Chicken Taco Rice Bowl

1 chicken breast

12 oz salsa

can black beans, drained

8 oz corn

1 Tbsp chili powder

1/2 Tbsp cumin

1/2 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 

1/2 tsp kosher salt

cracked pepper

rice

cheddar

cilantro 

Another easy crock pot recipe! AND... this meal is even better the next day.

Simply place all ingredients (excluding rice, cheddar, and cilantro) in the crock pot and cook on low 6-8 hours. 

Near the end of the chicken cooking, shred cheese, shop cilantro, and cook desired rice. 

ENJOY!!

Crock-Pot Enchilada Soup

This is a super easy crock pot soup, that is perfect for those cold winter nights!

1 can black beans

I can diced tomatoes

15 oz corn

1 chopped onion

dash of red pepper flakes

1 pkg taco seasoning

10.75 oz cream of chicken

1 1/2 cup milk

green pepper, diced

1 lb chicken

toppings of your choice!

cilantro?

sour cream?

cheese?

whatever floats your boat!

1) In small bowl, mix together cream of chicken, and taco seasoning. Whisk in milk until smooth.

2) In the slow cooker, place the beans, tomato, corn, onion, and red pepper flakes.

3) Place chicken on top.

4) Pour taco seasoning mixture on top.

Let sit on low for 6-8 hours

5) Shred chicken, and top with peppers.

The variations and measurements of this recipe can be altered to what you and your family like!

Pineapple and Black Bean Quesadilla

For a husband who is not a fan of quesadillas (which is unfortunate because they are super easy and one of my favs!) he loved these! They add a little bit more flavor to your regular'ol boring quesadilla... and it's still easy!

I used:

mozzarella and cheddar (simply because that's what was in the fridge)

a can of black beans, drained

a small can of chopped pineapple, drained

green onions

a dash of cumin

salt and pepper

grilled chicken slices

Just mix all those ingredients together, place on half a flour tortilla, and fold.

I like a slight crunch on the outside of the quesadilla, so I threw some butter on the nonstick griddle (or skillet) before putting the quesadilla on.

Served with sour cream and salsa! 

AND... I only used about half the mixture... So I froze the rest! Easy and fast meal the next time around!

Simple Chicken Taquitos

These taquitos were my favorite and I remember getting so excited when my mom would make these for dinner... they are so simple, yet so good!!

All you need:

1-2 chicken breast, shredded

10 corn tortillas

veggie oil 

kosher salt

quacamole or salsa or whatever you'd like!

Rolling the taquitos can be quite tricky sometimes. I heat the tortillas individually, and roll a moderate amount of shredded chicken carefully, then place seam side down on a plate, and continue until I'm out of chicken or tortillas!

(I love making these and freezing half the taquitos for another dinner!)

I turn my non-stick electric skillet up to about 350 degrees, and place them in once the oil is hot.

(As you can see, my husband requests his well-done)

As soon as you take them out of the oven, sprinkle them with some salt. I love using kosher salt!

And you're done!!

Thanks mom for this recipe/meal idea!!

Easy Crock-Pot Potato Soup

This recipe is perfect for those cold, busy days! Just Simply place all these ingredients in the crock-pot, and turn on low for 6-7 hours.

WARNING: This makes a LOTA soup! ;) I'm going to half the recipe for next time

1 can cream of chicken

2 cans chicken broth (3 is pictured here, but I'd use two 14 oz cans)

30 oz bag hash browns

1/2 cup chopped onion

An hour before serving, add a block of cream cheese 

Top with whatever you'd like!

I added cheese, bacon, and chives.

Chicken Salsa Tacos

This recipe credit goes to my friend Cyndi! When I first started cooking for myself back in my studio apartment days... I would cook these super easy tacos quite often!

All you need is:

1 jar of your favorite salsa
chicken taco seasoning
1 or 2 chicken breasts 
tortillas for shells
your favorite taco toppings

Just place the chicken in the crock pot, and cover with the salsa/seasoning mixture.

Shred chicken when cooked, and ENJOY! 

Jalapeno Bacon Grilled Cheese

What you need for these DELICIOUS grilled cheese with a twist:

sour dough bread

cream cheese

shredded jack and cheddar blend

jalapenos*

cooked bacon slices

tortilla chips

guacamole (optional)

*slice the jalapenos, rinse seeds out, and broil them skin side up for about 10-14 minutes (they'll be ready when the skin appears to blacken) Place them in a sealed bag until they cool, and peel the skin off.

butter one side of the bread, and spread cream cheese on the other (I find whipped cream cheese works the best!)

I like to get everything set up

Place bread butter-side down on heated griddle, and add deliciousness:

1- cheese

2- bacon

3- jalapeno

4- chips

5-cheese again :)

Beware... these can be messy... but SO worth it!

Tilapia Milanese

My poor husband always gets chicken. So when I had him pick what he wanted to make on our Sunday night cooking together, he chose a fish dish! Now... I'm not a big fan of fish, but we did tilapia, which is a very mild, and inexpensive, fish.

No real precise measurement for this dish preparation... but I'll let ya know how we made it!

