Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

Okay so after feeding this to numerous people I have gotten enough requests for the recipe and raves about how yummy it is to put it on my blog.

Are you sure you can handle all the cheesy-ness?
Buckle up.

Ingredients
1 lb boneless chicken breasts
1 large can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup
1 large bag of cheddar cheese
1 regular size bag of monterey jack cheese (you can absolutely choose a different cheese here like pepper jack, or another cheddar, or mozzarella)
1  small can of green chiles
1 small container of sour cream
1 table spoon garlic powder
1 table spoon pepper
1/2 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of cilantro
1 tablespoon of oregano
approx. 6 tortillas LARGE


This is what you do!
1.  Were actually going to boil this chicken. So chop it up into chunks. and drop it into boiling water. You can certainly season the water. I usually put minced garlic in there with it. But you don't have to --I just love garlic.

2.  Depending on the chunk size of your chicken- it could take anywhere from 5-10 minutes for the chicken to be cooked. After it is cooked drain out the water (leaving the chicken in the pot still) and place back on burner. Reduce heat to medium or medium low.

3.  Add the large can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup in the pot and mix.

 

4. Next add your seasonings

5.  Then add your green chiles to the mixture.

6. Then add the sour cream. 

7.  It will be simmering after a short while and then you add half the bag of cheddar cheese and mix. You will only need about a minute till it's melted and bubbling hot.

8.  Now grab yourself a large casserole pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. open your tortillas. Your going to palm it. Like so: 

9.  Now your going to spoon the mixture from the pot into the tortilla center. And about 6 table spoons later were going to wrap it up and place it seam side down inside the casserole dish working from left to right filling it in takes approximately 5 to 7 tortillas wrapped. 

  My casserole dish was smaller so it only took 5 folded ones.

10.  What ever sauce mix was left I out on too of all the tortillas and spread it around. 

11.  Then cover it with the rest I the cheddar and half the bag of the other cheese you selected- in my case Monterey Jack cheese. 

12.  Put it in the oven for about 20 minutes. And boom----

 You are so welcome.

Ps. Thank you to J.R. ( and his mom) for sharing a variation of this recipe with me!! 

Stuffed Crescent Rolls

Okay I experimented with this idea when I had a friend coming over for lunch. Sorry, you were my guinea pig. But then again I'm not sorry because we ate practically all of them.


What you need:
1 package pillsbury crescent rolls
and all sorts of stuff you can stuff into a roll. I used:
Cheese, avocado, chicken salad, bacon, broccoli, mac n cheese.
Other ideas I had but I ran out of time and rolls to fill:
Pulled pork
canned chicken
spinach and cheese

PREHEAT oven for 350 degrees

For the first ones I rolled out all my crescent rolls, and placed one on the cutting board. I made three total of these. I steamed some broccoli and put it (after it was cooked) onto the crescent roll with a good size of cheddar cheese.

I also took the liberty of cooking about 3 pieces of bacon till crispy! For the next three I made mac n cheese and bacon stuffed ones. My husband had made some Kraft mac n cheese the day before for my sons lunch so we had some left overs in the fridge. I didn't even need to heat it up. Spooned cold mac n cheese onto the crescent roll and topped it with more cheddar cheese and chopped bacon pieces.

Now I only had two empty crescent dough pieces left. So I made one avocado and cheese and left over bacon. And the other one I put some chicken salad into it and some cheese.

Sorry no picture :(

I folded over the sides to all my crescent rolls so now they kinda just looked like egg rolls.
 After spraying a cookie sheet I placed them all on there. And baked for 10 minutes.

THEY TURNED OUT SO PRETTY. and TASTY!!

Homemade chicken tenders

Now this ladies and gentleman is my recipe for some homemade chicken tenders. I'm talking breading them and frying them yourselves. ALL THAT JAZZ. 

You will need:

1lb boneless chicken tenderloins (or breasts just cut in strips) 

3 cups canola oil

2 large eggs

1/3 cup milk

Salt and pepper

2 cups flour

1 cup progresso bread crumbs (I used garlic&herb)

1 tbls cayenne pepper 

1/2 tbls garlic powder

1/2 tbls parsley 

The process!!

-Wisk together in a bowl the eggs, milk and some salt and pepper.

-On a plate I pour the flour And then use my finger to create a volcano to pour the garlic, parsley, cayenne and top it off with the progresso breadcrumbs. I used my hands to mix those together. Get them nice and incorporated. ITS A BREADING PARTY! 

-Now I use my Paula Deen skillet to use for the frying, mind you I have a deep fryer, (actually it's my father in laws) but it smokes a lot and makes the house smell so I opted for pan frying these babies with my overhead fan blasted. Now for the people like me who don't have an oil/food thermometer I just put my burner on medium and allowed my oil to heat up for a bit. Pretty much by the time it takes you to bread all the tenders your oil should be good and hot. So pour the 3 cups of canola oil in there and turn your burner to medium.

Let's bread these things

Take a tenderloin piece and coat it with the egg and milk mixture. Then place it in the flour/breadcrumbs mixture and coat evenly. THEN> put that tenderloin back in the egg and coat, then back into the breadcrumbs for a second visit!! So we are going to DOUBLE COAT all the tenders. Set them aside.

