Taco Salad

This is a very cool and refreshing dinner in the summer time. Everyone probably already has their own variation on this. This is simply what I grew up having my mom make and I loved it. I think this is the reason I love Fritos so much. Anyway, this is a very basic and simple meal. See below for full recipe. Here's what you'll need:

Here is everything but the green onions, which I forgot to get at the store and the ground beef that I was already browning on the stove when this picture was taken. Oops.

Here's a tip I learned about slicing avocados. Cut it in half and slice it it while still in the shell and then just pop the slices out. Also, if you have a bigger knife you can whack the seed with it to pry it out. I'm realizing that both of those tips need to be followed by: Caution! Don't slice your hand open while doing so.

I decided I didn't need to post every picture. First, brown your meat and then basically, just put all the ingredients in the bowl, making sure to tear the lettuce. I use maybe 2 cups of cheese but you really can put however much of any of these things as you want.

 

Toss the mixture and then pour Italian Dressing over it until wet. Maybe like 1/3 cup? Depends how much you like the Italian Dressing flavor. I made the mistake of using the whole bottle once in my early days of cooking...

 

Serve with Fritos! (This is the best part of the meal, in my opinion :))

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
1 can Kidney Beans
1 can sliced olives
1-2 tomatoes, diced
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1-2 avocados, sliced
About 2 cups Mexican Mix (or other) Cheese
1 head lettuce, torn (I use romaine because it's better for you than iceberg but crispier than spinach)
About 1/3-1 cup Italian dressing (however much you want)
Fritos

1. Brown meat and rinse off fat.
2. Place browned meat, kidney beans, olives, tomatoes, green onions, avocados, cheese and lettuce in the bowl.
3. Toss mixture and then coat in Italian dressing until wet.
4. Serve over Fritos.

Chicken Divan

Ah, Chicken Divan... when I was little I must admit that I threw a little bit of a fit when mom said this was for dinner. I guess I had a picky palate-- at least when it came to broccoli. I hadn't eaten it for a few years when my sister made it once while I was in college. I was so surprised! How could I not have liked this? How can anyone not like something smothered in cream of chicken soup and mayo and topped with cheese? Needless to say, I've been converted to Chicken Divan. 

Before we start you'll want to boil or bake your chicken breasts (I generally use this method) and chop them into little 1" by 1" squares.

You can see the full recipe below. All right, here's what you'll need:

Spray the bottom of a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and spread our your broccoli as the bottom layer. There is no need to have previously thawed the broccoli, just put it in frozen.

As your second layer, spread your chopped chicken over the broccoli. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.

Now lets make the sauce! Combine all your cream of chicken soup, mayonnaise, curry powder and lemon juice in a medium bowl.

Spread that mixture over the chicken and broccoli.

Now, top it with your cheese. Mmmm, cheese.

Baked at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Voilà! This goes best served over rice!

Ingredients:

5 chicken breasts, thawed, cooked and chopped
2 (10 oz) or 1 large bag frozen broccoli
3 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp curry powder
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt
pepper
paprika
2 cups monterey jack cheese

1. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray and spread frozen broccoli on the bottom.
2. Cover broccoli with chopped chicken and sprinkle salt, pepper and paprika.
3. Combine soup, mayo, curry powder and lemon juice in a medium bowl.
4. Spread mixture over chicken and broccoli.
5. Top with cheese.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve over rice.

Tortilla Soup

This recipe is easy, easy, easy. Kudos to Bryan's mom for finding something so simple and delicious! You don't even use the stove top-- everything is done in the microwave! Well, I suppose you need to have cookedchicken so you might have to bake that or you can just use leftovers from a rotisserie! Bryan loves this and said, when I made it the other night, "I want to keep eating this forever!" I must say it is pretty delicious, especially with toppings. So first, get your chicken cooked and shredded or diced, your preference. I like mine shredded best. See below for full recipe.

I didn't take a picture of all the ingredients with the chicken but you can see that above. Other than that, here's what you'll need:

Mince your garlic and chop your onion and put them in a large microwave safe bowl. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the diced/shredded chicken, chicken broth, chili powder and tomato sauce and stir it all up together.

Microwave this for 10 minutes or until boiling.

Pile on the toppings and enjoy! Did I mention this was easy?

Ingredients:
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. chili powder
15 oz. can tomato sauce
2 cups cooked, diced or shredded chicken

Optional Toppings:
grated cheese (I used Mexican mix)*

sour cream*

crushed tortilla chips*

sliced black olives

green onions

avocado

guacamole

1. Chop onion and mic garlic. Place them in a large bowl and microwave for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth, tomato sauce, chili powder and chicken and microwave for 10 minutes or until boiling.
3. Use any of the above toppings, those marked with a * are recommended.

Cheesy Potatoes

Okay. Christmas came and threw me off my schedule and so I've had the pictures for this recipe sitting here on the computer for about a month... woops. I love these cheesy potatoes! My mom makes them for all our big holiday dinners: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. So good and so easy! See below for full recipe. Here's what you'll need:

Okay, first you need to melt your butter and then chop your green onions.

Then mix melted butter, soup, sour cream, cheese and green onions together.

Add the frozen hash browns to the cheesy mixture.

Place in a 9 x 13 pan. You will also need to process/smash your cornflake crumbs if you are using it from the cereal instead of buying the crumbs pre-processed. I have done it both ways. To smash, you can put the cornflakes in a big Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them to crumbs. I much prefer the food processor.

