Easy Peasy Enchiladas

 This is one of Phil's favorite dinners so we have them a couple of months.  Remember how I was talking about the rotisserie chicken...I used the meat from that to make these and chicken noodle soup last week! 

Recipe:
2 Cups of Shredded Chicken
10 Tortilla shells
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup Greek yogurt (You can use sour cream but I honestly couldn't tell the difference)
1 can chopped green chili's
1-2 cups of Mexican cheese
1 can red enchilada sauce
1 small can of sliced olives (optional)

 I a bowl mix chicken, chillies, yogurt or sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and 1 cup of cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Put chicken mix in middle of each tortilla and roll up, place in a glass dish, dump can of enchilada sauce and cover with cheese. Cook at 350 for with foil for 25 min. Uncover and cook till cheese is all melted and bubbly about 5 min.  Serve with Mexican rice, and salad.

Cheesy Potato Kielbasa Bake

With it being so CHILLY outside...I like to bake....it heats up my kitchen, and I love Comfort food  this time of year!  This is one of our favorite dinners! 

Cheesy Potato Kielbasa Bake

3-4 Cups of Potatoes (Cut into cubes and boil till soft...not  too soft)

1 package of Polska Kielbasa (or you could use hot dogs)

4 Tbsp. Butter

4 Tbsp. Flour

2 Cups of Milk

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Pepper

1/2 pound Velveeta cheese, diced into cubes

1/2 tsp. Paprika

1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese Shredded

Directions:

1. Cut Kielbasa into thin slices. Cook in a frying pan with some olive oil until both sides are brown.
2. Meanwhile, put cooked & diced potatoes in 2 quart casserole. Add sausage and stir it up.
3. Mix all remaining ingredients (except for cheddar cheese & the paprika) in a saucepan over medium heat until warm, melted and smooth. (Use a whisk and stir constantly.).
4. Pour cheese sauce over potatoes and meat. Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top, and then sprinkle paprika evenly over the top.
5. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 35-45 minutes (watch, until golden brown on top).

Chicken Fruit Salad

 Chicken Fruit Salad
 Sheri Barnes

4 cooked and cooled chicken breasts
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced apple
1 5 oz. can pineapple tidbits
1 cup grapes
1/3 cup slivered almonds
1 T. lemon juice
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3  cup miracle whip
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
Crescent Rolls

Cut up chicken into bite size pieces, add celery, apple, pineapple, grapes, almonds and lemon juice, set aside.  Combine mayonnaise, miracle whip and whipping cream.  Add to chicken mixture.  Cut crescent rolls in half and fill with chicken and fruit salad.

This is so refreshing I made it the other night when we were doing yard work. 

Sometimes its so stinking hot to cook something so we made these and enjoyed them for 2 or 3 nights :)

Sour Cream Chicken

This is a favorite recipe of my family...and one I like to take to others when I can.  One thing that prevented me from making it was the time it took...but instead of dipping the chicken in three different tuppaware with seasoning I decided to try a short cut.  Now we'll be having this chicken a whole lot more at my house!

 

4-5 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Marinade:

2 Cups of Sour Cream                                                                        ¼ C. Lemon Juice

4 tsp. Celery Salt                                                                                  4 tsp. Worchestshire Sauce

4 cloves garlic                                                                                     4 tsp. salt

½ tsp. Pepper                                                                                        2 tsp. Paprika

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.  Place your chicken breast on pan.  In a bowl mix celery salt, garlic, pepper, salt and paprika.  Sprinkle over the chicken.Dip chicken in marinade, both sides.  Just a thin coating, let the chicken sit in the marinade overnight, refrigerated and covered.  Shortly before cooking, grease a cookie sheet with sides.  Dip both sides of marinated chicken in seasoned bread crumbs.  Place in pan.  Melt ¼ c. margarine, and ¼ c. shortening and pour over chicken.  Bake at 350 for 60 min, until niely browned.  Serves 12.       

An hour a day....

I will admit I have been struggling to be productive, to get dressed in the morning, to take care of my house...I could go on and on. 

I've just been so tired lately and I hate it only 3 more weeks till I meet with my specialist.

But till then life goes on and doesn't stop for me.

