Baked Chicken Taquitos

I have seen LOTS of taquitos on Pinterest. 

The baked ones always enticed me because they are healthier for you.

I have been watching what I eat over the last year, and have successfully lost about 40 pounds.

I still have 10 to go.

Summer has been hard on me with the lack of routine, and let's face it... too much food and drink.

My kids went back to school this week, and I have decided it's time to lose this last 10... NOW.

I am ready to maintain my goal number for the next year, not a number that's 10 pounds OVER my goal.

So I decided it was time to concoct some taquitos of my own, and make them fit into my low calorie/high fiber diet.

mmmm....goodness that is filling.

Baked Chicken Taquitos

5-6 chicken breasts, frozen is fine

1 (4 oz) can of green chilies + one can water

1 can Rotel tomatoes ( I used original, you can use the spicy if you want to heat them up some) + one can water

1 teaspoon cumin powder

10-12 taco sized flour tortilla shells (I always buy the Carb Balance Mission brand, they have 120 calories and 13 grams of fiber)

Shredded Cheese (I used fat free)

Place the chicken, chilies and Rotel and water in your crock pot.  Cover and cook for 5-6 hours on high, until the chicken falls apart, and shred with two forks.

Place meat in your strainer and squeeze the excess juice out.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

Warm your tortillas in a microwave for about 30-60 seconds so they are soft and easy to work with.

Lay one down and place about 1/3 cup of meat and 1/8 cup of cheese toward the bottom and spread it out in a row like shown.

Roll them up tightly from the bottom, and place them seam side down on your baking dish.

Continue with other tortillas.

I made 11 of them, because that is how many tortillas I had.  I had enough left over to make at least 6 more, but I put it in the refrigerator to use on salads, or in chicken tacos for lunches.

Spray the top of the taquitos with non-stick cooking spray.

Place in oven.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and crispy on the outside.

Watch them so your edges don't burn!!

Serve them with your favorite toppings: guacamole, sour cream, salsa, shredded lettuce etc...

We had ours with the batch of homemade Pico de Gallo I made the day before.

(RECIPE FOR PICO HERE)

Enjoy!!

Ole!

Bruschetta Chicken/Homemade Bruschetta Tomatoes

How many times a week do you eat chicken?

I make it about 2-4 times per week for dinner, so I am always looking for a way to jazz it up!

I love making Caprese Tomatoes and Bruschetta, and I thought, what a great summer treat to top those fresh chilled tomatoes on a grilled chicken breast!  This particular night we had with some steamed rice, but my favorite way is to lay it on a bed of pasta.

I make my bruschetta almost the same way as my Caprese, so sometimes when I do the Caprese, I make both!
That way I am not wasting the "ends" of the tomatoes that don't make quite as pretty of a presentation on the plate. I add in a few more tomatoes and use virtually the same ingredients, and "ta-da!"
Makes a great take-along to a party with a crusty loaf of bread.

Here are my Caprese Tomatoes

Bruschetta Tomatoes

2 cups ripe tomatoes diced

1/2 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Garlic Tomato and Basil 

Sprinkle of Sea Salt

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar

2 Tablespoons fresh basil chopped coarsely

I have also made this without the fresh basil when I didn't have it on hand, that Mrs. Dash gives the tomatoes a great flavor!

Combine ingredients and chill in the refrigerator for about 2-4 hours.

Top your chicken, you bread, or even top pasta for a cool summer dinner.

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

One morning I was trying to come up with something to put in the crock pot. 

It was going to be a really busy day and I wasn't going to be home long enough to get anything on the table.

I love to throw chicken breasts in the crock pot, and then cook them low and slow and shred them up.

It's just a surprise what I throw in with them!! 

Rotel... BBQ ... ginger soy....

This time... it was Frank's Hot Wing Sauce.

LOVE Hot Wings!!

light and refreshing summer dinner!

I have to say I don't really have a "recipe" it really depends on how many chicken breasts you are preparing. But I will share with you the basics!

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

chicken breasts

Frank's hot wing sauce (or your favorite brand)

broccoli slaw

sunflower seeds

bib lettuce

Spray your crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.

Place chicken breasts in the bottom. 

(I have even put them in frozen!)

Pour hot wing sauce over the top, I used about half the bottle for 6 chicken breasts, and reserved the rest for topping if you wanted to later.

If your chicken breasts aren't frozen, add a small amount of water, too.

Let cook on low all day.  Shred.

Peel back large pieces of lettuce, I used iceberg this night.

Top with chicken, broccoli slaw and sunflower seeds... or whatever your little heart desires!! :)

Enjoy a meal that is easy, low calorie, and doesn't heat up your kitchen on a hot summer day!!

