Coconut chicken

I made this last night out of a whim and desperation because I didn’t have the ingredients for what I intended to make. It turned out great, so here is the “recipe,” such as it is.

1 pack thawed chicken tenderloins (you could do chicken breasts too, I was in the mood for pseudo chicken fingers)
2 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 canola or olive oil (I’ve used either and not really noticed a taste difference)
1/2 cup panko crumbs (or any fine bread crumb but panko is better! or I just like Asian things)
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup toasted coconut (I just threw in what I had leftover from a make your own sundae bar, and I didn’t measure)
A little bit of ginger, black pepper, and salt. I just shake things in randomly, sorry!

Preheat oven to 400.
Grease baking sheet if it’s not non-stick.
Mix garlic and oil in one bowl.
Mix panko, coconut, ginger, black pepper, and salt in another bowl.
Dredge chicken pieces in garlic/oil mix and then dip in topping mix. Flip around to evenly coat both sides.
Place on baking sheet.
Bake 20-30 minutes. For chicken strip sized pieces, I would check after 20. For thicker chicken breasts, probably after 30. Really depends on your oven. Mine is evil and likes to just pick its own temperature I’m convinced.

Great as chicken fingers with an Asian dipping sauce or chopped up and put into a salad!

Parmesan Garlic Chicken

I thought about adding a real vegetable. And then I was like “Meh, that’s what sweet potato fries are for!” This chicken was fast and easy to make. And so tasty!

Parmesan Garlic Chicken

Via Hesitantly Healthy

Ingredients

• 2 large defrosted chicken breasts
• 2 tsp chopped garlic (fresh or jarred)
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup whole wheat panko crumbs
• ½ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• Black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix garlic and olive oil in a bowl.
3. Dredge each chicken breast in extra virgin olive oil.
4. Mix panko and parmesan together in a shallow dish.
5. Dip each chicken breast into the panko/parmesan mixture then place them into a baking dish (be sure to grease it if it’s not nonstick).
6. Top with a sprinkle of black pepper.
7. Bake for 30 minutes then check for doneness, cook in additional 5 minute increments until there is no pink.

Chicken Yum Yum

This is not a baking post. It is…gasp…a cooking post!

Sort of.

I had strep over the weekend and my coworker friend suggested this to me as a comfort food that wasn’t soup. (I had commented that I was sick of soup.)

Chicken Yum Yum.

She told me I had to call it that. And after tasting it, the name is pretty apt.

1 can (10 3/4 oz) Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can (8 oz, but sometimes I use more) whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups cubed cooked chicken (or 2 cans of chicken – easier that way)
1 package (8 1/2 oz) corn muffin mix
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1) Preheat oven to 400 F. In a 9-inch pie plate mix soup (I use a square pan, works just fine), corn, and chicken.
2) Mix muffin mix, milk, and egg. Pour over chicken mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle with cheese.

Variation- Cornbread Chicken Chili Pot Pie: In Step 1 add 1 can (about 4 oz) of chopped green chilies, drained, with the corn.

I did one thing differently…instead of using boxed cornbread mix (cue disdainful sneer), I made my own cornbread batter. In that instance, skip the milk and egg that is in this recipe and just make your cornbread batter as usual.

Yum!

Why You’ll Never See A Cooking Post From Me

I play to my strengths, guys. Baking? Yes. Cooking? No.

This is how I made lunch today. I took some thawed chicken and cut it into chunks. Not even the same size chunks. I was in my post-zumba endorphin high, not paying much attention. “La la…I’m cutting chicken…” Yeah, that was me.

As I was cutting the chicken into arbitrary-sized chunks, I moved it into a dish that had some Bakers/Kroger brand teriyaki marinade in it. When I was done, I stuck that in the fridge and went to wash my face. Because yeah, I put a face mask on before cutting the chicken. I like to multi-task.

The chicken got to marinade for the entire, oh-so-long time I was washing and drying my face. And then I started cooking it. By cooking it, I mean I pushed it around in a pan on the stove until it looked done.

Then I microwaved some frozen mixed vegetables, put the chicken in with them. And ate it.

Oh, first I took this sweet instagram photo to make it look cooler than it was. Ta da.

I considered adding some rice, but I didn’t have any more of those Uncle Ben’s instant rice things that you microwave for 90 seconds and I was too hungry to actually make rice.

So that’s the sad tale of how I cook.

BUT. On a baking note. My friend canned a bunch of apple pie filling (!!!!) and gave me a jar. She says it’s not enough to make a whole pie, so I’m thinking MINI APPLE PIES. With wonton wrappers and muffin tins. I’ll keep you posted.