Secret Recipe Club: Mexican Layer Bake

Happy Monday! It is a happy Monday indeed today since not only do I have today off from work, but I also just returned from a whirlwind and A-mazing weekend with my family at Penn State for THON. To even say that it was A-mazing is an understatement. To see thousands upon thousands of students dancing for 46 hours straight, raising $10,686,924.83 For The Kids, cheering, celebrating and working tirelessly for months and months leading up to the event is pretty overwhelming. Not to mention the hundreds of families who benefit from THON and share their incredible stories of hope, love and inspiration.

I'll share some more photos and videos tomorrow!

On another note, today is my Secret Recipe Club reveal! Yay!

I joined the Secret Recipe Club a few months ago and love being a part of this community. The lovely Amanda created the SRC in order for bloggers to, once a month, try out another blogger's recipe and share it on their own blog. It's so fun to find new blogs, test out new recipes and to find out who has your blog for the month!

This month, I was given Denise's Creative Kitchen (http://creativekitchenadventures.com) and was so excited to find her blog. Denise writes delicious and simple recipes that all look fantastic. I love her honesty about going low-carb and her ideas for lightening dishes up!

When I found her recipe for a Mexican Layer Bake, I couldn't wait to get in the kitchen and cook it up. You see, I've been working late a bunch of nights and therefore not really so into cooking when I arrive home. A nice, hearty casserole was just the ticket for us last week! It lasted for a few meals and was delicious every time.

 

This was so easy and so delicious. I will definitely be making this again and again!

Mexican Layer Bake
*Adapted from Creative Kitchen for the Secret Recipe Club
6 servings; 6 WW Points+ per serving

3 chicken breasts
1 tsp olive oil
kosher salt
black pepper
4 taco-sized tortillas, such as Mission Life Balance
1 can black beans, very lightly drained
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles, such as mild Rotel, very lightly drained
1 1/2 C reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
cooking spray
sour cream, for serving

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Lay the chicken breasts over a foil-lined baking sheet, sprayed with cooking spray. Drizzle the olive oil over the chicken, using a brush to distribute. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast about 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Once chicken is cooked, lower the oven to 350 degrees and then shred chicken in a large mixing bowl with fork and knife. Mix in the black beans, Rotel, chili powder and cumin. Add any salt and pepper as necessary.

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Cut all 4 tortillas in half, so that you have 8 pieces. Layer 4 tortilla pieces in the bottom of baking dish. Pour half of the chicken mixture over the tortillas. Sprinkle with 3/4 C cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients, layering 4 more tortilla pieces, the rest of the chicken mixture and cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve with sour cream, if ya like. We actually mixed a bit of sour cream with a little cumin to make a nice little crema for serving. It was delicious.

Also, this reheated perfectly the next evening. Simply cover again with foil and bake until heated. Yum!! Thanks to Denise for this great recipe!

Questions of the Day:

What kind of dishes do you make to last you more than one meal?

How was your weekend?!

Secret Recipe Club: Chicken Noodle & Corn Casserole

I was pretty excited when I drew The Kitchen Witch as my Secret Recipe Club blog for December. I instantly fell in love with her gorgeous photos, fun blog design and sweet sense of humor. The only problem? Choosing only one recipe for the reveal!

With all of the holiday craziness, last weekend I had planned to only make one or two dishes for the week. I wanted something that was semi-healthy and that would last for multiple meals and thus something of the 'tray' variety was needed. When I saw Rhonda's recipe for chicken noodle & corn casserole, I knew it would be love at first bite. And it was. The corn adds a bit of sweetness, while the chicken and noodles add some earthy heartiness.

Chicken Noodle & Corn Casserole
*Adapted from The Kitchen Witch
3 C chopped cooked chicken breast (I seasoned & baked 3 breasts, then cubed)
1 16 oz. pkg egg noodles (I used Ronzoni)
1 can (15 ounce) corn kernels, drained
1 can (14.75 ounce) cream style corn
2 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 C skim or low fat milk
1 C reduced fat sour cream
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
1 C seasoned panko bread crumbs

Cook the egg noodles according to package directions (I undercooked them by about a minute). Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt the butter and saute the onions and celery over medium heat until soft. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Whisk in the flour and cook for about a minute, whisking constantly. Slowly whisk in the milk until fully combined. Bring mixture to a light boil. Turn off the heat and stir in both corns, sour cream, herbs, salt, pepper, chicken and noodles. Pour into a greased baking dish, sprinkle the top with panko and bake for 20 minutes. Yields about 8 servings.

Dig in!

We ate this for a number of dinners and lunches and enjoyed every bite! Thanks to Rhonda for this great recipe! I also think it could easily be changed up to add any flavors you like. Substitute the corn for any vegetables, like green beans, asparagus, bell peppers...or all of the above!

So there you have it. My Secret Recipe Club reveal for December! Hope you have a great week! It's going to be a busy one with Christmas only 6 days away...but I'm soaking up every moment!!

Questions of the Day:

Have you ever made a great casserole?

How was your weekend? We spent ours partying it up on Friday and Saturday nights, and then relaxing big time all day yesterday!

Secret Recipe Club: NY Giants & Jets Popcorn Party Mix

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was filled with sleeping in, hitting the gym and hanging out with my sister who is home for Thanksgiving. I'm ready for a short holiday week ahead, how about you?!

This is my first month participating in the Secret Recipe Club and I was completely thrilled when I got The Yummy Life as my blog for this round. I love Monica's blog because her recipes look simply fantastic and she is extremely thorough with her recipe instructions. I love that when trying new dishes! When I saw her recipe for Red Hot Popcorn Party Mix, I knew I had to give it a try.

Not only does the recipe look fantastic, but Monica is clearly a girl after my own heart in that she creates food based on her favorite sports team! Though she created this popcorn in honor of the World Series-winning St. Louis Cardinals, I adapted it just a bit to follow my own favorite sports team...the New York Giants!

And since we're a two team household (with Shaun rooting for the Jets), I thought it was only fair to make a batch honoring the Jets as well.

I really only adapted a couple of things from the original recipe. First of all, I didn't use Red Hots because I am not really into the hot cinnamon flavor. Instead, I used pretzel M&M's for a more sweet & salty flavor. I also need more colors than just red, and the M&M's made this easy peasy.

NY Giants & Jets Popcorn Party Mix
*Adapted from The Yummy Life
8 cups popped corn (I use air-popped without oil or salt)
1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts
1 bag pretzel M&M's for your colors of choice (I used a holiday bag for red & green, and a regular bag for the blue)
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 tsp canola oil
1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
decorating sprinkles (red/white/blue/green coarse sugar, nonpareils, or similar)

Pop your popcorn. I have a fresh popcorn machine, but you can easily make fresh popcorn on the stovetop or in the microwave. Lay out the popcorn on a large baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. Pour on half of the peanuts, sprinkles and M&M's. (At this junction, I just did one half with the red and blue M&M's and sprinkles, and the other half with green and white to delineate Giants and Jets). Mix the white chocolate and oil together and melt in the microwave...but don't overmelt it!

Drizzle the white chocolate evenly over the popcorn and immediately top with the sea salt and remaining M&M's, peanuts and sprinkles. Let harden completely and break up. Serve in bowls or individual baking cups.

Don't you want to just eat that up?! We did!

So there you have it. My little twist on The Yummy Life's Red Hot Popcorn Party Mix. I love this whole idea and just think it's so fun! Thanks Monica for this great recipe!

Questions of the Day:

Have you ever made sports-themed food?

What did you do this weekend?