Chicken Divan (Chicken with Broccoli)

My Mom got this recipe from my Aunt Ellen many years ago.  

It's always been a favorite of mine, one, because I love chicken so much it's amazing that  I don't grow feathers, and two, because I LOVE curry!!

It seems sort of "fancy" with the name and all, but honestly, it's quite easy to prepare.

I love one dish recipes, don't you?

ready to go in the oven

Chicken Divan

4-6 chicken breasts

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 cup mayonnaise (I use fat free and it's just fine)

1 teaspoon curry powder

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

fresh broccoli spears (about one large bunch, more if desired), steamed

margarine or butter

1 large package wide egg noodles, cooked and drained

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In melted butter or margarine, in a frying pan, saute your chicken breasts for about 15 minutes.

Steam broccoli and boil and drain noodles.

In a small bowl prepare the sauce:soup, mayo, curry, salt and lemon juice.  Combine.

Place noodles on the bottom of your baking dish.  Cover with chicken breasts, then broccoli, then top with sauce.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

Recipe can be cut in half for a smaller crowd.

Enjoy!

Creamy Baked Chicken Pasta with Bacon

Don't cha just hate when you can't decide what to make for dinner??

Well, Spring can't decide if it's coming or going here in Nebraska, and it's COLD.

We have gone from 70's and sun, to severe thunderstorms, to hail...and blizzards.

The saying "If you don't like the weather in Nebraska, wait 5 minutes and it'll change" 

is SO TRUE!!

Needless to say, I have been sticking pretty close to home the last couple of days.

I didn't want to go anywhere to pick anything up, I just wanted to make something with what I had.

I told the kids I should name this "everything but the kitchen sink pasta."

Actually, some of my kids favorite meals are ones I make up.

This will be one of them.

hot out of the oven

Creamy Chicken Pasta with Bacon

4-6 chicken breasts

1 pound pasta, cooked

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup garden vegetable cream cheese

2/3 cup real bacon pieces

4-6 slices of provolone cheese

1/2 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups water

olive oil

paprika

sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Cook your pasta.  I used penne but that is what I had on hand.  You can use what you choose.

In a large skillet pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and place chicken breasts, sprinkled with a little salt and paprika in to brown.  It took mine about 15 minutes.

Remove chicken, set aside.  

To dripping in the pan, add onion, garlic and bacon to the drippings, over medium heat saute until onions become fragrant and translucent.  About 5 minutes.

Add cream cheese, soup and water and stir until combined.

Place cooked pasta in the bottom of your baking dish,

Place chicken over the top of the pasta.

Place a slice of cheese over every piece of chicken, and pour sauce over the top.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

Chicken and DORITOS Casserole

Every day when my kids get in the car, the first thing they ask me is 

"what's for dinner?"

I am known to be a smartalec once in a while (ok...so a lot of times)

so yesterday, I said 

"DORITOS!!"

They said sure, Mom...what's really for dinner?

I said...ok, DORITOS Casserole.

They still didn't believe me.

When we got home they saw the bag of Doritos on the counter and it was like

"dang...she really meant it!"

EYE POPPING moment!

Now I am going to tell you, this is REALLY good, and it's REALLY easy, but most certainly not one of those "health conscience" foods.

I did however use as much "fat free" stuff as possible, to try and counteract the bag of crunched up Doritos!

Chicken and Doritos Casserole

1 can refried beans

4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed

1 (10oz) can of cream of chicken soup

4 cups Mexican shredded cheese

1/2 cup milk

2/3 cup sour cream

1 can Ro-tel tomatoes, drained

1/2 packet of taco seasoning (or use your own!)

1 large bag of Doritos crushed 

Optional Toppings:

Tomatoes

Shredded Lettuce

Sour Cream

Olives

Jalapenos

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a small pan, place chicken with a little bit of water and cover.  Cook until chicken is done, and is able to be shredded or cubed.

Spread the refried beans into the bottom of the baking dish, set aside.

In a large bowl combine the soup, milk, sour cream, Ro-tel, 1 1/2 cup of cheese and taco seasoning.  Add chicken, and combine.

Over the bean layer, sprinkle a layer of Doritos.

Top with half of chicken mixture.

Add another layer of Doritos.

Top with the remaining chicken mixture.

Top with remaining cheese and more Doritos.

Cover and bake for 30-35 minutes.

I did bake mine uncovered for the last 5 minutes.  

hot out of the oven!

Country Club Chicken and Pasta

This recipe was literally one of the first things I ever pinned on Pinterest.

