Crunchy Onion Chicken Tenders

I noticed something. I cook a lot of chicken, despite my blog name. Hey, it's cheap and versatile. And these tenders are a good example of a cheap and simple, yet tasty, meal. I love to have different breading options for chicken tenders. Bread crumbs and panko and cornflakes are great options, but I had never thought of using french-fried onions. You know, the kind you use to top green bean casseroles? Yes, you know of them.

And you wanna know another great thing about this recipe? It only requires three ingredients! Yes, I said it. Chicken, eggs, and the star of the show... those french-fried onions. Quick, tasty, inexpensive AND not laborious.... that's my kinda meal! 

Crunchy Onion Chicken Tenders

slightful adapted from here

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into long strips
• 2 eggs
• half of a 6 oz. can of French's French-Fried Onions

Beat eggs and place in a shallow dish. Place french-fried onions in a plastic bag and crush. Put crushed onions on a separate plate or shallow dish. 

Dip chicken strips into the eggs, and then in the french-fried onion crumbs. Place strips on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve with your sauce of choice.

Printable Recipe

sorry some weren't strips, more of giant nuggets

We served ours with some honey mustard - I literally just mixed mustard and honey together and served it as a dipping sauce. But if you have already-bottled honey mustard, by all means don't make this more complicated than it has to be! Barbeque dipping sauce would work deliciously here too. Pretty much any sauce that you would find at Wendy's or McDonald's for dipping... you can use here.

This is definitely a kid-friendly meal for all you mamas and daddies out there! Though I don't have any kids yet (sniff, sniff) sometimes feeding my man is like feeding a child lol! When it comes to kids, you can't go wrong with chicken tenders  :)


Peace, and bacon grease!

Menu Planning - Week of 4/11/11

Monday's here again. Yesterday we had a beautiful day here in Cincy, so we were able to grill out. Today, not so much. We do have some leftover burgers and metts, so hopefully we can grill out tomorrow evening since today is so yucky and rainy.

And as usual, we didn't make all of the meals from last week... so we are gonna use some of those again this week. I'm also trying to budget wisely this week with my menu plan. We have been eating out a lot which has been pricier than I'd like. So this week's menu plan will be a cheap one! But still a good one, because being on a budget doesn't mean you have to eat crap!

Monday 4/11/11:  Barbeque Jack Chicken - already have the cheese and bbq sauce, just need the chicken!

Tuesday 4/12/11:  grill out with burgers, brats, and metts - already have everything... leftovers from Sunday

Wednesday 4/13/11:  Skillet lasagna - have noodles, but that's about it

Thursday 4/14/11:  Pork Milanese - only need to purchase pork and eggs

Friday 4/15/11:  Crunchy Garlic Chicken - we will use panko bread crumbs instead because that's what we have on hand, again.... only need to purchase chicken

Linking up to Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

What kinds of meals do you all make when you are on a budget?

Peace, and bacon grease!

Guest Posting at Jenn's Food Journey!! Filet Mignon with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Hey yall! Today I am guest posting over at Jenn's Food Journey! Yay... my first guest post! I am over there sharing a delicious steak recipe today, which I will tell you about below.

I am super excited and honored that Jenn has asked me to be a guest blogger for the day! My name is Desiree, but you can call me Desi. I'm a steak n potatoes kinda girl, if you couldn't tell, but to be honest I don't get to make a lot of steak recipes because I love my filet, and well... it's pricey! But I do love steak (and potatoes, and bacon, but that's another story for another time) so I thought, why not share a recipe that reflects my name?

Anyone who follows my blog knows that I love me some mushrooms. I could probably eat them on ANYTHING! It's obvious that they go well with steak. And anyone who follows my blog also knows that, like Jenn, I am a sauce girl! Again, I could pour sauce on just about anything. That's why Jenn and I are foodie soul sistas! 

So this one's for all the steak lovers, the mushroom huggers, the sauce addicts! Run to the store and buy your fave steaks NOW, cuz it's about to get delicious in here!

Filet Mignon with Creamy Mushroom Sauce
adapted from Taste of Home 

• 3/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 5 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 6 filet mignon steaks, about 4-6 oz each *we used only 2 steaks but still made all of the sauce

In a large skillet, saute mushrooms in 3 tablespoons of butter for 7 minutes or until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper until blended. Gradually add the cream, small amounts at a time, stirring between each addition. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in parsley; set aside and keep warm.

