Tasty Tuesday: Mexican Chicken

Sorry I haven't had a Tasty Tuesday post in a really long time!! I have been terrible at cooking lately! We have had a lot of cereal and sandwiches for dinner. Tonight I changed my bad habit and cooked Mexican Chicken. I found the recipe here!

Ingredients:

- 1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

- 2(4.5 ounce) cans chopped green chiles, divided

- 1 3/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts

- 2 teaspoons olive oil

- 1 cup chopped onion

- 1 cup evaporated skim milk

- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

- 1/4 cup (2 ounces) light cream cheese

- 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce

- 12 corn tortillas

- 1/2 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese

- crushed tortilla chips (I used Doritos)

Steps:

Combine broth and 1 can of chiles in a large skillet; bring to a boil. Add chicken, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from cooking liquid, reserving cooking liquid. Shred chicken with two forks, set aside.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 can of chiles and onion; saute 3 minutes or until soft. Add reserved cooking liquid, milk, Monterey Jack Cheese, cream cheese, and enchilada sauce. Stir in shredded chicken; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place 4 tortillas in the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish. Spoon 2 cups chicken mixture over the tortillas. Repeat layers twice ending with chicken mixture. Spring with cheddar cheese and chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Enjoy!!

Tasty Tuesday!

Here is a real simple and yummy cake recipe! It is called Better Than Sex cake, also known as Better Than Everything Cake.

Ingredients:

-1 box chocolate cake mix

- Sweetened condensed milk

- Jar Chocolate syrup {I used Hershey's}

- Cool whip

- Chocolate chips, heath chips, or whatever toppings you choose

Steps:

- Cook cake according to directions on box

- As soon as you take the cake out of the oven, poke holes in it using a knife. Pour sweetened condensed milk into holes. Next, pour jar of Hershey's chocolate syrup over cake.

- Let the cake cool completely

- Spread cool whip on top then add chocolate chips and heath chips

- Refrigerate until time to serve

I love this cake because you can bake it many ways! You can also use yellow cake mix and carmel syrup!

Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday: Yogurt Popsicles

Summertime calls for popsicles!! This week I made some yummy, yet healthy popsicles!

Ingredients:

- 1 cup greek yogurt {or yogurt of your choice}

- 10 chocolate animal crackers, crushed {you can also use regular animal crackers, graham crackers, vanilla wafers, etc.}

Steps:

Mix ingredients and pour into popsicle molds and freeze over night. The amount of ingredients may vary according to how big or how many popsicles your mold holds.

Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday: Chicken Stir-fry

One thing I love about summer is the farmer's market and all of the pretty fruits and vegetables! I know you can buy most of them all year long, but for some reason I love them more in the summer! Last week, we decided to give the grill a rest and cook a yummy chicken stir-fry.

Ingredients:

- Teriyaki sauce

- 2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

- 1 and 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips

- salt

- black pepper

- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced

- 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, cored and cut into thin strips {we used several baby peppers instead of one bell pepper}

- 2 cups chicken broth

- 1/2 pound string beans, trimmed and cut

- 1 zucchini, cut into thick pieces

- 1 squash, cut into thick pieces

- Finely grated zest of 2 large lemons

- 1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water

Steps:

- Place chicken, salt, pepper, and Teriyaki sauce {however much you feel needed} in a large bag or container and marinate for 1 to 2 hours. In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, add enough oil to lightly coat the inside. When the oil is hot, add the chicken. Let chicken cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, turning once or twice. Remove chicken from the skillet and set aside.

- Add a little oil to the skillet, then add the onion, bell pepper, zucchini, and squash. Stir-fry the vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring them every minute or so. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth, green beans, and salt to taste. Cover and reduce the heat to medium or medium-low, allowing the green beans to steam for 3 to 4 minutes, until they become tender. Add the chicken, lemon zest and the remaining cup of chicken broth. Stir to combine, then form a well in the middle of the skillet and add the cornstarch mixture. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook about 3 minutes, until the sauce thickens and the chicken and beans are cooked through. Serve over rice.

Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday: Mini Fruit Pizzas

This past weekend I made mini fruit pizzas. They were sooooo yummy!!! This is another great dessert to have during the summer!

Ingredients:

- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

- 1 cup butter, softened

- 1 1/2 cups white sugar

- 1 egg

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 1 {8 oz.} package cream cheese {room temperature}

- 1/3 cup sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

- strawberries

- blueberries

-kiwi

Steps:

Cookies:

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to completely cool.

Cream cheese spread:

-Beat together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Spread evenly over cookies.

