Mom on the Make

Finding fun amidst the chaos of Motherhood

Easy Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry

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My 11 year old had dinner at a friend’s house last night and came home saying that I needed to find out the recipe for the meal her friend’s Mom made STAT!

I’m sure some of you have noticed this too ……….kids are more excited about meals prepared at their friends’ houses.  Even if the meal is the exact same, something about the ambiance of a friend’s home just makes it better.

Luckily, this time, the recipe was simple and healthy.

This is a such a basic dinner, but for some reason, its easy to forget the basic dinner ideas.  This is why this meal is being recorded forever more in the MOTM archives, so I can access the idea electronically rather than store in my brain.

Here’s the dets……

easy chicken stir fry

Easy ingredients to gather…..peppers, broccoli, chicken, teriyaki sauce and rice. Yes, your kids will eat broccoli in this stir fry. The teriyaki sauce makes everything delish.

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easy chicken teriyaki stir fry

The final product. All three of mine (ages 11, 9 and 5) loved this! Sometimes the very simple is best.

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Easy Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry
 
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Ingredients
  • 1½ pounds chicken breast
  • bunch of fresh broccoli
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 bottle of teriyaki sauce
  • 1 cup of uncooked rice (brown or white)
  • Olive Oil
Instructions
  1. Use olive oil to stir fry chicken breast. Cut up into pieces and cook until browned.
  2. Chop up peppers and broccoli and stir fry in olive oil.
  3. Once veggies have started to soften, throw cooked chicken back in with teriyaki sauce and saute together.
  4. Serve mixture over freshly prepared rice.
  5. Enjoy!

Easy Mexican Casserole

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Tonight, Imagineer and I put together this “Easy Mexican Casserole” recipe we found on AllRecipes.  This is definitely a winner. Here’s the details…..

Easy Mexican Casserole
 
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Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: Casserole
Ingredients
  • 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey
  • 2 cups fresh salsa
  • 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, drained
  • 3 cups tortilla chips, crushed
  • 2 cups sour cream
  • 1 (2 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
  • ½ cup chopped green onion
  • 1 cup chopped fresh tomato
  • 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (we used a block and cheddar and shred it - its so much better fresh)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef or turkey until no longer pink.
  3. Stir in salsa, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.
  4. Stir in beans, and heat through.
  5. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
  6. Spread crushed tortilla chips in dish, and then spoon beef/turkey mixture over chips. Spread sour cream over beef/turkey, and sprinkle olives, green onion, and tomato over the sour cream.
  7. Top with Cheddar cheese.
  8. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
  9. YUM.

What’s For Dinner Tonight?

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israeli couscous and chicken skillet dinner

Its that time of day.

My two older ones are going to be running through the front door at any moment, and I still do not have a clue what we will be having for dinner tonight.

I think deciding what to make every day is the most difficult part.

I decided to consult my vault of recipes on this blog to get inspired, instead of resorting to my freezer for a frozen Trader Joe’s dinner.

Rotisserie chicken was sounding really good to me earlier today, so I am opting for the Chicken and Israeli Couscous dinner tonight.

Protein, veggies, couscous, its all good.

Hope you’ve decided on your dinner for tonight.  If not, check out my recipes for some ideas.

If you have a great last minute dinner idea to share, please share in the comments below.

 

What’s For Dinner Tonight?

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Warm Chili and Delicious Homemade Corn Bread!

I wrote about how much I love Earthbound Organic Farm’s Foggy Day Chili recipe a few months ago.  I decided to whip up this chili for the fam tonight.

When I feel like something warm for a chilly night, this recipe always comes to mind.  Tonight, I shredded the cheddar cheese for the topping, and it really made a difference.  I think I’m done with buying already shredded cheese.  It just does not compare to freshly shredded cheddar cheese, as I recently mentioned when discussing my chicken tortilla casserole recipe.

This chili has very simple ingredients including ground beef or turkey, onion, garlic, pinto beans, black beans, diced tomatoes, cumin, oregano, and chili powder.

I also made fresh corn bread using the recipe on the Albers cornmeal box.  SO good.  I’ll share their recipe after these fabulous photos below: best chili best chili freshly grated cheese best cornbread best cornbread albers corn meal corn meal

Albers Delicious Corn Bread Recipe
 
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Ingredients
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ⅔ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup Albers Yellow Corn Meal
  • 1 Tbsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1¼ cup milk
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • ⅓ cup vegetable oil
  • 3 T butter or margarine melted
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Grease 8-inch square baking pan.
  3. Combine flour, sugar, corn meal, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.
  4. Combine milk, eggs, vegetable oil and butter in small bowl; mix well.
  5. Add milk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until blended.
  6. Pour into prepared pan.
  7. Bake for 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
  8. Serve warm.

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

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I wanted to make my Mom’s recipe for Chicken Tortilla Casserole tonight, so I brought up my blog’s recipe category.  Much to my surprise, the recipe was not there!

This is one of my favorite go-to casseroles that I have been enjoying for decades, and am shocked I have not shared this one with you all.

So, for a Valentine’s Day treat, you will now have access to the world’s best Chicken Tortilla Casserole recipe.  🙂

This casserole is what I was making yesterday when I mentioned my kitchen time in the lego post yesterday.

The layers of corn tortillas, fresh baked chicken, cream of chicken and mushroom soups mixed with fresh salsa, and fresh grated cheddar cheese is the perfect comfort food and a great family dinner.

One of the keys to this recipe is squeezing lots of lemon juice onto the chicken breasts and wrapping in aluminum foil before baking in a 400 degree oven for one hour.  The lemon juice really makes the chicken moist.  I know this is the best way, because I have tried to use shortcuts like boiling the chicken.  Definitely not as good.  Make time for the one hour baking time – its worth it!

baked chicken

Chopped Baked Chicken……

chopped baked chicken

Start layering tortillas, chicken, soup mix, grated cheddar cheese, then repeat.

chicken tortilla casserole

 

chicken tortilla casserole recipe

Top off the second layer with tortillas, then grated cheese on top.  This is such a great touch.  Its like mini cheese crisps on top of your casserole.

chicken tortilla casserole recipe

chicken tortilla casserole

chicken tortilla casserole

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Chicken Tortilla Casserole
 
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Recipe type: Dinner
Ingredients
  • 12 Tortillas
  • 1½ pounds chicken breasts
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  • 2 cups fresh mild salsa
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2-3 cups grated cheddar cheese or mexican mix cheese
Instructions
  1. Squeeze fresh lemon juice on chicken breasts.
  2. Wrap chicken breasts in aluminum foil and bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 1 hour.
  3. Cut baked chicken into bite size pieces.
  4. Put cooking spray on a 9x13 pan.
  5. Mix the soups, milk and salsa in a medium bowl.
  6. Cut tortillas into 4 sections, creating triangles.
  7. Place a layer of tortilla triangles on sprayed dish for first layer.
  8. Place half of chopped chicken onto tortillas.
  9. Cover chicken with half of soup mix.
  10. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on soup mix.
  11. Repeat Layer.
  12. Place extra layer of tortilla triangles on top layer and sprinkle cheese on tortillas for mini cheese crisps.

You are going to love this one!  ENJOY!!

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