Bacon-Ranch Chicken

Well I got the idea from here…”Ranch Style Chicken”…sounds good, right?  And it probably is, but it really isn’t “Ranch”-y as in Ranch seasoning.  I think the name of the dish just kind of came from the fact that the author lives on a ranch.  This is fine, and I am sure her version is delicious.  However, I decided to make ours Bacon-Ranch Chicken as in Bacon, Ranch seasoning, and chicken!  Of course, I did not come up with the idea on my own either…but I googled “Ranch Chicken,” I believe it was, and this is what I found and came up with!

Cook some bacon.  Coat your chicken breasts with liquid Ranch salad dressing, then in dredge in bread crumbs.  Fry the coated chicken in the grease from the bacon (I know, I know…so unhealthy!)  Then, after a few minutes on both sides, when your chicken has some good color, place in an oven-safe dish and bake for about ten minutes or until cooked through.  Take out of the oven, place two slices of bacon on top of each chicken breast, and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.  Place the pan back into the oven until the cheese is melted.  (You can turn on the broiler for a few seconds if necessary to melt the cheese more quickly…watch it, though!  It burns food real fast!)  Remove chicken from oven, call your husband, thank God for it, and devour!

If you want to be extra unhealthy, deep fry some thinly sliced onion for Onion Strings!

Chicken Parmigiana

Since I am reorganizing my life and actually planning menus and grocery lists for a change –starting this week, that is –I decided to try Pioneer Woman‘s Chicken Parmigiana.  You can find the recipe here.  It looked delicious, and it had Dustin’s name written all over it!

I think the only variations were splitting the recipe in half since there are only two in our household, eyeing some amounts instead of precisely measuring them, not beating the chicken breasts thin, and adding chicken broth in place of wine.

Here’s how it turned out!

Observations:

1. Next time I would half or quarter the amount of sugar, as I thought it was too sweet.

2. Dustin likes a bit of sugar in the sauce, something I did not discover until today!

3. It would be nice to pound the chicken thinner as the recipe says to do next time.

4. This recipe uses LOTS of dishes!  *Note to self: Hire a maid next time this meal comes around!

I also made a variation of PW’s Garlic Cheese Bread to accompany the Chicken Parmesan.  I had to vary the recipe since Dustin doesn’t like mayonnaise!  It turned out alright, but it is probably best to stick to the exact recipe.  Maybe we can just come up with our own recipe for a cheesy garlic bread next time!

Altogether, it was a delicious meal, and Dustin really liked the Chicken Parmesan especially!

“Hm, hm, good!”