Chicken Ranch Tacos

Here's another favorite crock pot recipe that is easy and VERY good ~

Chicken Ranch Tacos

Ingredients:
2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (depending on size)
1 package taco seasoning
1 package ranch mix
1 can chicken broth

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours.  Shred chicken and place back in crock pot to soak up liquid.  Serve on flour tortillas and garnish with your favorite toppings.

*We ALL love these - they are not 'spicy' for kids.  Great flavor!

Crock Pot Meatloaf and Baked Potatoes

Just sharing a new crock pot recipe that I tried and thought was easy and tasty....perfect for these cool, fall days.

Ingredients
2.5 lbs of ground beef or ground turkey
2 eggs
3/4 C bread crumbs
1 envelope onion soup mix
salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste
1/2 onion - grated

1. Mix meatloaf ingredients and shape into loaf.  Place in bottom of crock pot.  (I sprayed mine with cooking spray first)
2. Wash 4-6 potatoes and pierce with fork. Wrap in foil and place along sides of crock pot.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

Strawberry Cheesecake Salad

Here is a recipe for our favorite 'salad' right now - it's oh so perfect for summer!  It is so easy to make and tastes amazing.  You HAVE to give it a try.  You can thank me later. :)

Strawberry Cheesecake Salad

12 oz whipped topping (thawed)
1 small package of cheesecake pudding (powder)
3 (6 oz) strawberry yogurts
1 lb fresh strawberries, sliced
3 bananas, sliced
mini marshmallows (to your liking)

In a large bowl, stir together whipped topping, yogurt and pudding powder.  Let this set up in the fridge for an hour.  Add the bananas*, strawberries, and marshmallows just before serving.  Keep refrigerated.

*The bananas will brown if you add too soon

To make this salad/dessert healthier, I use fat-free/sugar-free cool whip, yogurt, AND pudding mix.  It still tastes amazing and I don't feel as guilty :)

Enjoy!

Crockpot Potato Soup

You know me, I only make a recipe if it's super easy and super tasty....this is a new favorite!

Crockpot Potato Soup

Ingredients:
32 oz tater tots
1 lb cubed ham
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 C milk
8 oz sour cream

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a crockpot.  Cook on high for 4 hrs OR on low for 6-8 hours.

**This soup gets really thick, so I added an extra 1-2 cups of milk before serving.  Also, my crockpot cooks a little warmer than most, so 4 hours on low was just enough for me.

(Mom & June- this is on page 32 in the cookbook that I gave you)

Mississippi Roast

Tis the week of pinterest recipes.  I tried a new roast recipe and it was quite tasty, definitely NOT healthy!  You'll soon understand when you see the ingredients.....

Mississippi Roast

Ingredients:
1 chuck roast
1 dry ranch mix packet
1 Au Jus dry packet
1 stick of butter (told ya it's not healthy!)
Pepperoncinis (come in a jar)

Directions: Place chuck roast in crock pot, sprinkle ranch mix and au jus mix on top of roast.  Place entire stick of butter on top of roast.  Cover remaining roast with pepperoncinis.  DO NOT ADD ANY WATER.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

The roast was very moist and full of flavor!  Perfect for this cold wintry weather.  Adam and his brother loved it - even wanted the recipe! 

Click here for pictures/printable directions.

AMAZING Stir Fry Chicken

Adam and I usually make chicken stir fry a few times each month.  Ours was always kind of bland - didn't really have a flavor other than the soy sauce that we used.  I found this recipe on pinterest (surprise, surprise!) and it is the easiest and tastiest homemade stir fry sauce that I've tasted!  It has a hint of both sweet and spicy - it's simply amazing!  

Honey Sauced Chicken (click for printable recipe)
3/4 pound chicken of your choice (*we use 2 chicken breasts)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup chopped onion (or 1/16 cup onion flakes)
1/8 cup ketchup
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours or on high 1 1/2 hours. Chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce. Serve over rice or noodles.

**I dump in a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables in last 30 minutes.

To bake chicken as a 30 minute meal:
Dice chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper, place in 8x8 pan. Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

Crunchy Black Bean Tacos

I love pinterest - mostly for the recipes.  Here is one of our new favorites!  Even though this is a meat-less meal, Adam is still CRAZY for these! We like to serve the tacos with Spanish rice.


Crunchy Black Bean Tacos (click for recipe)
Makes 8 tacos (serves 4).

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

2 C. black beans, cooked
½ C. red onion, minced
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
4-6 ounces pepper jack cheese, grated
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 avocado, sliced
Pinch of salt and pepper
8 corn tortillas
Hot sauce
Salsa
Sour cream

Directions:
1) In a medium bowl, add beans along with red onion, cilantro, and spices. Add a pinch of salt and lightly mash all of the ingredients together. Grate your cheese and have it ready as well.

