corn chips with chicken fajita's

Chicken fajita's are one of my FAVORITE meals...right behind ribs.  I make them all the time in the summer with the fresh garden produce...but I have been craving them lately.  Recently, I also started making our own corn chips...so yea it is more like chicken nachos but whatever way you want to make them they will be delicious.

Slice two peppers whatever colors you want
Slice half an onion
Saute with olive oil in a skillet
Add cooked sliced chicken breasts after veggies are almost done
sprinkle with your favorite taco seasoning and water
cook another couple of minutes and you will have a great sauce over your chicken and veggies.

For the chips: quarter corn tortillas, place on a cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with olive oil and salt.  bake at 350 until crisp about 15 min.  It is that simple!

chicken, peppers, and onions cooked with the sauce

sliced and ready for the oven with olive oil and salt

cooked and crispy

yep me made more immediately!!

Hotdish...The MN go to food

What can I saw...I grew up eating a lot of hot dishes, I love hot dishes and now my kids LOVE hot dishes.  When I make a hot dish it is certain that there will be no fights at supper time and the kids always eat their vegetables inside the hot dish without a fight.  I don't understand it exactly...but it happens.  Even Isaac the kid who wants everything separate, eats the hot dish and asks for more.  I am not going to try to figure it out...I am only going to embrace the LOVE of HOTDISH at this house!!
These are two of our favorites!!!  My mom made both of these for us growing up...comfort food I will always cherish.  They are no fancy...but they are delicious!!

1. Tater Tot Hot dish:
1 can of corn
1 can of peas
1 can of cream of chicken
1 lb ground turkey (cooked)
1 bag of tater tots
A little milk
Mix all the ingredients together, saving half the bag of tater tots for the top.  Put in a baking dish, lay tater tots on top and bake covered at 350.  Bake uncovered the last 10-15 min to crisp up the tater tots on the top.

before adding the tater tots on top

Just needs baking

2. Chow Mein Hot dish:
1 can chicken with rice soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can water
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 cup uncooked rice
3 stalks of celery chopped fine
2 carrots chopped fine
1 lb of ground turkey (cooked)
3/4 package of chow mein noodles
Mix all of the above ingredients together...put into a greased 9 x13 pan sprinkle the remaining noodles on top, cover and bake on 350 for about 20 min.  Uncover and bake for an additional 15 min to crisp up the noodles.

This is how fine I chop the carrots, so they bake in such the fast baking time.

everything mixed together

all baked ready to eat.

Banana chocolate chip frozen cookies

Since I can't eat ice cream I am always looking for some sort of delicious treat to take that void.  And let's not forget the love of chocolate that I would like to combine with this love of ice cream.  I think I have finally found it.
Here is how to make the filling:
Cut up and freeze four bananas
After a couple of hours using a blender or food processor blend until creamy
Add about two tablespoons of peanut butter
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
Blend until well mix and freeze

After a couple of hours before completely frozen scoop between two chocolate chip cookies and refreeze.  You can make a bunch and place in a tupperware container.

I am not claiming this is healthy and I am not making this as a healthy alternative to ice cream.  I am making this for a yummy chocolate treat, that is the closet thing I can find to enjoying ice cream and chocolate at the same time.

Of course with Addy's allergies pending the kids are not allowed to have any but Seth and I both love this recipe.  Oh and I used store bought chocolate chip cookies, shhhh don't tell!!

Apples!!

Apples were super on sale the last time I went to the store so I bought a BUNCH and finally made some new deserts I have been meaning to try.  Both of these recipes called for canned apple pie filling...well I think if I were to use that my mom would disown me.  I made my own...super quick with a little advice from me mum.

Here is what I did to make the filling for both of these desserts.
Sliced/diced it doesn't matter your apples (peeled of course)
Put in a bowl with a little bit of water.  Microwave until apples are tender.  drain.
Add a little bit of sugar, cinnamon and FLOUR!!  Don't forget the flour this will ensure that your filling stays think and not runny.

So easy now...fill your tortilla shells down the middle.  Fold in the sides and wrap.
The first picture: Apple enchiladas 
Fill four shells put in a baking dish
Then heat on the stove: 1/4 cup of butter  1/2 each of water and sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon  
Pour on top and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown on top.  About twenty minutes.  These are super good reheated as well.

The second picture: Apple Chimichangas

You follow the exact same recipe for filling as the first picture but instead of placing in a pan for baking you fry them in oil until golden brown.  Then immediately roll them in a cinnamon sugar mixture. 
** These are not so great reheated, hence why I only made two
However, this recipe is so simple that is not a lot of work for just two!

And who said we couldn't enjoy wonderful Apple desserts in the middle of winter.  I think it goes without saying that EVERYBODY at our house enjoyed these yummy and quick deserts.

