Sunday is for Suppers: Convenience Cooking- Quick Chicken Tacos, Crunchy Chicken Strips, 20-Minute Noodle Bowls

We are getting ready for a hurricane.  Yes, Hurricane Sandy is supposed to hit sometime tonight and into tomorrow morning.  It will make landfall mainly by New York and New Jersey, but we will feel the effects all the way down here in good ol' VA.  School has already been closed, so this means my Sunday was full of family time and no blues about work starting back up on Monday.  With that being said, the dinners for this week are kinda up in the air.  We are wondering, are we going to have power?  Luckily, my hubby has learned how to grill just about anything, so the grill is our back up this week. 


We always have chicken on hand-who doesn't?  You'll see that this week's meals are full of chicken since we need to either get rid of it or have something quick to eat.

Quick Chicken Tacos (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens) 
I love cooking with anything that can be turned into a taco!  I love making these because it's basically just assembling the toppings that takes the most time.

Ingredients:
1 16-ounce can refried beans
2 6-ounce packages refrigerated cooked chicken breast strips, cut into bite-size pieces
1 10.5-ounce package 6-inch flour tortillas (10)
2 cups shredded Mexican-style four-cheese blend
2 cups shredded greens or iceberg lettuce
1 large chopped tomato
1/2 cup bottled salsa
1/2 cup dairy sour cream

Directions:
In a saucepan, cook refried beans over medium heat until heated through, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, heat chicken breast strips according to package directions.  Spread about 2 tablespoons refried beans on each tortilla.  Top with chicken, cheese, lettuce, and tomato.  Fold tortillas over filling.  Serve with salsa, sour cream and lime wedges.

Crunchy Chicken Strips (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)
Goldfish and Ranch dressing are two of the ingredients?!  How can you go wrong when you have to cook for kids?

Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
7 cups bite-size cheddar fish-shape crackers or 14 cups pretzels (14 ounces)
1 1/2 cups bottled buttermilk ranch salad dressing
2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Line two 15x10x1-inch baking pans with foil.  Lightly coat foil with cooking spray; set aside.
Crush crackers (put them in a freezer bag and roll a rolling pin over them) and transfer to a shallow dish.  In another shallow dish place the 1 1/2 cups ranch dressing.  Dip chicken tenderloins into dressing, allowing excess to drip off; dip into cracker crumbs to coat.  Arrange chicken in prepared pans.  Lightly coat chicken with cooking spray.
Bake uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, rotating pans halfway through baking.  If desired, serve half of the chicken strips with additional ranch dressing.
Cool remaining chicken strips for 20 minutes.  Place in an airtight container, cover and chill for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.  To reheat strips, preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Arrange chilled or frozen strips in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake, uncovered, until heated through. (allow 15 min. for chilled and 20 minutes for frozen strips)

20 Minute Shrimp Noodle Bowls(adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)
Very often, we have shrimp in the freezer because our local grocery store always has it on sale.  These are soo so good.  Just thinking about them makes me want to cook them up right now!

Ingredients:
1 14-ounce can reduced sodium chicken broth or lower sodium beef broth
1/2 cup bottled peanut sauce
2 cups frozen stir-fry or mixed vegetables
2 3-ounce packages ramen noodles (any flavor, broken)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
Cooked shrimp

Directions:
In a large saucepan combine broth and peanut sauce.  Bring to boiling.  Add grated ginger.  Stir in frozen vegetables and noodles (discard seasoning packet).  Return to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, for 3 minutes or until noodles and vegetables are tender.  Stir in cooked shrimp and heat through.  Divide noodle mixture among four bowls.

Back at it

I felt like I was my old self again last week!  I got 4 cooked meals to the table and once again had lots of leftovers in the refrigerator.  With warmer temperatures, I definitely have the itch to cook out at some point.

Dempsey is doing a great job with his schedule.  He continues to be indecisive as to what he wants, but that's got to be a typical guy trait, right???  He is such a smiley boy and loves it when people talk to him.

Some of the recipes I will be making this week were found on Pinterest.  This site is so addicting and so fun!

***Ok, I love lasagna, but it can be so time consuming to make.  Here's a version I found that can be made on the stovetop.  I found it at this site here.  Have fun exploring this site!  It has amazing freezer meals.  I think I may double this recipe to have some in the freezer for the week I go back to work.

Skillet Lasagna
recipe adapted from Cook's Illustrated

1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes
water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound fresh italian sausage, crumbled
10 dry curly edged lasagna noodles, broken into 2 inch pieces
1 (8oz) tomato sauce
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese + more for serving
1 cup ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Pour diced tomatoes with their juices into 1-quart liquid measuring cup. Add water until mixture measures 1 quart; set aside.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add italian sausage and cook, breaking apart meat, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.

Scatter pasta over meat but do not stir. Pour diced tomatoes with juices and tomato sauce over pasta. Cover and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in cheeses. Season with salt and pepper. Dot with heaping tablespoons ricotta, cover, and let stand off heat for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with basil and remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Serve.

* To make ahead/freezer meal - Prepare recipe above as directed up until you scatter the pasta. Scatter pasta over meat but do not stir. Pour diced tomatoes with juices and tomato sauce over pasta. Cover and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is barely al dente, about 10 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer dish into oven- and freezer safe container. Allow dish to cool and then freeze. When ready to prepare, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Defrost completely and place container on a baking sheet. Dot with heaping tablespoons ricotta and bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with basil and remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Serve.

***Stuffed peppers are also a favorite of mine and I love this variation I found on this site.  This recipe calls for ground turkey which is a healthy alternative to ground beef.
Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

• Olive Oil ( I used Tahitian lime olive oil)
• 1/2 lb lean ground turkey breast
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 heaping tbsp of homemade taco seasoning (or you can use the packaged type if you like)
• 2 cups of cooked rice (any type you like – I like brown)
• 3-4 organic bell peppers, halved and seeds removed
• 1 can of black beans, drained & rinsed
• ½ cup of organic frozen corn
• 1 (15 -16 ounce) jar of salsa (my favorite is mango peach)
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese

• Toppings:
• fresh cilantro
• sour cream
• sliced avocado

Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat the peppers with olive oil and roast in a baking dish about 20-25 minutes just until cooked thru. Remove the peppers from the oven and allow to cool until you can handle them.
*****Note – make sure you cook your turkey ahead of time that way you do not have to worry about it later. Also, I sauteed the onions until cooked thru, I then added in my cooked rice, black beans and corn.
In a bowl add the taco seasoning, cooked ground turkey, chopped onions, black beans, corn and rice. Add in the jar of salsa and mix well.
Carefully spoon the turkey mixture into each half of the bell peppers and place back into the baking dish. Cook the peppers for another 15-20 minutes or until the peppers are cooked all the way thru. Before removing from the oven sprinkle the tops of each pepper with shredded cheddar cheese. Place back into the oven just until the cheese has melted.
Remove from the oven and top with fresh cilantro, avocado slices and/or sour cream just before serving.

***I also got my Southern Living magazine this week.  It had some great kid-friendly, healthy simple recipes.  Chicken breasts are on sale this week at our local grocery store.  I'm going to try this simple meal this week and I will also include some of the other simple meals they included for kids.

Two-Ingredient Chicken Strips
Chicken breasts cut into strips.
Marinate the chicken strips in ranch dressing for a few hours.
Grill!

How simple is that?!

I also want to try these for lunch this week:
Hazelnut-Strawberry Sandwiches
Smear hazelnut spread and strawberry jam on white bread.

What a nice change from the old standby peanut butter and jelly!