Loaded Chicken Nachos & Quesadillas

Every other Tuesday is "Taco Tuesday", which means anything Mexican really. This dinner was ahhhhh-may-zing!!! I mean for real, you need to make this tonight! ;) 

Taylor and I were sitting down talking over the menu for the week and we just talked about what we'd like on our loaded nachos. Then, on Tuesday we were in the kitchen working together to make this meal happen. It was a blast! We had so much fun in the kitchen, listening to 60's music, singing and talking to each other. :) This recipe makes a lot of food! Luckily, Taylor had a friend over to watch the game and he ate some too!

This post has two recipes, Loaded Chicken Nachos & Chicken Quesadillas.

Loaded Chicken Nachos

Ingredients
Tortilla chips
2 Chicken breasts
2 Tbs olive oil

1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp oregano
pinch salt
pinch pepper
1 [15oz] can black beans
2 small Roma tomatoes, diced
1 small jalapeno, finely chopped
1 small white onion[or red], chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 cup lettuce, chopped
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
3 Tbs Cilantro
Sour Cream, to your liking

1. Mix chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, salt & pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. In a large pan, heat olive oil, then add chicken. Cover top of chicken with seasoning. Saute until juices run clear.

3. Cut tomato, jalapeno, onion, lettuce, avocado and cilantro while chicken cooks.

4. Remove chicken, let cool. Shred, separating each breast in different bowls. Set pan aside.

5. Drain can of black beans, then microwave in a small bowl for 1 minute 30 seconds.

6. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum. Start loading everything on in this order:

Chips

Black beans

Onions

Jalapenos

Chicken

Cheese

7. Bake at 300 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted completely.

8. Once cooked, set baking sheet on stove and load the following on top of cheese:

Lettuce
Tomato
Avocado
Cilantro

9. Plate and add sour cream at this point if you desire it. ENJOY!










While the Loaded Nachos are baking, cook the Quesadillas.

Quesadillas

Here's what you'll need:
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1/4 cup onion, diced
1/2 Tbs jalapeno, diced
1/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
3 tortillas

Remember that pan full of yummy seasoning from sauteing the chicken? Well, grab that and your other bowl of shredded chicken and get ready. :)

1. Heat seasoned pan and saute green pepper, onion, and jalapeno. Set aside.

2. In a different pan, butter or spray with cooking spray. Place tortilla in pan.

3. Add cheese, sauteed veggies, and then chicken. Heat through.

4. Fold over one side and plate.

Enjoy!!

Italian Wedding Soup

I've decided to make more soups throughout the month. At least 2 every month which is more than I was doing. This soup is a must make again. It got high reviews from me and the hubs! ;) It was so warm and flavorful and hearty. I really enjoyed making it too because it was simple enough. I had fun looking at different Italian soup recipes to kind of bring 'em together and form an even better taste!

Now you can make your own meatballs, by all means... but not me! I had a meatball incident in the first few months of our marriage where I was making spaghetti & meatballs and well... a slip here and all the meatballs and sauce were everywhere. So, I'm going to stick to buying meatballs already made and cooked. :) Plus that made this meal that much easier!

Italian Wedding Soup

Here's what ya need:
16 oz bag Trader Joe's Turkey Meatballs
2 Tbs Olive Oil
1 large garlic, minced
1/2 small red onion
32 oz Chicken stock
1/4 tsp dried dill
Dash of Italian Medley
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 Tbs white cooking wine, optional
3 oz Spinach
Salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese to top

1. Warm meatballs in oven according to package, halfway.

2. In a large pot on medium heat, saute garlic and onion. Add chicken stock, salt, pepper, dill, Italian Medley, and wine[optional]. Bring to a boil. Stir well.

3. Add meatballs.

4. Beat egg then add to pot. Stir well. Then break egg apart using a fork. [Stir with a fork mixing and break the egg up.]

5. Add cheese. Stir well. Bring to boil.

6. Add spinach, let simmer 1-2 minutes or until spinach is welted.

7. Bowl and top with Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!!!

Ravioli with Tomato-Basil Cream Sauce

I found this meal on Pinterest, but it's originally from MyRecipes.com. It calls for 1 jar of Sun-dried tomato Alfredo sauce, but I couldn't find that, so I used the Roasted Garlic Parmesan Alfredo sauce and added sun-dried tomatoes. It turned out super yummy and I really liked the ravioli. With all of our leftover sauce we cooked up some more pasta and had it as leftovers. This meal worked well for our busy schedule! I hope you like it too.

