Food Friday: Recipes for Chicken Pesto and Basil Carrots

This looks similar to ours.
Photo courtesy of Bestdailydiet.com

The Food Friday recipes are on four different posts this week--check them all out!

The Recipes are for Chicken Pesto, Basil Carrots, Popovers, Crispy Pretzel Bars, and Chocolate Peanut Grahams.

Tuesday we had the privilege to visit some new friends who have 3 girls aged 10-12 (they are a blended family), a boy who's 9, a 2-year-old and they're expecting a baby in 2 weeks! The mom is very busy, needless to say.  Her girls are at varying skill levels, but are a huge help and could be even more in the next years, especially with the cooking, which isn't something the mom really loves to do. My goal was to increase their skill and excitement about cooking and encourage the mama, who just needed fellowship with another mom and to talk.

So! I thought it would be fun and a help to have Kelsey, who loves to cook, make a simple meal with the girls, rather than just bringing a meal to them.  One thing the girls don't get to do very often, due to life, is make desserts.  The girls love to make desserts!  So, Kelsey found two that were fun and easy! (They actually made 3 desserts that day, if you can believe it, because they had extra chocolate they "had to" use up.  The last one was kind of like Scotcheroos!)

One of the girls was sick, so we hope to include her next time and get to know her better, but we all really enjoyed ourselves and our time with them, and hope to visit and help more after the baby comes.

Do you want to encourage your girls to cook? Or just want some easy recipes? Here are the recipes for the meal that our girls prepared!  The meal was delicious!

This isn't a traditional pesto, but tastes like it.

Chicken Pesto

Serves: 6 (we doubled this recipe to serve the 10 of us)

Ingredients: These are for reference, as you will have to adjust to your own taste, and for the number of people you're serving.

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup olive oil, plus oil for cooking

2 Tbsp basil

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 cup walnuts, chopped

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp salt

2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, with liquid from 1 can

Small box of angel hair pasta

Directions:

• Cook the chicken breasts in a large deep pan (you'll use this pan throughout) in oil, until no longer pink.  Cut into largish 1-inch chunks.

• Cook the pasta as directed on the box.

• While the pasta's cooking, using same pan, cook the tomatoes in oil with the garlic powder.  Add the cooked chicken to tomatoes.

• Add oil, salt, basil and chopped walnuts to taste.

• Add this chicken mixture to the drained pasta and mix together. Do another taste test, and add more of the oil, salt, garlic powder and basil if needed.

• Sprinkle parmesan cheese to taste over all. 

Basil Carrots

We have this recipe often, because it's so Super Simple!

Well, it's also healthy, and delicious, but easy often wins out, you know.

Directions:

• Peel, wash and cut up carrots enough to feed your family.
• Cook until tender.
• Drain, and add butter and basil to taste. (For 6 servings, start with a tablespoon of basil and butter, each, and mix together.  Add more, if desired.)

Click here or at the top to see the other recipes! They'll be posted very shortly, if you don't see them here yet.

Chocolate Peanut Grahams, Crispy Pretzel Bars, Chicken Pesto, Basil Carrots, and Popovers.

Enjoy!

Food Friday: Recipes for a Whole Meal

Hi! Well, it's Food Friday, and once again I'm sharing with you some of my favorite tried-and-true recipes! 
Last week I shared my Wild Chicken, but forgot to mention that this is my Standard Potluck Dish.  If you don't have a Standard Potluck Dish, I recommend this idea to you. (You know, Aunt Gladys's Baked Beans, or Louise's Truffle.  A dish that everyone knows is YOURS, and looks for on the potluck table!) And, if you want to use my recipe, feel free.  Life is so much simpler not having to figure out what I'm going to bring, look through recipes, try to find something I haven't brought before or for awhile, go to the grocery store for special ingredients, etc.!  Wild Chicken is a recipe that has ingredients I can keep on hand in my pantry. I can even cook the chicken ahead and have that ready and waiting in the freezer, if I want. And Wild Chicken is super fast to put together!  I *always* get rave reviews on it and people ask me for the recipe every time I bring it anywhere. I've been bringing it to potlucks for almost 15 years! So, go back and check it out if you haven't already.

Today, I thought I'd give you the recipes for an entire meal.  Our meal recipes are for:

No Salt No Fat Chicken

Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes

and Basil Carrots

We make the No Salt No Fat Chicken and Basil Carrots often for just our family, We made them just this week. The Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes are a little more "special." They are delicious for a company meal or are a wonderful alternative if and when you do get tired of bringing Wild Chicken to a potluck:) and want to make something inexpensive, but special! (It's also a great way to use up potatoes from our garden!) I bring a 6-quart crockpot to potlucks, but these go really fast.
What I like about these recipes is that they are economical as well as good-tasting. They use ingredients that are basic and you probably have them on hand. The Chicken and Carrots recipes are also fairly healthy, and work well for a diabetic diet, but are delicious enough for everyone to love. Try these recipes and see for yourself!


No Salt No Fat Chicken
Yield: 4 servings (actually 8 because 1/2 a breast is usually enough for 1 person)
You can easily double this recipe.

Ingredients:
(Note:  We usually increase the dry ingredients just a little and decrease the buttermilk and this usually works out well.)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp pepper
4 chicken breasts (boneless skinless)
3/4 cup buttermilk (we use buttermilk powder)
(You can also use fresh herbs for an even better result!)
Directions:
Mix dry ingredients.  Prepare buttermilk according to directions. Dip chicken breasts in buttermilk, then roll in the dry mixture.  Place on cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.
(We keep buttermilk powder in the fridge, so it's always on hand.)

Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Yield:  12 servings
Ingredients:5 lb. potatoes (8 lb. unpeeled)

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp onion salt
1 tsp seasoned salt
Pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook and mash potatoes.  Add rest of ingredients.  You'll need to whip well (we use the whisk-like attachment on our Bosch).  Place potatoes in the crockpot (6 quart) and reheat the next day on low.  Scrape the sides once in awhile, or they get brown and dry. (Remember to bring the crock to room temperature before heating.)   Delicious recipe for a special meal, or when you need your oven for other dishes.

Basil Carrots
Peel, cut and cook carrots in the amount for your family.  Add basil, butter and salt to taste. (More butter tastes better:) and we use about 2 teaspoons of basil for about 4-6 servings.  Seriously simple recipe that people will think you really did something special to make!

Enjoy!