Yes, two days straight of non-stop enchilada recipes. I know–I apologize in advance. Some may say I have an addiction to enchilada sauce or others may say poor planning. Whatever side you decide on I know you will be thanking me later for introducing you to my Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Peppers!
You see… I kind of have a thing for my slow cooker. Whenever I can get it to work for me–I make the move. Who doesn’t love dinner cooked for them by someone else? Ok… maybe I am going a little bit too far with calling this slow cooker a person, but for the most part you set it and forget it and hours later your home smells wonderful and didn’t is pretty much cooked!
Remember, my homemade spicy enchilada sauce I shared last week? Well, today I have yet one more way to utilize that delicious spicy sauce. Let’s switch up the traditional stuffed peppers and go for something with a bit more of a kick.
If you still don’t know what your cooking tomorrow for Cinco de Mayo you should most definitely think about these stuffed bell peppers. And if you happen to have leftover rice and rotisserie chicken in your refrigerator, well then my friends you know what you are destine to make. So head on over to Food Fanatic to get the full recipe for these easy-to-make slow cooker chicken enchilada stuffed peppers!
I think there are two types of people in life. Those who embrace leftovers and those who hate them. We embrace them in my house. I try not to let any food go to waste, although it does happen on occasion, but not as often as some households throw out food. I love to transform my leftovers into something magical — into a brand new meal!
So if you are a part of the waste no food club, I dare you to head over to Food Fanatic. It is a new website that I’ll be contributing to twice a month. Every food blogger on the site will be writing about a particular niche. Mine just happens to be one-pot meals. So get ready to see leftovers transformed, crock pot recipes, and skillet sensations from yours truly!
Surprise! It is fondue week on Katie’s Cucina, and I’ve partnered up with my friend Christine from Cook the Story. All week long we will be sharing decadent fondue recipes, we will “hangout” with a chef from The Melting Pot, and of course have some pretty amazing prizes.
Since tonight is the Super Bowl I figured I would kick off the week with Buffalo Chicken Fondue. Yesterday, I mentioned yesterday with the Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms… we love buffalo sauce in my house. So when I started brainstorming about fondue recipes I knew I wanted to some-how incorporate this firey sauce!
The night I made this recipe my husband happened to be on an HOA board meeting call. So after I took a few pictures I put the fondue set with all the fixings right in front of him. He began to devour the buffalo chicken fondue. And then when he got off the call I told him I was almost done with dinner and he looked at me in disbelief. He thought the buffalo chicken fondue was dinner! He crammed so much down that he had no room for dinner. I couldn’t stop laughing. So I ate dinner last week by myself, well I did make him sit at the table with me. So as you guessed someone had a buffalo chicken fondue upset stomach… you got it the dip is that good!
Oh and lets take a moment to take a look at this sexy fondue pot. This isn’t any fondue pot. It is a Swissmar Mont Blanc 15-PC Meat Fondue Set. The pot is cast iron and can be cooked right on the stove top and brought to the fondue station all in one swoop! You get four black ceramic dipping dishes with it (so if you’re sharing the fondue with others everyone can dish out their own sauce and double dip until their heart desires) or you can put some of the dipping items in it like I did. And tomorrow… you guessed it. One of my lucky readers will get to win one of these beauties!!!
Don’t forget to go visit Christine and take a look at the Fondue themed Valentine’s Day Card she created! You can even download it for free!
Buffalo Chicken Fondue Inspired by EveryDay Rachael Ray
In a cast iron fondue pot (or a regular pot) melt cream cheese and buffalo sauce on medium heat until melted; stirring to ensure it doesn't burn (about 5 minutes).
Once you have a sauce like substance in the pot then add the three cheeses. Mix well and add the 1/3 cup of milk. Mixing until everything comes together.
