A few chicken and beef ideas

I have no grand title for the first recipe I'm sharing, because this is simply how I make beef in my crock pot all the time... it was passed along to me by my Mom... and you can also use this same recipe with bone-in split chicken breast in the slow cooker...

I usually buy certified angus beef round, boneless bottom round steak at Meijer... since I buy such a small cut, I only pay about $3.50 or less for it... and it's just enough for Chris & I (the girls won't eat beef this way, so it works for us to only buy a small piece).


And now for the recipe part -- we take one beef bouillion cube and dissolve it in 1 cup boiling water. (Maya helped me with this part...) I pour the broth over the beef and then sprinkle (just enough to cover the meat) some pepper, seasoned salt, minced onions and minced garlic. (If you're making chicken in the slow cooker, I use the same seasonings, but I use a chicken bouillion cube instead of beef).
I let the meat cook on low all day long and it's wonderful at dinner time! With both chicken and beef, you can use the broth in the cooker and make some wonderful gravy with it! I usually put some of the broth in a saucepan, heat it until boiling, and then slowly add a mixture of flour & water, all the while stirring, until the gravy is as thick as I'd like. (Sorry I don't measure anything!)

Saucy Parmesan Chicken This recipe is taken from kraftfoods.com by clicking on the address below!

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/saucy-parmesan-chicken-107318.aspx

I had some chicken in the fridge and wanted to make something different, but simple.. and this recipe was it! It turned out really good, but ours didn't look anything like the picture. I even ate the leftover chicken for lunch the next day, by cutting it up and sprinkling it on top of tortilla chips with some shredded cheese sprinkled on top of that and it became delicious chicken nacho's! :)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup KRAFT Light Zesty Italian Dressing
1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)

MIX dressing and cheese; pour over chicken in shallow dish. Turn chicken over to evenly coat both sides of each breast. (I simply threw the chicken in a ziplock bag with the mixture & marinated it this way.)

REFRIGERATE 30 min. to marinate, turning breasts over after 15 min.

HEAT oven to 425ºF. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Place chicken on foil-covered baking sheet. Bake 20 min. or until done (165ºF).