Another wonderful, and simple, chicken recipe to prepare for your family and friends.

One of my co-workers enjoys cooking and sharing recipes, hence this recipe for Caprese Chicken with Bacon.

She found this recipe in Taste of Home magazine.  She was very pleased with the preparation simplicity, taste of the dish, and wonderful presentation, so shared her experience with me ( the word is out that I love trying new recipes….).

I followed the original recipe, but decided to pound the chicken breasts lightly, to make them thinner, and cut them in half to form smaller portions.

I personally prefer to start my meal with smaller food portions on my plate, and have the choice of having a second helping if I choose to do so.

You, however, might decide to keep the chicken breasts whole, to have larger portions.

Ingredients:

• 8 bacon strips (I cut mine in half after baking)
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (I pounded mine, and cut each in half, making 8 portions)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (my addition)
• 1 plum tomatoes sliced (I used large tomatoes)
• 6 basil leaves, thinly sliced (I used 10)
• 4 slices fresh Mozzarella cheese (I needed 8 slices – 8 oz ball of fresh mozzarella)
• Olive oil to brush tops of chicken

Directions:

1. Place bacon in an ungreased  backing pan 15 x 10 inch (I used glass Pirex casserole dish)
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, and bake it for 10 minutes, without turning it over.
3. Remove bacon from pan and set aside (I used kitchen scissors to cut my bacon strips in half, as I needed more pieces of smaller size).
4. Place chicken breasts in an ungreased 13 x 9 backing pan (I used the same pan I was baking the bacon in, but used paper towels to wipe off the bacon grease, before placing the chicken in it).  I placed the chicken with the skin side down (the skin was removed of course).
5. Brush chicken breasts with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
6. Place a slice of tomato on each meat portion, and sprinkle with chopped basil leaves.
7. Place the bacon, side by side (as I did), or crisscross as they suggested, if you have whole breasts and whole bacon pieces.
8. Bake it uncovered at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until the inner temp of the meat reaches 165 degrees F.
9. Top each meat piece with slice of fresh mozzarella, and bake for a minute longer to partially melt the cheese.

Serve hot.

Enjoy!

TIP:  This dish is best served fresh, but leftovers are still good, warmed up in the oven.

Chicken is known for being one of our healthier meat choices, and there are myriad of ways of preparing it.

I prefer chicken meat over turkey, as you already know from my previous posts, and am always searching for new recipes to try.

A friend shared this recipe, so I am not sure of its origin, but you will LOVE it…it’s so moist on the inside, yet crispy and crunchy on the outside.

Ingredients:

• 4 large chicken breasts, boneless, cut in half
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 cups Panco crumbs
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. black pepper, ground
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tbs. parsley, dried
• cooking spray

Directions:

1. Get three medium bowls, and fill one with milk, one with cheddar cheese, and one with Panco crumbs.
2. Line a baking sheet (I used a glass one 10 x 13 inches) with aluminum foil, and coat it with cooking spray.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Dip each piece of chicken breasts (8 pieces in all) in milk, then pat it on all sides with cheddar cheese, then dip it in Panco crumbs.
5. Arrange coated chicken breasts in the baking pan.
6. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and parsley flakes.
7. Bake uncovered for 50-60 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven.
9. Let it rest in the pan for few minutes before serving.
10. For best results and crispness, serve it soon after cooking.

Enjoy!

Your Thanksgiving dinner was a winner.  Everyone enjoyed the company and the delicious food.

However, now you have loads of leftovers to use up within the next 3-4 days.

Some people do not mind having the same food for another meal, but it gets boring after that, so we need to dip into our creative thinking.

I will provide few suggestions, in case you are too tired to search the internet for new recipes.

Adults and kids love leftover chicken, or turkey meat baked into Tetrazzini casserole.

Another quick “new” dish from leftover meat, is a batch of Potstickers.  You might need to purchase some Wonton wraps, in case you ran out of your previous stack.

Chicken or Turkey Pot Pie is an excellent way to use up a bunch of leftover meat, and turn it into a delish new

meal.

Turkey Croquettes are also  a fast and easy way to turn leftover chicken or turkey meat into a whole new dish.

Making some Turkey Salad, from that leftover Thanksgiving turkey, is the easiest dish ever.

Another easy idea is a turkey sandwich, on a fresh roll, with some stuffing and cranberry sauce all layered perfectly on top of some turkey meat.

Enjoy.

Please share your ideas for creatively using up leftovers from your Thanksgiving dinner.  Thank you.

My latest internet activity consists of being totally enveloped in Pinterest.  It is so easy to spend hours perusing through the myriad of pictures on that site, and always finding something new, and exciting.

Each package of won ton wraps contains at least 48 pieces of these paper thin wraps.  One package has enough wraps to make some Potstickers, plus some of these Lasagna cups, and still have some leftover for a possible dessert idea.