Are you sick of buffalo sauce yet? I’ve seen it used in just about every different way known to man kind over the past two weeks. I love it! We love buffalo sauce in my house. My husband loves any type of stuffed mushrooms. A few years ago I created a delicious and healthier stuffed mushroom: Broccoli & Pepper Jack Stuffed Mushrooms. And then of course there were these Zucchini Cream Cheese Baked Mushrooms.
So I had this brilliant idea earlier int he week to use up a little bit of leftover rotisserie chicken and make Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms for him. He loved them! I think guest would be fooled by just looking at them. What is so special about these mushrooms? Then they take their first bite and BAM! They have no idea what hit them. Looks can be deceiving, can’t they?
Plump mushroom caps filled with decadent cream cheese, bleu cheese, and cheddar cheese along with juicy shredded rotisserie chicken and buffalo sauce! Lots of buffalo sauce. Rich and creamy and lets face it not on the healthy super bowl recipe list. But I feel that everything should be in moderation. You can indulge in something rich and creamy and then balance it by eating something baked and full of seasoning. I mean who resist these Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms?
So if you have a little leftover rotisserie chicken or really any kind of leftover chicken give it a chop or shred and make Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms as youreasy go-to appetizer this Super Bowl Sunday.
In a large bowl blend together softened cream cheese, bleu cheese, and cheddar cheese. Then add buffalo sauce, dried onion, minced celery, and parsley. Mix well again and lastly stir in the chicken.
Clean mushrooms and remove stems. On a large baking sheet add a metal cookie cooling rack to the baking sheet. Then begin to fill each mushroom cap with the buffalo chicken mixture. Place each mushroom on the rack.
Bake for 20 minutes at 450 degrees. Serve immediately.
I started easing everyone into all the Super Bowl entertaining recipes over the past few weeks; however, now I’m going to unveil a few of my new favorite football food recipes this week. Including these Baked Spicy Greek Yogurt Chicken Wings with Greek Yogurt Bleu Cheese Dressing. Well, I shouldn’t really say these are my new favorite. These are my husbands new favorite. He loves all things wings. I believe I mentioned that when I shared my Baked Buffalo Queso Fresco Chicken Wing recipe the other week. Well, I’m on a baked wing kick for my husband. He is loving it, and I think after the Super Bowl has come and gone he will sadly miss all the wings I’ve been making him. So note to self, I guess I should continue my chicken wing making after football season.
Once again, I have this super easy chicken wing recipe. You mix two ingredients, place the sauce and the wings in a bag. Shake it around and let them marinade in the sauce for a good 24-hours. I love the bright orange “hot wing” color they have upon coming out of the oven. Crispy skin yet not as sinful as the deep friend version. You’ll never know these were baked unless someone spilled the beans.
And let’s talk about sauce. A subject that I’ve come to enjoy over the past few years. You see, my husband is the king of all sauces. He believes that there should be a sauce for everything. I don’t always believe that but I do believe that chicken wings should bathe in a luscious creamy sauce. So instead of the traditional full-fat bleu cheese dressing, I decided to make a lighter version of my own. Using Chobani Non-Fat Plain Greek Yogurt, bleu cheese crumbles, along with a little red onion, and cilantro for a nice kick! Let your food processor do all the work or if you don’t have one you can always mix it by hand. Refrigerate the sauce and pull it out when the wings are ready to be served. No one will ever suspect they are eating a healthy wing dish!
Wing Recipe Adapted from January/February issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray
Greek Yogurt Bleu Cheese Dressing is a Katie Original
In a large zip lock baggie add the plain greek yogurt and buffalo hot sauce; mix well. Then add chicken wings to bag and toss the wings with the yogurt mixture. Place the chicken wings in the refrigerator and chill overnight.
The next day, spread the wings on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.
For the Greek Yogurt Bleu Cheese Dressing:
Place Greek yogurt, bleu cheese, red onion, and cilantro in food processor. Blend until all the onion and cilantro have been well incorporated into the yogurt sauce. Refrigerate and serve once wings are ready.