Meanwhile, in another large skillet, heat the remaining butter over medium-high heat. Cook steaks for 7 minutes on each side, or until meat has reached desired temperature. Serve with mushroom sauce.

Printable Recipe

 

















*The recipe does make plenty of sauce, I just didn't want so much sauce on my steak this particular time because I was watching my weight, and well this sauce is loaded with heavy whipping cream and butter. I know there isn't much sauce in the picture... I served myself mostly mushrooms with a bit of sauce.  But believe me, the recipe makes plenty of sauce and you can slather your steak in this sauce if you really wanted to (like I used to). So don't let the picture fool ya.   :)

I am linking up to:  
Make a Food-"e"-Friend Monday

...and to Mangia Mondays  
 

...and to a new linky that doesn't have a name yet! Over at Big K, Little a

Of course, I want to thank Jenn for the opportunity to share this recipe with all of her readers. It's been fun!

Peace, and bacon grease!

Restaurant Review : Five Guys Burgers and Fries in Clifton

Delicious burgers, at a good price. That's what I'm talkin about!

I have only been to Five Guys Burgers and Fries once, but I am longing to go back soon! It isn't exactly right up the street, but not too far. We have to make it more of a date night kinda thing, since we have to drive a bit and therefore dine in since it wouldn't be prudent to try to take our food back home with us from Clifton to Western Hills. So soon and very soon, we will be back! We will make a cheap date night happen!

Their website says that they only use fresh ground beef, never frozen. And their burgers sure do taste like it. They taste fresh. Nice and juicy. Not like a frozen patty. Their menu isn't very vast, but who needs a vast menu when you've got some wonderful burgers? Sometimes it is good for a restaurant to concentrate on a specialty and make it perfection, rather than trying to do too many things. So I really appreciate that they strive to make delicious burgers. 

I ordered the cheeseburger, and as you can see it comes with two burger patties. That's one thick, juicy burger! I could do without the extra patty, but it was so good! Next time I will just order their Little Cheeseburger which is a single patty. They give you so many options for toppings, and they are all free!! Say what? So yes you can do the usual lettuce, tomato, mayo... but you can also add onions, mushrooms, peppers, steak sauce, and bbq sauce for free! I'll put mushrooms on anything!

Here's PJ's burger... with some bites taken out. He had already dug in before I could take a picture! I think he got bbq sauce on his. That's a big burger :)

Their fries remind me of Penn Station's fries... not exactly but similar. They tasted hand-cut and fresh, not like the fries you get from so many fast food restaurants. They were pretty good but not the best fries I've ever had. I'm more impressed by the burger.

This seriously was one of the best burgers I have had in awhile. I didn't know what to expect from a small fast food/diner chain restaurant. But it lived up to my expectations! Service was quick. The burgers were delicious, and I loved the ooey gooey cheese! I appreciate the topping options, and that they are free! I really want one to open up closer to my house, on the westside! I'd be there just about as often as I am at City BBQ  :)

Katie Lee's Logan County Burgers

 










I don't know much about Katie Lee except that she is Billy Joel's much younger and cuter ex-wife (I actually thought she was his daughter!) and a celebrity chef of course. Oh, and I know about her Logan County Burgers! These thin burgers were inspired by her grandmother, who grew up during the Depression in Logan County, West Virginia. That is more than I knew a few minutes ago. Good ole google.

So now that we know a lil more about Katie, let's get to know these burgers! First, you wanna combine the beef, egg, grated onion, and seasonings in a medium or large bowl. Mix it up all good. You know the deal. My "grated" onions weren't really grated... more of diced. Next time we will definitely grate them - they would have anchored the beef together more and kept it from falling apart better.

 




























Then form the mixture into super thin patties. The original recipe says this makes six burgers. We made it into four burgers.... two burgers for each of us (although there is no way I can eat two!). So maybe ours weren't as thin as Katie's.

Once patties are formed, you can spread butter on one side of each slice of bread. We will come back to the bread in a bit...

Then in a large skillet, cook the patties for about 3 minutes on each side on medium-high heat, or until cooked to your liking. See all of that excess grease from the burgers? Please drain that! Drain those burgers on paper towels, and drain the grease from the skillet... because now we are gonna brown the bread!

