Chicken Nacho Bake

This is an oldy, but a goody. I think I remember first making this in our old house, but I don't think I've made it in atleast 5 years. I usually have all of the ingredients on hand except for the chips. I had a stale bag of chips(crumbs) in the pantry that I was about to toss, but them remembered this recipe. Easy and good! Kraft is a good go to site for simple recipes!

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup salsa

1/4 cup low fat sour cream

1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips

1/2 cup cheese, shredded. Heat oven to 400. Place chicken on foil-covered bakingsheet. Cut 3 slits on top of each chicken breast. Top with sour cream, salsa, and chips. Bake for 20 minutes, top with cheese and bake for another 10 minutes.

What we ate this week!

Monday- Bean Tostadas with leftover taco ingredients and green salad

Tuesday- Italian spinach pie with tomato and basil salad

Wednesday- Master Wok and Dairy Queen. It was a take out kind of day!

Thursday-Whole wheat penne with Marinara and Spinach Salad

Friday- BBQ chicken quesadillas

Saturday-Catered Zarda at a charity event

Sunday- Birthday cookout at Abby and Davids to celebrate Jack's 11th Birthday!

What I made this week!

Monday-Leftover Quinoa Spinach bake for me, leftover Southwestern pasta for the boys

Tuesday- Greek Nachos

Wednesday-more leftovers(we eat a lot of leftovers around here)

Thursday- Tacos

Friday-Date night at 801 Chophouse. Filet for her, lobster for him. We shared the maytag bleu potatoes(out of this world good!), roasted brussels sprouts, and grand mariner souffle. Excellent meal!

Saturday- Oatmeal pancakes with blueberries for breakfast

Grilled Chicken, green beans and salad for dinner

Sunday- Hamburgers, beans and corn poolside at the parents

Greek Nachos

I saw this on Our Everyday dinners blog. What a great idea! I love all the flavors of Greece. This made Todd and I feel like we were back on the islands for a short moment. I adjusted the seasonings from the original recipe because it looked like too much seasoning for 1/2 lbs of beef. My measurements are just approximate!

Greek Nachos

For the sauce:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 ounces feta cheese
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I used nonfat)
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
1 lemon, juice and zest
about 1/4 cup cubed seedless cucumber, more or less
salt and pepper

In a blender or mini food processor combine feta, yogurt, olive oil, mint, and zest and juice of lemon; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. The liquid in the cucumber thins the sauce, so add the cucumber little by little until sauce is at a pourable consistency.

For the beef:

1/4 cup red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound extra lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 T fresh oregano, chopped
salt and pepper

4 pita pockets. We used Naan from Trader Joe's
chopped tomatoes and cucumbers
olives
extra crumbled feta for the top

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut pitas into wedges, drizzle with olive oil, and bake for about 10 minutes, or until crispy.

Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon of oil to a skillet, and cook onion and garlic until transparent. Add ground beef, cumin, dried oregano, cinnamon, a big pinch of salt and pepper, and paprika. Cook until brown. If it starts to dry out, add a little water to the pan. Before serving, toss in the fresh oregano and stir well.

To assemble nachos, put chips on a serving plate and top with beef, sauce, tomatoes, cucumbers, a little extra feta, and olives (if you like olives, I do not so I left them out.)

Quinoa Spinach Bake

This recipe is for all my quinoa loving friends. I know you guys are out there somewhere!! This recipe reminded me of my spinach pie, but not as cheesy. Probably a little healthier too. The recipe called for blanching the spinach but that seemed like too much work so I just cooked it with the onions after they softened. You could also sub frozen spinach too! Todd ate this for breakfast with a salsa quite a few times. YES, you heard correctly, Todd is eating quinoa and he liked it!! I'm so proud of him! Now I just need to get him to eat oatmeal! One grain at a time I suppose!

