Chicken Ranch Tacos

Here's a great dish I found on one of my favorite cooking blogs, Life as a Lofthouse. We love tacos in our house. This was a nice change up to the traditional taco recipe.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground chicken
1 taco seasoning packet
1 box of hard shell tacos
2/3 c Ranch dressing
Lettuce
Tomato
Salsa
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Diced avocado

Directions:
1. Cook ground chicken on a skillet. Once done, add ranch and taco seasoning. Cook 5 more minutes.
2. Serve with the above taco seasonings.

Recipe courtesy of Life as a Lofthouse blog.

Broccoli And Cheese Stuffed Shells

This was a nice dish to change up the weekly dinner routine!

Ingredients
1 15oz container of ricotta cheese. I used low fat.
1 package 10 oz of frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and well drained
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese. (4 oz)
1/2 c grated Parmesean cheese
1/4 tsp black pepper
18 jumbo shells, cooked and drained
1 jar (24 oz) Prego Chunky garden combination Italian sauce

Directions
1. Stir the ricotta cheese, broccoli, and 1/2 c of mozzarella cheese, Parmesaen cheese, and black pepper in a medium sized bowl. Spoon about two tablespoons of the cheese mixture into each shell.
2. Spread 1 c of the Italian sauce in a 13x9 baking dish. Place the filled shells on sauce. Pour remaining sauce over the shells. Top with remaining cheese.
3. Bake 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbling.

Makes 6 servings.

Lemon Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This dish has a great combination of lemon and blueberries. It was served at a dinner party at my friend's house. I loved it so much I had to have the recipe. I made this for dessert over Christmas break. I even brought a few pieces in to work for some friends. Everyone loved it. Going to make it for Friday morning treats when is is my turn. I used canned blueberries since fresh ones were all sold out. ;)

Ingredients:
1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package of instant lemon pudding mix
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup water
3/4 vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1 (16.5 ounce) can blueberries, drained or 2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix, pudding mix, and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in water, oil, eggs, and cream cheese. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Stir in the blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan. 
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. 
4. Make Glaze: In a small bowl, combine confectioners' sugar with 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Drizzle over cooled cake. 

Recipe courtesy of Kristen Lezza

Chicken Salad

This is a great chicken salad that has some great ingredients to satisfy your taste buds. 

Ingredients:

2 cups of shredded chicken (I used rotisserie that was cold)

3/4 c mayo

1 c chopped celery

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Mix chicken, celery, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

2. Add mayo. Mix well.

3. Fold in eggs.

4. Serve on rolls, in a hollowed out tomato, on a bed of lettuce, or with crackers. 

Recipe found on Momswhothink.com

Taco Salad

This taco salad was found on the Life as a Lofthouse blog that I'm a follower of. I made this dish for dinner the other night. It is very similar to a salad my sister-in-law Shannon makes for parties. Her sald is one of my favorites, so when I came across this recipe, I knew we'd like it. It is a little bit different from hers but I was still a fan.

1 lb lean ground beef
1 (1.25 oz.) package of taco seasoning
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8 oz.) can of tomato sauce
1/2 c water
1-2 heads of chopped iceberg lettuce
1 large bag nacho cheese Doritos

Toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa, olives (I didn't use), Catalina dressing
Directions:
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown and crumble. Drain grease.

Add taco seasoning, black beans, tomato sauce, and water to the ground beef. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes or until mixture is thoroughly heated and thickened slightly. Remove from heat.

On 4 individual plates, add the chopped lettuce and 1/2-1 cup of the crushed Doritos chips. Divide meat mixture over each bed of lettuce and chips. Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of lifeasalofthouse blog. Check it out. Lots of great recipes!

Chicken Soup

It's that time of year for warm, yummy soups to eat on a chilly day!!! I love chicken noodle soup. A very special thanks to my friend Kim for sharing with me her dad's delicious chicken soup. The wonderful thing about this recipe is you throw it all in your crock pot and forget about it. It makes enough to feed an army. We ate it all week. You can freeze it too. Just don't add noodles then. Add them  when you're ready to eat it. Hope you enjoy! Thanks Kim for the recipe!!! We love it!!!!

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken breasts (put in whole, shred later)
3-5 celery stalks, chopped.sliced
4-5 carrots, peeled & sliced
1 large onion, chopped
2- 32oz cartons of chicken broth (8 cups)
1 chicken bullion cube
1/2 bag egg noodles (add towards end)
For serving: salt & pepper to taste; crackers

Directions:
Add all ingredients to crock pot, except egg noodles. Cook on low for 8 hours. Towards last half hour, remove chicken and shred. Return to crock pot. Add egg noodles for last 30 minutes if desired or make separate.

Kim's Advice: If you plan on freezing the soup...make noodles on the side because they'll be soggy if you freeze them.

Recipe courtesy of Kim Travis

Fried Rice

Ingredients

3 cups cooked white rice (day old or leftover rice works best!)

3 tbs sesame oil

1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)

1 small onion, chopped

2 tsp minced garlic

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup soy sauce

Directions

      On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok.  Add the peas/carrots mix, onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender. Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to one side, then pour your eggs on the other side of skillet and stir fry until scrambled. Now add the rice and soy sauce and blend all together well. Stir fry until thoroughly heated!  

Courtesy of Life as a Lofthouse blog.