I made these crunch-baked chicken strips on Sunday night for dinner. These plump and juicy chicken strips were so amazing that I had to blog about them this week. Seriously, I needed to share this amazing recipe stat with all my readers. I’m going to tell you a little secret here… typically I cook/bake a few months out from when my post actually go to publish. It is just how life is, and its nice because I always have a nice little stock-pile of recipes waiting to be debuted (they always just need the TLC aka photo editing and recipe writing to be completed). So, with all this being said. You must now realize how special these chicken strips are. If I go back for seconds on any meat of any kind I know its damn good!
I rarely ever make a breaded chicken that is baked. It’s either baked naked with seasoning on it, grilled, or sauteed in a pan. As I “thumbed” through the pages of my online copy of Eating Light I stumbled across this recipe. (A big thanks to a twitter follower who informed me that I can download magazines for free from our public library right on to my iPad!) It looked homey and comforting and low-calorie; which we can all afford to cut a few calories from our diet since binging on cookies, gingerbread, and all things peppermint in December.
The photo in the magazine of the super-crunchy chicken reminded me of the Shake-n-Bake chicken my mom would make when I was a kid. (I recognize, I’m sure to get a phone call and/or text message/email from my mom about “outing” her once again.) Nothing wrong with Shake-n-Bake. Let’s just put that out there. The calories in such crispy chicken mixture isn’t so great for us. So why not recreate an old favorite and be able to control what is going into it? I can attest that this chicken is 100 times better the new and improved way. And are you wondering how we achieve the crunchiness to the chicken? Cornflakes! Which I could write a whole other post on how my mom use to make what we called cornflake chicken when I was a kid. By the way, my husband had no idea he was eating what he would call a “diet” recipe. So with that being said… run. Don’t walk, and go make this recipe.
I can’t end this post without wishing my parents a happy 30th wedding anniversary! Seriously, in this day-in-age its unheard of for two people to be together for so long. So congrats to them and heres to another 30 years together!
While oven is preheating, mix buttermilk egg white and hot pepper sauce in a deep bowl: mix well until incorporated. Rinse off chicken strips and add them to the buttermilk mixture. Let them sit while you prepare the crunchy mixture.
In a large food processor add cornflake-cereal, paprika, fresh thyme, garlic powder, and salt. Pulse until you have crumbs and all the seasonings have been incorporated together. Carefully pour the bread crumb mixture into a shallow plate.
Line a baking sheet with a Silpat (or tinfoil) then place a metal cookie cooling wire rack on top of the lined baking sheet. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. Then, begin assembling the chicken. One-by-one place the buttermilk chicken into the shallow plate and coat with crumb mixture. Then place on to the wire rack. Repeat until all the chicken strips have been covered and are on the wire rack.
Bake for 20 minutes or until crumb coating is crusty and browned and the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees.
Are you ready to start eating healthier? This soup is light, full of flavors, and simply comfort food in my own opinion. I made this one evening after work. I had chicken defrosted in the refrigerator, some leftover rice, tons of vegetables (as always) and like so many other American’s I was stumped on what to make. It was chilly for a Florida evening, so I decided to go with comfort food.
A meal to warm the soul.
After I dreamed up this soup in a matter of seconds I decided I would make an Asian style soup. For the past few months I’ve been growing fresh ginger root on my back patio and have been dieing to harvest some of the beloved spicy root. I harvested about an inch of ginger root from the pot out back, cleaned it, peeled it, and it was ready to flavor my soup in a way I was hoping for.
Although the soup took little over an hour to cook: for the most part you “set it and forget it”. The chicken and ginger root has to boil for a good 45 minutes. Or, should I say, “poach”. This gives you plenty of time to tidy up the house, read emails, or if you have kids–entertain the kids. Then once the chicken breast are fork tender you remove it, shred it, add all your vegetables into the soup pot, place the chicken back in and let it all marry together for a little while longer.
Another trick to this soup… use leftover rice. I just so happened to have some white rice already cooked sitting in my fridge, so that is what I used; however, if you have brown rice or no rice at all that’s ok. You can always cook up a batch or add noodles or whatever else you have on hand. I hate when people have to go out of their way to find ingredients to make a dish. Don’t be afraid to improvise!