So I'm tired of being tired

So I figure if I can be productive

REALLY productive for an hour a day it might

just might help me feel better

So yesterday I did this made seven crock pot meals.

That's a whole weeks worth of dinners in one hour!

Of course we won't eat them all in one week but now I have dinner ready when I really need it!

I got a brand new bag of chicken out of my freezer and made:

Chicken and Dumplings (will be posting this recipe later it was soooo yummy and a hit at my house)

2 Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

2 Zesty BBQ Chicken

2 Mexican Chicken Meals

Zesty BBQ Chicken

Makes 2 Freezer Meals Depending on size of your family:

8-10

 boneless skinless Chicken Breast

1 Bottle BBQ Sauce

1/2 C Water (I usually run this through the BBQ Bottle to get any extra sauce)

1 Package Italian Dressing Mix, or 1 Cup of Italian Dressing

1/2 C Brown sugar

4 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce

1 C Diced Onion ( I use my dried onions from food storage

Divey up chicken between 2 freezer bags, and mix everything else together in a bowl distribute evenly between the two bags.  When ready to use pull out put in fridge to defrost cook on high 2 hours (if defrosted) or low 4 hours.  If frozen cook on high 4 hours, low 8 hours.

Mexican Chicken

Makes 2 Freezer Meals Depending on Size of your family:

8-10  Boneless skinless chicken Breast

2 C Frozen Corn (or you can use canned corn but I think it has a funky taste)

1 Can Diced Tomatoes

1 Can Black Beans

1 Tbsp Taco Seasoning

I Bottle Salsa

Rinse off Corn, Tomatoes, beans in a colander.

Add Bottle Salsa, and Seasoning (if desired)

Divey up Chicken breast in 2 freezer bags, add salsa mixture evenly between the two bags.

Cook on Low 8 hours, or high 4 hours.

During last hour add one package of Cream Cheese.



Dinner Ideas

Today I went and had lunch with my friend and we got to talking about dinner ideas and menu planning.  I had made a goal to be better at this new year.  I've been working on different menu plans, grocery list etc.  I have been typing up my recipe book for the past year and a half...ouch!  But low and behold I am seeing an end.  Here is a little preview of what some of my front pages are going to look like.  These are my VERY FAVORITE pages in my recipe book.  They are key for me when making a menu plan/shopping trip list.  These are things I make for my family on a regular basis, I try to rotate things as much as possible so we don't get sick of eating the same thing.  Also if we have hamburger one night, I try to do chicken the next or if we have and Italian type of dinner one night I try to hold off on having another one for at least a week and a half.  Got it?

I guess I should mention that I typed ALL my recipes in my word program and then I've been putting them into my Digital Studio Program.  Let me know if you want to order this, it is my NEW favorite tool in scrapbooking! :)

Chicken Parmigiana

 This is a favorite at our house!  I have found the easiest way to make it is to do an assembly line:  Container one: Flour~ Container two: 2 Eggs 1/2 C milk~ Container 3: Italian Style Bread Crumbs, 1/2 Cup Fresh Parmigiana Cheese.

6 Boneless Chicken Breast
Noodles of whatever sort!

Boil your noodles around 3 cups.  While they are boiling start your assembly line, dip chicken in each container then throw into a frying pan with 2 Tbsp of Olive Oil Brown each side.  When noodles finish boiling dump water out and toss with 2 Tbsp Butter.  Dump into the bottom of a 13x9 Dish Dump 1/2 Bottle Prego on top, add your Browned Chicken, and put mozzarella cheese and Prego sauce on top.  Cover with Foil and bake at 350 for 45 min.  Uncover foil and cook additional 5 min.

Easy Dutch oven cooking in your kitchen!

My kind of dutch oven cooking....even though the real stuff is a lot better this still turns out really good, and so unbelievably easy! My aunt gave me this dutch oven so I could use it in my house, its flat on the bottom and the perfect size for my family.

Potatoes:
1/3-1/2 package of bacon ends
1 Onion
Slice up onion and cut bacon up into smaller pieces add to a large pan, cook till onions are soft and bacon is cooked!
While that is cooking slice up desired amount of potatoes, I usually do one potato per family member. Add to Bacon and onion mix, pour on 1-2 can's of Sprite. I do 1 1/2 and I have 5 people in my family. Cook on low for 40 min, stir every once in awhile. Salt, pepper, cheese to your desire.

