Healthy Chicken Enchiladas

Hey friends, sorry I have put my food blog on the back burner for quite a few months.  But I promised myself I would get caught up, so be prepared for lots of yummy recipes to come.  Most of these dishes, like this one, I found on Pinterest.  If you haven't discovered the world of pinning then I dare you to start and believe me you will get hooked.  You can follow me here if you would like!
Well this recipe is from the famous celebrity nutritionist Christine Avanti and our whole family LOVED it!!  So enjoy...

Tortilla Chip Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

4 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 14 oz. can fired roasted tomatoes, organic
1 14 oz. can enchilada sauce, mild
½ bag Doritios, baked
2 cups cheddar cheese, fat free, shredded
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, low fat, shredded
1 2.8 oz. can black olives, sliced, organic
1 large onion, diced
1 large bell pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ cup cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
½ cup sour cream, non fat

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sauté chicken cubes with garlic, salt, pepper, onions, bell pepper and jalapeno pepper for 5 minutes on medium heat add fire roasted tomatoes and simmer for another 2-3 minutes. When done remove from heat and pour into a large mixing bowl. Add fat free cheese, olives and tortilla chips, mix well. In a 9x13 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour half of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the baking dish, tilt dish to evenly spread sauce across the bottom. Next, pour meat, cheese and tortilla chip mixture into the baking dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top. Sprinkle remaining low fat cheese evenly over the top and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is completely melted. Garnish with non fat sour cream and fresh cilantro.

ENJOY!!

--unstuffed pepper bake--

We had this for dinner last night and the kids requested the leftovers for lunch today because "It was so awesome yummy mom!" (-Dalton)
It's a recipe I received in a Smith's coupon/recipe booklet.  I have been wanting to try it for sometime now.  I love stuffed peppers but don't like making or baking them...they never really turn out.  I really think it's going at the top of my favorite list:)

Unstuffed Pepper Bake -
1 lb. ground beef
1/3 cup onion - I used a sweet wala wala
1 1/2 cups diced peppers - use red, orange and yellow, 1/2 of each
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 (14.5 oz.) can Petite Diced Tomatos, drained
1 1/2 c. brown rice (white works too)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 (8 oz.) pkg shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 375*
Saute beef, onions, peppers and garlic powder until beef is browned and veggies tender.  Drain off excess fat and season with salt and pepper
Stir in tomatos, rice, Worcestershire sauce and Italian seasoning.  Remove from heat and add 1 c. of the shredded cheese.
Spread mixture into 13x9 pan and top with tomato sauce and remaining cheese.
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.
Let stand for at least 5-10 minutes before serving.

*Tip:  I may cook rice before hand next time as our rice was still crunchy.  The recipe never called for cooked rice though.*

Breakfast Casserole!!

I got this recipe from Doug's cousin Cherie.  They have it for breakfast Christmas morning, it's been a tradition in their family for years.  Her brother posted it on their blog Our Family Treat.  I LOVE their blog and find lots of fun recipes there.  This is their picture of the casserole.  I ABSOLUTELY LOVED it!!  We made the ham one for Christmas and the sausage one for New Years at my moms and they are soo good:)  Thanks Cherie for sharing a fun tradition that I would like to make ours!!!!

Breakfast Casserole -
12 slices of bread

18 oz of grated cheese

1 pound of your favorite meat

Veggies

8-10 Eggs

Salt and Pepper

Butter

Directions: Butter all slices of bread. Place 6 slices of bread, buttered side down in a 9 x 13 pan. Then top with grated cheese, meat and veggies. Then place the other 6 slices of bread, buttered side up on the top. Beat 8-10 eggs in a bowl, with salt and pepper. Pour the eggs over the whole casserole...make sure to get all the bread covered with eggs. Cover the pan in foil and refrigerate over night. Bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours (30 of which is without the foil). 

Tip: We make two different kids...one with chedder cheese, ham and sometimes we add onions. And then on the other one we use pepper jack cheese, breakfast sausage and peppers. Feel free to experiment!

Dinner in a PUMPKIN

I was so excited when Our Family Treat posted this recipe.  I had been searching the internet for days and the ones I found didn't sound good.  But believe me when I say this one is so YUMMY!!

Only thing we did differently was add fresh green beans (Seriously check into Bountifyl Baskets in your area if it's available - they are wonderful).  And we omitted the celery, green onion and mushrooms - sorry not a fan!!  I know I am a little late getting this posted for Halloween but pumpkins are still available and this meal is great for the colder days ahead:P

Dinner in a Pumpkin -
Ingredients:

1 medium pumpkin, remove top and clean insides out
1 1/2- 2 lbs of ground beef 1 cup chopped celery
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
3 c. cooked rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup1/2 cup chopped or sliced mushrooms (omit if you aren't a mushroom fan)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons soy sauce
salt and pepper

Brown hamburger. In another pot, cook rice (white or brown) as directed on package. Chop and saute celery, onion, and green onion. Once tender combine vegetables with hamburger, cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, mushrooms, brown sugar, soy and salt and pepper. Mix well.

