My Version of Mexican Chicken

So we are towards the end of the month and that means our grocery budget for the month is all gone.....so it's time for me to get creative with what we've got.  I've heard of this Mexican chicken before and I remember my mom ordering it several times somewhere for dinner.  I didn't look it up, just used what I remember the chicken having, which somehow I had it all in my pantry/fridge.  I took some chicken breasts and sliced them in half (I always slice the chicken breasts in half because they cook faster and you can taste whatever is on it way better).  I only seasoned it with some garlic powder on both sides and into the oven they went.  When they where completely cooked, I brought them back out and added everything else.  First, I put a layer of cream cheese on top, then some salsa (as much as you like) and lastly shredded Mexican cheese....a lot.  Then, put it back in the oven to melt the cheese and done.  Gabe and I loved it and he wants me to make it again. I asked him if I should post it on here and he said for sure. So here it is! The best part was how easy is was to make and clean up. I just put some non stick aluminum foil on the baking pan and then threw it away.  All I had to clean was the pot I used to make the rice with corn to go with it.  It was really tasty and fun to eat. 

I know, I am horrible at posting recipes. They are just paragraphs trying to explain what to do instead of a real recipe.  The thing is pretty much everything I make is something I put together out of nowhere (like this chicken) or something that I have know for so long that I don't need to measure anything for it, I already know how the dish goes and just do everything by eye (is that even how you say it?). Sorry you guys! 

Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken, cubed

1 bag spinach,

1 bunch green onion, chopped

6 oz honey-roasted peanuts

1 box bow-tie pasta, cooked 

6 oz craisins

1 8 oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained

1/3 cup sunflower seeds, toasted

2 cans mandarin oranges

Dressing:

1 cup vegetable oil (I only put in 1/3 cup)

2/3 cup teriyaki sauce

2/3 cup vinegar

6 Tbs. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Mix dressing ingredients together, pour over cooked pasta and chicken.  Marinate for 1-2 hours.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients before serving.

 

This is a fast and easy dish. I've done it without the chicken and served it as a side and it's delicious! You can do a bunch of variations on the ingredients and so it's easy to throw in what you have and will taste good without everything in it. Our favorite mix is the pasta with mandarin oranges, craisins, green onions and sunflower seeds.  

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes (from Pat)

6 large potatoes
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup shredded cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 egg

Cook potatoes. In a mixing bowl add all ingredients and beat well. Transfer to a 2 qt baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes until heated through. May make the night before and refridgerate until ready to cook.

We love these potatoes. I love that you can make them the night before. My mom always asks me to make these when she's hosting lunches or dinner parties. Everyone always asks her for this recipe.

Banana Bread (From Pat)

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter
4 egg whites
3 bananas
3 tsp milk
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together and bake at 325 for 35-40 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.
Case likes to refridgerate it overnight and eat it cold. My kids like it warm.

Peach Cinnamon Syrup

Our favorite day to have the Elders over to eat is on Sundays since we always have breakfast for dinner. Anyway, last night we had them over and I made this syrup recipe that a friend gave me a while back. They LOVED it. I've always liked it and so do MOST of my kids (Emerson doesn't eat cooked fruit). Brooks said it was too sweet a while back so I had modified the recipe a little to the below. If you WANT it more sweet, you can always add more sugar. It also keeps well in the fridge for a while. It's just something fun to offer when you have a bunch of fruit syrups, fruit, whipped cream and stuff to put on pancakes/french toast/waffles.

1 large can of peaches (if you don't have a large can do 2 small ones)
1/3 c. sugar
2 T butter
1 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla
dash of nutmeg
1 T cornstarch mixed w/ 2 T water

I like putting the peaches in the pan first and mashing them up a little bit. I don't like a WHOLE peach on my french toast.....so I mash them into little pieces. Then add everything else into the saucepan and put on med-med/high heat until it bubbles. Stir so it doesn't get stuck on the bottom, but you don't have to stir the whole time. It will thicken the longer you keep it on, so just keep it on until you like the consistency.
Note: I used 2 cans of peaches last night in LITE syrup. The original recipe caused for the good syrupy kind with full sugar. I've tasted both and don't notice much of a difference. I guess it's up to you.
Enjoy.

Pat's Salad

I'm sure Pat is thinking, "Is this my salad?" but that's what it's labeled in my recipe book as. This is a salad that my kids love and is a guest-pleaser when coupled w/ some grilled chicken or whatever. I just remember when we were home one time Pat saying that Gabe always asked for it. Who knows if that's still the case (because we all know how often we go home. hahaha)

1 head romaine lettuce
1 bunch of spinach
1 bunch green onions
1/2 box of COOKED bowtie pasta, drained (and cooled is better)

Dressing:
1/2 c. oil
2/3 c. soy sauce
2/3 c. vinegar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t pepper
6 T sugar
Shake WELL and make before hand.

Add to salad and mix. SUPER tasty. It doesn't taste that good for left-overs though w/ all the wilting lettuce/spinach, so if it's just for your family then maybe half it.

Pulled-Out-of-my-Sleeve-Potatoes

Like the name? Well it's true, I just came up with these today and they where a hit! So I felt like cooking potatoes for dinner tonight but really didn't want it to be just regular mashed potatoes like it usually is around here. And please, if you can think of a better name for these, you are more than welcome to change the name, really. So grab as many potatoes you need to feed your gang and peel them.  Then, slice them up as thinly as possible, or as you would like. To speed up the process and not have them take too long getting cooked in the oven, I boiled up the sliced potatoes but kept an eye close to them so they wouldn't get too soft and fall into pieces.  I drained the potatoes and placed them back in the pot.  On a mixing bowl, I mixed  a little bit of milk with sour cream.  Now the trick is to make sure it's not runny, so you'll be adding way more sour cream than milk, but don't want it to be as thick as the sour cream already is....make sense?  Add the mixture to the potatoes. Stir it in until the potatoes are all covered in it. Pass the potatoes to a cooking pan (where you would normally make lasagna, pasta, etc.) and spread them out as much as you can.  Lastly, just add as much shredded cheese as you'd like with as many bacon bits as you'd like on top and stick those in the oven until the cheese is melted and done! We loved them and I'm excited to make them again.

P.S. Sorry Lins, I read on the recipe you posted below you can't eat dairy while feeding Elle.