Enchilada Casserole

To go along with my homemade enchilada sauce, we made the most delicious enchilada casserole! My husband and kiddos gobbled it up and it was so tasty, even the next day as leftovers!! It’s pretty easy to throw together and makes for a great warm comfort food during the winter! Here’s the recipe!

Makes 12 servings

2 cups enchilada sauce (try my homemade one if you want!)

8-10 flour tortillas

2 cups shredded chicken (you can use a store bought rotisserie too…easy peasy!)

2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

1 cup frozen chopped spinach (optional)

Spray or grease a 9x13 casserole dish and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Pour some enchilada sauce on the bottom of the dish and spread evenly.

Place flour tortillas on top of the sauce, then shredded chicken, then more enchilada sauce, then cheese, then sprinkle on the frozen spinach (we love doing this as a way to infuse more greens in our meals!) Repeat this pattern of layering and make sure the top layer is cheese!

Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 10-15 minutes till the cheese is bubble/melty. We also broiled it at the end for 3-4 minutes to get it a little crispy on top!

Let it rest for about 10 minutes, then cut into it and enjoy with a side salad, rice and beans, or on its own!

Shredded BBQ chicken (Instant Pot!)

I have been singing the praises of the instant pot ever since my hubby got it for me for Christmas. It has literally transformed meal prep, helped us eat out WAY less, and makes cooking at home so much easier! I’ve been making shredded chicken almost weekly, so I wanted to share a super easy rendition with you all! 

Shredded chicken is so versatile! I’ve been making it with salsa verde, but also adding BBQ sauce to it as well, which means you can add it to salads, wraps, sandwiches, or just eat it plain!

And the best part is that you can use frozen chicken, make it taste super moist and fresh, and you don’t have to defrost the day before and make sure you plan ahead! You can just straight up throw frozen chicken into the instant pot and have a meal ready in less than 30 minutes. Here’s the super easy recipe! 

Makes 6-8 servings  

8 frozen chicken tenderloins

2-3 frozen chicken thighs  

1 cup chicken broth  

1 cup bbq sauce of choice  

Place the frozen chicken into the IP, along with the broth. Cover and set to sealing, then cook on manual for 22 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for about 10 mins; then quick release.  

Once the pressure releases, take the chicken out of the IP and place in a bowl. Shred the chicken with two forks, then add the BBQ sauce and mix thoroughly! 

And that’s it! Super easy to throw together and it tastes delicious! Hope y’all get to try this recipe and seriously, if you don’t have an instant pot, go get one TODAY! They are life changing!  

Broccoli Chicken & Cheese Casserole (lite!)

Well, it's Monday morning again, which means my Sunday was full of Super Bowl fun and some night time meal prep! I was pretty exhausted after coming home from my Super Bowl party, so I wanted to whip up a quick and easy dish that I could take to work with me for a few days. I made a very easy and low maintenance version of Creamy Broccoli Chicken and Cheese, without the cream! I never liked creamy dishes growing up, but I do love cheese so I decided to lighten up this usually heavy dish! Here is my recipe for Broccoli Chicken and Cheese Casserole! 

Makes 4 servings:

2 cups raw broccoli

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice (can be omitted if you want, just add extra veggies and chicken!)

1 1/3 cup water

1 container Lemon Pepper Chicken Breast from Trader Joe's (or 12 oz chicken breast any way you like...I just was short on time so used my trusty and yummy TJ's chicken!)

1 cup lite shredded mozzarella cheese (or cheddar if that's your thing, I'm just not a fan!)

Start by steaming the broccoli. I usually just place it in the microwave with a few drops of water on top, but if you have a steamer you can use that as well!

Then, cook the brown rice. I used 1 1/3 cup water for my 1/2 cup of brown rice (remember that brown rice needs a bit more water than white rice!) Bring the water and brown rice to a  boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the cooked broccoli to the cooked brown rice, then turn the burner off.

Cook your chicken, then dice it up into little pieces! Add the chicken to the brown rice and broccoli and stir together.

This is where some creativity came into the mix, brought to you by my boyfriend. I added the shredded cheese to the pot, but wanted it to melt evenly throughout the pot. My boyfriend suggested making it into a casserole, which I thought was perfect! I sprayed an 8x8 glass dish and poured the rice, broccoli, chicken, and cheese mixture into it, making sure the cheese was evenly distributed. I baked the casserole on 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, just enough for the cheese to melt. You could also wait till the end to add the cheese and sprinkle it on top of the casserole before placing it in the oven to get the cheese to brown up on top! I just wanted it to melt, which ended up looking like this!

And there you go! This meal is perfect to cut up into squares and take to work or school!

