Mexican Chicken Casserole

My wife has been bugging me lately to go look at her Pinterest site to see what recipes she has linked to. Well I finally gave in and I found two new recipes to try, there were quite a bit more so the list of things to fix has grown.

Now we love enchiladas at our house, but they can be a little tedious to make, hello ADD. Well not to worry because this recipe doesn't have you going all OCD and rolling all the delicious filling into a tortilla, instead it all gets put in a casserole dish and everything gets to mingle together making for some really great flavor. I fixed this for a recent get together we had with another couple while our kids had a little play date. It was a hit with most every body, one of the little girls was more interested in playing then eating which is no surprise for a two year old, so I feel confident in calling this one Tot Approved.

Recipe from myrecipes.com as seen in Cooking Light December 1998

Ingredients
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 (4.5 ounce) cans chopped green chiles divided (I omitted this in fear of being to spicy for the kids and substituted with 1/4 cup of mild Pace Picante Salsa)
1 3/4 pounds skinned, boned chicken breasts
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup evaporated skim milk
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1/4 cup (2 ounces) tub-style light cream cheese
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
12 (6 inch) corn tortillas
Cooking Spray
1/2 cup (2 ounces)shredded reduced-fat extra-sharp cheddar
1 ounce tortilla chips, crushed (about 6 chips)

Directions
Combine broth and 1 can of chiles in a large skillet; bring to a boil. Add chicken ; reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until chicken is done, turning chicken once. Remove chicken from cooking liquid, reserving cooking liquid; cool chicken. Shred meat with two forks, and set aside

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 can of chiles and onion; saute 3 minutes or until soft. Add reserved cooking liquid, milk, Monterrey jack, cream cheese and enchilada sauce; stir well. Stir in shredded chicken; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place 4 tortillas in the bottom of a 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Spoon 2 cups chicken mixture over tortillas. Repeat layers twice, ending with chicken mixtures. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and chips. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Kung pao chicken wrap

I have another Kraft recipe that was an excellent light lunch, which believe it or not is Tot Approved. Perhaps I need to start finding a rating system for such recipes, anyways I digress. This recipe is incredibly easy and would be a great one to take the ingredients to work and assemble right before lunch or wrap it up and take it on the go. There is one ingredient that you will want to use sparingly and that's the Kraft Hot and Spicy Flavored Mayonnaise, it's SPICY! Like the name didn't give that away. I would suggest if your not into a lot of spice, then mix it with some regular mayonnaise to cool it down a bit.

For our little girl we took and gave her all the ingredients in small pieces, as this is usually how she likes her sandwiches. Well she wanted in on the wrap action so we took a slice of cheese and made crude wrap with the chicken, lettuce, and shredded carrots which she really got a kick out of.

Make it
1 Whole wheat tortilla (8 inch)
1 tbsp. (or less, be sure to taste it first to know how much you will like) Kraft Sandwich Shop hot & Spicy Flavored Mayonnaise
1 slice Kraft Big Slice Mild cheddar Cheese, cut in half
2 oz. Oscar Mayer Carving Board Rotisserie Seasoned Chicken breast.
4 thi cucumber slices
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves
2 tbsp. drained canned pineapple tidbits
2 tsp. chopped Planters Cocktail Peantus (this was ommitted because we have yet to test our little one for peanut allergies)

7-Layer Meatless Tortilla Pie

Here's a delicious meat free dish with a wonderful Tex-Mex flavor! Now, for me to say any dish that doesn't include meat, in some form, is really saying something.  This dish was filling enough that you could serve it on it's own, but would be great served with a small salad or some Spanish rice.  I do want to warn you that this is not a quick fix meal as it needs to bake for 40 minutes and will take at least 20 minutes of prep time, so just keep that in mind.

Ingredients
2 cans (about 15 oz each) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup pace Picante Sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 can (about 15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 small tomato
7 flour tortillas (8 inch)
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)

Directions
Mash the pinto beans in a medium bowl with a fork. Stir in 3/4 cup picante sauce and the garlic powder. (You could easily substitute pinto beans with re-fried beans for more flavor)

Stir the remaining picante sauce, cilantro, black beans and tomato in a medium bowl.

Place 1 tortilla onto a baking sheet. Spread 3/4 cup pinto bean mixture over the tortilla to within 1/2-inch of the edge. Top with 1/4 cup cheese. Top with 1 tortilla and 2.3 cup black bean mixture. Top with 1/4 cup cheese. Repeat the layers twice more. Top with the remaining tortilla and spread with the remaining pinto bean mixture. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 40 minutes or until the filling is hot. Uncover the pie. Top with the remaining cheese. Cut the pie into 6 wedges. Serve with additional picante sauce and sprinkle with additional cilantro, if desired.

Roll Ups!

This dish has become a staple at all family get together, it's always the first thing my wife is asked to bring. So when I told her I wanted to do some quick and easy snacks for a football game, she quickly volunteered herself to make these.

Flour burrito tortilla shells
1 tub of Whipped Cream Cheese
Garlic salt
Dried Beef

Lay a tortilla shell out and smear with cream cheese covering the entire shell. Then season the cream cheese to taste with garlic salt. Next lay a line of dried beef across the center of the shell, from one side to the other. Finally, take an edge opposite of the dried beef and roll the tortilla shell up. Slice the tortilla into approximately one inch slices.

As you can see, we barely got a photo of these that's how popular these are. In fact one package of tortilla shells and a small tub of cream cheese will feed only 4 people, so be prepared to double or even triple this recipe.