Chicken Tortilla Casserole & Giveaway

That’s right…a GIVEAWAY!  I’m so excited, but before I get to that, I have a recipe to share…be sure to keep reading after the recipe though, ok?

So, I’m on the email list for Eat Better America and I love their recipes.  They take some recipes for delicious, comfort food and “healthify” them to make them a little more figure friendly!  About a month ago, my parents, grandma and auntie came up to visit and I thought this casserole would be a great option for dinner.  As I suspected, it did not disappoint!

This casserole comes together very quickly and before you know it, you can pop it into the oven.  The only modifications that I made was I substituted a can of Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Chilies, for the large tomato and I added a few extra tortillas to the top, for some crunch.  This dish is creamy, flavorful and cheesy!  You’d never know it was “healthified.”  I highly recommend this delicious meal.

Enjoy!

 

Ingredients.

Hot, out of the oven!

“Healthified” Chicken Tortilla Casserole
Ingredients

• 1 can (10 3/4 oz) 98% fat free condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles
• 1 container (8 oz) fat-free sour cream
• 1/2 cup fat-free (skim) milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
• 8 yellow corn tortillas (6 or 7 inch), torn into bite-size pieces
• 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
• 1 large tomato, chopped (1 cup)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blend (6 oz)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, mix soup, chiles, sour cream, milk, chili powder and cumin until blended.
3. Stir in chicken, tortillas and bell pepper. Stir in tomato and 1 cup of the cheese. Spoon and spread mixture in baking dish.
4. Cover with foil. Bake 40 minutes.
5. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake uncovered 5 to 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and mixture is bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes.

Alright…now let’s talk about my GIVEAWAY!!  Are you by chance looking for some new cookware?  Maybe some Rachel Ray cookware, for example?  Well, if you are, you should definitely check out Cookware.com because the super-cool people there contacted me about hosting a GIVEAWAY!  I’m stoked since this is my first GIVEAWAY that I’ve been contacted about.  Does this mean that I’ve “made it” in the blog world??  “Oh, you like me!  You really like me!”  Anyways, back on track…what am I giving away? 

This lovely apron and these magnetic measuring spoons:

 

Cute, huh?!  I’ll be randomly selecting one lucky reader to win these two items.  You can enter up to 2 times by Saturday, December 26th at 11am AZ (PST) time and here’s how you enter:

1. Leave a comment telling me what you’d cook/bake while wearing this apron and using these spoons (if you don’t have a blog profile, be sure to include your email address, so that I have a way to contact you).

2. Tweet the following: “@saraboff from Sara’s Sweets is having a giveaway and I want to win! http://bit.ly/6Icmaa,” then, leave a comment telling me you’ve done so.

That’s it!  Good luck!

Mini Tacos and Cheeseburgers

My friends, Juliann and Alli, came over last week for a "Girl's Night Sleepover."  We decided that we were going to have a theme of "kids night," which meant we were going to watch kid movies and have kid food.  I was in charge of the menu and I decided to make Mini Tacos, Mini Cheeseburgers, veggie sticks and dip, and apples with caramel dip. 

I found the recipe for the Mini Tacos from Recipezaar and once again, that website didn't fail me.  These were super easy and surprisingly very good.  The tacos are won ton wrappers, filled with taco seasoned meat (I used ground turkey), salsa and cheese.  Yum!

Ingredients.

Just out of the oven.

For the Mini Burgers, I saw Ms. Paula Deen make them on one of her shows and they looked great.  They are little beef patties (with mustard and ketchup baked in) topped with cheese and baked inside puff pastry.  Now let's take a moment and talk about puff pastry.  Apparently, it's NOT the same thing as phyllo dough!  Did anyone else know this?  Because I didn't and I bought phyllo dough and though the burgers were still good...they were "interesting" with the phyllo dough bun/crust.  So, we'll just leave it at that...make sure to buy puff pastry and NOT phyllo dough.

Both these recipes were very easy and very taste.  If you have kids or if you're like us and just want some "kid" food, I highly recommend both these recipes. 

Enjoy!

Ingredients.

