Alice Springs Chicken

Are you surprised to see a new post?  This is what preschool can do for a mom.  It's a free two hours a few days a week.  FREE MOM TIME!!! In order to ensure I stay productive during this newly found free time, I have set a goal to post a recipe every week.

Part of my incentive for this is since I have stopped posting, we had a child diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  In an effort to feed her better, we measure, calculate, and ultimately search for as many healthy low carb recipes as we can find so when we are enjoying brownies and ice cream or a birthday cake, we can balance her better.  The good news is this is an all around better thing for the whole family. The bad news is, I didn't plan properly the fact this meant I needed to take photos for the recipe post this week.  But alas, you are in luck, because the recipes I am posting have come from other magnificent recipe sources.

So today's feature you are going to absolutely LOVE.  It  is an Alice Springs Chicken copycat recipe.  If you have never had this delightful dish from the Outback Steakhouse, you have no idea why a copycat recipe would be so exciting.  We have made this for company, my parents, my in-laws, and it's one that we are asked to make again and again.   It is gluten free as written, so that's another plus.  I'm linking you back to her recipe.  It is amazing and she is not kidding when she says the sauce is perfect!

We pretty much follow the recipe as is with some minor adjustments.  We have a large family, so we double the sauce, make a 9x13 pan with about 8 chicken breast halves cut in half.  Why you may ask?  Well, most half breasts weigh in around 6-7 ounces. 3 ounces of chicken is plenty for the little ones, and if an adult wants six ounces of chicken, he or she takes two.  It's easier than having a half eaten breast on the plate.  Second, we have picky kids, so one pan is made without mushrooms.  I have found when doing this there is a lot less moisture in the pan.  To help counteract this issue we do not reserve any of the sauce.  Half goes over each 9x13 dish.  We also add the cheese the last ten minutes of cooking.

As far as freezer meals are concerned, the only thing we do is cut the chicken and freeze it.  The mushrooms have such a high water content I'm not sure how they would hold up after freezing.  Regardless, ones the chicken has been trimmed and cut, throwing the meal together is really just a matter of minutes.  We've been known to have this meal on the table in 45 minutes including the time it takes to preheat the oven. Enjoy!

Just in case there are ever any problems with the link, here is the recipe from The Dinner Mom.  Check her out!

Alice Springs Chicken

• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Seasoning Salt
• 1 cup Honey Mustard Sauce (recipe below)
• 4 slices bacon, cooked
• 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese,Colby jack or cheese substitute, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Layer mushrooms in the bottom of a baking dish.
3. Add chicken and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
4. Top with bacon and about ¾ of the honey mustard sauce. Reserve about ¼ of the sauce to serve on the side (the reserved sauce should never touch raw chicken.)
5. Sprinkle cheese over the top.
6. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

 

Honey Mustard Sauce

• ¾ cup mayonnaise or vegan substitute
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

Use beaters to mix mayonnaise, honey and Dijon mustard until well-combined.