Greek Chicken Orzo Skillet

Remember a million years ago when I made a crap ton of chicken and froze it into different meals (AKA power cooking)? Well, I finally tried one of them. I was scared, I admit it. But it actually came out ok! It's not the epitome of haute cuisine by any means, but definitely better than any other store bought frozen microwaved dinner shenanigans (although I don't know how Weight Watchers does it, but their Smart Ones Three Cheese Ziti is delicious, cheesy, yet low in points heaven - get on it).

Also, Pampered Chef wasn't joking when they said this would make 6 servings - it's 6 large servings, and to be honest with you, I was sick of it after eating it for the third meal in a row. But I also get sick of foods very quickly. Unlike my dear friend Nicole, God love her, who ate the same Chicken Tikka Masala from the same Indian place everyday for a month straight while we were studying for the California Bar Exam. She passed; I didn't. Maybe there was something in the curry.

But I digress - to rehash, here's the recipe from my previous post:

Greek Chicken Orzo Skillet

To prepare and freeze:
1 portion Make-Ahead Chicken
2 medium zucchini, cut into ¼-in. pieces
1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (14 oz) garlic and onion flavored diced tomatoes
3 tbsp Greek Rub (substitute with lemon zest, dried oregano, and pepper)
To finish and serve:
2 cans (14 oz each) chicken broth
½ cup water
1 lb uncooked orzo
2 oz crumbled feta cheese
½ cup coarsely chopped pitted kalamata olives (optional)
1. Prepare and freeze

In Bag 1, combine chicken and zucchini.

In Bag 2, combine beans, tomatoes and rub.

Seal Bag 2 and place into Bag 1; seal. Freeze for up to three months.


2. Finish and serve!

To cook and serve from freezer:

Add contents of Bag 2, broth and water to (12-in.) Skillet; cover and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook 8-10 minutes or until mixture comes to a simmer, breaking contents apart as necessary using Bamboo Spatula.
Reduce heat to medium; add orzo. Cover and cook 5 minutes (or halfway through cooking time, according to package directions), stirring occasionally.

Add contents of Bag 1. Cover and cook 5-7 minutes or until orzo is tender and zucchini begins to soften. Remove from heat; top with feta cheese. Sprinkle with olives, if desired.

So let's begin, shall we?

The ingredients: my bag of frozen stuff (as prepared earlier), chicken broth, orzo, feta, olives (not pictured - they're shy).

Add the frozen hunk of bag 2 to some water and chicken broth, cover, and bring to a simmer. It looks kinda sketchy right now. I was nervous.

But then it all melts and looks like this - soup! Reduce heat and dump in the entire box of orzo, cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Now, add the other bag, cover, and cook for 5-7 more minutes.

And voila...this is starting to look pretty edible, amirite people? At this point I did a taste test and it was a little bland, so I added some salt and pepper to taste.

Now sprinkle on the feta and olives, and serve.

Blogging FAIL

I haven't posted since August 4....which is almost 20 days of blogging failure. Sorry folks! It was crazy at work, then I got sick, then it was my birthday, then then then then. (Cue the sad trombone noise). I will be back at it this week with more random foodstuffs and rants.

I'm Way Overdue for Some Dessert!

There's entirely too much chicken and bacon being cooked in my apartment - I need to bake and post more desserts. A thousand apologies, faithful readers! Although it might be because when I cook desserts, I tend to eat my body weight in them without restraint (as does my husband). Not good.

I have a couple of those dry cookie mixes from Betty Crocker sitting in my pantry (it's actually a coat closet converted into a pantry because I live in a crappy apartment - it's super ghetto and I call it my "hoarder closet". Maybe if convinced I will post a pic of it so you can all point and laugh). The mixes are surprisingly tasty and very easy, usually requiring only some water, an egg and oil or butter.

Mike loves peanut butter, so I grabbed a quick recipe online at Betty Crocker for Layered Peanut Butter Bars that uses one of the cookie mixes as a base. You could certainly whip up your own peanut butter cookie base from scratch if you are so compelled, but um, I'm lazy and ME WANT COOKIES.

Hi, friends!

Mix the cookie ingredients together until it starts to form a ball.

Press into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan, pop it into a 350 degree oven, and bake for 15-18 mins.

Once the cookie is done, let cool completely and resist the urge to feast upon it. I never said baking was easy, people.

Now beat the sugar, milk, butter and peanut butter until smooth and then spread on top of the cookie. This whipped stuff is no short of awesome, next time I make the recipe, I'm doubling it!

Next, melt the butter and chocolate chips in the microwave, then spread over cookie and whipped layer. Let the chocolate firm up in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until you can bear it no longer!

Dig in.


Layered Peanut Butter Bars

Cookie Base

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® peanut butter cookie mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 egg

Filling
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk

Frosting
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.

In large bowl, stir all Cookie Base ingredients until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan using floured fingers. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

In small bowl, beat all Filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over cookie base.

In microwavable bowl, microwave all Frosting ingredients on High 30 seconds; stir until smooth. Cool 10 minutes; spread over filling. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until set. For bars, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows.