Chipotle Chicken Wrap

4.5 stars

I agree with Jeannie about running a food blog. A lot of my e-mails start with "Hey, I have this recipe I want you to try..." these days. I really enjoy getting those e-mails too, so if you have something, send it my way!

Anther thing that happens is that everything new that I try at a restaurant I think "How could I make this at home?" or "What's in this?"

Well, this happened to me on Saturday when I was at Chili's with some friends for a birthday lunch. I ordered their new Santa Fe Chicken Wrap, and after my first bite I knew I would have to try this at home.

Something that I do that saves me time when I make meals like this is that I cook my chicken ahead of time. I'll thaw out more chicken than I'll need for a dish, cook it all up and then put some aside in the fridge for quick meals later in the week. It saves so much time!

Ingredients:

1 Pkg. Tortilla Wraps

1 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast

1 Avocado, diced

1 Tomato, diced

1 cup Mexican Shredded Cheese
1 ear of corn or 1 can of corn

1 1/2 cups Romaine Lettuce

2 T Mayonnaise

Chipotle Pepper Seasoning

Salt

Pepper

2 t. Olive Oil

Directions:

Lightly salt and pepper clean, dry chicken breast. Add olive oil to skillet. Over med/high heat, cook chicken breast until no longer pink and juices run clear. Place to the side to cool.

In a small bowl mix 2 T. mayonnaise with chipotle pepper seasoning. This seasoning is very spicy. I added a little at a time until I found the perfect taste for us. We like things on the spicy side, so I added about 1/8 t. for us.

Once chicken is cool, slice on a diagonal.

On one tortilla wrap place diced avocado, diced tomato, cheese, corn, and lettuce. Add chicken.

You can add the mayonnaise mixture to the inside of the wrap or use it on the side as a dip. I like it on the side so I can add or take away as I need it.

Roll the tortilla. Cut in the middle on a diagonal.

Enjoy!

Chipotle Chicken Wrap

Mexican Nacho Casserole

4.5 stars

A couple of things that happen when you start a food blog, one is you spend countless hours searching for appealing easy family recipes and the other thing that happens is your family and friends offer up their family favorites.
This casserole dish was given to me from a friend. My family loves Mexican food, so I was pretty sure they would like this dish. I should really consider making more casseroles. I just never think to make them. I know there are so many of them, Im pretty sure that I have a casserole cookbook too.

We really liked this dish, I did change a few things when making this. I decided not to add the can of soup, but rather I used chili pepper seasoning and add a bit of flour and milk to make it somewhat creamy. I also added some cumin spice as well. My kids loved all the Doritos in this dish too. OH the other thing I added was some corn. I was not all that happy about the nachos on the bottom, they seemed kinda mushy, but no one else said anything about it, so maybe it was just me.. This is why I gave this dish 4.5 stars. I will make this again for sure.

Here is the original recipe, you can decide to change it up like I did.


Ingredients:

• 1 12 oz bag of Doritos
• 1 medium to large onion chopped
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 2 can Rotel tomatoes
• 2lbs ground beef
• 1 bag of shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef with onion and drain, add the rotel tomatoes, can of chicken soup to the beef slowly cook while preparing chips.
2. Crush chips in the bag and cover the bottom of casserole dish with chips.Save some chips for topping. Pour meat mixture over chips and top with cheese and more chips. Bake at 350 for 30minutes.
3. You can substitute ground beef with chicken.

Mexican Nacho Casserole

Monkey Bread with Apples

5-stars

I think the best part about this dessert was the bits of apples.. They were so yummy and I should have put more than I did.  I will be sure to make this again, very easy and yummy!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 (12 ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits, separated and cut into quarters
• 3 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 cup packed brown sugar

 Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a tube pan.
2. Combine the sugar and cinnamon together in a large sealable plastic bag; add the biscuit dough in batches of 6 to 8 pieces and shake to coat. Alternate layers of the chopped apple and the coated dough pieces in the prepared pan.
3. Melt the margarine in a small saucepan over medium heat; stir the brown sugar into the melted margarine. Bring to a boil; cook at a boil for 1 minute, remove from heat, and pour over the apple and biscuit layers.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until cooked through, about 35 minutes. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a plate to serve.

