Chicken Quesadilla Salad

Some have requested the recipe for my chicken quesadilla salad so lucky you, I've decided to share!  ;)

My initial motivation to pursue this tasty meal stemmed from my all-time favorite salad at Chili's: The Quesadilla Explosion Salad.

I was craving this fav salad of mine for dinner one night while we were in Texas, an hour away from the nearest Chili's and too cheap to pay to eat out even if it had been in our back yard.  So I started racking my brain for what I could remember in the salad that I loved oh so much... and this is what I created!

Ingredients:

chicken breast

onion

garlic

salt

pepper

crushed red pepper

garlic salt

corn

bell peppers

beans of choice

cilantro

lettuce

shredded cheddar cheese

sour cream

vinaigrette salad dressing

taco seasoning

tortilla strips

I know, seems like a long ingredient list, but it's truly a simple and tasty meal to prepare!

Instructions:

Dice chicken (bite size), onion and garlic and saute in skillet.  Season with salt, pepper, red pepper and garlic salt.  When chicken is cooked through, reduce heat to simmer and add corn, bell peppers (diced) and beans (I'm not a bean fan, but I added it to the recipe because there are beans on my fav salad at Chili's so, you know, if you're a bean person...).  Let simmer until veggies are tender.

{Portions and chicken:veggie ratio is really up to what you prefer... if you like more chicken or more veggies... whatever!}

Meanwhile, mix 2-3 tablespoons (or to taste preference) taco seasoning into vinaigrette salad dressing. {I've tried a few different options and my absolute favorite dressing to use for this is Kraft Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette}

Top shredded lettuce with chicken & veggies then add toppings as desired {cheese, sour cream, dressing, tortilla strips}... Slice a cheese quesadilla into fourths and lay them around the sides of the salad.

Enjoy!

PS, My hubby's grandma has the most amazing recipe for taco seasoning which is what I use, but I can't find the recipe card right now so I linked a rather generic taco seasoning recipe that I've also used before -- it's still good, just not as good as grandma's, of course.  ;)  If there are any specific requests for it, I can post it separately another time.

Not even close, definitely no cigar

Attempt #1 at Chicken & Dumplings = 

miserable failure.

I mean by a long shot... 

soupy

burnt

tangy(?)

It was just all bad and it started with a recipe typo.

I used Paula Deen's recipe posted here.

I didn't pay much attention to the sense of things at first...

{I'm a dedicated rule follower... I have a tenancy not to question directions until it's too late}

...anyway...

When I got everything but the dumplings in the pot I was looking at it thinking, that is a LOT of water to thicken up... maybe I should compare my recipe to some others...

So I started looking...

And then I realized.. my recipe says 4 Quarts instead of 4 Cups of water.

Holy moly.

I now I'm bailing water out.

Well then you lose flavor too, right?  So I add another bouillon cube and some flour to help thicken it up.

It's still pretty soupy so I'm thinking, okay... I know my grandma used to make her chicken and dumplings with noodles, I'll add pasta!  What better way to soak up extra broth?!

Potentially could have worked, if I hadn't added the dumplings so soon after.

I may have only a vague memory of making chicken and dumplings once with my grandmother when I was a little girl, but I remember one very important tip she gave me.

"Don't stir your dumplings to death or they'll turn into hard balls of dough instead of  fluffy dumplings"

Yes Ma'am.

So I'm stirring as little as possible, trying to balance the concepts of not killing my dumplings and keeping the pasta from sticking... I failed.

The dumplings were fluffish, though a little tougher than they should have been and some pasta, though mostly loose in the pot, stuck vehemently to the bottom of the pan.

Then the burning smell, and thus the burnt taste and now the house stinks... and I'm irritated.

You and I shall have our day #91... I will make successful chicken and dumplings... you just wait and see.

Life as of Late

So I wanted to share some new recipes the hubs and I have been pleased with lately, but first I thought I'd update you on the most recent happenings of our personal life.  =)

First of all, Franny {my awesome little Ford Focus} rolled over 90,000 miles on my last trip back from KC!  Go Franny, go!

{Please, no comments on the dust... or the speeding.  LOL}

Remember how we inherited Ms. K's puppy?  Well here's re-introducing the newest member of our little family, Mr. Skylar Kal Young... 

Before                                                                  After

{We've never been big fans of one syllable type names for pets so after much deliberation, we expanded his name from "Sky" to "Skylar" and added "Kal" as a middle name in honor of Ms. K whose last name was Kaliszewski.}

It has also been raining torrents here in the Texas panhandle the last several days... so much so that it about washed this little town away!  Okay, not really... but we did have a river running through Bayley and Skylar's usual playing field...

{Don't mock my silly video, okay?  lol}

Okay, now the the initial reason I began this post...

Yummy new recipes!!!

