Smothered Chicken Queso Casserole

I'm always looking for something different to make for my boys. We have a lot of recipes that are similar, and I tend to be afraid to jump out of my box (very far, at least) for dinner. However, this combines things that Nate & the boys all like-- chicken, taco seasoning, salsa, rice... Salsa in a main dish, however, is why this is out of my box. I am not a big salsa fan, but the boys loved this!

(However, this does make a lot-- too much for my boys, they tired of it quickly. I will definitely only make a 1/2 batch next time!)

The picture is questionable, but it is much tastier than it looks! I'm just not much of a photographer. ;)

Remember, comments are loved! What's your favorite out-of-the-box dish?

Printable Recipe

Smothered Chicken Queso Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil 
• 1-2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise 
• 1 tablespoon taco seasoning, divided
• 15 ounces salsa 
• ½ cup heavy whipping cream
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 medium red/orange/green bell pepper, seeded, chopped 
• 2 ½ cups cooked white rice
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend 
• Chopped tomatoes and chopped fresh cilantro, if desired

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 13”x9” baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Sprinkle ½ tablespoon taco seasoning over chicken, then cook for 6-8 minutes. Turn once, cooking til golden brown on both sides.
3. In large bowl, stir together salsa, whipping cream, milk, and pepper. Reserve approximately ¾ cup of the sauce mixture; set aside. Stir rice into remaining sauce mixture.
4. Place rice mixture in casserole; top with chicken. Top with reserved sauce mixture, then shredded cheese. 
5. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes; uncover and bake 10 to 15 minutes longer or until sauce bubbles and juice of chicken is clear when cut.
6. Cool for 10 minutes, then garnish as desired.

Yield/Time

6 servings

1 hour

Nutrition Facts *I calculate nutrition facts for reference only, this is not done scientifically

323-371, depending on amount of chicken

Source (for original): Betty Crocker

A Favorite Entree: Cheesy Chicken & Tortillas!

I am one of those people who finds a recipe they really like, then makes it over & over in a short period of time. Much to the annoyance of my husband, who wants things changed up regularly. To compromise, when I have a current favorite dinner, I only put it on the menu about once a month. That's enough that I feel like I am not going through withdrawal, and Nathan will tolerate eating it.

This is one of those recipes! When I first found this, I made it every week or so. Nathan was so incredibly sick of it after a few weeks that he would eat every other leftover in the fridge before he would finish this off. (And by then, I had usually finished it!) Since then, it's been relegated to every month or so. I always get excited when I realize it's been awhile since I made it, as that means I can make it again!

 I love the combination of flavors in taco seasoning, so I get excited when I see a recipe calling for it that's completely different from others I've tried. With this recipe, you can really vary the amount of seasoning to make it as spicy as you want. (Another benefit of making homemade taco seasoning-easy to vary the seasoning without wasting part of a packet of the store-bought stuff.) With Gabriel, I cut down on the spiciness, but it's all personal preference. 

I think that my favorite thing about this recipe is the tortillas being mixed in with everything-- it adds a fun texture/flavor!

 

Cheesy Chicken & Tortillas

Ingredients

• ½ pound cooked chicken, shredded
• 1-2 tablespoons taco seasoning
• 1 ¼ cups chicken broth
• 26 ounces Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (1 large can-if you want to sub with 2 small cans, increase the chicken broth to 1 3/4 cup)
• 20 taco-size flour tortillas, torn or cut into 1” pieces
• 4 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
• Hot cooked regular long-grain white rice (I usually cook 3 cups raw)

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350°.
2. Mix ½ of taco seasoning with chicken. Add remaining taco seasoning, broth, and soup.
3. Layer half of the chicken mixture, tortillas, and cheese in a 3-quart shallow baking dish. Repeat the layer. (When layering tortillas, be careful not to layer them too thick.)
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until the mixture is hot and bubbling. Serve over rice.

Yield/Time

Approx 10 servings

Prep: 15 minutes Bake: 30 minutes

Nutrition Facts

½ cup + ¼ cup rice = 379 cals

Source (for original): Recipe.com

Chimi Changas

Since I have been absolutely atrocious about taking pictures of my recipes recently, I decided to just post a recipe from last month's menu plan. I have made a ton of yummy things recently, and haven't even managed to take a picture of one, which annoys me immensely.  

