Apple Barbecue Chicken

This recipe from Taste of Home intrigued me because I’ve never seen a BBQ recipe using apples/apple sauce before. It sounded so good, and it really was. The apple sauce gives it a unique flavor and the chicken turned out so moist. The original recipe uses spicy sweet bottled barbecue sauce, which I switched out for hickory flavored sauce, and instead of chili powder I used red pepper flakes.

So, let’s get cooking!

Place the barbecue sauce, apple sauce, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes in a bowl.

Stir to mix well. My lovely assistant chef Miss Megan commandeered the bowl and stirring step.

Place the chicken in a baking dish and smother both sides with the sauce.

Bake at 375° for about 45 minutes or until juices run clear.

Serve with extra sauce for dipping if you’d like. 

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Apple Barbecue Chicken

6-8 pieces of chicken

1 c barbecue sauce

1 c apple sauce

3 Tbl brown sugar

¾ tsp red pepper flakes

Spicy Orange Chicken

Lately I’ve been craving some chicken with an Asian flair to it, and my dear assistant cook Miss Megan has also been asking for something like that too. I thought Orange Chicken would fit the bill. There are many recipes for Orange Chicken out there, but since I didn’t feel like looking any up, I just let it roll around in my head a little while and then went with it. This is what I came up with.

Just so you know, it is VERY spicy with 2 tsp red pepper flakes, so it may be a little too hot for some children. You might want to use just 1 tsp, and then add a little to your own portion so the kids’ tongues don’t burst into flames. Or God forbid one of them burps---someone may have their eyebrows singed! ;-) 

So, let’s get cooking! 

Peel and mince the ginger root. Don’t you just love working with fresh ginger?? It’s so juicy and fragrant! 

Peel and mince the garlic, and slice the red pepper into 1 inch lengths. 

And peel and dice the carrots small. My lovely assistant cook Miss Megan did the “cawwots,” as she says.

Next, cube the boneless skinless chicken breast into chunks about ¾ inch size. 

In a gallon size bag, with the cornstarch in it, coat the chicken chunks. Shake off the excess cornstarch in a sieve and return the cornstarch to the bag for the next handful of chicken chunks. 

In a large skillet, sauté the coated chicken in the oil, using a Tablespoon at a time. You can do it in batches, adding more oil when needed. Cook until all sides of the chicken are sautéed. They’ll finish cooking in the next steps.

Add the orange juice concentrate, water, rice vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger. Mix well and simmer for about 6-8 minutes, stirring several times. 

Add the dices carrots and simmer about 4 minutes, covered. You can really see how it thickens now. 

Add the red bell peppers and broccoli florets. Cook for about 4-5 minutes more, covered.

Serve over rice if you’d like. It can be eaten by itself, of course, but it does go very nicely with rice. This is an excellent dish to make when you have leftover rice from another meal.

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Spicy Orange Chicken

1 ½ lb chicken breast

¾ c cornstarch

¼ c oil

1 red bell pepper

24 oz broccoli florets

2-3 cloves garlic

1 ½ inch ginger root

1 c carrot, diced small

½ can frozen orange juice concentrate

½ c water

¾ c rice vinegar

¾ c brown sugar

2 tsp red pepper flakes

Spicy Korean Chicken

This recipe comes from Rasa Malaysia, who puts out authentic Asian recipes that are so good! It wasn’t overly spicy; both Megan and Timmy won’t eat anything too hot, but they sure ate this. You can also amp it up by adding extra spice to it.

My one change I made was using sriracha instead of the Korean chili paste, known as gochugaru. I didn’t want to spend money on an ingredient that I could substitute with something I already had that would be sufficient. Part of my goal in presenting recipes is to ensure that they’re affordable for most families. The chicken came out wonderful and I’m sure you’ll like it.

So, let’s get cooking!

If you’re using leg quarters like I did (inexpensive and delicious!), separate the legs and thighs and remove the skin if you’d like.

Peel and mince the garlic and the fresh ginger. I *love* using fresh garlic and ginger in cooking. They smell so good and taste even better!

In a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients.

