Sloppy Chicken Enchilades, Version II

I got this recipe from Jill's recipe blog: Simple Daily Recipes Blog

She came up with the recipe when she was short for time and could only use what she had on hand. I used it last Thursday when I was in the same situation. Because I could only use what I had on hand, mine is different from hers, but based on the same principle. :o) To try her recipe, go to her blog. Here is my version of Jill's recipe.
Ingredients

2 cans of canned chicken breasts (the size that you can get 5 to a pack at Sam's)
1 tsp. of onion powder, or to taste
1 can of 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of light sour cream
1 and 1/2 tsp of chili powder (less if you want it less spicy)
1 and 1/2 tsp of ground cumin
1 can (4 oz.) green chilis
1 can of drained rotel tomatoes (use mild if you want it to be less spicy)
8 corn tortillas
2 cups of 2% Mexican blend cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Drain the canned chicken, and mix it with the soup, sour cream, onion powder, chili powder and cumin in a large bowl. I used my kitchen shears to cut the tortillas into strips (bite sized pieces). Add the tortillas strips, green chilis, and drained rotels. Mix just until the tortillas are coated with soup mixture. Empty the mixture into a sprayed 9x13 casserole dish and cover with cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly on top.

TIP: I didn't do this, but if you were going to serve it to people other than your kids :o), after it comes out of the oven, you could plate it and top it with shredded lettuce (I love buying the bags of this in the produce section for sandwiches, tacos, salads, etc.); seeded, diced tomatoes; a dollop of sour cream; sliced black olives and/or a dollop of guacamole.

Lemon Cheese Bars

Yesterday I had to bake a couple of desserts and make a salad for a ladies' church function, AND I had to fix a dinner for my family because I wasn't going to be here for dinner because I was going to be at that function. AND, thanks to tropical storm Erin, it was raining which meant I was NOT under any circumstances leaving the house with the kids to go to the store. So, I had to use what I had on hand. I'll be sharing those recipes over the next couple of days.

Anyway, here is one of the desserts I made. The original recipe came from The Cake Mix Bible. I didn't like the way the cheese part tasted, so I added a little extra. Here's my version of this recipe. As a tip, always keep cake mix on hand (I always pick up several different flavors when they are on sale for $1 a piece). You can make cookies and desserts like this when you are in a bind. Also, always keep some cream cheese on hand. I was glad I had picked up a couple of packages last time ... the expiration date is usually way out so I always pick up a couple when they are on sale (1/3 fat of course).

Ingredients

1 box of yellow cake mix with pudding in it
2 eggs
1/3 C. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 eight oz. package of 1/3 fat cream cheese (use full fat if you want)
3/4 C. sugar (less if you want it less sweet)
2 Tbsp. of lemon juice (more or less to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cake mix, ONE egg and oil in a large bowl; stir until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup of crumb mixture. Press remaining crumb mixture into ungreased 13x9 pan. (This will look like it is not enough, but it is ...just keep pressing it until it is all connected ... it will be a thin layer) Bake 15 minutes until golden brown. Combine remaining egg, cream cheese (I put it in the microwave for about 20 second to soften it), sugar, lemon juice, vanilla in a medium bowl and beat until smooth and well blended. Spread over baked layer. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake another 15 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack; cut into bars. I made 24 bars out of this, but the original recipe said 18 (those would be really big bars).

Marinated Chicken

This isn't so much of a recipe as it is a meal idea. We are going to have this tonight, so I thought I would post it here.

Ingredients

KC Masterpiece 30 minute Marinade in Honey Teriyaki
Chicken - I use boneless skinless breasts

I put the chicken and marinade (enough to coat the chicken) in a ziploc bag and marinate it for 30 minutes and then grill. It is WONDERFUL and so easy. Just serve it with veggies and rice or potatoes or something like that. It also doesn't heat up the kitchen on hot summer days. You can get a bottle for about $3 and I can usually do 2 or 3 meals out of it.

Tip: If you buy chicken from Sam's and break up the large packages, you can pour some marinade into the freezer ziplocs and freeze them. Then the day before you want to grill, take out a package and thaw it in the fridge. It can be marinading while it is thawing.