Chicken Enchilada Pasta

Even though it has been busy lately and we haven't been having typical meals, I was finding myself without appealing ideas for dinner this week, so as I sat down to do my menu planning, I clicked around on Pinterest. One meal that I found that sounded very good to me was Chicken Enchilada Pasta, which had been Pinned from The Kitchen Life of a Navy Wife.

Much like my Taco Stuffed Shells, I liked how this dish combined to family favorites, Mexican and Pasta. I made it for dinner, incorporating a few minor tweaks to the recipe to lighten it up. By my approximation , there are about 12 servings of the sauce, each with about 140 calories. So, with our typical pasta added, it is about 350 calories per serving. I think the extra sauce would freeze fine and of course, would work well for a leftover meal later in the week.

It was voted a definite keeper by all.

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1 medium onion minced
1 red bell pepper diced
1/2 anaheim pepper, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
20 ounces green enchilada sauce
2/3 cup red enchilada sauce
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup light sour cream

Pasta

Garnishes: tomatoes, jalepenos, green onions, sour cream, shredded cheese

Cook chicken, chop and set aside.

Boil pasta according to package.

Heat olive oil in a deep skillet and cook onions for 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper. Cook for another 3-5 minutes. Add chicken, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt, and both enchilada sauces. Let sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes.

Add cheese and stir until the cheese is melted and heated through. Reduce heat. Slowly add the sour cream. Stir until sour cream is well mixed and heated through.

Drain pasta.

Serve pasta topped with chicken enchilada sauce and garnish with desired toppings.

Disclaimer

Shredded Buffalo Chicken Sliders

Last weekend, we were driving home from Cedar Point after a visit that was cut short by a crazy storm. Along the way we passed a couple of Buffalo Wild Wing restaurants (or BWs, as I have always known them). It sounded so yummy to me, that I knew that I wanted to fit buffalo chicken into my menu last week. At first, I thought I would make buffalo chicken rolls or wontons, but then I decided to try a different route and make a shredded chicken in buffalo sauce. I have a bag of bread flour that I need to use part of so that I can fit the rest in my container, so I decided that I would make my slider rolls using my everyday bread recipe.

Shredded Buffalo Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 24 ounces)
1 packet ranch salad dressing mix
2 tablespoons butter
1 bottle (5 fl oz) Frank's Red Hot buffalo sauce

Place ingredients in crock pot on low for 6 hours.

Shred.


Homemade Slider Rolls

1 cup warm water (110 F)
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active, dry yeast

Sprinkle the yeast on top of the warm water. In a mixing bowl, place 2 cups of the flour, sugar and salt. Pour the wetted yeast and water into the bowl and stir. Add additional flour, about 1/4 cup at a time. When the dough starts to come together, turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth. Place back in mixing bowl, rub on a little canola oil and cover with a damp cloth. Let it rise for about 30 minutes, until dough doubles in size.

Separate dough into 16 rolls (approx 1.5 oz each) and place on baking sheet. Let the rolls rise for about 30 minutes. Then, bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

After the rolls have cooled, slice in half and top with the shredded chicken.

This meal got the thumbs up from the family and is sure to be part of future menu plans.

Disclaimer

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I am a big fan of banana flavored dishes. You might have noticed that I have a few posts about banana recipes. One of my favorite treats is banana bread - it is especially yummy when it is warm, with a bit of butter and some cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top. Sometimes, I like to change it up and put in chocolate chips. This bread, takes that idea one step further, it is banana bread with chocolate chips and cocoa - to make it a yummy chocolatey treat. It has a nice crumb and it is delicious at room temperature and warmed too!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Servings 18

1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter melted and cooled
3 bananas ripe
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, mash the ripe bananas and add eggs, melted butter and vanilla. Stir until mixed. Add the dry ingredients, stirring just to incorporate. Add the chocolate chips and stir.

Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Each slice of the bread (about 55 g) is just 186 calories. I think it makes for a great treat that I don't have to feel too guilty about.

Disclaimer

Rattlesnake Pasta

When it comes to pasta, we have a lot in our house. In order to not feel like we eat the same meal over and over again, we like to try out new recipes. This recipe is based off of a recipe that is (was?) on the menu at Pizzeria Uno. It is pretty much a chicken Alfredo with jalapenos. Normally, I would mix the jalapenos and a little bit of the liquid that they are in directly into the Alfredo, but since my daughter doesn't like spicy foods, I garnish with them and spoon some of the liquid into each dish.

I have tried to pull out some extra calories, by using milk instead of cream and by reducing the amount of butter that is used. Still, this dish is a 'treat' at approximately 500 calories per serving with the sauce and pasta.

