Chicken Tacos

Made this a few nights ago and we really liked it and it was pretty easy to make.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken strips

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

4 taco shells

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into thin strips (omitted this since we are not fans of peppers or onions)

1 cup barbecue baked beans (from 16 oz can)

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

4 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled

Directions:

Heat oven to 4oo degrees. In small bowl, toss chicken strips with cumin and paprika to coat. In 8 inch square baking dish, stand taco shells side by side.

Fill each shell evenly with seasoned chicken. Divide pepper strips evenly over chicken. Top each with 1/4 cup baked beans and 1/4 cup cheese. Sprinkle with bacon.

Bake 8 minutes or until thoroughly heated and cheese is melted.

Serve with Mexican rice and/or more baked beans. Enjoy.

Pizza Soup

This has been a recipe I cook up occasionally, especially when it is chilly out. It's yummy, hot and super easy.

Ingredients:

2 cans (10-3/4 oz each) condensed tomato soup

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

1 cup uncooked tiny pasta shells

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Combine soup, 2 soup cans of water, garlic powder and oregano in small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add pasta. Cook 8 minutes or until pasta is tender. Stir in cheese. Cook until cheese melts. Ladle soup into bowls. Serve.



Serves about 4 people.

Total time: 15-20 minutes

Maria's Chicken Enchiladas

I got this recipe from a friend a month or two ago and am finally got around to making it tonight. And let me tell you, this is a WOW dish! Absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:

2, 4 oz cans diced green chili peppers, drained

1, 8 oz cream cheese softened

1 Tbsp milk

1 cup milk

3 chicken breasts

1/4 tsp ground cumin (can also add cayenne pepper-I used about 1/8 tsp or less)

Burrito sized tortillas

1, 10-3/4 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1, 8 oz sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp butter

Directions:

Heat oven to 350.

Boil water with salt in a large pot. Add chicken. Cook chicken about 10-15 minutes on medium-high heat until thoroughly cooked. Pull chicken out and set on plate, season with salt and pepper. Chop. Set aside.

In skillet, melt butter. Stir in 1 can green chili peppers.

In medium mixing bowl, combine: cream cheese, 1 Tbsp milk and cumin. Add green chili peppers from skillet. Add chicken. Add cheddar cheese. Stir until well combined. Spoon mixture onto each tortilla and roll up. Place filled tortillas in greased baking dish.

In medium bowl, mix soup, sour cream, 1 cup milk and 1 can green chili peppers. Pour evenly over tortillas. Cover with foil. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil. Sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese and bake for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Chili

I know I haven't posted any new recipes recently, but I have not forgotten about this site, just haven't found any really good recipes. I have cooked a few other meals, but they were all busts.

Tonight I cooked chili, and although it wasn't one of my favorites, it was pretty good. Just felt like it was missing something. Here is the recipe, I will most likely make this again but first I have to figure out what could give this dish the "wow" factor.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb lean ground beef (I used 1 lb tonight, but will cut it down next time)

2 cups red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can condensed tomato soup

1 soup can water

2-3 tsp chili powder

Shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Cook beef over medium heat about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown, drain. Stir in remaining ingredients, except cheese. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Ladle chili into bowls. Sprinkle with cheese. Serve.

Clam Chowder

This is another recipe I found in one of my magazines a couple of years ago and has quickly turned into my husband's favorite recipe. I could cook this every week and my husband would still be excited about this dish.

Ingredients:

4 strips bacon (I use twice this amount, because we are huge bacon eaters around here, haha), cut up into small pieces

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2-1/2 Tbsp flour

1, 8 oz bottle clam juice

3 cups milk

1 large potato, peeled and cut

Hot sauce

2 cans chopped clams, drained

2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley (however, I sometimes use the dried parsley instead of fresh)

Salt

Directions:

Combine bacon and oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until fat is drawn out of bacon, about 4 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes. Pour in clam juice and bring to a boil, stirring well. Add milk, potato, clams and a dash of hot sauce. Season with salt. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are fork-tender, 10-12 minutes. Ladle chowder into bowls. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve.

