Creamy Chicken Chili

I always revert to this recipe when it gets cold because I always seem to have the ingredients on hand! When you're tired most days, there is a very fine line before you just throw up your hands and go run to a drive-thru. If I can think ahead, I can take the guesswork out of dinner for several days thanks to left-overs!

Creamy Chicken Chili
courtesy of Plain Chicken

2 chicken breasts
8 oz. of fat free cream cheese
1 pkg. dry ranch dressing
1 can black beans, drained and washed
1 can corn, drained
1 can Ro-Tel, undrained
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 to 3/4 Tb. chili powder (add more if you wish, I think this spice can easily become very overwhelming!)

Place chicken on bottom of crock pot. Place black beans, corn, and ro-tel on top of the chicken. Put spices on top of the veggies. I also add the cream cheese at this point (on top of everything and let it melt), but you can wait until the chili has cooked to do so. I personally don't see much of a difference. Cook 6-8 hours on low.

Skinny Sausage Bake!

This is a SkinnyTaste recipe I ran across from a while back that I somehow missed all those times I've combed through Gina's awesome recipes! It originally calls for red pepper, but I'm not a super big fan, so I left that out. I guess you could pretty much add whatever you wanted!

Skinny Sausage Bake
adapted from SkinnyTaste

1 package of al fresco chicken sausage (so many good flavors, you could go with any one of them!), cut into slices (about 6-7 slices for each link)
1.5 lbs of potatoes (any type, I used a combo)
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1 tsp. dried rosemary
garlic salt
cooking spray (I used my Misto)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet with sides on it.

Cook potatoes. I cooked mine up really quickly in the microwave, but be sure to leave them a bit underdone so they won't mush up when you cut them up into chunks.

Spread cut-up chicken sausage, onion pieces, and potato chunks (along with ay other veggie you might be adding) and spread them out on the parchment papered cookie sheet.

Spray the veggies and sausage with the cooking spray, lightly sprinkle the rosemary and garlic salt over all of it. Salt and pepper everything as well to taste.

I baked everything for about 30 minutes, tossing everything about halfway through. After the toss, I did another mist of cooking spray with salt and pepper. Of course, all of that is to taste. I like salty potatoes!!

After the 30 minutes is completed, I bumped the temperature up to 425 degrees and placed the pan back in for 10-15 minutes to get a quick crust. This will end up being one of those dishes you will need to watch at the end to ensure things aren't getting burned. Based on how thick everything is cut, it might happen quickly.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is a recipe that was passed to me by a former roommate's mother. I always grew up eating chicken pot pie a certain way and didn't really enjoy it. When I tried her recipe, I was sold! I have tweaked it a bit and have made it a bit healthier. Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie

1 c. chopped up chicken
1/4 c. fat free italian dressing
4 oz. fat free cream cheese
2 Tb. flour
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 10-12 oz. package of steam-in-bag frozen vegetables
2 refrigerated pie crusts (I have best results with the deep dish crusts)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Steam the veggies according to directions. Saute chicken and Italian dressing in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until cooked through (unless its already cooked and shredded). Add cream cheese to the skillet, cook until melted (about 2 minutes). Add flour, mix well. Add broth and vegetables, cook about 5 minutes.

Pour mixture into the pie plate and cover with second pie crust. Make sure to cut slits in top crust if you aren't making a weaved pattern with dough strips.

Bake for 30 minutes. Make sure you put a baking sheet underneath for drips!

Sauteed Lemon Chicken

This was another Pinterest recipe I discovered and couldn't wait to try! The original recipe called for Meyer Lemons to be used but, unfortunately in our town, there aren't any Meyer lemons to be found. At least not at our Publix. So I had to go with regular old lemons. Honestly, it still tasted great, and wouldn't have thought otherwise!

 (My lemons got a little burnt, hence the black-ish color. Don't be like me--keep an eye on the food you're cooking!)

