Simple Quesadilla

Weeknight dinner alert!

What do you make when you are short on time and didn't thaw anything from the freezer?

Bean and cheese quesadillas! 

Quesadillas turn up pretty often in our house since they are easy to make and my husband loves them.  What's even better is that they are pretty individual.  You can make them all the same, or everyone can make their own with different ingredients.

Last week was busy!  I arrived home one night and didn't have anything thawed out, so I had to figure something out fast. 

Enter the quesadilla.

Usually we have quesadillas with chicken, but I didn't have any thawed, so I added in the black beans for protein.  

We've used a myriad of ingredients such as: olives, sauteed onions, salsa, green onions, etc.  We've even made buffalo chicken quesadillas!

So if it's 5:30 pm, and you're hungry, get to work.  You'll be feasting in 5 minutes!

First, heat a little bit of olive oil in your skillet over a medium-low heat.

Next, lay a tortilla down and start topping it with your ingredients.

Once you have everything on your tortilla, cover it with another one.  Let the tortillas crisp up a bit-typically 1-2 minutes.  Use a spatula to peek at the bottom side to keep it from getting burnt.  After the underside is golden brown, turn the tortilla over to brown the other side.

Remove from the heat and cut into triangles.

I usually cut this into 6 pieces and use my pizza slicer to cut it with ease!

For these specific quesadillas I used sharp cheddar cheese, black beans, and hot sauce.

Spanish rice recipe to follow!

Comment and tell me your go to quick meal!  I'm always looking for new dinner ideas!

Chicken Bake in the Crock Pot

Raise yo' hand if you have seen this post and image on Pinterest!

It's THE awesomely easy (remember that's the only type of recipes I make) chicken bake.  

Throw it all in a pan, top with Italian dressing seasoning and butter, then shove it in the oven for dinner.  So easy.  BUT it takes an hour to cook, and I don't usually have an hour between when I get home and when we eat dinner.  Hmm, what to do?  

Well,  we could eat dinner a little bit later, but I'm usually half starved and would end up eating 3/4 of a bag of Doritos if I had to wait.  My second solution is to put it in the crock pot!  Yum! 

If you missed my review of the crock pot cook book Fix-It and Forget-It, check it out here.

I love my crock pot mainly because it eliminates the need for me to cook right after I get home.  Plus, it's easy clean up.  So while this recipe is typically baked in the oven, I decided to try to adapt it to my crock pot a few weeks ago.  

Sorry for my glarey pictures.  You understand the concept!

It's very simple.  All you have to do is: dice your potatoes and butter, then butterfly your chicken breast.  (I only use one chicken breast to feed the 2 of us).  Then put the potatoes in the bottom of the crock pot.  Pour a TINY bit of the juice from the beans over them to keep everything from going dry.  Sprinkle the potatoes with the seasoning and put a few pats of butter on them.  

Place your chicken on top and sprinkle with seasoning and include the butter.  

Then finish it off with the beans.  Pour the rest of the seasoning over them and the rest of the butter.

Turn the crock pot on low and enjoy the heavenly smells if you happen to be home while is cooking!

It's just as delicious in the crock pot and even more tender.  So go ahead and give it a try.

Here is the recipe.  Enjoy!

Note: if you are not super duper health conscientious, use a little more butter! : )

Fix-It and Forget-It Review

Crock pot, oh how I love thee!

Who doesn't love a good crock pot meal?  Throw it all in a pot in the morning and have supper ready when you walk through the door.  That's what I'm talking about.

Side note: Crock pots are excellent shower/wedding gifts!  That's where I got mine!  Thanks Miss Langham!

I usually have about a half hour between when I get home and when Josh gets home.  Even though he's not the type of person to demand dinner right away, we both like to eat early.  

I am into easy, easy recipes.  See my super easy chicken stuffing casserole here.  I could definitely give Rachael Ray a run for her money with a 30 minute meal.  We're pretty plain Jane in our house.  Many times I'll make grilled chicken/steak and veggies or even eggs.  I like dinner to be quick and uncomplicated.  The only thing that is better than that is having dinner ready when I walk in the door.

Enter Fix-It and Forget-It.  I bought this cookbook shortly after we got married.  I was still in college and working, so I didn't have a lot of time or energy to make dinner in the evening.  I love my crock pot and have found plenty of awesome recipes from this book!

Like many cookbooks, Fix-It and Forget-It is split into several categories.  

• appetizers, snacks, and spreads
• breakfast foods
• breads
• soups, stews, and chilis
• main dishes
• bean main dishes
• vegetables
• desserts
• beverages

So as you can see, there are plenty of recipes and categories to pick from depending on your mood for dinner.

Fact about me:  I'm the type of person that buys cookbooks or gets cooking magazines and then never cooks anything from them.  Yeah, money out the door.  But this book is different.  I have made many different recipes from a crock pot chocolate lava cake to Strogranoff, and I continue to try new things.  If you want to adopt the crock pot lifestyle or even make your life a little more simple one or two nights a week, this is the book for you.  

Not only does the book offer a variety of categories, but each category is filled with many recipes.  The soups, stews, and chilis section contains the most recipes because those are prime crock pot meals.  I would like to note that many times there will be more than one recipe listed for the same type of meal.  For example, I am sharing my favorite vegetable soup recipe from the book, but there are also several different recipes and variations listed.  Everyone has a different take on dinner.  Why not try them all and pick your favorite?

Long story short, this is a purchase that was definitely worth it for our household.

To close, I will leave you with one of my fave recipes from the book.  I've even made this and put it in the freezer for later.  It's versatile and easy!

You can download a FREE 4x6 card of the recipe here!

BONUS TIP:if you are making a meal but will not be home to turn the crock pot on at the right time, get a manual timer and set it!

Chicken Stuffing Casserole

When Mack was born, some of our friends brought us dinner one night when they came to meet the little mister.

It was complete comfort food, and we devoured it.  It was so good.

They provided a basic casserole with chicken, veggies, and stuffing.

Fast forward 6 months and one of my co-workers gave birth to a little girl last week.  I wanted to do something nice for her because I can remember how hectic those first few weeks really are.  So I got the recipe from Tara and whipped it up one Saturday morning.  

It is so easy and tasty!  It's like a fancy fake out, because it takes virtually no time to put together.  It's the thought and the food that counts, right?  Not the length of time it takes to prepare it.

The ingredients are simple: canned chicken-although I'm sure you could use fresh diced chicken breast, cream of chicken soup, milk, frozen mixed veggies, and boxed stuffing.

I really like casseroles because they basically are a complete dinner in one dish.  Casseroles eliminate the need to make sides dishes etc.  One thing I don't like about casseroles is that many times you have to cook the items that go in them ahead of time.  I think of casseroles as being time saving, but when you have to cook all the items ahead, they are not.   This one is so simple.  The only ingredient you have to cook ahead is the stuffing.  Stove top for the win. 

So I started the water for the stuffing and got to mixing everything else together. 

First, I put the cream of chicken in a bowl and slowly added milk to it until it got to casserole consistency.  There really isn't an exact measurement. I added about 1/4 cup at a time and mixed it through.  I estimate that I added close to a cup.

After that was mixed through, I threw my frozen veggies and canned chicken and mixed it again.

I finished making the stuffing once the water boiled and scattered it over the top.

I didn't bake it since I was taking it to her, but I would estimate to put it in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Enjoy!

You can also download a FREE 3x5 card of the recipe here!