Ugly burger in phyllo dough...but still tasty!

Mini Tacos, by Recipezaar

Ingredients

• 24 wonton wrappers
• 1 lb hamburger
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package taco seasoning
• 1/2 cup salsa or picante sauce
• 3 tablespoons salsa
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• sour cream (optional)
• olives (optional)
• guacamole (optional)

Directions

1. Cook hamburger until browned. 
2. Drain the fat.  Stir in taco mix ans 1/2 cup salsa/picante sauce.
3. Simmer for 3-5 minutes.
4. Press wonton wrappers into mini muffin cups.
5. Spoon beef mixture in cups and top with the 3 tbs of salsa and cheese, evenly divided.
6. Bake in preheated 425°F oven for 8 minutes, or until the wontons are nicely browned.

7. Serve with extra salsa, sour cream, olives and guacamole if desired.

Mini Burgers, by Paula Deen

Ingredients

• 8 ounces ground beef
• 2 teaspoons ketchup
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• All-purpose flour for dusting
• 1 sheet (from a 17.5-ounce package) puff pastry
• 2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) Cheddar, shredded
• 1 large egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the beef, ketchup, mustard, salt, and pepper. Form the mixture into 8 equal-size patties. In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, brown the patties for 1 to 2 minutes.
3. On a lightly floured surface, unfold the pastry and roll out. Cut the pastry lengthwise into 4 equal strips, then cut strips in 1/2 crosswise. Place 1 patty on each strip and top with cheese. Fold the pastry up around the burgers and pinch the edges together to seal, molding to fit around the patties. Brush the tops of the pastries with the egg mixture.
4. Place the mini burgers on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 to15 minutes or until puffed and golden. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

A Different & Delicious Enchilada

Pineapple-Black Bean Enchiladas. This is definitely a favorite meal at our house! This recipe comes from the Pillsbury Bake Off 2006. I remember watching a show about the Bake Off on Food Network and I thought this was such an interesting idea that I just had to try it.

It's a sweet and mild enchilada that has awesome texture and flavor. I'll admit that the combination of pineapple and black beans did not sound appealing to me at first, but this recipe did win it's creator $10,000 for being a Favorite Recipe, so I thought, "It must be good, right?" RIGHT! The combo is delicious and when paired with the traditional enchilada sauce and cheese on top, the result is outstanding! Originally, I didn't think Jeremy would like these enchiladas (he can be a bit picky), but to my surprise...he LOVED them. I think it's the sweet pineapple that gets him. Yum! This recipe is definitely a keeper.

 

Ingredients.

 

The "insides."

 

Pre-baking.

 

All finished and ready to eat!

Pineapple-Black Bean Enchiladas by Mary Iovinelli Buescher, Bake-Off® Contest 42, 2006 - $10,000 America's Favorite Recipe Winner and $10,000 3-A-Day™ Dairy Award Winner

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 can (20 oz) pineapple tidbits in juice, drained, 1/3 cup juice reserved

1 can (15 oz) Progresso® black beans, drained, rinsed

1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green Chiles

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (12 oz)

1 can (10 oz) Old El Paso® mild enchilada sauce

8 whole wheat flour tortillas (8 or 9 inch)

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

8 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook 4 to 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in pineapple, beans, green Chiles and salt. Cook and stir until thoroughly heated. Remove skillet from heat. Stir in 1/2 cup cilantro and 2 cups of the cheese.
2. Spoon and spread 1 tablespoon enchilada sauce onto each tortilla. Spoon about 3/4 cup vegetable mixture over sauce on each. Roll up tortillas; place seam side down in baking dish.
3. In small bowl, mix reserved 1/3 cup pineapple juice and remaining enchilada sauce; pour over entire surface of enchiladas in dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Spray sheet of foil large enough to cover baking dish with cooking spray; place sprayed side down over baking dish and seal tightly.
4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, removing foil during last 5 to 10 minutes of baking, until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly. Top each baked enchilada with 1 tablespoon sour cream and 1 teaspoon cilantro.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake 40 to 45 minutes, removing foil during last 5 to 10 minutes of baking.