Turkey Panini

Long ago, when we lived in an apartment in Orem, we had what we called dinner group with two of our neighbors. Every Tuesday, Kristen cooked, every Wednesday, Megan cooked, and every Thursday, I cooked. When it was our night to cook, we'd make enough food for all six adults, and then we'd send a text (or just yell out the door :) when it was ready. Everyone would take their plates, go pick up food, and go home to eat. It. Was. Heavenly. You got a good meal three nights a week, but you only had to cook and clean up once. Also, while we were dishing up our food we could chat, but then we could go home and eat with our husbands. Also, (I know...it just keeps getting better!) it expanded our repertoire of recipes! It was a sad day when we all moved away and dinner group ended.

ANYWAY, this recipe is a result of dinner group and comes from my cute friend, Megan. It is yummy and filling enough for dinner, or light and quick enough for lunch. You probably have everything you need already in your fridge, too. You really can't go wrong!

Ingredients:

2 slices of bread, pita bread, or tortilla (pictures)

2 slices deli turkey

4 THIN slices green apple (I'm sure any apple would do)

1-2 slices cheese

1 tsp mustard (or less, you just want a tiny hint of flavor)

Dusting of powdered sugar

Directions:

Assemble and place on panini maker or George Forman grill. If you don't have either, you could just do it in a frying pan, rotating so both sides are toasted.

Cook until bread/tortilla is toasted and cheese is melted. Dust with powdered sugar. 

I know this sounds random and somewhat bizarre, but the flavors combine so well and are just delicious. Let us know if you try it!

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

There are some who like cream of broccoli soup with cheese in it, and there are some who like cheesy soup with broccoli in it ;) We are the latter! I have never been successful at making broccoli soup, but this recipe was easy peasy and delicious! Let us know if you try it!

I halved this recipe and it was enough to feed three adults and leave a bowl of leftovers :)

Ingredients:

• 2 cubes butter
• 1 C flour
• 8 C water and 8 tsp. chicken bouillon OR 8 C chicken broth
• 1/2-1 lb Velveeta cheese
• 1 large bunch broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 pt. whipping cream
• Diced onion
• 1 C diced celery (optional) 

Directions:

1. Melt butter, add onion and celery (if used), and cook 5-10 minutes until onion and celery are soft.
2. Add flour and mix well.
3. Slowly add chicken broth and heat through. 
4. Add broccoli and simmer 30 minutes. 
5. Add cheese, stir until melted, add cream, and heat through. 

Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Pasta

Hello! Hello! I am here to amaze and wow you by sharing a wonderful new recipe! If  you like pasta and you like chicken enchiladas, well my friends, this recipe is for you! All credit goes to my fabulous, amazing,  neighbor Krista and her delicious blog Budget Gourmet Mom this was one of those recipes I knew I had to try as soon as it showed up in my RSS feed! I was NOT disappointed! Matt kept saying after every bite how good it was and as soon as he was done told me he couldn't wait until lunch the next day, so he could eat it again! Mmmm mmmm this was too GOOD not to share!!!

Stop over and check out Krista's blog and leave her some love if you try this one out!

 (picture from here)

 You will need:

1 lb bow tie pasta

2 chicken breasts, cubed and cooked

1 - 10 3/4 oz can cream of chicken of soup

1 - 4oz can diced green chilies

2 cups sour cream

1 small onion, diced

1 small can black olives, sliced

3 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Enchilada Sauce:

1 - 8 oz can tomato sauce

1/3 cup water

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp cumin

1 clove garlic, minced

I got my enchilada sauce cooking first--it's SO delicious!! First of all I didn't know you could make your own so easily, second of all I had no idea it would be so YUMMY!!

**In a small saucepan mix all of the ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook for a few minutes for the ingredients to blend. Pour over the enchilada pasta or store in the refrigerator for later.

**Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the pasta. 

**While the pasta cooks in a large bowl mix the soup, green chilies, sour cream, onions, olives and 1 cup of shredded cheese.

