Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Of Chicken & Balloons

Totally Tuesday, Kitschies!  I hope your week has been good so far.  My day didn't start off too good (thanks to the stoopid drivers and the pretty hot air balloons), but once I got to work, it was all good.  Maybe I'll post some pics of past visits to the Balloon Fiesta this evening so you have some idea of what I'm talking about when I "complain" about the balloons.  In the meantime, check out my bestie's blog post about the Balloon Fiesta.  She has some cute pictures there and she has a more direct view of the balloons than I do (unless I'm driving and then that's a no no).  Now...on to the delishiousness.

My family loves chicken.  If I made something with chicken every night, I think the hubs would be OK with that.  I'm always in the mood for new chicken recipes and after reading Lu's post on Housewife Eclectic about Solving Menu Writer's Block, I hopped on over to Kraft Recipes and found a good looking recipe to try.  Once again, the family was transformed to guinea pig status.


Skillet Chicken & Vegetables Parmesan
1/4 cup KRAFT Light Zesty Italian Dressing
2 cloves  garlic, minced
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
1 tsp.  dried basil leaves, divided
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 pkg.  (10 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese 
 
MIX dressing and garlic in large skillet. Cook on medium heat 1 min. Add chicken; season with 3/4 tsp. of the basil and the pepper. Cook 4 to 5 min. on each side or until chicken is cooked through (165ºF).

ADD vegetables to skillet; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 tsp. basil. Cook 2 to 3 min. or until vegetables are heated through, stirring occasionally.

SPRINKLE with the cheese.

NOTES:  I don't think I used a single Kraft brand product.  LOL  Of course they're going to pimp out their products in the ingredients list because it's a Kraft site.
I was right!  Not a Kraft product in the bunch.  I usually buy "generic" when I can, with two exceptions.  1) Sliced American cheese.  Why?  Because generic American cheese slices are the suck!  Why not pay just a little more for the good stuff?  2) Toilet paper.  You are NEVER too broke to have good toilet paper.  Period.
Yum!  I really liked this.  It was super easy because it's all cooked in one pan.  The only complaint with this recipe (and pretty much every recipe that involves cooking meat) is that the cooking time is off.  Cooking chicken (or any other kind of meat) for 4 or 5 minutes on each side is nowhere *near* long enough to cook it through!  What is it with recipes that don't allow enough cooking time?  Are they afraid that we'll skip the recipe because it looks like it'll take too long?  *sigh*  Maybe next time I'll cut the chicken in chunks to help cut down on uneven cooking time.
 
That's about all I have for today.  If I have the energy tonight when I get home, I'll post some pictures of Balloon Fiestas past.  It really is pretty cool, despite all my complaining.  
 
OH!  And don't forget about joining in my recipe exchange.  Be sure to invite your non-bloggy friends, too.  The more, the merrier!

 

7 comments:

Danielle said...

Mmm that looks really good, interesting recipe. My mom uses italian dressing as a marinade for the chicken when she barbecues, I love it, so simple and tastes great :)

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

The recipe looks good but I think I would chunk up the chicken too. I know what you mean about the 'time' thing - this weekend I cooked a cake for the hour it stated and had to add an extra 30 minutes for it to cook completely!

shortmama said...

Sounds good! I love all in one type meals!

Libby's Pink Vanity said...

That looks like something that would go over very well in my household. YUM!!

Robyn said...

Oh, American cheese! Pah! I'll send you some real cheese :P

This recipe looks yummy! We have shamefully only just accomplished cooking whole chicken breasts/thighs in a manner that renders them edible so we might have to try something like this!

Recalcitrant Nails said...

This looks yummy! I "have" to comment on your rather small sized, ummm, container (for lack of a better word) of minced garlic. Did you get that at Cost Club? LMAO! Actually, I LOVE garlic and think its funny in a good way.

SilhouetteScreams said...

Oh man, you're KILLING me here *drools*