Chicken Taco Soup

Colleen's take: "This is one of my favorite dump and go crock pot recipes, I make it every couple of weeks because it cooks up beautifully and full of mexican flavor as well as plenty of delicious leftovers for us to eat for lunch the next few days. I've also substituted a pork loin to this instead of chicken. It's got so many ingredients that you could exclude the meat making it vegetarian, I haven't tried that yet, let me know if you do! This meal is great for the pocket book too, it costs us around $1.25 a serving!" 

Ingredients: 

1 onion, chopped
1 (16 ounce) can chili beans
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer (or broth)
2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
shredded Cheddar cheese (optional garnish after cooking)
sour cream (optional garnish after cooking)
crushed tortilla chips (optional garnish after cooking)

Directions: 

Combine all ingredients into a Ziploc bag. Freeze for later if you want a quick make ahead meal. Thaw and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken in crock pot once cooking is done (I usually take it out to shred). Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired. Served approx. 5-6 people. (I usually get 7-8 servings)

20-Minute Chicken Enchiladas

Colleen's take: "I clipped this Chicken Enchiladas Recipe out of my Cooking Light magazine and it's a good make ahead meal. I've made it earlier in the day, refrigerated it, then just popped it in the oven when it's time for dinner. I've followed the enchilada sauce recipe and i've used canned enchilada sauce, I couldn't really tell a huge difference between the two, so in lue of my laziness problem I choose the canned version. I'd suggest trying this one out, it's tasty and fast."

• 
  
• Ingredients: 
• 1 cup prechopped onion
• 1 cup unsalted chicken stock (such as Swanson)
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 (15-ounce) can unsalted tomato sauce
• 3 cups shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast (about 15 ounces)
• 1 (15-ounce) can unsalted black beans, rinsed and drained
• 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• Cooking spray
• 3 ounces preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 6 tablespoons sour cream
• 
  
• Preperation:
• 1. Preheat broiler to high.
  2. Combine first 9 ingredients in a medium saucepan; stir with a whisk. Bring to a boil over high heat; cook 2 minutes or until thickened. Reserve 1 1/2 cups sauce mixture. Add chicken and beans to pan; cook 2 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly heated.
  3. Stack tortillas; wrap stack in damp paper towels and microwave at HIGH for 25 seconds. Spoon about 1/3 cup chicken mixture in center of each tortilla; roll up. Arrange tortillas, seam sides down, in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with reserved sauce and cheese. Broil 3 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned and sauce is bubbly. Top with tomato and cilantro. Serve with sour cream.
  
  

  

  
  

Rice & Bean Enchiladas w/Creamy Tomatillo Sauce

Colleen's Take: "We all saw Annah make this recipe on October 1st, here's my take. This was one calorie filled meal that was DE-LIC-IOUS!! This is the kind of meal where you don't miss meat not to mention feeling like I was eating at a mexican restaurant. I strongly recommend cooking this one up." 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup long-grain white rice
• salt
• 1 15 ounce can  pinto beans, drained
• 1 2/3 cups shredded monterey jack
• 2 scallions, sliced
• 1 3 ounce package  cream cheese, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 2/3 cups jarred salsa verde
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnishing
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 8 6 1/2 inches corn tortillas

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water, the rice and 12 tsp. salt to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to low, cover and cook until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a medium bowl to cool slightly. Add the beans, 1 cup Monterey jack, the scallions and cream cheese; stir gently.
2. Meanwhile, using a blender or food processor, blend the salsa verde, cream and 12 cup cilantro until smooth.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees . In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Using tongs, carefully place 1 tortilla at a time into the hot oil and fry, turning once, until softened, 5 to 10 seconds per side. Transfer to paper-towel-lined plates to drain.
4. Mound 1/2 cup of the filling down the center of each tortilla. Roll up tightly, then place seam side down in a 7-by-11-inch glass baking dish. Pour the sauce over the top and sprinkle with the remaining 1/3 cup Monterey jack. Bake until bubbly, about20 minutes. Top with more cilantro.

