Recipe: Fiesta Chicken *

I have to admit, I do LOVE to cook.
I love to BAKE even more. But, more about that later.

One of my 2011 resolutions is to PLAN better. For me that means planning ahead for meals and making less trips to the Drive-thru.

I'm still in my planning phase but my ultimate goal is to have 1-2 weeks of meals planned ahead with all of the ingredients on hand.

What is at stake? TIME, MONEY, FAMILY & HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

This will take me a while to build my "supply" of meat and ingredients that I have on hand but in the long run the TIME I will save from running to the grocery store will really pay off. I will also save my family a lot of MONEY by cooking at home more during the week. We will also eat a lot more HEALTHIER and enjoy FAMILY time together at the table.

Along the way I'll share my recipes and my family's feedback.

Up this week: Fiesta Chicken

I found the recipe online HERE


(photo by Amy)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
8 chicken drumsticks or thighs (8 drumsticks = about 2-1/2 lb) (I used 6)
1 cup long-grain white rice, uncooked
2 cans (10 oz each) Ro*Tel® Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained
1 can (8 oz each) Hunt's® Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions, divided
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook until golden brown on all sides, turning occasionally. Remove chicken from skillet; keep warm.

2. Add rice to drippings in skillet; stir to coat. Cook over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes or until rice browns a bit, stirring occasionally. Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, water and about half of the onions; blend well. Bring to a boil. Top with chicken; cover. Reduce heat to low; simmer 20 minutes or until drumsticks are no longer pink in center and juices run clear (180°F).
3. Sprinkle chicken with cheese and the remaining onions; cover. Cook an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts, liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

THE FEEDBACK: Too Spicy! Rating 2 out of 10

NOTES: I think that the Ro-Tel "original" with green chilies was what made this too spicy for us. If we make this again, I will tone down the recipe by using just one can of Rotel Mild mix.

TIPS: When making this meal, I found that my Chicken Drumsticks were bleeding during the browning stage! YUCK! I did a quick GOOGLE search and found that if you soak the chicken drumsticks in Salted Water prior to cooking you can avoid this! WOOHOO

HERE is a link to more ideas to stop the chicken from bleeding via Yahoo Answers.