Chicken Quesadillas

I've been working over time and I'm a little tired. Last night I wanted something quick and easy but yummy and filling. Love quesadillas, and so do my kids. Yay! I'll write what I used and then in parenthesis write what you can use.

2 chicken breast
oil
1 can diced tomatoes, drained (or salsa if you have it on hand)
1 t minced garlic
1 t dried oregano
1 t cumin
2 t lemon juice, divided
1 T southwest seasoning (or make it up - paprika, chili powder, onion....)
butter
tortillas
2 C shredded cheese - I used mild cheddar

Cook chicken in oil on stove with half the garlic and 1 t oregano. Remove from heat, dice chicken into small pieces. Place chicken in a bowl. Add tomatoes, garlic, cumin, lemon juice and seasoning to bowl. Mix well. Butter one side of tortillas.
Place tortillas, we'll cook one at a time, on a hot skillet. Add enough mixture to cover half the tortilla. Cover with cheese. Let the tortilla cook for a few seconds before folding the empty side over the stuffed side of the tortilla. Let cook for a few minutes. Flip the tortilla over and cook until cheese is melted. I like my quesadillas crispy. Repeat steps with remaining ingredients.
Serve with sour cream and/or guacamole.

You could add the cheese to your chicken mixture and just plop it all down on the tortilla in one drop.

I'm thinking next time I'll add some cooked/steamed veggies to the chicken mix. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, whatever I have on hand.

Chicken Souvlaki

I love a good gyro or souvlaki, however most of the dishes I found to try over the years just weren't up to par. This one is pretty good. Not an exact match to my beloved tzatziki sauce, but pretty darn good. Hey, I woofed it down!

Serves 4

For the chicken souvlaki:
2 T olive oil
1 T lemon juice
1 1/2 t minced garlic
1 1/2 t fresh oregano
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t coarse salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
4 pita bread
lettuce leaves
tomato slices
onion slices

Whisk together first 7 ingredients in a bowl. Add chicken thighs. Toss to coat and let marinade for at least 30 minutes (I let it sit for an hour, turning once). Pre-heat broiler to high. Place chicken on a baking sheet and broil for 4 minutes. Flip chicken over and broil for an additional 4 minutes or until chicken is cooked through, about 180 deg F. Cut chicken into bite-sized chunks.

You can either stuff your pita or fold it like a taco. Fill the bread with lettuce, tomato, onion and chicken. Top with tzatziki sauce to taste.

For the Tzatziki Sauce:
1 C Greek Yogurt (full fat is fine)
1/4 C diced seedless, peeled cucumber (about half a cucumber)
1 T minced garlic
1/2 t olive oil
1 t lemon juice
1/4 t coarse salt
pinch black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Stir to combine.

Taco Soup

My neighbor gave me this recpie of her's (among with others which I will share later). Thank you, Maggie!

1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 t minced garlic
2 cans navy beans, undrained
1 can sweet corn, undrained
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can diced green chilies
2 packages taco seasoning
sour cream ~dallop per bowl
1 C shredded cheese (your choice)
Tortilla Chips

Brown beef, onion and garlic in large pot. Drain any fat. Add all other items to pot. Bring to boil and simmer 20 minutes or until heated through.

Serve soup in bowls, top with sour cream and cheese if desired (I recommend). We used the tortilla chips as our spoons. Kids LOVED this dish. They thought it was so much fun eating soup with chips.

I used cheddar cheese, you can use mexican blend cheese if you like. After you brown your meat, you can toss everything (except sour cream and cheese) in a slow cooker and let that go, on low, for a few hours in the afternoon.

Open Face Tuna Melts

One awesome thing (for a person like me) is trying new foods from people who come in to your family. I give thanks to my step-mother for this one!

2 sm or 1 lg can of tuna, drained
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 sm onion, diced (or onion powder)
S&P to taste
1/4 t dried dill
couple of T of mayonnaise
------> you're making tuna salad here if you haven't caught on. Make it how you like it!

3-4 English muffins, separated
1 tomato, sliced
6-8 slices of white american, provolone or any cheese you like I guess
2 green onions, sliced


Open your English muffins. Place them on a baking sheet. Mix all ingredients for your tuna salad.Place a couple spoonfuls on each muffin slice. Add more muffins if needed. Lay a slice of tomato on the salad and top with a slice of cheese. Sprinkle onions over cheese. Broil for about 5 min or until cheese is melted.

RosaLee's Chili

Here's the background: RosaLee worked with my mother at Lee Road Radiology. I was with RosaLee and her husband, Franklin, the day my mother passed. She was a very dear friend. This recipe made me fall in love with chili. I disliked it until then......

1 lb Ground Beef (now - you really can sub any meat into chili, and it can be ground or chunky)

1 Med Onion, chopped

2 C Water

2 Cans diced tomatoes (stewed or 2 fresh diced tomatoes works too)

2 Cans tomato sauce

2 Cans kidney beans, drained

1 T Chili powder

1 T Paprika

1 tsp Garlic powder

1 C Salsa

1 C Instant Potato Flakes

1/2 C Sour Cream

1 C Shredded Cheese - I use cheddar

1 Bag Tostito's Chips

Brown meat and onion in a pot. Drain fat. Add water, beans, tomatoes, chili powder, paprika, garlic and salsa to pot. (Tip: don't dump the seasonings in, sprinkle them in and stir so they don't clump together. I'm sure you don't want to bite into a clump of chili powder!) Bring to boil then simmer for 20 minutes. Add potato flakes and sour cream, stir and let simmer for 10 minutes. Serve in bowls. Top with cheese and eat with chips.

Feel free to tweak this recipe any way you wish. I have done it with steak bites in a crock pot, chicken with green peppers, the sky's the limit. I'm going to try it with rabbit meat this fall.