Friday, April 9, 2010

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

4 chicken breasts
1 can diced chilies
1/4 cup water
1 tsp chicken bullion
1/2 cup salsa
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 can pinto (or black) beans-drained.

Throw all into crockpot 6 hours on high. Take out chicken breasts and shred using two forks. Put back into crockpot and mix well.

Serve on tortillas, top with cheese, and any other ingredients desired (lettuce, tomatoes).

BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad

1 Cup Ranch Dressing
1 Cup BBQ Sauce
2-3 Chicken Breasts - Grilled or boiled
1 Head Romaine Lettuce
2 Tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons Cilantro, chopped
1 Can Black Beans, drained
1 Can Corn, drained
¼ Cup Green Onions
¾ Cup Shredded Cheese
Tortilla Strips

Cook chicken and cut into bite size pieces. Mix the Ranch Dressing and BBQ sauce together, add chicken pieces (this can be done ahead of time and let set in the fridge for several hours).

Combine all other ingredients, except chips. Toss together with chicken and sauce. Add chips just before serving and toss again. You can also serve the salad & dressing mixture over the chips instead of tossing the chips with the salad.

Another option is to warm the chicken and sauce and serve warm or hot over the salad mixture.

Black Bean Chicken Taco Salad

2 limes, juiced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
Dash of salt
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
10 ounces cooked diced chicken breast
6 cups shredded romaine lettuce
1 or 2 tomatoes, chopped
30 tortilla chips, crushed
½ avocado, chopped

Wisk together lime juice, oil, garlic and salt. Toss all ingredients together.

Steak Stroganoff

2 T flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1 envelope dried onion soup mix (or 2 buillon cubes + 1/4 c dried onions)
1 3/4-lb boneless beef round steak, cut into strips
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of chicken
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream

Combine flour and seasonings, toss with steak in crock pot. Stir in soup cans and water. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours. Stir in sour cream and extra water if needed. Serve over egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

Spaghetti

Olive oil tomatoes, diced (or canned diced tomatoes)
Garlic, chopped/minced tomato sauce/paste
Onion, ½ a med size, chopped ~1 tsp basil
Mushrooms, sliced ~1 tsp oregano
Olives, sliced S&P
Zucchini, diced spaghetti pasta
Artichokes, chopped Italian sausages

In a large skillet, drizzle olive oil in pan. Heat your oil up before you start sautéing your vegetables. Start with the garlic, then onions, mushrooms, olives, zucchini, artichokes and any other vegetable you care to add. I add the vegetables one at a time, cooking them down. I typically add the basil and oregano after the mushrooms, then S&P after I’ve added all the vegetables. Add your diced tomatoes and cook all veggies for about 15 mins. Add tomato sauce and paste to your desired thickness. You can use the Italian style sauce/paste, too. Cover and simmer on low for about 1-1.5 hours, stirring occasionally.

Cook pasta according to directions.

Italian sausages: pierce the skin with a fork and drop carefully into boiling water. Cook for about 25 mins. Remove from water and remove any excess water with a paper towel. In a skillet, heat up some olive oil and brown the sausages on all sides. You can serve the sausages whole on top of your spaghetti or slice them up and add them to your sauce.

From frozen: thaw the spaghetti sauce and heat up in a pan. Prepare the pasta according to directions. The sausages have already been boiled. So you can brown them in a skillet and serve whole or slice and add to sauce. Serve with parm cheese and bread.

Chicken Enchiladas

3-4 chicken breasts
2 cans C. of chicken soup
1/3 c. milk
1 can dices green chilies
1 pint sr. cream
2 cups cheese (divided)
Flour tortillas

Cook chicken, and cut into bite size pieces. Add soup, chilies, sr. cream milk and 1 cup cheese. Mix together and spoon into tortillas. Add remaining mixture and extra cheese on top of enchiladas. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.