Chicken Quesadillas

As you can tell from a lot of my dishes, I have a thing for chicken! My mom has always been a fan of chicken so it's what I'm used to cooking. My dad has never been a big chicken fan, but even he can't pass up some good Mexican food. My boyfriend, who is a picky eater, even enjoys this recipe! He often times will request that I make my chicken quesadillas for dinner! Quick finger food that will fill you up and leave you wanting more! The nice thing is that you can mix, match, and personalize your quesadillas your way, but here is my basic chicken recipe.

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Ingredients
Breast Tenderloins (I generally buy 1-2 packs of them depending on how many quesadillas I'm looking to make. Generally 1 pack will get me about 8-10 quesadillas)
3/4 Onion (diced)
3/4 Bell Pepper (diced)
Jalepenos (optional)
Shredded cheese (I generally use either a mexican blend or a cheddar)
1 pack of tortillas (I use the burrito size but you can use whatever size you'd like)
1 pack of fajita mix

Assembly
Dice the boneless tenderloins into cube size about 1" or less and then use most of the pack of the fajita mix to coat the diced chicken. Keep some of the fajita mix to season the veggies. I generally just mix the chicken in a ziploc bag. Spread the seasoned chicken cubes onto a cookie sheet or a glass pan and place in the oven. Broil on high until the meat is cooked through. Take meat out and set aside. In a medium frying pan sautee bell pepper and onion adding the remaining fajita mix for some flavor. You may also add your jalepenos for a little spice at this point. Add the meat to the mixture and cook for another 2-3 mins or until everything is well incorporated.

To make the fajitas you can do it one of two ways. You can heat up a skillet and cook the fajitas one at a time, or you can make a cookie sheet full and bake them.

Cooked in Skillet: spray the skillet with some cooking spray and place on stovetop at medium heat. Lay a tortilla flat on the skillet and add a layer of the meat mixture to half the tortilla, then top with the cheese. Fold over the tortilla to make the quesadilla and cook until browned on one side. Carefully flip the quesadilla over and cook the other side until browned. Set the cooked quesadilla aside to cool down then cut into 3 sections or keep whole if you desire.

Cooked in Oven: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet and assemble your quesadillas until the sheet is full (i generally get about 6-8 on a large sheet). Spray the top with cooking spray and place in oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool then cut into 3 sections if desired.

Serve on a platter or in a bowl and enjoy! 

Final Thoughts
I generally get a small saucer of ranch sauce to dip in, but you can use salsa or anything else you'd like. Add a dollop of sour cream on top and serve with a salad, or if you cut it into 3 slices you have a nice finger food! Get creative and make your own quesadillas. I actually adapted this recipe from a simple cheese quesadilla I would make for my mom and dad. I've even used beef! So let your imagination go wild with this. If you're REALLY feeling quesadilla dinner you can also add my dessert queasilla for a sweet after dinner dish! Happy eating!

Chicken Pot Pie

Alright, I admit that I have been very slacking! No new recipes in QUITE a while. Guess life is catching up to me! Hope with all this crazy winter weather everyone stays nice and toasty warm! One thing is for sure if you have the ingredients for this recipe on hand, it makes for a nice, warm, comfort food meal on a cold day!

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Ingredients
2 chicken breasts **you can also use left over chicken or a rotisserie chicken
2 medium potatoes
1 small onion
2 fresh carrots (or you can use baby carrots) diced
3/4 cup peas
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
seasoning (herbs, salt, pepper...I generally just use a basic chicken herb mix)
1 box pie crust

Assembly
Start by preheating your oven to about 350 degrees, remember that oven temperatures may vary. Cook the 2 chicken breasts in the oven for about 30 minutes. When finished let the chicken cool, remove the skin and bones, and cube the meat. If you're in a hurry, like I often am, you can also use a small rotisserie chicken and just chunk up the meat. While you wait for your meat to cook peel your potatoes and dice into 3/4 inch pieces. Put your diced potatoes and carrots into a saucepan with the can of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer the vegetables until tender (about 10-12 minutes) then drain.

In a large bowl combine the diced meat, vegetables, peas, cream of chicken soup, and herbs until well mixed together. When the mixture is complete fill your pie pans with the filling and top with the pie crust. Seal the edges and cut slits to allow the steam to rise, then bake in the oven until the crust is light brown (about 20-30 minutes). Let it cool a bit and then enjoy!

Final Thoughts
May seem like a lot but it's a nice quick meal. You can also put a pie crust lining on the bottom of the pie pans to seal the goodness inside. As an extra treat if you get the mini pie pans you can make individual servings and freeze the leftovers! That's my mom's favorite way to make it! Simple homemade goodness in a convenient size! Don't forget to experiment! Happy eats!

BBQ Chicken Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

If there's one thing I've noticed in my family, it seems that one of the staple foods at my house has always been chicken. Granted my father isn't a big chicken fan, it seems he's slowly starting to enjoy it a little bit more. Chicken is healthy for you, and can be prepared in many different ways! Between my mom and myself, I don't think we could ever really get tired of chicken! So, on my own I was looking at the chicken and my ingredients and wondering what I could do that was different from my usual meals. Well, I had some BBQ dry rub my mom had made for me, some BBQ sauce, fresh tomatoes, and lettuce that needed to be used. So...I thought why not make a delicious salad! Better yet, a delicious salad with some homemade dressing! Thus my BBQ chicken and honey mustard salad came about!

Cranberry Glazed Chicken

Sometimes there are recipes that just sound good to have or try. I'm pretty sure my mom's made this before to. I'm thinking there is a theme with my sauces though haha. But least it's healthy! Anyways, I decided to try my luck at a cranberry glazed chicken since I had most of the needed ingredients. So here's my take!

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

My mom is a huge chicken fan. We have chicken a LOT for dinner, much to my father's dismay, but I don't mind it. As for me, I LOVE rice! Not just because of my ethnicity either haha. So what better combination of the two than a chicken and rice? most people have heard of it and had it in one form or another, and I decided to try it for myself! I took from various recipes that I found online and then put my own spin on it. So here is my version of a cheesy chicken and rice (with a little spice!)

Chicken and Steak Fajitas and Strawberry Margarita

Who doesn't like a little bit of good mexican food now and then? it was always a quick and delicious meal when we had texmex food. Of course nothing compared to authentic mexican cuisine, but hey it was still quite tasty our creations! I remember my mom's tacos, taco salads, and fajitas best. We never had all three at once, but when we had any of the three it was sure to be a fun night.