Monkey Bread with Apples

Nice Healthy Snack - Roasted Cauliflower

5-stars

Glad I only made one head of this.. I would of ate it all by myself.. well I did eat it all by myself, but 2 heads would of been a bit much.  I really like grilled or roasted veggies a lot.  Cauliflower is no exception.   This recipe is super easy and you can use this basic recipe for roasting or grilling other veggies as well.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large head cauliflower, separated into florets
• salt and black pepper to taste

 Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F Grease a large casserole dish or a cookie sheet. I used non-stick foil.
2. Place the olive oil and garlic in a large resealable bag. Add cauliflower, and shake to mix. Pour into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through. broil for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown.

Nice Healthy Snack - Roasted Cauliflower

Japanese Zucchini and Onions

5 stars

Just like at the Japanese Steak house.. Yum yum! I actually made 4 Asian/Japanese type dishes to go along with this, but they ended up being so much prep work and cooking them all at once was a bit of work, so getting photos of everything didn't happen.. LOL  I ended up making this recipe, plus Terriyaki Chicken, Shrimp, Fried Rice and Soy/Ginger Noodles.. Everything was fantastic..

 Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 medium zucchinis, cut into thin strips
• 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• ground black pepper

 Directions:

1. Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, and cook 5 minutes. Add zucchini, and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Stir in teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and sesame seeds. Cook until zucchini are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in ground pepper, and serve immediately.

Japanese Zucchini and Onions

Bran Flax Muffins

4.5 Stars

I am forever on the hunt for healthy snacks for my kids. I would rather make them something than pull something out of a box, but some days I just don't have time. That is when I started looking for muffin recipes. I thought muffins could be made ahead of time and pulled out when needed.

I found these on Allrecipes and didn't have high hopes for them. I mean, they got good reviews, but would my kids like them? Would they taste like cardboard with all that flaxseed? I decided to give it a try and I figured my husband and I could eat them if the kids didn't like them.

They are amazing! I mean, so good. Moist, great flavor, and fairly dense, so not little crumbs all over the place.

They didn't get 5 stars because it took a lot of prep. work. So, you may want to make these during nap time or after the kids are in bed.

Ingredients

3/4 c. all purpose flour

3/4 c. all wheat flour

3/4 c. oat bran

3/4 c. ground flaxseed

1 c. brown sugar

2 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

2 t. ground cinnamon

3/4 c. skim milk (I used 2%)

2 eggs, beaten

1 t. vanilla

2 T. vegetable oil

2 c. shredded carrots (I did the smallest shred on mine)

2 apples, peeled, cored, and shredded (I used the largest shred on mine)

1/2 c. raisins (I forgot these and mine were still fine)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Mix flour, flax, oat bran, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add the milk, eggs, vanilla, and oil. Mix just until blended.

2. Stir in carrots, apples, and raisins.

3. Lightly grease muffin cups. Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full w/ batter.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. I had to cook mine for close to 25 minutes before they were done, so make sure you check these before turning the oven off.

Enjoy!

Bran Flax Muffins

Sugar Biscuits

4 Stars

We love strawberries in this house! Now that spring is around the corner and strawberries are on sale 3 for $5, I knew it was time to make my sugar biscuits. They have a slightly sweet taste, but still taste like a biscuit.

I found this recipe last year around this time, but I can't seem to find it again. It is not my original recipe, so if you find it on the web, let me know and I'll post a link.

The reason these get 4 stars is that they must be eaten the same day they are made. They do not last over night.

Ingredients:
2 c. flour
3 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. butter
1/3 t. baking soda
1 c. buttermilk
1 well beaten egg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

1. Stir flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/3 c. sugar. Work butter into the flour mixture with fingers (like making a pie crust).

