French's Crunchy Onion Chicken

Named for the main ingredient, this is one of the easiest recipes I've come across. I saw it in with the Sunday coupons a couple of months back. It's very budget friendly, too. Next time I might try their 'zesty tip' or even make it into chicken nuggets. We'll see.

Ingredients:
2 c French's French fried Onions
2 tbsp flour
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 egg, beaten

Directions:
Crush the onions with flour in a plastic bag. Dip the chicken into the egg, then coat in onion crumbs. Bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees F (or until cooked through.)

*Zesty tip: Substitute 1/4 cup any flavor French's mustard instead of beaten egg.

Formerly Chicken Poppy Seed Casserole

I got this recipe from Kirsten's food blog. (I was her son, Zach's, kindergarten teacher the year I was pregnant with Katie.) The link to her blog has the "story" behind the dish. It's such a yummy meal. A crowd pleaser for all ages! I haven't modified it at all because it's perfect the way it is. Although, one time I forgot to pick up long grain and wild rice and had to substitute my good ol' jasmine rice. It was still good, but the long grain and wild rice makes it great.

(Picture to still to come. I am just trying to record as many recipes as I can right now. I refuse to move stacks of paper!)

Ingredients:

2- 6.2 oz boxes Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice, prepared

4 to 6 chicken breasts, seasoned (salt, pepper, all-purpose seasoning, whatever)-cooked and cubed or shredded

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 package (tube) Ritz crackers, crushed

1/2 cube butter, melted

poppy seeds (optional)

Directions:

Bake and cut up chicken breasts, set aside. Spray 9 x 13 inch baking dish with Pam. Prepare rice and evenly spread on bottom of baking dish. Layer chicken evenly over rice. In separate bowl, mix together soup and sour cream, spread over chicken. Sprinkle crushed Ritz crackers over soup mixture, drizzle melted butter over crackers. Optional- sprinkle poppy seeds over Ritz crackers before drizzling butter. Bake uncovered in 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

Rule of Two Sausage Dish

This is a dinner that Trav's mom made once and I have sorta turned into my own. She makes it with just the pots and sausage. I wanted an easy way to add a vegetable that offered more than just carbs, so that's where the green beans come in. And I don't think it actually has a name, so I named it 'Rule of Two Sausage Dish' just this very moment. You'll see why as you read on...although I bet you can guess why...

Ingredients:
2 packages beef smoked sausage (I use Hillshire Farm because it's cheap @ Wal-Mart)
2 cans cut green beans
2 large russet potatoes
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (10.75 oz each, or 1 big 26oz can, if you like... I'll explain more in the directions)

Directions:
Chop sausage and potatoes into bite sized pieces. Drain green beans and mix everything together in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. (If you have one with extra deep sides, that would be easiest for you to mix it in.) Mix all the ingredients together and bake at 350 degrees for around 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Basically until the potatoes are done. As far as using two 10.75 oz cans of soup versus the big 26 oz can, it depends on the consistency you prefer and how you're cooking it. When I cook it in the oven, I use the big can because I like my food to be plenty moist and have lots of whatever the "sauce" is. But, the big can is too much if you're cooking in the crock pot, so that's when I use the small cans. And for those who like a low-fat alternative... you can substitute the beef sausage for a turkey blend option and you can substitute the regular Cream of Mushroom Soup with the Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup. I do not recommend both substitutions in the same dish, however, because the flavor will be a bit bland. If I had to pick the substitution that tastes the best it's the regular beef sausage with the Healthy request soup; hands down. The texture and flavor of the regular sausage is SOOOO much better. And even though the crock pot is obviously the more comfortable choice during the summer months, the oven baked version is extra yummy because the top of the dish gets a bit of a crispy texture as it cooks that it doesn't have the chance to develop in the crock pot.

I made this for my sister tonight, but forgot to take a picture. I'm making it for us on Monday (in the crock pot) so hopefully I'll remember to snap a shot then.