Chicken Ranchiladas

The Recipe: Swiped from here. We changed the name and I added a few ingredients.

What You Need:
4 large chicken breasts
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 packet ranch mix
4 10-inch tortillas
1 can black beans
1 can whole kernel sweet corn
about 2 C shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
about 1 C ranch dressing

Your Turn:
Place chicken in crockpot. Dump in taco mix and ranch mix on top of chicken. Cook on low 8 hours or more.

Shred chicken with two forks, and remove from crock pot.

Drain and rinse black beans and corn. 

In the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish, place two tortillas.

Top with half of the shredded chicken.

Top with 1 C shredded cheese, about 1/2 C ranch dressing, and the beans and corn.

Add another layer of tortillas.

For both the first layer, and the second layer, I like to tear them in half and lay them like this. You get better coverage.

Top with remaining chicken, followed by another 1/2 C ranch dressing, and the remaining 1 C shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Serve with Mexican Rice!

Lemon Dill Chicken

The Recipe: Again, from my favorite standby cookbook. This chicken is "restaurant good," according to Pete.

What You Need:
1/4 C (1/2 a stick) butter
1.5 - 2 lbs chicken breasts
1/2 C white wine (chicken broth works as a substitute, but the wine is far superior)
1/2 tsp dry dill (or 1 T fresh chopped dill)
1 T lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt

Your Turn:
Melt 1/4 C butter in a large skillet.

Add chicken and cook about 6 minutes, turning once, until light brown.

Mix together
white wine,
dill,
lemon juice, and
salt.

Pour over chicken and heat to boiling.

Reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10 - 15 minutes until chicken is cooked throughout.

Remove chicken.

Heat wine mixture to boiling. Boil about 3 minutes until reduced by about half.
*I did not do this the first couple times I made this because I had no idea what it meant. Just let it boil for a few minutes and it will reduce in quantity becoming more concentrated and more scrumptious. This is basically wine and butter. It is so yummy. 

Pour reduced liquid over chicken and serve.

This is really good with couscous and roasted broccoli!

Pecan-Crusted Tilapia

The Recipe: For most of my life I never ate fish. Then, after we were married, I decided I should add some fish to my repertoire of things I can eat and prepare. So I found two tilapia recipes that I came to like. Recently, I'd been making baked lemon dill tilapia for us, specifically for Henry since it's a good way to get him to eat protein and adds some variety to his diet. I found this pecan fish recipe in my old standby easy meal cookbook and knew I had to try it. I never thought I'd be taking seconds of seafood, but this tilapia was great.

What You Need:
tilapia filets (I buy them frozen. For this recipe, I defrosted 5 of them)
about 1 C finely chopped pecans (I used one big handful of nuts then chopped them with a big knife. A food processor would probably work even better.)
1/2 C dry breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 T milk
salt and pepper
lemon juice
vegetable oil

Your Turn:
Using a fork, beat egg with milk in a shallow bowl.

Stir chopped pecans and breadcrumbs together in a shallow bowl.

Sprinkle thawed tilapia filets with salt and pepper on both sides.

Dredge each piece of fish first in the egg, then in the crumbs/nuts. Press some of the nut mixture into the fish.

Heat vegetable oil (about 2 T) in a large skillet.

Add fish.
*Since my pecan pieces were a little big, I actually pushed some into the top side of each piece of fish after I placed them all in the skillet. When I flipped them, I did so carefully to keep those big pieces of nut on the underside of the fish. Some fell off, but they were yummy to scoop up and put on top of the fish once it was plated.

Cook about 4-5 minutes, then flip carefully with a pancake turner and cook another 4-5 minutes until it flakes easily with a fork.

Serve with lemon juice or lemon wedges.

Waffles, Any Way You Like 'Em

The Recipe: The original one came with my waffle iron. I was inspired to adapt the taco version from a Betty Crocker "Quick & Easy" Cookbook.

What You Need:
1 C flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 T sugar
3 eggs (separated)
1 C milk
4 T vegetable oil
Either...
1 tsp vanilla
OR
1 tsp chile powder
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chiles

Your Turn:
Separate 3 eggs. Save the yolks in a small bowl and beat the 3 egg whites until they are stiff. This would be when they start to hold the shape of the beaters as you move the beaters around the bowl. Set the whites aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together
1 C flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 T sugar
Stir until blended.

Add
1 C milk
3 egg yolks
and stir until smooth.

Add
4 T oil 
and here's where you choose your own adventure:  Do you want breakfast waffles? If so, add 1 tsp vanilla. Do you want taco waffles to serve with taco toppings (taco-flavored ground beef, sour cream, salsa, chopped onions, shredded cheese)? If so, add 1 tsp chile powder and 1 can chopped green chiles. I have not explored other options here, but adding chocolate chips, toasted pecans, berries, bacon, or curry might all be yummy alternatives.

Mix well after you add your oil and choice of add-ins.

Add the egg whites and stir gently, just until blended.

Pour 3/4 C or so (use your waffle iron's instructions) onto the hot iron at a time and cook until golden brown. My iron has an indicator light to let you know when it's done. That's really handy.

Enjoy for any meal of the day! I can get 4 or 5 whole Belgian waffles out of this recipe, so I always put a few in the fridge and reheat in the toaster oven, which works great. (I would not recommend a microwave-reheat, though.)