Chicken Tortilla Casserole

My husband is not feeling well and asked me to make some comfort food. With summer being right around the corner, I wanted to make a somewhat healthy dish that would be nice and hearty for him. You may notice all the melted gooey cheese on the above picture, but don't worry...it is easy to scrape off or you can put less on if you are trying to eat healthy.

Here is what you will need:

I forgot to include a can of diced tomatoes in the picture.  You can use one or cup up a fresh tomato if you'd like.

First you will need to cook your chicken if you haven't already. You can cook it however you want. I prefer to poach mine and then shred it in my mixer. 

For those of you who don't know what poaching is, all you have to do is put your chicken breast into a pan with enough water to fully cover it and bring to a boil and let boil for about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. 

While my chicken breasts were cooking, I decided to chop my bell pepper and onions. If you are using a fresh tomato, go ahead and chop that as well.

My chicken is still cooking so I went ahead and mixed the cream of chicken soup, milk, sour cream, green chilies, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and salt together in a bowl.

Next I cut up my tortilla strips into about 1 inch cubes.

Now throw your tortillas, chicken, bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, and cheese into the bowl with the cream mixture.

Mix until everything is combined.

Put your mix into a baking dish and cover with foil. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. 

Once it has been cooked, take the casserole out of the oven and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Put back into oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Let the casserole cool for about 10 minutes and serve.

Enjoy!

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons garlic

1 4 oz can diced green chilies

1/2 cup 1% milk

1 10.5 oz can of fat free condensed cream of chicken soup

8 oz fat free sour cream

1/2 medium diced bell pepper

1/2 medium diced onion

10 oz can diced tomato's or 1 medium diced tomato

8 6 inch corn tortillas

1 lb cooked chopped or shredded chicken breast

1 1/2 cups shredded colby jack cheese

Summary:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 2 quart baking dish with cooking spray. Mix chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic, green chilies, milk, cream of chicken soup, and sour cream in large bowl. Cut tortilla strips into 1 inch pieces. Add bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, tortillas, cooked chicken, and 3/4 cup shredded cheese into bowl and mix with wet ingredients. Put into 2 quart baking dish and cover with foil. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, take casserole out of oven and uncover. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and put back into over for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let cool for 10 minutes.

With love!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Yummm, Chicken Tortilla Soup! Today is an overcast and snowy day here in Nebraska. My mom and brother are flying in tonight from Southern California so I am thinking they will need something warm and delightful to distract them from the frigid conditions. I would like to think they are here to visit me, but let's face it, Grandma is coming to see my sweet little baby boy!

This recipe is so s-i-m-p-l-e even a multitasking mom of a teething baby can throw it together in minutes! I am all about keeping it as easy as possible when my little guy needs extra attention and I have a zillion other things to do to prepare for guests.  As an added bonus, this recipe is also healthy.  2 points scored! Plus maybe I can score an extra point since this is a recipe my mom gave me??? Well, here it goes...

Here are the ingredients you will need for the soup:

I don't have actual limes or cilantro and I don't want to drive to the store in the snow, so I will use lime juice and frozen cilantro that I have in my freezer from Trader Joes. I also am on a sea salt kick so I am using that instead of kosher salt. If you can't get to the store then just use what you have.

Chop your onion and garlic cloves. I always use extra garlic than what the recipe calls for, I can't get enough of it.  If you don't have one of these handy choppers, you should really consider getting one. I usually love to chop my veggies with a knife, but when I am in a crunch this chopper is a LIFESAVER!

For whatever reason, my onion was extremely potent so I soaked it in some milk for about 5-10 minutes first to release some of the strong sulfur compounds. Yup, you read that right, I soaked them in milk. After the ten minutes was up I rinsed the onions in a strainer with cool water.  If your onion isn't terribly strong, or you like overpowering onions, then go ahead and skip this step.

Now combine all the ingredients except for the lime juice and cilantro in your slow cooker.

Stir all that goodness together

Put the lid on and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Stir every now and then or leave until its dinner time.

It is almost time to indulge in the deliciousness, but first we must shred the chicken. You can use two forks and manually shred the chicken or if you have a Kitchen Aid Mixer you can throw the chicken in your mixer with the paddle attachment. Run it on medium speed for about 30 seconds or until your chicken is shredded. Put the chicken back into the slow cooker and add the lime juice and cilantro. If you want to kick it up a notch, which I always do, throw in some Sriracha to taste. If you are using cut up corn tortilla strips in your soup then I would add them now so they can soak up the juices for a few minutes if you prefer them to really soak in the juices then add them even sooner.

Now all you have to do is serve and add whatever toppings you want. Enjoy and stay warm!

Ingredients:

• 2 cans (10 oz) petite diced tomatoes (i used rotel)
• 1 can (10 oz) red enchilada sauce
• 1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies
• 1 can (14.5 oz) black beans, drained
• 8 oz frozen corn kernels 
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans (14 oz) chicken broth
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 boneless/skinless frozen chicken breasts
• 1/2 C fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 limes, juiced or lime juice
• Sriracha-to taste

Don't be afraid to venture out and use what you have in the cupboard or fridge, I just used what I had. Feel free to get creative and add bell peppers, olives, jalapenos, diced carrots, celery or whatever else you have handy.

Optional Toppings: 

            Cheese

            Sour cream

            Olives

            Avocado

            Tortilla Chips

            Quesadillas
            Limes

            Cut up corn tortilla strips (i would throw these in towards the end so they can soak up the        

            goodness)
            More Sriracha (if you are my husband!)

Instructions:
1. Put all ingredients in slow cooker, leaving the lime juice and cut up cilantro out
2. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours
3. Take chicken out of slow cooker and shred, put it back in cooker once it had been shredded.
4. Add cilantro and lime juice to slow cooker
5. Serve with toppings of your choice

With love!