Chicken Dorito Casserole

Doritos for dinner? Sounds bad, huh? Well, it is. But oh so delicious! I found the original recipe at plainchicken.com. They have some awesome sounding recipes and I plan to try a lot more. I changed the original recipe a little.

Ingredients:

1 bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos, crushed (I used a whole bag but I think you could get by with half a bag. It was almost too much.)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can rotel
1 can corn, drained well
1 cup shredded mexican cheese, divided
garlic salt, pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray. Pour crushed Doritos into the pan.

2. Heat olive oil in a skillet and grill cubed chicken with garlic salt and pepper. Cook until completely done.

3. Add soups, rotel, corn and 1/2 cup of cheese.

4. Pour the chicken mixture over Doritos.

5. Bake for 20 minutes.

6. Top with remaining cheese (extra if you want) and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes or until cheese is melted.

I used Clancy's Nacho Cheese chips, which taste exactly like Doritos. The original recipe calls for a cup of sour cream, but I forgot it. I also cut the cheese amount down a little because I felt so guilty about having Doritos for dinner. And I also served it with broccoli to at least make it look some what healthy. But it was fabulous!

Sherylyn

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is the exciting conclusion of "The Whole Chicken Experience!" (That's what I'm calling this. Fyi.) This is the third meal from our chicken from Monday. I saved most of the chicken breasts for this. I usually cook this in the crock pot, but I was running late because I was shopping. And really, what's a better excuse than that? If you'd like to cook it in the crock, you can cook it on high for about 2 hours. And add 5 minutes to the last step. I'm pretty sure it is delicious no matter how you make it.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chunky salsa
2 cups of cooked shredded chicken
2 cups frozen corn
1 15 oz. can of black beans rinsed and drained
2 cans (10.75 oz. each) cream of chicken soup
1 can Rotel
1/2 cup water or chicken stock (I used spicy chicken stock from my rotisserie chicken.)
1 tablespoon chopped pickled jalapeno (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground chili powder
1 or 2 6inch corn tortillas cut into strips
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Stir the salsa, chicken, corn and beans together in a large dutch oven.

2. Stir the soup, tomatoes, chicken stock (or water), jalapenos, cumin and chili powder together in a separate bowl. Pour on top.

3. Allow the pot to heat at very low for a minute or 2, then stir well.

4. Cover and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

5. Stir in tortilla strips, cheese and cilantro. Cover and cook on very low an additional 10 minutes.

I think this soup is rich enough on it's own, so the only topper I usually use is green onions, if I have them, which of course I will have them FOREVER now (see The Green Onion Experiment). You can also use black olives, sour cream and/or cheese. This batch was particularly spicy for some reason so I used sour cream to cool it down. And you definitely need tortilla or corn chips! I have fried a few corn tortilla strips before, but I was being lazy tonight.

This soup is awesome with Cheesy Jalapeno Cornbread. It's super easy!

Cheesy Jalapeno Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix (8.5 ounces)

1 egg

1/4 cup butter or margarine (melted)

1/3 cup milk

2 tablespoons diced pickled jalapeno, drained well

1 cup shredded cheese

1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Combine corn bread mix, egg and butter.

2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

3. Place cornbread in greased muffin tin or greased 8 x 8 casserole dish.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  

YUM!!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Remember how I told you that we get about 3 meals out of 1 chicken? Well, this is meal number 2:

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups cooked shredded chicken (I used left over rotisserie!)
1 cup shredded cheese, divided
6 standard size flour tortillas
1/2 cup milk

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Saute green onions until tender (3 or 4 minutes.) Add garlic powder then stir in the green chilies, soup and sour cream. Mix well.

3. Reserve 3/4 of the sauce and set aside. To the remaining 1/4 of sauce add the chicken and 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. Stir together.

4. Spread a thin layer of sauce in the dish.

5. Fill each tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll up. Place seam side down in the baking dish.

6. Combine the reserved 3/4 of sauce with the milk and mix well.

7. Pour the sauce on top and top with  remaining cheese (or extra if you want.)

8. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until cheese is bubbly.

There you have it! We got a little carried away with the plate presentation....

Saving Money- One Bird At a Time: Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot and Homemade Chicken Stock

So my blog is to help you save money right? One of the most fundamental things I've learned about frugal cooking is the fact that chicken is so much less expensive than beef! Before I read that somewhere on a blog about saving money, I hadn't even thought about it. The idea that ground hamburger is always the cheapest choice seemed matter of fact. But it's true. A pound of hamburger is around $2-$3. Most chicken is sold under $0.99 per pound. And the cheapest, healthiest way to eat chicken is to buy a whole chicken and prepare it yourself. You're scared aren't you? Most people can't stomach the idea of having to put their hands all over a raw chicken. It is pretty disgusting. But it's amazing the things you'll do if you really want to save money!


I do most of my grocery shopping at Aldi. They get a bad rep but their products are quality and much more inexpensive than Dillons (Kroger) and sometimes even Wal-Mart. Something about contributing to a company that doesn't constantly raise their prices and wants people to save money is one of the reasons I shop there. Also... to save money! Aldi has their chickens priced at $0.85 per pound. So a chicken that is 5 pounds costs $4.25 before tax. Dustin and I (and Bette Davis Jr.) usually get 3 meals out of one chicken. (Well, Bette usually only gets one. But she is always close by looking for handouts while I prepare it.) One way to prepare a whole chicken is to cook it in your crock pot before cutting it up.

1. The first step is to rinse your chicken inside and out then pat it dry with paper towels. (I don't know why they say paper towels, but that's what everyone else says. I have used a dish towel before and Bette Davis Jr. dug it out of the laundry and tried to eat it... Perhaps that's why they recommend paper towels.) Some chickens have "innards" or "guts" so you have to remove those too.

2. Spray the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray.

3. If your plans for your chicken are for soups, pasta, tacos or anything that you'll be chopping or shredding later, you only need to add a few of your favorite seasonings. I usually use a little salt, pepper, garlic and paprika. But if you are going to serve your chicken whole, it's very important to separate the skin from the breast meat but keep the skin attached. Then rub salt under the skin as far as you can reach. (EW!) This keeps your chicken juicy. I also recommend using a homemade rub on the outside. Here is one for Rotisserie Chicken that I love:

Rotisserie Chicken Rub


2 Tablespoons Paprika
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
2 Tablespoons Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Dried Thyme
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon Sage
1 Tablespoon Dried Rosemary
Water, Olive Oil, or Chicken Stock


Combine all the seasonings in a bowl. Gradually add water OR olive oil OR chicken stock until you have a paste. Rub paste all over the chicken and inside the cavity.

4. Place your chicken inside the slow cooker breast side up and cook on low for 7 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. (Until it reaches 180 degrees.)

5. If you're serving your whole chicken for dinner you're done! But if you're using it for a casserole, tacos, soup, etc. allow your chicken to cool. Then pull the meat off the bone easily using your fingers.

6. Next put the bones back in the crock pot with the drippings. Sometimes I also put the skin back in too if I'm not planning on using it.

7. Add about 6 cups of water and cook on low overnight.

8. In the morning (if you have time) strain the bones and skin out of the juice and you now have your own homemade chicken stock! (I usually turn the crock pot off and put the pot in the fridge until I get home from work and then strain it.)

Your broth can last up to 6 months in the freezer. Once it has cooled you have to scrape a layer of fat off the top with a spoon. No big!