Healthified Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients:

1 can (10 3/4 oz) 98% fat free 45% less sodium 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

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix soup, chiles, sour cream, milk, chili powder and cumin until blended. Stir in chicken, tortillas and bell pepper. Stir in tomato and 1 cup of the cheese. Spoon and spread mixture in baking dish.

Cover with foil. Bake 40 minutes. 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.

Instead of the tomato and bell pepper I substituted ½ a cup of picante sauce.  I also used low fat tortillas and a 2% Mexican cheese blend.  I added a dash of hot sauce and a few shakes of black pepper to my ingredients as well.  Mine was a bit runny.  I’m guessing because of the salsa.  But once I let it stand for a few minutes it was game on.  This tasted great and was very easy to make.  Next time I will make it when the kids are there for dinner because the boys would love it. 

Bacon, Spinach and Chive Tortilla Roll-Ups

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients: 

1 package (8 oz) of cream cheese, softened

6 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

6-8 green onion stalks, chopped

one handful of baby spinach, torn in pieces

1/2 packet of ranch dressing dry mix

4 8-inch Mission flour tortillas, warmed

Mix the chopped green onions, crumbled bacon, torn spinach, cream cheese and ranch dressing mix in a large bowl. Mix until well blended.

Heat tortillas in microwave for about 20 seconds or so. You do not want the tortillas to be hot, just warm enough that they are pliable. Lay tortillas flat, scoop filling and place in the middle of the tortilla.  Spread out the filling using a butter knife or rubber spatula, making one even layer. It will not be entirely perfect!  Roll tortilla as tightly as possible until it is completely rolled up.

After all 4 tortillas are rolled, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. This will make cutting the tortillas much cleaner and easier. The next day, remove tortillas from the plastic wrap and place tortillas on a cutting board. Slice 1/2 inch pieces with a serrated knife. I use a serrated bread knife.

I accidentally added the entire pack of ranch mix so I added another cream cheese and I’m glad I did.  The bacon, spinach and onions were plentiful and this way I was able to make 7 roll ups instead of 4.  I didn’t heat my tortillas like the original recipe said to and it was fine but I had just bought them fresh.  If they’ve been sitting in your fridge, I would suggest doing so. 

These are absolutely delicious!! I love them. They may be one of my new favorite roll ups.  Easy to make, different than your standard Mexican roll up and there’s spinach so I’m counting that as healthy.  Ha!  

Jello cake

Review by Lyndee:

1 white cake mix

1 box strawberry jello (or flavor of your choice)

1 tub cool whip

Make cake according to directions on box.  Let cool.  Prepare jello as directed.  Once the cake is cooled, poke random holes in the cake with a straw, chopstick or knife.  Set in fridge for at least three hours.  Once ready to serve, spread cool whip across the top for your frosting. 

It doesn’t get much easier than this cake.  And it’s so yummy! I love having jello cake in the summer because it seems so light and fruity.  I’ve yet to meet anyone that doesn’t love jello cake.  We had this at my birthday party last weekend and I only got one tiny piece because the party-goers devoured it in a flash.  

Pizza Rolls

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients: 

1 frozen bread dough (thawed)

Pepperoni

Shredded cheese

Italian seasoning

Garlic powder

Spray a frozen loaf of bread with nonstick spray and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Allow dough to thaw for a few hours at room temperature. Roll dough out to approximately 11 x 11 square. Lay pepperoni on dough covering entire surface. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle on Italian seasoning and garlic powder.  Start at one edge of square and roll up dough.  Brush some melted butter on the top and sprinkle with garlic. 

Bake at 375 degreees for 15-25 minutes (until top turns golden brown). 

This was easy to make and tasted pretty good.  I wanted sauce though.  I dipped it in some marinara but next time I would add it to the dough before putting on the pepperoni and cheese.  You could add whatever ingredients you wanted (other meats, veggies, etc) to customize your pizza roll.  I cut my roll in half before baking.  One bread dough made enough for three-four people.  

Buffalo chicken taquitos

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

12 soft taco, flour tortillas

2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated (I used colby jack) 

4 ounces Philadelphia cream cheese

1/3 cup Frank's hot sauce

1/3 cup milk

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash or seasoning salt 

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a small sauce pot over medium low heat, melt butter.  Add Mrs. Dash, garlic powder and Cajun seasoning. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute. Add cream cheese and stir until melted and completely combined with butter and spices. Wisk in hot sauce and milk and simmer for 5 – 8 minutes. Add salt to taste. Combine chicken and sauce.

Lay out a tortilla; fill with about ¼ - 1/3 cup chicken and 2 tablespoons of mozzarella cheese.  Tightly roll up taquito and place on a greased baking sheet; repeat until chicken is gone. Brush taquitos with vegetable oil on all sides. Bake for 15 – 18 minutes; rotate them every 5 minutes, until golden brown.

These were so yummy! The boys gobbled them up and the two that were left got eaten a few hours later as a snack.  Very easy to make and tastes great.  I used 6 oz of cream cheese because I had that much left.  I used canned chicken breast and the flavor was still great.  I didn’t turn them every 5 minutes.  Just brushed with the veggie oil and then baked.  They came out a nice crispy, golden brown.  These are definitely going into the dinner rotation. 

Cheesy Bacon Onion Dip

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients:

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese, divided
8 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped into small pieces OR 1/2 cup bacon bits

1/4 cup onion, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a pie dish or other small oven-save dish with cooking spray and set aside. In a medium bowl blend together cream cheese, sour cream, and mayo until creamy. Stir in 3/4 cup Swiss cheese (about half). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Saute your onions for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat using 1 tablespoon of olive oil or reserved bacon drippings. Add to the creamed mixture and stir until evenly distributed. Spread this mixture evenly in the bottom of your prepared baking dish.

Next, sprinkle the remaining swiss cheese over the top of the creamed mixture. Finally, sprinkle the bacon evenly over the top. Season with a little bit of freshly ground pepper on top. At this point, you can cover it and put it in the fridge for up to 5 days or continue and bake it up!

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until dip is bubbly and cheese begins to turn golden brown. Serve with crackers or chips!

I made this in the crockpot for a birthday party.  Mixed as directed but added half the bacon to the mixture. Then sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon and cook on low for 3 hours. I served with tortilla chips and ritz crackers. This dip disappeared before some of the people at the party even got a chance to try it.  Yum! Will definitely be making this dip again.  

Sex in the driveway

Review by Lyndee:

We were looking for a fun summery drink for my birthday party and there’s just something appealing about a drink that’s blue. 

Ingredients:

1 oz blue curacao

1 oz peach schnapps

2 oz vodka (citrus or regular)

Sprite

Mix alcohol over ice and fill the rest of the glass with sprite.  Garnish with citrus fruit if you wish. 

We slice up oranges, lemon and limes and froze them.  When it was time for the party we made a huge batch of this using 12 oz of the blue curacao and peach schnapps, 24 ounces of vodka and filled the rest of the container with sprite and the frozen fruit.  It was a huge hit at the party. Will definitely be making this again!