-Top with desired fruits

Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday: Fajitas and Pico de Gallo

Remember those peppers from Friday?? I just think they are so pretty and colorful! Last week, we made fajitas and homemade Pico de Gallo. For the fajitas, we used the McCormick fajita seasoning package and followed the instructions on the back. It's real simple! I found the Pico de Gallo recipe on allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

- 1 medium tomato, diced

- 1 onion, finely chopped

- 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

- 2 sprigs fresh cilantro, finely chopped

- 1 green onion, finely chopped

- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

- 1/8 teaspoon salt

- 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Steps:

In a medium bowl, combine tomato, onion, pepper, cilantro, and green onion. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To make the fajitas healthier, we used extra virgin olive oil instead of vegetable oil, fat free sour cream, no cheese, and served them on a whole wheat - 94% fat free tortilla!

Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday

Today I am going to share a Four-Bean Taco Chili recipe with you. It's not a summer food, but it sounded good to us! It is easy, cheap, and healthy!

Ingredients:

- 2 pounds ground beef

- 3 cups tomato juice

- 1{16 oz.} jar salsa

- 1 {16 oz.} can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

- 1 {15.5 oz.} can great northern beans, rinsed and drained

- 2 {15 oz.} cans black beans, rinsed and drained

- 1 {16 oz.} can corn, rinsed and drained

- 1 {8 oz.} tomato sauce

- 1 {6 oz.} tomato paste

- 1 {4 oz.} chopped green chilies

- 1 package taco seasoning

Steps:

In a dutch over, cook beef and drain. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

It makes a ton!! We put some in the freezer for later!

Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday!

I have definitely been a slacker lately when it comes to Tasty Tuesday! I just honestly haven't cooked anything new and exciting, I need to get out of that habit! Last night our good friends Matt and Katie invited us over for dinner, so I thought I would use their recipe for today!! Last night we ate Cheese Dip Soup and it was delicious!

Ingredients:

- 2 cans ranch style beans

- 2 cans minestrone soup

- 1 pound hamburger meat, cooked and drained

- 1 can diced tomatoes

- 1 can Rotel (If you like more spice)

- 1 pound Velvetta, cut into cubes

- 2 soup cans of water

- 1 cup shell macaroni (elbow macaroni), uncooked

- 1 can corn, drained

Mix all ingredients in soup pot except cheese. Stir well. Add cheese and simmer until melted.

Serve with Mexican cornbread or Fritos. This recipe serves 10-12. Can also be made in crock-pot, just add cheese last 30 minutes.

Thank you Katie and Matt for letting me use this recipe!!

Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday...Plus Tornados!

Last night was very eventful! Jonathan and I had two lovely ladies over for dinner. We managed to get dinner cooked between hiding in the bath tub and the electricity going out. It was definitely a scary night and I am so thankful that Conway was safe from the tornados!

For dinner we ate Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole. This is a Paula Deen recipe, from her cookbook The Lady & Sons, Too!

Ingredients:

- One 6-ounce package long-grain and wild rice, cooked according to directions

- 4 cups diced cooked chicken breast

- Two 10 3/4-ounce cans cream of chicken soup

- 1 cup mayonnaise

- 2 teaspoons curry powder, or to taste

- One 8-ounce package Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Dressing Mix

- 1/4 cup butter

(I know sounds terrible for you! But you can use healthy cream of chicken, mayo, and butter. I even substituted some butter for spray butter. Shhh.)

Put the rice in a greased 2-quart casserole dish. Layer the chicken on top of the rice. Mix the soup, mayonnaise, and curry powder, and pour this over the chicken. Sprinkle the dressing mix over the casserole and dot with butter. {Or pour spray butter on top. Shhh.} Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

{We served with a yummy side and cookies!}

{Olivia, Leah, and me}

{Olivia had a light in case we had to eat in the dark!}

Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday: Cheesecake

One of my favorite things to bake is a cheesecake. I was scared the first time I made one because I was always told they were extremely hard to make. Jonathan and I lived at the Links our first year of marriage, and our neighbors loved to cook. She always gave me good recipes to try! One day, she and I were talking about cheesecake and she said she had an easy cheesecake recipe. So, I got over my fear and tried her recipe. She was right, it is easy and yummy!

Ingredients:

- 3 8-ounce packages of softened cream cheese (I use Neufatchel cream cheese)

- 1 cup of sugar

- 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 1/4 cup milk

- 3 slightly beaten eggs

- 1 solid squirt of lemon juice

Crust recipe can be found here! I use the same graham cracker crust for everything! Press crumb mixture into the bottom of a 8 or 9 inch spring-form pan.

1. Mix cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla with an electric mixer until combined.

2. Beat in milk until smooth (will be creamy).

3. Stir in eggs and lemon juice (don't over mix; well blended).

4. Pour filling onto crust. Spread evenly.

5. Put the spring-form pan in a shallow pan to prevent spills.

6. Bake 375 degrees for about 45 minutes for an 8 inch pan and 35 minutes for a 9 inch pan; or until a 2 to 2 1/2 inch area around the outside edges appear set (not jiggly) when gently shaken.

7. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Using a small knife, loosen the crust from the sides of the pan. Cool for 30 minutes more. Remove the sides of pan and cool completely on rack. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours.

8. Top with your choice of fruit, nuts, and syrups!

Enjoy!