Rattlesnake Pasta

12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 cloves minced garlic
3 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
3 cups milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces shredded Cheddar Jack cheese
4 ounces jarred jalapeño peppers sliced
1 box penne pasta

In a large skillet over medium heat combine chicken, 1 tablespoons butter, garlic and Italian seasoning. Cook until chicken is no longer pink inside. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Cook penne pasta to al dente and drain.

Make a roux: Melt 3 tablespoons butter in the skillet. Add garlic. Stir in flour, salt and pepper; cook 2 minutes stirring constantly. Slowly add milk and half-and-half, continue to stir until smooth and creamy. Stir in Parmesan and Cheddar Jack cheeses; stir until cheese is melted.

Stir in chicken.

Serve over prepared Penne pasta and garnish with Jalapeno pepper slices.

Disclaimer

Cherry Swirl Cheesecake

Back at Thanksgiving, I made a Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake (you can find that recipe here). Recently, we had friends over and I decided that a cheesecake would make a great dessert. The Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake recipe that I had used produced a very nice cheesecake, so I wanted to use that recipe, but didn't feel like pumpkin said spring. I felt that I needed to use something for a swirl, but it had to be 'wet'. I decided that for this first attempt, I would try a ready made pie filling, so I picked up a can of cherry pie filling.

I simply swapped the same amount of cherry filling as there had been pumpkin and skipped the pumpkin pie spices. I relied on my mixer to beat apart the chunks of cherry, but allowed some chunks in the swirl. It was met with rave reviews. I was very pleased with the result. It gives me inspiration to try more...I'm not sure what I will try next, but some ideas that I have include caramel (ice cream topping), lemon (lemon pie filling) and chocolate (hot fudge or chocolate syrup).

Cherry Swirl Cheesecake

Servings 10

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter melted
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray 9" spring-form pan with cooking spray. Combine the crushed graham crackers and melted butter. Press into the bottom and up sides of the pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool.

Combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar, and vanilla. Cream until smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reserve 1 cup of the batter, refrigerate covered. To the remaining batter, add the remaining sugar and the cherry pie filling. Mix until blended.

Remove the plain batter from the refrigerator and spoon about half onto the crust in dollops. Cover with the pumpkin batter and then dollop the remaining plain batter on top. Using a butter knife, gently swirl the batters together.

Bake for 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool on wire rack in pan. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.



Disclaimer

Crustless Pizza (aka Pizza Chicken)

Pizza is a family favorite at my house. The combination of the tomato sauce and the cheese is so appealing to me - in fact, I have been craving a hot piece of pizza and mentioned it to a coworker in a meeting the other day because I could smell the Parmesan and Tomato on her sandwich.

My experience with homemade pizza is that a good amount of the calories are coming from the crust. My friend mentioned that since she is following a low carb diet, she has been eating crustless pizza, essentially all of the toppings in a casserole instead of on a crust.

So, I was intrigued when I saw a recipe the other day for crustless pizza. Instead of a dough or bread for the bottom of the pizza they used chicken breast as a crust.

Pizza Chicken
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
tomato sauce
shredded mozzarella
turkey pepperoni
other toppings
onion salt
basil

I started by cutting my partially frozen chicken breasts in half, so as to have two thin pieces of chicken.
Using a tenderizing mallet, I pounded the chicken to make it even (it was already thin, just wanted to even it out for cooking).

Place the filleted chicken in a baking pan.

Top with pizza sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni and any other pizza toppings that you prefer.

Season with onion salt and basil. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Disclaimer

Strawberry Cheesecake Chex Mix

At work, we celebrate birthdays by bringing in treats to share. Earlier this week, we were celebrating a young woman's birthday. I had some Chex, so I decided that I would make a Chex mix to share with the group. She is a girly girl, so when I came across the Pink Powder Puff Crunch, it sounded like the perfect Chex mix for her birthday. Only, I seemed to be short on the ingredients. So, I did what I do...I improvised. I had only a small pack of strawberry gelatin, but I also had a small pack of cheesecake pudding - I decided that strawberry and cheesecake are flavors that work together, so off I went to make some dessert Chex mix. I also didn't want it to be just Chex, so I added in some white chocolate chips and some red sugar crystals for a little extra pink sparkle.


Strawberry Cheesecake Chex Mix

9 c Rice Chex
1 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 c butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
1 box strawberry-flavored gelatin
1 box cheesecake flavored instant pudding mix
1 c white chocolate chips
2 tbsp red sugar crystals

Measure cereal into large bowl.

In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and butter uncovered on High 1 minute. Stir; microwave 15 to 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour over cereal, stirring until evenly coated.

In 2-gallon large food-storage plastic bag, mix powdered sugar, gelatin, pudding and red sugar crystals. Add cereal mixture. Seal bag and shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper; cool about 15 minutes. Store in airtight container.

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