Chicken Toastadas

As usual, it's been a while... things have been so crazy lately. We have experienced the highest of highs and lowest of lows in the last 6 weeks. I hope to sit down and blog more about it later but for now, I am just going to share a recipe my mom requested earlier this week.

We love posting our recipes on our blogs because then we can just refer back to each others blog instead of calling each other several times for one recipe.

This is one of our family favorites (I know, we have a lot... but we are foodies)! And it is SOOO insanely easy! I adapted it from a recipe in a Martha Stewart cook book, but of course tweaked it to our families liking.

Here's what you need:

3-4 chicken breasts, boiled
1 small jar of salsa verde, or tomatillo salsa
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 lime
flour tortillas
shredded Monterrey jack cheese or Spanish blend white cheese

Preheat oven at 400 degrees. After chicken breast are boiled and drained, shred (I put mine in the Kitchen Aid mixer with the paddle attachment... super easy!). Once shredded, add the jar of salsa, cumin and juice from 1/2 lime. Stir until blended.

Place tortillas on a cookie sheet 2 or 3 at a time so that they are not overlapping, top with a thin layer of cheese and bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Then top a heaping spoonful of chicken mixture and another layer of cheese. Bake for an added 7 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and enjoy!

You can top these with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream or chopped cilantro... but they are yummy on their own too!

Yields: 8 toastadas (enough for the 4 of us, plus leftovers for Matt's lunch :])

Black Bean and Corn Salad

I have been on a bit of a salad kick lately, but I am not a plain-old-lettuce-tomato-cucumber kind of girl. The other night I was having one of my cravings, so I raided my fridge and pantry to see what I could come up with. This was the end result.

Black Bean and Corn Salad

1 head of lettuce- roughly chopped

1 can black beans- rinsed

1 can sweet summer corn (i used the vaccum sealed kind)

2-3 chicken breast

Cherry tomatoes halved

mixed cheese

tortilla strips

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons paprika

Lightly season chicken breasts and brown in a skillet over medium heat (5 to 10 minutes depending on thickness). Remove chicken; add beans, corn, cumin and paprika and heat for 5 minutes. Layer salad together and top with desired dressing, I like ranch.

This is a very hearty salad which made enough for the 4 of us to have dinner, plus 2 lunch portions for Matt and I. It was quick, easy and filling, just the way I like it!

Pizza Night!

It's Friday, which means it's pizza night here in the Ham house. We try to spend Friday nights at home as a family. Brooke and I make homemade pizzas, Maddux mixes up a salad and Daddy gets Ellie Grace ready for bed early. When dinner is ready, we all pile on the couch and pop in a movie (tonight its "The Grinch"). Yes, this is a tradition I hope we keep for years and years to come! We make our pizzas from scratch for 2 reasons, 1) it's cheaper and 2) it tastes better. I am aways on the look out for new topping combinations, but we have been stuck on this "White Pizza" for a while now. I initially looked up a recipe for it, but now we just wing it. (hmm, just made me think... maybe we should try a take on hot wing pizza next week). Focus Kelli! Anyway, here is my recipe.



Loaded down with chicken, spinach and cheese... it's a hearty meal without being too heavy.



White Pizza

2 to 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks

1 large white onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves minced garlic

EVOO

white cheese ( I use a mixture of mozzarella and Monterrey jack cheese)

bunch of fresh spinach or small package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained

salt and pepper to taste

homemade pizza dough (below)

Over medium-high heat, drizzle a large skillet with olive oil and add onion and garlic. Saute until onions become translucent (3-5 minutes). Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper and add to the skillet. Cook the chicken through (10-15 minutes), remove from heat. Spread olive oil over the dough, add the chicken mixture. Top with a few handfuls of spinach and then cheese. If you really want to kick it up a notch you can also sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Pop it in a preheated (350 degrees) oven for 20 minutes. The last two minutes or so, I like to turn the oven on broil to get a nice golden hue to the cheese and crust.

Pizza Dough

3 cups All-Purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons oil

1 cup  hot, tap water

1 package active dry yeast

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl or cup, dissolve yeast in hot water for about a minute. Add yeast mixture and oil to the flour and mix (don't be afraid to get your hands in there and get dirty!). On a floured surface, knead dough slightly, then roll or press dough into a pizza pan or shallow cookie sheet. Top as desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. No rising needed!

There you have it, easy as pizza pie!

Do have any weekly traditions or rituals with your family? I would love to here from you!

Warm Bellies!

I love soup,it's a fact! One of my absolute favorite recipes is my moms Broccoli and Cheese soup. This one is so quick and easy, I am planning on using it before candle light service next Christmas Eve. I have modified my moms version slightly to meet my families taste but it is still oh-so-yummy!

Broccoli andCheese Soup

1-32oz box of chicken broth

2- bags of frozen california style veggies

1-package smoked turkey sausage

1-small block Velveeta cheese, cut into small cubes

1-can diced tomatoes (if you like more bite, use a can of Rotel)

In a large pot, bring chicken broth, veggies and sausage to a boil. Turn off heat. Stir in cheese and tomatoes until cheese is creamy. Enjoy!

*Important note: don't bring the cheese to a boil or else it will curdle.

I like to pop a few Sister Scheubert dinner rolls into the oven while the cheese is melting and dinner is done!

I am linking up to Ashley's Holiday Recipe Party at Domestic Fashionista.

Linguine A'la Brianne

Alright, so that's not the real name of this dish but in the Goode house it is. Super cheap and easy, and feeds a large family.

1 package linguine noodles
1 package diced ham
1 bottle Alfredo sauce
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 package croutons
Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta as directed on package. Slice bell peppers and saute over a little bit of olive oil (don't overcook or they will because soggy in the oven. After draining the pasta, mix with Alfredo sauce, half of the ham and half of the croutons, in a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle top with remaining ham and croutons, followed by Parmesan cheese and bell peppers. Cook in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.

I omit the bell peppers because we aren't very big into peppers, but Matt loves this stuff... he has even been known to eat the left overs cold!

Pulled Pork Loin

OK, so my cousin asked for more recipes and I was going to post a few last week but I was out with a cold/flu thing... we even missed dance class because of it! So here I am today trying to fill the order for easy, delicious dinners. I just winged it with this newest one. I bought a HUGE pork loin a Sam's club and cut it into four chunks. When that day came where we had been eating chicken in some fashion all week and needed to change things up, I thawed a loin only to discover Matt wasn't in the mood for pork chops, so I got creative :).

1 lb. Pork loin trimmed of excess fat
2 tbs veggie or olive oil
salt
pepper
paprika
garlic salt
cayenne
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup chicken  broth
1 cup juice (apple or grape work best)
1to 2 cups BBQ sauce

Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat. Rub loin with seasonings. Brown in skillet on each side for about 3 minutes, you want to lightly crisp the outside to lock in flavor. Remove from heat and place in crock-pot. Top with brown sugar, broth and juice. You can cook it at high heat for 3-4 hours or on medium heat all day while you are at work (6-8 hours). Add BBQ sauce 30 minutes before serving. remove the loin from the pot and shred in a bowl or platter. Top with some of the juices. serve on a bun or baked potato.

Both time I have made this we have been out of juice so I used Diet Dr Pepper, don't you judge me ;). So yummy and makes more than enough food for our little family of four. Sorry, when its a Kelli original recipe you dont get very detailed meaurements on the spices.