2) In a large, non-stick skillet or cast iron skillet, add a few tablespoons of oil and heat over medium-high heat.

3) Add one corn tortilla at a time and let each get hot in the oil for a few seconds. Then add about 1?4 cup of the bean filling to one half of the tortilla. Top with a sprinkle of grated cheese.

4) Using a spatula, carefully fold the tortilla over so it forms a shell. Press down lightly on the tortilla so it holds its shape.

5) As the first tortilla cooks, move it to the side and do a second one. Depending on the size of your pan, you should be able to get 2 or 3 tacos at once. If you have a griddle you can do even more at once.

6) Cook each taco for about 3 minutes per side until they are nicely browned and crispy.

7) When flipping the taco to cook on the other side, use a spatula and flip the taco toward the fold so the filling doesn’t fall out.

8) Serve tacos with toppings like hot sauce, salsa, avocados, and sour cream.

Note: Corn tortillas are resilient to heat. Don’t worry about burning them. They are very flexible. Just be sure to cook them on each side long enough to get them really crispy.

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

After a week of zero blogs, I'm back! This last semester or nursing school is flying by, which is a good thing! My week is ending just when I think it has started - I feel like I have no time for extracurricular things (like blogging). My new love for Pinterest has even been moved to the back-burner. I snoop around on Pinterest mainly for recipes. Here is a recipe that I'd like to share with you all, Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Chili. An easy and delicious winter recipe. My brother-in-law even asked for this recipe after he tried it - so this is definitely worth sharing!

Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can corn, undrained

1 can Rotel, undrained

1 pkg ranch dressing mix

1 tsp cumin

1 TBS chili powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 8 oz pkg light cream cheese

2 chicken breasts (mine were frozen)

Directions: Place chicken at bottom of pot, then pour corn, Rotel, and black beans on top. Top with seasonings and ranch mix. Stir together. Place cream cheese on top. Cover with lid and cook on low for 6-8 hrs. Stir cream cheese into chili. Use 2 forks to shred chicken. Stir together and serve. Optional: top with shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips

* I didn't have the cumin or onion powder on hand and it still tasted scrumptious!

33

Yesterday was Adam's 33rd Birthday! We spent the weekend back home with our families. We ate chili and chicken noodle soup on Saturday night and then we went bowling. Harper even got to bowl! (My camera was dead so I didn't get any pictures) Thank goodness for bumpers! Sadly, she wasn't the only one who took advantage of the bumpers ;) On Sunday, Adam's mom made one of his favorite dinners: fried chicken.....it was delicious! We also spend some time with my parents and Harper took full advantage of the hot tub.

As you can see from the picture, I made Adam's birthday cake this year. If you can't tell, it's supposed to look like a putting green. Adam loves to golf, so this was right up his alley. I got him a new box of golf balls to go along with the cake. The cake itself is a "healthy" version of cake. I'll leave you all with the recipe, it's so easy!

Diet Soda Cake

• 1 box of cake mix (any flavor)
• 1 12 oz can of diet soda (any flavor)
• 1-2 egg whites (optional)

Directions: Mix cake mix with 1 can of diet soda. Pour into 9 x 13 greased pan. Bake 5 minutes less that directions state.

Makes 12 pieces. 4 weight watchers points +/slice

Notes: top with fat free cool whip instead of frosting.

Add egg whites to help hold the cake together so it's less crumbly

cake/soda combinations: chocolate cake/diet vanilla coke, white cake/diet 7-up, spice cake/diet Sunkist.......the combinations are endless.

Cannot taste the pop! The pop makes the cake very fluffy and moist!

Mini Oreo Surprise Cupcakes

I made these to take to work today. Easy and oh so yummy! They look very fancy - everyone will think you slaved over these. It's okay to let them think that :)

Mini Oreo Surprise Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1 egg

2 TBS sugar

48 mini Oreo cookies

1 1/2 cups whipped topping

Directions: Prepare cake batter as directed on box. Mix cream cheese, egg, and sugar until well blended. Spoon half the cake batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups. Top each with about 1 1/2 tsp cream cheese mixture and 1 cookie; cover with remaining cake batter.

Bake 19-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan to wire racks. Cool completely.

Frost with whipped topping and remaining cookies. Frosted cupcakes can be stored in refrigerator up to 3 days.

(Our grocery store doesn't carry the mini Oreos so I bought the regular size and broke them in half)

Grilling Secrets

Tonight for supper we grilled burgers and zucchini - it was delicious! Here are a few tips for grilling:

ZUCCHINI:

Cut the zucchini into thin slices, leaving the skin on.

