Creamy Chicken & Rice Casserole

I've been eating this casserole for years now, when I was younger they used to serve it at my grade school's annual Christmas boutique.  I used to look forward to eating this every year once wintertime would start approaching.  

When I started to get old enough to cook I found the recipe in a pamphlet from the boutique.  I tweaked it a little based on the ingredients that I had at my house and it actually ended up turning out better than the traditional casserole recipe. 

 I like to use kraft mayonnaise, for some reason I think it tastes way better in recipes than any other kind of mayo. In the traditional recipe, it doesn't ask you to put bullion cubes in water when you boil the chicken.  I think that the bullion cubes give the chicken and casserole way more flavor. 

Prep time: 45 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breast

4 cups of water

2 chicken flavored bullion cubes

1 cup uncooked rice

2 cups chopped celery

1 cup mayonnaise 

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 cups cornflakes

1/4 cup melted butter

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

2. Boil the chicken in the 4 cups of water and add the bullion cubes. [The additions of the bullion cubes will create very flavorful chicken broth.] The chicken will turn white and should be cooked all the way through after about 7-10 minutes. You don't have to worry too much about cooking the chicken completely since you will be cooking the chicken again in the oven once it's a part of the casserole.  Save two cups of the chicken broth. 

3. Combine celery, uncooked rice, and the 2 cups of the chicken broth

in a skillet and turn on medium heat until all the water is absorbed by the rice. While waiting for this step, cube the chicken into small pieces.  

4. In a large bowl mix chicken, mayonnaise, and undiluted cream of chicken cans. 

5. Add the cooked rice and celery mixture into the large bowl containing the chicken and stir until well mixed.  

6. Pour the whole bowl into a 9 x 5 oven safe pan. Top with the corn flakes and drizzle the butter on top of the cornflakes.

7. Bake for 1 hour then serve!

Spicy Garlic Chicken Thighs

If you can't tell by now, I really love garlic.  Also, it's one of the few spices I am allowed to cook with while on the first phase of the Atkins diet.  I used a cast iron skillet which is perfect for flavorful dishes.  I was getting sick of chicken breast then remembered that all kinds of chicken are fair game for this diet, so I chose to use chicken thighs, because they are  much more juicy than chicken breast.  I actually prefer darker meat over lighter meat so the chicken thighs worked out perfectly in this recipe!  For the chicken broth, packaged broth is fine, but I used water and added two chicken bullion cubes.

If you want to make more than four chicken thighs you can add more, you will just have to increase the amount of chicken broth and heavy whipping cream you add into the skillet as you go.  It won't be too difficult to eyeball it I promise!! 

Ingredients:

4  thawed chicken thighs

1 1/2 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon parsley

4 garlic cloves sliced down the middle

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 tablespoon red pepper seasoning

1 pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Pour the vegetable oil into a medium/large cast iron skillet and turn the flame on low.  Add the garlic cloves to the oil and let simmer for about 5 minutes. 

2. Heat the chicken broth in a pan (or microwave for about 1 minute). Add 1 cup of it into the skillet, but do so carefully because sometimes the oil can be very hot and the reaction of the water with the hot oil could cause the hot oil to splash/steam alot. Set the other half cup aside. 

3. Once you have your mixture of broth and the garlic oil bubbling you can add your chicken thighs, place them face down and make sure there is a little space between each one.  Sprinkle the granulated garlic, red pepper, parsley, and salt evenly on top of all 4 chicken thighs.  

4. The chicken should cook in the broth for about 5-10 minutes while it's still at a strong boil.  After 5 minutes you can start adding in the heavy whipping cream.  This makes the broth a little bit thicker/creamy, and the chicken juicier.  I think it increases the overall flavor as well.  

5. Cover the chicken and turn the heat to medium.  Let the thighs cook for about 10 minutes.  

6. While the chicken was covered some of the broth should have been absorbed and evaporated.  You can add more chicken broth (1/2 cup set aside) as well as more cream if you notice the broth starting to become shallow.  If the broth evaporates too much the chicken/remaining broth could burn.

7. Once you have added any cream or chicken broth that was needed, turn the heat down to low.  Place the lid back on the skillet and let it simmer for 10-15 more minutes.

8. Once the chicken isn't pink on the insides anymore it will be ready to come off the flame and serve! 

Mini Garlic Parmesan Meatballs

These are so delish, and the recipe is almost foolproof. Also, all the ingredients are okay to eat during the first phase or induction phase of the Atkins diet.  

The garlic sauce in the skillet helps to keep the meatballs nice and juicy. Also, the parmesan cheese melts inside of the ground beef which adds more moisture to the meatball.  

You can use other types of meat to make the meatballs such as turkey, chicken, or veal.  You could also add buffalo, crushed red pepper, or hot sauce to the mixture to make it a more spicy dish.  I'm not eating carbs right now (it sucks), but if I was I would of definitely put these on top of some spaghetti or linguini noodles. 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. of ground meat
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of parsley
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 tablespoon of granulated garlic
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions: 
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Pour the heavy whipping cream, a pinch of parsley, and 1 tablespoon of granulated garlic in a large skillet on simmer. 
3. Combine meat, eggs, 1 tablespoon of garlic, parsley, and parmesan cheese. Mix together with your hands until everything is well blended.
4. Make the meat into small bouncy ball sized balls, and place on a greased cookie sheet. 
5. Bake the meatballs for about 10-15 minutes.
6. Add the meatballs to the simmering sauce in the pan and increase the heat to medium   
7. Let the meatballs finish cooking in the sauce for about 5-10 minutes then you are ready to eat!