Pour the cornflake crumbs over the cheesy potatoes and then pour the 2 Tbsp. of melted butter over them.

Cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour. This is so cheesy and delicious!

Ingredients:

32 oz. bag of frozen shredded hash browns
1/2 C. melted butter
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1 pt. sour cream
1 1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 C. green onions, chopped
1 C. cornflake crumbs
2 Tbsp. melted butter

1. Mix 1/2 C. melted butter, soup, sour cream, cheese and green onions together.
2. Mix frozen potatoes in with this mixture.
3. Pour in to a 9 x 13".
4. Sprinkle cornflakes over top and then pour 2 Tbsp. butter over top of cornflakes.
5. Cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
6. Devour.

Smith Chicken Enchiladas

Remember that post, not too long ago where I mentioned that Bryan and I grew up with different enchilada recipes that we both loved? Well, here is the recipe that I grew up with! I know this recipe like the back of my hand, I've made it so many times.See below for full recipe. You'll need:

You can find green chilies in the Hispanic food aisle. Canned chicken must be drained before use. Mix only one can of the Cream of Chicken soup, both cans of chicken, sour cream and green chilies together.

I have a little trick to make it easier to roll corn tortillas without frying them. About five at a time, put them on a little plate with a damp paper towel over them and heat in the microwave for 15-30 seconds.

I fill and roll the tortillas as each batch of five comes out of the microwave so they don't harden again. Spoon about a tablespoon of the chicken mixture onto the tortilla and roll. You will probably use 13-16 tortillas, depending on how tightly packed each roll is.

Place tightly next to each other in 9 x 13 casserole dish. After filling all of them, there should still be chicken mixture left over. There will be a little corner that I usually split a tortilla in half and put half the amount of mixture in, as pictured above. 

Mix the remaining can of Cream of Chicken soup with the rest of the chicken mixture.

Spread across the rolled tortillas.

Use the whole bag of Mexican mix cheese and cover the the enchiladas. Chop your green onions and sprinkle them over the top as well and then sprinkle the sliced black olives (these are my favorite part!).

Ta da!

We usually cut them like squares rather than serving by enchiladas. Because of this, Bryan calls it "Enchilada Casserole."

Ingredients:

2 cans Cream of Chicken soup

8 oz. sour cream

1 sm. can green chilies

2 cans diced chicken

1 pkg. small corn tortillas

1 bag (2 cups)  Mexican mix cheese

1 bunch green onions

1 sm. can sliced black olives

1. Mix one can Cream of Chicken soup, both cans chicken, sour cream and green chilies in a medium to large bowl.
2. Soften tortillas using the above method or frying.
3. Spoon about a tablespoon of mixture into each tortilla and roll.
4. Place tortilla rolls side by side, tightly in 9 x 13 casserole dish.
5. Mix second can of Cream of Chicken soup with remaining mixture and spread over the tortillas.
6. Spread cheese over top, followed by chopped green onions and sliced black olives.
7. Cook at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Whitney Chicken Enchiladas

One thing Bryan and I had in common growing up was a love for chicken enchiladas. In both cases, it was our most requested meal-- especially for birthdays. I remember writing my favorite meal for something in elementary school and calling it, "Chicken Chiladas." However, our family had two different enchilada recipes that are different only a few ingredients and steps. This is the recipe Bryan grew up loving. True to form, he requested it for his birthday this year. One thing to note when reviewing these pictures is that I doubled the recipe for our dinner party. See the full recipe below. Here's what you'll need:

(These tortillas are very much not round because they are homemade.)

You may use canned chicken, rotisserie chicken or shredded chicken that has been baked. I baked mine and shredded them with a very handy tip I learned from Pinterest. Put your chicken in your KitchenAid with the paddle attachment and turn it on for 20-30 seconds. You will soon have perfectly shredded chicken! I would not have believed it had I not tried it. Anyway, add your green onions to the shredded chicken.

In a separate bowl, mix together sour cream, cream of chicken soup, green chilies and green taco sauce.

You may notice the green taco sauce is full here. I accidentally left that out for the filling process and added it later when I topped the enchiladas with the remaining sauce. As a result, your soup mixture may look more green than mine. It was still good, by the way. I usually buy my cheese in blocks and shred it myself so you can see I've done that already.

On each tortilla, put some chicken, cheese and a tablespoon or so of the soup mixture.

You can pack them tighter than this, I was filling up several casserole dishes and had extra space. Whether tight or loose, it still tastes just as good.

Top with remaining soup mixture and the rest of the cheese. I forgot to take a picture after it had cooked because I made it the night before and cooked it when I got home from work. Sorry! Just imagine the cheese all melted.

Make sure you cover this with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Ingredients:

10-12 lg. flour tortillas
About 1 C. shredded chicken
1/2 a bunch of green onions, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz . sour cream
1 can diced green chilies
1/2 a small bottle of green taco sauce
4 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
4 oz. monterey jack cheese, shredded

1. Combine shredded chicken and green onions.
2. Combine cream of chicken soup, sour cream, taco sauce and green chilies. Mix well.
3. On each tortilla place some chicken, cheese and a tablespoon of soup mixture.
4. Roll up and place side by side in a 9x13" casserole dish.
5. Pour leftover soup mixture over top.
6. Top with remaining cheese.
7. Cover with aluminum foil and cook at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.