My kids love smoothies so I'm always looking for something new, healthy and kid friendly. We love the balance of OJ, strawberry and creamy, vanilly goodness that is in this Sunrise smoothie.
I was inspired by this delicious Skinny Strawberry Orange Julius from Classy Clutter. We just adjusted it for our taste. If it's just for the kids, I will swap out the water for more milk because neither of them drinks enough milk.
On a side note, I have issues with drinking waaaay to much smoothie because they are soooo good. To work on my portion control, I've started serving up my smoothies in my kid's Take N Toss cups with the straws. It may sound cheesy, but they hold the perfect amount for a snack sized smoothie or for when you want to have a smoothie WITH breakfast and not INSTEAD of breakfast. This recipe makes enough for three of those cups or 2 regular sized smoothies.
In blender layer:
6 ice cubes
(mine are moon shaped for reference)
1/2 c. frozen strawberries (heaping)
2/3 c. milk
1/2 c. water
3 Tbsp. frozen OJ concentrate
1 tsp. vanilla
Stevia to taste (I started with about 2 Tbsp and added another after tasting.)
Blend until smooth and frothy. Add additional sweetener if needed. Serves 2.
I love scones, but they take more time and effort than I currently have to give. I found this cinnamon biscuit recipe from Mama Buzz and had to give it a try. I decided to change it up a bit by adding cinnamon chips and shaping them like scones. No, they're not exactly like a scone, but they definitely satisfy your scone cravings.
One important note is that you really need to chop up the cinnamon chips or they will sink to the bottom and burn.
You could also use mini chocolate chips, nuts, etc... I am hoping to come up with a pumpkin spice version soon.
Picture coming soon...
5 Minute Cinnamon Scones Ingredients
Biscuits:
1 Bisquick Buttermilk Biscuit Mix
1/2 cup water
3-4 tsp cinnamon/sugar mixture
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c. cinnamon chips, chopped
Directions: Mix biscuit mix, water, vanilla, cinnamon chips and cinnamon sugar mixture. Dump mixture out onto lightly floured surface. Pat into an 8-9 inch circle. Cut into 6 wedges and place on baking sheet. Bake according to package directions. Remove from oven and drizzle with frosting while warm. Add more drizzle once they are slightly cooled.
Every once in a while a recipe comes along that is so good that you sit around counting the days until you get to make it again. This creamy slow cooker tortellini soup is one of those recipes. I made it while the hubs was out of town and I'm not going to lie... I ate the entire crockpot full myself. It took a few days, but I savored every bowlful! It was like lasagna in soup form.
Honestly, I was really surprised by how much I loved the mushrooms in this because I'm not a huge mushroom fan. I like them, but I don't love them if that makes sense. In this soup they were amazing and added some rusticness... I totally made that up, but they were good. Really good.
I altered the original recipe that I'd found on Heather Likes Food slightly to make it a little easier to prepare. I like a lot of spinach so I use the entire bag. If you're not a fan, add half or skip it all together. There are a lot of ways you can change this up based on what's in your pantry and what mood you're in.
Give this a try and let me know what you think!
Creamy Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup Recipe
24 oz. jar spaghetti with meat sauce or regular sauce mixed with 1/2 lb browned Italian sausage or beef
2-3 oz. pepperoni, diced
8 oz. sliced mushrooms (fresh)
4 c. beef broth
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1 (4.5 oz.) bag spinach leaves, chopped
16 oz. frozen cheese tortellini
Directions:
In a slow cooker combine sauce, pepperoni, mushrooms, beef broth and cream cheese. Cook 2 hours on high or until mushrooms are done. Stir well to mix up cream cheese.
Add spinach leaves and tortellini. Cook 30 more minutes on high.
I seriously love a good breakfast casserole, but I don't love spending Saturday morning in the kitchen frying meat and chopping veggies. I want something that can be assembled by the time the coffee is made because not much else happens around here until momma gets her coffee.
These recipes are my favorite tried and true recipes that can be made with precooked meats, mixes and canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls.
Because it was so popular, I came up with a Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Casserole which uses pumpkin butter and pumpkin spice coffee creamer. I actually prefer it to the original.
Another sweet breakfast favorite is Monkey Bread. This version is simple and quick, using canned biscuits.
