Buffalo Chicken Dip

Did I ever proclaim my love for football to you? Particularly Big Red Football...Nebraska Football! Really any football will do, but nothing compares to the love and dedication of the team that you've been watching since you were a tiny little girl. I have 3 brothers and my dad and I remember many days growing up with the game on. And if you're not from Nebraska then I don't think you'd understand, but to be honest, that's about all we have here. There are no pro-teams, so we put all our time and energy and enthusiasm in backing up the legacy that we have in the Huskers! And if you've never been to a game...oh, you're missing out! Even if you're not a fan of football...it's an experience! Over 100,000 people downtown wearing red. The sea of RED! Nearly 90,000 fans in the stadium! We've had more consecutive sell outs than any other team. Friends of ours who played college ball for Michigan, Virginia Tech, and Colorado have all said that there is nothing like playing at Memorial Stadium, even as the opposing team! I have to agree...it's quite the experience. Did I tell you that in my Senior Book from High school I was named as "most likely to marry an NFL player". I kid you not! I just ran across that book the other day! Funny! Anyway, our season is over but there's still a little NFL action going on and to gear up for the Super Bowl I'm going to share with you some of our favorite Football Snacks, first up Buffalo Chicken Dip.

BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP

1 lb chicken breast, cooked and shredded or chopped
1 pkg cream cheese
1 8 oz pkg sour cream
1 5oz pkg blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup hot sauce, I use Franks
1/2 cup ranch dressing
4 green onions, sliced

Dump everything into a crock pot or slow cooker and set to low. Stir every once in a while to get things all happy together. Once it's hot, it's ready!

Serve with tortilla chips and Enjoy!

Warmly,
Mary

Chicken Enchilladas

WARNING: Your skinny jeans will not fit the day after eating these! But they are so good!
If you're not familiar with chilies...don't let the green chilies scare you away...they are not hot at all...they just provide a nice little kick. My 3 year old Princess and 5 year old Warrior eat these up like crazy!

Mine are served up with cilantro rice, re-fried beans, sour cream, guacamole, and balsamic reduction.

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
3 cups cooked chicken, chopped
2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 cup sour cream
4 oz cream cheese, room temp
12 small flour tortillas
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 - 7oz can green chilies
1 tsp paprika
2 Tbl butter
2 Tbl flour

Heat oven to 350. In a medium saucepan add butter and flour and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth and milk. Allow to thicken slightly, turn heat off and add green chilies and paprika. Set aside.
In a medium bowl combine chicken, chopped onion, cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the cheese and 1 cup of the sauce. Mix well. Stir the sour cream into the remaining sauce.
Scoop 1/4 cup chicken mixture on top each tortilla and roll closed. Place the sealed side down in a 9x13 pan.  Pour the sauce over the enchiladas. Sprinkle whith the remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

I'm just going to be honest with you...loosen your belt and enjoy!

Warmly,
Mary

Chicken Tortilla Bake

Do you have a hard time getting your family to eat healthy meals? Here's another super easy and healthy meal. Your kids (or even you) won't mind eating spinach because it's surrounded with all kinds of other goodness! Who can resist chicken and spinach when it's topped with cheesy nachos? I know you're busy, so I'll get right to the recipe...okay, after some pictures...

Chicken Tortilla Bake

 Ingredients

1 lb Chicken Breast, cooked and cubed
3 cups fresh spinach leaves
2 cups tortilla chips, broken into pieces
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (or more if you like it really cheesy!)
1 1/2 cups salsa, plus more for serving
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 small red onion, diced

Preheat oven to 400. In a large mixing bowl add ricotta cheese and salsa and mix until well combined. Add chicken, spinach, onion, 1 cup of the cheese and 1 1/2 cups of the crushed chips. Mix until well combined. Pour into a casserole dish or large pie plate. Now sprinkle on top, the remaining tortilla chips and top that with the remaining cheese. Cover loosely with a piece of foil and bake for 20 minutes or until hot. Serve with additional salsa  and some sour cream if you'd like.

See, quick and easy! And if you had roasted chicken in the freezer from Freezer Meals...My Way, it's even faster! Enjoy!


Warmly,
Mary

Southwest Chicken Roll-ups and Games

Today I have a recipe and some party details for you! I have been getting some questions about details of the Lady Bug party and will try to answer some of them on here for you.

