Nacho Casserole (pending picture)

Did you miss me?  You should have.  On some occasions I like to consider myself missable... (yes, I am making up words again)

ANYWAY!  This week I have returned and after being AWOL I am feeling much more rejuvenated and ready to start blogging!  Not sure if I feel ready to start cooking, that may be asking too much, but hey, I'm trying.

So tonight I got home late from a day out shopping for random things *cough*scrapbooking stuff*cough* and my dear Husband called me up to let me know he was on his way home.  He said my least favorite words, "I'm hungry."

The plan was to make some leftover steaks I had set out to thaw in the fridge.  The only problem is, I had set them out about almost two weeks ago.  In case you were wondering, meat doesn't last much longer than a week in the refrigerator, at least not in ours.  So yeah, that plan was a fail and I had to get more creative since we didn't have any other thawed meat in the fridge.

I came up with this:

Nacho Casserole
Active Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:
1 can corn
1 can chili (with meat)
1 can crushed tomatoes
Nachos
Salsa
Taco seasoning
Cheese


Directions:
Make a layer of nachos in a casserole pan (optional).  Add all other ingredients into pan and you can mix it around with a fork.  Top with cheese.  Bake in oven at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
Serve with nachos and sour cream.


My Experience:
The Process-
This took me about 5 minutes to throw together.  Super easy!  As you can probably tell from the ingredients, I pretty much just raided our pantry for canned goods that would mesh well together.  As long as you know how to open a can, not very difficult at all.


The Result-
My husband really enjoyed the dinner, his favorite part turned out to be my least favorite part.  Baking the mixture with nachos on the bottom caused them to get really soggy and almost completely disintegrate into the rest of the food.  I found the texture to be unpleasant but the husband really enjoyed it.
Next time, I'll skip cooking it with the nachos and make it as more of a dip, or perhaps sprinkle crushed nachos on top.

All in all I would give the recipe four stars, because it was a really easy, fast, "Crap, I have nothing to make for dinner!" recipe.  In fact, I think I am going to label it as such.

Thanks for reading!  Until tomorrow,

Chili-Orange Chicken Recipe -slow cooker (Woman's Day Month of Menus)

I have to be honest here, I almost gave up today.  I bought enchilada sauce way back when I went grocery shopping.  I set it aside for the day I would make this recipe.
Well, I was going to a work event to have some nice socializing with co-workers, and decided today would be the perfect day for a slow cooker recipe.  I looked everywhere and just could not find the enchilada sauce.  I was seriously frustrated and decided I just wasn't going to do it.  I was tired of cooking, I was tired of just everything and I just wanted to go out and have fun.  Very mature, right?
Well, I got all my stuff ready to go, packed the baby in the car and got halfway down the block.  I don't know why, but I just felt bad and so I turned around, unpacked the baby, went back in the house, and got everything ready, replacing the enchilada sauce with salsa.

I think it was a turning point for me.  But I feel good about it now.  I decided to do something, and I stuck to it, even though it was very difficult to do!

So anyway, here it is:

Chili-Orange Chicken

• Active Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 6 minutes

Recipe Ingredients

3/4 cup mild enchilada sauce 1/4 cup barbecue sauce (we used Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Chipotle) 1 Tbsp salt-free chili powder 1 tsp ground cumin 4 bone-in chicken breasts (about 2 3/4 lb), skin removed, or 8 chicken drumsticks (about 2 1/2 lb), skin removed 3 Tbsp orange marmalade 1/2 cup chopped cilantro 2 tsp grated orange zest

Recipe Preparation

1. Mix enchilada sauce and barbecue sauce in a 6-qt or larger slow cooker.

2. Mix chili powder and cumin in a small cup. Rub all over chicken. Put chicken in slow cooker and turn to coat with sauce.

3. Cover and cook on high 3 to 4 hours or on low 5 to 7 hours until chicken is cooked through.

4. Turn off cooker. Remove chicken to a serving platter. Stir marmalade into sauce until blended. Stir in cilantro and orange zest, then pour over chicken.


My Experience:
The Process-
Well, getting started on the process, as I mentioned, was definitely a challenge.  But this slow cooker recipe was true to how I feel crock pot recipes should be.  Simple, easy, minimal preparation.  One thing I was sad about was that the chicken shrunk significantly, but I should have known that since it always happens to me.

The Result- 
This food was really, very good!  I never would have thought barbecue sauce with enchilada sauce (salsa), and oranges would taste good.  But it was, really good!  I used the remaining sauce on the rice and thoroughly enjoyed dinner.
My husband also thought it was very good, and today was the first day we had no leftovers ;)

Five stars!  Easy, delicious, and surprising.

Chicken Casserole

So technically I'm cheating a little since this is actually The Husband's recipe, but I promise I am going to start cooking myself this week and post recipes that I make!

Anyway, this chicken casserole is super easy.

Ingredients:

Canned chicken

Cheese

Minced Garlic

Tomatoes

Peas

Salt

Pepper

Butter

Directions:

Mix everything up, and bake at 350* for about 45minutes. 

Canned chicken is not the healthiest, but is a staple in banging food out fast without any mes or hassle.

Food tasted great and we still have leftovers :)