If you like a good, hearty breakfast, you'll love the Farmer's Breakfast Casserole with hash browns, sausage, bacon, cheese and eggs. Everything is premade so you just have to assemble it.
If you're trying to cut back on calories, these Sausage and Egg Muffins are perfect. They're full of flavor and can be made ahead.
Now that I've shared some of my favorites, I'd love to hear about yours! Leave a comment below to share a recipe or link!
If you're looking for something quick, healthy and super satisfying, you're in the right spot. Even my 3 year old loved this Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken so much that he had seconds and asked for it again for lunch the next day. That never happens... unless we have hotdogs. :/
When it comes to crock pot recipes, I'm pretty picky as I've mentioned before. It can't be bland or mushy or goopy or any of those fun ways crock pot recipes often turn out. This Santa Fe Chicken was none of those things. Instead it had a bright, fresh flavor, rich (but healthy) sauce and tender chicken.
The key to the proper texture is to not overcook the recipe, 5-6 hours is plenty of time.
What gives it that memorable "Santa Fe" flavor is the combination of the ranch dressing mix and chili powder and the last minute addition of fresh cilantro. I used Mexicorn when I made this, but I'm thinking that shoepeg corn would be sweet change.
I served this over Cilantro Lime Rice, but plain brown rice would work just fine.
Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken Ingredients
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, frozen
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can corn
1 can tomatoes with chilies
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 (8 oz.) pkg. 1/3 less fat cream cheese
handful of cilantro, chopped
Directions
Place chicken, onion, garlic, corn, tomatoes with chilies and black beans in crockpot. Sprinkle dressing mix, chili powder and cumin over the the chicken and veggies. Place cream cheese on the very top.
Cook 5-6 hours on low.
Shred chicken and stir in cream cheese and cilantro.
I'm a sucker for a breakfast casserole whether it's breakfast, lunch or dinner. My most popular post, Sweet Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Casserole is testament to that.
Since bub #2 was born, one of my favorite things to do is to make a breakfast casserole for dinner or for a weekend brunch so I can have the leftovers the rest of the week. It makes for a quick and delicious breakfast.
The original recipe that I found at Food.com had nearly 3 pounds of meat and cheese in it which seemed a bit over the top for me. I cut it way back and used precooked meats because I don't always have a lot of time to prep meals. Egg substitute cut out a few more calories. I think it works better in casseroles anyway because it's easier to mix up and bakes well.
The end result was delicious and filling with a calorie count that I could live with.
Ingredients
3 c. shredded hash browns (like Simply Potatoes)
9.6 oz. pkg. Jimmy Dean fully cooked Turkey Sausage Crumbles (or 12 oz. cooked and crumbled sausage)
1 pkg. precooked bacon slices (12-15 slices), diced
2 c. (8 oz.) cheddar/jack cheese blend
2 1/4 c. egg beaters or 12 eggs
2 c. milk
1 1/2 tsp. season salt or Lawry's
3/4 tsp. pepper
Directions
Spray 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Layer the following in the pan: hash browns, sausage, bacon and cheese.
Mix a medium bowl, whisk together egg substitute, milk, season salt and pepper. Pour mixture into baking dish, tilting dish gently from side to side to evenly distribute eggs.
Cranberry Chicken is one of those recipes that has been around forever. If you think back hard enough, you've probably had it or something very similar served to you in the past.
It seems like a strange mixture of ingredients, cranberry sauce, Catalina dressing and Lipton Onion Soup. I mean, really? I can't help thinking someone discovered it by accident when they poured the wrong bottle into their bowl and decided not to let it go to waste. However it came about, it's a zesty combination of sweet and sour that when paired with rice, makes my family super happy.
Cranberry Chicken is also great for throwing together and freezing ahead of time. You can even make the rice ahead of time and freeze it.
Learning that rice could be frozen changed my world. Seriously. I can throw this in the oven, reheat some rice in the microwave and toss a bag of salad with dressing and extra veggies and I'm done.
Dinner just took 5 minutes to assemble.
I now have time to make playdo critters with my kiddo, check my email and empty the dishwasher.
Life is good.