When I saw the picture...

they had me at the mushrooms....

I don't know why it took me so long to try it, other than every time I thought about it, I was missing like one ingredient.  But last week, I planned for it, and so it was made.

The original recipe is from kayotic kitchen  I followed her recipe almost to a t.  But there are six of us, so I just increased some things and not others.  It turned out perfect! The chicken was so tender, you didn't even need a knife!

Country Club Chicken

6 chicken breasts

6 slices of bacon

1 onion, minced

1 apple, minced

3 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

1 26oz can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/4 cup dry white wine

2/3 cup extra sharp white cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

1 pound spaghetti

In a  large frying pan, cook bacon.  While it's getting nice and crispy, mince your onion and apple and clean and slice your mushrooms. Set aside.

When the bacon is done cooking, place it on a paper towel, and set aside.

Don't drain the bacon grease.

While it's still hot place salt and peppered chicken breasts in the bacon grease and sear until slightly brown on each side.  Place chicken into a 9x13 baking dish.

Drain the bacon grease but don't wash your pan.  In this pan, saute your onion for a couple of minutes, until they become translucent.  Add the minced apple, and saute for a couple of minutes more.  Add mushrooms, and cook until they are heated through.  

Crumble bacon and add to the mixture.

To this add the wine and the cream of mushroom soup.

Combine together, then fold in the grated cheese.

Pour this sauce over the top of the chicken.

Cover and bake at 30 degrees for 35 minutes.

Serve over pasta.

Chicken Pot Pie

I was in need of a little comfort food last weekend.

I decided to make homemade chicken pot pie in my cute little crocks I love to use!

I was posting progress pictures on my facebook page while I was making them, and so many people asked for the recipe.

Well, I really wasn't measuring, but I thought I would share with you what I did.

I thought I would give you the recipe for making one large pie, instead of minis, but you will get the idea.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 whole chicken cut up

chicken stock

onion

Salt and Pepper

flour

milk

veggies: whatever you want, I used:

carrots

celery

potatoes

peas

double pie crust

Place cut up chicken and onion in a stock pot, salt and pepper and cover with chicken stock.

Place lid on pot and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and continue cooking until chicken is done and begins to fall off the bones.

Remove chicken from pot.

Add your cut up veggies to the broth, and simmer them until they are a firm tender.

(they will continue to cook in the oven, you don't want them soggy.)

While they are cooking, de-skin and de-bone your chicken., cut up and put back in the pot with the veggies.

Add equal parts milk and flour in jar and shake to combine for your thickening agent.

Make sure there are no lumps!!

Add to simmering broth, and stir.  It will get thicker as it simmers.

Watch it for a few minutes, if you want it thicker, then add a little more flour/milk mixture.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Pour into prepared deep dish pie crust.  Top with crust and vent.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until crust is brown and flaky.

You can use whatever veggies you want, and as many as you want!  We used quite a bit, because we LOVE our VEGGIES!!

I am sorry this recipe wasn't more specific, next time I make it I will measure everything out!!

White Chicken Enchiladas

These enchiladas are all over Pinterest.  

At this point it's hard to tell who actually "made them first!"

white chicken enchiladas

I made them for the first time about a month ago, to "try them out" on my family before I made them for the luncheon with my friends.

My family LOVED them.

I did make a couple of changes to the recipe I found, but when don't I?

Here's what you do:

White Chicken Enchiladas

recipe adapted from Joyful Momma's Kitchen

8 burrito sized flour tortillas

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

2 cups chicken broth

3 T. butter

3 T flour

1 - 4oz can diced green chilies

8 ounces of sour cream

8 oz pkg Monterrey Jack cheese shredded

1 - 4oz can sliced black olives, drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Evenly divide chicken and half of cheese to fill tortillas.  Roll enchilada style, place in prepared pan.

In a small saucepan melt butter, add flour to make a rue.

Add chicken stock and whisk until combined.  Cook until thick and bubbly.

Add green chilies and sour cream, remove from heat.

Pour over enchiladas.  Cover and bake for 20 minutes.

Uncover add remaining cheese and bake another 8-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Top with olives, and serve.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

This was hands down my most favorite meal as a kid.

homemade chicken noodle soup

Now it's my kids' most requested meal at our house.

Even in the heat of summer, they request it. 

But today with the fresh blanket of snow, it seemed even more fitting.

I remember my Mom making this when I was little and every time I ate it I got the hiccups.
I realize now it was probably because I was eating it WAY too fast!!

When my friend, Lisa and I used to play in my play kitchen we would put warm water in my "soup kettle" and "cook" homemade chicken noodle soup on my stove.
 It was the one meal we always made.