Chicken:
Again I usually do one piece of chicken per family member
1 Bell Pepper cut up
1 onion cut up
(I usually add the rest of the bacon ends from package, but you don't have to do that....my husband is a bacon man)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 can of sprite
Salt/Pepper to your tasting
Cook on 250 for 1 1/2 hours, or 325 for 45 min.
I usually add 1 cup of sweet baby rays BBQ sauce when it is done.
Honestly you can do whatever you want to the chicken, add pineapple more onions just make sure you don't over cook it...dry chicken is sick!

Peach Cobbler
1-2 Bottles or cans of peaches sliced up and drained
1 Yellow cake mix
1/2 Cube Butter
1 Can of Sprite

Dump peaches in bottom of dutch oven or casserole dish, sprinkle your cake mix over the entire top, cut up butter and place all over, dump your can of sprite. Cook at 325 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours till top is brown and crispy. Be sure to cover it with foil. Serve with Vanilla ice cream!

Southwest Skillet Dinner

We had this for dinner last night! It was delish and super easy!

Southwest Skillet Dinner

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1-2 Cups Cubed Chicken (cooked and seasoned with salt/pepper or Mrs. Dash)
1 Cup Broccoli
1 Red Bell Pepper (Cut up)
1/2 Onion (cut up)
1 Can Black Beans (Rinsed off)
1 Cup Salsa
1 Cup Cheddar Cheese
1 Tortilla

Heat up your skillet with Olive Oil, add Broccoli, Red Pepper, Onion allow to cook until soft. While you are doing that take your tortilla shell and cut into 1x2 pieces and place in oven at 425 for 4-6 minutes. Add your chicken, beans, salsa, to the skillet simmer on the stove top till thoroughly warmed, add tortilla pieces and sprinkle with cheese.

Lime Steak Rotini/ Fajitas! Double Dinner made in less than 20 minutes!

I have been on this low iodine diet for over a month now! I'm so tired of Chicken this chicken that so I bought some lean steak and came up with a few different recipes!

Steak Rotini

Desired amount of Rotini Pasta Boiled

On hand I had Green, Red, and Yellow Bell Peppers

1 Red Onion and 1/2 White onion cut up in my fridge.

I sliced and diced and added 1 TBSP of olive oil and some Mrs. Dash Lime Fiesta Seasoning until veggies were tender~

Meanwhile I sliced up the steaks and added some more Mrs.Dash Fiesta Lime, some non-iodized salt, Pepper, and squeezed a fresh lime onto the meat. Threw it on the grill until no longer pink.

I then mixed the meat with the veggies, halved it (it was a lot!)

Mixed with the Rotini and there was Supper for Thursday Night. Phil was very impressed how something could taste so good with such little ingredients!

Lime Steak Fajitas

Friday night Phil and I went out for a little date night after I got my scan so that was nice not to have to worry about dinner, but then on Saturday I took the other half of the mixture and heated it back up in a skillet added a can of green chili's, heated up some tortilla shells. Mixed with some homemade Pico De Galo, fresh avocados and we had some YUM YUM YUM Fajitas!

Primavera Pie

This is why I love cooking....the satisfaction of making something so delish in your own kitchen, seeing the look on my husband's face when he eats it, and a "oh my heck that was so good, that recipe is a keeper." out of the words of Phil's mouth! We haven't been able to really eat out a lot and so I've been trying to mix it up in the kitchen. This is Phil's absolute favorite to order from Pizza Factory, Primavera Pie. Unfortunately any recipe I googled just didn't seem to fit. So I looked at the description off the menu and decided to wing it! I did get the Parmesan sauce recipe off of a website and tweeked it!

For the sauce:

Boil desired amount of angel hair pasta

Place in a baking dish

Sauce:

1/4 Cup Butter

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 C. Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 tsp. Salt

Dash of Pepper

1/3 C. Cream

Saute your butter and garlic, add Parmesan and seasonings, slowly add cream and stir constantly until mixture is smooth.

Add to your angel hair pasta till it is well coated. Place in the oven uncovered and bake while you prepare the vegetables.

