Last week, I told Nicole that over the weekend I would post a few recipes for meals that the whole family would gladly eat.  Well, the weekend got away from me and here I am finally composing this post.  Here’s the thing though: what follows aren’t exactly recipes, they’re more like methods.  The only time I ever follow recipes are when I’m baking or when I’m trying something for the first time.  Once I’ve made a dish a time or two I sort of learn to finagle it and customize it to our tastes.  You guys do that too right?

Pretzel Crusted Chicken Nuggets

What ya need:
1 bag of pretzels (sticks, twisted, whatever)
Worcestershire sauce
butter (the real thing not that nasty margarine crap)
boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces
dipping sauce

What ya do:
Pour about half a bag of pretzels into a big ‘ol Ziploc bag and smash ‘em to smithereens with the smooth end of a meat tenderizer.  Or the back of a skillet, whatever you have handy.  Melt a few tablespoons of butter in the micro.  Add a teaspoon or two (I warned you that I don’t follow recipes, sorry) of Worcestershire sauce and mix well.  Put the chicken peices into the butter mixture and make sure they get all gooed up.  Once they are properly gooed, drop them all into the bag of pretzel crumbs and toss to coat.  Spread in one layer onto a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.  We always serve them with french fries and a salad and they are a big hit with the whole family.

Chicken Salad Pita Sandwiches

What ya need:
2 or more pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts
Red seedless grapes
Miracle Whip
Dijonaise mustard
Almonds
Paprika
Chopped parsley
Whole wheat pita pockets
Red leaf lettuce

What ya do:
Boil the chicken and then chop it up nice and fine (with your Pampered Chef food chopper if you’re lucky enough to have one).  Slice the grapes in half and chop the almonds.  In a small bowl, mix together some Miracle Whip (you decide how much depending on whether or not you like a mustard based sauce or a mayo based one) and dijonaise mustard.  Mix the mustard/mayo mix into the chicken and add the grapes, parsley and almonds.  Cut the pitas in half and put a couple leaves of lettuce in each one.  Add the chicken salad by the scoopful.  Sprinkle some paprika on the top and enjoy! 
*I think this one is best when the chicken salad has had time to chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Okay, this one sounds weird but I’ve never heard anybody say they didn’t love it.  You’ve been warned.

Chicken Stacky Uppy

What ya need:
Cooked brown rice
2 Cooked and chopped boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (do you see a theme here?)
A can of cream of chicken soup
Celery
Red Pepper
Pineapple (canned or fresh but I prefer the latter)
Tomatoes
Colby Jack cheese
Lo Mein Noodles
Coconut
Chopped Almonds

What ya do:
Prepare the brown rice (or white if you aren’t into health.  Your loss.)  Prepare the soup according to directions.  Add the chopped chicken to the soup.  Wipe your brow and complain about the difficulty of this recipe.  Moving right along now…
Cut the celery into thin slices, dice the red pepper, chop the pineapple and tomatoes.  Put all of those things as well as the cheese, noodles, coconut, and almonds into individual bowls and put them on the table.  To serve: add a scoopful of rice into a cereal bowl and then put a ladleful or two of the soup/chicken mixture on top of it.  Let everybody sprinkle their own “toppings” on it at the table.  Whambamthankyoumam you are done!

I told you this one sounds weird.  It really is quite good though, and makes for a light summer meal.  And it’s nice because it is customizable to please picky eaters.