Little princess turned three but her friends ages range from 1 - 7, so the activities that we chose were fun for everyone. 

*After all the guests had arrived we sat down and made Lady Bug Crowns. Prior to the Party I cut 2" x 22" strips of red poster board and various sizes of small black circles. We assisted the kids in decorating their strip with the circles then we stapled sparkly pipe cleaners on for antennas. 

*Our next activity was Lady Bug on a Leaf. Now that we had a room full of lady bugs, we needed a game for them! Prior to the party we cute out large leaf shapes from green construction paper. There was one leaf per child for the first round of this version of musical chairs. Playing fun music for kids, the kids moved around the room until the music stopped. Then they needed to race around to find a leaf to sit on! Since some kids were little and were unfamiliar with musical chairs, we did have a leaf for each to sit on just that first round. But after that, we removed a leaf each round just like regular musical chairs. Even the little ones enjoyed playing!

*Our next two activities were enjoyed outside. We created a Lady Bug Bean Bag Toss game out of card board and I sewed little black bean bags. Once again a bag all for all ages!

*The final activity before the food was served was an Obstacle Course. It was just a series of motions to get from one end of the yard to the other. Pretty basic but the kids enjoyed it. It got them moving and made them feel like they were really involved. Simple Fun!

All the kids had a blast and I am still hearing them talk about it! You don't have to have anything spectacular, kids just like to be kept busy!

 As far as decorations, my mom picked up some plates and napkins, invites, a balloon (the rest I just drew black dots on red balloons) and notepads at a party store near her. Ribbon, stickers and some other small things we got at Michaels. The rest of it, I made. There wasn't a lot around here with Lady bugs, but really all you need is something that is red with black dots!

Today's Recipe:

These of course are super easy and very flavorful! They aren't spicy, because we were mostly feeding children, but if I were serving them at an adult party, I would have spiced them up a bit with a can of green chiles or jalapenos. None the less, they are a yummy snack!

They are the ones on the bottom right hand side

Southwest Chicken Roll-Ups

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken breasts, diced

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, room temp

1 1/2 cups chunky salsa

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

2 green onions, chopped (greens and whites)

Handful of cilantro, chopped

Tortillas, I used spinach (the green ones) and jalapeno and cheddar (the orange ones)

Mix all the ingredients together except the tortillas. Spread a spoonful of the mixture on the tortilla, roll tightly and slice into 1 1/2" pieces. This made about 5 tortillas for me.

Warmly,

Mary

Perfect Chicken Salad and a Giveaway!

I love chicken salad sandwiches. I don't usually make them, because I have never had a recipe for a good one until now!

We are not mayo fans so I'm using nonfat plain yogurt. I don't know why I didn't think if that before, I use it in place of mayo and sour cream all the time. And it makes for the best base for this recipe!

I will be making this all summer now. You don't need little lady bugs and sir bugs for an excuse to eat this healthy and tasty salad/sandwich!

The cute little bites on the bottom left

Perfect Chicken Salad Cups

Ingredients

2 c chicken breast, cooked and diced

2 celery stalks, chopped

1/2 c walnuts, chopped

1 c red grapes, cut in half

2 green onions, sliced (the whole thing the white and the green part)

1/3 c mayonnaise

1/2 c plain nonfat yogurt

2 tsp dijon mustard

45 phyllo cups (optional)

Make sure all your ingredients are cut, diced or chopped. In small mixing bowl add the yogurt, mayo and mustard. In a large mixing bowl add everything else except the phyllo cups. Now stir in the dressing mixture to the chicken mixture and mix until well combined. Now serve! Yes, it is that easy!!

I put a about a tablespoon in each phyllo cup and had a sandwich today with the left overs. You can serve yours on a croissant, which I would have done had I not been feeding tiny mouths! Regular bread or crackers would be perfect too! Shoot, if you want, eat it with a spoon!

You will not regret this healthy lunch!

GIVEAWAY

 

Today I am also doing a giveaway! Because it was a princess's birthday and I think these are the cutest little hair bows ever! I'm going to give one set away! Even if you don't have a little ladybug in your home to give these too, I'm sure you know a little lady bug who would love to have these in her hair!

All you have to do it "Follow" my blog and leave a comment...any friendly comment is fine and will qualify you for an entry! You have a until this Friday June 17 at 12:00pm cst to enter. At which time the winner will be announced! YAY!

Warmly, 

Mary