Loaded Cowboy Queso

Yep.  We made it!  We actually did it within a week of me sharing the recipe saying we needed to make it... but seems to take me a while to sit down and actually write about it.

Game-Changer!  I can't even tell you how delicious it is.  You just have to try it.  You also have to make the tortilla boats because the vessel in which the dip reaches your mouth is a VERY important part of this equation.

Quick Nutshell for the Vessels (chips would work too but these really take it to the next level!):

Preheat over to 350

Cut the taco boats in half, spray with non-stick spray and sprinkle with taco seasoning

We also cut Naan bread into pieces and did the same thing

The taco boats were baked about 10 minutes until crispy and the naan pieces needed about 5 minutes longer.

It's Dip Time!
1/2 lb chorizo, cooked and drained
1/2 can Miller Lite
8 oz velvetta cheese
4 oz  pepperjack cheese
1 can rotel
1/2 cup black beans, drained
1/2 cup corn and peppers, drained
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped (The recipe calls for cilantro but Mark isn't a big fan and we made this on his Birthday Eve... so it was all about what he likes.)

Put everything in crockpot (except parsley) on low for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally until melted and heated through.  Right before serving stir in parsley.

Happy Sunday Funday!  Thanks for stopping by!

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie is one of those comforting  go-to meals that's perfect for when you want to make sure the kiddos eat good.  I really like taking help from the store on this one and using crescent rolls for the top.  Not using a pie crust really lightens this meal up- especially because the crescent rolls are on the top and not both the bottom and top.

Let's Get Crafty!

Preheat oven to 400

Use non-stick spray on the baking dish

Mix Together and Pour into Baking Dish:

2 1/2 cups shredded chicken

1 can Cambell's Heart-Healthy Cream of Chicken Soup

2 big handfuls of thawed frozen veggie blend (peas, carrots, corn)

1/2 cup green beans (these were leftover from last night... so I threw them in)

1 can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (I used the reduced fat ones that are only 90 calories each)

Bake 15-20 minutes until crescent rolls are nicely browned

Thanks for stopping by!
I hope you're having a great day.

Beef Enchiladas

Remember the honey lemon enchiladas?  Well... these happened a couple days after.  :)

I decided to make my own red enchilada sauce.  It was very good!  We used half in this recipe and then froze half to have on hand for another enchilada night.  

Let's Get Crafty!

1 medium onion, diced as fine as you can (food processor would work too... I just don't like to dirty a dish that I don't have to)

2 good teaspoons chopped garlic

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 8 oz unsalted tomato sauce

1 cup chicken stock

Mix all together and simmer for 20 minutes on medium-low

While the sauce was simmering I browned a pound of hamburger with more diced onion.

You can either roll enchiladas similar to the Honey Enchiladas recipe or throw it together in a casserole.  I went the casserole today layering corn tortillas with meat, sauce and cheese.

Bake at 400 (covered) for 30-35 minutes.  I like to turn the oven to a low broil for the last five minutes (uncovered) to brown the cheese a little bit.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Skinny Potato Casserole

Here's a cheesy potato casserole dish that's lighter in calories and fat than what my usual potato casserole.  I have a favorite recipe that I've used for the last 10 years... I'm tweaking that while incorporating other ideas I've stumbled upon on Pinterest.

Let's Get Crafty!
Preheat oven to 350

1 medium onion, diced
2 T unsalted butter
1 cup chicken stock (approximately)
Saute the onion and butter together on medium until the butter has been absorbed.  I'm not a fan of hard chunks of onion, so I then slowly add chicken stock to continue the softening process.  Maybe 1/4 cup at a time.  It works two-fold in this dish to also add flavor.

1 can Cambell's Heart-Healthy Cream of Chicken Soup
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (light or fat free would be good here... just can't bring myself to compromise on cheese.... )
1/2 cup 1% milk
1/2 cup light sour cream
30-32 oz pack of southern diced frozen hash browns (thawed)
Mix the first 4 ingredients together then mix in the hash browns.