Place the meat in a gallon freezer bag and pour in the mixture. Marinate for two hours or overnight for even better flavor infusion.







Grill or bake and dig in to authentic Spicy Korean Chicken!

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Spicy Korean Chicken

2-3 lbs meat
¼ c oil
3 Tbl sriracha
2 tsp chili powder
2 Tbl toasted sesame oil
3 Tbl sugar
6 cloves garlic
2” fresh gingerroot

Creamy Buffalo Chicken Soup

Okay, this recipe has a really interesting back story. This is my original recipe, and it came about because months and months ago, I had a dream that I was cooking, making a soup, this soup specifically. When I woke, I was thinking, what a great idea! So after letting it roll around in my head for a while, I finally tried it.

The first time I made it, it was fantastic, and everyone loved it. It was gone too soon! But when I went to write it up for TMMF, it seemed like something was missing. Suddenly I knew what would go good in this--rice!

So when I made it the second time, I added some rice to it and sure enough, it was now perfect and ready to go live. ;) The amounts of hot sauce and Ranch dressing are perfect; just enough so that one doesn’t overpower the other. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

So, let’s get cooking!

Cube the boneless skinless chicken breasts into 1” pieces. Place them in a bowl and mix in the hot sauce to marinate them while you work on the other ingredients.

Dice the celery and onions, and slice the carrots. You’ll have to imagine carrot coins next to the diced celery and onion in this pic. ;)

Next, set the carrots to cook until al dente in a small pot. If you don’t have any leftover cooked rice, you’ll need to cook some up now, enough to make 2 c cooked.

While that’s happening, sauté the cubed chicken in a large sauce pan until just done (no oil needed for this). Set the cooked chicken and the juices in a bowl.

In the same pot, sauté the diced celery and onion in the 2 Tbl of oil, just until tender.

Now add the chicken stock and keep the heat on medium low. Cut up the cream cheese into chunks, and add them, using a whisk to incorporate them into the broth. Make sure you don’t have the heat up too high. Stir in the Ranch dressing.

Your rice should be done by now, so add it to the soup, as well as the carrots and chicken, including all the juices from the chicken. Scrape that bowl clean with a rubber spatula; you don’t want to miss a drop of that wonderful flavor!

And it’s done. Enjoy! ~TMMF

Creamy Buffalo Chicken Soup

2 lg chicken breasts
   (boneless, skinless)
½ c hot sauce (like Frank’s or Texas Pete)
½ md Vidalia onion
2 stalks celery
3 lg carrots
2 Tbl oil
6 c chicken stock or broth
8 oz pkg cream cheese
½ c Ranch dressing
2 c cooked rice

Creamy Swiss Chicken Bake

So, it’s Monday again, but I’m cutting down the Gourmet…Way Before Payday recipes to the first Monday of the month. And because of that, I now present you with….<insert dramatic drum roll>….Creamy Swiss Chicken Bake!

Omgoodness, this is so yumminy, you’ll be glad you made it! This recipe comes from lilluna.com. It’s easy, quick, and oh so good! It’s supposed to be made with boneless skinless chicken breasts, but I made it with thighs, and I added some mozzarella cheese to the equation because that’s how I roll. ;)

So, let’s get cooking!

Since I used thighs for this, I removed the skin and some of the extra fat. If you’re using boneless skinless breasts, you’ve got it made in the shade. Place them in a greased 9 X 13" baking dish.

In a smallish bowl, mix together the mayo, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, and spices.

I had no sliced Swiss cheese, but I did have a block of it, so it had to be grated. Maybe you have a block of mozzarella that has to be grated also? You really have no idea if this is Swiss or mozzarella, do you? It could even be extra sharp cheddar for all you know. ;)





Ah, silly me….it really is grated Swiss. I just get giddy when I’m sleep deprived and it’s ridiculous o’clock in the morning and I decide to write. And you are my captive audience, so you are the recipients of my goofiness. ;)

Shall we move on?

Sprinkle the grated Swiss and mozzarella cheeses on top of the chicken in the pan.

Spread the mayo/sour cream mixture evenly on top.

Now bake at 350° for about an hour.