I have known how to make this as long as I can remember. It's really not hard....

But I guess if you didn't grow up eating it, you wouldn't know how?

I have passed this "recipe" on to many friends and family over the years.  

My kids all know how to make it.

I cannot say I really have a "recipe" though. But I am going to do my best to walk you through it.

on a snowy day...or any 'ol day

the audience I get whenever I de-bone a chicken ... mooching!

ah-maz-ing!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

1 whole chicken

1 onion, chopped

Celery, diced

Carrots, sliced

1- 32 oz chicken broth

2 Tablespoons chicken bouillon

salt and pepper

water

wide egg noodles, cooked and rinsed

Place chicken, whole, into your soup pot.  Add veggies. I cut my onion up fairly large, and do the same for my celery and carrots. We love our veggies over here!

I put A LOT of celery in my soup, because I love it! If I had to guess, I would say use about 5-6 stalks. When I am in a rush I buy the carrot chips and just give them a quick chop.  I use the whole bag.  We have a big family though, and usually we eat it, I put some in the fridge and then have some for the freezer to pull out in a pinch.

Salt and pepper generously.

Add chicken broth, bouillon, and fill pot to the top with water.  Cover and cook until chicken is done.

Depending on the size of your chicken, I find it's done in about an hour or a little more.

Remove chicken and de-bone, remove skin and dice up meat.

Return to pan.

I bounce back and forth between the dry wide egg noodles and the Reames frozen ones.
My kids are sort of "split" on which they prefer.

Can't make everyone happy at once, all of the time, right?

Cook the egg noodles until they are done, and drain and rinse them.

Add them to the soup and Volia! You are done!

Feel free to add more bouillon if you feel the need.  I swear, the broth is better some times than others.
I always blame the chicken! ;)

The noodles will soak up the broth as it sits.  I always add some more chicken broth to the left overs.
We love the broth.

If you are watching your fat intake, I would recommend making this a day ahead and putting it into the fridge.  The grease from the chicken will go to the top and harden, and  

can be removed.

My kids LOVE this stuff. My oldest daughter will eat it for breakfast when she knows it's here!

I can tell you that "uncool" fact about my teenager, because as she says... "my friends don't read that stuff anyway!" Someday they might...beware, Kenzie!!

Buffalo Chicken Chili

buffalo chicken chili

Raise your hand if you LOVE buffalo chicken wings!!

Yesterday I went to the store to do some grocery shopping.  It was a beautiful day, the sun was especially warm and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. 

 This is quite uncommon to have a 62 degree day in Nebraska in mid-January.

But after listening to the weatherman I knew it wouldn't last.

There's a saying here in Nebraska,

 "If you don't like the weather in Nebraska, wait five minutes and it will change!" 

I bought all of the fixings for chili, knowing it was coming, and it DID.

And if the weatherman wasn't right (which he seldom is) my twins are studying clouds in science, and they told me the ones up there are bringing a storm!

The winds are blowing like mad, and I have hunkered down at home in my PJ's for a 

day of laundry and cleaning.  (BOO!)

Last night, I found a recipe for Buffalo Chicken Chili on A Forkful of Comfort's linky party.

I showed it to my oldest son and is statement was "oh, yum."

I decided to forego the usual chili and make this one.

Now I will tell you that when it comes to recipe following, I am a bit of a rebel. 

I can NEVER just "follow" a recipe without tweaking it someway to make it my own.

Her recipe sounded delicious, but if I made it that way I would have to go to the store...again.

I'm in my PJ's, remember?  And I plan to stay in them until I have to go get my twins at school at 3 PM.

(they are getting to the age where I can drop them off in them, 

but they comment when I pick them up in them! ;)

So, I did some tweaking.  Also, my hubby and I are on the WEIGHT-LOSS TRAIN and if I don't want to eat chicken and fish and lettuce daily, I need to TRY to make these soups healthy!

And, people, I LOVE me some soup!

If you click on the link for A Forkful of Comfort up there, it will take you directly to her post, and you can see what changes I have made. Make it however you like, but I say MAKE IT!

I have only taken a nibble of it, as it slow cooks in my crock pot, but I wish you knew just how amazing my house smells right now.

Buffalo Chicken Chili

adapted from A Forkful of Comfort

One Medium Onion, diced

4 Stalks of Celery, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

5 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

1 Tablespoon of Chili Powder

1 Tablespoon of Cumin

2 Tablespoons of flour

1/2 cup of hot wing sauce ( I use Frank's )

2 - 14.5 ounce cans of diced tomatoes with juice

1 - 15 ounce can of black beans

1 - 15 ounce can of dark red kidney beans

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups of chicken broth (we like more broth!)

mozzarella cheese, ranch or blue cheese dressing

In a stockpot over medium heat saute your chicken until it's no longer pink. 

