Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

So I did another week-in-a-day Freezer meals day.  However I forgot to post about them :/ ehh  having a baby is very very distracting these days!

anyways, This was one of my recipes, it was AMAZING! I honestly usually HATE to shred chicken, this was so moist, it literally just fell apart into shreds!! it was amazing!  This is also awesome, because I feel you could really make it your own recipes! add jalapeños, peppers, salsa, etc..

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

1 lbs of skinless boneless chicken breasts

juice from 2 limes

1 bunch of cilantro - chopped

1 (16 oz) bag of frozen corn

1 can black beans -drained and rinsed

2 cloves of minced garlic

1/2 onion - chopped

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

TO FREEZE: toss everything into a large ziplock bag, lay flat in the freezer, when ready to cook, empty contents of the bag into crock pot on low for 4-6 hours (high for 1-2 hours)

TO EAT THAT DAY: mix all ingredients in your crock pot, cook on Low for 3-4 hours. 

serve on tortillas with all your favorite taco toppings!

THIS ALSO MAKES GREAT SANDWICHES!!! 

One Pan Chicken and Vegetables

So I actually found this recipe on the back of a Swanson Chicken Stock box- but it wasn't actually "clean" (actually I'm not sure that chicken stock is even "clean" but I knew every ingredient in it, so that's clean enough) So I had to change it up a bit. Also when I read the world "oregano" for some reason I thought "cilantro" so theres that too- so feel free to use Oregano instead of Cilantro, although that cilantro tastes bomb in it (but I know some people say it tastes like dirt?? those people are not my friends)

Chicken with Vegetables

1/2 tsp Paprika

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

4 chicken breasts

1 medium onion- quartered 

1 lbs baby potatoes- cut in half

half a bag of baby carrots

1 1/2 cups Chicken stock

1/4 cup Cilantro chopped

few drops of olive oil

Preheat oven to 350

lather chicken with Paprika and pepper 

In a dutch oven, spread a few drops of olive oil, and place chicken on top, cook on the stove, for about 10 minutes, turning half way, until brown. Remove any fat from the bottom of the dutch oven (I didn't have any since I cut the fat off before I cooked the chicken, but if you didn't, drain it out, because that's gross)

Add the potatoes, and onions and cook and addition 5 minutes. 

add carrots, stock and cilantro and heat until boiling. 

Bake, covered for 20 minutes, stir and then uncover and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes. 

Mexican Stuffed Pita Pockets

I actually just downloaded all of my phone pictures onto my computer and I found this GEM of a treat!!! I had almost forgotten all about it, and I didn't even use my nice camera for the picture, so I must not have intended on sharing the recipe- but I changed my mind, the world should know how delicious this is!!

Mexican Stuffed Pita Pockets

1 can of black beans - drained and rinsed

1 can of corn- drain

1 rice avocado- chopped into chunks

1/2 cup of shredded Mexican cheese

1 large tomato diced

1 small onion- diced

1/2 bunch of cilantro- chopped

salt and pepper to taste

package of pita pockets cut in half.

in a large mixing bowl, mix everything together (aside for the pita), fill pita pockets with mixture and enjoy!! 

Chicken Bruschetta

Chicken Bruschetta

2 chicken breast- baked

2 large tomatoes- diced

2 cloves of Garlic- Diced

1/2 red onion- chopped

1 Tbs Olive Oil

a few shakes of Sea salt

a few shakes of Dried or fresh Basil

Bake chicken at 375 degrees for 40ish minutes. (or however you like your chicken)

in a medium size bowl. combine tomatoes, garlic, onion, olive oil, salt and basil. scoop on top of chicken and serve :) so so yummy!!

Negative Calorie Soup

So the Wentworth family is in for a BIG change this year (so long as we keep it up, but I figure if I put it here we will have to keep it up).  We have decided that we are no longer college students, and that mac and cheese and frozen pizzas are not the way to a happy and healthy life- so we are committed to eating better (as well as being much more active).  Which means Darn Good Dinner will be getting a bit of a face lift, with much healthier, and cleaner recipes!! I am SO excited! and I hope you are too!