But, you will need:

flour

eggs

Panko bread crumbs

butter

olive oil

salt & pepper

Just grabbed 4 fillets from the butcher. Set up our dredging station right next to a large nonstick skillet on med high heat. Season EVERYTHING. Kosher salt in each station (flour, egg, and panko) and salt & pepper the fish both sides.

Once the skillet is heated, drop in about 6 Tbsp butter, and add about 3 Tbsp olive oil.

1 - Coat the fish in flour, shake off excess

2 - Dip in egg mixtture

3 - Heavily coat in bread crumbs, both sides.

Place in the skillet, away from you! Let sit for about 3-4 minutes.

Flip, and cook another 3-4 minutes. 

That's it! You're done! 

The crispy coating around this moist flaky fish was delightful! 

(P.S. My husband gets credit for this dish. He basically handled the fish, while I made the broccoli & biscuits.) 

Beef Skewers with Cilantro Pesto

This recipe credit goes to Michael Symon, on the Chew... I love all his recipes and this was featured on his 5 minute for $5 segment... however... he lied about 5 minutes! maybe more like 20 minutes with prepping and all that! But still... TOTALLY doable in way under an hour!

What you need:

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 lb beef sirloin, cut into chunks

kosher salt and pepper

2 cups fresh cilantro

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup olive oil

Whisk together the olive oil, coriander, and red pepper flakes. Season the beef chunks with salt and pepper. Then coat the meat in the olive oil mixture.

Thread the meat chunks onto skewers, and send your hubby outside to BBQ them... or they can be done on a grill pan :) 

While they're BBQ-ing... make the pesto! I used my magnificent food processor.. but I'm sure it can be done in a Magic Bullet or a blender.

Blend the cilantro, garlic, hazelnuts, Parmesan cheese and olive oil together. And there is your homemade cilantro pesto to drizzle on the steaks and/or dip them in! 

Now, this makes almost double what you'll need, so I simply froze the remaining pesto, and can thaw it out next time we make these! 

Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Now... these aren't too pretty because I didn't have parsley to top them with... but these are pretty dang close to the deliciousness that is, Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay biscuits! I mean... that's the main reason why you go to Red Lobster, right?? And they're not hard to make at all! 

All you need:

2 1/2 cup Bisquick baking mix

4 Tbsp cold butter

3/4 cup milk

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 Tbsp melted butter

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp dried parsley

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut the butter into the Bisquick mix and stir gently.

Add the milk, cheese, and 1/4 tsp garlic powder. Mix by hand, but do not over mix.

Drop spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. (I am a huge fan of putting parchment paper down on anything I put on a cookie sheet... saves cleanup time!)

Bake for 15-17 minutes at 400 degrees. 

While they're baking, melt the 2 Tbsp butter, and add the parsley and 1/2 tsp garlic powder once melted. As soon as they come out of the oven, brush them with the garlic butter!! 

MMMMmmmm!!!! ENJOY!

Tomato & Spinach Pasta

I've started yet another quarter of school... and class goes till 6:00. Well, I got home yesterday, and had this whipped up by 7:00! :) Plus the cost per serving on this meal is just under a dollar! This recipe makes enough for 4 hungry people (or dinner for both of us plus lunch the next day!) 

olive oil

1 small onion

3 garlic gloves

1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried basil

red pepper flakes

kosher salt & pepper

2 Tbsp tomato paste

3 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1/2 lb penne pasta

6 oz. spinach

1) Cook penne pasta (the neat thing about this is while the water is boiling and pasta is cooking, you should have the sauce ready by the time the pasta is al dente!)

2) In a large skillet, saute onion and garlic until translucent. 

3) Add the diced tomatoes, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper (I might add a little garlic salt as well at this step.) Stir

4) Add the tomato paste, and 1/2 cup water. Stir until tomato paste is dissolved into the sauce. Then turn the heat down to low.

5) Cut pieces of cream cheese into the sauce. (I might have used a little bit more cream cheese than it called for...)

6) Whisk in the cream cheese. 

7) Whisk in Parmesan cheese. (I saved some for garnishing the finished product)

8) Add the spinach and gently stir into sauce. Let the spinach wilt slightly, then add the cooked pasta.

Next time I might add chicken, and maybe asparagus instead of spinach... 

It really makes great leftovers! 

Spinach Salad w/ Chicken, Avocado, Feta Cheese & Candied Nuts

Healthy, check. Easy, check. Delicious, check.

Salad Ingredients

8 oz baby spinach, chopped

1 avocado

2 roma tomatoes

1/2 cup corn

2-3 oz feta cheese

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts*

1 cooked chicken breast

Dressing Ingredients

3 Tbsp white wine vinegar

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

salt & pepper

* Pine nuts are EXPENSIVE... and in my cupboard I had walnuts and slivered almonds... so that's what I used instead! After looking over this recipe, I thought maybe it would be lacking some sweetness. So I made them candied walnuts and almonds... 

I melted butter, and added a little white and brown sugar, and a tiny bit of vanilla extract. Once all those were melted and mixed together, while still on low heat, I added the nuts and cooked a few minutes, until all nuts were coated. 

Then pour out the nuts on parchment paper to cool, and break them apart once cooled.

This added a perfect sweetness to the salad!