Middleton Tacos

Our friends the Middletons make the most amazing tacos. We begged for their recipe so we could add it to our repertoire. Toasted corn tortillas, melted cheese, tender marinated meat, and a avocado pico for the top. Mmmmm. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. When the Middletons invited us over for dinner, they didn't know that their name would forever live on in our dinner rotation - because we call this dish "Middleton Tacos." (Chicken tacos doesn't seem to do the dish justice.) 

Middleton Tacos

Source: Mike and Ali Middleton

Ingredients: 

Chicken

Marinade - equal parts, garlic powder, cumin, season salt, pepper, paprika, coriander, chili powder, and Caldo de Tomate, and lime juice + enough vegetable oil to coat/cover the chicken. 

Corn tortillas

Cheese

Lettuce

Avocado Pico - equal parts diced tomatoes, onion, avocado, and cilantro

(For three chicken breasts, I used about one teaspoon of each spice for the marinade and about 1 1/2 -2 cups of oil. I also used 2 tomatoes, 2 avocados, and one onion.) 

Directions: 

The night before, slice chicken breasts into tenders (allowing more of the meat to come into contact with the marinade). Combine marinade spices and oil.  Pour marinade over chicken in a tupperware container and thoroughly coat chicken. Let sit overnight. 

Grill chicken until cooked through. Slice into thin strips (or you could shred). 

Place corn tortillas on a griddle, toast on one side (abt. 1 minute) then flip and cover with cheese. When cheese is melted, add chicken, pico mixture, and lettuce - and serve! 

*When making this for a group of people, you can start crisping up the tortillas and melting the cheese right before serving, then place the tortillas on a cookie sheet. You can cover them with parchment paper and then add a second layer of tortillas for people to grab as they start making their tacos. But don't use wax paper or the cheese will stick. It's also good to have someone manning the griddle to keep the warm tortillas coming. 

Triple Chocolate Bunt Cake

My mother-in-law makes this delicious bunt cake that she calls Death by Chocolate cake. It's always a crowd favorite and there is never anything more than crumbs left over. It comes out of this little paper recipe book that she has and we all love it. I finally got my act together and called her up to get the recipe for a party that I was hosting and I'm so glad that I did. I renamed it, because you use three different chocolate ingredients and I think that it rolls off the tongue nicely. 

Triple Chocolate Bunt Cake

Source: Sue Peaden 

Ingredients: 

1 chocolate cake mix

1 small instant chocolate pudding mix

3/4 cup sour cream

4 eggs

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup oil

1-2 cups of chocolate chips

Directions:

Grease and flour a bunt pan. (This cake will sometimes fall apart if you don't grease it well - so be generous). In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, sour cream, water, and oil. After mixed thoroughly, add pudding and cake mix. Stir in chocolate chips and pour into bunt pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and let cool for no more than 5 minutes before flipping the bunt pan over to remove cake. Top with a light sprinkling of powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Chicken Ranch Pasta (with Bacon)

As evidenced by the many recipes with "Chicken, Bacon, Ranch" in their titles (as well as all the pasta recipes we have), you can see that we love this yummy combination of food. I wish that I could credit the person that created this recipe, however, I found it in a pin on Pinterest that didn't link back to anything. However, all of the ingredients were right in the title and then I worked through how to make it by myself. SO yummy!

(Side note: We have chicken alfredo rotini on a regular basis at our house, but I loved that this recipe makes it's own white sauce. No need to buy a bottle of alfredo sauce at the store, and the ranch seasoning makes the whole thing so delicious.)

(Side, side note: I decided to call this Chicken Ranch Pasta, with bacon instead of Chicken Bacon Ranch pasta for several reasons. First, we have a TON of recipes that start with Chicken, Bacon, Ranch and so I thought i'd mix it up. Second, this would be just as delicious without the bacon. I know, I know. You don't hear me say that often. But both David and I agree that the bacon is yummy but this recipe can definitely stand on it's own two feet.)

Chicken Ranch Pasta
Source: A pin on pinterest that didn't lead anywhere and had the ingredient list in the comment section. I made up the directions. If you know the original source, please let me know.

