Italian Chicken - Saw It/Made It

On the third Friday of each month Frugal Foodie Mama is hosting Pin & Link Up Fridays. The goal is for participants to make, bake, grill, or create a recipe or kitchen project that they pinned to one of their Pinterest boards. 


This week I made Italian Chicken from Crock-a-doodle-do in my crock pot. This is what the meal looked like that I made:

 

Potatoes and carrots cooked with the chicken in the crock pot.

Dinner looked like this:

The meal cooked during the afternoon and while the girls were at equine vaulting. When we came back home, the house smelled wonderful! Usually I'm scrambling to make something quick for dinner. This was a welcome change.


Everyone liked the meal and said they would eat it again. Each component was very tender and could be cut with a fork. 


To find the pin on Pinterest, click HERE. The recipe for Italian Chicken is:

Ingredients:


4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
16-ounce Bottle of Italian Dressing (I made homemade Italian Dressing because I didn't have any pre-made dressing on hand - the recipe is at the end)
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
Italian Seasoning (I used basil from the garden that I dried whole; and crumbled it before putting it in the crock-pot)
4-6 Potatoes, scrubbed cut in half or wedges (you can peel if desired) (I peeled six russet potatoes and cut them in wedges)
1/2 bag of mini carrots (I peeled and cut 6 carrots into smaller pieces)

Directions:

• Spray crock pot with Pam.
• Squirt a small amount of Italian dressing at bottom of crock-pot.
• Place two chicken breasts in crock.
• Pour some of the Italian dressing on the chicken.
• Sprinkle half of cheese onto the chicken.
• Sprinkle Italian seasoning onto the chicken.
• Place next two chicken breasts into crock-pot, if possible not directly on top of the first breasts.
• Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of chicken.
• Pour carrots on top.
• Pour more of the Italian dressing on top of chicken and carrots.
• Sprinkle Italian seasoning onto the chicken and carrots.
• Place potatoes on top.
• Pour the remaining Italian dressing on the potatoes.
• Sprinkle Italian seasoning on the potatoes.
• Cook on low for 6-8 hours. (I cooked on high for 5 1/2 hours because I forgot to put it on in the morning.)

Homemade Italian Dressing
(from Betty Crocker's 40th Anniversary Edition Cookbook)


Ingredients:

1 cup olive or vegetable oil
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard (I used liquid mustard)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves (I used dried)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves (I used basil since I didn't have oregano on hand)
2 cloves garlic, crushed (I used the equivalent in dried garlic)


Directions:

Shake all  ingredients in a tightly-covered container. Shake before serving.

Note: For the Italian Chicken recipe, I needed to double the Italian Dressing recipe in order to make 16 ounces.