Ingredients
4-6 chicken breasts
1 small bottle Catalina dressing
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1 envelope onion soup mix (I used Lipton Onion Soup Mix)
Directions
Preheat oven to and line a 9x13 pan with nonstick foil or spray it with cooking spray.
Pound chicken breasts until even in size. (This step is optional, but they will cook more evenly and soak up more sauce.) Place chicken in dish.
Whisk together dressing, cranberry sauce and onion soup mix. Pour over chicken.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until juices run clear. Serve over rice.
Freezer Directions:
Pound chicken breasts until even in size. (This step is optional, but they will cook more evenly and soak up more sauce.)
Place chicken in freezer bags. (This makes 2 meals for us so I divide it between to smaller freezer bags.)
Whisk together dressing, cranberry sauce and onion soup mix. Pour over chicken.
Remove as much air as possible from the bag and freeze flat.
To serve, thaw completely and pour into greased or foil lined glass dish. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until juices run clear. Serve over rice.
Fall and winter are my favorite seasons, mainly because I love bundling up in layers of clothes and blankets, sipping steaming hot beverages from my favorite mug and cuddling with my boys.
This winter I wanted to make my home more visitor friendly which isn't easy when you have a 3 year old with cabin fever running loose. However, a quick Pinterest search led me to find some simple hot chocolate bars/stations.
My little brain started churning... what about a winter drink station where you could have something for everyone? Since I had been craving spiced Russian tea (recipe below), I knew I wanted to incorporate that. Hot chocolate was a no brainer, but I decided to use packets for simplicity. For holiday parties, we definitely needed to add coffee.
I liked the idea of the tiered storage because it kept from cluttering up my counter top and felt more organized. I've had that basket thing for years and it finally has a good use!
The hardest part was figuring out what to use to store all of the mix-ins. I needed something with a lid that didn't cost a lot, so when I saw a box of a dozen Wal-mart brand jelly jars for only $8, I was sold. Now I could keep my station set up all winter.
The mix-ins that I used were marshmallows, crushed candy canes, chocolate chips, cinnamon sticks and coffee creamers. You could use all kinds of things. You might be surprised at what you already have around the house that you could use... caramels, Hershey kisses, white chocolate chips or cinnamon.
I finished it off with a little wire basket from Wal-mart to old my hot chocolate packets, a thermos that I can quickly fill with hot water whenever we have company, a super cute sign that I got for free here and my coffee pot. If you have a Keurig or something similar, you could skip the packets and the coffee maker.
And the recipe for the Russian tea. I tried several variations of this recipe before finally settling on this one. I like it sweet and orangy so this was perfect. I am completely addicted to this so I trimmed back a few calories by making a few sugar free substitutions.
Since October is the month of all things pumpkin, I decided to try another take on my most pinned recipe, Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Casserole. I added pumpkin butter, pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin spice coffee creamer. The result was even better than the original.
This casserole is special enough for Thanksgiving Day breakfast, but easy enough for any morning of the week. The leftovers reheat wonderfully.
Ingredients
2 (12.4 oz) cans of refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing like Pillsbury (can use light cinnamon rolls)
1 3/4 c egg substitute like Egg Beaters (or 6 large eggs)
1/2 c pumpkin spice coffee creamer or half and half
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2/3 c pumpkin butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped pecans
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 and grease an 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish.
Cut each cinnamon roll into 8 pieces and place in dish.
In a medium bowl whisk together egg substitute or eggs, coffee
creamer, vanilla, pumpkin butter and pumpkin pie spice. Pour over rolls. Give the whole thing a good stir. Sprinkle with pecans.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 10-15 minutes
(if you can wait that long!!) Remove covers from icing and microwave
5-10 seconds or until it's the perfect consistency for drizzling.
Drizzle icing over top. Serve with light syrup and powdered sugar.
One of my favorite things about fall is that it is finally socially acceptable to stuff my face with pumpkin. I love pumpkin bread, pumpkin whoopie pies, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin cake and pumpkin cookies! However, they have too many calories to eat every day unless you like having the waistline of a pumpkin.
Thankfully, pumpkin butter comes to the rescue and gives me my pumpkin fix. It's thick, spicy, sweet and tastes amazing on toast, biscuits and cornbread. I simmered this on the stove while I cleaned my kitchen one night and just gave it stir every few minutes.