Serve up and listen to the sounds of Yum. Enjoy! ~TMMF

Creamy Swiss Chicken Bake

4-6 pieces chicken
6-8 slices Swiss cheese
   (or 1 c shredded)
¾ c mozzarella cheese
½ c mayonnaise
½ c sour cream
¾ c Parmesan cheese
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

Turkey Spinach Meatballs

Do you like meatballs? I do. As a matter of fact,  I *love* meatballs! When they’re moist and tender and loaded with yummy veggies, they are a tantalizing taste to behold. And so versatile…spaghetti and meatballs with my Easy Quick Spaghetti Sauce, Meatball Sub Casserole, Meatball Sub Soup, and much more.

When I make meatballs, I usually make a lot at one time, cook them, then bag in meal size portions and freeze. When supper time comes and I may not have anything planned (why not? am I not a “lady of leisure” at home? Hahaha), I can pull out a bag of meatballs, nuke in the microwave for a few minutes to thaw, and make meatball subs within about 30 minutes.

Yes, I *love* meatballs.

So, let’s get cooking!

Prep your veggies: dice the onion and carrots (small!) and mince the garlic. Place the spinach in a bowl with about ½ c or so water, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave for 2 or 3 minutes, then chop slightly.

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix together. This really is easier done with your hands than with a spoon. Use a 1 oz scoop to portion out evenly, then roll if you’d like. If you don’t have a scoop, just use a spoon and make them to the size you’d like and roll. My sweet daughter Megan loves to help roll the meatballs with me.

Place on a sheet pan, and bake at 350° for about 30 minutes for the 1 oz size; adjust cooking time as needed for larger or smaller meatballs.

We made meatball subs with wheat sub rolls from the thrift bread store. They’re to-die-for tasty, quick, easy, nutritious, and not expensive. Enjoy! ~TMMF

Turkey Spinach Meatballs

1 ½ lb ground turkey
1 md Vidalia onion
3 cloves garlic
2 carrots
5 oz fresh spinach
1 ½ c bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Lemony Chicken Risotto

Okay, here we are on January 19th, 2015, and 3 days ago was the second anniversary of The Magic Meal Fairy! As I said on the Facebook page, today I will give details for how to be the recipient of a unique TMMF mug of your very own. As of this moment, there are only 2 in the whole entire world. ;) More on that later.

But first, let’s talk about Lemony Chicken Risotto. This is a recipe that I got from *HelloFresh, a home delivery company for whom I did a review back in 2013. This recipe turned out as delicious as I had anticipated. Chicken, fresh asparagamoosus (Veggie Tales reference!), and risotto rice?? Good gravy marie, what more could you ask for?

So, let’s get cooking!

Cube the chicken breasts into about 1” pieces, and set aside.

Slice the asparagus into 1” cuts, finely chop the Vidalia onion, and slice the scallions thinly. Strip the leaves off the fresh thyme.

Zest the lemon. I used the small grating side of my grater.

In a large skillet, heat about 1 tablespoon of oil and sauté the asparagus for about 3 minutes, until slightly tender. Set aside in a bowl.

In the same pan, sauté the cubed chicken, stirring, until golden brown. Add to the bowl of asparagus.

In the skillet, heat 1 Tbl oil and sauté the onions and thyme. Cook for 5 minutes until softened.

Add the Arborio rice and cook for one minute. Begin adding the chicken stock, ½ cup at a time. Cook and stir until the rice absorbs the stock.

Keep adding stock about ½ cup at a time, stirring and cooking until absorbed, until the rice is al dente. Add the chicken and asparagus. Stir in the butter and lemon zest.





Serve with the sliced scallions and grated fresh parmesan cheese on top if you'd like. Enjoy! ~TMMF

Lemony Chicken Risotto
   (serves 4)

The mug!! 

