BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

This was such a hit with my husband, his has made a recommendation. For each new post there should be a photo of him. He will either be all smiles, and thumbs up, or a frown and thumbs down. But really, would be ever give his wife a thumbs down??? No food review specific photos came about, BUT, for future reference, this is my Brett!












For this recipe, he was definitely all smiles and a full tummy. He said "I can't stop myself from eating!". That's a shocker for Brett...he has lots of self control and resists unhealthy temptations with ease. He had planned on only one quesadilla, but before he knew it he had eaten the second one, which was supposed to be his lunch tomorrow! Here's the best part, this was so easy, I think I can describe it in pictures. Well, pretty much...see the description below.

Here it is in a nutshell. I took leftover chicken (from the couple already cooked rotisseries birds I got at the Wal-Mart deli), mixed in some chopped purple onion and BBQ Sauce (our very favorite is Sweet Baby Rays-it is hands down the best). Then I just made a quessadillas as usual, in a skillet on medium heat. Buttered tortilla (whole wheat for us, and I used spray butter because it's easy and its not heavy so you get a real crispy tortilla), layer of cheese, then the chicken mixture, some more cheese, another tortilla (buttered)...I think it was about 3 minutes on each side. Just depends on the heat and such. I like a high heat so I get that perfect crisp, but not so fast that it isn't heated throughout.


I really think the purple onion and a good quality BBQ sauce make this recipe what it is. I don't think I would even try it without the purple onion-it's just a perfect fit to me. And again, that Sweet Baby Ray's....SO GOOD! I bet any cheese wouldn't make too much of a difference...experiment with that aspect. Brett ate his with some additional BBQ sauce, while I had a couple of bites with some chunky salsa. Next time I might add some sliced jalapenos to the chicken mixture, and serve this with sour cream for dipping.

Chicken and Dumplin's

When you're feeling blue, it's cold outside and you know there's that one dish that will hit the spot....that's right...good ole chicken and dumplin's! I got my recipe from combining my mom's use of biscuits for dumpling's and then the ingredient's and methods of a couple of recipes I found online. I wanted something just as tasty as "from scratch", but much easier and faster. This was accomplished perfectly by using the biscuits (instead of homemade dumplings), and an already cooked rotisserie chicken (instead of cooking your own and then using that broth). I am very happy with the result, and will be making this again, for sure!

Ingredients:
2-32oz boxes of reduced sodium chicken broth

2 cans cream of chicken soup

chopped/shredded/pulled apart meat from 1 cooked rotisserie chicken (got mine ready to go from the deli at Wal-Mart)

3 stalks of celery, chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

2-10 oz cans biscuits

salt and pepper to taste

Simmer the chopped onion and celery in the chicken broth until tender. Add the 2 cans of soup. I will say at this point I wanted my broth a lot thicker, so I transferred a couple of ladles full into a small saucepan, added about 3-4 tablespoons of flour to thicken it up and then combined it back into the larger batch. I don't like really brothy chicken and dumplin's! Bring mixture to a boil and pinch biscuits into "halves" or "quarters" depending on your liking, and drop into the soup/broth mixture one by one. I did the biscuits in quarters so I could gauge the doneness better. After all of the biscuits are in, fold in the chicken. Cook on medium-medium high for 15-20 minutes. You can turn the heat down a bit and cook longer if you like. Give the dumplin's a good stir now and then to allow for equal cooking.

Before you serve, make sure to spoon up the celery, onions and chicken from the bottom!

Pizza Casserole

When I saw this recipe, I knew it would be cheaper and quicker than calling Papa John's and having a pizza delivered. It isn't a traditional pizza "pie", but my taste buds didn't know the difference! I always appreciate a recipe that agrees with my budget, AND leaves leftovers for the next day. Who doesn't like cold pizza??

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 chopped onion
2 minced garlic cloves

1/2 can of tomato sauce (about 7 oz.)

1 Package of Pepperoni
Cooking Spray

10 oz. can of refrigerated pizza dough

8 oz. part skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a non-stick skillet cook onion and garlic until softened. Add meat and brown. Drain well.

Add tomato sauce to meat and heat through. You will want your meat more on the dry side as opposed to the saucy side. While the meat cooks, coat a 9x13 cooking dish with cooking spray. Unroll pizza dough and press into the bottom of the dish and half way up the sides. Pre-bake in oven for 5 minutes.

Remove crust from oven. Sprinkle a layer of cheese, then a layer of hamburger meat, a layer of pepperoni, then add a layer of cheese. Finish with a final layer of pepperoni.

Bake uncovered at 425 degrees for 12 minutes until crust is browned and cheese is melted. The easiest way to cut this was with a regular pizza cutter!