You can put these in pretty jars to give as gifts or freeze small batches to hoard away for yourself. I won't judge you. ;)
Ingredients Adapted from: AllRecipes.com
1 (29 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1 1/4 c apple juice or cider
1 1/2 c sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
Directions
Mix all ingredients in a medium saucepan, adding more apple juice if needed. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Simmer 30 minutes or until desired thickness. Stir it frequently to prevent burning. Store in refrigerator or freezer.
As a mom with a new baby and a wild 3 year old, most nights require slow cooker meals, quick and easy meals or takeout. This yummy Mexican Pizza falls into the quick and easy category. The ingredients can even be prepped during naptime and assembled during the harried dinnertime rush when the little one is suddenly starving and the big one is entertaining himself by taste testing the playdough...
I love that this recipe is light and healthy too because I've got a lot of pregnancy cheeseburgers and milkshakes to lose. Unlike the Taco Bell version, nothing is fried and everything is as real, fresh and organic as you want it to be.
Whole wheat tortillas, homemade taco seasoning, ground chicken, refried beans, jalepeno slices and olives would all be perfect additions to this double decker pizza.
Recipe Serves 6
12 tortillas, small
1 lb ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning or your own seasoning
1/2 bottle taco sauce (I used Taco Bell brand.)
1 1/2 c Mexican cheese blend
1 tomato, seeded and diced
6 green onions, diced
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare ground beef as directed on taco seasoning packet.
Heat skillet over medium heat. Spray tortillas with butter flavored cooking spray. Heat tortillas in skillet on both sides until crisp. Place 6 on baking sheet and set the other six to the side.
Divide taco meat between the 6 tortillas on the baking sheet. Sprinkle meat with half of the cheese or your can leave all of the cheese for the topping.
Top meat/cheese with second tortilla.
Spread 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons taco sauce over top tortilla.
This guacamole recipe from AllRecipes.com is so addictive that I can't get it off of my mind. I keep going back to the fridge with chips in hand. Thankfully, it's super healthy when eaten in moderation.
I like to finely chop my veggies while leaving my avocado chunky for the best overall texture. You can spice it up with a finely chopped jalapeno.
My favorite meal of the day is breakfast, no matter what time of day it is served. Even my hubby who never cared for breakfast gets up on Saturday and looks around for his eggs and bacon. He's more of savory breakfast man, but I like it all as is evident by my obsession with Cracker Barrel and IHOP.
This recipe is a slightly moister, eggier version of a recipe I found on the Pillsbury site. I love using canned biscuits, cinnamon rolls and crescent rolls in recipes even though I don't care much for them on their own. Adding fresh ingredients takes away the canned flavor.
My other shortcut is to use precooked REAL bacon bits, keeping the prep time under 10 minutes. Would freshly cooked bacon be better? Probably, but it's not worth the time and mess to me while trying to keep up with a newborn and 3 year old wild child.
You can save a few calories by using egg substitute which works great in casseroles, low fat cheese and turkey bacon or ham in place of the regular bacon. Throw in any of your favorite breakfast meats, cheeses and veggies to come up with your own version.
Ingredients
4 eggs or about 1 c egg substitute
1/3 cup milk
salt and pepper
16 oz refrigerated breakfast biscuits (I used GV Texas style biscuits.), cut into 4 or 8 pieces
4 green onions, diced
1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 pkg Oscar Mayer real bacon pieces or bits (the kind you put on salad)
Directions
In an 11 x 7 dish, whisk together eggs, milk and salt and pepper. (You don't need a ton of salt because many of the ingredients are salty.)
Add biscuits, onions, cheese and bacon. Toss to coat with egg mixture.
Bake 25-28 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden brown and cooked through.
This is a salad I threw together after having something similar in several restaurants. I love the freshness of the veggies, creaminess of the avocado and black beans and smokiness of the grilled chicken and barbecue sauce. The crunchy tortilla strips are just the icing on the cake.
When I need to make this a quick weeknight meal, I use chicken breasts that I've previously grilled and frozen. You could also use a rotisserie chicken. It's even better with chicken right off the grill using my favorite chicken marinade and grilled corn cut off of the cob. Who doesn't love the mix of the cool veggies and warm chicken?
