Southwest Chicken Wrap

Welcome back! I'm glad to be back from that vacation. I got my recipes a bit more organized and have a list of all my favorite recipes which will eventually be making it onto this blog. Some of you may have seen a sneak peek of some of the recipes I'm working on via my Facebook page.

But enough of this chit-chat. You are here for the food, and food you shall have. Summer is coming to a close, but here's a great cook-free dish that is quick and easy to make for a summer get-together. The idea originally came from the Weight Watcher's website years ago, but after doing a search, it doesn't seem to be on there any more. So, without further ado, here's the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 (10 oz) can chicken in water, drained and shredded
• 1 (15 oz) can of corn, drained
• 1 (15 oz) can of black beans, drained
• 2 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning or 1 package of store bought
• Cilantro, to taste
• Flour tortillas
• Sour cream, chopped onion, avocado, etc

Directions

Combine chicken, corn, black beans, taco seasoning, and cilantro in a medium bowl. Stir until well mixed. Serve either warm or cold on a tortilla topped with sour cream, onion, avocado, or any other topping you desire.

My Take

I love this recipe because it's something quick and easy that I can whip up. Plus, it's pretty healthy, so there's that as well. I usually eat it warmed up with a dollop of sour cream, but it's just as good cold. I also like quite a bit of flavor in it, so I tend to add a bit more taco seasoning and cilantro. Love the taste of cilantro, though I know some people aren't as fond of it.

Feel free to tinker with it and make it your own. Do you want a bit of a crunch? Add some diced onions. Think it needs more heat? Experiment with some peppers.  Only thing I ask is that you let me know how things go. :)

Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken

I found this recipe while perusing Pintrest one day. I was very doubtful of its flavor, as it only has 3 ingredients, but since I had all the ingredients on hand, I decided to try it. Honestly, I will never make chicken for tacos another way! I didn't realize that I hadn't put it on this blog (had actually posted it on my Domestication blog) so here it is for your enjoyment.

Ingredients

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 (16 oz) jar salsa
• 1 package taco seasoning OR 3-4 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning

Directions

Everybody into the pool!

•  Dump chicken, salsa, and taco seasoning into your slow cooker. Stir a bit so the taco seasoning and salsa blend together.
• Cook on low for 5 hours. Shred chicken and stir until well mixed.
• Cook on Low for one more hour.

Shredded chicken

My Take

That's it! It's that simple. You can even let it cook a bit longer (6-8 hours) before shredding it, but I highly recommend letting it cook after you shred it for a bit. That way, the shredded chicken will soak up all that flavor. I love to eat these on flour tortillas with tomatoes, shredded lettuce, sour cream, and black olives. I've also used the leftovers to make a taco casserole, which turned out wonderful.

Usually when I make this, I only use 2-3 breasts, as I'm the only one in the house that eats it. I could make more and freeze it, but we don't have a lot of freezer space. So, when I make it, I cut everything in half. And, honestly, I just eyeball how much salsa and taco seasoning to use.

Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie

I recently had a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts hanging out in my freezer that I wanted to use up. I know chicken is healthy for me, but I get burned out on it super fast, and I don't like eating just a chicken breast. So, I scoured the Internet, searching for something I could make with the few ingredients I had on hand (didn't do a good job this week on thinking ahead grocery-wise).

What I came up with was a slow cooker chicken and dumplings. I found a few recipes, and then I noticed some of them added veggies, so to me, it seemed more like a slow cooker chicken pot pie. I thought, "Hey, I have some canned veggies that have been lounging around my pantry for a long time. This'll be a good time to use them! There's also some baby carrots which need to be used up too!" So I did some more digging. I found a recipe that seemed good to me, but I decided to change it to suit what I had on hand. So the following is what I put in mine. In the "My Take" section, I'll let you know what I liked, didn't like, and what I would change next time I make it.

A few of the ingredients you'll need

Ingredients 

• 2 large skinless boneless chicken breasts
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 2 (10.5 oz) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• Garlic salt
• Celery salt
• Ground black pepper
• Mrs. Dash's no-salt original recipe
• Onion poweder
• 1/2 can sweet peas
• 1/2 can green beans
• 1 1/3 cup Bisquick mix
• 6 tablespoons milk

Directions

Throw everything except for the Bisquick mix and milk into the crock pot, just sprinkling the garlic salt, celery salt, ground black pepper, Mrs. Dash's, and onion powder onto the chicken breasts to season them. Cook on Low for 5 hours. After 5 hours, shred the chicken in the crock pot. Cook for 1 more hour on Low. Mix the Bisquick and milk together to make dumplings. Drop the dumplings, spoonful by spoonful, into the crock pot. Cook on High for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Dish is done when the dumplings are cooked all the way through.

After the chicken has been shredded

My Take

I was pretty unsure as to how this was going to turn out, but my fears were proved wrong. This was amazing! I was worried that it would be too salty or the dumplings wouldn't cook right, but nope! I was pretty amazed that the dumplings cooked so well in the slow cooker.