I tried storing these wraps the fridge for later use, but after a while they begin to change color to slightly grayish, and start to dry out.

I understand you can freeze them, but I rather used them up within a weeks time, and be done with it.

Today I will share a recipe for Lasagna in a Wonton cup, which I spotted on Pinterest, and pinned it on my board of Party Foods.

I modified the original recipe, to better fit my taste, since I was making these for my grandchildren.

This recipe yields 24 cups.

Ingredients:

• 24 Wonton Wraps
• 1 lb. ground beef, or turkey
• 1 Tbs. of canola oil for frying meat
• 1 cup of Ricotta cheese (or whipped Cottage Cheese, if you prefer)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, ground
• 1 cup tomato sauce (I used Prego)
• 1 tsp. oregano, dried
• 1 tsp. basil, dried or freshly chopped
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper, ground
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1 cup Mozzarella cheese
• Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Grease, or spray with cooking spray, the cups of 2 cupcake pans.
2. Place one wonton wrap in each cup, gently pressing it down to fit to the  bottom of each cup. Set aside.
3. Pour 1 Tbs. of oil into a medium frying pan, warm it up, and place the ground meat in it.
4. Saute the meat at least 5 minutes, mixing it frequently, to break it up and to cook it so it is no longer pink.
5. Scoop out any accumulated fat, and discard.
6. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil and oregano, and cook 1 minute longer.
7. Add the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and tomato sauce, and cook another minute.
8. Scoop 2 Tbs. of meat mixture into each wonton cup.
9. Sprinkle some Mozzarella cheese over the top of each cup.
10. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
11. Bake lasagna cups for 15 minutes, or until cheese melts and wraps are lightly golden.
12. Remove and serve warm, or cool off completely and store covered in the fridge for later use.  You can also wrap them well, and freeze for a future quick dinner or an appetizer.

Enjoy your meal.

TIP:  If you prefer, you can saute fresh onions and garlic, and use fresh herbs.

Ever since I tasted these yummy dumplings for the first time, I knew they would be part of my recipe collection, and an addition to my family menu.

They are so easy to make, and so delicious, that I had to share this experience with all of you.

If you also love Potstickers, please let us know what is your favorite filling.

I like mine with well flavored ground turkey, or pork, but you can also use chicken, beef, veggies, or even fruit.

These are great as a new meal, created out of leftover meat.  Thanksgiving is just around the corner, thus a great way to use some of that leftover turkey.

The won ton dough sheets are so much lighter than the Varenyky dumplings, and so easy to use, since they come pre-cut into serving pieces.

Won ton wraps usually are easily found in the fresh vegetable section at your favorite grocer.  I even found them at Walmart (also in the fresh vegetable section).  They are quite inexpensive as well; these were under$3 per package.

These are the ones I purchased.  The 12 oz. package am0unts to at least 48 paper thin wraps.

These are NOT Gluten Free!

This recipe yields about 40 dumplings.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. ground turkey (beef, pork, or chicken)
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp. mustard ( I like Grey Poupon, or Gulden’s)
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp. soy sauce, low sodium
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper, ground
• 1/4 tsp. oregano
• 1 Tbs. tomato sauce, or ketchup
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 cup coleslaw mix
• 1/2 tsp. corn starch
• 3 Tbs. water
• Canola oil for frying

Directions:

1. Heat 1 Tbs. canola oil in a frying pan (I used electric skillet).
2. Add ground meat, and cook 6 minutes, mixing frequently, until meat is all broken up and cooked through.
3. Add, chopped green onions, Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and sesame oil.
4. Cook 3o seconds.
5. Stir in coleslaw mix, and cook 30 seconds longer, or until cabbage is wilted
6. Mix cornstarch with 3 Tbs. water, add to the filling.
7. Cook another minute.
8. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
9. Place at least 12 won ton wraps on a works surface.
10. Place a 1 Tablespoon of filling in the middle of each wrap.
11. Moisten the edges of the wrap with water, fold sides over and seal.  I make mine to little square packages (see picture above), but you can fold them over into rectangles or triangles, and seal.
12. Heat oil in a pan until not, but not smoking.
13. Place enough Potstickers in the pan to fill it, with the flat part down.
14. Cook for about 1 minute, to lightly brown the bottoms.
15. Add 1/2 cup of water, cover the pot with tight fitting lid, and steam for 3 minutes.
16. Uncover, lower heat and cook until most of the water evaporates.
17. Remove and serve, or keep it warm on a platter, until all Potstickers are cooked.

Dipping sauce Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce, low sodium
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. rice vinegar

Mix all ingredients together, and use as a dipping sauce for freshly cooked Potstickers.  I poured some of this sauce over my serving of  Potstickers , instead of dipping them.

Enjoy your meal.