Serve with cornbread or cheese quesadillas.
Recipe - 2 main dish servings
1 Bag leafy green salad mix
1/2 Can Mexicorn or grilled corn
1/2 Can black beans, washed and drained
1 Avocado, diced
1/2 Tomato, seeded and diced
3 Green onions, diced
1/2 c Cheddar or cheddar/jack cheese
2 Grilled/baked chicken breasts, sliced
Santa Fe style tortilla strips (in the salad dressing aisle)
Ranch salad dressing (reduced fat)
Barbecue sauce
Combine and serve immediately. If you're not serving right away, add dressing and tortilla chips right before serving.
Our family loves cookies, but they require time. I prefer throwing all of the dough in one pan and being done with it as you can see from all of the brownies, blondies and bar cookies on this blog.
I found this recipe when I was looking for a way to eat more oatmeal. Sure, I could just eat a bowl of instant oatmeal, but these have chocolate. You can still eat these for breakfast since they have oatmeal in them, right?
Mix it up by using whatever kind of chips you have on hand to come up with variations like white chocolate macadamia nut, cinnamon raisin, chocolate and peanut butter or whatever sounds good to you.
I like to slightly under bake cookies and brownies so that they stay moist for several days.
Recipe Adapted from: AllRecipes
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 (3.5 oz.) pkg vanilla or butterscotch pudding mix
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 3/4 cups quick oats
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, cinnamon chips or peanut butter chips
Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Mix in pudding mix and vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to wet ingredients until well combined. Stir in oatmeal and chips.
With wet or greased fingers, pat into greased 9x13 pan. Bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees until lightly browned.
Making yummy, family friendly breakfasts doesn't mean you have to get up at the crack of dawn. This simple Monkey Bread recipe takes about 10 minutes to assemble, giving you more time to hang out with the kiddos, take a hot shower or drink another cup of coffee. It's also perfect for brunch.
The first time I made this I used salted butter because I love sweet and salty, but it was too salty even for me. There is plenty of salt in the biscuit to give you the perfect salt to sweet to ratio. Stick with unsalted butter and yes, I mean butter, not margarine. You could also use the light buttery baking sticks.
Serve it with fresh fruit and turkey sausage or turkey bacon to balance out your breakfast. Reheat leftovers in the microwave.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt style pan with cooking spray.
In a zip top plastic bag combine sugar and cinnamon. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces and place in bag. Shake bag to coat biscuits.
Sprinkle half of nuts into pan. Top with half of the biscuits. Repeat.
In a small saucepan melt butter. Stir in brown sugar and vanilla. Pour over biscuits.
Bake 28-32 minutes or until browned and no longer doughy. If it starts to brown too soon, cover lightly with foil. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes and until turning onto serving dish.
After weeks of deliciously sinful holiday binging, we are all looking for ways to cut back on calories and trim our waistlines without giving up all of the things we love. But seriously, it's hard to diet when you feel like all you are eating is diet food. Am I the only one with this issue?
A healthy dessert with peanut butter and chocolate sounds to good to be true, you say? Actually, this sweet treat comes in under 250 calories for 1/10 of the pie! Even if you're a dessert-a-holic like me, I think you'll find one piece of this rich, peanut buttery, chocolatey goodness to be just right. Because it is frozen, you savor each bite, allowing you to eat less while feeling completely satisfied.
This pie was not only good, but so simple to put together. I am already dreaming up variations like strawberry cream cheese with a graham cracker crust, fresh strawberries and chocolate chips or a lemon blueberry version.
Guilt-free peanut butter pie and it's many possible variations are destined to be summertime staples at our home!
If you've ever made green bean bundles you know what a pain they are, but you also know how amazing they taste. It's one of those things you love to eat at someone else's house, but you don't want to spend the time to make for yourself. Maybe I'm the only one...
These sweet and savory green beans are the perfect solution. You get all of the flavors with half of the work. I served these for Thanksgiving and they were amazing! You will rarely hear me calling a member of the bean family amazing, but these really were!
I found the recipe on Pinterest. I know, shocking It let me to Nancy Creative. Her beans look wonderful, but I did tweak them a bit to lower the calorie content.