2. Mix baking soda with buttermilk (I just add the baking soda to the buttermilk in the measuring cup.). Add buttermilk and egg to flour mixture. Blend LIGHTLY.

3. Place dough on floured surface and knead lightly. Dough will be crumbly at first, be careful not to over knead.

4. Roll dough 3/4 inch think. Cut into rounds and place on well greased baking sheet.

5. Brush tops with butter and sprinkle lightly with sugar.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes. My oven takes exactly 10 minutes.

To make my strawberry shortcake I butter the inside of the biscuits lightly, add crushed and chopped strawberries, top with whipped cream, and add the other side of the biscuits. So good!!

Enjoy!

Sugar Biscuits

Chicken Fried Steak Fingers

5 stars

My family really loves chicken fried steak, but it was fun to do this little twist to this meal. These are very yummy and even the kids like them, of course not with gravy, they like theirs with ketchup, just like with everything they eat.  LOL

Oh Also, my son (age 14 soon to be 15) is the one that made this dinner for our family! With my supervision of course.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 pound cube steak, cut into thin strips
• oil for frying enough to cover steak fingers 1/2 way

Directions:

1. In a shallow bowl, combine egg and milk. In another shallow bowl, combine flour and seasonings. Dip beef in egg mixture, then in flour mixture. Dip again in egg mixture and coat with flour mixture. Let stand for 2 minutes.
2. In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Place a few pieces of meat in the skillet at a time. Fry until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Ok, you probably need the recipe to make the white pepper gravy too.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups milk
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. In a stock pot, over medium high heat, bring to boil 3 cups of milk.
2. Reduce heat to medium heat.
3. In a large measuring cup or bowl, add 1 cup of cold milk and the flour, wisk until there is no lumps.
4. Pour your flour mixture into boiling milk, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and bubbly and to desired consistency. Add salt and pepper. 

 

Chicken Fried Steak Fingers

Two-Tators Shephards Pie

5 stars

We love shepherd's pie, but but I wanted to find something just a bit different to do with this dish.  I think I found it.. It had great flavor, which sometimes this dish is a bit bland for me.  I used cream of chicken soup, because my family does not like mushrooms.. but I prefer the cream of mushroom soup, but any cream soup will work in this dish. Also any veggies will work as well and I only use frozen.. they taste so much better. This time I used a Mexican seasoned frozen veggie mix and it gave everything a great flavor.  Feel free to mix it up. But most often we use green beans.  Oh and any cheeses are fine too, I used mozzarella tonight, but usually I use mild cheddar.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream soup (chicken or mushroom)
• 4 cloves garlic
• salt/pepper to taste
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 6 cups frozen Tater Tots (or enough to make one layer on the bottom of dish
• 2 cups frozen veggies thawed
• 3 cups Hot mashed potatoes (real or box is fine)
• 1 cup shredded cheese

 Directions:

1. In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink add garlic and onion; drain. 
2. Stir in soup, salt and pepper. 
3. Place Tater Tots in a greased baking dish. 
4. Top with beef mixture and veggies. 
5. Spread mashed potatoes over the top. 
6. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until heated through. 
7. When there is about 20 minutes left sprinkle top with cheese.

Two-Tators Shephards Pie

Butternut Squash Fries (baked)

s5 stars

These are so yummy! I love homemade fries from potatoes, sweet potatoes.. so thought I should try this too.. I was asked the other day if I had any butternut squash recipes.. and come to think of it,, nope I didnt.. so I wanted to try this one.. If you have a favorite recipe with butternut squash.. Send them to realmomscooking@gmail.com I would love to try them out.

Oh and did I say, these are super easy to make.. the only thing that I recommend is having a very sharp knife to cut these with.. thank goodness i have sharp knives now.

Ingredients:

• 1 (2 pound) butternut squash, halved and seeded cut into shapes of fries
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 gallon size zip lock bag
• salt to taste

 Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Use a sharp knife to carefully cut away the peel from the squash or use a super sharp potato peeler. Cut the squash into sticks like French fries. Put olive oil, your squash sticks and salt into bag and shake making sure each are coated with olive oil. Arrange squash pieces on a baking sheet.
3. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes in the preheated oven, turning the fries over halfway through baking. Fries are done when they are starting to brown on the edges and become crispy.