So to start off this change, we are doing a 2 week detox- out with the old, and in with the new (we don't really know what our detox consists of, but basically mostly just fruits and veggies  and chicken for the next two weeks!)  I found this recipe, and I thought "sure its healthy, but could it actually be good??" and guess what?! IT IS!!! I even helped myself to seconds, because, well, I Can!!!

Negative Calorie Soup

2/3 cup of carrots (chopped/diced/sliced- just make them smallish)

1/2 of a large onion- diced

2 cloves of garlic- diced

4 cups of Chicken, vegetable or beef broth

1/2 cup green beans

1/2 green cabbage- chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 large zucchini - sliced

In a large pot, spray non stick cooking spray,and heat- add the carrots, onion and garlic and saute until soft.  Add broth, cabbage, beans, seasonings and bring to a boil.  reduce heat and stir i

n zucchini- cook an addition 3-5 minutes.

that's it! so easy, SO healthy, and SO SO SO delicious!!

Beef with Broccoli...With Chicken

As most of you know by now, I am pollo-pescetarian (I only eat seafood and chicken, and actually I think most seafood is nasty!).  But that doesn't mean I never have a hankering for some red meat, and when I do, I just make a beef recipe, with white meat instead! So feel free to use beef if you so choose, but it tastes just as, if not better, than beef!!

Chicken with Broccoli

3T cornstarch

1/2 cup of water

2T  water

1/2 t garlic powder

2 chicken breasts- cut into strips

2 T Olive Oil

4 bunches of broccoli- steamed in the microwaved for 4 minutes

1/2 C of soy sauce

1 T brown rice

cooked brown rice

In a medium bowl, combine 2T of cornstarch, 2T water, and garlic powder.  add the chicken and mix well. 

In a large skillet, over medium high heat, add 1 T of olive oil, and cook chicken until cooked through. 

remove from skillet

in the same skillet, add remaining 1T olive oil, and broccoli, heat for 5 minutes. return cooked chicken to the skillet, 

In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, brown sugar and remaining 1T of cornstarch and water, stir until smooth.  

Add soy sauce mixture to the skillet, stir and cook for 2 minutes and serve over rice.

copycat popeyes chicken

When I was pregnant, one day I had a major craving for just about everything deep fried.  I decided to go buy a fry daddy, and by the time I got home, the idea of anything fried made me want to vomit... so I finally decided to pull out the ol fry daddy and fire it up for the first time.  Is fried chicken healthy? no, but hey, sometimes you have to splurge, and this is just the recipe to splurge on!

Copy Cat Popeyes Chicken

4 chicken breasts- trim the fat, and slice into chunks

1/3 cup of your favorite hot sauce (I recommend franks or Sriracha)

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups of flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

salt (I recommend about a teaspoon, but add to your own taste)

2 large egg whites

as much vegetable oil as you need to fry

Toss the chicken chunks into a gallon zip lock bag.  In a small bowl  combine buttermilk and hot sauce.  Pour half of the buttermilk/sauce into the zip lock bag, and save the other half in the fridge.  allow the chicken to marinate in the bag for at least 30 minutes. 

In a large bowl, mix, flour, cornstarch, salt and the remaining buttermilk/hot sauce mixture. combine until it is a sand consistency. 

in a small bowl whisk egg whites.

take 1 chicken chunk at a time, and dip it in the eggs, then cover it in the flour mixture. and place them on a wire rack in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

heat oil to a medium high heat, and cook for 8 minutes in a deep fryer, in a skillet with oil, just cook for about 4 minutes on each side.  

Cream Cheese Chicken

Is this a healthy recipe?? no.
 Is it delicious? yes!


There is nothing more that needs to be said about this.  The chicken literally falls apart in your mouth.. its amazing

Cream Cheese Chicken

2-3 Frozen Chicken breasts

1 Can of Rotel Tomatoes

1 can of corn (do not drain)

1 can of black beans (drained)

1 package of Ranch Dressing

1 T. cumin

1t. chili powered

1 package of cream cheese

stick it in the crock pot for 6-8 hours. serve alone, or over rice, or with tortillas, or chips, or anything! its so good!

Buffalo Chicken Salad

this was my instagram picture, Just goes to show how lighting changes a picture!

