Italian Chicken...

This is a spin of my mom's recipe for crock pot chicken that I used to LOVE. I found the recipe on pinterest, but the link is broken... So, I am NOT taking credit for it, but it was pretty good! I also think it would be delicious over rice. And Jaxon ate it, so it's definitely a kid friendly meal.

Italian Chicken

Ingredients: 4 chicken breasts, 1 packet Zesty Italian dressing seasoning, 1 8 oz. cream cheese (softened), 2 cans cream of cream of chicken soup;

 Cook on low for 4 hours. If sauce is too thick, add a little milk. Serve over pasta.

Oven "Fried" Chimichangas

So, my husband and I have been working hard the last 10 days or so trying to lose weight :) He's lost 7 and I've lost 3 pounds! (Of course he's losing way quicker than me!) So, we've been eating a lot of salads, sandwiches, and whole wheat pasta. Well, we LOVE mexican food. So, I decided to make tacos. Then I thought, "Ok, I make tacos like every week, so let's mix it up!" So, I decided I'd try to make a healthier version of Chimichangas! I looked around the web, and figured out a good recipe I think. Calories per chimichanga: 359

Oven Fried Chimichanga

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts

1 T dried onion (Or you can use 1/4 of a chopped onion)

2/3 cup salsa

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

2 cloves garlic

1 can of black beans (Drained and rinsed)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup low fat cheddar cheese (shredded)

6 (8 inch) flour tortillas

2 T olive oil

Optional Toppings: Fat free sour cream, taco sauce, cheese, tomatoes, jalepenos etc. Get creative! 

What to Do:

1. In a crockpot, put chicken, salsa, onion, cumin, oregano, and garlic and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken. Add sour cream and black beans and mix well.

2. Put mixture into each flour tortilla evenly. Roll them up, and put seam side down on baking sheet.

3. Brush tops of chimichangas with olive oil

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown :)

Enjoy with any toppings you desire! Taco sauce, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, cheese... the possibilities are endless!

We served them with a side salad, and it was a delicious low calorie meal!

Crisco's Peanut Butter Cookies

I have looked everywhere to find the best peanut butter cookies ever.

Crunchy on the outside...

Soft and gooey on the inside.

I finally found them. 

Crisco's recipe is the best!!! Here it is:

Irresistible Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/2 stick Crisco® Baking Sticks All-Vegetable Shortening
• OR 1/2 cup Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening
• 1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 3/4 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

What to do:

1. 1.
   HEAT oven to 375°F. Combine peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended.


2. 2.
   COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2-inches apart onto greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly in a crisscross pattern with tines of fork.


3. 3.
   BAKE one baking sheet at a time 7 to 8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to cooling racks to cool completely.

Homemade Queso!

No. Not Velveeta. HOMEMADE. Like milk, flour, butter, and cheese. Lots of cheese :)

Here's the recipe! The nice part is you can make this in 10 minutes (Ok more like 5), and you can experiment with different salsas to see which you like better :)

Homemade Queso

Ingredients:

4 T flour

1/4 cup of butter

salt and pepper

1 cup of chicken broth

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cup cheese

1/2 cup of your favorite salsa or rotel

What to Do:

1. Melt butter over medium heat until bubbling. Whisk in flour for about 1 minute, until thick. Slowly add chicken broth, while whisking the whole time, then slowly add milk. Whisk until smooth and thick.

2. Add cheese and salsa (or rotel) and mix well. 

3. Dip chips into queso and shove them into your mouth!

SO GOOD. Not healthy, but a little queso every once in a while won't hurt anyone :)

Make Ahead Freezer Teryaki Chicken

So, a few weeks ago, I decided to prepare a bunch of meals, throw them in a ziplock bag, and store them in the freezer. This one was mighty delish. I called Greg this morning (cause I leave the house at 6:50 AM and am gone until 4:45 pm) and had him throw it in the crockpot. It was good, and easy!

Teryaki Chicken

Ingredients:

1 small bag of carrots, chopped

A cup or so of shelled edamame (I just put in enough until it looked good to me)

1 can pineapple chunks (with juice)

4 garlic cloves

1 medium onion, chopped or diced depending on how you like it (I like very small pieces) 

6 chicken tenderloins (probably about 3 big breasts)

1 cup teryaki sauce

What to Do:

1. Put above ingredients into a ziplock bag, and shake it up.

2. On bag write the date, and instructions:

Dump contents into crockpot.

Add 1/4 cup of teyaki sauce in crock pot, then cook on low for 6 hours.