I already had some grilled seasoned chicken breast in my freezer so I took out 3 of them and defrosted them.

***There are a lot of time's that I will brown a couple of pounds of hamburger, or grill some chicken breast on my George foremen grill when I get home from the store and it is already defrosted to save me a lot of time in the kitchen when I like making recipes that take a lot more time. It has really saved me a lot of time, and effort when I am in a hurry to make something, or when I'd like to make something a little more complex.***

In a frying pan pour a little bit of Olive Oil to heat up the skillet. Dice up 1 Red Onion, 1-2 Red Peppers (I used 2), 1/2 to a full head of broccoli (I only had some frozen from my freezer so I used that instead) Cook on low and add your chicken to the mix. Season with some original Mrs.Dash.

Pull out angel hair pasta, put desired amount on plates and add the vegetable/chicken mixture on top. I made this last Monday and it was a hit at my house! Enjoy!

Pizza Sub

Easy Easy Pizza for dinner! My friend from High School Husband made this for us when we were up at their cabin for her birthday! I love trying new recipes especiailly when they are so easy!

1 Loaf French Bread

Pepporoni, Salamie, Canadian Bacon (Whatever you'd like)

Mozzerlla Cheese

Your favorite Toppings

Pizza (Or I use Spaghetti sauce so much cheaper)

Cut your french bread down the middle and lay each side on a cookie sheet, add your sauce on the top sides of the bread. Layer your meats on one size and your cheese on the other. Put whatever toppings you'd like on top. I just bake it at 375 for 10-15 min or until cheese is melted, then I'll turn it onto broiler for 2 min to give it a little bit of a crispy crust, then pull out and put back together and cut into sandwiches!

Thanks Amy and Tom for one of our favorite family recipes!

MMMM....almost Cafe Rio Salad

If you know me very well you know that I'm constantly craving a Cafe Rio salad....and it's so far to drive to Orem to get one, so I'm ecstatic that Spanish Fork is getting one soon!

I had a pork roast and decided to shred it in my crock pot.

This is my favorite Sweet Pork Recipe:

Cook Roast in crock pot overnight on low with 2 can's coke. Dump out remaining liquid in the morning.

Shred meat with a fork

Add 1 can of Green Enchilada Sauce

1 can of Red Enchilada Sauce

1 can of green chili's

1-2 cups of Brown Sugar (I prefer 2 but I like it really sweet)

1 can Dr. Pepper

Let cook on low for remainder of the day.
I made my own dressing and pico di galo, and lime rice this time. Took a little time, but so worth it in the end.

For the dressing:

2 cups prepared Ranch Dressing (I used a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch buttermilk mix)

1 small bunch cilantro, large stems removed (about 1/2 cup chopped cilantro)
2 large or 4 small tomatillos
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 T Fresh Lime Juice
1 tsp. Green Tabasco Sauce or 1 diced jalapeño pepper

Prepare Ranch dressing according to directions on the package or recipe you're following and set aside.

Take Tomatillos and dice them into small pieces, place in a oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes until slightly browned.

Remove large cilantro stems, then wash leaves and spin dry or dry with paper towels. Add cilantro to food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until finely chopped. (If you don't have a food processor, I'd chop all ingredients well by hand and then blend dressing in a blender.)

In your food processor or blender combine the dressing and tomatillos with the cilantro, until all the ingredients are finely pureed. Add the 2 cups of prepared dressing and pulse just a few times, until ingredients are well combined. Chill dressing for an hour or two and serve.

Lime Dressing:

I used instant rice where the rice is equivalent to the water and prepared that the way on the box. (I would just make whatever amount suits your family, I used 3 cup rice/3 cup water)

4 tsp. Chicken Bouillon

2 Garlic Cloves (I didn't have any garlic on hand so I used Garlic powder)

1/2 Onion Finely Chopped (I used 1/2 cup of onions from my food storage)

1 Large lime

1/2 Bunch of Cilantro Finely Chopped

I added all my ingredients to the rice after it was prepared and squeezed the juice out of my lime with my juicer.

Pico De Galo

Chicken Cordon Blue Crock Pot Style

We love Chicken Cordon Blue...but it is so dang expensive. I found this recipe online but of course had to tweak it.

