Restraunt Style Mexican Rice

To be honest, this actually has more flavor then the stuff you get next to your beans at the mexican restraunt. It was so delicious and rather easy, it will surely be a staple in our house!

3 TBSP oil
1 cup dry long grain rice
1/4 cup of onion finely chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth (I used beef because that's what I had)
I also added some carne asada seasoning. It would really add some more flavor if you had some of that or a sprinkle of taco seasoning but it's not necessary.

Heat oil in pan. Add rice and onion and saute until golden brown.

Sprinkle with seasonings when it's nearly done browning. Mix well and add tomato sauce and broth.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Let me know how yours turns out. I always enjoy hearing when others have tried the recipes I post!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

To be honest, I don't know why it took me so long to try this recipe but I'm sure glad I did! I made it for the first time last winter and it is very simple to make and the best part about it: you can pump up the spice level if your family prefers hot food! Here ya go!


1 lb bonless skinless chicken breasts (I use two large ones)
1 medium onion finely chopped (I only used half)
1 can diced tomatos with chilis, undrained
1 can (10 oz) mild enchilada sauce (or medium or hot, whichever you prefer)
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chilis, drained (I use mild but here's another chance to spice it up)
1 can chicken broth 1 can corn, drained (this time around I used half of a small bag of frozen corn)
chopped garlic (I used about a tablespoon full)
2 teaspoons of chili powder
1.5 teaspoons of cumin (I've made it before without and it tasted just fine)
5 soft corn tortillas cut into 1 inch pieces
1 can of beans drained (kidney, black beans, pinto, whichever you prefer or have on hand)

Spray your crockpot with non-stick spray and place your trimmed chicken breast in the bottom. Top with your "chunky" ingredients.

Top those with the can of tomatos, sprinkle with seasonings and layer with tortilla pieces. Pour the liquids on top.

Cook for 6-8 hours on low. Pull the chicken breasts out, shred with fork then return to pot.

You could top with sour cream and shredded cheese if you'd prefer. Enjoy!

This time around I got smart and rather then let the leftover tortillas from the package go bad, I divided them into groups of five and put them in a freezer bag and froze them for my next round of tortilla soup!

1-2-3-4 Chili

This is really as easy as 1-2-3-4! I do add a secret ingredient that gives the chili a fabulous nutty flavor (see below).


The ingredients are 1-2-3-4

1 packet chili seasoning
2 pounds of ground beef (browned and drained)
3 cans of beans (2 of kidney beans drained and one of chili beans with sauce)
4 small cans tomato sauce (I use 2 regular size ones)

Optional-
1 TBSP chili powder
garlic and onion powder to taste
secret ingredient- heaping spoonful of peanut butter (I left this out right now because we've yet to introduce Ashton to peanuts)


Pour tomato sauce into crockpot, add chili seasoning and optional ingredients. Mix well. Add the beans and beef. Cook on low 8-10 hours. It's not quite as tasty but if you're in a time crunch you can cook on high for 3-4 hours.

Serving suggestion- 30 minutes before it's done I mix in 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. I like to serve ours over rice (it turns it into two meals and really makes it more filling). I use the leftovers to make chili mac!

Russian Chicken

This was by far one of the best meals I've made. I think it was so tasty to me because it has a totally different taste then most meals I make. I am going to post two different ways to cook it. I originally found this as a crockpot meal but our crockpot is not very nice to chicken so I did it in the oven. I'll post both versions :) I guess I should laso mention that while looking up variations of this recipe I found it was made two different ways equally (one with cranberries and another with apricots)

1 8 oz bottle Russian dressing (the kind I used was by Wishbone)
1 can of whole cranberries in sauce (you can choose to replace the cranberries with a small jar of apricot preserves)
1 envelope onion soup mix (dry)
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

To cook this in the crockpot simply place your trimmed breasts at the bottom of the pot, mix the other ingredients seperately and pour them over the chicken. Cook on low 5-6 hours.




To bake it, tenderize your chicken breasts to equal thickness. Place them in a 9x13 dish coated with PAM. Mix all other ingredients and pour over the top.



Cover with foil and bake about 40 minutes, removing the foil for the last 10 or so (it might need a little longer to cook, just check it at 40. I did mine an hour like the original recipe and it was overcooked)
It is a MUST to serve this with rice or mashed potatos and use up all that extra sauce on top!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

I made this recipe for the first time at my mom's a couple of weeks ago, and I'm pretty sure it is from Kraft. This meal was cheesy, moist and best of all: delicious! Super easy too!

4 boneless skinless chikcen breasts
2/3 cup mayo
1/3 cup parmesean cheese
italian bread crumbs (about 1/4-1/3 cup)

To start, you will want to trim your chicken and then beat it (tenderize) to even thickness. Preheat oven to 425 and spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray. Mix together the mayo and parm. Spread it evenly over the chicken breasts.


Next, sprinkle bread crumbs over chicken.



Bake the chicken for 20-25 minutes until cooked through. I served with some Garlic & Olive Oil Vermicelli and green beans. YUMMY!

Candy Bar Pie (as in SNICKERS)

Okay, so this recipe was in my newest edition of the Pillsbury recipe card cookbooks titled Best Holiday Desserts (it should be by the checkstand at the grocery store). Anyways, I have not tried this yet but it looks AH-mazing! I just had to share!

Crust-

1 refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box

Filling-

5 (2.07 oz) snickers bars

4 3 oz pkgs cream cheese softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

Topping-

3 TBSP whipping cream

2/3 cup milk chocolate chips

Heat oven to 450. Place pie crust in 9 inch pie dish. Bake 5-7 minutes or until light brown. Cool crust while preparing filling. Turn oven down to 325.

Cut candy bars in half lengthwise and then into 1/4 inch pieces. Place candy bar pieces in partially baked crust. In small bowl beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time until well blended. Add sour cream and peanut butter beating until completely smooth. Pour over candy bar pieces. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely.

In a small saucepan heat whipping cream until very warm. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Spread over top of pie. Refrigerate 2 to 3 hours before serving.

If you make this before me, let me know how it turns out!