Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Let me start by saying, this was one of those dishes that you can't judged by looks.  It's good!  I found this recipe in an OSU Cookbook from my mom.  I tweaked it a bit.

Ingredients:

1 10oz Can of Cream of Chicken Soup

1 12oz Can of Evaporated Skim Milk

8 oz of Black Beans (About 1/2 a can)

1 10oz Can of Rotel with Green Chilies, drained

2 Chicken Breast, cubed

6 Flour Tortilla's (I used burrito size)

1/2 Cup of Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350*.

I used nonstick cooking spray on the bottom of the skillet and then cooked the chicken. 

In a large bowl, mix the soup, milk, Rotel, black beans, and chicken.

Spray a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray, then place 3 flour tortilla's on the bottom.  Pour 1/2 of the mixture over the tortilla's and top with 1/4 cup of cheese.  Repeat this step again, to make 2 layers.

Bake this in the oven for 45 minutes.

I originally made this dish without the Rotel; however, I would add the Rotel to give it a little bit of a kick!

I did not think this dish necessarily looked pretty when it came out of the oven, but it did taste very good.  This can be served with a side of rice; although, we ate it without a side since the major food groups were all met.

Remember your coupons!

Enjoy!

Pineapple Chicken and Rice Stir Fry

I love stir fry and in particular I really love the taste of sweet n' sour chicken.  This was a great alternative to the fast food versions!

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breast, Thawed and Cubed

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 8oz Can of Pineapple Chunks

1 Tbsp of Brown Sugar

1/2 Tsp Ginger

1 Tbsp Corn Starch

1/3 Cup of Lite Sodium Soy Sauce

1 Egg, beaten

1 Bag of Frozen Stir Fry Veggies
1/2 Cup Frozen Peas

2 Cups Brown Minute Rice

1 Cup Water

Cook the Minute Rice with the water in a small sauce pan. 

In a small bowl whisk together brown sugar, ginger, cornstarch, and soy sauce.

In a large skillet add the olive oil, and then cook the chicken until well done.  Once this is completely cooked, add in the veggies and let simmer for about 5 minutes.  Add in the cooked rice, soy sauce mixture, beaten egg, and pineapple.  This should simmer for about 10 minutes or until cooked through.

We ate this as a one dish meal since it had all the major food groups as part of the meal.  This was a nice, healthy twist to the typical stir fry dish!

Save money on this dish by printing coupons!!

This recipe is linked to, Delicious Dishes.

Fall Harvest Bake

Fall is my favorite season, I look forward to it each year.  I love the crisp air, pumpkin spice lattes, and the color brown!  Along with that, I love the different flavors that fall brings.  If I could give fall it's own taste, it would turn out a little something like this recipe.

Ingredients:

4 Chicken Thighs or Breast, thawed

1 Large Sweet Potato

1 Red Apple

1 Cup of Brown Rice

3 Cups of Water

1 Can of Cream of Chicken

2 Tbsp of Butter

1/2 Tsp of Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400*.

Start by peeling the sweet potato and cutting into cubes.  Cut the red apple into cubes as well, I left the skin on the red apple.  In a small bowl melt the butter in the microwave and stir in the cinnamon.

Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray.  Place the rice in the bottom of the dish and mix with the water and cream of chicken.  Add the sweet potato and apples on top of the rice and then add the chicken.  Pour the butter and cinnamon mixture on top of each chicken thigh or breast.  Lastly sprinkle a dash of cinnamon over the top of the entire dish.

Place this in the oven for 45 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.  I usually let this cook sometimes up to an hour until the liquid has cooked out of the rice.

If it looks like there is a lot of liquid left after 45 minutes, take the dish out of the oven and stir up the rice.  Then, put it back in for an additional 15 minutes.

The house will smell amazing and the moment you taste this, you will know fall is near!

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

Enchiladas are just another one of my favorite meals, I have a lot of favorites!  This recipe has never let me down, I always look forward to fixing these.