I hope you'll give them a try and enjoy them as much as we did!
Recipe Adapted from Nancy Creative
4 or 5 (15 oz) cans cut green beans, drained
8 slices thick cut bacon, cut up
1/3 c brown sugar
1/4 c light butter
7 tsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
Fry diced slices of bacon until about half way done. Drain on paper towels. (It's easier to cut them up first, in my opinion.)
While bacon is frying, melt butter and brown sugar together. Remove from heat and stir in soy sauce, garlic powder and pepper.
Dump green beans into a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with bacon and then pour butter mixture over the beans. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Stir and enjoy!
One of the things I love best about Pinterest is that is has led me to find great new blogs! Recently, I discovered High Heels and Grills which has some really amazing recipes and fun, quirky writing. I highly recommend it if you like "real people food."
We tried their Philly Cheese Steak recipe and let me just say, it makes the most amazing cheese steaks! It's not that much different than the way I usually make them, but the addition of the garlic and little bit of butter make a huge difference. Fresh garlic is a magical thing.
I did leave out the mushrooms because the hubs is not a big fan, but check out the original recipe if you want to add them back in.
Does anyone else have a hate/hate relationship with the broiler? It's my biggest cooking challenge, but I'm determined not to let it beat me! Sooo...my advice is to watch your bread carefully while it's in the oven because it quickly goes from almost ready to ready for the garbage can.
The hubs enjoyed these Philly cheese steaks so much, he asked for them again a few days later. Pin this gem and keep it in the arsenal for quick weeknight dinners. You won't be disappointed.
Recipe Adapted from High Heels and Grills
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 white onion, cut into thin slices
1 clove garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 lb thinly sliced roast beef
salt and pepper, to taste
4 ciabata rolls, cut in half horizontally
4 slices provolone cheese
Preheat broiler to 450 degrees and place rack in the middle of the oven. Lightly butter cut side of rolls and place them open, cut side up on a baking sheet.
Melt butter over medium heat and add onions, garlic and green bell pepper. Lightly salt and pepper them. Saute 4-5 minutes or until softened. Stir occasionally. Turn down heat if they start to brown.
While onions and peppers are cooking, place rolls in oven and lightly brown (2-3 minutes). You don't want to brown them too much because you are going to put the back in the oven again. Watch carefully because they can go from pretty to pretty ugly in seconds. Remove from oven and set aside.
Once onions and peppers are to your desired tenderness, add roast beef and stir until beef is heated though. This only takes a minute or two.
Divide meat and pepper mixture between rolls. Top with cheese. Leaving the sandwiches open, place them back under then broiler for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Watch carefully.
Here's another great recipe inspired by Plain Chicken. I love how she churns out amazing, simple recipes for real people with real families. My husband and I loved the perfectly seasoned rice and yummy chicken. The cheese sauce and toppings really brought it all together. It's really a beautiful, company worthy dish!
But the best part... my toddler ate it. Did you get that? MY TODDLER ATE IT! We've struggled a lot with mealtime lately, but the kid loves Mexican rice. I chopped up the chicken, tomato and avocado, mixed it all together and he was a happy camper.
This was my first time trying Lawry's Baja Chipotle marinade and was amazing. I used a fork to poke lots of holes in my chicken so the marinade could seep into the chicken which worked like a charm.
Try this soon and you won't be disappointed. You friends and family will think you got take out from their favorite Mexican restaurant. ;)
Pierce chicken all over with a fork and place in large zip top bag. Pour Baja Chipotle Marinade over chicken and let marinate in the
refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight.
Preheat grill and remove chicken from refrigerator so it can warm up .
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add rice. Cook,
stirring constantly, until puffed and golden. While rice is cooking,
sprinkle with garlic salt and taco seasoning.
Stir in onion flakes, tomato sauce and 2 cups chicken broth; bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, adding more broth if needed. Remove from heat and let set for 5 minutes. Fluff with a
fork.
Grill chicken while rice is cooking.
Heat cheese dip according to package directions and set aside.
To serve, place a spoonful of rice on each plate. Lay a chicken breast on top and pour 1-2 tablespoons queso over chicken. Sprinkle with garnishes.