Ingredients:

1 lbs spinach

2 t olive oil

1 yellow onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T fresh thyme

1 t rosemary

1/4 t red pepper flakes

2 cups cooked quinoa

1 cup cottage cheese

salt and pepper to taste

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 8 x 8 inch glass baking dish with olive oil spray. Heat oil in saute pan. Add onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and red pepper flakes and saute for about 8 minutes. Add spinach and cooked until wilted. Remove from heat and combine with quinoa, cottage cheese and eggs. Pour into prepared baking dish and bake until edges are brown for 60-70 minutes. Serve warm or at room temp.

Special K Bars

These are Todd's ALL. TIME. FAVORITE. He grew up with his mom making them frequently and we almost always have them when we go visit. I have tried making different variations of this and they never turn out, but this time I got the exact recipe. They probably weren't as good as his mom's but he still gave them 2 thumbs up!

Special K Bars
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups rice krispies
1/4 cup butter

Chocolate frosting
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T peanut butter

Combine corn syrup and sugar in a large microwave bowl. Microwave until sugar is dissolved and starts bubbling. Add peanut butter and butter and stir until smooth. Add the rice krispies until combined. Press into a 9 x 13 pan. To make frosting melt chocolate chips and peanut butter until smooth. Frost bars and enjoy!

What I made this week!

Monday- Summer squash and corn chowder with Hummus and carrots. I made a second attempt at cooking my own chickpeas in the crockpot and this time it worked. I don't think I cooked them long enough last time. This time I soaked the beans for 8 hours, rinsed, and cooked on low for 9-10 hours. They turned out great and one 1 lb bag made one batch of hummus, and filled 2 small freezer bags. Not bad for $.99.
Tuesday-Leftover turkey burgers and green beans
Wednesday-Black beans with rice/quinoa(1/3quinoa ratio to 2/3 brown rice. I love quinoa, but Todd isn't completely sold so I sneak it in things sometimes.) We topped ours with cheese, cilantro and salsa. Todd said this was much better than he expected. I really enjoyed it and it makes a TON! We also had steamed broccoli and grapes to round out our meal.
Thursday- Leftover soup from Monday and cheesy toasts
Friday- Chicken pesto panini's and spinach salad
Saturday- Carrot cake pancakes
I baked a double batch of banana muffins
Sunday- We went to a company picnic. I brought southwestern pasta salad and special k bars.

What I made this week!

We got back in town Monday night. We enjoyed a great steak dinner with twice baked potatoes at my parents.
Tuesday- Sesame Chicken with steamed broccoli

Wednesday- Green Bean, tomato, and chickpea salad. The lemon flavor reminded me of the pita panzanella that I LOVE, but I think next time I would do less green beans and more tomatoes. Not sure I'd make this again. I think with extra tomatoes and basil instead of parsley would make it much better.

Thursday- Night out for me/night in for the boys. Spaghetti with meat sauce.

Friday-Leftover Spaghetti

Saturday- Oatmeal Pancakes for breakfast. Turkey burgers and sweet potatoes for dinner. These burgers were AWESOME! The only thing I did differently is I used TJ's mango/ginger chutney instead of Major Grey's.

Sunday-Dinner at the parents

Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

Flour mixture:
1/4 cup flour
1/8 cup sesame seeds
1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
Pepper
Red pepper flakes

Sesame sauce:
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/8 cup sesame seeds

Coat chicken in flour mixture. Saute in olive oil until brown. Add sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with brown rice.

What I made this week!

We left town on Thursday morning so I didn't make much this week. We did enjoy a few of the things I bought at Trader Joes.
Monday-Sausage zucchini bake with sweet corn. I made this with Trader Joe's garden vegetable chicken sausage. Everyone in the family liked this a lot.
Tuesday- Trader Joe's sun-dried tomato and goat cheese ravioli served with sweet corn(I got 12 for $3 so you'll see a trend here). The ravioli was just ok. I probably won't buy it again.
Wednesday- Leftovers from Monday with more sweet corn.