Barbecue Chicken Potatoes

Barbecue chicken potatoes: these are kind of a combo of an Eating Well baked potato suggestion, my own dislike of shredded pork, lol, and my favorite barbecue sauce recipe from an old Cooking Light. To give credit where credit is due!

But I’ve really made so many changes I’ve made it my own. 😊

And if you have never had homemade barbecue sauce you are MISSING OUT. I never thought I <liked> barbecue sauce, even, until I'd had homemade. What I didn't <like> was the bottled stuff!  This is my favorite recipe.

First, bake your potatoes. Scrub them good, trim off the bad spots, wrap them in aluminum foil: into the oven for an hour at 400. Pull them out when they’re squeeze-able to the touch (use a pot holder!) and let them cool slightly. 

While they’re baking, trim up your broccoli florets and microwave them. Cover them with a microwave cover or plastic wrap; three minutes, stir; another three.

Trim up your chicken breasts.

This is where the homemade barbecue sauce comes in: chicken goes in the Instapot with a 29oz can tomato sauce, 2/3 C water, 1/8 C ketchup, 1/4 C Dijon mustard, 1/4 t chili powder (or to taste), 1/2 t onion powder, and I used about three cloves of minced garlic. Stir WELL.

Cover with the Instapot lid and cook for 15 minutes on Poultry.

After the pressure has released and the chicken has cooled, I’m pulling the chicken out to shred it. 

If you are NOT using an Instapot, you can use shredded rotisserie chicken - that works great. Mix your barbecue sauce up in a small saucepan, heat to boiling, and simmer until thickened. Then stir the rotisserie chicken in until heated and well coated.

You could pork this just as easily; Eating Well called for shredded pork. I’m just not a huge fan of pork unless it’s in the form of ham or bacon!

Then I divided up my potatoes into my bento boxes and started to assemble.

And voila!  Barbecue chicken potatoes ready for dinner.

BARBECUE CHICKEN POTATOES

8 oz Russet potatoes (I used a five pound bag that was actually 4.5 lbs) for dinners for the week
12 oz chicken breasts
2 lbs broccoli florets
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Barbecue sauce:
2/3 C water
29oz can tomato sauce
1/8 C ketchup
1/4 C Dijon mustard
1/4 t chili powder (or to taste, more if you like it spicy)
1/2 t onion powder
3 t minced garlic (about three cloves)

Clean the potatoes, wrap in aluminum foil, and bake for an hour at 400 or until soft.

Trim the broccoli and steam in the microwave until just tender crisp: 3 minutes, stir, 3 minutes.

Trim the chicken breasts. Put the chicken breasts in the Instapot with the barbecue sauce ingredients. Stir well. Cook on Poultry 15 minutes.

** Alternative: mix the barbecue sauce ingredients together in a small saucepan on the stove. Heat to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer until thickened.

Shred the chicken when done.

Top the baked potatoes with broccoli, chicken, and sauce. Add 1/8 C shredded sharp cheddar to the top of each. 

Stone Soup

I call this one stone soup because that’s how it was introduced to us, as a preschool activity to follow the Stone Soup story in my sister’s preschool class.

It’s a cute little story about friendship and cooperation and SHARING. You parents of toddlers and preK/younger elementary kiddos, head to the library and see what I mean. (The teacher had each one bring a can to add to the soup, you see, that was how it followed the story.)

It’s ridiculously easy, and yet it’s a stellar hit with everyone, from my college days on.

Ingredients:

A pound of hamburger, browned

Large can of diced tomatoes 

However other many cans of whatever vegetables you want. My favorites are potatoes, corn, and lima beans.

Don’t drain the cans! It all goes in!

Nothing else - sometimes I’ll toss a spoon of minced garlic in there, but seriously legit that’s all. 

Dump it all in the crockpot and keep in mind tomato-stuff is better the longer it cooks! (My marinara sauce is seriously an all-day affair, stays simmering on the stove as long as I can manage it.😊)

Even better leftover.

Hearty Broccoli Cheese Soup

With the rice as a base, this soup is hearty enough for a meal!