Ingredients:

1 Package of Burrito Size Tortilla's (I used 8)
1 Can of Black Beans (Cans are 15oz, I use 1/2 can for this meal)
2 Cups of Shredded Colby Jack Cheese
1 Large Tomato, Diced or 1 Can of Diced Tomatoes
1 10oz Can of Green Enchilada Sauce
1 Package of Taco Seasoning
2 Chicken Breast

Preheat oven to 375*.

While the chicken is about 1/2 way thawed, cut the chicken into small chunks then finish thawing.  In a skillet, cook the chicken breast and taco seasoning.  I typically do not add any water to the chicken while it's cooking with the taco seasoning, I use it just to add flavor to the chicken.  If you do need liquid add a small amount of water.

Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, then start preparing your enchiladas.  In each tortilla layer with a small amount of chicken, black beans, tomato, and cheese.  Roll each enchilada up until the ends meet then place into the baking dish, seam side down.  Continue to do this until your dish is full with enchiladas.  Pour the enchilada sauce over the tortilla's and top with all of the remaining cheese.

This will bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is nice and bubbly.  I serve this with a side of taco rice and corn. 

To save money on this dish, print coupons for Green Giant veggies here!

Maple Chicken and Rice Bake

This recipe was inspired by Maple Rosemary Chicken on $5 Dollar Dinner's. This recipe sounded delicious, so I knew I had to try it. I love chicken and rice, which made it very appealing to me.

I did adapt it a bit, as I wanted to only use the oven. I also love my rice creamy, so I thought I would turn it into a bake.

Ingredients:

3 Boneless Chicken Breast, Thawed

1 Tbsp of Olive Oil

1/2 Tbsp of Dried Rosemary

1/2 Cup of Maple Syrup
1 Cup of Rice
1 Can of Cream of Chicken Soup
2 Cups of Water

Asparagus

1 Bag of Frozen Asparagus

1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tsp Garlic Salt

Preheat oven to 400*.

In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, rosemary, and maple syrup. Set aside.

In a baking dish, pour rice and water in to cover the bottom of the dish. Then, mix the cream of chicken in with the rice and water. Place chicken breast on top of the rice mixture, then pour the maple syrup mixture over the chicken.

In a separate baking pan, spray with non stick cooking spray. Place asparagus in the dish pouring the olive oil and garlic salt over the asparagus.

Bake both dishes in the oven for 45 minutes or until fully cooked. I typically will cook the chicken dish until the liquid has cooked nearly out of the rice.

This was an amazing twist to the typical chicken and rice that I normally fix. The maple syrup mixture gave the rice a fabulous flavor. I think we all devoured this dish!

Note:  If it appears to still have a lot of liquid after 45 minutes, take the dish out of the oven and stir up the rice mixture.  Then, put it back in the oven for an additional 15 minutes to finish cooking.

Baked Chicken Bruschetta

I found this recipe on All Recipes, and I adapted it a bit to fit our taste. It was so easy, and really good. I have never eaten bruschetta before, so I cannot judge if it taste like the real thing, but I can say if nothing else it looked just like it!

Ingredients:

2 Boneless Chicken Breast, thawed and cut into cubes

1 15oz Can of Diced Tomatoes

1/2 Cup of Water

1/2 Tbsp of Olive Oil

1/4 Tbsp of Barley

1/4 Tbsp of Parsley

1 Box of Chicken Flavored Dry Stuffing

2 Cups of Shredded Mozzarella

1 .6oz Packet of Dry Italian Seasoning

Servings: 5-6

Preheat Oven to 400*

In a bowl mix the stuffing, tomatoes, water, olive oil, barley, and parsley. This will soften while you get the chicken ready. Once the chicken is cut into cubes place it in the bottom of a baking dish, then sprinkle 1/2 of the Italian seasoning packet on the chicken. Next pour the cheese over the chicken. The last layer is the stuffing mixture, then add the remaining seasoning to the top of the stuffing.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes.