Ingredients:

8 ounces penne pasta

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tbsp flour

2 cups milk

2 Tbsp dry Ranch Dressing seasoning mix

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups cooked chopped chicken

1/3 cup cooked chopped bacon (optional)

Directions: 

Cook and chop chicken. (I usually boil a chicken breast and then chop it because it is super easy. Sometimes if I am really invested - I will defrost, cube, and saute my chicken in a frying pan with a little salt, pepper, onion salt, and garlic salt.) Cook and chop bacon. (I put my bacon on a baking sheet lined with tinfoil at 400 for 15-18 minutes. I love it!) 

Put pasta on to boil. In medium frying pan, melt butter and then add flour. Use a small whisk to remove all clumps (this is called a roux). When clumps are gone add one cup of milk, whisk out clumps, then add the second cup of milk. Continue to heat milk/roux mixture until it starts to thicken. Add Ranch Dressing seasoning mix. Drain pasta, put back into cooking pot and mix in white sauce. Add chicken, bacon, and cheese. Stir together and serve warm. 

So, so, so yummy. Fairly quick and easy. Definitely a crowd pleaser! 

Richersweet Dough

David's mom is incredible in the kitchen. One of David's family Christmas traditions is a delicious treat called Christmas Roll. His mom makes several of them each holiday season and everyone looks forward to Christmas Eve and New Years Eve so they can enjoy some Christmas Roll. Sue also makes incredible dinner rolls that she serves with yummy meals (or just sets on the counter for people to snack on). Seriously they are so delicious, they are fought over and devoured like cookies. Fortunately, Sue agreed to teach me how to make them, and helped me write out the recipe below.

Richersweet Dough
(For rolls, cinnamons rolls, doughnuts, Christmas Roll...)
Source: Sue Peaden; Bates Book of Cookery, Blanch McAllister

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs yeast
2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
4 1/2 - 5 cups flour

Directions:
Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water until frothy and doubled in size. While waiting for yeast; scald milk (microwave for 2 minutes - to a boil). Mix shortening, sugar, salt, and scalded milk until shortening starts to melt. Start by putting in a little flour (1 cup-ish) and eggs. (This cools down the milk mixture because if you add the yeast to the hot milk mixture while the milk is too hot the yeast will die.) Add yeast to the bowl. Stir with spoon, flour a little bit at a time. When the mixture gets too hard to stir, use your hands to knead in the rest of the flour. You want the dough to be soft, but not sticky. (The least amount of flour to make it not sticky is best.)

Pull the dough out onto the counter and knead until elastic. Rinse mixing bowl, then grease with shortening. Place dough into bowl, pat with shortening, then cover with wax paper and a dish towel. Let rise until double in bulk. (45 minutes to 1 hour in a warm place.)

Roll into desired shape (see below) and let rise again for about 1 hour then bake at 350 until golden brown.

Dinner Rolls: Use a rolling pin to roll out dough onto a lightly floured countertop. (Dough should be about 1/4 inch thick.) Using a small round cutter, cut out small circles around the dough - keeping each circle as close as possible to the next to minimize wasted dough. Remove excess dough and set aside. Butter each circle with softened butter, then use the back of the butter knife to place a firm indent across the center of the circle. Fold each circle along indent and then place closely together on a baking sheet. Let rise for 1 hour. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minute or until golden brown. (To cool, flip rolls upside down on a clean counter or table. After the bottoms are cool, flip right side up to finish cooling. After rolls are completely cool, you may place them into a gallon ziplock single layer to freeze them. Then just set on the counter to thaw. Place in the oven right before serving for a warm delicious roll.)

Christmas Roll: Use a rolling pin to roll dough into a rectangle. (Dough should be between 1/4 - 3/8th of an inch.) Spread softened butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar generously over the dough rectangle. Roll up like you are making a cinnamon roll, but before cutting - pinch the ends together to make a circle on the baking sheet. Every inch and a half, slice 2/3 of the way through the dough circle - leaving the centers connected together. Let rise for 1 hour. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Doughnuts: Use a rolling pin to roll out and then cut according to desired shape. Let rise for 1 hour then deep fry until golden brown. (For doughnut balls, top of spice glass-type jar works well for cutter.


