Chicken Chimichangas

Chicken Chimichangas are one of my favorite’s that I order from our local Mexican restaurant. They are so flavorful and I love the mixture of cheese and chicken. I came across a recipe, which I heavily adapted to fit my food allergy, and also the recipe I found was more a crock pot meal, I made it into non crock pot meal. It was a much lighter version of what you would get in a traditional mexican restaurant. It was pretty good!

Ingredients:

2 boneless chicken breast

4 ounces green chilies

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

4 tortilla shells

1 cup shredded Mexican cheese

8 ounces salsa verde

1 cup sour cream

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Bring a medium saucepan to a boil, place in chicken breast and boil for about 10 minutes. Once done and cooked through, shred the chicken.
3. Add the cumin, onion powder, garlic, and the chiles to the shredded chicken. Mix well.
4. Add the cheese, mixing well again.
5. Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray.
6. Fill each tortilla with the chicken mixture, roll the tortilla up, tucking in the ends, and place seam side down, repeat for next three tortillas. Spray the tops and sides of the filled tortillas with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. In a small saucepan, combine the salsa verde and sour cream.  Mix well and cook over medium heat until warmed.
8. Serve the chimichanges with the salsa verde mixture over top.

Enjoy!

Adapted from The Cookaholic Wife

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Crock Pot Thursday-Salsa Chicken Bowls

Yesterday was rainy, cold and just not a nice day, so spending extra time cuddling with Kiley on the couch, was nice as this meal was able to simmer all day in the crock pot. If you remember almost 2 years ago, I made this Salsa Chicken, you could easily follow this same recipe, or use the one I just made last night. Both are full of flavor and have just enough kick for me. Chris added some hot sauce we picked up in St. Lucia to his, but I really don’t think the dish needs any more flavor! I’ll apologize for the picture, I had to take with my I-phone because my SD card was missing, but now it’s found, I left in my computer! Duh, pregnancy brain =)

Ingredients:

4-5 Chicken Breast  Tenderloins

1 can of salsa verde

1 cup of salsa

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons of garlic powder

1/2 cup of water

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 cup of  cooked brown rice

Shredded lettuce

Chopped tomatoes

Sour Cream

Mexican Shredded Cheese

Directions:

1. In a crock pot, add chicken, salsa verde, salsa, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, 1/2 cup of water and salt & pepper. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. After chicken is done cooking, use a fork to shred it, place back in crock pot and keep it on warm.
2. Before serving, chop lettuce and tomatoes.  Place rice on the bottom of the bowl, add chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream to bowls.

Enjoy!

Adapted from the wonderful Joelen at What’s Cooking Chicago 

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Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas

My husband is from Buffalo, born, raised and bred, so when I see anything “Buffalo” in any recipe title, I usually make it no matter what it is. When I think of enchiladas though, I never thought about using a buffalo wing sauce instead of the traditional chicken mixture/sauce. I was super interested to try this and when I told my husband what I was making for dinner he automatically said “Yum.” See, it doesn’t matter what it is, but if has Buffalo in the recipe he is all about it with no further questions. Typically he ask a few questions, like what is in the recipe, how do you make it, etc.

Let me tell you, this recipe didn’t disappoint at all.  It was amazing! So juicy, flavorful, just yummy!

Ingredients:

4 tortillas

3 chicken thighs, skinned and de-boned

1 cup red enchilada sauce

1/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot

1/2 cup Mexican blended cheese

3 ounces gorgonzola cheese

Directions:

1. Boil chicken thighs for about 10 minutes, till they are cooked through. Drain water, place in food processor and just pulsate for a second or two, so you have shredded pieces and not mush.
2. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non stick cooking spray.  Pre-heat oven to 375.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together hot sauce an enchilada sauce.  Add the shredded chicken and 1/2 cup of cheese in another bowl, mix until it’s incorporated well. Pour in about 1/2 cup of the sauce mixture.
4. Pour a small amount of the sauce mixture into the bottom of the baking dish. Take each tortilla fill it up with a few tablespoons of the chicken mixture, roll it up in the baking dish, making sure seam side is down. Once you have all the tortillas filled, drizzle the rest of the sauce mixture on top of them and sprinkle some of the leftover cheese on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
5. As soon as you take them out of the oven, add the crumbled gorgonzola cheese to the top and serve

Enjoy!

Adapated from Prevention RD.