HEARTY BROCCOLI CHEESE SOUP

3/4 C brown rice
6 cups chicken stock, divided (*make sure your stock is gluten free, if you are celiac!)
2 lbs broccoli florets
2 C 2% milk
3 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz shredded sharp cheddar

1. Start the rice with 2 cups of chicken stock in a large Dutch oven or stock pot. Heat to boiling over high; cover, turn to low heat, and simmer for 50 minutes.

2. While rice is cooking, trim and steam broccoli to tender crisp in the microwave.

3. When rice is done, remove from heat. Add garlic and milk. Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.
           
(If you do not have an immersion blender, you'll have to carefully blend it in a regular blender. Remove the little hole from the lid after transferring the soup to the blender and cover with a towel before blending. Return to stockpot.)

4. Add half the broccoli and the remaining chicken stock, bring to a simmer, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add additional chicken stock if necessary.

5. Blend soup to desired consistency. (I wanted mine a little chunky.)  Use your immersion blender again, or follow the blender instructions in parentheses above.

6. Add remaining broccoli florets and about 8 oz of the cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and blended.

7. Serve hot, topped with remaining cheese.

Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas

Fair warning here, guys - I wasn't intending on blogging this, so I took no pictures and didn't measure a thing. My usual cooking method - season to taste!

I'll try and guess for you.

**If you're gluten free, be especially careful with the enchilada sauce and the corn tortillas! Check the ingredients on your enchilada sauce and watch those "May Contain" warnings. Corn tortillas  - we have to be SO CAREFUL with ground corn, guys, tortillas or corn chips or whatever. Only use corn tortillas MARKED Gluten Free! Corn is often ground on the same machines as wheat, and that doesn't have to be declared in the ingredients list or on the package!**

CHICKEN AND SPINACH ENCHILADAS

12 oz bag frozen chopped spinach
Chicken breast
14 oz can diced tomatoes
Chicken broth
Garlic powder
Cumin
Hot Chili powder
3/4 C shredded mozzarella cheese
8 oz block Neufchatel or cream cheese
1 large can enchilada sauce
Corn tortillas
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1. I used a 12 oz bag of frozen chopped spinach. Microwave in a large bowl according to package directions.

2. Trim up a chicken breast. Mine was large so I only used one. Add to your Instapot with the 14 oz can diced tomatoes (do not drain), and then add enough chicken broth to cover the chicken breast. Add garlic powder (maybe 1/2 teaspoon?), cumin (probably a tablespoon), and hot chili powder to taste.

3. Set your Instapot for 15 minutes on Poultry. I've never noticed much difference with this recipe whether I let it cool or release the pressure manually: do whatever fits your timetable for getting dinner done.

4. Shred the chicken and add to the spinach. Here goes the I-really-should've-measured bit - I added a bit of the liquid left in the Instapot to the chicken and spinach,. Absolutely no idea how much. I just didn't want my chicken to be dry. I then drained the rest of the Instapot liqujid into a colander and added the tomatoes to the chicken and spinach.

5. Add 3/4 C  mozzarella cheese and an 8oz package Neufchatel to your chicken and spinach. Mix well.

6. Layer a baking dish with enchilada sauce, corn tortillas, the chicken mixture, shredded cheddar. Repeat. Top with corn tortillas, enchilada sauce, and cheese.

7. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until cheese melts.

Pesto Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes

This is a quick-and-easy one, thanks to the fact that the basil has failed consecutive years in a row and I am using store-bought pesto!

The pesto I’m using is an Aldi brand, Priano Alla Genovese Pesto Sauce.

 I microwaved the spinach; we call it “steamed” or “wilted” in the culinary world, but it went in the microwave in every-day parlance. I did buy super-cool tomatoes, since it was such a simple pasta. 😊

I just split the tomatoes in half, added them to the spinach, and tossed with the hot pasta and pesto when the pasta was done.

PESTO PASTA WITH SPINACH AND TOMATOES

1/4 C Pesto sauce

16oz Tinkanyada brown rice pasta

1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes

32oz fresh spinach

Grated fresh Parmesan 

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Microwave spinach, in batches, until all is wilted. Split tomatoes in half.

Add spinach, tomatoes, and pesto to hot cooked pasta. Toss well. Top with fresh Parmesan.

Servings: 7

Calories per serving: 284