2 large chicken breasts
½ md Vidalia onion
1 lb fresh asparagus
1 c Arborio rice
2 scallions (optional)
1 sprig fresh thyme
   (or ½ tsp dried thyme)
2 tsp lemon zest
2 Tbl butter
2 Tbl oil
4-5 c chicken stock
fresh grated parmesan
   (optional)


Now, for The Magic Meal Fairy’s 2nd anniversary celebration mug: Hop on over to TMMF’s Facebook page and click Like if you haven’t already. I feel it’s only fair that the winner is someone who has liked the page. Share the page’s post about this recipe, and that’s it! The names of everyone who does will go into a hat and my sweet  Megan, my daughter who has Down syndrome and is usually my cooking cohort, will reach in and pick one. The picking will be done on Friday, January 23, 2015, around 7:00 a.m. EST. Winner will be notified on The Magic Meal Fairy’s Facebook page and on here.

*if you're interested in trying out HelloFresh, my friend referral code is: 3GYSLR.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Well, another casserole for the cold weather season, and is this one ever good! I used to make Chicken Cordon Bleu at a restaurant I cooked at, and this casserole version is just the hot diggety bomb! I did not change a thing in this recipe, which came from Six Sisters’ Stuff. It is perfect as is. And I will be making this many more times over the years.

So, let’s get cooking!

You’ll need to cook some chicken for this, and it called for breasts, but I didn’t have any at the time. I did, however, have 3 or 4 chicken leg quarters, so I used those instead. Use whichever you’d like. Cut the chicken into smallish pieces.

Cube the ham you’re using. I usually buy one of those 5 lb turkey hams at the store and have some of it sliced and use some for a recipe. It’s less expensive than buying sliced ham at the deli.

Make the box of stuffing mix according to the directions and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the cream of chicken soup and the Dijon mustard.

Mix in the ham, chicken, and broccoli.

Spread in a greased 9 X 13” baking dish. Lay out the slices of Swiss cheese, cutting the 7th piece into strips to fill in the spaces.

Put the stuffing on top of all and spread out evenly to cover the top.





Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes, making sure the broccoli is just tender. Serve and enjoy! ~TMMF

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

1 box chicken stuffing mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 Tbl Dijon mustard
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 c fresh broccoli florets
   (or 1 lb frozen)
2 c (chopped) ham
6-7 slices Swiss cheese

Linguine with Chicken and Zucchini Salsa

So, here we are with my Linguine with Chicken and Zucchini Salsa. This is the recipe I submitted to HelloFresh for their recipe contest this summer, and mine was the winning recipe. What an exciting honor for me! My recipe went into their boxes for the week of September 15th, with my recipe on their recipe card and my name and how I came up with the recipe for it.

Though they changed the name of the recipe, it’s still the recipe I submitted, adjusted to use grape tomatoes instead of a regular tomato as I did. I’m putting the recipe here as I originally had it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did creating it and eating it!

So, let’s get cooking!

First, remove any excess fat from the chicken breast and cube into 1 inch chunks. Squeeze the lime for the juice. Place chicken in a bowl with 1 Tbl olive oil, juice from ½ a lime, and ½ tsp red pepper flakes. Marinate for 10 minutes.

While the meat is marinating, dice the zucchini, onion, green bell pepper, and tomato. Mince the garlic and chop the fresh cilantro.

Start the water boiling for the linguine. Set a skillet on the stove on medium high heat. When hot, sauté the marinated chicken until just cooked and tender, about 6 minutes or so, stirring frequently. Place chicken and juices in a bowl and set aside.

Start cooking the linguine; cook for roughly 10 minutes until al dente, stirring frequently.

Heat skillet again with ½ Tbl olive oil. Now in the skillet, cook the onions and peppers, stirring almost constantly, for a minute.

Add the zucchini and cook another minute, stirring. Add the tomatoes and garlic, cooking about 1 ½ minutes, continuing to stir.

Add the other 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes and the sugar. Add the cooked chicken along with juices and the cilantro and heat through (about a minute more).

Drain the linguine. Serve the chicken and zucchini salsa mixture over a serving of linguine.

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Linguine with Chicken and Zucchini Salsa

2 chicken breast
1 small zucchini
1 lg tomato
½ Vidalia onion
½ green bell pepper
1 lg clove garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes, divided
1 lime
1 1/2  Tbl oil
2 Tbl fresh cilantro
½ tsp sugar
4 oz linguine