Rice and Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Tomatillo Sauce {Annah}

  
  Alright here is another Rachael Ray recipe that was a success! It has a kick of heat so if you don't like that then you should probably skip this recipe. I have not used tomatillo sauce before, but we liked the flavor of it. I didn't realize that it is more spicy then a medium red salsa.
  I make a bean and cheese enchilada with red sauce but, we liked this more because it had more complex flavors. This dish was good as left overs a few days later. My only complaint was that there was a little more clean up then I like. I had to wash the food processor, pot, skillet, bowl, and the casserole dish. Overall this is a great recipe that I would be proud to make for guest. It is going on the make once a month list!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup long-grain white rice
• salt
• 1 15 ounce can  pinto beans, drained
• 1 2/3 cups shredded monterey jack
• 2 scallions, sliced
• 1 3 ounce package  cream cheese, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 2/3 cups jarred salsa verde
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnishing
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 8 6 1/2 inches corn tortillas

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water, the rice and 12 tsp. salt to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to low, cover and cook until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a medium bowl to cool slightly. Add the beans, 1 cup Monterey jack, the scallions and cream cheese; stir gently.
2. Meanwhile, using a blender or food processor, blend the salsa verde, cream and 12 cup cilantro until smooth.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees . In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Using tongs, carefully place 1 tortilla at a time into the hot oil and fry, turning once, until softened, 5 to 10 seconds per side. Transfer to paper-towel-lined plates to drain.
4. Mound 12 cup of the filling down the center of each tortilla. Roll up tightly, then place seam side down in a 7-by-11-inch glass baking dish. Pour the sauce over the top and sprinkle with the remaining 1/3 cup Monterey jack. Bake until bubbly, about20 minutes. Top with more cilantro.

Original recipe from Rachael Ray Magazine

Vegetable Tamale Pies take 2 {Annah}

If you remember Colleen posted this recipe for Vegetable Tamale Pies a few months ago. After planning to make this for a couple months and throwing away about 3 bunches of cilantro I finally made the dish! Sadly I think this was the first and last time I will be make this recipe.

If planned ahead and done in multiple steps this might not have been so horrible. Lets start with the beans. I took Colleen's suggestion and I bought dried pinto beans. I have cooked dried garbanzo beans, and they were simple and cooked easily. I must have been off my game because after 3 hours of simmering on the stove the pinto beans were still not cooked! Needless to say I pulled the beans off the stove too soon (it was 9 pm at this point), and beans had a crunch to them.

Next was the making of the polenta. Now this was not a hard task boil water and put corn meal in it. I forgot about the water boiling, so when I remembered it was at a rolling boil. I whisked in the corn meal and within a minute it started to bubble and burp all over the place. It was all over the stove which was bad, but then the scolding hot mess was getting on my hands. Let me tell you boiling corn meal burns bad when it touches the skin. Now you might be thinking why did she not turn the stove down, well I did, but it was so hot that even at a simmer it was burping enough to get on my hands. For the next 20 minutes I wore an oven mitt on my hand while I whisked the stupid polenta!

I assembled and was so mad at the recipe that I did not cook it in the oven for about 6 days. Once it was baked up and we tried it we were not impressed. Yes it was a change from enchiladas that I make, but the flavors were not causing fireworks in my mouth. I will admit I was holding a grudge so this had to be melt in your mouth good for me to forget the 4 hours of prep time.

I challenge all of you to make this recipe and prove me wrong and side with Colleen, because it sounds like her family absolutely loves this dish. I did say I am looking for guest post. Be gutsy enough to make this recipe so we can do our first ever "Take 3"!

I am going to add the directions for making the polenta to this post so you do not have to go looking for it.

 

Basic Polenta
 
Inspired by Jack Bishop in The Complete 
Italian Vegetarian Cookbook
About 4 servings

What You Need

One cup corn meal
1 to 2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper

1  Bring four cups water to boil in a medium sauce pan. When the water boils, whisk in the one cup corn meal in a slow steady stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Continue whisking until the polenta begins to thicken (around 1 to 2 minutes). Add around 1 tsp salt.
2  Reduce the heat so that the polenta bubbles slowly. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes until the cornmeal loses its raw flavor (taste every so often to check).
3  When the polenta is complete, turn off the heat and add 1 to 2 tbsp butter and more salt and pepper. You can cover it to keep it warm before serving. If the polenta becomes too thick, you can stir in a bit of milk or water to loosen it up.

*Alternative: For even more flavor, you can stir in some cheese with the butter in Step 3. For example, add 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, or both 1/2 cup Parmesan and 1/2 cup ricotta.

Quinoa and Black Beans {Annah}

 I have been on a search for a delicious Mexican rice/quinoa for many years now. I enjoy the pre-made Mexican rice sold at grocery stores, but I hate that they have MSG in them. Sadly this is still not it. This dish was pretty bland, even with the cilantro and the spices just added heat.

I wish I would have had black beans I think that would have made it a little better. Pinto beans to me have a more subtle flavor and are more mushy. So I continue to search for the delicious side dish to my burritos and enchiladas. If you have a favorite please share it, I would love to try it!