The night I made this Asian Chicken Rice Soup I paired it with my favorite asian-style salad and some chicken steamed dumplings (that I bought in a ginormous size bag from Costco).
1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced + more for garnish
2 cups leftover white rice
*top with sesame seeds
Directions
Place one pound of chicken breast in a large pot, cover with 8 cups of water, and add 1 tbsp of fresh whole ginger root. Bring to a boil and cook for 45 minutes.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pot and shred. You will also want to remove the piece of ginger root and carefully mince it. Add both the chicken and ginger root back to the pot along with 3 cloves of minced garlic, one 32oz box of chicken broth, 1 chicken bouillon cube, 1 cup of shredded carrots, baby corn, bamboo shoots, sesame oil, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Cook for 10 minutes on medium.
Lastly, add the fresh spinach and green onions: cook for 5 minutes longer.
Spoon leftover rice (about 1/3 cup) into bowls then carefully ladle chicken soup over the rice. Top with sesame seeds and additional thinly sliced green onions if desired.
Notes
*By not adding the starch into the soup while cooking it allows for more broth therefore stretching the amount of food you have. This is how I typically like to make my soups so that the starch doesn't break down.
Katie Original Recipe. Copyright Katie's Cucina 2013.
Every now and then I’m looking for a quick dinner to make. One that is semi-homemade and comes with a little added help in the kitchen. Before I left for Europe I was contacted by Progresso to try the new Progresso™ Recipe Starters™. I love Progresso™ soups so I had a feeling I would like this new product. The box arrived while I was on vacation which was perfect timing because I knew once I was home I was going to have a lot of busy days ahead of me and I would need quick meals to make.
The past week has been beyond hectic for me so I had planned to give the Progresso™ Recipe Starters™ creamy roasted garlic with chicken stock sauce a try. What I love about these sauces is that a typical serving size for one 18 ounce can is 4-8 servings! That means you can really stretch the dollar a long way. They have 5 new sauces; Creamy Parmesan Basil, Creamy Portabella Mushroom, Fire Roasted Tomato, Creamy Roasted Garlic, Creamy Three Cheese. I’m not gonna lie. I expected to see goopy sludge like sauce come out of the can, but too my surprise it was “soup” like… a nice consistency and not difficult to remove from the can. Then again, this is Progresso™ who made this new and exciting product! So the next time you are stuck in a dinner time rut, head over to the new Progresso™ Recipe Starters™ page and browse through the 80+ recipes they have on hand!
2 tbsp Old El Paso® taco seasoning mix (from 1-oz package)
1 can (18 oz) Progresso™ Recipe Starters™ creamy roasted garlic with chicken stock cooking sauce
1 cup water
1 can (15 oz) Progresso® black beans, drained, rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
1 tomato, diced
Cilantro, Green Onions, sliced olives and Cheese for topping
Directions
Using a 12-inch skillet, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium-high heat until hot. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste. Cook the chicken in oil for 4 to 5 minutes or until browned, turning once. Remove from skillet; cover to keep warm.
Add rice and taco seasoning mix to skillet and stir to mix well. Stir in cooking sauce and 1 cup water. Heat to boiling; cook 5 minutes (stirring frequently). Stir in beans and frozen corn; heat to boiling.
Return the chicken to skillet. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes or until liquid is absorbed, rice is tender and juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (at least 165°F). During the last 5 minutes of cooking add the diced tomato into the skillet. Mix well.
Serve each person 1-2 chicken strips with a hearty helping of rice and beans. Sprinkle cilantro, green onion, and shredded cheddar cheese over the plate, and top with a few slicked black olives. Enjoy!
