New Recipes

Okay, I've never done this before on my blog but I've discovered some new recipes that were huge hits with my family so I thought I'd pass them on. They are super easy, pretty cheap and fairly healthy.

Mexican Style Chicken

1Tbsp chili powder

1 Tbsp sugar (I left this out)

2 Tbsp Mexican Seasoning (I couldn't find this so I used taco seasoning)

1 cup salsa

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

Cooking spray

1 pound chicken breast tenders (I didn't use a whole pound)

1/2 (16oz) package frozen pepper stir-fry

1 cup chopped onion (my stir fry had onion in it already)

3 cups hot cooked long-grain rice

Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl. Combine salsa and tomatoes.

Place a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium high heat until hot. Add chicken, and sprinkle evenly with chili powder mixture. Top with pepper stir fry and onion. Pour salsa mixture evenly over top. Bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat. Simmer 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Serve over cooked rice.

I wish I had taken a picture. It looked a little like a jumbalia (s/p?). It was really good and my girls cleaned their plates :)

Chicken Lasagna Florentine

We all LOVED this! Plus it's SO EASY because it's a crock pot meal!!!!

2 cans fat free cream of chicken soup (I hardly ever use this anymore but it was worth it)

1 (10oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed

1 (9oz) package frozen diced cooked chicken (I just boiled some chicken breasts and cut them up but it took a lot longer)

1 (8oz) carton reduced fat sour cream

1cup 1% low fat milk

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

9 uncooked lasagna noodles

Cooking spray

1 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese

1. Combine first 10 ingredients in a large bowl and stir well

2. Place 3 uncooked lasagna noodles in bottom of a 5-quart electric slow cooker coated with cooking spray, breaking noodles in half as necessary to fit slow cooker. Spread one-third of spinach mixture over noodles; sprinkle with 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese. Layer 3 more noodles, half of remaining spinach mixture, and 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese. Top with remaining noodles and spinach mixture; sprinkle with remaining 1.3 cup mozzarella cheese.

3. Cover with lid, cook on high-heat setting for 1 hour. Reduce to low heat setting and cook 5 hours or until pasta is done.

I don't think I cooked it the full 6 hours and it was over done. I guess it just depends on how your crock pot cooks. We LOVED it. The leftovers were gone the next day. Al highly recommends this!!!

Lastly...

Garlic Rosemary Chicken

1 (5 pound) roasting chicken, skinned

2 (5 inch) rosemary sprigs

2 celery stalks with leaves, each cut into 4 pieces

2 small onions, quartered

16 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1 lemon, halved (optional)

Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Rinse chicken under cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat. Place 2 rosemary springs, celery, 4 onion wedges, and 4 garlic cloves in cavity of chicken, and tie legs together with twine. Place chicken, breast side up, in a 4-quart electric slow cooker; add remaining onion and garlic to cooker. Drizzle lemon juice over chicken; sprinkle with next 3 ingredients. Cover with lid; cook on high heat setting 1 hour. Reduce to low heat setting and cook 6 hours or until chicken is tender. Discard rosemary. Serve chicken with vegetables and garlic. Garnish with additional rosemary sprigs and lemon halves if desired.

This was the first time I've ever cleaned out a chicken, stuffed it and tied up the legs. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Once you get the chicken ready it's so easy from there. You can serve it with whatever side dishes you like. It's super yummy and we had a lot of meat leftover that I've used for two other dishes! Doesn't get much better than that!

I hope you all try some of these out. The recipes seem like a lot of directions but they are all really easy! Let me know if you make them and what you think of them :)

Oops, this was supposed to go up by the lasagna. This is a picture of what mine looked like it at the end. It's a little over cooked but it was delish!