Butternut Squash Fries (baked)

Frosted Sugar Cookies

4 stars

These sugar cookies are super soft, just like the ones at the stores.  They are not your super sweet ones that you eat at xmas time. (which are my favorite) So that is really the reason for only 4 stars. Like I said these are like the ones you buy at the stores, which the cookie part is super soft and not all that sweet, piled high with frosting.

On some I used chocolate frosting from the container.. LOL and the others I made frosting, but didn't have butter so had to make the old fashion shortening frosting.  So I will give ingredients for that frosting as well at the end. I also flavored my frosting and I usually go for strawberry or something, but did this one in banana..

Cookie Ingredient:

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 tbs water
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cookie Directions: 

1. Cream the margarine, shortening, water and add the sugar gradually. Beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition.
2. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt gradually to the creamed mixture. Cover and chill dough overnight or for 1 1/2 hours in freezer.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or non-stick foil.
4. Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick and cut into your favorite shapes. Place cookies onto the prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 6 to 8 minutes or until cookie has a golden appearance. 

 

 

 

Frosting Ingredients:

• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 5 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• other flavoring like strawberry
• food coloring

 Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla and other flavor with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired.

Frosted Sugar Cookies

Oven Fried Chicken Joint Recipe

Well as you all know, and if you don't, this blog is the work of two moms.  We separately try out new recipes and post about them.  Well every now and then, (maybe once a month, but dont hold us to that) we will pick a recipe and both of us will make it and then post about it together in one post. How fun is that?  We wanted to do this well over a month ago, but we were waiting for my oven to get fixed, then we just too busy to post about it.

Jeannies review- 5 stars

I will be making this again for sure. My family all really loved this chicken and I liked that it was crispy like fried, but baked for a healthy alternative.  The only thing that I didnt like was the saltine cracker flavor. I loved the spicy-ness of it and also liked the corn flakes. I think maybe a seasoned cracker next time or none at all.  We also had a friend over that night and he got the opportunity to eat this as well and he really loved it and ate more than any of us.  LOL  I made it exactly as the recipe called for.  It was fairly easy to make as well, which was really nice.

Andrea's Review-4 Stars

We didn't like this one as much as Jeannie family.  We also thought the the Saltine taste was very overwhelming for the other ingredients.

I cut my chicken breasts into small pieces so they were more like nuggets.  The kids really liked this about the recipe as they love chicken nuggets. They were very crispy, but I just couldn't get past the saltine flavor. I like Jeannie's idea of adding a spiced cracker instead, and I will try that next time.  I also thought adding crushed almonds would add an extra layer of taste and crunch.

Oven Fried chicken

Ingredients:

• 1/2 sleeve (about 20) whole-grain salted crackers, pulsed in a food processor until fine (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 1/2 cups corn cereal flakes, pulsed in a food processor to fine crumbs (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup lowfat, plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Olive oil cooking spray
• 4 medium sized skinless chicken breasts and 4 skinless chicken thighs, rinsed and patted dry (about 3 1/2 pounds chicken)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly spray a baking sheet with olive oil.
2. Combine the crackers and corn cereal crumbs, sesame seeds, cayenne, and garlic powder in a shallow bowl. Reserve.
3. In a large bowl, combine egg whites, yogurt, Dijon mustard, and salt. Add the chicken pieces and coat thoroughly with the yogurt mixture.
4. One at a time, dip the chicken pieces in the cracker mixture, packing crumbs onto chicken. Arrange the chicken on a baking sheet and spray lightly with olive oil cooking spray.
5. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife.