Serve over brown or white rice, and tada! A MEAL! :)

Diary Free Homemade Rolls!

Ok, so I've never made rolls before. In fact, I've never used yeast before! haha. I decided I really wanted some rolls, so started doing lots of research, and figured I would try to make some dairy free rolls! (I can't eat dairy or soy right now) Well, I succeeded! They are delish! :) Also, I'm going to try to start posting recipes again... We'll see how it goes!

Dairy Free Homemade Rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry (instant or quick) yeast

1 cup of hot water (I just used hot tap water...)

3 T coconut milk (or some other type of milk)

4 T canola oil

3 T sugar

What to do:

1. In a mixing bowl, add flour, salt, yeast, and sugar. Mix well.

2. Add hot water, coconut milk, and oil, and start beating. (I used my kitchen aid with the dough beater attached to it.) Knead for about 6-8 minutes.

3. Let rest for 10 minutes. Grease a cookie sheet or two pyrex dishes. I couldn't grease with butter, so I poured a bit canola oil on, spread it around with a paper towel, then sprinkled with flour.

4. Take a small ball of dough, roll into a ball, and put onto pan. Let rise for 30 minutes.

5. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes!

6. Serve with some jelly, peanut butter, butter, or honey! :)

Homemade Lasagna

So, I decided I would finally try to make lasagna. I've never tried before, and honestly lasagna scares me! :) But, I looked at a few random recipes, and created in my opinion the PERFECT lasagna! :) Enjoy!

Homemade Meat Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 pound italian sausage
1 package lasagna noodles
1 15 oz container cottage cheese (I used lowfat)
1 15 oz container ricotta cheese (I used fat free!)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used the kind in the shaker can, it's all I had!)
2 jars favorite marinara sauce (I love RAGU roasted garlic)
2 TB parsley
1 TB basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs

What-to-do:
1. Boil pasta according to directions, but take off 2 minutes. I baked mine 8 minutes, instead of 10. Drain, and lay out on a piece of wax paper.
2. Brown ground beef and sausage, until well cooked. Add pasta sauces, and bring to a low simmer, and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Mix ricotta, parmesan, and cottage cheese in a bowl. Add two eggs, parsley, basil, and salt and pepper. Mix really well. This will be the cheese filling. DO NOT ADD THE MOZZARELLA CHEESE! :)
4. Spray a 9x13 pan with pam, and let's get layering! Lay four noodles on the bottom of the pan, then put half of the cheese mixture and spread it evenly across the noodles. Then, sprinkle some mozzarella cheese over it evenly. Then add about a third of the meat sauce and spread evenly. Add four more noodles and repeat the layering process. Finally, add another layer of noodles, and the rest of the sauce on top. Sprinkle just a little mozzarella cheese on top.

5. Put in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly and heated through!
6. Serve it up, and enjoy with some garlic bread and salad!

Tips to wanna be chefs: I knew we wouldn't have been able to eat a whole pan, so I actually did this in two small pans, and only cooked one of the two. The other pan I put straight into the freezer, and I'll get it out in a week or two, defrost, and cook!

Only the best recipe in the entire world.

Greg comes home tomorrow. I am so excited. I asked him what he wanted me to make for his first dinner home. He requested the Pioneer Woman's White Chicken Enchiladas. These are TO DIE FOR. Seriously, the best things in the entire world! Creamy, delish, amazing, and just wonderful. I will be making them on Monday for dinner and just wanted to share the recipe with the whole world! I do not change a thing, and do not wish to!

Also coming in the next week or so,

Lasagna (I've actually NEVER made lasagna before, so I looked at a few recipes, and am going to see how it goes!)

Apricot Chicken (It's already featured on my blog)

Pizza :)

White Chicken Chili

My awesome friend Aimee made some crockpot white chicken chili, and posted it to her food blog. You can find it here. It looked delish, so I decided I would make it! I altered it just a tiny bit, but man was it good!

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken (I used 5 tenderloins, I didn't actually measure it though!)

