Chicken Bake with Black Beans and Salsa

Dinner options in the Haus of Kendi have been pretty sparse this week because we haven't gone grocery shopping since returning from vacation (more on that soon). Rather than going out for dinner last night I decided to take a quick stock of the pantry to see what I could whip up. I found a can of black beans, a jar of salsa, and some chicken in the freezer. After consulting the Google I found a recipe for a Chicken Bake with Black Beans and Salsa. It sounded tasty, we had all of the required ingredients, and it was a simple recipe. Turns out I made a great find! I modified the recipe slightly based on what we had in the kitchen and the baking time didn't work out. I thought the suggested time of 35 minutes on 350 was a little short, but I went with it. I ended up adding another 25 minutes at 400. Here are the details:

Chicken Bake with Black Beans and Salsa

4 chicken breast halves
salt and pepper
1 can (16 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (12-15 oz) corn, drained (I used frozen corn, about 12 oz)
2 cups chunky salsa, divided
1 can (4 oz) chopped mild green chile peppers, optional (we didn't have this)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided (we didn't have fresh, so I just sprinkled some dry)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I used Colby Jack)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 2 quart casserole dish.

Mix the beans, corn, 1 cup of salsa, chile peppers, and half the cilantro in the casserole dish. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and place on top of the mixture. Pour the remain salsa and cilantro over the chicken. Top evenly with the cheese.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the chicken is cooked thoroughly (this took another 35 minutes for me - 10 minutes at 350 and 25 minutes at 400).

Chicken Bake with Black Beans and Salsa

Stats
Cost: $6
Servings: 4
Leftovers: yes
Time: 45 minutes

Taco Chicken

I have to share this with you.  It was a pin that lasted three days.  It was also the easiest pin I think that we've tried.  I'm calling it Taco Chicken, or Chicken Tacos.  Enjoy!

Taco Chicken

2-6 chicken breasts (we used 4)
16 oz. jar of salsa
package of taco seasoning

Pour the whole jar of salsa into a slow cooker.  Mix in the package of taco seasoning.  Add the chicken breasts on top of the salsa.  You can spoon some of the salsa on top of the chicken to cover them.  Cook on low for 6-8 hrs.  That's is.  After it's done cooking, the chicken will shred apart.  It should look like this:

Then, you just make tacos like you normally would.  We made soft tacos with wheat tortillas, added some cheese and lettuce and went to town.  They were really good.

Because we made the chicken with four pieces, we had a LOT left over.  Kevin ended up using some of the chicken the next day to make a quick quesadilla for lunch.  Way easy.  For dinner, we altered the "8 Can Taco Soup" recipe.  It's also really easy and filling and makes great leftovers.

8 Can Taco Soup

1  15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1  15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1  14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1  15.25 oz can sweet corn, drained
1  12.5 oz can white chicken breast, drained (we used our leftover taco chicken)
1  10.75 oz can cream of chicken soup
1  10 oz can green enchilada sauce
1  14 oz can chicken broth (we make this from powdered bouillon.  WAY cheaper...)
1 packet taco seasoning

There you have it!  The second meal with the Taco Chicken.  The soup was just as good as the first time we made it.  Sprinkle some cheese on the top and break up a taco shell to add some crunchies and you're good to go!

The last meal we made with the taco chicken was oven baked tacos.  Got the idea from this pin.  We didn't follow it exactly, basically just used the oven idea.  We got some hard shells, lined them up in a baking dish, put the taco chicken on the bottom and added cheese.  Baked them in the oven and topped them with lettuce and sour cream when they came out.  Very easy and so nice eating a taco that doesn't fall apart with the first bite.  We will definitely try her whole recipe some time in the future.

So, if you're keeping track, we made 3 dinners and 7 lunches from 4 chicken breasts.  All for less than $15.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.  :)

Cheers!

Stats:
Time: prep- 5 mins, slow cooker- 6-8 hrs
Servings: 13
Leftovers:  Definitely
Cost: less than $15 

Crock-Pot Italian Chicken

If you invite my mom to your wedding, and you register for a Crock-Pot, she will buy it for you.  The Crock-Pot is my mom's go-to gift.  She swears by them.  Because of this, the Haus of Kendi has three.  Mom says you need more than one. :)

There has been a Crock-Pot resurgence in the Kendi Haus as of late.  Pinterest has given me a bunch of new recipes to try and something about colder weather just screams "Crock-Pot"!  Here is our latest culinary venture...

Cheers!

Crock-Pot Italian Chicken

 

You can find the complete recipe here.  I found that using the suggested amount of salad dressing was just too overpowering of a taste.  I would suggest going half dressing, half water.  This would probably make it healthier too.  

Stats

Time: prep = 20 min.  cook = 6 hrs

Servings: 4

Cost: about $5

Leftovers:  yes

Beef Stir Fry

Every now and then, Kohls does their Kohls Cares promotional merchandise.  One round included a "weekend" meals cookbook by Good House Keeping.  It caught Kevin's eye on the bookshelf last week and he dog-eared a bunch of recipes that were quick and easy.  The first one we tried was Beef Stir Fry.  We had always made chicken stir fry so beef was a nice switch.  The streak continues, Kevin nailed it.  :)

You can find the recipe here at GoodHouseKeeping.com  (We added baby corns because they we on sale at Kroger.  They are NEVER on sale!)

Cheers!

I always eat stir fry with chopsticks.  It's just faster.  :)



Here's the money shot...

 Stats:
Cost:  about $8
Servings: 4-5
Leftovers:  Yes
Time:  15 min

Pan-Roasted Chicken w Lemon Garlic veggies

We have another winner!!  The Kendi Haus has been on quite a streak when it comes to finding good recipes for dinner.  Kevin has gotten so good at cooking, I can honestly say I don't really miss eating out.  :) 

Last night was Pan-Roasted Chicken with Lemon Garlic green beans and potatoes from Real Simple, found here.  I chose this recipe because everything is made in one pan.  I thought it would be nice to pull the entire meal out of the oven in one shot.  We ended up using regular potatoes instead of red because that is what we had.  The green beans ended up getting a lot of lemon taste so next time, we will either use less lemons in the pan or try and put the potatoes between the lemons and beans.  All in all, this is a keeper!  Cheers!

Stats:
Cost:  less than $5
Servings:  4 (because that's what fit nicely in our dish)
Leftovers:  yes
Time:  1.75 hours