This is a "cold dish" however, I had leftovers, and totally forgot that, warmed it up in the microwave with a little cheese on top, and it was almost better than it was fresh!! so, you can totally stick this in the oven instead of the fridge for a change of taste! either way, its excellent!!

Buffalo Chicken Salad

1 box Farfalle noodles- prepared

2 Chicken breasts, diced (or shredded)

1/2 cup of Frank's Sauce

1/2 Cup of Ranch dressing

3 celery stocks, diced

3 green onions, diced.  

salt and pepper to taste

mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

(or put into a baking dish, and top with cheese and stick it in the oven until warm and gooey!!) 

Chicken Noodle Hot Dish

So I am finally post-baby enough, that I was up for cooking again! I cannot believe its been a WHOLE MONTH since Bennett was born, and I am beyond thankful that I had a fridge full of frozen meals, however, I was beyond excited to eat something fresh from the oven!

What I was really craving was some tuna noodle hot dish (casserole for you who call it that!), however while I was pregnant the smell of Tuna made me want to puke! So I was too scared to open a can, so I switched it up!  I must say, this is to DIE FOR.  I loved the red bell pepper in there, mm mmm mm!

I must admit though, I did not measure ANYTHING I put into this, I just kind of winged it! although I'm guessing about how much I put in so you can copy it!

Chicken Noodle Hot Dish (casserole) 

2 chicken breasts- Chopped or shredded

1 can cream of mushroom (or chicken) soup

1 cup sour cream (I used the light) 

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 red bell pepper- chopped

1 cup frozen peas

salt and pepper to taste

half package of egg noodles (cooked)

preheat the oven to 350

in a large baking dish, mix all the ingredients together. cover and bake for 30 minutes. 

would totally work as a freezer meal as well! 

let me know what you think of it!

Fiesta Chicken

I was thinking how it seems I am ALWAYS cooking "Mexican" type food... but actually I rarely make anything Mexican at all... its like the "one drop" rule, you know, where if you are 1 drop a minority, you are seen as that race... same thing, you toss a drop of Hispanic food into a meal and its all of a sudden "FIESTA" time, haha.

But let me tell you, this recipe is worth a party. And I always love a recipe that I can make ahead of time, and toss into the oven when we are finally ready to eat. so this is great, I'm actually eating the left overs right now, as I type, and they taste just as wonderful warmed up in the microwave.

I also love that this is one of those recipes you could totally adjust to your own personal preferences, add onion?  add ground beef? use brown or white rice, substitute for quinoa.  anything! plus it calls for a jar of Salsa, which might scare away my less than daring eaters, however salsa comes in a billion different flavors, try the mild kind, or go spicy, fresh salsa? jar? home made??  I love that in a recipe!

Fiesta Chicken

16 oz Salsa

1/3 cup water

1 can corn, undrained

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 C. instant rice

4-6 chicken breasts

1 package taco or Cajun seasoning

shredded cheese to top

salt to taste

grease a 9x13" baking pan.  Dump salsa, water, corn, beans rice and stir together.

Place chicken breasts on top and season with taco or Cajun seasoning. 

bake at 375 for 45 minutes. sprinkle with cheese, or anything else (like sour cream? green onions?)

Mexi- Mac and Cheese

I made this wonder meal late at night, so don't mind the funky lighting! 

         I can pretty much assume this is a Rachel Ray recipe, and while the bitch can definitely cook some bomb food, she's just got way too much time on her hands.. I mean seriously this recipe calls for THREE pots and pans to be used, THREE, my dish washer will not be able to hold THREE large dishes, and there is no way in H- E- Double Hockey Sticks I plan on hand washing dishes on a Friday night... it just ain't happening.. so I changed up this recipe, to be just a TWO dish recipe (I think you could easily do it in just 1 pan, but I was not up for trying..)

Now I'm always excited to share a rock star recipe with the world, because, well I want everyone to know of all the good things in the world, but this recipe I feel extra excited about.  This recipe is like, woahhh... now I love me some mac and cheese (who doesn't?) but this, this is life changing, no way can you have "just Kraft" after having this... seriously...

