Baked Artichoke Chicken

Snow days are perfect for filling the house with great smelling food. Better yet, they are the perfect days to try out new recipes or dust off your old ones. This is a quick prep meal... Simply throw it in the oven, set it for an hour and head out into that wintery wonderland to play with your loved ones! I know I did.

Now let's get started...

Baked Artichoke Chicken

2 lbs. Chicken Thighs, w/ skin

1 cup Artichoke Hearts, halved (canned is fine)

1 medium Onion, cut into pieces same size as the artichokes

1 carton white Mushrooms (halved or quartered)

2 tablespoons Brown Mustard (I used Spicy Brown Mustard)

2-3 cloves Garlic, minced (I used canned already minced)

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar

1/4 cup White Wine

1/4 teaspoon dried Basil

1/4 teaspoon dried Thyme

1 Bay Leaf

Salt and Pepper

Preheat your oven to 375 Fahrenheit. Next, place artichokes, onions and mushrooms (all cut to the same size) on the bottom of a big pan or casserole dish. Place the chicken thighs on top of the veggies. Mix the mustard and the rest of the ingredients listed to create your sauce.

 

Pour it over the chicken being sure to cover each piece. Season with salt & pepper.

Bake for about 1 hour. During the cooking process, baste the pieces once or twice. In other words, utilize the juices/sauce from the pan to re-coat the chicken. A good indication that the chicken is finished is a nice brown crust on the skin - nothing like it! :)

Enchilada Pasta

I make enchiladas just about every couple of weeks but this just changed up the game a bit. Well really, it means that I will probably be making them once a week (changing it up between the typical tortilla version and this new pasta version). It is to die for! I recommend adding in whatever extras you like. This recipe calls for corn, black beans, and avocado... But if you like jalapenos, pinto beans, etc... mix it up! This is the mexican version of comfort food.

Enchilada Pasta

16 ounces extra wide egg noodles (1 bag)

1 1/4 cups enchilada sauce

1 cup canned corn kernels, drained

1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups of Kraft Mexican Blend Shredded Cheese

1/4 cup Greek yogurt (or Greek Yogurt Sour Cream)

1 can Diced Green Chiles

1 pound Ground Beef

4 ounces cream cheese

½ a packet of Taco Seasoning *Tip: Save the other half for your next Mexican dish! Or use it all for extra flavor

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 Avocados

1 bunch fresh Cilantro



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil your baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.

In a large bowl, combine enchilada sauce, corn, beans, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, Greek yogurt and green chiles; set aside.

Side Note: Funny story. So the first time I made this I somehow missed out on cue to add enchilada sauce (even though I had purchased it). Exit stage left Mary, I know. However, I wanted to mention it here because if you have someone in your family, someone you are cooking for, or whatever the case may be, that doesn't like enchilada sauce… this recipe turned out amazingly without it. Just trust me. All of the other flavors from the diced green chiles, cilantro, avocado, etc are enough to get you in the fiesta mood.

Now that I have sufficiently embarrassed myself. Let’s move on J Add ground beef to the skillet and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in cream cheese and taco seasoning until cream cheese has melted. Stir in pasta and enchilada mixture until well combined; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Add pasta to prepared baking dish and top with avocado and remaining cheeses. Place into oven and bake until cheeses have melted, about 5-10 minutes.

Serve immediately, garnished with cilantro. The more the merrier.

Korean BBQ Steak Tacos with Honey Sriracha Slaw

Who said Crock-Pot recipes needed to be hard? Campbell’s certainly didn’t. They recently came out with a line of ‘Slow Cooker’ sauces that have made making Crock-Pot dishes almost impossible to turn down. With my pure love of Asian food, I was ECSTASTIC when I saw they had a Korean BBQ version of the sauce.  Instant light bulb went off: TACOS!

It’s fairly easy to come up with things to put on a flour tortilla, but it is not often that you find something new and different. I thought you all would really appreciate this Mexican dish with some Asian flare for not only its flavor but its simplicity, too! Have at it :)

Korean BBQ Steak Tacos with Honey Sriracha Slaw

2-3 pounds of Chuck Roast Steak (make sure there is some marbleization so that it doesn’t get tough)

1 package of Campbell’s Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Sauce

1 carton of sliced Mushrooms

1 package of shredded Cabbage (you only need to use about 3 cups worth)

¼ cup of Mayo

1 tablespoon of Sriracha

1 tablespoon of Honey

1 package of small Flour Tortillas

Optional:

1 bunch of Green Onions

1 bunch of Cilantro

Set your Crock Pot to low and add your whole chuck roast as well as your mushrooms.

Pour the entire contents of the Campbell’s Slow Cooker sauce into the Crock Pot. Let it sit on low for the remainder of the day (6-8 hours).

Once it is done cooking, use a fork or tongs to shred the meat a bit. Add your desired amount of shredded steak and mushrooms to your flour tortillas.

In a bowl, combine your shredded cabbage, mayo, sriracha and honey. Stir the ingredients and top your tacos off with the mixture. Lastly, add chopped green onions and cilantro to your tacos, if you wish (I would recommend doing so!)

And that’s all folks. You heard it here first.