 **Once the pasta is al dente fold it into the soup mixture along with the cooked chicken.

**Pour into one 9x13 baking dish or two smaller rectangular dishes (she uses the disposable ones for freezing).

**Pour over enchilada sauce and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

**Bake at 350° until cheese is melted and it's heated through, mine took about 20-25 minutes!

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ham & cheese sliders

oh man. the holidays brought some good food. i found this recipe on pinterest, and an appetizer party at my in-laws' was the perfect place to take them. yu-um. even the next day, after a little re-heating in the oven, they were delish. we ate them as an appetizer, but eat a few with some salad and you'd have a meal. i will probably be making these for dinner soon. my husband was a serious fan!

the recipe came from this blog 

ingredients:

12 dinner rolls (i used the costco ones from the bakery)

12 slices ham

12 slices provolone cheese

sauce:

i cube butter-melted

1 tbsp. poppy seeds

1.5 tbsp. mustard

1 tbsp. minced onion

make sandwiches and place in a baking dish. mix together sauce ingredients, pour over sandwiches, and bake at 350* for 15ish minutes. serve warm.

dorito chicken casserole

alright. so here's the deal. sometimes, the title of a meal just sounds gross. like this one. right? well don't you turn your nose up just yet. listen. try it. and then judge from there.

i found this recipe on this blog, and i immediately wanted to try it. do i love doritos? yes. chicken? yes. all things cheesy? yes. all things mexicanish? yes. so it was a win-win for me. and we loved it! not kidding. i expected the doritos to go soggy, but they didn't at all. instead, they baked onto the pan and stayed crispy. awesome, right?

source

what you need:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, shredded (i cooked them in the crock pot all day so they'd shred easily)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 can rotel

1/2 pkg. taco seasoning

1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 bag nacho cheese doritos

mix everything except the doritos together. line a 8X11 (i think that's the size. i could have made that up) baking dish with crushed doritos. layer half of the chicken mixture on top. put another layer of crushed doritos, the rest of the chicken mixture, and shredded cheese. cover with foil and bake on 375* for about 30 minutes.

yum. like i said. try it and THEN you can judge :)

baked potato soup-healthified

oh my, people. do i have a bowl of fall for you to try! every spoon full i ate of this deliciousness made me fall more and more in love with it and with the weather for being chilly enough for me to eat it. sooo good. also, it's from this blog which is all about low-cal and healthy foods, so that is an added bonus. honestly, though, if i didn't know it was low-cal, i would have been putting on my fat pants because it tastes like added pounds to the thighs. but it's not** score!

image

you need:

2 potatoes

1 small head cauliflower

1 can (or 1.5 cups) fat free chicken broth

1.5 cups milk

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup sour cream

cheese, bacon, and green onions for topping

cook the potatoes in the microwave for 5 minutes on high. turn them over, and cook for another 5 minutes or until tender (or you can bake them. or put them in the crock-pot all day. you choose)

while potatoes are cooking, cut cauliflower into florets and steam until soft.

when potatoes are tender, peel them and cut them in half.

in a blender or food processer (she says use an immersion blender. whatever that is), combine potatoes, cauliflower, milk, and chicken broth. mix until smooth.

return potato mixture to a sauce-pan, add sour cream and s&p, and heat until boiling. once it boils, turn it to low and simmer for 5ish minutes.

top with your heart's desired amount of cheese, bacon, onion. 

**obviously if you want it low-cal you need to use fat free or light sour cream, skim or 1% milk, and fat free chicken broth. and probably don't put cheese to your heart's content (i'll take 1 cup per bowl, thank you).

happy fall eating!

cheesy chicken spaghetti

maybe we'll just not post a recipe for a week or more and only provide you with meal plan mondays.

oh. wait. we just did. oops! well to make it up, here's a good one for you! and...i'm working up some halloweenish recipes to get you pumped for your halloween bash. look for those! 

i originally saw this recipe on pinterest. it was labeled as a crock-pot recipe, so i pinned it without even reading the details. once i did read the details, i saw that a crock-pot was in no way involved. but by that point, i was already all sorts of excited about trying it out.