Lately I've become bored with our usual diet {as I am often known to do} and have been scavenging new recipes from anywhere I can get my hands on them; magazines, internet, T.V., friends... so needless to say, you will probably be seeing many of the "approved" recipes up here!  =)

Okay, without further ado...

Corn Salsa

Ingredients:

Fresh Corn

Fresh Onion 

Julienne Zucchini

Fresh Red Bell Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

Salt

Cilantro

Saute corn, onion, zucchini, red bell pepper, cayenne pepper and salt together.  Add a bit of cilantro if desired.  {All ingredients can be proportioned according to your preference... I also added a bit of lemon juice to mine for some bite.}  Serve with your favorite tortilla chips...  super simple!

An Extra Whitney Style Tip:  Tonight we actually topped this salsa on lettuce with some of my favorite "Mexican style" dressing:  

{2-3 T of taco seasoning mix shaken in to 1 bottle of tomato vinaigrette}  

It made for one very delicious salad! 

Chicken with Sun Dried Tomatoes & Noodles

Topped with a Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:

3 T Olive Oil

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Halves

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

3/4 cup Water

1/4 cup Thinly Sliced Sun Dried Tomatoes

1 T Red Wine Vinegar

2 T Fine Chopped Basil Leaves

4 cups Hot Cooked Wheat Rotini Noodles

Shredded Parmesan Cheese

1) Heat in skillet over med-high heat.  Add chicken and cook 10 min. or until well browned on both sides.  Remove Chicken from Skillet.

2) Stir together soup, water, tomatoes, vinegar and basil in skillet.

3) Return chicken to skillet and heat to a boil.  Reduce heat to low.  Cook 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through.  Serve chicken  and sauce over noodles.  Top with shredded parmesan cheese.

Okay folks, hope you enjoyed!

Gimme "S'more" Cake Recipe

Dear Readers, 

          Per your request...  Try this new twist on a summer bonfire classic.  =)

Gimme "S'more" Cake

Recipe From Taste of Home Magazine

Prep: 50 min          Preheat To: 350

BakeTime: 20 min + cooling          Yield: 12 servings

Cake

1/2c shortening
1/4c butter, softened
1c sugar
3 eggs
1t vanilla
2 3/4c graham cracker crumbs
3t baking powder
1 can (12oz) evaporated milk

Marshmallow Frosting

4 egg whites

1c sugar

1/2t cream of tartar

1 1/2t vanilla 

1 1/2c miniature semisweet chocolate chips, divided

Cake Directions

Line two 9in round baking pans with waxed paper and grease the paper; set aside.  In a large bowl, cream shortening, butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla.  Combine cracker crumbs and baking powder; add to the creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition.

Transfer to prepared pans.  Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Marshmallow Frosting Directions

In a large heavy saucepan, combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar over low heat.  With a hand mixer, beat on low speed for 1 minute.  Continue beating on low over low heat until frosting reaches 160, about 8-10 minutes.  Pour into a large bowl; add vanilla.  Beat on high until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes.

Place a cake layer on a serving plate; spread with 2/3c frosting and sprinkle with half of chips.  Top with remaining cake layer.  Frost top and sides of cake; sprinkle with remaining chips.

Whitney's Thoughts & Amendments

 Cake: Wouldn't change a thing. Quite possibly the most delicious cake recipe I have ever found!

Marshmallow Frosting: First, the beating part took a lot longer for me, as you read in my previous post.  Perhaps I was doing something wrong, but just FYI.  Second, I thought the frosting tasted more accurately like marshmallows before adding the vanilla and definitely think the recipe calls for too much.  When I make it again I will probably take it down to just 1t vanilla extract, if not only 1/2t.  Also, I got impatient after the incessant beating with my hand mixer and didn't finish all the way.  Definitely finish your beating or you marshmallow frosting will slowly creep down the sides of your cake.  =)  I knew this would be the consequence, but I my impatience won over my desire for the cake to be pretty.  lol

Chocolate Chips: I used way more than called for... let's face it, you can never have too much chocolate in a s'more!  =)

Other Twists: Being the chocolate lover I am, I also thought about icing the delicious graham cracker cake with chocolate frosting and dropping either mini marshmallows or dollops of marshmallow frosting/cream between the cake layers and on top .

Though I will make a few changes next time, all in all this cake was a big hit with this Young family!  =)

Yummy in My Tummy...

Tonight we're having one of my faaavorite chicken dishes for dinner.

Parmesan Chicken.

Not just any parmesan chicken, the most wonderful parmesan chicken EVER invented.

I found the recipe about a year ago here.

Doesn't that just look amazing?

Well it is.

{My extra little secret, I use a heaping cup of parmesan cheese instead of just 3/4 c... I did it on accident once and it turned out to be the best batch ever!}

This chicken is so good, I don't even make any sauce to go with it... no need. 

Well, it's about time to pull it out of the oven so off I go!


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