Sweet and Sour Carrots

1 lb. carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
1 green pepper (any color will work) cut in 1 inch pieces
1 can (20oz) of pineapple chunks undrained
1/4 cup of sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce

Cook carrots & Pepper until tender in a saucepan.  Drain and set aside.
Drain pineapple and save the juice.  Add enough water to the juice so you have one cup total.
Add the cornstarch, vinegar,soy sauce, and water/juice mixture to a large sauce pan.  Bring to a boil.  Cook until thickened and bubbly.  Stir in the carrots, pineapple and pepper, heat through.

I used yellow pepper

sauce

mixed all together

Tuscan Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp crushed rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
3 tbsp. Olive oil


That's it!  The hardest part to this recipe is the flattening of the chicken breasts and that isn't really hard just an extra step.  I have a meat tenderizer somewhere....but I didn't want to spend the time looking so I placed the chicken breasts in between wax paper and used a hammer.  You don't have to pound very hard to flatten chicken.
This is key to this recipe...DO NOT skip this part.  The reason is so that the chicken cooks faster and does not get dried out with the pan frying.

1. Flatten your chicken to about 1/2 inch in thickness
2. Place chicken spices and oil in the pan
3. Cook chicken for about 5 -7 minutes on each side or until juices run clear.

chicken in between wax paper

after smashed 

In the pan...ready for cooking

All done

chicken wings

Seth stepped into the kitchen this weekend and not just to walk through or graze through the fridge but he actually cooked and it was delicious!  And yes, the kids at the chicken too, minus the sauce of course.

I have tried several recipes cooking chicken wings and they are good, but not quite the way Seth LOVES to eat them.  SO this time it was all him.

He spent a great deal of time frying them, chilling them, and then deep frying them.  Mixing them in the sauce and then of course eating them.
I have to admit I have never had a chicken wing deep fried before!  What?!  Yes, it is true I often broil and slow cook them, but Seth was after that crispiness that can not be claimed without the deep frying.

Here are a few pics from the kitchen, I told him he should cook more often!  We shall see!

Waiting for their turn in the sauce bucket

no deep fryer so He used this pan 

chili sauce bucket

finished product

Turkey poppy seed salad

This salad is super easy to make and very delicious.  It reminds me of summer so much, because I make cold salads all the time to prevent my small house from heating up so much.  This salad is very easy to add or take out ingredients depending on taste.  I have also made this with roasted chicken before and it was equally as good.
  Recipe:
1 box of cooked bow tie pasta (really any kind would work)
About 2 1/2 cups of cooked chopped roasted turkey
3/4 of a bag of craisins
1 cup of roasted slivered almonds
1 1/2 cups of chopped celery
1/2 sunflower seeds

**I used kraft creamy poppyseed dressing and I just added and mixed until the texture seemed right.  I always add more dressing before serving because the noodles soak so much of it up while refridgerating.

Turkey Hash brown hotdish

Today I was a little stumped on what to make for dinner.  I knew I had to use up some leftover roasted turkey...but I wanted to do something new.  I had no luck with my quick searches of pinterest and google, so I decided to be bold and invent something myself.  Something so good that there was no fighting about the fact that there were carrots or peas in it.  YAY!!
Here you go:
In a mixing bowl combine the following:
1 pkg of shredded hash brown potatoes
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups mixed vegetables ( I used frozen carrots and peas)
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups of cooked roasted turkey breast (you could use ham or chicken too)
1 tsp of oregano
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder

Mix well and spread into a 9 x 13 pan for baking.  preheat oven to 350 degrees baked covered for about half hour.  Then add crisp chopped bacon to the top and bake uncovered until edges are crispy.

Enjoy!  Everyone at my house ate their dinner with no complaints tonight!!  :)

Sun dried tomato hummus

Hummus is relatively expensive at the store, but a can of chick peas you can get for around $.69.  With leaving the work up to your food processor you can have hummus for a fraction of the price.
Here's how:
Rinse and drain two cans of chick peas and add to your food processor.
drizzle with about three tablespoons of olive oil and three tablespoons of lemon juice
add cumin, red pepper flakes, black pepper and salt to taste.  Roughly 1 1/2 teaspoons of cumin, 1 teaspoon of pepper flakes and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper.  ( I hesitate giving exact measurements here because I don't measure, I just go off of taste....and the fact that I have made this a lot)
Give the mixture a good mix.  Once mixed you can add the sun dried tomatoes, I used a bag but you could also use oil packed.  Mix all together.  You will need to continue to add olive oil, until you get a nice texture.

That's it.  You can serve this with fresh vegetables, or on crackers and bread as a dip.  It is a great healthy alternative to vegetable dips.

chick peas rinsed and drained.

added to the food processor

sun dried tomatoes added

Done!