I did not make this recipe with meat, because well I don't eat meat, however I think most people would think its even better with meat, and I wish I would have made it with chicken, because, that would have been delicious, or ground turkey, or basically anything! 

hot dogs anyone?? 

Mexi Mac and Cheese

1 lbs elbow macaroni 

1 lbs ground beef

1 package of Taco Seasoning (or a little chili powder)

1 Red bell pepper- chopped

4 green onions- chopped

4 oz Chopped Green Chiles (Whoops I think I forgot this!) 

2. T butter

2. T flour

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheese

a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, bring water to a boil, and cook noodles until al dente

While your noodles are cooking, brown your meat in a large pan, stir in Taco seasoning, Bell pepper, Green onions, and Green Chiles. sauté until veggies are tender.

In a THIRD pan (or just place that last pan of meat and veggies on a plate, and reuse it, that's what I did) melt your butter, stir in the flour, and stir constantly for about 1 minute. turn down to Low heat, and add milk and cheese, stir until cheese has melted into sauce.

After draining your noodles, return them to their large pot, mix in meat and veggies, and cover in cheese sauce.  stir until well mixed. 

I really don't see why you need to make the cheese sauce separately? you could probably get by with just tossing the cheese milk and butter onto the warm noodles and it would melt itself! 

Mouth Watering Parmesan Chicken

This chicken is life changing. No joke.  I almost died, and its unbelievably easy to make! (and very few dishes!).  I know I always rant and rave about all of my recipes.  But this hands down is the

BEST RECIPE YET!!!!

I don't want to keep you waiting any longer! so ill get right to the good stuff today!

Parmesan Chicken

1 c. mayo 

1/2 c grated Parmesan

1 t garlic salt

1 t. pepper

1 t. season salt (like Lawry's) 

4 chicken breasts

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a  small bowl (or regular sized bowl I suppose) mix mayo, cheese and seasonings.  

line a pan with tin foil and grease (because that makes life easier!).  place the chicken in the pan, and spread half of the mayo/cheese mixture on top of chicken.  cook for 30 minutes.  flip the chicken and spread the last half of the mixture on top.  cook another 20-30 minutes (or until golden brown). 

serve and ENJOY :) 

Colorado White Chicken Chili

I accidentally bought cream corn instead of regular corn! whoops

Colorado White Chili

1 medium onion- chopped

4 cloves garlic- minced

1- 4.5 oz diced green chiles

1 T. cumin

2 t. Oregano

1/2 t. Crushed red pepper

2- 15.5 oz great northern beans (do not drain)

1- 15.5 oz can sweet corn

2 cups of chicken- cubed

5 cups chicken broth

combine all ingredients into a large mixing bowl. place individual servings in Zip Lock bags and freeze.

To Serve: place in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours. 

Old Fashion Chicken Pot Pie

I did put another pie crust on top! but I wanted to show off the deliciousness inside! 

Old Fashioned Chicken Pot Pie

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup flour- shifted

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup evaporated milk or half and half

2 cups cooked cubed chicken

1 cup frozen peas

1 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

4 unbaked pie crusts

in a large pot, saute onions, celery, carrots and butter.  once lightly cooked, mix in flour, until smooth.  add the chicken broth, milk, chicken and peas. and cook until lightly boiling and thick.  let mixture cool *THATS IMPORTANT* fill into pie crusts!

cover with plastic wrap and then foil. and freeze

To Serve: Thaw in fridge, cook at 350 for 30 minutes with no foil on, and then add the foil on top for the last 30 minutes.

Chicken Vegetable stir fry with sauce

Chicken Vegetable Stir Fry, with sauce

2 chicken breast - cut into strips

2 cups of broccoli 

1/2 red onion chopped

1 cup carrots

1 cup green beans

1 cup mushrooms

1/2 C green and yellow peppers

 (feel free to use what ever veggies you have lying around, I just cleared the fridge) 

2 cups of rice (brown or white) 

2 tablespoons olive oil

Soy Sauce Sauce

1/4 c soy sauce

1/4c rice vinegar (I hate the stuff, so I skipped this step)

1 tablespoon brown rice

3 tsb corn starch

In a fry pan, heat oil, toss in chicken, when about halfway cooked, add in the rest of the veggies.  