*As I was typing this recipe up, I was referencing and old cookbook that was typed up on a typewriter. The recipe is signed at the bottom by Blanche McAllister (David's grandma). I was also asking clarifying questions to Sue (David's mom) as I went - making sure that I included all of the tips and tricks. As I think about how many generations of women have used this recipe to make delicious rolls and Christmas treats, I am overcome with gratitude for their love, sacrifice, and hard work. I hope to be included in that line of strong, loving women someday.

Sue's Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

This is one of David's family favorites. His mom's homemade mac and cheese. I'll be honest, this is such a simple recipe (in fact, Sue doesn't even use a recipe - she just eyeballs it) - but for some reason I ruined this dish every time I made it for the first several times because I kept trying to skip steps or add other ingredients.  However, this last time I made it I kept it simple and... success! Delicious success. Follow the instructions and you will be in delicious, warm, comfort food heaven.

Sue's Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
Source: Sue Peaden

Ingredients: 
Macaroni (6 cups cooked)
1/2 cup butter.
Flour
3 cups milk
Salt and Pepper
Onion Salt
5 cups grated cheddar cheese

Directions:
Melt butter in a pan. Add enough flour to make a roux. The consistency should be smooth and starting to thicken. You don't want it to get clumpy. Whisk in the 3 cups of milk. Salt, pepper, and onion salt to taste. Once the mixture starts to heat up, add 3-4 cups of grated cheddar cheese until the mixture starts to turn a light orange-ish color. (We like a lot of cheese, i'm sure you could cut this down). Stir the cheese in until melted.

Place cooked macaroni in a baking dish. Pour the mixture over-top and combine. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy!

Hawaiian Haystacks

This is one of my favorite meals. In my opinion, it's best when you have LOTS of toppings to choose from and pile on. However, considering my sweet David's "I'll-just-have-it-with-a-little-bit-of-cheese-and-bacon-bits-on-top" attitude we usually just have it with a few options that we happen to have on hand. And you know what, it really is just as delicious.

Hawaiian Haystacks

Source: Wendy Rencher

The Sauce:

1-2 Chicken Breasts, cooked and chopped

2-3 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Chicken Broth 

Onion Salt 

Salt & Pepper

The Toppings :

Cheese

Celery

Peas
Pineapple
Chow Mein Noodles
Green Onions
Mushrooms

Olives

Avacado
Red Pepper

Pretty much anything else that you have on hand....

Directions:

Cook rice. (We make a ton of rice and use it for leftovers during the week.) Mix soup, broth, onion salt (just a few shakes), and salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken. Combine until heated through. Serve over rice with assorted toppings to choose from.  Yum yum yum!

Oh, and p.s. this can be made in the Crock Pot - and that is awesome. The end.

Homemade Picadillies

Picadillies are a Sanpete thing - I guess. I grew up eating them at school and during elementary school we even went on a field trip to the Picadilly factory somewhere in North Sanpete. (It was awesome, we learned all about how they were made and got to see them go through production from start to finish.) I especially have fond memories of eating them during the Scandinavian Festival and Manti Pageant along with my favorite Sanpete Turkey.  When I posted that recipe, I even made mention of how much I missed these delicious picadillies.

I've always struggled with finding a side for that meal because ... well... you can't buy picadillies at the store. I've tried to pair tater-tots with the meal, but it just isn't the same. You can imagine my delight when on facebook, one of my friends posted a picture of their homemade picadillies and I knew RIGHT THEN that I had to try them. It was a fairly complex recipe that included shredding the potatoes, adding flour and egg, then compressing them back together before cooking them in hot oil.

We were pleased, but it took for-ev-er! After a while, we thought about how much nicer it would be to just cut the potatoes into picadillies, maybe boil them or something to make them soft, and then frying them from there. We ended up adapting a french fry recipe and although it takes a different direction that the previous recipe we used, it's SO so so good. Crisp on the outside, soft in the middle - the perfect addition to some yummy Sanpete turkey.