Ingredients 

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 onion (chopped)

3 cloves garlic (peeled and chopped)

3/4 cup quinoa (uncooked)

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

salt

pepper

1 cup corn kernels (frozen) (I used a can of corn)

30 ozs black beans (rinsed and drained) (I used pinto beans)

12 cup fresh cilantro (chopped) 

Directions

	Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
	Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
	Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

Mexican Fish

Colleen: "This recipe made the fish very moist & tasty at a very low cost with a BAM in flavor! Not to mention it was super easy! (I did not use fresh salsa)"

For each serving, pile 1 tilapia fillet, 1/2 cup fresh salsa, 4 olives, and olive oil and lime juice on a sheet of foil. Form a packet. Grill over high heat, 10 minutes. 

Recipe sourced from Food Network

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

Colleen: "Well lets put this dish down in the books as a fail. It was edible but I just don't enjoy mushy crock pot chicken & disintegrated (expensive) bell peppers. From the looks of this blog post (that i pinned from Pinterest) the recipe looked delish & would have been the perfect end to a busy day with everyones favorite, fajitas! Wrong wrong wrong. Perhaps I went wrong somewhere but this recipe seems pretty cut & dry. So good luck if you try it out."

Ingredients: 

1 yellow onion, sliced

3 sweet peppers, sliced

1 ½ pounds boneless chicken breast or thighs

½ cup chicken broth

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cumin

1 ½ tablespoons chili powder

Squirt of lime juice

Tortillas

Fajita fixings

Combine sliced onion and peppers in the bottom of a greased crockpot. Lay chicken on top of veggies. Pour chicken broth over top. Sprinkle everything with cumin, salt, and chili powder. Give a nice quirt of lime juice over the top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. When meat is done, shred with two forks and stir back into juices. Serve meat mixture with slotted spoon on tortillas with your choice of fixings. 

Original recipe sourced from stacymakescents.com 

Fiesta Chicken Dip

Colleen: "I'm not a big dip maker but I am trying to expand my horizons. Plus being a grown up now & trying to be a good Southern gal when I show up places (like someone's house for book club) I come with my hands full of food (learning that showing up empty handed comes off as a tad bit rude, down here in the South at least). Southern hospitality in full swing I brought this Fiesta Chicken Dip which everyone really enjoyed & would be great for those vegetarians (just omit the chicken)."

Ingredients:

• 1 package (8oz)  cream cheese softened
• 1 garlic clove, pressed (I used 3, I love garlic!)
• 1 cup shredded mexican cheese blend 
• 3/4 cup medium thick & chunky salsa
• 1 cup of topped cooked chicken
• 1/4 cup of sliced pitted ripe olives
• 2 tablespoons snipped cilantro

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine garlic (which I sliced thinly) & cream cheese until mixed. Add cheese mix until blended well. Spread onto bottom of pan. 
2. Spoon salsa over cheese. Sprinkle with chicken & olives. 
3. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until dip is headed through and outside ege is bubbly. Sprinkle with Cilantro before serving, if desired. 
4. Serve warm with chips. 

Yields 14 servings. (1/4 cup of dip 110 calories) 

Recipe Sourced from The Pampered Chef stoneware inspirations cookbook

Pastel Azteca "Tortilla Casserole" {Annah}

Sorry I have been MIA, I did not cook basically the week of my birthday, and then I was in Texas visiting family.I am back now though and ready to cook!

I saw this recipe on the Today show from MarcellaValladoild, she has her own show on Food Network that I used to love to watch when we had cable. I did not have all the ingredients for this recipe and I wanted a little more spice so I tailored the recipe slightly.

Overall Tyler and I really enjoyed the recipe. It is pretty healthy and of course vegetarian. It did not have a lot of steps, although you do have to use three large saute pans. However, I was able to clean up the pans while the casserole was in the oven. Tyler thought that chicken would have tasted good in this, and I think that black beans would also taste good with the other ingredients. The thing that stood out the most for me was the sweet corn with the spiciness of the tomato mixture. I didn't have time to boil tomatoes or char poblano chiles, you will see my changes to the right of the recipe. I will be making this again probably with black beans, and if Tyler is lucky I will let him add chicken to his side!

Ingredients

• 12 corn tortillas
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 chopped garlic cloves
• 1 chopped small onion (used 1/2)
• 2 cups roma tomato, boiled 30 seconds, peeled, and pureed (Used a10 oz can of enchilada sauce, 8 oz can of tomatoes, and 2 left over tomato sauce packets from a taco kit) 
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 1/2 cups chopped zucchini
• 1 1/2 cup fresh corn off the cob or 3 fresh corns (one can of sweet corn)
• 3 poblano chiles charred, seeded, deviened, and cut in strips. (4.25 oz  can chopped green chiles)
• Salt and pepper to taste (Skipped this who needs more salt!)
• Non stick cooking spray
• 3/4 cup mexican crema (sour cream)
• 3 cups shredded Oaxaca cheese (cheddar cheese and a little mozzarella)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large heavy saute pan, add enough oil to fry 12 tortillas. Heat oil on medium-high heat. When hot, working in batches, quickly fry tortillas. Simply fry for 10 seconds on each side. Remove tortillas from heat and drain in paper towel.