Marinate in Italian dressing for 30 minutes.

Grill for about 5 minutes on each side, just until grill marks appear and edges start to crisp.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

*It is amazing! Even Adam liked it!

BURGERS:

Using a handheld grater, grate about 1/4 small onion into burger.

Mix well.

*The onion gives the burger great flavor and keeps the burger very moist!

Spaghetti a la PHILLY recipe

I made a delicious version of spaghetti the other night. Simply put, I added 4 oz of cream cheese to the pasta sauce and heated it through. It made the dish kind of taste lasagna - but much simpler to make! I also made it as healthy as possible, by using whole wheat spaghetti, no-sugar added pasta sauce, 93% lean ground beef, and fat free cream cheese. You should definitely try this easy and tasty recipe. Click on the link below for directions!

Spaghetti a la PHILLY recipe

Italian Style Tacos

We love tacos in our house, so I thought I'd try out this recipe that I found on Kraft's website. These were yummy - Adam loved them! We decided that the tacos kind of tasted like pizza. They were super easy to make too!

What you need:

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 15 oz jar of spaghetti sauce
• 12 hard taco shells, warmed
• shredded mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese
• 1 tomato, chopped

Make it:

Cook sausage and pepper in large skillet - drain

Stir in spaghetti sauce, simmer 5 minutes or until heated through

Fill warm taco shells with sausage mixture; top with cheeses and tomatoes

*Serve with a mixed green salad for a quick and tasty weekday meal

*May substitute lean ground beef for the Italian sausage

Taco Meatballs

I tried a new recipe last night - taco meatballs - and they were pretty tasty and very easy to make!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 green onion, finely diced (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
• 1 block sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
• Beat eggs and mix all ingredients together, except the cheese
• Mold a tablespoon of meat around a cheese cube to form a small shaped meatball. Repeat with all meat
• Place on edged cookie sheet (sprayed with non-stick spray) ad bake for 7 - 10 minutes or until meat is done and cheese has melted.

*I served the meatballs with black beans, but they could be served with pasta or served as a meatball sub/wrap.

*Any cheese would work~I used Monterrey Jack, but pepper jack would be delicious as well!

* I used a little more meat so the meatballs were bigger since we were having them as the main dish. I noticed that the less meat I used, the more cheese oozed out.

* I placed the meatballs on a cooling rack that I set on top of the cookie sheet to ensure even baking (Thank you Rachael Ray for that tip!)

Another new recipe that I made yesterday = cinnamon applesauce for Harper! Now that she is used to regular applesauce, I thought that I would introduce her to a new flavor. The nice thing about making your own baby food is that you can adjust the flavor to your baby's liking.

Chili

I'm back! Sorry for the lack of blogs this week. Adam was in Des Moines all week for a law enforcement class so it was just Harper and I at home. Nothing exciting happened. My goal for the week was to give Harper my undivided attention - no computer, TV, etc. unless she was sleeping. We had a fun week - lots of bonding time - we played a lot, practiced sitting up and rolling over, laughed a lot, and missed daddy! We are so happy to have him home!

Being that it's the Super Bowl tomorrow, I thought I'd post a recipe for a delicious chili recipe! Seriously - it's yummy! It has a small sweet flavor going on in the background - but it's not over powering. You will definitely want to write this recipe down. I promise that you won't be disappointed!

CHILI

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 chopped green pepper
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 can (14-15 oz) kidney beans
• 1 can (14-15 oz) chili beans
• 2 pkgs chili seasoning
• 1 (46 oz) can V-8 vegetable juice
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 cup honey BBQ sauce
• 1/4 cup honey

Directions: cook onion and green pepper with ground beef. Drain. Mix all ingredients together until heated and eat. Perfect for the crockpot!

Mexican Lasagna

Here is a delicious twist on the traditional lasagna. It is delicious! Thanks Sue!

Mexican Lasagna

• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 3 oz can diced green chilies
• 1 C sour cream
• 1/4 C milk
• 1 small package flour tortillas
• 2 C chopped, cooked chicken
• 2 C shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Tear tortillas into strips. Mix together soup, chilies, sour cream and milk. Begin layering in a 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 pan:

1. tortilla strips
2. chicken
3. sour cream mixture
4. shredded cheese

Continue layering, ending with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Doubles nicely - use 9 x 13 pan and bake for 45 minutes. (Do not bake before freezing)

***It's always trial and error the first time I attempt to follow a recipe - a few tips that I will remember next time are to be generous when layering the tortillas (I ended up with a few extra), and allow the lasagna to cool for a few minutes before serving to allow the sauce to thicken up a bit.