Of course if you don't like sun dried tomatoes leave them out, the chick peas themselves turn into great hummus.  Or try adding roasted red peppers or roasted eggplant.  The possibilities are endless for this healthy snack dip.

mandarin orange turkey sausage

Sounds kinda like a weird combination, I know.  But smoked turkey sausage and the sweetness of the mandarin orange juice mixes very well.
Lots of positives to this recipe:  1.Everybody ate it including the kids.  2. Supper was cooked all in one pan, not a big mess. 3. plenty of leftovers for lunches the next day.

Recipe:
drizzle olive oil in a large stir fry pan
Add 1 package of frozen pea pods (thawed), 1 1/2 julienned carrots, 1 cup diced bok choy, saute until tender.
Slice Turkey sausage (mine was precooked) and add to the vegetables, cook until warm.
Add your favorite stiry fry sauce, a small can of mandarin oranges with the juice or water.  Adds a lot of flavor.
Last step add about half a box of cooked angel hair pasta.  You might need to add more of your sauce after noodles have been added.  Noodles tend to soak up a lot of sauce.

Optional:  sliced green onion can be added to the top, makes it look pretty and adds just a little bit flavor.

Done!  I told you it was easy and delicious!

Kale Chips

We have all heard it from multiple sources...Kale is a superfood and we should start consuming it.  I have tried making these kale chips about half a dozen times...this time I think I got it.  Either that or my taste buds are starting to accept kale.  I think kale is overall a pretty bitter vegetable, so I do believe I trained myself to tolerate it.  By no means do is this my favorite vegetable, but I do recognize the importance of eating so I do it, and now finally I can eat it without total hate.  I know I know...this is not a very positive way or convincing way to get you to try...I am merely trying to warn you that at first attempt you might not like but don't give up on this super food.

As most things that I make these are easy!

Recipe:
Approximatley 1/2 bunch of kale
Do not use the stems, only leaf portion and chop into large hunks
arrange on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, chili powder
(be generous with the olive oil and salt)
Roast at 400 degrees until very crisp, it will appear to turn a dark green color and be very very brittle.  You want it very crunchy!
At about the last minute of roasting sprinkle with parmsean cheese.

fresh bunch of kale

scattered on the cookie sheet

drizzled with olive oil, and spices

after roasted and with the cheese added.  I must admit I already ate some!!

Tuna Burgers with Roasted Peppers

These are delicious, fast, easy and very healthy.  A quick althernative to the greasy beef burger.
 Plus, you can pre-mix them and fry them as you like.

Recipe:
2 cans drained chunk tuna
3 tablespoons parsley
2 eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded carrots
pepper and garlic to taste

Mix and form into patties, should make four decent size burgers.  Fry in olive oil.

Optional but makes the burgers even more delicious:  I roast some peppers and add cheese to the top.

Yummy Yummy!!!

shapped patties ready for frying

roasted pepper on top

cheese on top of that

a loo at all four burgers in the pan

Roasted Chicken = multiple multiple meals

One of my favorite things to do is to make a roast, turkey breast or whole chicken and then use it for all the meals during the week.  It takes a little creativity so that you don't get tired of eating the same meat over and over again.  This is also a cheaper way to buy your meat...less$ per lb.
Here we go, what did I do with a whole (6lb) chicken over the course of the week.  I even saved the juice it produced while cooking to use in soup later.
Day one: We ate the freshly roasted chicken with roasted carrots and sweet potatoes

seasoned with olive oil, rosemary, garlic, pepper

sweet potatoes and carrots chopped

seasoned with olive oil, paprika,red pepper flakes and salt.  There is no picture of them when they came out of the oven simply because they were gone in seconds.  sooooooo delicious!

roasted chicken, look at all that juice....I did not add any water!

Day Two:  I made a chicken salad, with green onions, avocado(instead of mayo), cilantro, lime juice and hint of hot sauce.  We made sandwiches and grilled them.

remember no mayo

piled high on some french bread with a slice of swiss cheese

after grilling

Day Three: I made chicken pad Thai, delicious and so much eaiser that the chicken was already cooked.

The sauce of this recipe is soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar and chilli sauce

rice noodles, egg,  green onion and chicken= delcious

Day Four: We had chicken quesadilla's with black beans, cilantro, corn and salsa

about a half a cup of all the ingredients

Day 5: Chicken pot pie soup, made from the juice the chicken cooked in, lots of vegetables and served with homemade peasant bread.

peasant bread (wait for another post to hear about this)

chicken pot pie soup...not quite a stew but not a broth soup either. VERY VERY good!

bread with the soup

You might be asking...Where are the last two days of the week?  All of these meals of course had left overs and enough to pack Seth a lunch.  SO we ate left overs the last two days.

You also might be wondering about the kids.  What did they eat?  They ate three out of the five days of the meals.  The days they did not eat the new creation they ate left overs so I never had to make anything new.  It was a GREAT week for everyone!