Roasted Chicken and Garlic Hummus Lettuce Wraps

This is a healthy and delicious lunch or light dinner that can easily be made with left overs! Which is how I made mine. 

Roasted Chicken (turkey, duck, Cornish hen, any poultry will work really)

Iceberg lettuce leaves (be very careful to not break them)

Roasted garlic hummus (I almost always have some in the fridge)

Baby kale (Baby spinach will work too)

diced tomato

shredded mozzarella cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Take you lettuce leaf, double the leaves if it split and smooth about 1 tbs of hummus inside add about 1/4 cup of chicken, 1/4 cup of kale, sprinkle in a few diced tomatoes, some mozzarella cheese, and then salt & pepper too your taste and poof! you are done! Wrap made. 

Zest BBQ Pork Ribs

OK it's been awhile since I have posted, and honestly this is so good I totally forgot to take a picture of the ribs or the steps to cooking them but this is an easy one. Luckily there was about half a rib left so I can show you what the finished and devoured product looks like LOL

2 very thick cut boneless bbq ribs (or 4 smaller ones)
1 tbs Chicken seasoning
1/2 tbs Garlic powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
1/2 tbs Smoked paprika
1-2 tbs oil\
Your favorite BBQ sauce, I use about 1/2 a cup you can use less or more depending on your tastes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Rub the ribs down with the oil and then sprinkle evenly with spice and rub in.
Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 mins
Flip over and slather in BBQ sauce. Place back in oven for 20 mins. Let rest for 5 mins before cutting into.

Cheesy Taco Hashbrown Casserole

 This is a fast and delicious recipe! Easy to do just follow along!

You will need:

1 package of thawed shredded hashbrowns. I use the Simply Potatoes brand since it is gluten free.
1/4 cup of salsa chunky style
1/4 cup of sourcream
1 jar of cheddar sauce. I used Ragu double cheddar
1 lb of beef taco meat. This is just prepackaged diced up skirt steak, you should be able to find in the stores meat section.
1/4 cup of taco seasoning. I used McCormick.
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
3 green onions diced, green part only.

Make sure to preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Grease a medium sized casserole dish. I dont have one so I used my heartshaped cake pan.

Mix the hashbrowns, cheese sauce, sourcream, and salsa together

It should be well blended and look something like this.

Add the taco meat to a heated pan and dump in your taco seasoning. Brown.

Drain and add the taco meat to the cheesy hashbrown mixture. Mix well.

Pour it into your greased pan and smooth it over. Bake for about 20 mins or until it looks like below.

Now its time to top it with the shredded cheese and green onions. Bake for another 10-15 mins.

Voila! You are done! Let it set for about 5 mins and serve! You can top it with any taco toppings you like or eat it as is.

White Chicken Enchiladas

White Chicken Enchiladas

1 - 1 1/2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 small onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 small can of fire roasted diced green chilies

1 small can of black beans

1 small can of sliced olives

(I used beans and olives but you can leave them out)

1 tsp of paprika

Salt and pepper too taste

3 cups of  monterey jack cheese shredded

(any white cheese you like will work, I've used mozzarella before and it was good!) 

2  1/8 cups of chicken broth 

1/8 cup of cream

(just save the water after boiling chicken)

2 tbs of butter

2 tbs of flour

1/2 cup of sour cream

(I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose)

16-18 warm corn tortillas

Place chicken in a large pan and just cover with water, bring to a boil then turn down and simmer until white and very tender like above. Reserve about 2 1/8 cup of the broth.

Shred the chicken with 2 forks if you are impatient like I am or you can let it cool and shred it with your hands. Heat a small amount of oil in a pan and sautee onions and garlic just until tender. Add the chicken, 3/4 of the can of chilies, drain the olives and beans then add to the pan. Stir in the 1/8 cup of cream and an 1/8 cup of broth. Heat through. Add paprika, salt and pepper, stir. 

Warm up your corn tortillas by either microwaving in small stacks for 30 seconds or you can fry them in a small amount of canola oil for 10-15 seconds each side. Lay tortillas out on a kitchen towel and lay another towel on top, this will help drain the oil if you fried them but will also keep them warmer.

Time to make the white sauce!

In a separate pan melt the butter and stir in the flour. Cook for about 1 min but don't let it get dark. Whisk in the 2 cups of broth slowly and simmer until it thickens. This is the base of the white sauce. Now stir in the sour cream, 1/2 cup of the cheese, and the left over green chilies.

Mix well and simmer until it combines and all cheese is melted. It should look similar to below

Time to make the enchiladas!

Take a warm tortilla and place some of the chicken mix and some cheese in the middle like so.

Roll it up and place it seam side down in a greased pan. It will fill up a 9x13. 

(I had to use 2 11x7 this time around and to me they came out saucier when all in one pan)

Repeat steps until entire pan is full!

Next top with the sauce!

Bake for about 30 mins or until top is golden and bubbling

You can top with Cilantro like I did.

Easy Shepherd's Pie!

This is my version of Shepherd's Pie and it is soooo good! It's fast and easy too!

Doesn't it just look amazing?!

You will need: 

1 pound of carne beef taco meat

 (That is how my store labels it, it is just tiny chunks of steak. You can sub in ground beef or turkey)

1 cup of lima beans 

(You could also use peas or cut up green beans)

2 cloves of garlic minced

1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce

1 small white onion

1/2 cup of  roasted tomato and garlic spaghetti sauce

1 package of Idahoan instant potatoes Buttery Golden Selects flavor

1 cup of shredded Colby Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Grease a 11X7 pan

Brown the meat and then add the garlic and lima beans, sautee until beans are tender. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and spaghetti sauce. 

Pour the meat mixture into greased pan.

Make potatoes according to instruction on package

(boil 2 cups of water, add package of potatoes, stir and let set for 5 mins)

Spread mashed potatoes over the meat mixture making sure to seal edges

Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top

I sprinkled salt and pepper on top of the cheese but you don't have too.

Bake for 20-25 mins or until golden.

Let cool for 10 mins.

Cool Ranch Oven Fried Chicken Tenders

These are delicious especially when dipped into BBQ sauce or ranch.

Here are your contenders for the evening:

1 1/2 pounds of thawed and paper towel dried chicken tenders

6 cups of crushed Cool Ranch doritos

3 eggs

olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees

Drizzle pan with olive oil

Add salt and pepper to crushed Doritos, I'd say about 1 tsp of both but you can do this to taste.

Dip each chicken tender into beaten egg and then the chips, then back into the egg and back into the chips

Lay them out on the pan like so and bake for 30-40 mins or until they look golden brown like below

Thats it you are done :-)

Here is a serving suggestion:

Broccoli Salad

I made this salad with my son for his Boy Scout BBQ. It was a hit!

Break up 2 small heads of Broccoli and steam until just tender. Do Not Over Cook!

Dice 1 red bell pepper and grate 1 carrot

Place the steamed and drained broccoli into a bowl with the carrot and bell pepper

At this point you could add 1 small minced red onion which I normally would but a lot of the kids did not like onion. 

Add a heaping handful of your favorite shredded cheese.

add about a 1/4 cup of mayo to this... my son is still chopping bell pepper :-) 

Mix it all together gently

Fry up 5 pieces bacon and break it into small bite size pieces after it cools. Add it to the broccoli salad.

You are now all done :-) Serve immediately or refrigerate until it is time to serve.

Note: This does not make a lot of salad so if you are having a big gathering you may want to double the recipe.