Tuesday, October 14, 2008

New Feature: MArooned Meals!

I'm going to try something new today. I'm going to post a recipe, possibly the first in a series, of a quick and easy meal I like to make that's a hit with the kids. I call it:

The Hurried Dad's Quick 'N' EZ Chicken Cacciatore.




Prep time: 5 minutes.

Cook time: 25 minutes

Total calories: 2,700

Servings: 6-8




Ingredients:

Perdue Short Cuts Chicken, Traditional, cut into 1" pieces

Pound of pasta, shape of choice

2 bags frozen Italian Vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, beans, carrots, etc.)

2 28 ounce cans Diced Tomatos

1 6 ounce can Tomato Paste




Preparation:

Cook pasta as directed.

Cook frozen vegetables until warm.

Mix Diced Tomatoes, Tomato Paste, and chicken in large mixing bowl.

Add spices to taste:

  • Garlic

  • Parsley

  • Oregano

  • Onion Powder

  • Italian Seasoning

  • Salt/pepper


Warm in microwave five minutes.

Combine with vegetables, mix thoroughly. Heat 4 minutes in microwave.


Serve:


This is a kid favorite - even BabyGirl G, the epitome of "fussy eater", will clean her plate and ask for seconds...


Enjoy!

That is all.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks good. pity I'm too lazy to make it that way.

SpeakerTweaker said...

Hmmm... So I guess a pound of boneless/skinless chicken breast, cooked, would work in place of the Perdue Short Cuts (which I'm SURE I can't get in Texas)?

Sounds really good. I'm gonna try this one out this week.



tweaker

Jay G said...

Of course a pound of skinless breast cut into cubes would work, it just takes more time and effort.

The idea behind the Perdue Short Cuts is to streamline the prep and clean-up - not having to cut up and cook the chicken means less prep time and no knife/cutting board/skillet get dirtied.

This meal can be prepared using fresh chicken breast, fresh veggies, and homemade pasta; it just takes a lot longer and requires more elbow grease afterwards.

I was kinda hitting the angle of this was something you could toss together in less than a half-hour that's better than Shake 'n' Bake (not that there's anything wrong with S'n'B, mind you!).

I also wanted to counter the popular Hollywood/Madison Avenue myth that dads can't cook... ;)