That sounds like I'm teasing you, doesn't it? Sorry! Don't worry, most of the things that I have made recently are things I will be making again in the near future -as in, before the holidays I hope- so they will be posted soon enough.

To make up for the teasing, and because I want to ensure that my coworkers continue to love me and think I'm amazing, I will be posting a FANTASTIC brownie recipe tomorrow morning. Assuming it turns out tonight, of course, but I have no reason to think that it won't. (Knock on wood!)

So, without further ado, here's a wonderful idea for dinner!

When I am hunting around for things to add to my menu plan, I like to try things that are a new variation on an old favorite. I had thought about doing a variation of tacos in the oven before, but never got around to it. When I saw this recipes for chimi changas, I decided it was past time to try it!

We all loved these! A fun, different way to eat tacos, the tortillas were warm & crispy, and it was incredibly easy.  

My only complaint is how long it takes to bake. I'm used to having tacos on the table FAST. This? Not-so-fast. 30 minutes in the oven is 30 minutes that my stomach is saying "Wait, I thought we were having tacos? Do they normally take this long?" Even condsidering that, these are definitely something I will be making again! 

(See below the recipe for more comments.) 

Edited 8/16: these freeze great! The edges of the tortilla are a bit stiff, but I love to freeze a few and then have an easy lunch to take to work.

Chimi Changas

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese    
• 8 ounces colby jack or Mexican blend cheese, shredded
• 1 pound ground beef    
• 1 ½ tablespoons taco seasoning
• ¾ cup water    
• 12 flour tortillas (6”)
• Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)    
• sour cream (optional)
• lettuce (optional)    
• salsa (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a large pan over medium heat, brown beef. Add taco seasoning and water, cook until most of the water is gone.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together cream cheese and colby jack. Once meat is cooked, add to cheese mixture; stir to combine. 
4. Divide among tortillas. Tuck in sides (to make a square) and place seam-side down on a greased baking sheet. Spray tops of tortillas with cooking spray. 
5. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip, then bake an additional 15 minutes.
6. Serve with cheddar cheese, sour cream, salsa, or lettuce, as desired.

Yield/Time

12 servings

45 minutes

Nutrition Facts

273/tortilla (without additional toppings)

Source (for original): My Fridge Food

I cut the recipe in half for our family of 3, and we still had leftovers. 

The only thing I will do differently for next time is the number of tortillas: these things were stuffed. I would cut the recipe in half or thirds, and use a couple more tortillas than it calls for to make them slightly smaller. That's just personal preference, though.

Remember, comments are love! 

Taco Seasoning, and more thoughts on convenience foods...

Today you can get basically anything as a convenience food. Many food advertisers are directing things at busy moms, working moms, businessmen on the go, etc. "Get dinner on the table in 5 minutes!" "Just add milk!" etc. They even (sometimes) advertise these products as healthy for you.

Then, there is the opposite end of the spectrum--especially when you are looking for recipes online. Many bloggers seem to advocate making everything from scratch-and I mean everything. From bread, applesauce, cream-of-soups, ricotta cheese, peanut butter, marshmallows....

Given that I am posting about making taco seasoning from scratch, you may think I am at the opposite end of the spectrum. And that's true--kinda. I think it's (in general) healthier to make some things from scratch. I've already posted about my lack-of-love for pre-packaged foods. It may have something to do with my mama, who generally doesn't buy foods like that. However, it's simply not practical to make everything from scratch, especially in a home where both parents are working. I work 4 days a week, and I do a lot of my prep/mealmaking beforehand, but there are times when I don't. If I get home from work and there are no leftovers and nothing prepped, I just want to get a meal on the table as fast as possible. (Well, Gabriel wants a meal on the table as fast as possible. I can usually wait; him not so much.) Sometimes those convenience foods really make my life a lot easier (and my boy a lot happier!). 