-Now a way to make sure the oil is hot enough for frying is (while your fingers are coated in breadcrumbs and egg) shake your hand over the oil allowing some tiny pieces of breading to fall into the oil. They will instantly start to sizzle if it's been long enough. 

-I placed about 3-4 tenders in my pan at a time. Too many will lower the oil temp and increase cooking time and might dry out the chicken. So 3 was the majority unless they were tiny end pieces. 

-I cooked each for about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown. If you are paranoid like me the first couple batches I was taking a tender out (the thickest one) and cutting it at its thickest point to see if it was cooked all the way through. It was for the record. I just am scared to accidentally feed my son undercooked meat and causing food poisoning. So if you want to do that too I do not blame you at all!! 

-After the chicken is nice and cooked I placed them onto a plate covered with a paper towel to soak up the excess oil. 

This is what mine looked like after they were all done. 

I am that weirdo that when I am given extra dipping sauces at like those fast food chains I save those suckers for times like these. My husband makes fun of me but WHO CARES! I paired mine with some honey mustard and zesty dipping sauce. Mmmmmm. 

I hope yours turn out wonderful! 

Wondrous Quesadillas

Wondrous quesadillas!

Toddler approved! 

Ingredients:

Flour tortillas (I only used three being that there is only three in my family)

Ground beef 1 lb

Frozen grilled chicken chunks 

Butter

Shredded mild, sharp, and medium cheddar cheese (I found all three mixed in a bag) 

Steps!

1. Brown ground beef

2. Heat up chunked grilled chicken 

3. On one side only butter one side of the tortilla.

--On medium heat -- heat a large pan to fit a tortilla (folded in half)

[now here is a part where you kida have to work quickly: especially if your pan is already heated]

4. Place tortilla butter side down in pan and on half place a handful of shredded cheese (of all three) in only half of the tortilla. (you might hear a bit of a sizzle when the tortilla touches the pan depending on how hot it is --it's okay) 

Spoon ground beef over half of the tortilla (over the shredded cheese) 

5. place chunked chicken on top of the ground beef 

6.Then quickly fold empty half of the tortilla over the full half. 

Using a spatula press the tortilla down a little so everything sticks together and the cheese spreads-- NICE AND GOOEY!--

Check the bottom side often until golden brown and flip. Continue cooking on the other side until golden brown. I like to use a pizza cutter to cut into triangles and then serve. 

I like to serve them with queso cheese, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream!

  

Chicken pot pie- my way

Okay people this is My recipe for chicken pot pie. There are a ton of different variations that I will list at the end but let me do the easiest way that I tend to do the most first. Here we go.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

Package of Pillsbury pie crusts (comes with two in each box- you will only need 1-unless you skip the bisquick topping and use the other pie crust for the top then of course you will use the whole box)

1lb boneless skinless chicken tenderloin/or breast (cut in chunks)

Frozen bag of mixed veggies (greenbeans, peas, corn, carrots) 

1 can cream of chicken (with or with out herbs)

1 cup bisquick mix

1/2 cup milk (additional 1/3 optional)

1 egg 

Garlic powder (I like to use tastefully simples garlic garlic and onion onion) 

Onion powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Steps: preheat oven to 375

1. Take your pie crust out of the box and allow the wrap to get to room temperature, as well as pull your veggies out and allow them to defrost a tiny but either in a warm bath in the bag in the sink or just on the counter. 

2. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and place chunks of bite sized chicken on the  sheet and season with garlic, onion powder, salt and pepper. I place my chunks in the oven for about 20 ish minutes at 375. I like it to be just barely cooked through because they will be making another trip in the oven for about 25 mins. 

3. Spray dish with Pam and Unwrap and unroll your pie crust to fit in your deep casserole pan/dish. Make sure to press sides to make sure it won't slide down in the pan onto itself. Place pie crust in casserole dish in the oven (with nothing in it yet-just the crust) for about 10 minutes. Monitor it u want it to be just under golden brown. 

4. After chicken is cooked- In a mixing bowl place chicken (I end up breaking my chunks even smaller), mixed veggies, and contents of the cream of chicken soup and mix well till thoroughly coated. Now this is where that optional 1/3 cup milk comes in to play- if you want it to be a little thinner (I sometimes do) add that additional 1/3 cup in here and mix well. 

5. After removing your pie crust out of the oven- empty contents of mixing bowl into casserole with browned pie crust.

6. Topping: combine the 1 cup bisquick mix, 1/2 cup milk and 1 egg into a bowl and mix well until no lumps. Pour over the top of your chicken/veggie mix already in your casserole dish. 

7. Place back into oven for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. 

After it's done go to town on the sucker. 

Now for the additional things you can do to it or change about it- the cream of chicken soup in a can -some people don't like serving it so if you have the time and supplies to make a homemade version by all means -go for it-

Another thing I sometimes do is before adding the final topping is making some garlic mashed potatoes (they can be instant -it's okay) and putting them on top of the veggies first THEN putting my topping on top of the potatoes. You might want to be careful in this step your casserole dish tends to be pretty full at this point depending on the depth. 

Another thing you could use instead of cooking raw chicken is using a rotisserie chicken and just chopping that up too. 

All the additions really depend on how much time and or energy you have.