Ranch Quesadillas

Quick and easy way to make quesadillas. If I’m in a hurry, I cook them in the Panini maker instead of the oven. Either way works just great. I got this recipe from my friend Stacey Billingsley. It's from her Weight Watcher days, and the notes are Stacey's modifications to what I believe is a WW recipe. 

• 1 small can of diced green chiles (not the fire-roasted kind - you may need to drain can some)
• 1 large can of chicken (I use the white meat chicken breast - drain and shred the chicken some so you have smaller pieces)
• 2 cups of Monterey Jack/Colby Mix (can also use Mexican mix) shredded cheese
• about 3/4 cup of Hidden Valley Ranch (I use the fat free kind - use a little more up to 1 cup if needed to stick it all together, but usually 3/4 cup is fine)
• Tortillas (either flour or whole wheat or whatever)

Only put a few spoonfuls into each tortilla before you fold it over or the yummy goodness will overflow.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

This recipe comes from 365 Easy One-Dish Meals and is on Alec’s list of favorites, along with Chicken Potpie. I don’t use peas, of course, because Brad hates them. I do use chopped potatoes instead of hash browns (although I’m sure frozen hash browns would be yummy), and I make regular biscuit dough from scratch instead of using Bisquick.

2 medium onion, coarsely chopped

8 medium carrots cut into 1/2 inch slices

4 celery ribs, chopped

3 cups frozen hash brown potatoes (about 1 pound), or chopped, peeled baking potatoes

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1 (4-ounce) can mushrooms

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, cut into chunks

2 (10 1/2 ounce) cans condensed golden mushroom soup

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 (16 ounce) package frozen peas

1 cup buttermilk baking mix, such as Bisquick

1/3 cup water

1. Turn a 6 quart crock pot on high while preparing ingredients. In crock pot, combine onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, corn, mushrooms, chicken, undiluted soup, wine, and pepper. Mix well.
2. Cover; reduce heat to low, and cook 5 1/2 hours.
3. Stir in peas. To make dumplings, mix together baking mix and water until well blended (or make one recipe of biscuit dough). Drop by spoonfuls in 5 or 6 mounds on top of chicken mixture. (I actually put shaped biscuits on to, instead.) Cover and cook 1/2 hour. Uncover and cook 15 minutes longer.

Chicken Popovers

This recipe comes from 365 Chicken Recipes, a perfectly glorious cookbook.

Popovers (Makes 14-16)

(About 80 calories each.)

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cold chicken broth

4 eggs

Filling

(1530 total calories or 128/serving for 12 servings)

4 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon ground thyme

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup milk (recipe calls for evaporated milk; I use regular)

2 tablespoon white wine

1/2 pound mushrooms, quartered and sautéed in butter (I skip these, due to my dear husband)

1 cup frozen peas (I use corn)

1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper or pimientos

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

1. Make popovers: Preheat oven to 450 (although I usually go 425). In a blender or food processor, combine flour, salt, milk, broth, and eggs. Process until smooth. Spoon into well-greased, preheated popover pan or muffin tin, filling 2/3 full. Bake 40 minutes (although it never takes that long for me—more like 20 or 25) until well-browned, puffed, and firm.
2. Make filling: Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour, thyme, and pepper. Cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes without browning. Gradually whisk in chicken broth, milk, and wine. Cook, stirring until thickened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms, peas (or corn), red pepper, and chicken. Cook another 5 minutes, until heated through.
4. Split hot popovers and spoon in chicken filling.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

This recipe comes from The Friend magazine. I included it in a recipe book I compiled back in 2000, when the LDS Church made all of The Friend available online, and it has become popular in our house ever since.

4-8 skinned, boned chicken breast halves

1 egg, beaten

cornstarch

oil

sauce (recipe follows)

1. Dip the chicken breasts into the egg, and then roll them in the cornstarch.

2. In a small amount of oil, fry the chicken until just browned.

3. Place the chicken in a shallow baking pan, pour the sauce over it, then bake it uncovered at 325° F (160° C) for one hour, turning the chicken every 15 minutes.

 Sauce

Note: I typically double the sauce recipe.

3/4 cup sugar

4 tablespoons catsup

1/2 cup vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together.

