Honey Dijon Chicken (with Cumin)

Honey Dijon Chicken sandwich

My friend, Ashley Panico is learning to be a chef. She taught me this easy and AMAZING sauce to add to chicken. (btw, in case you are counting this is use #2 for a roaster chicken from the grocery store.)  

Cut off some of the chicken. Lots of people have a preference as far as white or dark meat. I love both so just to let you know-this was made with both. (Mostly dark meat as I used up a lot of the white meat yesterday for chicken and chipotle rice.)

Chipotle lime and Cilantro Rice with Chicken 

These are your ingredients for the sauce. I can't give you measurements because I make it to taste. I usually start with a tablespoon of  mayo, the Dijon mustard and honey. Then, I add in about 6 shakes of Cumin, a little salt and a little pepper. Then, I taste. Is it too sweet? Add more Cumin. Too much mayo? Add mustard.  Needs salt?  You get the idea.

Whisk ingredients together. Stir in chicken.

I made an open faced sandwich with some red leaf lettuce, homemade bread I baked two days ago. I topped with some tomatoes from my garden and added a few slices of cucumber. Enjoy!!!

"Chipotle" Lime and Cilantro Rice with Chicken

"Chipotle" Lime and Cilantro Rice with Chicken

Don't we all LOVE Chipotle's rice? I always ask for extra!  I had made some of their rice before and decided to give it another go. I was at Kroger yesterday and bought fresh Cilantro and a roaster chicken. Only drawback when I thought of this was that I didn't have a fresh lime.(I used bottled instead. Still good but not AS good as fresh.)  Go get a lime before you decide to make this!

Here is the recipe I used. (Ever notice that most of my recipes come from Allrecipe.com?) 

Lime Cilantro Rice

Start by making rice. 

2 cups of water

1 table spoon of butter 

1 cup of rice

Bring the water to a boil. Stir in butter and rice into the water. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the rice is tender-about 20 minutes.

Keep an eye on your rice. Mine didn't take the full 20 minutes.

Next chop up Cilantro. The smell is so amazing!

Add in about 1/2 a cup of Cilantro (I used more. I can't get enough of it!) and add Lime juice.

(Again- try for fresh squeezed.)

Mix together! 

Use more or less Cilantro depending on how much you like it. (Me- a LOT!)

To top it off, I cut up some meat I pulled off the roasted chicken. (I'm a big believer in having one of these on hand! One day I'm going to do a blog dedicated to all the ways I use a roaster chicken!!)

Lunch is served! It's a light, quick and easy meal that even the Tot loves!!

a bit disheveled-but digging into the rice and chicken!

Winging it-Chicken Broccoli Noodle Casserole

Winging it!
I had a roasted chicken (I like to keep one on hand as you can make many things with it.) some eggs noodles from the Amish in Bainbridge, and a bunch of broccoli.  I couldn't find an exact recipe for what I wanted so I decided to wing it!  Here's what I did and I'll tell you what went well and how it can be improved next time.

Steam 2 to 3 heads of broccoli till just soft. My kids LOVE broccoli so I made all three heads.

Boil chicken broth. Right away I can tell you the casserole was rather salty. Next time I will use unsalted chicken broth. Or, you can use water. I tend to use broth when making pasta or noodles as it adds more flavor but I think I will look into a lower or unsalted version.

I bought these egg noodles at an Amish bakery in Bainbridge, Ohio. The kind in your grocery store work too and if you would like to make them- here's a recipe to do them yourself. (You will not believe how easy they are!!)

Homemade noodles

I cut up a bunch of the chicken from the Organic Roaster. Next time I make this I will add more chicken!

Once the noodles and broccoli were done, I poured a can of Cream of Broccoli soup into a baking dish. (I wish I had used two) Add the noodles, broccoli and chicken and mix to coat.

Next I had a piece of stale whole wheat bread (I left it out on purpose) and I tore that up on top. I grated some fresh Parmesan cheese. (I can never get enough of this stuff!) on top. Put in the oven at 350 for about half an hour.

Yum!!

There you have it. Made up from my head. Overall it was very tasty. Lily and I each had two helpings and she requested "More broccoli!!"  Next time I will: use unsalted broth or water to make the noodles, add more chicken and a second can of "cream of" soup.

What do you "WING?"  Do you have a creation that isn't really anywhere on a recipe that your family loves? Share in the comments!