Quick Chicken Fettuccine

Wow!  I am really loving how this day has started!

Being the night owl that I am I rarely see 7 a.m.  If I do, it is usually because I have something I have to do.

But today is different.

I am up because I want to be up.   Yee haw!!

It feels great to sit here in the quiet solitude one can only find in the awakening of a new day.

I have my favorite quiet time music on, we have had our smoothie and now I am savoring my one cup of coffee.

Lovely day.

I am glad to report, that I have not had a headache since Sunday. 

Do you ever get migraines?

I would not wish one of those on my worst enemy, if I had a worst enemy.

Anyway, I had two last week and the only commonality I could find between the two incidents is PEANUTS!

Oh no!  I love home roasted peanuts! 

But, if I must give them up, I will. 

The only other culprit I can think of is hormones. 

Ok, enough of that!

I made this delicious dinner the other day.

I mean it was really delicious.

My nephews wife has made something like this for us before, but I never knew exactly what she used.  I'm still not sure this is what she uses, but it is close enough to the flavor of hers for me. 

I was kind of afraid to eat it, thinking my migraines might be food related and all, but I gave it a go and all was well.

So, I put three of these Tyson pre cooked chicken breasts in the oven for about 18 minutes:

Now let me just say, normally, I try to avoid pre-cooked products, but this one has no preservatives and it gives this great smoky flavor to the dish, kinda like a Carino's dish.  I also like that they are all just about a good portion size.  No humongous sized ones.  Well, not in this bag, anyway.  It was my first time using them.

As that was warming up, I sauteed some mushrooms.  I dont know if you would really call it sauteing, because I did not use any oil or butter.  I guess you could say, I grilled them.

I love the flavor they get when they get a little toasted.

These Buitoni raw noodles only take 3-4 minutes to cook and they are delicious.  So, I threw them in the boiling water when the chicken timer rang.  That gave me time to chop the chicken up into bite size pieces.

Then I drained my noodles, added the chicken, mushrooms and this alfredo sauce:

Oh my gosh!  It was so tasty and it fed me, Ronnie and my mom.  Next time I will put green peas in it.

I would say, it cost about $3 per serving.  I wont give you the calorie count, haha.  Naw, it really wasn't that high.  I just don't remember what it was.

So, there it is.

Oh, one last thing. . . I am not receiving any type of compensation from these fine brands for this post. 

I am sure most of you already have a recipe like this in your rotation, but I just thought this was so quick, easy and delicious and I wanted to share.

I hope you have a wonderful day! 

Monterrey Jack Ranchero Chicken

Brrrrrr.  It has been chilly here in South Texas. 

Just chilly, though, not crazy cold like last year.

We went to a soccer game on Friday and endured the cold quite well, but yesterday and today, I have been quite worthless.

I gave myself permission to veg in bed all weekend since we had a rough week, not to mention a rough month.  Ok, I'll take it a little further and say it has been a rough year up until now. 

So I told myself, "Take the weekend to recoup and then start fresh on Monday."

As I lay in bed, watching DVR's of all my favorite shows I have been missing, I saw Teresa Giudice from the Real Housewives of New Jersey making Chicken Parmesan on the Nate Berkus Show.

It made my mouth water.  Look at it...     

   

courtesy of the Nate Berkus Show

I bet it made your mouth water too!

The tomato sauce looked sooo delicious.  It made me hungry for ranchero sauce...and Monterrey jack cheese.

So, I got out of the bed to go see if we had the ingredients necessary to make a Mexican style spin-off of her recipe.

I found...

• chicken (in the freezer)
• croutons
• whole peeled tomatoes
• tomato sauce (in the fridge)
• onions
• Monterrey jack cheese (in the fridge)

So, I got to work on what I call Monterrey Jack Ranchero Chicken. 

(NOTE:  I apologize in advance for the quality (or lack, thereof) of the photos.)

First, I did not have bread crumbs, but I did find some croutons.  I just threw those babies in my little food processor and ground them up real fine.  Perfect.

Then, I cut a small onion in half and then sliced it into thin slices.

 

I threw them into a skillet with about two tablespoons of olive oil and sauteed them until they were soft and translucent.

Then I added the can of whole peeled tomatos and the can of tomato sauce. 

You can use diced tomatoes if you like.  We did not have any so I just smashed the whole peeled tomatoes.     

Then I added 1/2 tsp. of salt, about 1/8 tsp of garlic and a dash of cumin.  

Play around with it.  If you really like garlic and cumin add a little more.

Personally, when it comes to ranchero sauce, I just want the garlic and cumin to be there in the background enhancing the tomato flavor.  I want the tomato sauce to be the star.

You could also spice it up a little with sliced fresh jalepeno or a can of Rotel, but I am more of a purist and again, want the tomato sauce to be the star.

Ok, I added about 1/2 cup water and let the sauce simmer and reduce, stirring occasionally.

As it was reducing, I took my chicken breast and placed it in a plastic bag.

And I beat it with the flat side of meat mallet until it was very, very thin.     

 

I had my flour, egg and breadcrumbs on plates in an assembly line.

After I salted and peppered the chicken I dipped it in the flour... 

...then the egg...

   

Then the bread crumbs, or in our case, the croutons. 

Take your breaded chicken and fry it in a pan...

    

You don't have to fry it very long because it is so thin.  As your chicken is frying, go back to your ranchero sauce.  It should be nice and reduced.

Spoon a layer of sauce on the bottom of a baking dish and place your cooked chicken on top.

Then top your chicken with Monterrey Jack cheese and spoon in the remainder of your ranchero sauce around your chicken.

Bake it uncovered at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

I served it with some spanish rice left over from the night before.

It was really good.

I have to say, though...as in Teresa's low fat version of the Chicken Parmesan, I think this ranchero chicken would have been just as tasty even if we had just grilled the chicken minus the flour, egg and bread crumbs and then topped with the ranchero sauce and Monterrey Jack cheese. 

Overall, it was a delicious meal that did not take much time to make.

Did you make anything different this weekend?  How did it turn out?

I am sure it was wonderful just as I am sure your week will be!