On-the-side: Recipe 1 - Parmesan Mayo Chicken

Sorry Mark, I stepped out on you for this one...so it inspired me to make a different thread, just for recipes that I try that aren't in How to Cook Everything.  This time I tried Parmesan Mayo Chicken.  So, here it goes!

I'm never a brave one to try a new recipe...I don't like being the one to find out it sucks, honestly. So, when my good friend told me about a recipe that she tried last night and loved so much she wanted to lick the plate, I was all ears. And, even better, it only had four ingredients and it baked in the oven! Simplicity is my best friend.  

I'm sure I scared the heck out of Kevin when I called him and told him not to do anything about dinner and that I wanted to try something new. I got home and got to work prepping, which is becoming one of my favorite things about cooking. There's something about the cutting and mixing, as well as the antsy anticipation about how it's going to come out.  I paired the chicken with cubed red potatoes (also my friend's suggestion...minus eggs, which would have made my hubby lose his appetite...) and green beans.  Before I even put it in the oven it smelled delicious and I know I had to add about 10 extra baking minutes because I kept opening the door to smell it.  When we finally sat down to test it out, Taylor was the first to blurt out that it was, "Oh Mom! SOOO delicious! Where did you get this?" Kevin enjoyed it so much he's taking the leftovers to work tomorrow (that's the subconscious sign of a good meal).  It was tangy and savory...and oh so yummy.  We don't have red potatoes often, and even those were well received.  Green beans? Well, I need to find something to do with those things because I love 'em, but haven't figured out what to do with them.  As for any changes, next time I'll fillet the breasts so they're not so thick, but otherwise it was super!

Since this recipe isn't in Mark's book, I don't mind sharing the recipe.  I'm sure my friend found it from an online recipe site:

It may not look wonderful on the plate, but in the dish it was awesome!

In a medium bowl, mix:
-1 cup mayonnaise
-1 cup Parmesan cheese
-1 teaspoon dried oregano
-1/2 teaspoon garlic salt 
-3-4 chicken breasts

---Lay chicken in a casserole dish and spread mix over chicken and cook at 350* for about 35 minutes (it took me 45...teehee).


Potatoes:

---Cube red potatoes, as many as you'd like. I think I used four or five...but we cook to have leftovers.
-Chop one large onion
-Add 3-4 tablespoons of butter
-(optional) beat two eggs and add to potatoes and onions
-(optional) add garlic salt -- this is what I did instead of eggs
---combine everything into a casserole dish and cover with a lid
---microwave (YAY!!) on high for about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through




Anyway, if you have a great recipe for making green beans, please let me know!  :)

Recipe 11: Beef Stroganoff

Oops! I was just browsing my e-mail and noticed I sent the picture of this recipe to myself, uhhh, on March 8th. Life's been crazy. But, better late than never!!

I've always known that food doesn't always have to look great to taste great....Kevin's corned beef hash for example. Yum!!  This recipe is one of those as well.  I enjoyed preparing this dish; it was actually fun to do all the prep: slicing the steak, chopping onions, etc. It doesn't hurt to have a radio blasting either :)  What I loved about this recipe was the cooking time. It was a rather fast recipe.  I paired this with my homemade mashed potatoes...can you tell we love carbs?

Overall it was well received by the family. It definitely needs some tweaking: I made egg noodles to pour it on top of, but I think I'd like to try rice.  It had a TON of onions in it...two whole onions! My favorite part was the sauce. It had a ton of sour cream (yum!!) and that gave it just a hint of tart. I'll have to tweak it because others in the family aren't as much of a fan of sour cream as I am though.  I had this for leftovers the next day at lunch and I thought it was even better. More of the sauce's flavor had been absorbed by the sirloin. There was one evening when I had plenty of the meat and sauce left, so I just ate it by itself.  Soooo good :)

So, for the most part, I give this recipe a thumbs up. I'll definitely cook this again. :)  And please pardon the sideways picture...I was too lazy to flip it. Hey, it is spring break afterall!!