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for the sauce, stir until smooth.  when finished, toss sauce in with veggies and chicken (sauce will thicken as it heats up).

serve over rice and ENJOY :)

all the veggies i could find in the fridge, most were about to go bad! great way to clear them out quickly!

1 Pan Chicken Tacos

SURPRISE I'M BACK!!!! I quit doing this when that terrible first trimester exhaustion hit, and I could hardly stay awake long enough to go to work, (and I was scared I would spill the beans about being pregnant!! lol) anyways, I'm back at it!

I was suppose to copy another recipe when I made this, but then I misplaced the recipe, and just had a list of ingredients, so I thought "hey ill just toss them all together!" and look what I came up with!!!

Tacos With a Twist

2 chicken breasts- cut up into bite sizes, or shredded

1/2 onion- chopped

1/2 can of corn (i used a whole can, because that's wasteful)

1 can of Rotel

Microwavable Mexican rice (or precooked rice)

tortillas

toss chicken and onion into a pan and cook about half way through, add corn (drained), rotel, and rice. cook until chicken is done.  scoop onto tortillas, and top with what ever you like (I used a little shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream and some cilantro) 

they are VERY yummy.  

and ENJOY!!

buffalo chicken Quesadilla

Eric and I made a trip into town (yikes, a 40 minute drive to the nearest "mall") anyways. we decided to get a quesadilla maker!!! brilliant decision I might add.  I also know that I said Id cool it on the buffalo chicken recipes, but I can't help myself I LOVE THEM! so enjoy this beautiful lunch

p.s I might add that the mixture makes about 3 10 inch quesadillas, however I was fully stuffed after eating just half a quesadilla, and then I felt like puking I was so full once I finished the Whole quesadilla!

Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts- cooked, shredded

2 oz cream cheese

1 green onion 

1/2 C onion chopped

1/2 C cilantro 

Franks- to taste

cheese- to taste

6- 10 inch tortillas

just mix the chicken, cream cheese, onions, cilantro and franks. Toss the mixture in a tortilla and add cheese, add another tortilla on top.  stick it in your quesadilla maker or on a pan on the stove works great too.

we got it for $17 (plus and additional military discount) can you believe that!

these are AMAZING. 

the little bite of cream cheese makes it so creamy and yummy!

BBQ chicken

It is a beautiful day (in SoCal) and I got off work early (false alarm of pink eye, not my choice to go home either, I might add) so I thought, nothing reminds me of the coming summer quite like some good old fashion BBQ Chicken… I will add, that chicken on the bone freaks me out, but if you are a normal human being, get like wings or something, because the bone makes it taste yummier, plus its easier to eat!!

BBQ Chicken

dry rub

1 T paprika

1 T Garlic Powder

1 T black Pepper

1 T Lawry's seasoned salt (I put that s**t on everything)

1 t salt

cover your chicken breasts with the seasonings (mine covered two large chicken breasts) and let sit for as long as possible, like an hour or a day, in the fridge.

put on the grill.  just make sure the flames are REALLY low, low and slow, low and slow. toss the chicken on for about an hour (flipping when needed) then toss on your favorite BBQ sauce, allow to cook (and melt) an additional 5 or so minutes, flip and sauce the other side for another 5 minutes… and then ENJOY!!

I asked Eric to describe it (before I tasted it) he goes "you know heaven?""yeah?" "well its like that, only probably better"

see told you its a beautiful night

its a bit windy, so I settled for a BBQ bag, which was a brilliant choice 

look how yummy those seasonings are!

ready to marinate for a few hours

OMG… amazing

Spicy Chicken Avocado Salad

So my original attempt was to copy someone else's recipe on this, but turns out I did not have lime juice, and I HATE honey…so welcome to my new, easier version of this amazing meal.

Spicy Chicken Avocado Salad

2 chicken breasts- cooked and cut into chunks or shredded

2 avocados- cut into chunks

1 C onion- chopped

handful of cilantro- chopped

salt and pepper to taste

pita bread

Siracha- to taste

mix everything together and toss on, or in a pita bread top with siracha - ENJOY … how easy was that (no more excuses that its hard to make a healthy meal!)