Sauteed Lemon Chicken

adapted slightly from Shrinking Kitchen

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 c. flour

1 Tb. butter

1 Tb. vegetable oil

2 lemons

2 tsp. minced garlic

salt

pepper

Place each piece of chicken, individually, between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound out until thin. Sprinkle each side with salt, pepper, oregano, and flour. Shake off excess flour from each piece.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, melting the butter and oil together. Add chicken and cook until browned on each side. Remove chicken from skillet.

Slice lemons. Put garlic into skillet to heat up. Place lemon slices over the garlic.

Place chicken pieces over lemons. Reduce the heat to medium low for a few minutes until lemons soften and chicken is reheated through.

Italian Balsamic Chicken

I don't really know how to describe this marinade, except it is so full of flavor and delicious for grilled chicken! Try it soon!

Italian Balsamic Chicken

as adapted from Plain Chicken

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 c. EVOO

4 Tb. balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1 pkg. zesty italian seasoning/dressing mix

2 tsp. onion powder

Combine all ingredients in a gallon bag, except for chicken. Make sure all ingredients are well combined and then place thawed chicken into bag. Let soak for several hours, even overnight, and mix chicken around in the bag often. For best results, grill it up!

Italian Cream Chicken

This is a recipe I found from a friends food blog, Sweet as P.I.E. She is big into slow cooker recipes, and when she posted this new one, I decided to give it a shot. I adjusted it a tiny bit, and fixed it with regular angel hair pasta. I also made roasted brussel sprouts with this dish, and you can find that recipe here. The best thing about slow cooker recipes--you can put in frozen meat! No defrosting needed!

(all the ingredients--notice the box of slow cooker liners in the back--they are great!)

(the finished product!)

Italian Cream Chicken
as adapted from Sweet as P.I.E.

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 packets of zesty italian dressing dry mix
1 8oz. package of fat free cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken and mushroom soup

Put the cream cheese, soup, and mixes into a slow cooker. Allow the cream cheese to melt until all can be stirred and mixed together. Add in chicken and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Use a fork to shred chicken. Serve over pasta.

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

My Mom downloaded this recipe from the Pioneer Woman website and was going to make it for just her and my Dad, but I offered to make it and clean up if she would buy the ingredients so all four of us could enjoy it. It was a good deal! :)

I liked this casserole, but it ended up tasting like lasagna to me. Which is fine, but I guess I just expected it to have its own unique taste. I made some adjustments to the original recipe to make it a tad healthier.

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

as adapted from The Pioneer Woman, here

1 pound ground chicken breast

1 15oz. can tomato sauce

1/2 tsp. salt

black pepper

8 oz. weight egg noodles

1/2 c. light sour cream

1-1/4 c. low fat small curd cottage cheese

1/3 c. green onion

1 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground chicken in a large skillet. Drain any fat and add tomato sauce, salt, and plenty of pepper. Stir together, and simmer while you prepare other ingredients.

Cook egg noodles until al dente.** Drain and set aside.

Combine sour cream, cottage cheese, and more pepper. Add to noodles and stir. Add green onions to this mixture and stir.

With a prepared baking dish (need a big one here, like 9x13-ish size), add half the noodles to the dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the cheese. Repeat with noodles, meat, and cheese. 

Bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

**I have this instruction starred because I don't want you to be like me. Usually when I cook pasta, I put it right into the water and then turn on the heat. Mostly because I think waiting for water to boil first is dumb. And I am impatient. I took this approach with the egg noodles, and I am here to tell you, DON'T. They turned out fine, but they were way over cooked. Like, incredibly soft. Not the way a noodle should be. It ended up being fine in this dish, and no one said anything about it, but for the future, definitely boil water FIRST, and then put in the egg noodles.

Yummy Chicken Chili

As soon as the weather hits less than 60 degrees around here, I make a big pot of chili. Luckily, chili is also really easy to make into a healthy meal, and I wanted to see what I could do. For this recipe, I used a basic chili guideline, as provided by Pioneer Woman.

