Chicken Cacciatore

My Mom came up with this recipe, and over time I have made it into my own. It was my easy go-to meal when I was living by myself, the leftovers lasted for lunches almost all week, and it is a pretty healthy meal! I hope you enjoy!

~1 lb Chicken breast (boneless, skinless), in strips
1 medium onion (I always buy sweet yellow onions...), in rings or strips
1.5 (1-2 really) Bell peppers (I love to mix 1 green and 1 red, but only had green today), in strips
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 can Diced Tomatoes (mine were flavored with olive oil & garlic)
1/4-1/3 cup Tomato Sauce

Slice up the onion and bell pepper. Usually I leave the onion in rings, 

but cut it the wrong way and ended up with strips.

Cook the onion and bell pepper in a pan with oil on medium heat. Add in some salt, pepper, and oregano (sometimes I will experiment with other spices for new combinations, tonight I added Rosemary) to taste. 

When the onion starts to brown, remove from pan and set aside. 

Throw chicken into pan, season with salt & pepper, brown chicken on all sides, but don't worry about cooking completely through.

Add onion & bell pepper and then stir.

Top with the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Cover and simmer on medium-low (around 4 is good on my stove) for 45 minutes, quickly stirring every 10 minutes or so.

Eat on its own (low carb!) or add in some pasta. 

Feel free to top with some Parmesan 

(we did tonight, but usually I don't add it).

The best part about this recipe is it is so simple, you can REALLY make it your own. I've used a can of Rotel (diced tomato & green chiles) for a Mexican flavor, it was delish!

Enchilada Casserole

For some reason, I've been in the mood for Mexican food (see below...fajitas & chicken avocado enchiladas...ha) and decided to make Enchilada Casserole! It is a pretty easy recipe and is packed with flavor! Enjoy!

1/2 Sweet yellow onion, diced
1/2 Green bell pepper, diced
2 jalapenos, seeds removed & diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp vegetable oil
Cumin, Salt, Pepper, Season All, Oregano
1 pound ground beef (or turkey)
1 can red Enchilada Sauce
1 can Ranch Style Beans (I used the kind with onions)
2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
Corn tortillas

Corn tortillas, bell pepper, Monterrey Jack cheese, jalapenos, Ranch Style beans, Onion, & Enchilada Sauce

Oregano, Black Pepper, Garlic, Cumin, Salt, & Anita's (Hanz's family's recipe) Season All

Chop up onion, bell pepper, jalapenos, and mince garlic. 

Chop in half from top to bottom, lay flat

Cut into slices, but keep together

Dice in the opposite direction you cut slices

 

Throw into hot pan with vegetable oil, season with cumin, salt, pepper, and season all, then cook until they just start to brown (5-7 minutes). 

Remove from heat and set aside in bowl. Throw in beef and start to brown, season with some cumin, salt, and pepper. Throw in cooked vegetables and stir until meat is thoroughly cooked. 

Stir in enchilada sauce, but reserve about 2 tablespoons to put into the bottom of the baking dish. The sauce will probably need to cook down a bit until it is a favorable consistency.

Once the sauce is where you want it, take it off the heat and it is time to assemble to casserole! 

Cover the bottom of the baking dish (I used a 9x13 glass dish) with the reserved enchilada sauce.

Cover with corn tortillas. You can either tear them all up, or just tear up a few so it covers the entire dish.

Top tortillas with the meat sauce mixture.

Add some beans.

Top with cheese.

Repeat. I did a total of 3 layers, using about 16 corn tortillas.

Bake covered at 350F for about 30 minutes or until bubbly, then take off foil for the last 5 minutes of cooking to get some good color on the cheese.

Hanz's Tasty Fajitas

I have to brag about my fantastic Mr., he made the most delicious chicken fajitas I've ever tasted (take THAT overpriced restaurants!)! It was all on the fly and he doesn't really use measurements, but these are pretty good estimations. He recommends adding mushrooms, if you like them (I don't), while cooking the bell pepper, tomato, and onion. We decided to save the leftover goodness from the pan and freeze it for later. Enjoy this delicious meal that doesn't require heating up a grill!

3 chicken breasts – strips ½ in thick and then in half the length

Rub:

1 ½ tbsp - Salt

1 tsp  - Taco Seasoning

Dash - Cumin

1 tsp - Lemon pepper

1 tsp - Garlic powder

1 tsp - Mustard seed powder

1 tsp - Sage

2 tbsp – Dried minced onion

Melt together for sauce:

2 tbsp Butter

1 clove garlic

Juice from ½ lemon + zest

2 small tomatoes – rough chop

1 bell pepper - chopped

½-1/3 sweet yellow onion – chopped

4 tbsp Butter

Monterrey Jack cheese – shredded

Tortillas

Bake at 300 for 45 minutes

Combine spices to make rub, crush together using mortar & pestle. Lightly sprinkle rub onto chicken first, then mix together. On low, melt butter in small pan, add in minced garlic, lemon juice and zest. Pour butter mixture into leftover rub to make a thick sauce. Dip each piece of chicken into rub sauce, add in some additional butter if needed towards the end. Place into baking dish and top with about 1 tbsp of thinly sliced butter (randomly placed all over). In a pan heat up additional butter, throw in veggies and sauté for 5-7 minutes. Strain veggies with slotted spoon and put on top of chicken. Cover and bake.

When cooked take out of oven, add in a little cheese, put into warm tortilla, and eat. Repeat.

-The Mrs.