I paired my meal with a nice salad filled with veggies and some olive oil dressing. This was SUCH a quick and easy recipe, filled with protein, fiber, and tons of vitamins, which will leave you feeling great. Hope you all enjoy!

Nutrition facts: 1/4 of recipe

235 calories, 6g fat, 20g carbs, 26g protein, 25% DV Vitamin A, 65% DV Vitamin C, 22% DV Calcium!

Spicy Sausage & Taters

I love potatoes aka taters. If you follow me on Instagram (@tveen_rd), you probably notice that I eat sweet potatoes almost daily! I absolutely adore them. I made this super easy meal last week with spicy jalapeño chicken sausage from trader joes and some taters. The spicy theme has been strong this week on this blog! ;) This dish came out tasting great and I looked forward to it every day I had it! I thought I would share the recipe so you all could enjoy it as well! 

Spicy Sausage & Taters! *1 packet (5 sausage links) spicy jalapeño chicken sausage from Trader Joe's...or sausage of choice *2-3 white sweet potatoes, or 2 cups diced *1 T olive oil *Cajun seasoning blend 

Preheat the oven to 450. Slice up the sausage and chop the potatoes. Mix with olive oil and cajun seasoning (to taste). Spread out in a baking dish (grease with spray or oil), and cover with foil. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally! This was so easy and was the perfect meal for leftovers! Enjoy*

Parmesan Garlic Chicken

Sometimes, you can get sick of healthy food. It happens, and it's normal. Chicken is one of those dishes that can get boring fast. Grilled chicken and salad is a meal one of my best friends and I joke about, because we ALWAYS have it. However, there are many ways to make even the blandest food a little more exciting. This week, I made a chicken dish that was so different and SO delicious. The parmesan and garlic combination was amazing, and kale was a great supplement to the meal! This meal was also super easy to whip up! Here is my easy and tasty chicken recipe!

Makes 2 servings

6 chicken tenders 2-3 T olive oil 2 garlic cloves, crushed Garlic salt Parmesan (I used about 2-3 T grated) 2 large handfuls of kale 

Heat the oil over medium heat in a skillet. Crush the garlic cloves, and sauté the garlic with the oil for a few minutes. 

Cut the chicken tenders into cubes. Add the chicken to the oil and sprinkle some garlic salt on top. Once the chicken is cooked through, add 2-3 tablespoons of Parmesan. Lastly, add a few handfuls of kale to the skillet and sauté everything together until the chicken starts to brown and the kale is wilted. 

I let these cool in two small containers so they would be ready for my lunches! This chicken was such a treat and a meal I looked forward to instead of dreaded! I highly recommend you all trying this dish if you feel yourself getting bored of your usual chicken meals!

Almond Crusted Chicken Tenders

I haven't shared a recipe on here in SO long! I wasn't anticipating sharing this one, but it turned out SO good, I just had to write it up! I've been trying to keep my diet (and my husband's) squeaky clean lately, and feeling AMAZING doing so. I am still following the 21 day fix container system and Autumn's countdown to competition meal plan (click here for my previous post)! I am loving the results I am seeing and am remembering how amazing my body feels on clean, whole foods. On top of that, there are enough temptations and distractions during this time of year to overindulge, so as much as I can help it, we are keeping things nice and healthy in the Verano household.

I have been wanting to make a crusted chicken recipe in SO long, and I finally got around to it yesterday! My husband loves breaded chicken, but I stay away from it because of my gluten allergy, and I just find breaded chicken SO heavy. Yesterday, I decided to try to "bread" chicken with almond flour instead of panko  bread crumbs and they turned out DELICIOUS! My husband was happy, I was happy, and our Saturday was made! Here is my quick and easy Almond crusted chicken tender recipe!

Makes 3-4 servings (depending on how much y'all eat!)

1 pound chicken tenders

1/2 cup almond meal/almond flour

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 eggs

2 T olive oil

Heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat with the olive oil. While that's getting hot, mix the almond flour and spices in one bowl, and beat the two eggs in another bowl. Then, dip each chicken tender into the egg mixture, then the almond flour + spices mixture until it is completely coated!

Place each tender into the skillet and cook for about 10-12 minutes on each side. I wanted ours nice and crispy, and that's how they turned out!

I served these up with some buffalo veggies, which were basically steamed veggies I had in the fridge, tossed with Frank's buffalo hot sauce, and baked on 425 for about 15 minutes. I also made the hubby oven-baked fries! I sliced the potatoes nice and thin and spread them out on a lined baking sheet. Then tossed in 1 T olive oil and some salt and paprika. Baked for about 20 minutes, and viola! He was a happy, happy man!