Ranch Chicken and Cheesey Potatoes.

Here’s one of Harold’s favorite meals.  And, as with all the recipes I make, it’s pretty quick and simple.  It can be assembled in 20 minutes, and done baking in under an hour.  So if you want to eat at 6pm, start this about 10 minutes until 5 and you’ll be golden…or if you’re busy, the potatoes can be assembled the night before and stored in the fridge, and that cuts your prep time considerably, so you could just throw the dish in the cold oven, then turn it on to pre-heat and start cooking the potatoes while you do the chicken…whatever works!

Cheesey Potatoes

1 2lb bag frozen diced potatoes (often called southern style, but don’t get the ones with onions and peppers, unless you like onions and peppers in stuff)

1 16oz container of sour cream

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 cups of milk

2 cups (give or take) of shredded cheese (I like cheddar).  Save 2/3 for the top.

salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Pour potatoes (still frozen) in a 9×13 baking dish.  Combine all other ingredients in large mixing bowl (mix it up, but don’t fuss too much, there will still be sour cream hunks – don’t sweat it).  Pour mixture over potatoes.  Mix around until the potatoes are covered.  Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.  Put in oven.  Baking times are approximate, so 45 min to an hour.  Depending on how fast you get your chicken done.  If you’re using whole chicken breasts, don’t put these in the oven until you’re done with your chicken.  Put them in at the same time.

Ranch Chicken (start this once you put the potatoes in the oven)

4-6 chicken breasts in strips (boneless-skinless, and they actually sell them in strips already, nice.  Also, if you want to use whole breasts, increase the baking time to 1 hour.)

1.5-2 cups bread crumbs (seasoned or unseasoned, it doesn’t matter)

1 package DRY ranch dressing mix

1 stick butter

Melt butter in one dish.  In second dish, combine bread crumbs and ranch mix.  Dip chicken in butter, then ranch crumbs.  Put in baking dish or greased pan.  When I bake whole breasts I use a 9×13 dish.  When I do strips or tenderloins, I use a pan.  I don’t know why.  Maybe because they fit better?  Regardless.  Once chicken is covered and in dish/pan, put in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes (or one hour if you do whole breasts).  And, by the time you get this in the oven for that amount of time, you can actually take the potatoes and chicken out at the same time – yay for good timing in cooking!

Dinner is served.  We like ours with green beans or peas or asparagus.  Something green anyway.