For an added note, I omitted the salt and garlic from the original recipe. I typically will never use salt, so if you like salt then add it. Also, I did not mean to omit the garlic, I simply FORGOT...that was my Mommy Hates Cooking moment! I thought it came out great though and when I make it again I will still not add the garlic.

I served this with New York Sesame Bagel Chips.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

Words cannot express how good this was! This took mere minutes to prepare and then the slow cooker did all the work!

Ingredients:

3 Boneless Chicken Thighs, thawed and cut in 1/2

8 oz of BBQ Sauce

1 Tsp of Worcestershire Sauce

1/4 Tsp of Liquid Smoke

1/4 Cup of Brown Sugar

Serving: 4

Place the chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker, then pour the BBQ sauce over the chicken. Add the remaining ingredients to the chicken and BBQ Sauce. Cook on low for 4 hours, then take the chicken out and shred the chicken. Ours was so tender it just fell apart easily. Then place the chicken back into the slow cooker and cook on low for 1 hour.

This taste AMAZING! I was so impressed, this may be my favorite busy day recipe because it was so easy and delicious. This was the first time I used chicken thighs and I really feel that made a difference because the chicken was more tender than the chicken breast.

We put this on some toasted hamburger buns and paired with the onion soup potatoes. Corn on the cob would be a nice addition to this recipe too.

This chicken would also make a great topping for baked potatoes or even a BBQ Chicken Pizza.

I decided to let my son try this too; however I was a little skeptical of him eating it with so much BBQ sauce; however, I'll just let this picture speak for itself of how he felt about this meal.

Chicken and Black Bean Quesadillas

Mexican dishes are my favorite! Interesting though, since I do not like spicy foods. I thought I would try to make some quesadillas without my quesadilla maker. I used to have one, but between moving and having a baby last year, it seems to have disappeared.

Ingredients:

10 Flour Tortillas (8 inch diameters)
1 10oz Can of Rotel with Green Chilies, drained
3 oz of Black Beans (the cans are 7 oz, I used 1/2 a can)
8 oz of Fat Free Sour Cream
1 Cup of Shredded Chicken (I used 1 large chicken breast)
1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 Tbsp Shredded Mexican Cheese

Start by preheating the oven to 400*. Using a skillet with non stick spray cook the chicken breast, season with the Cayenne pepper.

While this is cooking, whisk together the chilies, beans, and sour cream.

Once the chicken is done and cooled, shred the chicken. At this point, you can either add the chicken to the mixture or you can add it to the tortillas separately.

Spray the baking sheet with non stick baking spray, then lay one tortilla flat on the sheet. Pour the mixture and some shredded chicken on the tortilla. Top with a little bit of cheese and then place another tortilla on top. Do this for each one, it should make 5 quesadillas using the 10 tortillas.

Place this in the oven for 30 minutes. Once these are done, let them cool for 15 minutes. Then, I cut ours in half down the middle of the tortilla.

For a side item with this dish, I decided to make taco rice. I did not have any pre-made taco rice on hand, so I boiled 2 Cups of water with 2 Cups of Brown Minute Rice, and added 1 package of taco seasoning. This turned out tasting even better than the pre-made taco rice, and I was able to use brown rice which I prefer.

I garnished my quesadilla with a dollop of sour cream, a few diced tomatoes, and black beans.

This dish turned out great! It was a bit spicy, which I am not too fond of, but good enough that I could get over that real quick! My husband tells me I am crazy and that it was not spicy at all!!

Chicken and Rice

One of my favorite dishes is Chicken and Rice. I have recently added a few different items to this dish in order to get more veggies in our meals.