2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 white onion, chopped

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 4 oz can diced green chiles

1 can corn, drained

2 tsp chopped garlic

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup cheese (I used taco shredded cheese)

cilantro

tomatoes, diced

tortilla chips
more cheese
more sour cream

what to do:

1. Put all ingredients, except sour cream and cheese into the slow cooker. Stir together, and close lid.

2. Cook on low for about 6-8 hours

3. Remove chicken breasts from slow cooker and shred with 2 forks.

4. Return chicken breasts to slow cooker and add sour cream and cheese.

5. Stir everything together.

6. Cook for another 30 minutes to hour.

7. Top with cilantro, tomatoes, more sour cream, or whatever you might want.

This chili was superb. Very flavorful! Thanks for the recipe Aimee!!! :)

Tomato Cream Pasta Sauce

This pasta sauce has always been my favorite. I finally decided I needed to learn how to make a pretty simple version of it at my house so that I could eat it on any pasta! Well, I discovered the perfect (in my eyes at least) recipe. Let's share!

Tomato Cream Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:
2TBS olive oil
1/4 of an onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce (mine is Ragu roasted garlic)
salt and pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
Parmesan cheese

What to do:
1. Heat olive oil on medium heat and add garlic and onions and saute until light brown.
2. Add tomato sauce, heat until bubbling (constantly stirring)
3. Add heavy cream slowly while stirring. Dash with a bit of salt and pepper, and sprinkle a handful of parmesan cheese.
4. Pour over your favorite pasta or tortellini!

ENJOY! :)

BBQ Chicken and Potato Quesadillas!

I made this Sunday night and it was AWESOME! I got the idea from a place in TX called Tin Star. I don't really like the place, but I love the bbq chicken quesadillas. These are easy, fast, and delicious. Also, you can use the leftover chicken for whatever you want!

BBQ Chicken and Potato Quesadillas

For the BBQ Chicken:

3 chicken breasts

1 cup of your favorite barbeque sauce

2 cloves garlic

what to do:

1. Throw the ingredients into the crockpot and cook on low for 5 hours. Take out and shred and cook another hour. TADA! You now have the chicken for the quesadillas

For the Potatoes:

3 large potatoes (clean and scrubbed)

2 cloves garlic

olive oil

garlic and herb seasoning

Salt and Pepper

what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Cut the potatoes into 1 inch pieces and put into a bowl. Drizzle olive oil all over them, as much as you want. I don't use much, I just barely put enough to make each one a little wet. Then throw two cloves of chopped garlic into the bowl. Mix around. Then pour into a pyrex dish then sprinkle garlic and herb seasoning all over potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook for 30-35 minutes or until golden on the tops.

For quesadilla assembly:

Cheese (I used Monterrey Jack and Cheddar)

Potatoes

Chicken

Tortillas

Sour Cream

Salsa

BBQ Sauce

what to do:

1. Put chicken and potatoes across the tortilla. Cover with cheese and heat in a pan on the stove. Serve with bbq sauce, sour cream, and salsa!

YUM!

Family Apricot Chicken

This recipe has been in my family for years. It's so simple, and so delicious! You seriously just need 4 ingredients. I made it for my father in law when he was here one time, and he loved it

Family Apricot Chicken

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

1 small bottle russian dressing (or catalina)

1 small jar apricot preserves

1 packet lipton onion soup mix

what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Mix the soup mix, apricot jam, and russian dressing in a bowl.

3. Put chicken in a pyrex dish and pour mixture over chicken. Cook for 30 minutes or until chicken in no longer pink.

4. Serve with potatoes, or serve over white rice for a sweet and sour chicken type dinner.

ENJOY!

I like Mexican Food. Do you?

My favorite type of food is mexican. Could it be because I lived in Mexico growing up?

Who knows, but, I make tacos almost once a week, and usually like to play with it until I find a recipe I love.

I've already posted some on here, but I discovered some new mexican chicken tacos that I LOVE!

They are different, and easy! AND DELISH!

And you could easily make chicken enchiladas with them, with a sour cream or cheese sauce,

or tacos,

or taco salad,

or burritos...

the possibilities are endless!

Spicy (ish) Chicken Taco Filling

(the assembly of tacos)

Ingredients:

4 large chicken breasts

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 14.5 oz can enchilada sauce

2 cloves garlic (I just use minced garlic from costco)

1 T chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

2 teaspoons oregano

1/2 teaspoon sugar

salt and pepper to taste

2 T olive oil

what to do:

1. In a bowl, mix tomato sauce, enchilada sauce, garlic, cumin, sugar, and oregano. Set aside.

2. Salt and pepper the chicken breasts then cut into strips (I just did this to cook faster and it was yummy). Pour olive oil into a skillet over medium high heat and let get hot. Put chicken breasts in, and let cook for about 5 minutes, flipping over halfway through, just to brown the chicken a bit.

3. Pour mixture into the skillet and make sure to cover all chicken. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through.

