Chicken & Red Pepper Panini

Normally I only get to make lunch on weekends, since our office doesn’t have a microwave.  So today, I decided to try out The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for a chicken & roasted red pepper panini.  I had a long time to think about what I was going to make, too, since we are dog sitting Tinkerbell for Rustin & Elizabeth.  I woke up at 8:20am ON A SATURDAY to make sure that she wouldn’t potty in her crate, and so that she could get out before she started whining…..which is what she’s doing right now as I write this blog.  I’m sorry Tinkerbell!  I can’t pay attention to you every second of the day!

She’s a cutie though, so it kinda makes up for it.

Now, back to the panini.  Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 8 sun-dried tomatoes, in oil
  • 2 roasted red peppers in a jar (or you can roast them yourself by charring the outside of the pepper over an open flame or in the broiler)
  • 3 tbsp prepared pesto (you can certainly make your own if you can find fresh basil at this time of year)
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or enough to make the right consistency for the marinade/spread)
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • salt & pepper
  • 4 slices mozzarella or provolone cheese
  • 1/4 cup mayo
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 4 slices bread

Start by putting the sun dried tomatoes into a food processor or blender.

Next, add the pesto.  I love pesto, especially on tortellini!  Yum.

Add lemon juice.  I used bottled lemon juice, but you could certainly squeeze fresh juice out of a lemon.  I just didn’t happen to have any on hand.

Season with salt and pepper.

Stream in olive oil.  If a tablespoon doesn’t seem like enough to create the correct consistency, feel free to add more.

Blend until thoroughly combined.

Pour half of the pesto mixture into a Ziploc bag with the chicken and smush it around so that the chicken is thoroughly covered.  Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

In a small bowl combine mayo….

…and the rest of the pesto mixture.

Stir until everything is combined.  Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Cook chicken over medium-high heat in a skillet or on the grill.

Once fully cooked, cut chicken into strips.

Spread mayo/pesto mixture on one side of each of the slices of bread.

Lay chicken on the mayo covered side of the bread.

Cut roasted peppers into strips and place over the chicken.

Lay cheese over peppers.

Place another piece of bread over the cheese and liberally butter the outer sides of each slice.

I didn’t have a panini grill, so I used my George Foreman grill, and it worked just fine.  You could also set this in a skillet with a heavy pan on top, flipping it over to cook both sides equally.

Slice in half diagonally and enjoy!

Our Little Guest

We have a little guest at our house this weekend.  We are baby dogsitting Tinkerbell this weekend for our best friends Rustin and Elizabeth while they’re on a little vacay.  Tinkerbell is only a few months old, so we’ll get our puppy fix (including the potty training) this weekend.  Luckily we are experts in that area!  Haha.  We have raised our fair share of puppies in the past few years, and are quite used to the good and the bad that comes along with having a puppy in the house.

She’s been great so far, and was very brave when meeting the GIANT dogs that call our house a home.  She even went potty outside!  She’s also having fun terrorizing playing with Lazarus, one of our kitties.  He loves the attention, though.

Elizabeth says that she sleeps through the night, so I’m crossing my fingers on that one!  Steve and I like our sleep, and if you know us, you know that is true.  Don’t try calling us before 9:30am or sometimes even 10am.  We will silence your call just like we silence our alarms.

Ha!  Funny side story.  A few days ago, Steve told me that his phone shows a word in a different language when the alarm goes off.  I said, “Really?  That’s weird.  Mine doesn’t.” (We both have iPhones).  Then a couple days later he said, “I remembered what the word is.  It’s spelled S-N-O-O-Z-E.  Snoozie!” (That’s how he pronounced it)  I just about died laughing.  “You mean snooze!?” I said.  “You know, like ‘hit the snooze button’?”  Then he said, “Oh, well I didn’t know that’s how it was spelled.  I thought it was a different language.”

Ahh, these are the things I love about him.  I love that I’m not the only one who has blonde moments or brain farts.

Anyway, we’ll see how this weekend goes.  I’m sure I’ll give you updates along the way, as well as pictures!  I should get some good ones tomorrow of her playing with the Saints.  In the mean time, wish us luck, and pray for a good night’s rest!

Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

I love making casseroles, because it usually means I only have to dirty 1 or 2 dishes, which makes for an easy clean up.  One of our favorite restaurants here in Hendersonville is Cheddars, which serves American food.  It can be compared with Chili’s or something like that.  Anyway, the have the most amazing broccoli cheese casserole side dish!  It is like heaven in your mouth!  So I attempted to recreate it, and in the process added some chicken so that we could eat it as a main dish.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 bag (8 oz) frozen broccoli florets, thawed
  • 1 can of Campbell’s Condensed Broccoli Cheese Soup (I didn’t have any, so I used cream of chicken soup)
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or more if you like)
  • 1 cup instant rice, uncooked (can also use 1 cup of regular cooked rice)
  • 1/3 cup crushed Ritz crackers (about 1 sleeve)
  • 2 tsp melted butter
  • salt & pepper

Start by dicing up some chicken and tossing it in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Season with salt and pepper. (You can also use shredded or rotisserie chicken)

Thaw your broccoli in the microwave (per package instructions) and place in a large bowl.

Add broccoli cheese soup, or in my case, cream of chicken.

Pour the milk into the bowl.

Next comes my favorite ingredient — freshly grated cheddar cheese.  Yum!  I can never grate this cheese without eating a handful.

Mix it all together, and then add the instant rice.  The rice shouldn’t be cooked at this point, because it will cook with everything else in the oven (unless you’re using regular rice, in which case it should be cooked first).

Stir until everything is thoroughly combined.

Next, add your cooked chicken and stir to combine.  It’s ok if the chicken isn’t completely cooked through since it will continue baking in the oven.

Place the mixture into a baking dish.  You can always double or triple the recipe depending on how many people you are feeding (wow, that is really stating the obvious, isn’t it?).

Next, take some Ritz crackers (I used whole wheat cuz I’m super healthy like that) and place them in a Ziploc bag.  You’ll want enough to cover the top of the casserole.

You can use a mallet to crush the crackers, but I found that using my fingers was just as easy.

Melt your butter and pour it into the bag with the crumbs.  Close the bag and mix the crumbs around with the butter so that all the crumbs are covered in butter.  This will help the top get nice and crispy and brown.

Scatter the crumbs on top of your casserole.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until the top is hot and bubbly.

Serve and enjoy!  Don’t those crunchy, crumbly bits look delish!?