Put mixture inside the pumpkin, replace lid. Place on baking sheet and into a 400 degree oven. Bake until pumpkin is tender (1 1/2 to 2 hours). Scoop out to serve, scraping sides of pumpkin to get the cooked pumpkin in the mixture. It is so good it melts in your mouth!

Funeral Potatoes

I really like Funeral Potatoes so when I found this easy recipe over at Our Family Treat I thought I would give it a try.  BUT I wanted to make it more of a meal, so we added 1 can of Green Beans and a package of diced ham to it.  My family really enjoyed it:)

FUNERAL POTATOES
Makes 1 9x13 pan

Ingredients:
2 pounds cubed hash browns-thawed
1/4 cup onion
2 cans cream of chicken
1 pint sour cream
10 ounces grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Mix all ingredients together. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Then spread out potatoes mixture on the pan. Sprinkle with a little more cheddar and parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes.

Chicken Veggie Casserole

Since I post a lot of my recipe's here, don't really use any of my cookbooks I have collected and have a HUGE mess in my cubbard I decided to clean out and toss a lot of books and recipes that were collecting dust.  I find ones and think they sound good so I toss it in a pile to try later but lately I have just wanted quick, easy recipes.  So I have been trying a lot of the easy ones and tossing the ones that I just don't think will be good for my family.  Which has been great because I have come across some old favorites that I have forgotten about and hand written recipes from my Granny that I will cherish.  She was an amazing cook and I like to think I get my love for cooking/baking from her!!♥
Well this was a recipe that I clipped from a magazine that sounded yummy so we gave it a try last night and I think it will be a keeper...
(ps - stay tuned for lots more - I have been going batty waiting for this baby to come so I have been baking/cooking a lot to pass the days;)

Chicken Veggie Casserole:

1 can cream of mushroom soup or 1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. milk
 --whisked together
2 c. cubed cooked chicken
2-3 c. frozen vegetables
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. shredded parmesan cheese
3-4 c. cooked and drained egg noodles
2 c. shredded cheese ( I sprinkled some in mixture and set rest aside to put on top)

Combine all ingredients in a 9x13 dish and mix together well.  Cover and bake 400* for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Halfway through cooking I uncovered and sprinkled more cheese on top and cooked until cheese was melted:)  Enjoy!!

=TaCo BaKe=

Years ago I was in a Freezer Meal Food Group...I LOVED it!!  We would spend ALL day one Saturday a month cooking, preparing and wrapping 12 meals that we would stock our freezer with.  I really miss it:(  But I still enjoy fixing all the recipes that we made, because they are so easy.  This is one I haven't had or made since than and I really regret not making it more often.  It is so so YUMMY!!  Last night my son devoured his and my daughter said she wanted to eat the whole pan...so it's definitely a good one for kids:)

Taco Bake:

1-2 lbs. ground beef
1 sm. onion or 1-2 Tbl. dried onion
1-2 tsp. taco seasoning
1 can tomato soup
1 c. grated cheese
1 pkg. flour tortillas, cut into bite size pieces (I use my pizza cutter)
1 c. salsa
1/2 c. sour cream or milk

Cook hamburger, onion and taco seasoning.  Then add soup, salsa, sour cream or milk and half of the cheese.  Pour into pan, add cut up tortilla's and mix well.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese (I add lots more than 1/2 c. because we LOVE cheese).  Bake at 400* for 30 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Tip:  Make in disposable pan, cover with tin foil and freeze.  Thaw and bake as instructed when ready to eat!!

○Tator Tot Casserole x2○

My family loves Tator Tot Casserole but my husband is not a fan of mushrooms so I don't make it very often.  Which is funny because he LOVES this and he's willing to pick out the mushrooms while eating it...funny huh:)  So here is my version of a popular recipe and my friend Sara sent me another way her family enjoys it that I can't wait to try...

TATOR TOT CASSEROLE:
Brown 1-2lbs. ground beef with chopped small onion**
Place in 9x13 baking dish.
Pour 2 cans cream of mushroom soup** with 1/2 c. milk over top and mix well.
Arrange 1 pkg. Tator Tots over top of mixture.
Sprinkle 1 pkg cheese over top.
Cover and bake 350* for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.  Enjoy!!

**My tips --
We found Kroger brand tator rounds that have a strong onion flavor so we omit the onion and use those.
Since my husband doesn't like mushrooms I substitute one can of mushroom with one can cream of chicken (still tastes good).
I also uncover mine after 30 minutes and continue baking to give the tator tots a more crunchy flavor that my family enjoys.
This can be made in a disposable pan, covered well and frozen.  Just thaw and cook as instructed.

TATOR TOT CASSEROLE #2:
Brown in a large pan -
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped

Then add -
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups canned milk
2 pound package tater-tots

Mix lightly. Simmer 25-30 min.
Serve over rice.