Sometimes it's fun to make things from scratch that you can get -easier & probably cheaper- prepared at the store. For example, oatmeal cream pies. (And yes, I've done that. It was fun!) And cheez-its. (Again, fun! But so time-consuming!!) It's just not practical to do it all the time.

Then, there are things that are easy, cheaper, and healthier than the storebought! For us, taco seasoning is one of those. When I was doing a not-so-great job at mealplanning, it seemed like we never had it when I wanted it. And, while it's not really expensive, the spices in taco seasoning are all things that I have on hand regularly. (Unlike nutmeg, which I apparently am destined to always run out of...) On top of that, you can change it up to suit your needs. Lower the salt, make it spicier, make it less spicy, etc. 

 See below the recipe for comments on it...

Taco Seasoning

Ingredients

• ¼ cup chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons paprika (I hate paprika, so I never have it on hand. So, I sub with cayenne pepper.)
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 4 teaspoons sea salt (decrease as desired! I usually don't add this much, but I also don't usually measure it.)
• 4 teaspoons black pepper

Directions

• In a jar or small container add all the ingredients together and stir or shake until combined. (See how complicated this is? It's amazing I can handle a recipe with this many instructions.)

Yield/Time

5 minutes

Source (for original): What’s That Smell

For tacos, brown one pound beef then add 2 tablespoons taco seasoning. Simmer with ½ – 1 cup of water until most of the water has absorbed, or to your desired consistency.

Note on the amount of taco seasoning to add: 2 tablespoons makes the tacos fairly spicy, especially if you sub out the paprika for cayenne. I can't get away with that for Gabriel; I usually decrease it to 1 to 1 1/2. 

I usually double or triple this when I make it; it stores well and then I don't have to worry that I don't have enough right when I'm ready to add taco seasoning to something.


What about you? What convenience foods do you do from scratch, and what do you think is worth buying at the store?  

Taco Helper....and my lack of love for pre-packaged meals

As a general rule, I don't like to buy pre-packaged meals for us. They 1) are expensive, and 2) have a ridiculously high salt content. Tuna helper is something I buy on occasion for Nate, but I won't eat most of those things. (OK, I will confess to buying pasta roni when it's on sale sometimes. Hush, it's a comfort food when I am hungry, I'm the only one eating, and I don't want to mess with making a real meal.) However, I like the idea of most of them. Creamy pasta/rice & meat, lots of flavors, only one or two dishes.... sounds good. 

I like to do pasta with a cream-of soup (speaking of ridiculously high salt contents....), ground beef, and some cheese & seasonings, but I was intrigued when I saw a recipe for homemade taco helper on one of the blogs I read regularly. At Lynn's Kitchen Adventures, she has a lot of down-to-earth recipes--and, if you are gluten-free, she has a lot of that too! I've never made the boxed kind, but I love tacos, so I thought it was worth a shot!  

(See below recipe for comments on the recipe itself...)

(Yes, my camera was still MIA when I made this. However, this was a few days ago, and YAY! I found my camera! It was hiding....)

 

Taco Helper

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• ¾ - 1 ½ cups water
• 1 ¾ cup milk
• 8 ounces tomato sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons taco seasoning (or one packet of the storebought kind)
• 3 cups uncooked penne or macaroni noodles
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. In a large sauce pan, brown the ground beef. Drain any fat from the meat. Add ¾ cup water, milk, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning to the meat and bring to a boil. Add the pasta.
2. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 17-20 minutes. Test at 17 minutes to see if the pasta is done. If pasta is not done, cook a few minutes longer.
3. During cooking, if liquid simmers too low add up to another 3/4 cup water.
4. When the pasta is tender and done, stir in shredded cheese and sour cream.
5. Let sit 5- 10 minutes before serving and it will thicken more.

Yield/Time

30 minutes

Source (for original): Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures 

I think I would add more sour cream next time, because it wasn't quite a creamy as I was anticipating. It was great, the flavor was awesome, but I was expecting more creaminess.

Also, as I am posting this, I realize that I have yet to post my recipe for taco seasoning. (Does it count as a recipe if you are just mixing a bunch of spices together?) Stay tuned, I think that will have to be next....