I initially made the dumpling recipe as listed on the Bisquick box, but it didn't look like enough, so I doubled it. I'm glad I did.

People have also used canned biscuits, but since I didn't have any on hand, I just did the dumplings. It's also said that you should cut the chicken into chunks before you put it in the crock pot, but I've found that if you leave the breasts whole, they hold their juices better and stay more moist.

If you love home made chicken pot pie, I highly encourage you to make this. Feel free to substitute your own veggies and add some more. I think next time I make it I may add a bit of water, as I wanted it a bit more soupy. The biscuits/dumplings tend to suck up the moisture once added.

In conclusion, this will be added to my crock pot recipes and I will definitely make this during the winter months. Especially when the temperatures are as cold as they are today: 1 with a windchill of  -2!

Spicy Chicken Taco Soup

I love chicken tortilla soup and recently I've been craving a bowl. So I jumped online to check out a few recipes. I knew I wanted to cook it in the slow cooker, as Lucy screaming through the baby gate makes it difficult to spend a lot of time cooking in the kitchen. Because I was looking for a specific flavor, I took different ideas from several different recipes. I had bought a smoked chicken from which I made a stock from and used the meat in this recipe. The meat added a very delicious flavor to the whole soup.

Ingredients

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans
• 1 (16 oz) can chili beans
• 1 can kernel corn (I used about a cup of frozen)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning
• Cilantro to taste
• Sour cream, yellow corn tortilla chips, shredded cheese, avocado, etc. for garnishing

Directions

Dump everything expect for the cilantro into the slow cooker and mix well. Cook on Low for 5 hours. Shred the chicken and add the cilantro. Cook for another 30 minutes. Serve topped with whatever garnishes you wish.

My Take

I called this "spicy" because to me, all I could taste was heat unless I dumped quite a bit of sour cream into it. I'm not quite sure where it came from, so I'm going to make some tweaks to it and make it more tame for me. I'm also not sure if the cilantro being cooked into the soup really added anything, so next time I may just save it for a garnish.

Because I used pre-cooked chicken, the cooking time may have to be extended if you're using raw chicken breasts.

Have you been craving any soups this winter? Have you done any experimenting with recipes you've found? Do you have a favorite taco/tortilla soup you make every time? Let me know in the comments. I love hearing from you guys. :)

Chicken Nuggets/Strips

These are pretty quick and easy to make. I'm sure if you have kids, they'll love it too.

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 3 1/2 cups cornflakes, crushed
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into nuggets/strips

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Whisk the egg and milk together in a small mixing bowl. Place cornflakes in a plastic bag.
• Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture, then shake with cornflakes to coat.
• Put coated chicken on baking sheet. 
• Carefully place baking pan in oven and bake for 15 minutes.
• Carefully remove the baking pan from oven.
• Serve

My Take

I love eating these things with honey or BBQ sauce. Dylan likes eating them with mayo.

Also, what I  do to save time, is I buy the boneless, skinless chicken tenders. They're already pre-cut into strips, so I don't have to mess with that. I've never actually made them into nuggets, as Dylan and I prefer them as strips. But, I guess if you have younger kids, nuggets would be much easier to eat. 

Quick and Easy Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas

This is a "recipe" which my mom and brother made up. It makes for a great weekend meal for when you can't think of anything else to cook. I discussed this with one of my friends and she makes a yummy-sounding one as well, but it's more work and, since Dylan and I are extremely picky eaters, this one works well for us. Maybe Cassie will grace me with her prescence on my blog and give her recipe. ^^ Oh, and there aren't exact measurements (except for the chicken) as I do this all by sight.

Ingredients

• 2 (13 oz) canned chicken breast
• Shredded colby jack cheese
• Taco Seasoning
• Tortillas

Directions

• Drain the juice/water from the canned chicken breast. Then place the chicken in a bowl. With a spoon, "mash" the chicken until it has become shredded
• Add cheese to chicken. I do it all by sight. I like to have just over half-and-half. You kinda just have to experiment and see what you like the best. I think you need just a bit more cheese than chicken, otherwise, it won't melt shut right.
• Add taco seasoning to taste. I like to make sure that everything is lightly covered.
• Cook one side of a tortilla until it is barely brown. You don't want it crunchy, as then you won't be able to fold it over.
• Flip tortilla and put filling on half. Fold it over and cook both sides until lightly browned, making sure the filling is nice and melted. 
• Enjoy!

My Take

I loooove this recipe. Feel free to experiment, and if you want, measure how much cheese and taco seasoning you put in and lemme know. Like I said, I never measure with this, but I figured I would stick it up here anyway and let you guys have a go at it. Also, lemme know if you try it with any other fillings. 

Oh! And if you want, you can cook it like a grilled cheese sandwich, using 2 tortillas and not folding it. Then you can cut it into wedges and serve it at a party.

The filling also tastes great warmed over tortilla chips; kinda like chicken nachos. 

Okay, so lemme know what you think, and please, feel free to comment. I <3 comments. ^.^