A Week of Pinterest Cooking

A few weeks ago I set out to cook a new Pinterest meal every night for a week straight.  To be fair, it took me more than a week because I ended up not being home every night, but I did successfully try all 5 recipes I had planned to use.  Some were better than others, but all were tasty and I'm happy to have added some of them into my regular cooking routine. 

Night 1:  Salsa Chicken Crockpot inspiration.  This has become one of my favorite meals, especially for nights when I'm away because it's so easy to make just enough for one person, or I can have leftovers for lunch.  Here's how I made it:

Ingredients:
Chicken- use as much as you need, I generally use 2-3 chicken breasts
1- can of corn
1- can of kidney beans
1- jar of salsa
1- jar of water (just fill one of the empty jars, this helps keep things moist.)

Instructions: mix together in the crockpot, cook for 6-8 hours on low.  Serve over rice (I use the boil in bag brown rice) and sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.

Here's what it looks like before I cooked it.  I made this for Jim one night when I wasn't going to be home for dinner so I sadly didn't get a picture of it when it was ready to eat.  It's so flavorful, and the chicken is wicked moist.  It doesn't get much easier or better than this!

Night 2: Buffalo Chicken Casserole inspiration.  I used some of the left overs from night 1 to make night 2 since it's basically the same thing, just in a casserole.  Here's how I made it:

Ingredients:
Cubed, cooked chicken breasts (I cooked mine on the stove top and covered it in buffalo sauce as I cooked it)
1- can of corn
1- jar of salsa
1- bag of boil in a bag rice
Shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions: Cook the rice, then layer it in an 8x8 pan that's been sprayed with non stick spray.  Toss the chicken on top, cover in the salsa and rice.  Put as much cheese on the top as you'd like.  I love cheese but hate blue cheese, so we put a lot of cheddar and none of the dressing on top.  I think this would also be delicious with ranch dressing.  Pop it in the oven on 350 for 30 minutes and enjoy. 

Again, Jim got to enjoy this one since I was out, so I don't have an after picture, but it still looks really tasty!  Also, this was enough for him to have for dinner and for lunch, so if you're cooking for 1 or 2, this is a great sized recipe.

Night 3: Honey Balsamic Chicken Tenders inspiration. A super simple, Asian inspired meal!  Here's how I did it:
Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breasts
Balsamic Vinegar
Honey
Ginger

Instructions: slice the breasts into long strips, pour into a Ziploc bag with the vinegar.  Let sit in the fridge for at least 20 minutes so soak in the flavor.  Once the chicken has marinated for the desired time cook on the stove top with a little extra vinegar and ginger (per instructions on website.)  Once the chicken is cooked, remove from pan and add in honey to the remaining drippings.  Let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes then toss the chicken back in to coat in the sauce.  I served mine over rice (again the brown boil in a bag rice) and some carrots.  The only thing I would as is maybe more ginger, but I love the taste of ginger!  Finally a picture of a finished meal!

Night 4: Zesty Italian Chicken inspiration.  Another super easy recipe in a crock pot!  Can you tell that I love easy and my crockpot?

Ingredients:
Cubed Chicken
2- cans cream of chicken soup
8 oz softened cream cheese
1- packet of zesty Italian salad dressing
Pasta of your choice

Instructions: Combine the cream cheese and soup on the stove top, it only takes about 10 minutes.  Put the chicken in the crock pot, cover with the seasoning packet and then mix in the sauce mixture.  Cook on low for 4-5 hours, this is a good one for the weekend or when someone is home, if you let it sit on warm it will burn a little on the edges.  Serve over your cooked pasta.  Delicious!

Night 5: Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole Inspiration. I LOVE Chicken Cordon Bleu so this was a great one to try out.  Jim doesn't like Swiss so I make mine slightly different.

Ingredients:
Cubed Chicken- cooked
1/2 lb sliced ham
1/2 lb cheddar cheese slices
For the sauce:
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
3 1/4 cups Milk
1 tbsp mustard
For the "crust":
6 tbsp butter
1 1/2 bread crumbs

Instructions:  Butter the bottom of the casserole pan, layer in the chicken, then ham, then cheese.  In a sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Whisk in the flour and cook til it begins to bubble.  Then slowly stir in milk, until the sauce thickens, then add in mustard.  Bring the sauce to a boil and remove from heat.  Pour the sauce over the casserole. Melt the last 6 tbsp of butter and blend with bread crumbs.  Crumble that over the top to create a crust.  Bake on 350 for about 20 minutes- until the top is lightly browned. 

I served mine with potato's and carrots, and probably would try a different kind of crust because mine was just soggy, although it was still delicious!

There you have it!  5 nights, 5 Pinterest inspired meals, 5 success stories.  I'd say my favorite was the chicken cordon bleu but they were all fantastic, I can't complain about any of them. 

Have you ever done a week of Pinterest cooking?
What's your favorite recipe that you've tried from the site?