So in that same skillet, place four slices of bread, butter side down. Then top each with a slice of cheese, some sliced onions, and a burger patty. Then top with remaining cheese slices, and bread with the butter side up. Cook em about 2 minutes or so on each side, until golden brown and cheese is ooey gooey! 

Katie Lee's Logan County Burgers

Slightly adapted by SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl

*Makes 4 burgers

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 medium yellow onion, half grated, the other half thinly sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 slices white bread
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 8 slices American cheese

In a medium bowl, combine beef, egg, grated onion, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix until combined.

Form into thin patties. Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the burgers about 3 minutes on each side or until done. Drain on paper towels. Drain the grease from the skillet.

In the same skillet, place four slices of bread, butter side down. Top each with a slice of cheese, some sliced onions, and a burger. Top with remaining slices of cheese, and bread with butter side up. Cook each sandwich until golden brown and cheese is melted, about 2 minutes per side.

Printable Recipe

We served these with some Sauteed Green Beans with Mushrooms and Onions.

I am linking up to:

Mouthwatering Monday

Hunk of Meat Monday

Delicious Dishes

Homemaker Monday

Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Tasty Tuesdays @ 33 Shades of Green

Hearth N Soup Hop

Tuesday Night Supper Club

Tuesdays at the Table

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday @ Mother of Pearl It Is
Tasty Tuesday @ Beauty and Bedlam
Delectable Tuesday
Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesday
Totally Tasty Tuesdays
Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits
Tasty Tuesday @ For the Love of Blogs

 
...and to This Week's Craving - the theme this week is HAMBURGER MEAT!

There you have it! A cheeseburger and grilled cheese in one!

Peace, and bacon grease!

Menu Planning - Week of 4/4/11

What's up, fabulous people? Hope everyone had a great weekend... I did!

I skipped last week's menu plan because I was basically just recycling the previous week's menu. But now I'm back for more planning! 

Monday 4/4/11:  Grilled Balsamic Portobello & Provolone Grilled Cheeses

Tuesday 4/5/11:  Skillet Lasagna

Wednesday 4/6/11:  Pork Milanese

Thursday 4/7/11:  Chicken Bacon Avocado Quesadillas

Friday 4/8/11:  BBQ Chicken Salad

Linking up to my usual.... Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

What's everyone else cookin up this week?


Peace, and bacon grease!

Pineapple Chicken Quesadillas

Often times we are looking for simple, quick meals for those busy week nights after a long days work. We don't always wanna eat out, but don't wanna spend hours in the kitchen. You know those days, right? I sure do! And we don't even have kids yet! 

These quesadillas are that kinda meal. Super quick but still ultra tasty. The only prep work is slicing the pineapples and shredding the store-bought rotisserie chicken. You can't go wrong there! 

We used a garlic and herb rotisserie chicken, I loved the seasoning on the crispy skin. We also used LaTortilla Factory hand-made chipotle corn tortillas. I do think I still prefer flour tortillas to corn though. 

And we used my beloved Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce. You guys can use whatever kind of tortillas and bbq sauce you like! And if you prefer to make your own chicken instead of using the store-bought, definitely go for it.

So get ready for some super easy instructions.... Spread bbq sauce on the tortilla(s), then top with the chicken, pineapple slices, and cheese. 

Place the other tortilla on top and cook in a skillet on medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side. You are basically just heating up the quesadilla, and melting that gooey cheese. 

And no measurements here, just use however many tortillas you want... you will need at least two: one for the bottom and one for the top layer. Once cooked, you will slice it into smaller triangular quesadillas. We used 4 tortillas total.... which made two large round quesadillas, and we then sliced 4 small quesadillas from each, for a total of 8 small quesadillas.

Pineapple Chicken Quesadillas

adapted from For the Love of Cooking

• Chipotle corn tortillas
• Pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, chopped or shredded
• Fresh pineapple, thinly sliced
• Shredded pepper jack cheese
• Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
• Sour cream, for topping

Spread bbq sauce over one tortilla, then top with the chicken, pineapple slices, and shredded cheese. Place another tortilla on top and put it in a hot skillet, greased with cooking spray, over medium heat for 3 minutes on one side. Then carefully flip, and cook the other side for 3 minutes. Remove the heat and let cool for a minute before slicing into individual quesadillas. Top with sour cream, if desired.

Printable Recipe

Showing my girl, Kristin, some love over at Mangia Monday! Do join us!


There you go, dinner done in minutes :)


Peace, and bacon grease!