Ranch Chicken Enchiladas

Ranch Chicken Enchiladas

(from recipecritic.com)

3-4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 package chicken taco seasoning
1 package ranch dry salad dressing
1/2 cup bottled ranch
1/2 cup salsa
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can chicken broth
1 package tortillas

1.   Cook and shred the chicken.  I cooked mine in the slow cooker with the ranch packet and taco seasoning packages in the chicken broth.  The chicken just peeled apart.  I cooked it on low for about 3-4 hours.
2. Mix the 1/2 cup of ranch and 1/2 salsa in a bowl.  Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and spread a very thin layer of the mixture on the bottom.
3. Start assembling the enchiladas by putting 2 Tbs of the ranch and salsa mixture on the bottom of tortilla.  Then put the shredded chicken on top of that.  Sprinkle with cheese and roll it up.
4. Line up the enchiladas in the 9x13 pan and sprinkle heavily with the cheddar cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and enchiladas are heated through.
5. Drizzle the top with ranch and enjoy!

These are great!  Especially good for picky eaters.  Ranch tends to tone down spicy flavors.  I enjoyed these a lot.

Still in awe- all my kids devoured this!

Better-Than-Takeout Chicken Fried Rice

(rachelschultz.com)

Serves 5-6

• 4 cups rice, prepared
• 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked (I put mine in the crock pot with Yoshida's Original Gourmet sauce, or any teriyaki sauce would do, if desired)
• 1 cup peas & carrots, frozen (or what you like - I added steamed broccoli)
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce

Prepare rice according to package instructions to yield 4 cups cooked rice. Heat sesame oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add onion, garlic, peas, and carrots.  Stir fry until tender. Crack eggs into pan and scramble, mixing throughout vegetables.  Add rice, chicken, and soy sauce to pan.Mix soy sauce throughout and remove from heat.  

It's true!  My kids all had seconds, and thirds.  Some liked adding the Yoshida's sauce on top of the fried rice (Russell and I did- added a lot of teriyaki flavor) but most liked the fried rice as is.  They even at the veggies.  I'm still in shock!  It is a great recipe, and I am replacing my old recipe I had on this blog with this one.

Awesome crock pot recipe!

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
(from therecipecritic.com)

1 T Vegetable Oil

6-7 Boneless Chicken Breast 

3/4 Cup honey

3/4 Cup soy sauce

3 T Ketchup

2 cloves garlic crushed (I used 1 1/2 T minced garlic)

1 T fresh ginger root (I used 1 T dry ginger)

1 20 ounce can pinapple drained with juice reserved (I didn't use the pineapple)

2 T cornstarch

1/4 c water

Mix together and pour over chicken.  Cook on low for about 4-6 or so hours.  Easy!

I've made this twice in the last month because our family liked this dinner so much.  So glad to have a bunch of great slow cooker recipes.

Surprising great choc chip cookies using Bisquick

Bisquick Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1/2 cup crisco
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 3/4 cups Bisquick
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Beat crisco and sugars till creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat till thoroughly combined.
2.  Gradually add Bisquick; mix till thoroughly combined. Add chocolate chips. 
3. Using cookie scoop, Form cookie dough into Tablespoon-ish sized balls. Place on cookie sheet. 
4. Bake at 350 for about 9 min.  

I get bored with making the same recipes over and over.  When I saw this recipe using Bisquick, I was very curious and decided to try it.  These are the best tasting cookies I've ever had straight out of the oven.  The next day they were a bit hard, but the microwave helped bring them back to life.  These are more puffy cookies than flat and chewy, which I am happy about.  Give them a try!  

Caramels

Homemade Caramels

(from notjustahousewife.com)

• 2 cubes of Butter (1 cup) I like to use salted
• 2 cups of Sugar
• 1 1/2 cups Light Corn Syrup
• 2  14oz cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Before you get started get a bowl of ice water ready and set next to the stove.

1. In a large heavy bottom saucepan melt the butter. Add the sugar, corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk.
2.  Stir constantly on medium high heat until it comes to a rolling boil. Turn down heat to medium. Continue to stir constantly to avoid scorching. If it does start to scorch, turn the heat down a little. 
3. Stir until it starts to get a little darker. Check to see if it is done by spooning a little of the caramel into a bowl of ice water.  
4. Continue to check the caramel until it is the consistency you want (mixture forms a soft ball- took about 15 minutes or so of constant stirring). When it is right, remove from heat and add the vanilla.
5.  Pour into a greased pan. I use a cookie sheet. Let completely cool before cutting and eating. It takes a few hours for it to completely cool and set up. The longer you wait the better.

Delicious and easy!  Just make sure you keep stirring!

Creamy Swiss Chicken Bake

Creamy Swiss Cheese Chicken Bake

(from melskitchencafe.com)

*Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4-6 chicken pieces, excess moisture removed after thawing if frozen)
6-8 slices Swiss cheese (about 4-6 ounces)
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt 
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Hot, cooked rice for serving

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and lightly spray a 9X13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season on each side with salt and pepper. Lay the chicken breast pieces in a single layer on the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Layer the Swiss cheese slices over the chicken. In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, yogurt, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Spread this mixture over the chicken and cheese. Top with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is hot and bubbly. Serve over hot, steamed rice.

Really good flavor, kid-friendly, easy...great to whip up quickly for dinner!  The sauce ends up tasting a little like alfredo sauce, which my kids love, so that was a bonus.

Healthified (mostly) Pumpkin Bars- still delicious!

Pumpkin Bars

(adapted from Paula Deen)

Bars:

• 4 eggs (I subbed ground flax seed for 2 of the eggs)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil 
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 15-ounce can pumpkin
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing:

• 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened (1/3 less fat is great)
• 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan for cake size or cookie sheet with sides for the bar cookies.  Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.  Mix at low speed until combined. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars. We like them refrigerated- better the next day and day after...if they last.

These are great! I really think since the icing is so rich and good it doesn't hurt anything to try to make the base healthier.  Especially when the taste is so good in the end!