Creamy Italian Chicken

There is nothing better then a super easy and equally yummy crock pot recipe! This one is a new favorite. The sauce is a must-have served over rice!

1 can cream of chicken soup (I use the 98% fat free stuff)
1 pckg dry italian dressing mix
1 8 oz pckg of cream cheese (I like the 1/3 less fat kind)
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Trim chicken, place in crock pot. In a seperate bowl mix soup and dressing mix and pour over chicken. Now, slice your cream cheese, place on top of soup and cook on low for 6 hours! About an hour before it's done, reach in there and stir that cream cheese into the sauce. Serve the chicken with a little sauce on top, use remaining sauce on top of some yummy brown rice and serve up with some green beans!

Salami and Pesto Pasta

This is a favorite of mine. Unfortunately, I cannot find my actual recipe so I am guesstimating the amounts of ingredients :)

Your choice of fun pasta (about 3/4 of a 16oz box), cooked and drained

4-6 oz of salami, cubed

two roma tomatos, diced

1.5 cups fresh spinach, chopped

5 oz or so of white cheese (provolone, monterey jack, etc) cubed

a jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

2 envelopes (give or take) of pesto sauce, prepared accoording to package

Toss all ingredients with the pasto sauce and serve! I like it best with cold ingredients and warm sauce on top!

Croutons

These croutons are quick to throw together and delicious topping a salad or soup! THey are much healthier then the version at the store because you can use whatever kind of bread you would like!

3 TBSP oil (I used olive oil here)
Seasonings (for me I used garlic, onion, and salt)
6-8 slices of bread cubed

Mix the oil and seasonings and then drizzle over bread. Toss bread and bake at 300 for 15 minutes, stir and cook another 15 minutes or until nice and golden brown!

Zesty Butternut Squash

This is a super delicious, filling, nutritious dish and a favorite in our house!


1 medium butternut squash
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup cheddar cheese



You need to seed, dice and skin your squash.

Steam for about 15 minutes or until nice and soft. Add the salsa.

In a small greased casserole dish put half of the sqaush mixture in and then top with half of the cheese. Add the rest of the squash mixture and top with the remaining cheese. Bake, covered, for about 20 minutes at 350. Enjoy!

White Enchiladas

This recipe is my fabulous step mom's and was a favorite growing up! It's a twist on the traditional enchilada. While it can be time consuming, you can save time by simply layering the ingredients like a lasagna rather then rolling it all individually. I am not going to give an amount of ingredients because it can vary gretaly depending on the number and size of pans you want to make. I have not tried it but I imagine these would freeze pretty well.

corn tortillas
chicken
cream of celery soup
milk
shredded cheese (Iused cheddar here but any mix of cheddar, pepperjack, or monterey would go over well)
canned, diced chilis
chopped olives
sour cream to garnish


Start by "frying" your tortillas. You do NOT want them crispy, simply soft. Do one side, then the other with a max of 15 seconds cooking time.

Lay the tortillas out on papertowels to drain the excess oil and cool down, trut me, you don't want to handle hot tortillas!

Shred your chicken! Boiling and shredding is the method I normally use. This however, was half of a roasted chicken.

You will want to add milk to your cream of celery soup to make it the consistency of ranch dressing (or something similar).

Now, dip your tortillas (both sides) in the soup, fill with your toppings and roll and place ina greased pan. When you're finished, top with extra soup and cheese and any left over filling stuff and bake for about 45 minutes at 350.