Oven Fried Chicken Joint Recipe

Spinach and Chicken Tortellini Salad

5 stars

It was hard coming up with a name for this salad, as it has so many other things in this salad that could be in the title, like artichokes and red peppers or even the pesto.  But alas.. this is the name I came up with. Kinda boring compared to the flavor for this recipe.
My mom first made this salad a few years back and I or we make this on special occasions.  Not for holidays or anything like that, but when we get together or family is from out of town type occasions.  I also love to serve this with a baquette.. I could have baquette with anything really, but goes perfect with this salad.

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless breast chicken
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 can baby artichoke hearts cut in half
• 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes cut in halves or sliced
• 1 bag baby spinach rinsed/cleaned
• 1 family size cheese tortellini cooked (I use the tri-colored ones)
• 2 tbs Classico green pesto 

Directions

1. I start with heating olive oil in a pan and cutting up my chicken breast into chunks. Small enough bite size pieces.  I add to the hot pan and then add my cut up garlic. Let his cook on med heat until done. Cool just a bit.
2. In a bowl add you cleaned well drained spinach.  Add you cut up tomatoes (another alternative that is tasty is adding about 2 tbs of cut up roasted tomatoes from the jar) Add your drained artichokes.
3. Cut up your red and yellow peppers, drizzle with olive oil, and add salt and pepper.  Put in oven with your broil on hi. check it often, as they can burn fast, but about 5-7 minutes they are done. Add to your bowl of spinach. 
4. Add the cooked chicken and the pesto and stir until the pesto has coated everything.
5. Add your cooled tortellini to the bowl and stir a few more times.
6. Serve and enjoy!
7. 
   

Spinach and Chicken Tortellini Salad

Sugar Cookie Icing

4.5 Stars

I've been searching for an easy icing for sugar cookies for a while now. I was so excited to find this recipe on Blonde Invitations and Designs blog. I love all of their work, and knowing that they both used to work for Martha Stewart makes me trust them all the more!

Since St. Patrick's day is right around the corner, my daughter and I made some sugar cookies. I will admit that these are Semi-Homemade. When baking with my daughter who is almost 4, things need to be quick. So, I use the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix that comes in a bag. Judge me if you wish, but once you try these, you won't turn back. :)

Now, about the frosting. This was my first time making it and it is super easy.

Ingredients:

2 T. softened butter

4 c. powdered sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

Milk to thin

Mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Use milk to thin to spreading consistency.

That's it! Crazy, right?!

To make it the green color, I used food coloring gel made by Wilton. I found my at Jo-Ann Fabric for around $5. I mixed the yellow and blue in a bowl until I found the color I wanted and then added it to the frosting.

To ice the cookies I used two different methods. The first I'll call the "neat" method. I took a butter knife and very gently spread the icing on each cookie.

The second method is the "sloppy" method. First I dipped the cookie in the icing.

Then I took a butter knife and took off the excess. I then placed them on a cooling rack to drip any excess icing off the cookie.

(Notice the bite missing? :) )

The cookies must set out until the icing hardens before you stack, so make sure you have someplace to let them dry.

Enjoy!

Sugar Cookie Icing

Suffering Succotash Steak

5 stars

I have been making this dish for my family for years.  I have used rice instead of egg noodles, but lately we like the noodles instead.  I have used all sorts of canned tomatoes as well and I really like the Mexican stewed tomatoes, but sometimes you can not find them.  So we just use Italian or the pepper and onion ones.   Its a good hearty meal and we never have left overs after I make this either.

Suffering Succotash Steak

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef cube steak (3-4 steaks)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 bell peppers chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 (14.5 ounce) can canned diced or stewed tomatoes (mexican flavor is great)
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• dash of red pepper optional
• salt/pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• cooked white rice or cooked egg noodles

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and brown the cube steak. Reduce heat to med, and add garlic and onion. Cook for about 5 minutes then add bell pepper. Cook for another 5-10 minutes. Cover, and simmer at least 30 minutes, stirring ocassionaly.
2. Serve over a bed or rice or egg noodles. I also like to boil my egg noodles in a beef flavored water, using about 2-3 beef cubes.

Suffering Succotash Steak