Ingredients:

6 Chicken Drumsticks, thawed

2 Cups of Brown Minute Rice

1 14.5oz can of Chicken Broth

1 10.5oz Can of Cream of Chicken

1 Cup of Frozen Peas, thawed

1 Cup of Frozen Carrots, thawed

2 Cups of Water

Start by preheating oven to 400*. In a casserole dish, I pour the rice in to cover the bottom of the dish. Then, I add the chicken broth. I place the drumsticks down the middle of the dish and top them with cream of chicken. I surround the chicken with the carrots and peas and mix it into the uncooked rice. Then, I bake it for about 1 hour or until the chicken is done. I typically will add the 2 cups of water after 30 minutes of baking so the dish does not dry out.

This dish is very minimal prep time and is a one dish meal. My toddler loves this meal as well. I pull the skin off the drumsticks and then pull the chicken off the bone for him to eat. It may be a little messy for him, but he enjoys eating it so I am okay with the mess.

I have made this with chicken breast as well, but tried drumsticks a few months back and prefer those now. I have found the drumsticks do not dry out like the chicken breast did.

This is by far my favorite dish! Enjoy!

Rosemary Chicken

I have never loved chicken so much until I made this dish, Rosemary Chicken.

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breast (We only ate 1/2 a Chicken Breast as a serving, so for us it served 4)

6 Red Potatoes

1/2 Cup of Olive Oil

2 Tsp of Dried Rosemary

1 1/2 Tsp of Oregano

1 1/2 Tsp of Garlic Powder

Start by heating up the oven to 375*. Cut the potatoes into quarters or smaller depending on your preference. Put the chicken and potatoes in a large bowl and then coat with the olive oil. Pour the coated chicken and potatoes into a casserole or baking dish. Then sprinkle with the rosemary, oregano, and garlic powder. Put it in the oven at 375* for 1 hour.

The prep time on this dish was a mere 10 minutes, and then bake time from there. I used canned carrots to go with the meal; however, another great idea is adding asparagus. The asparagus can be cooked separately or added in with the potatoes and chicken.

The chicken turned out so juicy. I have a tendency to overcook chicken; however, this time it was perfect.

I decided to show a picture of reality in our house when it comes to meals. This is how my husband sees all of his dinners. Due to his shift, he does not get the meal until the next day in the beautiful platter AKA only piece of Tupperware I can find with a lid my son has not hidden.

If you want to impress friends, try this recipe!

Italian Chicken Dish

This is very similar to Chicken Parmesan; however, I used Mozzarella instead.


Ingredients for Chicken Dish:
3 Chicken Breast
8 oz of Angel Hair Pasta
26 oz Jar of Marinara Sauce (I only used 1/2 the jar, but you can use more or less depending on your preference)
1/4 Cup Mozzarella Cheese
2 Tsp of Garlic Powder

I started off by preheating the oven to 400*. I covered 3 chicken breast with 2 tsp of garlic powder, then I baked them in the oven until fully cooked.

While the chicken was baking, I cooked angel hair pasta as instructed on the box. I used 8 ounces of pasta. While the pasta was cooking, I put the marinara sauce in the microwave and heated it up for 2 minutes. Once, the pasta was fully cooked and drained, I covered the bottom of the dish with the angel hair pasta. I placed the cooked chicken on top of the pasta. I drizzled garlic marinara sauce over the top of each chicken breast then sprinkled 1/4 cup mozzarella over the dish.

I decided to fix some veggies as oppose to salad with this dish. Typically, I will make salad with Italian dishes, but I had some leftover veggies that needed to be eaten. I used steamed carrots and sugar snap peas. I put them in the skillet with 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and 2 tsp of garlic powder and let them simmer. This gave them a nice, fresh glaze and a hint of flavor.

Dakota had this same meal only smaller portion size and minimal marinara. This was the first time my son had angel hair pasta and let's just say I am pretty sure I picked most of his off the floor!

Chicken and Rice Wraps

I found this recipe on All Recipes, then I added my usual tweaks.