And so, without further ado - I give you... Homemade Picadillies!

Picadillies
Source: Adapted from The Pioneer Woman's "Perfect French Fries" (also, a great resource that we found after the fact is - High Heels and Grills who seems to feel the same way about Picadillies as we do.)

Ingredients:

10 Russet potatoes
Vegetable oil
Salt

Directions:
Peel potatoes and slice into picadilly chips. These end up being about 1/2 inch thick, 1 inch wide, and 1 1/2 inches long. Potatoes aren't exactly square, so most of the chips will end up being a variation on this size - but the idea is to get some thick rectangular chips. 

Soak the potatoes in cold water for at least 30 minutes. You can soak them for longer 2-3 hours and it wont hurt anything. It is important to soak them because this helps remove the starch so that they turn out deliciously crispy on the outside. 

After the potatoes have soaked, blot them dry with a paper towel and prepare to cook them. The key to getting the perfect picadilly texture is to fry them in the oil, twice! The first time in the oil is to cook the center, the second time in the oil is to get the outside nice and crispy. Don't be tempted to skip this step and try to do it all in one go, it will be worth it - I promise. 

Heat a couple inches of oil in a heavy pot or pan to medium heat (about 300 degrees). In several batches, cook the potatoes for about 4-6 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. At this point you want the insides to be soft and well on their way to being cooked, but you don't want the outsides to be brown. Remove each batch and let them drain onto plates/paper towels. Turn your heat up to medium-high (about 400 degrees), and when the oil is hot you can start frying your bathes again, cookies the chips until they are golden and crisp. Again, remove from the oil and drain on paper towels. 

Sprinkle with salt and serve hot!

Note: Always be very careful when usinghot oil. Don't let the oil get too hot (it will burn and potentially flame up). Make sure that small children can not reach up and grab the pan with oil, keep it on a back burner and keep your eye on small children all the time. 

French Dip Sandwiches

This recipe is from the wonderful ladies at Our Best Bites. My sister-in-law, Wendy, first introduced us to this delicious dish and we were hooked! I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to shred the roast and how quickly it came together in the morning. I love when we find a new recipe that I can envision myself making it for my children someday. I'm sure they will love it as much as we do.

French Dip Sandwiches

1 2.5-3 lb. beef roast
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
2 packages dry onion soup mix
2 c. water
2 cans beef broth
6-8 large buns
Provolone cheese, sliced


Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and rub roast with salt and pepper.

When very hot, carefully place roast in pan and sear on all sides. You're not cooking the meat, you're just browning it quickly on all sides to add flavor and seal in the juices.

Place in crockpot and sprinkle with onion soup mixes. Pour water and beef broth over roast.

Cook 8-10 hours on low or cook 4-5 hours on high and another 3-4 hours on low. It's hard to screw this part up; basically, the longer it cooks, the more tender it will be. But you know it's done when you pop a fork in it and the meat just falls apart. When meat is ready, shred with a fork.

Place meat in crusty rolls. Top with cheese and broil open-faced in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes, until bread is golden and cheese is melty.

Ladle juices into small cups for dipping and enjoy!


***

FREEZER DIRECTIONS:

Prepare roast through the searing step; after meat has cooled, place in a plastic freezer-safe container (think Gladware), cover with onion soup mix and boullion, and freeze. When ready to cook, pop it straight into the crockpot (frozen), add 2 cups of water, and set to high until warm or, even better, simmering. Turn to low; cook for a total of 8-10 hours.

Sanpete Turkey (Chicken)

Yum, yum, yum. I can't tell you how much I love this delicious meal. It brings back the sound of thousands of people wandering around excitedly chatting with each other; the smell of grass, and dirt, and delicious food wafting around the crowded food booths. This recipe is somewhat of a local tradition. You can find it towards the end of May, as you spend the day walking through hundreds of booths at the Scandinavian Festival in Ephraim. Several weeks later, it can be found in one of the many booths near the Manti Temple grounds while people are enjoying the summer day waiting for the Mormon Miracle Pageant to start. Of course, it is always made with turkey from one of the several local turkey farms and served with piccadilly chips. It is just as delicious when made with chicken (and I love making some of my very own crisp and tender Picadillies)

(I just came across this backstory of Sanpete Turkey and I loved it: 750lbs of Barbecued Turkey.)