4. Take chicken out onto a cutting board and either cut or shred the chicken. At this point, I poured about half of the leftover sauce out of the skillet and threw it away. Although you could use it as taco sauce if you want. Just leave enough of the sauce in the pan to mix well with the chicken.

5. Put chicken back into skillet and mix well. Let cook another 10 minutes.

6. Serve with warm tortillas or hard shells. Also you may top it with homemade spanish rice (I will put this recipe on another time!), cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.

ENJOY!

Sweet Potato, Black Beans, and Rice Burritos

Greg and I have been TRYING to eat better, and Greg loves sweet potatoes. So I decided to try a new recipe. We love black beans and rice, so I figured why not combine the three and see how it turns out? Well, it turned out great! :)

Sweet Potato, Black Beans, and Rice Burritos

Ingredients:

1/3 cup of uncooked brown rice

2/3 cup of chicken broth

1 bag of the sweet potato steamers (you can always make sweet potatoes the traditional way but this was much faster!)

I can black beans drained

3 T lemon juice

1 t cumin

1 t chili powder

1 T vegetable oil

1 clove garlic

1/8 of an onion chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Burrito size tortillas

1 cup of white cheese (I used my Monterrey Jack)

what to do:

1. Cook brown rice according to directions with the chicken broth instead of water. For most brown rice you get it to boil, then simmer for 50 minutes, then let it sit for 10 and fluff!

2. In a bowl, mix the beans with the lemon juice and seasonings. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the onions and garlic 2-3 minutes until soft. Add the bean mixture and warm through.

3. Make the mashed sweet potatoes. (I used the steamer ones in the frozen isle. All you do is microwave it in the bag, then pour into a bowl and mash SO EASY!)

4. BURRITO ASSEMBLY: Layer ingredients down the middle of tortilla in this order: Cheese, rice, beans, sweet potatoes. You can put as much of each ingredient as you would like. Fold the top and bottom then roll up so that it is a closed burrito. Put on a baking sheet. Brush with some olive oil and broil until brown and crispy :) I think it took 12 minutes in my oven. Serve with sour cream, salsa, or whatever! YUM!

Enjoy!

Really good Chicken Taco Meat

This meat was so moist and soft and good. Just trust me.

Easy crockpot chicken and totally healthy!

Sorry no picture :/

Sweet Chili-Lime Chicken Taco Meat

Ingredients:

1 T brown sugar

4-6 frozen chicken breasts (It really doesn't matter, I used 4 big costco size ones)

1 T chili powder

fresh lime juice from about 2 limes

What-to-do:

Throw the chicken in a crockpot. In a bowl, add ingredients and stir. Pour over chicken. Cook on low 6 hours or high for 3. Take chicken out and shred it then cook another hour.

Serve on warm tortillas, with some lettuce, onions, beans, sour cream, and cheese.

YUM!

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Best cookies ever.

The end.

My beautiful mother taught me to make these oh so perfectly. I have to give her credit :)

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

4 cups of flour

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 sticks butter flavored crisco

2 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

4 Tbsp (or 1/4 cup) milk

2 Tbsp (plus a little extra) vanilla

2 cups or so of chocolate chips (I NEVER actually measure them though)

what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a bowl add flour, salt, and baking soda.

2. In your kitchen aid (I'm sure you all have one! If not, then use a different bowl) add crisco, brown sugar, milk and vanilla. Blend until creamy.

3. Add eggs, and beat for 2-3 minutes. (This is key. I have learned that it helps make the cookies fluffy)

4. Slowly add the flour mixture one cup at a time. Once that is all mixed, hand stir the chocolate chips in.

5. Make 1-2 inch balls and put on a pan. Bake for 6-7 minutes. When you take them out, they will still look like they need to bake. DO NOT PUT THEM BACK IN! Let cool for about 2 minutes then take off the cookie sheet.

EAT THE DELICIOUS COOKIES.

Greg would like to say:

"Everytime Chelsy makes these I turn into the cookie monster and go cookie cookie cookie gobble gobble, then they are gone!"

Embarrassingly easy chicken enchilada soup!

In a hurry for some dinner? Look no further! This recipe takes all of 15 minutes from start to finish, it uses all cans of stuff from your pantry, and tastes delish! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 can chicken (the big ones from Costco if you don't have that use 2 small ones)
1 can black beans drained
1 can corn drained
1 can nacho cheese soup
1 can enchilada sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup

What to do:
In a pot put all ingredients in. Heat over medium heat until simmering stirring occasionally. Serve with sour cream, chips, cheese, tomatoes, and guac!