The ingredients for this recipe include:

1 Cup of Chunky Salsa

1 Can of Cream of Chicken

1/2 Cup of Water

1/2 Cup of Canned Corn, Drained

1 Cup of Minute Rice

2 Cups of Shredded Chicken Breast (I cooked 1 chicken breast and shredded it)

Shredded Cheese

1 Bag of Fajita Size Tortillas

Bring the salsa, cream of chicken, water, canned corn to boil in a medium sauce pan, once it starts to boil add in the rice and let simmer for 10 minutes. Then, mix in the shredded chicken and stir. Stuff each tortilla with the mixture then add shredded cheese to the top of the mixture before wrapping the tortilla.

I placed them in a casserole dish and put them in the oven for 5-10 minutes to get them warm and crispy.

These were a hit for us. I was not sure judging by the mixture how they would taste, but my husband gave me 2 thumbs up. I guess that's a good thing! I think these would have been better for a party or as a snack. I had a hard time trying to find something to go with them as a side since most of what I would normally fix was already stuffed in the wrap. I think next time I would add some tortilla chips and salsa or queso with this and use it as a lunch item or a party side.

Overall, tasty!

Mexican Dish

We cook several different Mexican dishes in our household. Both my husband and I really love these dishes, plus there are always tons of leftovers...which means? One less day of cooking for me!

I had originally started this dish planning to make enchiladas, then realized that I forgot to buy enchilada sauce at the store. Never fear, I love to improvise!

I cooked the 1 lb of chicken breast in the skillet using Weber's Kickin' Chicken seasoning. This can be seasoned to your taste, I used 1/2 tbsp. I cut the chicken breast into small chunks once it was cooked. I purchased 1 bag of burrito size flour tortillas and stuffed them with 5 chicken chunks, 1 tsp of corn, and 1 tsp of cheese. You can do more or less depending on how much you like. Once I had the tortillas stuffed, I placed them on a baking dish and then I put 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 tbsp of green chili's on top. I also added a small amount of cheese and corn to the top of the tortillas. Then, I baked it in the oven at *350 until it was crispy.

While this was cooking, I put on some Knorr's Spanish Rice.

They came out of the oven, and my husband and I were amazed at how good they were. I actually enjoyed them more than if I had used enchilada sauce. I liked that they were crispy.

Since we had a Mexican dish, Dakota had his usual lunch meat, cheese, bread, and veggie.

Chicken Noodles

One of the biggest challenges for me is cooking something other than noodles; however, this meal was all about noodles! I guess I have not conquered that challenge yet!

Typically my cooking starts off with a recipe that I have found, then I improvise to the point it is nothing like the original! That would be how this meal came out.

Tonight, I made Chicken Noodles, very simple and for me that's a start.

The recipe consist of:

1 Bag of No Yolk Egg Noodles

1 Can of Cream of Chicken

1 Can of Chicken Broth

2 4.5oz Canned Chicken

1 Bag of Frozen Mixed Veggies

A Dash of Garlic Powder

A Dash of Basil

Note: I say a 'dash' this can be interpreted in many different ways, did I mention I never measure anything! This is 'Mommy Hates Cooking', right?

I cooked the egg noodles as instructed on the package. Then, in a skillet I added all the remaining ingredients and let them boil. After draining the noodles, I mixed the skillet mixture with the noodles and viola dinner is served. This only took about 20 minutes to cook and would be great with a whole wheat roll.

For me, it was bland, which is why I added the garlic powder; however, there was something missing. It needed maybe some type of spice? Suggestions?

My son on the other hand loved it. At first he was not sure and remnants of his indecisiveness landed all over the floor, but by the end his face was covered and he was hinting for more.

My husband's thoughts? MORE NOODLES!? He told me he has been made fun of at work for the amount of noodle dishes he brings. So, although he enjoyed it, I have made a vow to him that my next meal will not include noodles.

That's it and now on to the next cooking adventure!