Are you ready for some football?!??! I am! Tis the season for lazy Sundays filled with football and great food. I think most people either have a love or hate relationship with football. I grew up with it–born a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I swear when my husband asked for my hand in marriage my dad made him take a vow that he would be a Steelers fan for life. Thankfully, he was never big into football so he adapted well into becoming a Steelers fan… now he is a little more die-hard than I am!
He also craves chicken wings… often. I on the other hand at times can be a little repulsed by the idea of eat meat off a bone. Remember, I’m not a big meat eater. So to satisfy my husbands cravings I created a new chicken wing recipe. Best of all, it doesn’t need any creamy (fattening) sauce to be dipped in. My wing marinade/sauce is all it needs. The night I made these I was a tad hesitant he might not like them since these aren’t your traditional hot wings. After repeating myself for a good five minutes and not hearing a response I knew I was golden. This was a match made in heaven! When he finally responded this is how he described them “the lime hits the tongue first, followed by the honey, then the fresh tasting cilantro–and the heat hits you at the end”. I was throwing around wing recipe names when he dubbed them as Key West Grilled Chicken Wings because the flavors remind him of Key West. So… I went with it.
Please note… you have to make the sauce recipe listed below TWICE! Once for marinating and once for drizzling on top.
2 tbsp honey + additional for drizzling over wings
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Directions
In a large bowl combine minced cilantro, zest of 1 lime, juice from 1-1/2 limes, minced garlic, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, minced dried chili pepper, 2 tablespoons honey, and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Mix well until combined.
Rinse and pat dry your chicken wings and place in a gallon size sealable baggie. Then pour mixture over chicken wings. Seal the bag, toss the wings, and let the chicken wings marinade for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Clean and then wipe grill grates with oil (on a thick coated paper towel using the cleaning brush so that your hands don't get burnt)! Place the chicken wings on the grill, close the grill, and let those babies cook for 5 minutes! While the wings are cooking make ANOTHER BATCH OF MARINADE! This will be used to pour over the wings once they are done cooking and on the plate.
Turn your chicken wings, and lightly drizzle honey over the wings. Cook for another 5 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 165. Once the chicken wings are done place them on a plate. Pour your second batch of marinade over the wings, then drizzle additional honey on top of the wings.
Notes
You will need to double the ingredients listed above for the sauce. You will make 2 batches of marinade. One batch will be for the actual chicken wings marinating and the second batch is to be poured over the wings after they are cooked and plated.
The day I made the Greek Pasta Salad I had no intentions of making a fully themed Greek dinner; however, the wheels in my brain started turning and it was “downhill” from there. Although, it wasn’t downhill in a bad way… we were just riding on this spiral of Greek food! I love using Greek seasoning–I think its the perfect blend of spices and isn’t too spicy or salty.
When I don’t know what to season something with I always tend to reach for the Greek seasoning. I’ve been going through it like it is my job lately. I had planned to grilled the chicken strips with a little olive oil and greek seasoning and then I looked on my cutting board and saw all the fresh dill neatly chopped and figured, why not put some on… and then I did something crazy. I reached for the feta and sprinkled it on the chicken. Why not? Why not, grill the feta on the chicken?!? So I did… and it was amazing and full of flavor.
I’ve entered this recipe in the Mr. Food search for the ultimate weeknight meal contest. These chicken strips along with the pasta salad and corn are simple to make and best of all–all three dishes take under 30 minutes. Making this the ideal weeknight meal or a great way to entertain and actually enjoy your time with your guest and not slaving away in the kitchen!
Preheat your grill to high heat, clean, and lower to medium heat.
While the grill is preheating you'll want to rinse and chicken, and pat dry with paper towel. Then drizzle olive oil over chicken, sprinkle Greek seasoning, dill, and feta on both sides of the chicken. Make sure all parts of the chicken is covered.
Place the chicken on the grill. Grill for 5 minutes on each side or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Serve immediately.
I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and more so in the past few years a love for eating!
Join me on a culinary adventure where life always tastes good. {more}
I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and more so in the past few years a love for eating!
Join me on a culinary adventure where life always tastes good. 
