Mexican Casserole

Mexican casserole about to go into the oven
Originally uploaded by Beckerbuns

This is a great recipe to make with the kids. My 3 year old enjoyed helping me by dumping in the ingredients and stirring the food. :)

Mexican Casserole

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3/4 pound cubed skinless, boneless chicken breast meat (I used two of those half-breast things)
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 can black beans, undrained
1 can recipe-ready diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can diced chiles, drained - can use spicy or mild (I used the latter because of the kids)
1 can Mexicorn, drained
1 C shredded cheese of your choice (Mexican blend, Monterey jack, cheddar, etc.)
1 small can sliced black olives, drained
1-1/2 C crushed plain tortilla chips (I used the low-guilt chips from Trader Joe's)
rice to serve it over (your choice)

Directions:
In a large skillet over medium high heat, saute chicken in preheated oil, adding in the onion and garlic. Drain any extra oil that remains. Add beans, tomatoes, chiles, and Mexicorn. Bring to boil; cover skillet and simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Transfer chicken mixture to a 9"x13" baking dish. Top with half of the cheese, the olives, and crushed tortilla chips.

Bake for 15 minutes. Add remaining cheese and bake until cheese is melted and bubbly (10-15 minutes).

Best served over rice; I used brown rice.

Tater Tot Casserole

So, the Duggar family has a famous tater tot casserole recipe, but I lacked a couple of the ingredients, so I went onto the web and found another recipe... On Cooks.com. We just finished eating it and it was tasty! The only thing I might change would be to add a little milk with the soup to make it a big creamier, but it was basically terrific.



A certain little person helped me make this one!

Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients:
1 pound ground hamburger meat
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 bag tater tots (we ended up running out of room for all of them, so the rest of the bag is waiting in the freezer to be a snack)
shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar but I am thinking that Monterey jack might also be good)

Directions:
Brown hamburger meat (I added some garlic powder to give it a bit of flavor, and it was yummy!). Drain fat. Add cream of mushroom soup and stir together. Let simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Place mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish. Layer tater tots neatly on top of the mixture. Place in oven on 350º and let the tater tots brown (I found it to take about 15 minutes). Sprinkle with cheese (be generous; I used about 2 cups); melt it in the oven and ENJOY.

Mini Crescent Dogs

I'm making these tonight. They are super easy and a favorite of my kids. Yeah, yeah -- appetizers for dinner. :)

Mini Crescent Dogs

Mini sausages are all wrapped up in flaky crescents in an all-time favorite appetizer.

Prep Time: 15 Min
Total Time: 30 Min
Makes: 48 snacks

INGREDIENTS:
2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
48 cocktail-sized smoked link sausages or hot dogs (from 16-oz package)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Unroll both cans of the dough; separate into 16 triangles. Cut each triangle lengthwise into 3 narrow triangles.
2. Place sausage on shortest side of each triangle. Roll up each, starting at shortest side of triangle and rolling to opposite point; place point side down on 2 ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown, switching position of cookie sheets halfway through baking. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm.