Banana Pudding

A tried and true recipe, this is one of my summertime favorites! No baking required, served right out of the fridge, best if made ahead, and absolutely delicious! Need I say more? Perfect for any gathering, it’s a crowd favorite! 

Banana pudding 

Ingredients

•  4 bananas, sliced
• 3 cups milk
• 1 box Nilla Wafers
• 2 small boxes instant FRENCH vanilla pudding
• 1 {8 oz.} pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 1 {14oz.} can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 {12 oz.} container Cool Whip

Directions

• Line the bottom of a 9x13 with Nilla Wafers.
• Slice your bananas and layer evenly on top of the wafers. 
• Combine the milk and pudding mix and blend using a handheld mixer. 
• In a separate bowl, mix together cream cheese & condensed milk until smooth.
• Gradually fold in whipped cream.
• Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mix & stir until well blended.
• Pour the mix evenly over the bananas.
• Layer the remaining Nilla Wafers on top of the mix to top it all off.

Potato, Sausage, and Queso Chowder

This recipe is one of my husband’s favorites! It’s like if you took Rotel sausage dip and mixed it with potato-corn chowder. It’s very filling, a little spicy, and definitely delicious! You can adjust the spice level to your liking by using mild or regular Rotel and more or less red pepper flakes. I like to serve it with sour dough bread or tortilla chips. It’s fairly simple, it’s all cooked in one pot and doesn’t require too much prep or cook time- maybe an hour all together.

Potato, Sausage, and Queso Chowder

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• ½ an onion, small diced
• ½ tsp minced garlic
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper (or more if you want it spicier)
• 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 16 oz Velveeta Queso Blanco, cubed
• 1 (15 oz) can sweet whole corn kernels, drained
• 2 cups half-n-half
• 1/2 cup Rotel Original diced tomatoes

Directions:

1. In a pot over medium-high heat, brown the Italian sausage. Remove the sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon and set aside.
2. On medium heat, add the onion. After a few minutes of cooking, add the garlic, crushed red pepper, black pepper and parsley, and stir for 30 seconds-1 minute. 
3. Add the chicken broth and diced potatoes. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
4. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the cooked sausage, half-n-half, cubed queso, drained corn, and diced tomatoes. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the chowder is heated through, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper, to taste

Chipotle Chicken in a Slow Cooker with Roasted Corn Salsa

Chipotle Chicken in a Slow Cooker with Roasted Corn Salsa

This recipe couldn’t be simpler, just put the ingredients in a crock pot, wait a few hours, shred and serve with your favorite toppings! It doesn’t have the same texture as the grilled chicken at Chipotle but its flavor is great and works wonderfully for simple Chicken Chipotle bowls at home! 

Ingredients 

• ▢ 
  3 chicken breasts , boneless skinless
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• ▢ 2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cumin
• ▢ 1/4 cup distilled vinegar
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic , minced
• ▢ 6 tablespoons vegetable oil 
• ▢ 1/4 cup water

Directions

• Add all of the ingredients to the slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 6 hours.
• Shred the chicken and return to slow cooker. Stir.
• For a “chipotle bowl”, put chicken over rice and top with your favorite toppings- guac, salsa, cheese, sour cream, fajita veggies, lettuce, black beans etc. It also works great for chicken tacos! 

ROASTED CHILI-CORN SALSA

INGREDIENTS

• ▢ 1 (16 ounce bag) white sweet corn frozen
• ▢ 2 poblano peppers
• ▢ 1/2 jalapeño finely diced
• ▢ 3/4 cup cilantro finely diced
• ▢ 1/2 red onion finely diced
• ▢ 1-2 teaspoons Morton kosher salt
• ▢ 1 lime juiced
• ▢ 1/2 lemon juiced

INSTRUCTIONS

PREPARING THE POBLANO PEPPERS

• Put the poblano peppers on a baking sheet and stick directly under the broiler for 3-7 minutes, or until blistered and charred. Turn the peppers, and repeat process until underside has also blistered and charred.
• Remove the peppers from the broiler and immediately transfer to a glass bowl. Cover with either a tight fitting lid or saran wrap and allow peppers to steam for 10-15 minutes. This will allow the skin to separate more easily from the flesh of the peppers.
• Peel the skin off of the peppers. It is okay is some is left, but peel most of the skin off of peppers for optimal taste and texture. 
• Slice peppers in half, remove the seeds, then finely dice peppers and set aside.

PREPARING THE SALSA

• Thaw the corn by rinsing it in a fine mesh sieve under cool, room temperature water. 
• Transfer the rinsed and drained corn to a large bowl. 
• Add in the cilantro, red onion, jalapeño, poblano peppers, lemon juice, lime juice, and kosher salt. 
• Toss to combine and serve immediately or store in the fridge to chill until ready to serve.

Chicken Tortilla Soup (Slow Cooker)

Chicken Tortilla Soup (Slow Cooker)

Tasty and easy- this slow cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup is a winner!! There’s not much prep, just chopping the onion, pepper, garlic  and Serrano pepper- and everything gets dumped in the slow cooker for 8 hours on low (4 on high). Shredded the chicken at the end- hint: use the paddle attachment on the Kitchen Aid mixer and it’s a snap! This soup isn’t creamy, so we like to add lots of sour cream and cheese to our bowl, plus top with tortilla chips, sliced avocado, cilantro, whatever you like!! 

INGREDIENTS

 

• ▢ 1 lb chicken breast
• 1 can black beans, drained
• ▢ 15 oz sweet whole corn kernels, drained
• ▢ 15 oz diced tomatoes, drained
• ▢ 5 C chicken stock
• ▢ 3/4 C yellow onion, chopped
• ▢ 3/4 C red bell pepper, chopped
• ▢ 1 serrano pepper, minced
• ▢ 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• ▢ 1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
• ▢ 1 tsp ground pepper, divided
• ▢ Mexican cheese, sour cream, Cilantro, avocado, tortilla chips- for topping optional

INSTRUCTIONS

 

• To your slow cooker add first 11 ingredients plus 1 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp ground pepper. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
• Prior to serving, remove chicken breasts. Transfer chicken to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for easy shredding. Alternately you may shred chicken by hand. Season chicken with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Return shredded seasoned chicken to slow cooker bowl. Stir gently.
• Divide among bowls and top off with a generous helping of shredded cheese, sour cream and seasoned tortilla strips, plus avocado and cilantro if desired. 

*If you want a creamier tortilla soup, you can add 4-8oz of cream cheese near the end of cooking. Stir in until melted into soup.