Saturday, October 13, 2012

Crispy Ranch Chicken

Chicken strips was on the menu.


I felt like spicing it a bit.


The kids put ranch dressing on everything (that's why I buy it by the gallon in the "bulk" section at Walmart), so I thought I'd beat them to the punch and put it on the chicken first.


Ingredients:

Chicken breasts, cut into strips
1-2 cups of ranch dressing (I didn't measure and I had to refill my bowl once or twice)
Italian bread crumbs

I sliced the chicken into strips, dipped them in ranch dressing, then rolled them in the bread crumbs.  I placed them on a greased baking sheet and baked at 350 for 20 minutes, flipped them and baked another 20 minutes.

That's it!  The verdict?  Yummy!  Juicy! (not as dry as rolling it in milk/egg mixture)  No leftovers!  I was pretty bummed about that, but I guess that means it got an "A"!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Every Thursday night is Mexican night at our house.  Tonight we had Chicken Enchilada "soup".  The original recipe was not labeled "soup" but that is what it turns out to be.

6 small flour tortillas, cut into triangular pieces like a pizza.  I use whole wheat.
In a mixing bowl, combine the next 4 ingredients to make a (sort-of) soupy sauce.
1.5 lb (3 cups) of cooked chicken pieces.  Sometimes I grind chicken breasts, if I can get a good deal.
1 can of 98% fat free cream of chicken soup.
1- 19 oz. can enchilada sauce.
1-2 can beans (black or kidney) I added both.  More protein, and it makes the recipe go farther.
8 oz shredded Colby-Jack cheese.
Optional extras: sour cream, green chilies, black olives.

Use a round crock pot or deep baking dish. Cover the bottom layer with the sauce, then a layer of tortillas.  Continue alternating layers, throwing some cheese in there every couple layers, like you would when making lasagna.  Put sauce and cheese on the top layer.  Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, until cheese is melted. (Or microwave for 5-10 minutes or crock pot a few hours.)  Serve with a ladle.  Serves 6.