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.

Chicken Enchiladas for the Slow Cooker

This is really more of a casserole than strict chicken enchiladas. It's still yummy! I doubled this recipe because I have the huge-sized Crock-Pot. This recipe is intended for the smaller, 3-quart Crock-Pot.

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

2 10-3/4 ounce cans cream of chicken or mushroom soup (I used mushroom.)
4-1/2 ounce can diced green chilies
2-3 boneless, skinless whole chicken breasts, cut into pieces
2 C shredded cheddar cheese
5 6-inch flour tortillas (I used corn because they're lowfat and I like them better!)

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine soups, chilies, and chicken.
2. Spray the interior of the cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Spoon in 1/5 of the sauce on the bottom. Top with 1/5 of the cheese and then 1 tortilla (for the big slow cooker I used 3). Continue layering in that order, and with those amounts, 4 more times, ending with cheese on top.
4. Cover cooker and cook on Low 4 hours.

Becky's Slow Cooker Chili

That's right! A recipe by yours truly! And it's super easy. Let me know what you think!

Becky's Slow Cooker Chili

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef (or ground turkey, if you prefer)
1-2 cloves garlic, to taste, minced
1 packet of taco seasoning or 1-2 Tbsp chili powder, to taste
1 can chili beans, undrained
1 can pinto beans, undrained
1 can Ro*Tel tomatoes with chiles, undrained
2/3 C salsa of your choice

Choose one or more of the following garnishes, if you like:
shredded cheddar or jack cheese
sour cream
sliced green onions
salsa of your choice

Directions:

1. Brown the ground beef with the garlic.

2. Add ground beef, contents of seasoning packet or chili powder, both types of beans, tomatoes, and salsa to the slow cooker and mix well.

3. Cook on low setting for 8-10 hours.

4. Serve hot and garnish with any desired garnishes.

5. Enjoy!

Nacho-Style Casserole

This one was a moderate success with the kids. I had a little problem in that nacho cheese soup can no longer be found at either of my local grocery stores; instead I used a jar of salsa con queso. I think it made the casserole a little runnier than it was supposed to be, so if you have the option, I'd recommend the nacho cheese soup!

Nacho-Style Casserole

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 C chopped onion
1 11-ounce can condensed nacho cheese soup
1 C milk
1 4-ounce can diced green chile peppers
6 medium potatoes, cut into wedges (about 2 pounds)
1/4 tsp garlic salt
dairy sour cream (optional)
bottled salsa (optional)
sliced green onions (optional)
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:
1. In a large skillet cook ground beef and onion until meat is brown. Drain off fat. In a medium bowl stir together nacho cheese soup, milk, and chile peppers. Add beef mixture.

2. Place potato wedges in a 3-1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Spoon beef mixture over potatoes.

3. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3-1/2 to 4 hours or until potatoes are tender.

4. Gently stir potato mixture just before serving. If desired, serve with sour cream, salsa, green onions, and/or shredded cheese.

Cheese Enchilada Chowder

Hi all! Long time no see! I guess the holidays kept me busy -- sorry about that! I've been trying a lot of new recipes recently, so I'll probably be posting more often.

Cheese Enchilada Chowder

I made this one tonight, and the kids LOVED it. I didn't have tortilla chips but we did put dollops of guacamole and sour cream on top of each serving as suggested.

Ingredients:
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14-1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained (I used the Ro*Tel kind with chiles)
1 10-ounce package frozen whole kernel corn (I used a 12-ounce package of SteamFresh)
1/2 C chopped onion
1/2 C chopped yellow, green, or red sweet pepper (I used one whole green bell pepper)
1 small fresh jalapeño chile pepper (seeded, if desired), finely chopped
1 19-ounce can enchilada sauce (I used medium, which combined with the jalapeños was pretty darned spicy, so maybe for kids the mild type is better.)
1 10-3/4-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom or onion if you want to make this a vegetarian meal)
2 C milk
1 C shredded Monterey Jack cheese (4 ounces)
1 C shredded cheddar cheese (4 ounces) (I used medium but I bed sharp would be good too!)
dairy sour cream (optional)
guacamole (optional)
tortilla chips, coarsely broken (optional)

Directions:
1. In a 3-1/2 to 5-quart slow cooker combine black beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, sweet pepper, and jalapeño chile pepper. In a large bowl whisk together enchilada sauce and cream of chicken (or mushroom or onion) soup. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Pour sauce mixture over bean mixture in slow cooker.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 4 hours.

3. Stir in both cheeses until melted. If desired, top servings with sour cream, guacamole, and tortilla chips.

NOTE: Because chile peppers contain volatile oils that can burn your skin and eyes, avoid direct contact with them as much as possible. When working with chile peppers, wear plastic or rubber gloves. If your bare hands do touch the peppers, wash your hands and nails well with soap and warm water.

Arroz con Pollo y Frijoles

This is SUPER delicious, and really easy to make. My kids also loved it -- even my 2 year old and my 10 year old (the one who doesn't like tomatoes!). I was initially intimidated because I had never prepared chicken thighs before, but it was SO easy!

Arroz con Pollo y Frijoles

Hands on: 15 minutes
Total: 35 minutes
Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients:
2-1/2 pounds chicken thighs (I could only find 2.36 pounds at the store, but it was perfect)
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
PAM Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
1 cup long-grain rice (I only had medium-grain and it worked fine)
2 cans (10 ounces each) Ro*Tel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained
1 can (14 ounces) chicken broth
1 can (16 ounces) Rosarita No Fat Traditional Refried Beans
1/2 cup shredded Oaxaca, Chihuahua or Mexican blend cheese (1/2 cup = 2 ounces)

Directions:

1. Season chicken with garlic salt and pepper on both sides. Spray large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Place chicken, skin side down, in skillet. Cook 7 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove chicken from skillet.
2. Add rice to skillet. Brown rice in pan drippings over medium heat about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add undrained tomatoes and broth; blend well. Place chicken on top of rice. Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 20 minutes or until rice is tender and chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken from skillet; keep warm. Drop beans by tablespoons onto rice; sprinkle with cheese. Heat an additional 5 minutes, or until beans are hot and cheese is melted. Serve with chicken.

Recipe from and copyright reserved by: conagrafoods.com