family's needs)

1 lb. chicken breast or tenderloins
1/2 cup mixed pepper strips (I like the stir fry pepper strips-red, yellow and green)
3 bags of Poppy's pierogies-they are about 11-13 ounces each depending on the flavor we get, use your favorite pierogies tho
butter or margarine
oil (if you prefer to use oil to cook your chicken-I use the margarine and no oil myself)
spices you like- I use garlic, chicken seasoning, salt and pepper, gobs of garlic mix (not sure everything that is in it but it is a good spice for garlic lovers!)

I cook the chicken in a frying pan with our favorite spices and I use margarine to fry the chicken in. I use a non-stick frying pan so I do not need to add a lot of margarine to cook the chicken. While the chicken is cooking, take a large pot and start to boil some water. I usually cut the chicken into cubes after it is cooked but if you prefer, you can cut the chicken while raw and then cook it. Once chicken is almost fully cooked, I add the pepper mix. I usually use frozen so this adds the right amount of moisture to continue cooking the chicken and peppers. Along with adding the peppers, I add more of our spices. I like to spice the chicken mixture so it is ready to add on top of the pierogies. Once the chicken and peppers are close to done and your water is boiling for the pierogies, boil the pierogies. Follow the directions on the package for that, most of the time they do not take long to cook.

When the pierogies are done, carefully drain the water. I say carefully as pierogies can break open easy and lose their filling once cooked. Immediately after draining, add as much butter or margarine as desired to the pierogies. I enjoy a lot of margarine on them myself. I add the butter and very gently stir (the stove is off at this point, the heat from pierogies will melt the margarine on it's own. After melting the margarine, I add the chicken and pepper mixture to the pierogies and gently stir. You need to be gentle on this step or you will tear the pierogies apart. You then have a wonderful and tasty chicken and pierogie meal!

Easy Sides: Cucumber and Tomato Salad

2011-09-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

This is an easy salad to make as a side dish and the kids love it! Tomatoes and cucumbers are a favorite in the house with the kids, they eat many vegetables but the love these 2. I have tomato plants and cucumber plants in my garden this year and I have put the vegetables that I got to good use. I did not get as much this year with the weather and other incidents. More about my garden can be found here: My Deck Garden, it is a blog I started to document my progress as a new gardener last year.
This salad can be made a couple of different ways but the way I made it this time is:
1 big tomato (may need 2 if they are small)
2 small cucumbers (you can get away with one big one, my cucumbers were small)
some Italian salad dressing (you can use your favorite dressing for this, I like it with Italian)
5 yellow cherry tomatoes

Modify as you need to and I usually add some slices of red onion but this was made right out of my garden and I messed up with my onion plants so I had no onions in the garden.

Dice the tomatoes, quarter the yellow cherry tomatoes and slice the cucumbers. Throw them all into a bowl and add a little dressing on top. Mix dressing through and you have a salad for a side. Do not refrigerate before serving, the cucumber will get soft and the tomatoes do not taste as good after being refrigerated.
I know this is a basic recipe but it is an idea that people do not always think to throw together as a quick salad or the vegetable serving with dinner.

Kielbasa and pasta

2010-07-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

This is a simple and inexpensive meal to make one night. I took 1 lb kielbasa and cut it up to cook on the grill. 2 boxes of pasta roni olive oil and herb noodles. Cook the noodles according to package. I added about a half cup cut green pepper, a little garlic pepper and a little garlic powder just as the noodles started to boil. After the noodles were done and removed from the heat I added 1 sliced tomato and the grilled kielbasa. Then it went onto plates and the whole family enjoyed. This was super simple :)

Baked raviolis with garlic bread for dinner tonight

2009-12-13T10:24:00.000-08:00

I was trying to decide what exactly I wanted to make for dinner tonight but then I realized that I still have raviolis in the freezer! Baked raviolis is very easy and the whole family loves it.
What you will need:
I use frozen raviolis and I use 3 bags. It equals out to about 36 raviolis. Do not cook the frozen raviolis first, they will cook in oven
1 jar spaghetti sauce, if you use 36 raviolis, a 26 ounce jar will be plenty
Sausage, whichever is available-ground or links. About 1 lb is enough
Shredded mozzarella, about 1 1/2 cups

Cook the sausage fully and then add the sauce to the sausage. Heat until warm. Add a little bit of the sauce to the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish. Add the first layer of raviolis (still frozen) then top with a little bit of sauce. Add the next layer of raviolis and top with a little bit of sauce. Add the last layer of raviolis and top with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and bake for about 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. The frozen raviolis will cook in the sauce while baking.
Best served with garlic bread.
Take a loaf of Italian bread and slice it into 1 to 1 1/2 inch slices. Mix butter or margarine with minced garlic (adding a little of the minced garlic juice gives it good flavor) or if no minced garlic available you can use garlic powder. Spread the garlic and butter mix on the top of each slice of bread. I sprinkle a little paprika and parsley on top also, the paprika is very optional. Bake for about 7 minutes depending on oven it may take a little longer.

Sorry no picture, I haven't made it in a while and I am posting this before dinner today.

My family's favorite casserole

2009-11-29T20:33:00.000-08:00

Looking to use up the turkey you probably have sitting in the fridge still? This is a very kid friendly recipe that I usually make with a can of tuna fish, however leftover turkey or chicken works well too. We are going to make it with turkey today.
You will need:
between 1 cup and 1 1/2 cups of cooked turkey cut up
The measurement here depends on how much turkey you have to use
2-10.5 oz cans of cream of celery soup
about 10 ounces egg noodles (wide or medium is fine)
a soup can full of milk (use a can from the celery soup)
about a cup of frozen peas
potato chips
Italian dressing (optional)

Bring a pot of water to a boil and then add the peas. Return to a boil and add the noodles, cook according to the directions on the package. In a 13x9 glass pan combine the cooked turkey, both cans of soup, milk and about 2 small handfuls of crushed potato chips.

After the noodles and peas are done, drain and add them to the soup mixture. Stir well. Look at the consistency, if it is really watery then add a little more crushed potato chips and stir well. Top the casserole with crushed potato chips and bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.

After dishing out on to the plates for more flavor shake some Italian dressing on it. This is optional but it is the way my whole family loves it!
Enjoy

Thanksgiving Dinner

2009-11-25T05:49:00.000-08:00

Are you ready for the big turkey day? I am now, finished my shopping yesterday. It's always an adventure going to our Shoprite let alone when there is a holiday! I am all set now though, phew. Dinner is going to be at my place tomorrow and this is my menu:
Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans
Corn
Cranberry Sauce
Biscuits
A friend of ours is bringing a peach cobbler pie and a pumpkin pie for dessert.
The turkey is pretty much explained on the package how to cook it, I always coat mine with a thin layer of butter, garlic and a little salt and put it in a baking bag.
Stuffing you can buy stuffing cubes and spices, cubes that are already seasoned or even Stove Top. I like to saute onion, celery and a little garlic with butter to add to the stuffing, whichever you choose to make. I stuff the turkey after cooking the stuffing. It gives the stuffing more flavor.
Mashed potatoes are pretty simple. Just peel, cut and boil the potatoes. I add milk, salt, butter and a little garlic to the potatoes as I am mashing them. I like cheese in them but I don't do it on Thanksgiving. I make sure that anybody can eat them without added ingredients.
Baked sweet potatoes are my favorite. I boil the sweet potatoes to soften them up, then slice them and layer them in a baking pan (can be multiple layers.) Depending on how many potatoes you are making I melt about 1/4 cup butter in a pan and add some brown sugar, about 2 tablespoons give or take a little. As I have said before I am not good with measurements I just toss stuff in. Once you get this mixed together and heated you pour it on top of the sweet potatoes and just top them with mini marshmallows. Bake about 30 minutes, you will see the marshmallows melt and get a real slight brownish color and you know it's done.
Green beans and corn I don't get fancy with I just melt butter over them. Biscuits I bake and serve, this year I got Pillsbury rolls.
Cranberry sauce I just open the can, I do not make my own.
This makes a pretty easy Thanksgiving dinner that pleases the crowd from age 3 and up!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving :)

So I took it simple tonight

2009-11-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

I just made spaghetti and sausage tonight. Elbows, hot sausage and hunts canned spaghetti sauce, garlic and herb. Yum. Spaghetti is a household favorite here so it went over well. I had too much going on and a holter monitor hooked up to me for 24 hours monitoring my heart rate so I needed something simple before I had some kind of catastrophe involving the monitor LOL! Besides I more worried about Thursday's menu right now.

Breakfast-banana pancakes, bacon and eggs

2009-11-22T10:44:00.000-08:00

Starting out with breakfast I tried something new. I made banana pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs. This was the first time I made banana pancakes. I had over ripe bananas so it was either throw them out, make banana bread or try them in pancakes. I did not have the nuts that I add to the bread so I thought I would toss them in pancakes and hope for the best. They turned out very good! I make my pancakes with Bisquick, I just like the way they turn out. I followed the typical Bisquick recipe which is:
2 cups Bisquick
1 cup milk
2 eggs
But I added a little bit of sugar, less then a tablespoon and 2 mashed up over ripe bananas. When I mixed it I added the milk, eggs, bananas and sugar. You can easily mash the bananas in with these ingredients. Once everything was stirred and the bananas were mashed, I added the Bisquick. Stir until blended. Cook the pancakes as you would regular pancakes.

Bacon I usually just fry in the frying pan. This is my favorite way to have it, unless I'm adding it to a recipe.

My eggs I make differently day to day. This time I just made simple scrambled eggs. 6 eggs, a little bit of milk, salt, pepper and garlic to taste. Stir all together and cook. A lot of times I would add about 1/4 cup shredded cheese to my scrambled eggs but I did not this time.

Welcome to my cooking blog

2009-11-22T10:30:00.000-08:00

I am a work at home Mom which means pretty much a stay at home Mom. I have many cooking adventures and I have to admit I am not the best with recipes as I am one who throws a bunch of stuff together sometimes and adds a little of this and a little of that. I will share many wonderful dinner ideas or even breakfast ideas in case you ever want to try something new or just don't know what to make. Some things I make are a simple as taking a Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper mix and adding stuff and some are a little more complex. For the most part though everything I make is pretty simple and you can make most of my dinners pretty cheaply. Any questions please feel free to contact me :) If you have a recipe you would like to share I am open to ideas.