let me say...yum! we loved it. it tastes like a southern, comfort food (because i know what that is. as if i've ever been south of colorado), which the original blogger says it is. it is a good meal for a cold or rainy day. it's warm and filling and just plain good. it comes from this blog, which is where i got the picture from. as always, i modified and changed it to what worked for me. you can do the same if you'd like. :) here's my version. ps, it seems like a lot of steps, but it's really fast and simple to put together:

you'll need:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 12 oz. pkg. spaghetti

1 16 oz. pkg. velveeta cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can chicken broth

1 cube butter

1 green pepper, diced

cook your chicken in the crock-pot (i lied! a crock pot is involved!) all day with about a half a cup of water. when it's cooked, shred with a fork. set aside. (you could shred a rotisserie chicken or cook it in a frying pan and shred).

cook spaghetti. i added a sprinkling of chicken bouillon to the water i cooked my spaghetti in, but i don't know that it really made a difference. while pasta is cooking, saute green pepper in butter until pepper is soft. 

in a microwave-safe bowl, combine chicken broth, velveeta, and cream of chicken, and microwave on high for 7-9 minutes (or until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth), stirring every 2-3. when mixture is combined, mix it with the noodles, butter/pepper, and chicken. stir together. 

at this point, because i was leaving the house, i threw it in a pammed crock-pot on high for about an hour and a half. or, you can pam a 9X13 and cook it at 350* for 45 minutes.

it turned out suuuper cheesy, so i might only use 3/4 the block of velveeta. then again, maybe not. as my bro-in-law says, "you can never have too much cheese!" :)

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

Oh, Pinterest! How can I be so addicted to you? Probably because you help me find delicious meals to make as well as a million holiday/birthday/craft ideas that I will never get around to actually doing anything about. But, I digress... I found these little beauties and knew I had to have them! Matt and I thought they were pretty darn delicious, I'm sure we'll have them again before too long. Hopefully you'll like them too!

(This recipe and picture came from here.)

1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature

1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 green onion, finely sliced (white and green parts)

1/2 red or green pepper, diced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

juice of 1 lime

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

2 cups shredded cheese (I used a combination of monterey jack and sharp cheddar)

Sour cream (optional)

6 burrito-sized flour tortillas

**Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla.  I dotted the cheese with about 1-2 tablespoons of reduced fat sour cream before arranging chicken and rice mixture down the center – it made the wraps nice and creamy. Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open. Spray the tortillas all over with cooking spray.

**Heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for 1 minute. Arrange 2 wraps, seam-side down, in pan and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining wraps. 

Delish!

Mexican Lasagna (Chicken)

Hello out there! I just HAD to send this new recipe your way after trying it out last night. I got it from the Scrumptious Sister blog a while ago but haven't gotten around to making it. However, last night I made it for my family and it's totally worth passing on! One of us sisters has already posted a different Mexican Lasagna recipe but that one contains ground beef, but for chicken lovers like me this one's a winner!

(I even borrowed their picture from here)

Here's what you need:

Cooking Oil Spray

6 Corn Tortillas, cut into quarters {I used 4 flour and cut them into strips}
1 Large Egg
1/4 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
1 Cup Mild Chunky Salsa
1 lb Chicken Breast, cooked and shredded
4 oz Cream Cheese, half inch cubed
2 Tbsp Fresh Cilantro, chopped
3 Scallions chopped {I didn't use any}
1 Tsp Salt
2 Cups Mexican Cheese Blend (or a blend of Monterey Jack and Mild Cheddar), divided

**Preheat oven to 350 F°.
**Place the quartered tortillas on an oil sprayed baking sheet, then spray the tops with additional oil.
  **Bake for 5 minutes, remove and set aside.
  *In a large bowl, whisk one egg. Add the milk, sour cream, salsa, shredded chicken, cubed cream cheese, cilantro, scallions and salt. Stir to combine.

**Arrange half of the par-baked tortillas on the bottom of an oil sprayed 7×11 baking dish. Layer half the chicken mixture on top of the tortillas, then layer 1 cup of the cheese blend on top.

**Continue to layer the rest of the tortillas on top, followed by the remaining chicken mixture and cheese.
  **Bake uncovered for 35 minutes.

 SOOOOO yummy!