Ruth's Meatballs (for Spaghetti)

My mother-in-law’s spaghetti is as legendary as her apple pie. She cooks the meatballs in the spaghetti sauce, which is wonderful. Since I generally put off cooking until the last minute, I usually take the shortcut and bake the meatballs in the oven instead.

For each pound of hamburger, add:

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup dry Italian bread crumbs

1 egg

1/2 cup water

minced onion

Italian seasoning

Garlic powder

Salt

Either cook in the spaghetti sauce (takes 3-ish hours) or bake at 350 for 15 minutes. 

Chicken Potstickers

I stumbled on this recipe when I was trying to find a use for a huge head of cabbage that came with my produce coop haul for the week. It was a great find! Traditionally made with pork, Chinese potstickers work equally well with chicken. In a pinch, wonton skins may be used for the homemade wrappers; reduce the cooking time to 3 minutes. Makes about 24 dumplings; serves 6 (about 80 calories/dumpling)

NOTE: I discovered that the homemade wrappers are a bit sensitive; the water has to be just right and the consistency has to be just right, or they are a complete pain and end up flying across the room when I throw a tantrum. Consequently, since my family loves potstickers and I don’t want to throw tantrums, I have started using dumpling wrappers that I buy at the Asian market in town. Happiness all around.

For Wrappers:

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup boiling water

For Filling:

2 cups finely chopped napa cabbage

1/4 cup blanched spinach, chopped

1 pound ground dark chicken meat (I brown the meat before adding)

1/2 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic chives or green (spring) onion

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

For Sauce:

6 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

3 tablespoons light soy sauce

Chili oil

Vegetable oil for frying

FOR WRAPPERS: In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the 2 cups flour and salt and pulse once to mix. With the motor running, slowly pour in the boiling water. Continue to process until a rough ball forms and the dough pulls away from the sides of the work bowl, 15-20 seconds. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and no longer sticky, about 2 minutes. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

FOR FILLING: Place the cabbage and spinach in a kitchen towel, wring out the excess liquid and place in a bowl. Add all the remaining filling ingredients and stir until combined. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Uncover the dough and knead briefly. Cut in half. Roll out one half about 1/8 inch thick. Using a round cookie cutter 3 1/2 inches in diameter, cut out rounds. Set the rounds aside, lightly covered with the kitchen towel. Repeat with the remaining dough and all scraps.

FOR SAUCE: Stir together the vinegar and soy sauce. Add chili oil to taste. Set aside.

FOR POTSTICKERS: Put 1 tablespoon of the filling in the middle of a dough round. Fold the round in half and pinch the edges together at one end of the arc. Starting from that point, make 6 pleats or tucks along the curved edge to enclose the filling. As each potsticker is made, place seam-side up on a baking sheet, pressing down gently so it will sit flat. Cover with the kitchen towel and continue forming and placing the potstickers on the baking sheet until all are made.

Heat a 9-inch nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add about 2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Arrange 8-10 potstickers, seam side up and just touching, in a spiral in the pan. Fry until the bottoms are browned, about 1 minute. Add water to come halfway up the sides of the potstickers and bring to a boil. Immediately cover, reduce the heat to low and steam-cook for 8 minutes, adding more water if necessary to keep the pan wet. Uncover, increase the heat to high and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the bottoms are crispy, about 30 seconds longer. Transfer to a serving plate and keep warm; fry the remaining potstickers.

TO SERVE: Divide the dipping sauce among individual saucers. Serve the potstickers hot with the sauce.

Source: Casual Cuisines of the World - Far East Café

Green Breakfast Smoothie

This is my second breakfast every morning. It looks...well, nasty, frankly. But I actually quite like the taste. We use a Vitamix blender for this. I suppose you could use a regular blender, but the consistency would be rather chunky for my tastes. This recipe makes 2 smoothies, at about 200 calories each.

1 apple (cored and cut into quarters)

2 cups kale (or spinach or a combination thereof)

1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt

1 cup frozen strawberries

1/2 cup dry oatmeal

1 tablespoon flax seed

1-2 tablespoons honey

Add to Vitamix blender and blend on high until smooth.

Note: For a less caloric version, if you are more interested in the veggies than the grains, you can try this recipe:

1 apple (cored and cut into quarters) OR a handful of baby carrots

2 cups kale (or spinach or a combination thereof)

1 cup frozen strawberries

1-2 tablespoons honey