In a medium saute pan on medium heat, heat oil and add garlic and onion. Saute for about 3 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Add tomato puree. Cook for 10 minutes and turn heat off.

In a separate large saute pan on medium heat, melt butter. Add zucchini and corn. Cook for 2 minutes and add the poblano. Add 1/2 cup of water to mixture and cook for 4 more minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non stick cooking spray. Cover the bottom with tortillas, about 4 tortillas. Add 1/2 cup of tomato mixture on top of tortillas. Top with 1 1/2 cups of zucchini mixture. Add 1 cup of cheese. Drizzle with 1/4 cup of mexican crema. Season the first layer with salt and pepper. Start on the second layer with tortillas, then tomato, zucchini, cheese, and with mexican crema. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Do it again for a third time, to finish off with a third layer, making sure to season with salt and pepper.

Bake uncovered until cheese begins to melt, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Makes 8 servings

Tamale Casserole

Colleen's Take: "I usually make this dish once a month or so, it's a favorite in our household and with the new workout schedule I ended up making it a few hours before dinner and put it in the fridge with instructions for the husband to put it in the oven when he got home from work, it was marvelous! I think one of the main reasons that we love this dish is the healthy aspect of it & the lack of carbohydrates that both of us need! I do think I will add a little more chili powder next time to bump up the spice." 

4 teaspoons canola oil (I use olive oil) 
1 green bell pepper, seeded & chopped 
2 red onions, chopped (I used one) 
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded deveined and minced (wear gloves to prevent irritation) 
1 garlic clove, minced (I used 5, I love garlic!) 
1/2 pound ground skinless turkey breast (I used a pound)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup frozen corn kernels
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon hot Mexican chili powder 
2 cups of water
2/3 stone ground yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup shredded fat free Monterrey Jack cheese 

1. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, eat the oil. Saute the bell pepper, onions, jalapeno pepper, and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the turkey and cook, breaking apart with a wooden spoon, until browned, 5-8 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce, corn, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and the chili power; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, stirring once or twice, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 15 minutes. Transfer to an 8-inch- square baking dish.
2. Preheat the oven to 350. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup of the water and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil. In a medium bowl, whisk the cornmeal into the remaining 1 cup of water. Slowly pour the moist cornmeal into the boiling water in a thin steady stream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes back to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and begins to form large bubbles, about 5 minutes. Spread over the turkey so that it is completely covered. Bake 2 minutes, then sprinkle with the cheese and bake until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. 

1/4 the casserole: 300 calories

Original source Weight Watchers Cookbook

Fiesta Soup

"Annah's take: I enjoyed this soup. I loved that you could throw the raw veggies in and let them cook in the crock pot. I did not use chicken and instead added black beans and chick peas. I also added rice to add more sustenance. The soup was a little too spicy for me. The husband thought it was fine but I had to add a lot of cheese to cool it down. As a heads up I even used mild enchilada sauce, I think I would cut back on the chili powder. I forgot to buy the cilantro and it was ok without it, but I think it would have added a nice touch."

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

15 MINUTES PREP TIME

4 boneless skinless cooked chicken breasts, shredded
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) stewed tomatoes, drained 
2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chilies
1 can (28 oz) enchilada sauce 
1 can (14 1/2 oz) chicken broth
1 cup finely chopped onion2 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder 3/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1 yellow squash, diced
1 zucchini, diced
8 tostada shells, crumbled
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese 

Check out Colleen's attempt at this recipe too Chicken Fiesta Soup.

Chicken Fiesta Soup

Colleen's Take: "I completely loved this dish! It taste like a restaurant tortilla soup. It would be an excellent vegetarian dish if you omit the chicken." 

MAKES 8 SERVINGS
15 MINUTES PREP TIME

4 boneless skinless cooked chicken breasts, shredded
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) stewed tomatoes, drained 
2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chilies
1 can (28 oz) enchilada sauce 
1 can (14 1/2 oz) chicken broth
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder 
3/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1 yellow squash, diced
1 zucchini, diced
8 tostada shells, crumbled
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese 

1. Combine chicken, tomatoes, chilies, enchilada sauce, broth, onions, garlic, cumin, chili powder, pepper, salt, cilantro, corn, squash and zucchini in Crock Pot slow cooker. 
2. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours. To serve, fill individual bowls with soup. Garnish with crumbled tostada shells and cheese. 

Recipe from Sharoon Smith, Elk Grove, CA