My Recipes » Main Dish

Velveeta Taco Mac & Cheese

Holly P. — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:37:50 +0000

Ok, who doesn’t love mac & cheese? Well, I certainly do and this is a nice variation. It’s a quick and easy recipe using things I usually have on hand and it tastes yummy! Yeah, for hearty, comfort food!

Recipe: Velveeta Taco Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef
2-3/4 cups water
1/3 cup salsa
1-1/2 tsp. chili powder or cumin
2 cups (8 oz.) elbow macaroni, uncooked
1/2 lb (8 oz.) Velveeta Pasteurized Prepared Cheese product, cut up in cubes

Instructions

Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain.
Stir in cups water, salsa, and chili powder.
Bring to boil. Stir in macaroni and cover. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 8 – 10 minutes or until water is almost absorbed.
Add Velveeta and cook until melted, stirring frequently.
Garnish with 1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips, 1/4 cup chopped tomato and 2 Tbsp chopped green onion if desired

Other Recipes

Quick Tortilla Soup

Holly P. — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:53:45 +0000

This a quick and tasty recipe for Tortilla soup. My Mom shared it with me and I make it all the time. This soup has a great flavor and you can really personalize it by adding or deleting some of the ingredients.

Recipe: Quick Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts
2 cans of chicken broth
3 – 4 cans of water
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup of celery, chopped
2 Tbs of butter
1 cup of corn (drained if from a can)
2 cans chopped tomatoes with chilies (10 oz can)
1 package Taco seasoning
1 package dry Ranch dressing mix
Tortilla chips
Grated cheese
Chopped green onions

Instructions

Cook chicken in broth/water until done (about 30 minutes). Remove chicken and cut up into bite-size pieces. Return to broth.
Saute onion, green pepper, and celery in butter until tender.
Add chicken and vegetables to broth.
Add corn, canned tomatoes with chilies, and dry mixes. Stir well and simmer 30 – 40 minutes.
Serve over broken tortilla chips and garnish with grated cheese and onion.

Variations

You can add cut up avocado, black beans, jalapenos, chilies, pico de gallo as well as whatever else you like to the soup.

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John P.’s 5 Minute Avgolemono Soup Recipe (1)

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Holly P. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:58:33 +0000

This recipe was given to me by my wonderful Mother-in-law, Linda and it’s a keeper. This casserole layers rice, chicken, white sauce, broccoli (optional for those non-veggie eaters), and lots of cheese. Yum!

Recipe: Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Ingredients

2 cups cooked White rice
4 cooked chicken breasts (shredded) or 12.5 oz. canned chicken (water drained and shredded)
1 package of frozen broccoli
2-4 cups Mozzarella cheese (shredded)

White sauce:

2 tablespoons butter
1.5 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon milk
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 cup Mozzarella cheese (shredded)
1 squeeze of lemon juice
Dash of Pepper
Dash of Curry powder

Instructions

Grease your casserole dish (I use a rectangular 13×9)
Boil your chicken breasts for 1 to 1.5 hours or use canned chicken
While the rice is cooking (I like to cook mine in a rice cooker) I start making the white sauce.
Melt butter in a saucepan on Medium heat, then stir in flour, stir in cream of chicken soup, milk, lemon juice, pepper and curry powder. Once combined taste a little to judge if you want to add in more lemon juice, or curry powder. Then add in mozzarella cheese, stirring until the cheese has melted. Turn on low.
Cook broccoli (if using)
Pre-heat the oven to 350.
Once the chicken, rice, broccoli and sauce are done, then start assembling your casserole by spooning the rice into the bottom of the greased 13×9 dish. Two cups of cooked rice should cover the entire bottom of the dish about an inch deep all the way around. Then place your shredded chicken on top of the rice, covering the rice. Then add the broccoli (if using) and cover with white sauce. You’ll want to spread the white sauce around with a spoon, so it’s covering the chicken and broccoli. Lastly, spread the mozzarella over the top of the entire casserole.
Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.

Quick Notes

My husband does not like broccoli, so sometimes I’ll use 2 smaller baking dishes and make one with broccoli and one without. Or you could use a smaller, deeper dish and add another round of layers.

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Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Holly P. — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:00:04 +0000

Hello World! This is my first blog post ever, so I thought I would blog about one of my favorite recipes for chicken cacciatore.

Not only is it very tasty, it’s also really easy because you cook it in the slow cooker. I like to prepare it the night before and then put the whole bowl (covered) in the fridge (luckily my slow cooker has a removable bowl) and then just place the bowl on the slow cooker and turn it on low on my way out the door in the morning.

I found this recipe on Kraftfoods.com and I believe you’ll like it too!

Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients

1/4 cup Zesty Italian dressing
3 lb. chicken – boneless thighs and/or drumsticks
1/2 lb. (about 2 cups) of fresh sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion
1/2 cup each red and green bell pepper strips
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Italian seasoning

Instructions

Heat dressing in a large skillet on medium-high heat and cook the chicken several pieces at a time for 2-3 minutes on each side.
Place mushrooms, onions, peppers, and garlic in the slow cooker and top with chicken.
Combine crushed tomatoes, salt and seasoning and then pour over the ingredients in the slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 5 hours.

Quick Notes

I coat the chicken pieces in the dressing and then cook them on my foreman grill instead of on the stove top to avoid the chicken splatter that usually gets all over my cook top. I guess it just depends on which you’d rather clean afterwards.

Oh, I almost forgot we like it over jasmine rice, but it would be great over pasta too! To ensure this is gluten free, serve it over rice and ensure your Zesty Italian dressing is gluten free. Enjoy!

Variations

If you prefer white meat (like we do) you should use boneless chicken breasts instead of the thighs and drumsticks.

Cooking time (duration): 20

Diet (other): Gluten free

Number of servings (yield): 8

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition: Italian

My rating:5 stars: ★★★★★