Wild Rice Soup

One clever idea that my mom came up with for my baby shower was to have everyone bring an easy/quick recipe that I could make ahead and stock in the freezer for when the baby arrives. I collected a handful of delicious recipes and I am now just trying them out. We went to the grocery store last week and bought all the ingredients needed for about 10 of the recipes. As I try them out, I will post them for you if they are blog-worthy ;) The first one I tried was a Wild Rice Soup recipe - the weather has been a bit chilly this past week and I thought it was prefect weather for some soup! This soup is so easy and yummy! (Thanks Barb!) Enjoy!

Wild Rice Soup

• 1/2 lb bacon, cut up, fried crisp
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 pint half & half
• 2 (4 oz) cans mushrooms w/ liquids
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
• 2/3 C wild rice, cooked covered in 3 C water for 45 minutes or until tender ( I used one box of Uncle Ben's wild rice)
• 1 C shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 C water
• 1 chicken boullion cube

Cook rice. While rice is cooking, fry bacon. Saute onions in bacon drippings until tender - drain grease. In large pan, combine bacon, onion, and remaining ingredients, including wild rice with any remaining liquid. Heath thoroughly, being careful not to scorch. Cool - put in air tight freeze container.

This makes A LOT of soup! Serve with salad and breadsticks!

It's hard to believe that it is already the 23rd of January - time sure does fly by the older you get I guess. Nothing new here - just trying to eat healthier and go to the gym at least 5 times a week. The other day I made a weight watcher recipe called 'Cola Chicken.' It was super easy and delicious - it is supposed to taste like BBQ chicken. I'll post the recipe at the end of this blog.

Sometime this spring we are going to put in new floor and countertops in our kitchen, so we have been busy looking at home department websites for some ideas. We're also going to paint the upstairs hallway and bedrooms. We've been living in our house now for 7 months, so I suppose its time to start doing something! ;)

I'm finally subbing again - after all of that nasty cold weather! Yesterday was 35 - 40 degrees and sunny - the kids thought it was 'hot' outside and wanted to take their coats off! I also had a kindergartner tell me yesterday during center time that 'putting together puzzles is just like doing yoga, you have to breathe and relax.' I don't know where kids come up with this stuff, but its pretty funny! I was also informed yesterday that I may have a long-term subbing opportunity this spring in 4th grade. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Here's the 'Cola Chicken' Recipe - I cut everything in half since I was just cooking for 2

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 cup ketchup
1 (12 ounce) can diet cola

Put chicken in nonstick skillet. Pour ketchup and diet cola over the top. Bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat and cook for 45 minutes.Uncover, turn up the heat and continue to cook until the sauce becomes thick and adheres to the chicken.

4 servings - 4 points each

Easy Holiday Baking

If you're anything like me, you won't attempt a recipe if it has more that 5-7 ingredients. I easily get intimidated by the long list of ingredients and steps in a recipe before even reading it. I've found a few recipes for the holidays that are also very easy to make. Give them a try!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

1 15 oz. can of pumpkin
1 spice cake mix

1. Mix ingredients - batter will be stiff/sticky (Do NOT add eggs or oil, just the pumpkin!)
2. Drop by tablespoons onto lightly greased cookie sheet
3. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes
4. Let stand for 5 minutes before placing on cooling rack

These are delicious! VERY moist - a cross between a cookie and a muffin. Warning - cookie will turn out exactly the way dough appears on cookie sheet, so I smooth them out with the back of a spoon. Only 2 WW points!

Black Bean Brownies

1 15 oz. can of black beans
1 box brownie mix

1. Rinse black beans well - with beans back in the can, add enough water to cover beans
2. Put bans in blender or food processor and puree
3. Add puree to brownie mix, and then bake according to package directions.

You DO NOT add the eggs or oil that the recipe calls for, JUST the black bean puree! Makes 20 brownies-- 2 Weight Watcher Points each! Rich, moist, fudgey and full of protein and fiber! They sound gross, but I can promise you that no one will know the difference.

Holiday Pretzels

1 bag of holiday pretzels (the round ones)
1 bag of holiday m&m's
1 bag of rolo's

1. Place pretzels on baking sheet and place unwrapped rolo in the center of each pretzel
2. Bake at 250 for 4 minutes
3. Immediately place m&m in center of rolo when out of the oven
4. Cool in fridge before eating

I made these this morning. It took me less that 10 minutes to make 2 cookie sheets full. There are about 55 rolos in one bag, so you may need 3-4 bags to fill the pretzels. These went fast - I took them to work and everyone loved them. When I got home from work, Adam had the rest of them gone already! Very easy to make - thanks for the recipe mom! Here's another tip - instead of an m&m on top, use 1/2 of a pecan - then it tastes like a turtle candy. (thanks Jodi H)