Category: In the Kitchen

Recipes and edible ideas from my kitchen. All these yummies are tested before being posted.

My Own VBS Mexican Chicken Casserole

My Own VBS Mexican Chicken Casserole

Mexican Chicken

This past week was VBS prep week and, as many of you know, it’s a seriously hectic time of year for me and one in which I certainly will never win the nurturing wife and mother of the year award. As Vacation Bible School coordinator for our little Baptist church I wear many hats, including lead decorator and organizer, so I usually spend way too many hours at the church while the laundry, family meals and perhaps just plain good hygiene go out the window (just so you know, although I’ve heard a gal can turn her underwear inside out in a pinch, I’ve never actually given it a go).

During prep week I’m usually exhausted, I hardly see my family and a clean house and home-cooked meals are completely out of the question, but maybe I’m starting to get the hang of this gig because I actually invented dinner for my family Thursday night and it was actually quite tasty. So yummy in fact that I decided to share this super quick recipe with you — I think I’ll call it VBS Mexican Chicken Casserole (you can call it whatever you want, I suppose *grin*).  I wouldn’t consider this a healthy dish by any stretch, but I’ve certainly served my boys much worse.

The idea started with  frozen chicken breasts and half a bag of tortilla chips I had on hand, which somehow translated to a casserole in my mind. As I started searching for Mexican chicken recipes, I found loads of tasty looking meals, but I was missing a key ingredient or it sounded way too complicated. Our provisions were low and I certainly didn’t have the motivation to make a run to the grocery store. Did I mention it was VBS prep week? So as the chicken was boiling on the stove, I decided to throw together a few ingredients from our cupboard to make my own concoction, and if you find yourself in similar circumstances I gotta say you might want to give this quick and easy recipe a go.

VBS Mexican Chicken Casserole
Serves 8
A super easy Mexican meal for mid-week dinner in a hurry.
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
35 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
35 min
Ingredients
  1. 1/2 bag of tortilla chips
  2. 3 chicken breasts (cooked)
  3. 1 can petite diced tomatoes
  4. 1 can cream of chicken soup
  5. 1 pkg taco seasoning
  6. 3 cups shredded cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix tomatoes, soup and seasoning together in a mixing bowl.
  3. Oil or spray a 9x12 cooking dish to prevent sticking.
  4. Coarsely crush tortilla chips and lightly cover bottom of the baking dish.
  5. Shred cooked chicken and add to the baking dish on top of the chips.
  6. Next add the soup mixture, smoothing it out evenly on top of the chicken layer.
  7. Sprinkle two cups of shredded cheese on top of the soup layer.
  8. Next add the rest of the crushed tortilla chips and sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheese.
  9. Bake uncovered for 20 - 25 minutes until it bubbles and cheese is completely melted.
Notes
  1. Serve with a bit of salsa on top for added flavor.
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My Favorite Apple Crisp

My Favorite Apple Crisp

applecrisp

The fall signals apple-picking time to me, and we have some wonderful orchards here in the Midwest ripe with a variety of scrumptious baking fruit. My mom’s group has visited Schweizer’s Orchard near St. Joseph, Missouri, the last couple of years for some delicious apples; plus, the children love to start their morning with the apple tree book before a tour and love to end it with a picnic and time on the playground. If you live close, and want to pick some fresh fruit,  I recommend a visit.

Okay, so you know where I pick my apples, but how about the fun part — the eating of it all?  There are so many ways to prepare a good apple, but this recipe is definitely one of my favs. This apple crisp is super simple and small, which makes it a quick in-the-moment or after-meal choice. My husband isn’t a fan of any dessert that doesn’t contain chocolate so it’s a good thing we don’t have to share this petite little dish. It will feed four in a pinch, but two to three is more like it. I like to serve it hot with a dollop of whipped cream on top, but a scoop of vanilla ice cream would also do.

Easy Apple Crisp
Serves 2
A quick apple dessert for two or three
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
40 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
40 min
Ingredients
  1. 2/3 c. rolled oats
  2. 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
  3. 2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
  4. 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  5. 1/4 c. margarine
  6. 2 apples peeled, cored and thinly sliced
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Stir together oats, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in margarine until mixture is crumbly.
  3. In a small baking dish, lay out apples.
  4. Sprinkle with the oat mixture on top of the apples.
  5. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until top is lightly browned.
Notes
  1. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
Adapted from American Heart Association Quick & Easy Cookbook
Adapted from American Heart Association Quick & Easy Cookbook
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Barbeque Pulled Chicken and Homemade Buns, Hun

Barbeque Pulled Chicken and Homemade Buns, Hun

pulledchicken

Now these are some good buns, hun (it had to be said)! My latest bread machine creation is a winner, so I just had to brag a bit, but I’m also sharing one of my favorite go-to recipes with all of you so please forgive me for being so pleased with myself. I just get super excited when a new recipe tastes like it should when it comes from my kitchen. . . sad, I know.

I made hamburger buns using the dough-only setting on my bread machine and came up with some of the tastiest (fresh and preservative-free) buns we’ve ever had in this house. So a couple of them were a little large, but most of them turned out like. . . well, buns; and when I added my barbeque pulled chicken into the mix a delicious family-pleasing meal was born.

You can print the chicken recipe below; but first, here’s a quick how-to for the buns. I used the Butter Roll recipe that came with my bread machine using the dough-only option so that everything mixed together properly but didn’t cook. I then shaped the buns by pulling apart small wads of dough and making bun-shaped rolls on a piece of parchment paper. I let the buns rise and then cooked them at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. When they were done, I sliced them in half and stored the leftovers in the refrigerator. . . and the tuna salad I had on a bun a couple of days later was also delicious.

Okay, so the buns were a bonus, but here’s the best part of this meal — the barbeque pulled chicken. I discovered this recipe a couple of years ago and have tweaked it a bit along the way. My family loves this stuff and it’s also easy to whip up a large batch when people are coming for dinner. So here’s the recipe. I hope you enjoy!

Barbeque Pulled Chicken
Serves 8
A chicken recipe that tastes similar to pulled pork (the other white meat). 🙂
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Ingredients
  1. 6-8 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (thawed)
  2. 1 large bottle barbeque sauce (28 oz)
  3. 1/4 c Italian salad dressing
  4. 1/4 c brown sugar
  5. 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
  1. Place the thawed chicken breasts in a crockpot.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix up all the other ingredients.
  3. Cover the chicken with this mixture.
  4. Cook in crockpot, approx. 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. Please use recommended chicken standards when deciding how long to cook this dish.
  5. When the chicken is completely cooked, use two forks to pull it apart.
  6. Serve hot on hamburger buns.
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