That's it! So easy and yummy!

Barbeque Chicken Mac and Cheese

Erin Martin. This post is for you. I haven't cooked in a long time, so, I am putting a few of my favorites up :)

If you have ever heard of Picky-palate, that is where I got this idea. I have adjusted the recipe a bit to my liking (and I think it's perfect!) It makes a lot of food so bring it to a pot luck or barbeque! YUM!

Barbeque Chicken Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

1 lb of elbow macaroni noodles (you can use any noodles actually)

4 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup flour

1 whole egg beaten

2 Tbsp (heaping!) dry mustard (you can add up to 3 Tbsp and it will still be delish!)

4 cups of milk (I usually use 1 % or 2 %)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

6 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2-3 cups precooked chicken (I usually just boil mine in some water and a couple bouillon cubes)

1 bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce!

what-to-do:

1. Take boiled chicken and shred it with two forks until you have 2-3 cups of it. Pour your favorite bbq sauce over it until moist and as much sauce as you want. Set aside.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, cook pasta according to directions (al dente). I usually take mine out about 2-3 minutes before the full time. You still want your pasta to be tough because we will be cooking it more in the oven! Drain, set aside.

2. Whisk egg in a bowl and set aside.

3. Melt butter in a dutch oven or pan over medium heat on stove. Whisk in flour and cook for 3 minute stirring constantly. Pour in milk and mustard and whisk until very thick and smooth (about 5 minutes). Reduce heat to low

4. Now take about 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly whisk it into the beaten egg. Whisk constantly so that the egg will not cook. Stir until it's smooth. Pour and stir this egg mixture into sauce until it's smooth.

5. Slowly add 5 cups of cheese stirring constantly. Then add salts and pepper. Taste sauce to make sure it is salty enough :) You can always add more salt!

6. Pour cooked, drained macaroni into the pot and stir. Make sure to cover all of the noodles. Now pour into a pyrex pan (or you can use the same dutch oven if you used that) and top with bbq chicken and the other cup of cheese.

7. Bake for 25 minutes until bubbly and delicious.

tips to wanna-be-chefs: How to boil chicken? Put about 4 or 5 chicken breasts into a pot. Add water until all breasts are covered, add 2 or 3 bouillon cubes and boil for 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. If you don't have time for this step, just get a precooked chicken from the store and shred that (I just don't have that kind of money!) Also, if you want to add a half teaspoon of paprika to the cheese sauce it's delish too! Have fun! You'll never make kraft mac and cheese again!

Fail.

So, I fail as a "wanna-be-chef"

I'm sorry.

Not that anyone really ever reads this :)

But, I have started school, and alas, have not been able to update.

Or cook.

Hopefully I'll have time soon!

Chicken Tostadas

As I was walking through the grocery store, I came across some tostada shells, and I thought, man, I haven't had those in so long! I love me some tostadas. So, I decided to buy them, and make some yummy chicken tostadas. I homemade the refried beans as well, because I like black beans, and it was actually really easy! Here are the recipes for both! ENJOY!

Chicken Tostadas

Ingredients for chicken:

6-8 chicken breasts (frozen works great!)

1 T of chili powder

a squeeze of lemon juice

1 can green enchilada sauce

Other Ingredients for tostadas (use anything you want!):

Tostada shells (just flat corn tortilla chips is what they are)

Refried beans (recipe below)

cheese

guacamole

sour cream

onions

tomatoes

olives

lettuce

what to do:

1. Put it all into a crockpot, and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Take chicken out of liquid and shred. Put shredded chicken back into the crockpot and cook another hour. There's your chicken!

2. Spread beans on the shell, put some chicken on top, then top with whatever other toppings you feel like it! SO GOOD!

Refried Beans

Ingredients:

One can of black beans, rinsed and drained

about a half cup of water

2 large cloves of garlic

2 T olive oil

1 teaspoon paprika

1 T chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

what to do:

1. Put the black beans, water, garlic, paprika, and chili powder into a small pot on the stove over medium heat.

2. Let it get to a boil, cover and cook about 7-8 minutes

3. Blend or mash it with one of those hand mixers (pictured above) if you don't have one, then mash with a fork!

4. Salt and pepper as much as you want.

5. Put on your tostada!

tips to wanna-be-chefs:

I had never made homemade refried beans before and I just made that recipe up! They turned out wonderful, but you can do whatever seasonings you have available! :)