Good old fashioned chicken dinner.

So recently I cleaned out our freezer and found chicken breast that had been in the for some time so I figured it was about time to use it before it went bad. Waste not, want not is what my Grandma always says! Today I am going to be making rotisserie chicken breast with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and broccoli. For dessert I am going to make a blueberry syrup to go over so frozen yogurt I made awhile back. Sound like a good plan? Well, it does to me.



Lets start with the stuffing, because like I said earlier the chicken is frozen and it needs to defrost. Well what do you know, I am out of stuffing mix, go figure! I rummage through the pantry and find croutons, croutons will work, I can spice them up. Here is the recipe for the stuffing:


Crouton Stuffing

1 T. butter or olive oil
1 clove garlic or 1 t. garlic powder
1 stalk celery chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 medium onion chopped
1 bag of croutons (any brand you like)
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 t. poultry seasoning
salt to taste

Here is a pic of what I used

In a medium skillet melt butter over medium-high and add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook until onions become translucent. In a big bowl add the rest of the ingredients together. Add in the cooked onion mixture. Add 1 cup boiling hot water and cover. If you like you can bake this in the chicken as I am doing, or put it in the oven separately while the chicken is in the oven , it is up to you. Just do not bake it over 30 minutes! Enjoy!
This is a pic of everything I used for the stuffing.


Next is the recipe that I am going to use to flavor my chicken. I take a child's syringe (like you would get from Walgreen's to administer medicine) and I fill it will the seasoning and inject it directly into the chicken breasts! This makes it come out so much tastier!


2 T. olive oil
1 T. poultry seasoning
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 t. oregano
salt according to taste

mix and inject into chicken

I use a rotisserie to make my chicken but if you don't have one the rule of thumb with chicken is as follows. Bake the chicken at about 350 degrees F until it's internal temperature 165 degrees F. Make sure to check the temperature with a meat thermometer. If you don't have one I recommend buying one. Go, buy one now, I will wait. Ha ha!



Next up is my Garlic Mashed. My best friend Shanna loves these so much that her and her brother have literally fought over them. I must admit they are very good, and they are one of my favorite recipes to make.



Garlic Mashed Potatoes

5-6 potatoes depending on their size
3 cloves garlic
3 T. butter
1/2 c. Greek yogurt (I make my own but you can just as easily buy it)
1/4 c. milk
1/4 c. chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes and garlic cloves in water over high heat until they are easily pierced with a fork. Drain water from the potatoes and make sure to leave the garlic cloves in. Like so.

Add all other ingredients to potatoes and mash away, I use a hand mixer because it is faster but a regular old masher works fine.


Now if you are like me you probably opened a whole can of chicken broth for the potatoes. Well don't waste it, use it to make this easy gravy!

Chicken Gravy

Pan drippings from the chicken.
1/3 to 1/2 c. of flour
water

Add water to the chicken drippings to make about 1 1/2 cups of liquid into a medium sized saucepan
Whisk water into the flour until it is thick, but not pasty. Whisk the flour/water mixture into the drippings, and put the saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Stir constantly until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Easy huh?



Next but not least is blueberry syrup. You can use this to pour over pancakes, ice cream, or my favorite frozen yogurt. Don't worry this one is easy as well.

Blueberry Syrup

1 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1 c. water
2 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 t. lemon juice
1/4 t. lemon zest



Crush berries, add water and the lemon zest, and simmer 5 minutes in a sauce pan over medium heat. Drain through several layers of damp cheese cloth or jelly bag. Squeeze to extract juice and pulp from berries. Return juice to saucepan, add sugar to mixture, add 2 T. of cornstarch to a bit of water and stir to incorporate. Add to saucepan, boil for 1 minute and add lemon juice. Pour into a jar and store in the refrigerator.

Now don't get mad but I didn't realize we didnt have any blueberries until after I posted this, so instead I made strawberry syrup. Same recipe, just replace the blueberries with strawberries.

Alrighty! That was alot of typing. I hope you all enjoy the menu for today and I will be back tomorrow with a new recipe or two and I will be adding pictures to this page when I am done making dinner. Hope everyone enjoys this, and I wish you all the best! Bon Appetit!