Bake covered for 50 minutes and then uncovered at a low broil to brown the top for 5 minutes.

There are so many delicious options for toppings.... french fried onions (maybe french friend jalepenos on half) or crushed ritz crackers tossed with a couple tablespoons of butter.  We didn't add those today and just enjoyed it on it's own.

Happy Sunday!  Thanks for stopping by.

Crockpot White Chicken Chili

This recipe from my Mom is truly a keeper.  I remember the first time I made it.  I was just out of junior college and had moved away to finish college at UNC.  I remember thinking that I was truly cooking because it uses a couple different spices from the pantry.  I'm going to give you the recipe as my Mama gave it to me and share what I did differently next to it.

Let's Get Crafty!

Stir it all these together in the crockpot and cook on low 8-10 hours

• 2 cans navy beans, rinsed and drained (I use whatever white been I have on hand... today it was white cannellini)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic (Used a good teaspoon of minced garlic from the jar)
• 1 T ground white pepper
• 1 T dried or ground oregano
• 1 T cumin (I use 1/3 of this because Mark doesn't like cumin)
• 1 teaspoon salt (I use half of this... I'm pretty sure my Mom doesn't use this much either. :)  )
• 1/4 ground cloves (Oops.  Forgot this.)
• 2 cans chopped green chilis (I used 1 healthy cup of chopped green chilis we have bagged)
• 4 cans chicken broth, reduced sodium (This is 8 cans of chicken stock.  I had some frozen in the freezer that I used.  Nothing fancy here!  Just save and freeze the wonderful broth you get from simmering a whole chicken with the magic trio of onion, celery and carrots.  I like to throw in a bay leaf for some added flavor.)
• 5 cups cooked chicken

 

I hope you're having a great day.  Thank you for stopping by!

Honey Lemon Chicken Enchiladas

This house is a big fan of Mexican food and we have enchiladas on the regular.  I saw this recipe flipping through an old Quick and Light magazine from Taste of Home.  (I try to reference where I get initial recipes from when it's from one specific place... but the directions and ingredients won't completely follow the recipes as printed.  I always mix them up depending on what I have on hand or what I think we would like.)



Let's Get Crafty!

Preheat oven to 400

Whisk all these together and set aside

1/4 cup honey

3 T lemon juice (depending on the size of the lemon... this could be one or two.)

1 T EVOO

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

 

3 cups shredded cooked chicken

For a quick meal this could be from a rotisserie chicken.  When I made this recipe I used the chicken from a crockpot freezer meal that was honey/dijon mustard chicken.  Seemed to work well for this dish.  (Hoping to pull together a freezer meals post soon!)

 

You will also need:

1 large can of green enchilada sauce

12 corn tortillas

3/4 cup shredded cheese (whatever strikes your fancy.  We did medium cheddar.)

 

Spray your baking dish with Pam and spread 1/3 cup of green enchilada sauce around the bottom. 

I like to warm the tortillas in the microwave briefly to soften and then lay them all out on the counter.  My Mom taught me this trick when I was little.  This helps with getting equal filling.

 

Once they are laid out like the previous picture they are so quick and easy to get in the baking dish.  You will want to make sure you have cleared your counter and can jump right into distributing the filling and rolling them up when they are still a little warm so the shells won't start cracking on you.

 

And for the toppings!  We added green chilis to the side for Mark and I and none for the kiddos.  Then pour the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the top and spread with the cheese.

Bake at 400 (covered) for 20-25 minutes or until heated through.  I like to turn the oven to a low broil for the last five minutes (uncovered) to brown the cheese a little bit.



 

It was fun to try something different than what we regularly do... It also made me want some good ol' fashioned beef enchiladas with red sauce!  (Which we did a couple days later- so watch a post for that coming soon too!) 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you had a great day!