*What I have found to make things easier is to have everything all ready, all chopped clams drained, potato peeled and chopped, bacon chopped, milk already measured. When I first made this, I was stressed out trying to do everything when I had already started making the dish, which made things harder on myself (like trying to chop the potato when it needed to already be chopped and in the pot). I know it's probably one of those, it's common knowledge to do that, but hey, I'm still learning and thought to pass that along.

Taco Melts

Ok, so I found this recipe on a free calendar I had requested through Pillsbury a few weeks ago. Didn't think it would be this good of a recipe, but my husband loved it and told me so after the first bite.

Ingredients:

1 package taco seasoning mix

2/3 cup water

1-1/2 cups salsa

1 lb lean ground beef, COOKED, drained (I only use caps on cooked because I made the mistake of overlooking this)

1 can Pillsbury Grands refrigerated biscuits (I used buttermilk)

*3/4 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

*1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

*(OR 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend)

1 cup sour cream, if desired

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In medium saucepan, cook taco seasoning mix, water, 1/2 cup of the salsa and COOKED ground beef until thickened.

Press each biscuit flat, until thinned out. Fill each with taco mixture and 1 tablespoon cheese. Fold dough over filling and press to seal. (I used a fork to seal the edges). Place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake 9-14 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with remaining salsa, cheese and sour cream.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

I had this recipe sitting in my old book for forever, but decided to finally make it tonight and it turned out pretty well. Although the biggest downside is that it requires 3 pots, but it was good and got the approval of my hubby so it is definitely something I will make again.

Ingredients:

2 cups of Penne pasta
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (I used the Kraft grated Parmesan located by the spaghetti sauces)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-1/2 Tbsp Cajun spice blend
1/4 Cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook Penne according to directions.

In another pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour, stir for 1 minute. Add half & half, stir until thickened, about 4-6 minutes. Remove from heat, add Parmesan, salt and pepper. Cover.

Place chicken between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Pound with the flat side of a meat tenderizer to 1/2 inch thickness. Rub Cajun and Cayenne spices over chicken. Warm oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, turning once, until no longer pink. 6-8 minutes. Slice chicken.

In the large pot, toss pasta with sauce. Pour pasta and sauce into separate bowls/plates. Top with chicken. Enjoy!

Chicken Spaghetti

This is an old-time favorite of mine and has quickly become a hit at our home. It's a great, one pot recipe and very flavorful.

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb spaghetti pasta
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 lb Velveeta
1 can Rotel

Directions:
Boil chicken in large pot of water with a pinch of salt. Cook chicken for about 15-20 minutes, or until completely cooked. Remove chicken. Boil noodles in the water left over from chicken, drain. Pull chicken apart into tiny chunks. Cut cheese into small chunks and melt in pan. Combine in large pot: chicken, noodles, cheese, soup and Rotel. Mix well.

*If a little dry, add some water. If you are going to refrigerate leftovers, you also probably want to add a bit of water to the pasta before placing it in the refrigerator.

BLT Sandwiches

Just made these sandwiches this morning and had it for lunch, it is pretty good. Great and easy for lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:
1 can Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations refrigerated seamless dough sheet OR already sliced sourdough bread

1/2 cup cheddar-monterey jack cheese blend, shredded

6-8 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/2 shredded lettuce

Tomatoes

Directions:

If making the dough, heat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll the dough on work surface. Cut into desired amount of squares (if it's just two people, cut into 8 squares. However it can be cut into 24 if needed). Bake 8-10 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix cheese, bacon and mayonnaise. Place cheese-bacon mixture on top of half of the rolls or slices of bread. Top with lettuce and sliced tomatoes, then top with remaining roll/slice of bread.

That's it! I made the bread with the dough this morning, but plan on just using sourdough bread in the future as it's just not worth the expense of buying 7 cans of dough a week. Like I said, I made it in the morning, bagged it up and microwaved it for about 20-30 seconds and presto! a nice warm sandwich. :-)