Chicken and Squash Casserole

I think this recipe turned out really good, my kids love stuffing and ate it really well. It's another one of those that the picture doesn't do it justice. I love meals that incorporate lots of vegetables so this was a winner for me.

4 tablespoons butter, divided

1 medium onion, diced

3 carrots, shredded

3 small squash, chopped into bite sized pieces (zucchini, mex squash, yellow squash)

4 chicken breasts, chopped into bite sized pieces

6 mushrooms diced

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup sour cream

1 package chicken stuffing mix

Preheat oven to 350*. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet. Add onion, carrots, and squash. Season with salt and pepper. Cook 7 minutes or until squash is tender. Transfer into large collander to drain. Add chicken and mushrooms to skillet. Cook 7-10 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Add vegetables back into skillet. Add soup and sour cream and mix well. Transfer to a 9X13 baking dish. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and stuffing mix to skillet. Toss until butter is absorbed. Top casserole with stuffing mix. At this point you can choose to leave the stuffing on top or mix it into the casserole. Today I mixed it into the casserole. Bake 20-30 minutes.

Chicken Tortilla Chili

This is such a yummy chili! We had our church Chili Cookoff last night, I won "Best Looking Chili." Although last year I won "Best Chili" with THIS recipe (my nephews were really excited about me defending my title, I said to one of them, "Best Looking is pretty good too" and he said, "eh") I personally think this years is better! This would be the PERFECT recipe for anyone who got a Mexican Pack and Tortillas this week! The one thing you could do if you got the mex pack is add in some hot peppers to taste! 4 yellow corn tortillas
1 large onion, diced
1 medium zucchini, diced (I used 2 yellow squash, if you got a Mexican Pack use the squash in that!)
1 T vegetable oil
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 T ground cumin
3-4 cups chicken stock
2 cans diced fire roasted tomatoes, undrained
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 small rotisserie chicken
1 t salt
Optional toppings: diced avacado, lime wedges, crumbled queso fresco, cilantro, tortilla crisps

Place tortillas in a blender or food processor to form fine crumbs, set aside. Place oil and onion in 4 quart pot, cook and stir over medium heat 4-6 minutes until onions are tender. Add cilantro, garlic, and cumin. Cook an aditional 20-30 seconds until fragrant. Stir in tortilla crumbs, zucchini, stock, tomatoes, and beans. Bring to a gentle simmer, reduce heat to medium-low and cook 15-20 minutes to thicken, stirring frequently and scraping bottom of pot. Stir in chicken and salt. Cook 3-4 minutes or until zucchini is tender and chicken is hot. Serve with toppings if desired.

Cabbage Chili w/ GREEN Chili Lime Corn Chips

Remember the Super Bowl Corn Chips that Bountiful Baskets offered? Well, we were cheering for the Steelers, SO I threw the green tortillas into the freezer for St. Patricks Day! Today I sprayed them with a little oil and sprinkled with salt and chili lime rub and baked them at 350* for 15 minutes, to serve with our chili! Yummy!

1 lb. ground turkey
2 small onions, chopped
1 red or green pepper, chopped
About 3 (hot) chilies (to taste), finely chopped (I used hot banana peppers)
1 Cabbage, chopped
3 fresh tomatoes
1-2 cans stewed tomatoes, undrained
1-2 cans kidney beans
2 small yellow squash, chopped (optional)
2 heaped teaspoons of cumin seed;
2 teaspoons curry powder
pepper to taste

Heat a large pot over medium high heat. Add turkey and onions. Cook 5 minutes. Add in cabbage, tomatoes, squash, beans, peppers and seasonings. I had a very large cabbage, so I used 2 cans of the tomatoes and beans, remember the cabbage will cook down quite a bit though. The chili will seem very dry at this point, but as the cabbage simmers it will release lots of liquid. Simmer over low heat 30 minutes stirring occaisionally.

Whenever I cook something like Chili, I like to see what older veggies I have in the fridge that I can add. It's a great way to add more vitamins and usally doesn't effect the flavor of the chili. I didn't have any this time, but when we get brussels again (not my favorite veggie) I am going to try adding them to chili!

Recipe adapted from The Giant Cabbage

Creamy Pasta with Spring Vegetables

This recipe had such great flavor! I love the fresh basil and roasted veggies. This recipe was adapted from a recipe in The Pampered Chef Main Dishes cookbook, which is now out of print. Most recipes that I make in my home I go off of an idea and then add or take away things until it's what I want. I doubled the recipe, with a big family that's a must, plus that way I could use the whole can of evaporated milk.
8 oz. thin fresh asparagus spears, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
8 oz. baby portobello mushrooms, quartered
1 large bell pepper, cut into 1 in pieces
1 yellow squash, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 tsp. salt (I like course sea salt)
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, snipped
8 oz. penne pasta (I use whole wheat)
3/4 cup fat free evaporated milk (could use heavy whipping cream or regular evaporated milk)
2 oz fresh parmesan cheese grated

Preheat oven to 425*. Chop up veggies and place in a large bowl. Add olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Toss gently. Spread out on a cookie sheet with sides. Roast 18-20 minutes until veggies are tender. (if you like crisp veggies only roast 10-12 min). Cook fat free evaporated milk in a small sauce pan over medium low heat until slightly thickened. Add in parmesan cheese and stir until incorporated. When veggies are done, return to large bowl, top with sauce and basil and toss together. Top with additional black pepper and parmesan cheese as desired.

yeild-4 servings, calories per serving: 120

notes: Tonight I made this vegetarian style, but it would be great with grilled chicken breasts cubed and tossed in. Also, I used veggies that I had on hand, it's easy to add or take away veggies in a meal like this to suit it to your tastes!