The first step was swapping the beef for ground chicken breast. You definitely do not even miss this exchange. I usually exchange the beef for turkey, but the turkey was super expensive, and I went with chicken. Side note about turkey and chicken: make sure you are using the ground breast meat, not just the regular ground meat. For instance: ground turkey breast is the healthy stuff and ground turkey can have just as many calories, fats, cholesterols, etc. as ground beef.

Also, I used my taco seasoning mix in this recipe for the seasoning. This recipe can be found here from All Recipes. I am a HUGE proponent of using non-packaged seasonings, because there is so much hidden salt in those!! By mixing up your own seasonings, you not only save money, but you can closely monitor your sodium intake.

This recipe will make 8 servings.

Without further ado: here's the recipe!

Chicken Chili
(as adapted from Pioneer Woman's Frito Chili Pie)

1 lb. ground chicken breast
2 garlic cloves OR 1 tsp. minced garlic
1 c. diced onion
1 can tomato sauce
1 can Rotel
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 Tb. taco seasoning (or 1 package of chili seasoning)
1 can Pinto beans (drained and thoroughly washed)
1 can Kidney beans (drained and thoroughly washed)
5-6 pickled jalapeno slices, chopped
1/2 tsp of pickled jalapeno juice

In a big pot, put tiny bit of olive oil in the bottom, along with the diced onion and garlic. Let those sweat together for a few minutes and add in the chicken breast. Cook until just finished and add in the tomato sauce, Rotel, crushed tomatoes, seasoning, beans, jalapeno slices, and juice. Stir together. Bring heat to a low temperature and let it cook for as long as possible!! (At least 6 hours.)

**This recipe is AMAZING with the BEST Cornbread!!

Enchiladas

First off, I love this recipe! When I've made it in the past, I've used canned enchilada sauce. No more, my friends! The recipe comes partly from this recipe from the Pioneer Woman for the enchiladas, and partly from this recipe from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures for the sauce.

(Please notice the Spode dish. I LOVE this thing! I bake in it all the time!)

Enchilada Sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) can of diced tomatos with green chilies
1 Tb. onion powder
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. dried oregano
1 clove garlic/1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. taco seasoning*

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Pour into saucepan and heat all the way through.

*I made up my own taco seasoning. Its really delicious, and I like being able to throw the spices into dishes whenever I want without opening a packet. You can find the recipe I used here, on All Recipes.

Enchiladas
1/2 c. chopped green onion
1 c. light sour cream
1 12.5-oz can shredded chicken
1 c. to 1 1/2 c. shredded cheese (I used a combo of mild cheddar and monterey jack--what I had in my fridge!)
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper/ground red pepper
1/4 tsp. my taco seasoning
6 flour tortillas
1 recipe of enchilada sauce (or you an use a can of the pre-made stuff if you're in a hurry)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine chicken, sour cream, chopped green onion, all spices, and 3/4 c. of the cheese. Give it a taste, make sure the spices are where you want them...add more if you like really spicy stuff! Get ready to get messy here: take a large plate, spread some of the enchilada sauce on it and put one flour tortilla on top of the sauce. Spread more sauce on top and flip it over to make sure the tortilla is covered. Its ok if not a lot of sauce sticks to it. Take a spoonful of the chicken mixture and put it in the center of the tortilla. Roll up the tortilla, making sure to fold in the sides so the mixture is completely contained. Place into an 8" x 8" baking dish. Repeat with the remaining 5 tortillas. Once finished, spoon more of the sauce on top of the enchiladas. Top with the remaining cheese, depending on how much you prefer.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until cheese is fully melted.

These enchiladas are so good! The sour cream makes them so gooey and yummy! And the homemade enchilada sauce puts it on the map for sure! It seriously only took me a few minutes to make it up, and really makes all the difference in the dish. Give it a try!