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Chicken Mole

Two things. I love Mexican food and I love chocolate. Who would think to mix them together and make an awesome dish?  Well someone did! This dish has a spicy yet very light spicy taste to it.  It’s the perfect change to enchildia’s.I served this with a side of white rice and some tortillas! Perfect to wrap together!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

1 small onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tablespoon of cocoa powder

1/4 tablespoon of cinnamon

1/4 tablespoon of red pepper flakes

1/8 teaspoon of black pepper

1 cup crushed tomatoes

1 cup of chicken broth

1/8 teaspoon of salt

1 slice of bread, cut into small pieces

2 boneless chicken breast, cubed

Directions:

1. In a pan over medium high heat, combine the oil, garlic, cocoa powder, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Saute for 2 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes, broth, salt and bread and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken and return to a simmer.
3. Cover the pan and cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Enjoy!

Adapted from Womans Day,  from Rick Bayless.

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Gooey Enchiladas

I saw this recipe in Parenting Magazine and put into my files, I’m glad I found it, because it’s just a different spin on enchiladas!

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons of olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoon of garlic

1 can (14.5) ounces of diced tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon of coriander

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

1/2 teaspoon of oregano

Pepper to taste

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 pound ground turkey

1 can (15 ounces) of black beans, rinsed and drained

6 tortillas

1 1/4 cups of reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in pan. Add onion and cook for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer, but don’t allow garlic to brown. Add the tomatoes, coriander, cumin, oregano, and pepper; cook for a few minutes longer. The  sauce will be a bit chunky. Stir in cilantro.
2. Cook beef; drain fat and stir in beans. Warm the tortillas in the oven for about 5 minutes to make them easier to roll; remove. Spread 1/2 cup of cheese among tortillas. Fold over tortilla sides, place seam side down in the baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce on top and bake, uncovered for about 15 minutes. Sprinkle on remaining cheese and bake another 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

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Foodbuzz Tastemaker: Linguine a la Picante

Kiley and I were out shopping most of the day and I didn’t plan on anything in particular for dinner that night, so I wanted something that was fairly quick and easy to put together. I remembered that I had some Pace Picante sauce that the awesome people at Foodbuzz had sent me awhile ago, with having Kiley I put up on the shelf and totally forgot about it until I cleaned out our pantry this week! I’m so glad I remembered it, because this dish was awesome. I wasn’t quite sure how it would taste. When I told Chris what I was doing, his response was, are you sure? Well, yes dear I am sure and guess what he was even surer!

Ingredients:

Linguine enough for four people

1 pound of ground turkey

2 jars of Pace Picante

A handful of cheddar cheese(shredded to throw on top)

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add pasta and cook to al dente.
2. In a large saucepan, cook the turkey meat, make sure it’s in crumbles.
3. Add the picante sauce and simmer for about ten minutes.
4. Drain pasta, place on plate and then top with meat mixture. Sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top.

Enjoy!

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Crockpot Thursday: Salsa Chicken

I saw this recipe of The Novice Chef’s Food Blog and bookmarked it and knew I had to make it ASAP because it looked so good!  On her original blog post, she posted that this was a favorite with her and her family and it definitely holds true for ours! This we will definitely make again. This a great meal to make when you are having a football party this fall or just want an easy meal.  We actually ate half our serving just with the ingredients listed, but then halfway through eating my husband said, I bet this would go good on a tortilla. We happened to have some left so we quickly got them out and wrapped them up with the ingredients and it was just as delicious! I adapted this recipe to make two servings.

Ingredients:

2 boneless chicken breast

1 cup of salsa, any brand

1/2 package of taco seasoning

1/2 can of condensed cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup of sour cream

Directions:

1. Add chicken to the slow cooker.
2. Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken.
3. Mix salsa, sour cream, and chicken soup in another bowl. Add to crock pot.
4. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
5. Shred chicken with forks and serve!

I like the original poster made a side of rice to lay the salsa chicken on.

Enjoy!

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Cinco De Mayo

I thought about doing separate blog post for the three things I  made for Cinco De Mayo, but I figured I’d just put it all in one post!  I didn’t want to make something we’ve had before or at least the same variation of something we had before.  Of course, we’ve had tequila sunrises before, but they look so pretty that I wanted to make a post about them. So Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Tequila Sunrise:

Ingredients:

2 oz Tequila

4 oz Orange Juice

1 oz Grenadine

Directions:

1. Pour in tequila first, then OJ, stir and then grenadine and watch the sunrise!

Taco Cups:

I had some multi grain tortillas in the fridge and I thought about making soft tacos, but as I said I was looking for a variation on something we’ve already had, so I thought, hmm what if I place the tortilla on a custard cup and bake it for a few minutes.  This was sort of an experiment, and it worked! The first picture is the tortillas on the custard cups before going into the oven.