Store:
4-5 Chicken Breast
Cream of Chicken Soup
Butter
Milk
Ham from your deli
Mozzarella Cheese Slices

Pound your chicken breast with a mallet (or in my case put them in a Ziploc bag and pound them thin with your rolling pin)
Place chicken breast, ham, cheese, roll up and secure with a toothpick
Line the bottom of your crock pot, in a separate bowl mix one can of cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom) with one cup of milk. Pour over top of mixture, add 1/2 stick of butter cut into pieces over the top of mixture.
Cook on Low for 3 hours or until chicken is no longer pink. Don't cook longer or your chicken will end up really dry. Take your leftover sauce and thicken it pour over mashed potatoes if desired.

Pico De Gallo Tacos

So I decided I couldn't eat all this Pico De Gallo by myself so I added a variation to it. 1 can of rinsed black beans, and 1 cup of fresh corn. That would be good with chips as well, but I wanted a meal out of this! So I added some shredded chicken as well, fresh guacamole, and scooped it into one of those salt free tortillas. Yes it was tasty! I'm thinking tomorrow I might add one of those Mango's I got in my bountiful basket!

Chicken Pasta

This was delish! Phil even enjoyed it, and yes I would eat it even if I wasn't on this diet!

Olive Oil

1-2 Chicken Breast

1 Yellow Onion

1 Red/ 1 Green Bell Pepper

1-2 Cloves of Garlic

2 Roma Tomatoes

1-2 Cups of Penne Pasta

Mrs. Dash Seasoning (yea it's salt free!)

I seasoned the Chicken with Mrs. Dash, and cooked in 2 Tbsp. of olive oil. While the Chicken is cooking cut up your onion, bell peppers (julienne style). When Chicken was done I cut into pieces, in the same pan I added another 2 Tbsp. of Olive Oil, and the onion, peppers, and ran the garlic through my garlic press. (While that was cooking I started my pasta) When the onion, and peppers were soft, I returned the chicken till it was warm, added the cut up tomatoes, little more Mrs.Dash and served over the pasta. Like I said before....Delish

Crock Pot Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

Also a new family favorite!

Crock Pot Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

We had this the other night when my sister was here.

4 Chicken Breast

Italian Seasoning (found by the salad dressing) in the packet

Can of Cream of Chicken Soup

1 Package of Cream Cheese

Mix Seasoning, Cream of Chicken Soup, and softened Cream Cheese together. Put frozen chicken breast in crock pot, and cover with mixture.

Cook on low 4 hours, or until chicken is no longer pink.

Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles.

Thanks Kels, and Donna we love it!

Cresent Roll Pizza

Yummm...New Family Favorite

Cresent Roll Pizza

1 Pkg. Cresent Rolls

Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb. Hamburger

Chopped Onion

Shredded Cheese

Sour Cream

Cook Hamburger and onion, combine with spaghetti sauce in cassrole dish. Cover with a thin layer of sour cream, and then shredded cheese. Top it off by pressing the cresent rolls together to make a crust and layer over the entire cassrole. Cook according to the package of cresent rolls! So yummy!

Easy Italian Chicken

Our Favorite Dinner....SUPER EASY!

Italian Chicken

4 Chicken Breast
4 Red Potatoes

Italian Dressing

Parmesean Cheese

Cut up Potatoes in cubes, layer in the bottom of a casserole dish, sprinkle desired amount of italian dressing, layer chicken breast on top, put parmesean (fresh, not the powdery stuff), more Italian dressing. Cover with foil, bake 350 till chicken is no longer pink and potatoes are cooked! 45 min usually

Chili Corn Chip Pie

So sometimes I don't have recipes for things that I remember eating once upon at time, so I try to jimmy rig one up. This one turned out really good! This was super easy though, especially since Emma made it. Yep you heard me, my 4 year old daughter made dinner last night. I cut, shredded and had everything in bowls for her and told her how to make it. She did an excellent job!

1 bag Corn Chips
2 can's of chili (We like the Stagg Chili)
Shredded Cheese
Green Onions

Layer the bottom of your pan with 1/2 of your corn chips, layer chili, add a layer of cheese, other half of corn chips, sprinkle your cheese and green onions. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, top with salsa and sour cream.... goes great with cornbread....mmmmmm