I have to tell you that I never decide what's for dinner in advance!! I took my chicken out of the freezer and threw it in the pot frozen, basically defrosted/cooked it at the same time! The original recipe said to cook it in 3 Tablespoons of butter, I omitted that step. 
If your chicken isn't frozen like mine was, you will need it.

Add the onion, celery and garlic, season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until tender.

(at this point I put it in the crock pot)

Sprinkle with Chili Powder, Cumin and Flour, stirring to coat.  Add hot wing sauce, tomatoes, chicken broth and beans.  Stir to combine.  Bring to a boil. 

Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

I left mine on low for about 5 hours in the crock pot.

Top with your cheese of choice and ranch or blue cheese dressing.

Easy Baked Chicken Stuffed with Long Grain and Wild Rice

You can have Sunday Dinner any 'ol time with this family favorite!

chicken stuffed with long grain and wild rice

This is a family favorite on Sundays.  It's so easy though, you can make it any 'ol time!

I always make this ahead in the morning or over lunch in my roaster, then place it in the oven on time bake for a no fuss meal that looks so much harder than it is!

Chicken Stuffed with Long Grain and Wild Rice

1 large whole chicken, washed (I try to find one that is 3+ lbs for our family of six)

2-3 packages of Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice Packets, cooked according to package instructions

this is it!

spray butter

sea salt

cracked black pepper

Spray your roasting pan with non-stick cooking spray. 

Wash your whole chicken in cold water, inside and out. 

this is where I usually make him "dance" for the kids... but of course this step is optional!

 Stuff chicken with  rice.

Place in roaster.

Spritz the outside of the chicken with spray butter and sprinkle with sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Bake at 375 degrees covered for 90 minutes.  For 30 minutes more,  uncover and baste the chicken a couple of times.  For a large chicken stuffed like I make it, total cooking time is about 2 hours.

*You may need to adjust if you are making a smaller chicken stuffed with only one packet of rice.

*Just use your meat thermometer, and test to see if it's done.

The breast should be about 170 degrees when chicken is done.

This always turns out good for me.  The meat is juicy and tender and the skin is crispy.

I also like to add mushrooms ... but I add mushrooms to almost everything! ;)

That "mystery dish" we named Chicken Fajita Bake

The other day I joked about making some concoction in my kitchen that I would share if it tasted good? Well, guess what? It did!! Everyone loved it!

So, now comes the hard part, trying to "write a recipe."  You see, this is pretty much how I cook.  A lot of my best meals I throw together with something I had laying around here so I wouldn't have to go to the store... again.  I would not call myself a recipe follower...more like a recipe tweaker! Most times, in the taste category this works out to my advantage, other than to replicate it again sometimes doesn't quite work out.

I have been trying to get better at jotting down what I put into something, and measuring instead of just shaking a spice into the pot until it tastes good, so bear with me!

smelled even better than it looked 

Here is what you will need to make "Chicken Fajita Bake"

(at this point I opened my first Dos XXX Amber)

Chicken Fajita Bake

1 package of frozen chicken breast meat for fajitas

1 onion

1 can green chilis

1 can rotel

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more to taste)

1 can cream of chicken soup

8 ozs sour cream

1 can black beans

8 tortillas (I used cheddar jalepeno flavored ones)

large package of shredded cheddar or mexican cheese

Saute your chicken with the onion and green chilis until heated

 (that's they beauty of that chicken fajita meat, it's already cooked!)

Add the rotel, cumin, cayenne pepper and black beans and simmer for about 5-10 minutes.

Combine the sour cream and cream of chicken soup and spread about a tablespoon in the middle of each tortilla, a scoop of the meat mixture, sprinkle with cheese and roll "enchilada style" and place into a greased 9x13 dish. Continue to fill all 8 tortillas. The remaining soup mixture is spread on top, as well as the remaining cheese. I placed some of the beans and tomatoes down the center also.

Cover and Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

(here is where I opened my 2nd Dos XX Amber...please don't judge. It's a 114 outside and I am sitting next to my oven!)

gussy it up on the plate with some fresh tomatoes, sour cream and guacamole

Looking toward the future and the next time I make this, here is what I would do different. I would add colored bell peppers to the chicken mixture, and more green chilis to the soup mixture. I am not saying that it was lacking, I was just using up what I had here to make something. But if I was shopping for the ingredients to make this, I would do that part differently!

chicken fajita bake