After coming out from oven:

Final:

Ingredients:

2 multigrain tortillas

1 tablespoon of olive oil

3 leaves of romaine lettuce shredded

1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese

1/2 tomato, diced

1 lb of ground turkey

Taco seasoning

Sour cream, if wanted

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Brush olive oil over tortillas, drape over custard cups. Place in oven and bake about 5-7  minutes until they start to take the form of the custard cup and are crispy.
2. Cook ground turkey, drain.  Add in taco seasoning and cook following directions on package. Meanwhile, cut up lettuce/tomato and cheese.
3. Remove shells from oven and place all ingredients in shell.

Enjoy!

Crescent Churros

I wanted to make some dessert related to Cinco De Mayo, I searched and found a few that I really liked and really wanted to make, but I decided I wanted something easier, so I searched for a bit and found this super easy recipe on pillsbury.com.  Add some vanilla ice cream to these and they are great!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 can 4 oz Pillsbury crescent rolls

2 tablespoons of butter, melted

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon. Melt butter in another dish. Unroll the crescent rolls.
3. Brush tops of 1 rectangle with melted butter, sprinkle with about half of the sugar mixture. Top each with remaining rectangle, press edges lightly. Brush tops with melted butter.
4. With a sharp knife, cut each rectangle stack lengthwise into 6 strips. Twist each strip 3 times, place on ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.  Brush tops with any remaining butter and sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture.

Enjoy! There you have it, our Cinco De Mayo menu!

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Mexican Lasagna

I was looking for a different spin on lasagna.  I thought about make a veggie lasagna, but for once I wasn’t in the mood for a pasta. I searched around for a bit and found one I liked somewhat but not totally by Rachel Ray in her 30 minute meal book. This recipe is adapted from what I found in the book.  It turned out great! My husband loved it so much and I was worried he wouldn’t because it wasn’t your typical lasagna we make.  This definitely will become a meal in our routine. This makes six servings and each serving has about 350 calories.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons of olive oil

1 1/2 cups of chopped onion

2 1/2 teaspoons of ground cumin

About a baseball size of ground turkey

1 can(14.5 oz) of diced tomatoes

1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (11 oz) corn niblets, drained

1 can (10 oz) mild enchilida sauce

5 (8 in.) whole wheat flour tortillas

1 1/4 cups of freshly shredded cheddar cheese

Reduce fat sour cream for garnish

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a round or square baking dish with non stick spray.
2. First brown ground turkey meat.  Then drain. Place back in skillet. Heat the oil, add onions and saute 5 minutes. Add cumin and saute 5 minutes or until onions are caramelized. Stir in tomatoes, beans, corn and enchilada sauce, bring to a simmer. Remove from heat.
3. Put  1 tortilla in baking dish. Top with 1 1/2 cups of the meat mixture, sprinkle with 1/4 cup of shredded cheese, repeat the layer 4 times. Ending with meat mixture.
4. Cover with foil and bake 20 to 25 minutes until bubbly around edges and cheese is melted. Cook 5 minutes, cut into 6 wedges and serve with sour cream if you like.

Enjoy!

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Nacho Chicken Bake

Tortilla chips, sour cream, salsa, cheese and chicken, what really sounds better?  I was in the mood for something different with chicken breast.  This turned out so well, the sour cream and salsa blended so well together while baking.  The tortilla chips had the perfect crispiness to them. This is very easy to make for a week night meal!  It also goes great with a side of dirty rice or Spanish rice to scoop up with the extra tortilla chips! This is for a serving of two.

Ingredients:

2 skinless chicken breast

1/2 cup any brand salsa

1/4 cup of sour cream

1/2 cup of whole tortilla chips, or how ever many you’d like

1/2 cup of Mexican style four cheese

Directions:

1) Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Place chicken on baking sheet, top each breast with the layer of the following: salsa, sour cream, salsa, sour cream and then tortilla chips.

3) Bake 20 minutes, then remove and sprinkle with cheese, bake another ten minutes or until cheese has melted and chicken is good through!

Enjoy!

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