Ravioli with Tomato-Basil Cream Sauce

 Ingredients
1 [20oz] package Four-cheese Ravioli
1 [16oz] jar Roasted Garlic Parmesan Alfredo Sauce
1 Tbs Sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 Tbs White wine
1 [14.5oz] can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup Basil, chopped
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Add sauce to pot on medium-low heat. Pour wine into sauce jar, tighten lid, shake and pour into sauce. Stir.

Chop sun-dried tomatoes & basil.

2. In large pot, boil water and cook Ravioli according to package.

Love this tip: Place your wooden spoon over your pot of boiling water/pasta and the water won't boil over. It works & it's pretty cool!






3. Add can of diced tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil to sauce. Cook on medium heat. Stir. Cook about 5 minutes.

4. Drain pasta. Ladle desired amount of sauce in with pasta. [We had a lot of sauce, so I did it this way to save the rest of the sauce and use it with different pasta as leftovers]

5. Plate and top with Parmesan cheese and basil.

Enjoy!!!

Mom's Pork Chops

This is my lovely mother :) She rocks!! And I love her cooking. And miss it a lot. So in attempt to get a little home, I made her pork chops. For some reason I remember sitting at the dinner table at a young age with my blue plastic plate and green cup, eating these...

This recipe is so simple to make and pretty healthy, and the husband loved them. I typically ask Taylor to rate the meal if it's new, 1 out of 10, 10 being the best. Well, 10 is steak... ;) But he gave these pork chops an 8! Which means I'm making them again. They were so tender and juicy, so good!

Mom's Pork Chops

Ingredients
4 Bone-in Pork Chops
4 Tbs butter
2 Tbs Season All [or All Spice]
1 Onion, sliced
2 small Garlic, minced
Dash of pepper

1. Put 2 Tbs butter in a large skillet pan, on medium-high. Place pork chops in pan, season top with garlic [mom doesn't usually put garlic in, but I love garlic so I added it] & Season All, let brown.

2. Flip chops, place 1 Tbs butter in center of pan, let chops brown. [You want to make sure there is always butter (or Oil) in the pan, so the pork chops don't burn].

3. Turn chops back to seasoned side up. Add 1 Tbs to center of pan. Add sliced onions, lay on top of pork chops, add dash of pepper on top.

4. Pour 1 cup of water [or more... with my pan I needed 2 1/2 cups] to the pan, making sure to cover onions.

5. Cover pan, set on medium/ medium-low for 1 hour. [You want a simmer/light boil] I covered this pan with aluminum because I don't have a square lid ;) and it worked great! [Thanks to my hubs for that great tip!]

6. Remove and plate with some applesauce.  We also had fresh corn... YUM!


Enjoy!!

Evann's 5th Grade Graduation

Evann is the 10 [about to be 11] year old I nanny. Today he graduated from 5th grade! His mom and dad were proud, and so was I. He has worked very hard this past year, and graduated with A/B honor roll and met all his AR goals.

It is such an honor watching these kids grow. Even more so, when I get to watch them succeed in what their doing! :)

Here are some photos of today's graduation:

Principle

Kids choir

Receiving his diploma

If you look closely he's smiling!

E's hand on the wall in the HC hallway

E & his buddies

5th graders are so cool! ;)

Sweet family!

Austin & Evann

Cleaning Tip

Wednesday is my bathroom cleaning day. So, I found it right to post this cleaning tip today. :)

Cleaning the toilet .... Who here doesn't like pulling that brush out of the holder and seeing all that leftover water from your previous wash? I don't... I think it's gross! That is where this amazing tip comes in! The next time you clean your toilet, when you are done, place the brush on the toilet with the seat on top so it balances and doesn't go in. Close the lid. Then let the brush dry. Or keep it up until someone has to use the bathroom... but letting it dry keeps it from bringing all that extra toilet water into the holder and getting moldy. I do this every time I clean, and I am so glad I do!

so fresh & so clean clean!

out of sight!

Happy cleaning! :)