Sanpete Turkey

Ingredients:   
1 part oil
1 part soy sauce
2 parts Sprite or 7-Up
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp horseradish sauce (optional)
8-10 chicken tenders

Directions:
Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a medium sized airtight container. Place the chicken in the marinade and cover. Refrigerate overnight. (12 hours to get it really perfect, but at least 5 hours to let the juices soak.) Pull the meat out and grill it on your barbecue until cooked through.

Serve with picadillies, a salad and some fruit.

Update: If you don't believe me, check out The Friendly Kitchen, I just found that the amazing Camille Phillips (older sister of my best friends, Kayla and Tausha) posted her rendition of this Sanpete Turkey on her food blog. Also, another picadilly recipe from my Ephraim-friend Sarah at High Heels and Grills. Seriously SOO good.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Mmmm... I absolutely love these meatballs. My family used to make them when I was growing up - and I always looked forward to them. David doesn't love this meal, but he humors me when I start craving it and whip up a big batch. Mmmm.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Source: The Walker Family

Ingredients:
1 - 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
3/4 cups rolled oats
3 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Combine all ingredients; mix well. Form into about 12 balls*, each about 2 inches in diameter. Place in casserole dish. Cover with sauce (below). Add pineapple chunks Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Makes 4-5 servings, 2-3 meatballs each. Serve over rice.
*Meatballs can be made smaller for more.

Sauce: (In all honesty - I usually triple this. I really like things saucy.)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 can pineapple chunks (*optional. I don't usually add these because David doesn't like pineapple - but let me tell you - it is delicious if you do.)

Combine top five ingredients in a sauce pan. Heat until boiling, add pineapple (if desired) and pour over meatballs.

Hot Salad

This is another Peaden family favorite from David's youth. It is fairly healthy, very filling, and definitely delicious. It has all the components of a taco salad, while maintaining it's own unique style and flavor. The best part is that it is so easy to make. The only hard part is that it doesn't make very good leftovers (and we are definitely leftover-lovin' people.)

Hot Salad
Source: Sue Peaden

Ingredients:
1/4 lb ground hamburger
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Onion Salt and Garlic Salt (to taste) 
1 can chili con carne
1/2 cup salsa
Cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)
Tortilla Chips
Lettuce
Medium Mixing  Bowl

Directions:
Brown the ground beef in a skillet. When almost done, season with salt, pepper, onion salt, and garlic salt to taste. After ground beef is completely cooked through, add can of chili and 1/2 cup salsa. (Sometimes I add more salsa - it just depends on my mood.) Cook until heated through.

Wash and dry lettuce and place in the mixing bowl until it is about 2/3 the way full (it shrinks a lot before the meal is ready to serve). Crush up tortilla chips and mix with lettuce. How many tortilla chips is definitely personal preference - but we like a lot of chips. Grate cheddar cheese and add to chip/salad mixture.

Combine chip/salad/cheese mixture with meat/chili/salsa mixture and serve immediately. You could add toppings like olives, tomatoes, or sour cream - but we eat it like this and we love it.

(One things that we have tried recently is to make our own "hot salads" where you just mix the lettuce, chips, and cheese in a small bowl and then add on your topping. It works for us, where there are just two of us, and it makes for better leftovers. However, when you are feeding a lot of people - it's better to mix it all up before hand because then you don't run out of the meat mixture - it's all mixed up in the right ratios already. Thats just our two cents.)

*I would like to try this with corn in the meat/chili mixture. I think it would be yummy.

Enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

This is one of the first meals I ever remember eating at my in-laws house. It's definitely a family favorite. It says to use round steak, but I use pretty much whatever steak is on sale (price-matching at Walmart is the key to getting a good deal.) Fry the meat, throw everything in the crockpot and enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff
Source: Sue Peaden

Ingredients:
1 lb round steak (thin)
3-4 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 to 2/3 milk per can of soup
1/2 to 1 tub sour cream (to taste)
1 1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce
 Garlic Salt
Onion Salt
Salt
Pepper
Rice

Directions:
Combine cream of chicken soup, sour cream and Worcestershire sauce in large crock pot. (David combines it in a bowl, then transfers it to the crock pot.) Cut up steak into small pieces and brown in frying pan. Season with garlic salt, onion salt, salt and pepper to taste. Pour steak and all juices into crock pot with soup mixture. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. (Sometimes we add a little bit of milk to make it a little more saucy.)

1/2 hour before stroganoff is done, cook rice. (We make 8 servings and then use this stroganoff for leftovers for the rest of the week.) Serve immediately.

Oven Grilled Pizzas

These are a quick and easy dinner, so long as you have the supplies on hand and you remember to pull out the Rhodes rolls before leaving for work in the morning. I've also started making my own dough (saves on money as long as you have the time). You can make these pizza's on the grill outside, but we usually just make them in our oven. Delish!

Oven Grilled Pizza
Source: The Peaden Kitchen

Ingredients:
5 Rhodes Rolls
Pizza sauce (lets be realistic, we use the jar of spaghetti sauce that is always in our fridge from eating so much spaghetti.)
Pepperoni
Lots of Cheese (we buy a 5 pound brick of cheese at Sams Club for just about $10.00 - it's a great deal and then we don't feel like we have to skimp on our cheese.)
Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (See here for more details)

Pre-preparation directions:
Take rolls out of freezer before leaving for work in the morning. Place them on a plate covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator.

Preparation directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Take two rolls and mush them together then stretch them out to create a little personal pizza. We use five rolls total. Two pizzas for David and one and a half for me. (Today we had an extra roll due to me being really tired this morning when I pulled out the rolls, so I turned one into a breadstick and put it right in with the pizzas and it turned out great.)

One all of the pizzas have been stretched out, place them directly onto the oven rack. Let them bake for about five minutes or until the bottoms have turned golden brown. Take them out, flip them over and put the sauce and toppings on the browned side of the pizza. Then lay a piece of tin foil on the bottom rack and place the pizzas back into the oven directly onto the top rack (so that any drippings fall through onto the tin foil below.) Bake until cheese is melted and gooey.

Remove from oven carefully. Serve immediately with Hidden Valley Ranch and Dr. Pepper. (Don't judge us.)

Potato Supreme

This is David's very favorite meal. If you even compare it to another dish similar to it (i.e. funeral potatoes) he gets pretty grumpy. We have making it down to a two-part science. I love that we each have our own jobs and that we finish perfectly on time, every time. Try this out. It's warm, gooey, and delicious.

Potato Supreme
Source: Sue Peaden

Ingredients:
8-10 Medium Potatoes
1 Pint Sour Cream
2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can of milk
2 tablespoons onion flakes
2 cups of corn flakes
3-5 cups of cheese
2 Tablespoons butter

Directions:
Boil potatoes 45 minutes until soft. Let cool. Peel and grate potatoes and put in 9X13 pan. In a medium size bowl mix sour cream and cream of chicken soup. Mix in 1 can of milk and then add cheese. In small frying pan saute onion flakes until brown and add to soup mix. Mix the majority of the soup mix with the potatoes. Use remaining soup mix to put a very thin layer of sauce on top of potato and soup mixture. Put the corn flakes in a ziplock baggie and crush into smaller pieces. Melt the butter, add to the baggie and mix together. Sprinkle corn flakes on the top. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. This meal can also be saved in the fridge and cooked the next day at 350 for 1 hour.

Creamy Italian Chicken

This is a Peaden Family Favorite. Warm, creamy, tasty, and oh-so easy! This is the perfect Sunday dinner and we really love it. 

Creamy Italian Chicken
Source: Sue Peaden

Ingredients:

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 cans cream of chicken soup
1 pkg. dry italian dressing mix
1/4 c. water

1 pkg. cream cheese

1 c. milk (to consistency)

Directions:

Mix italian dressing with water. Place chicken in crock pot and cover with water/dressing mix. Cook on low for 3 hours. After those three hours are up, soften the cream cheese and mix with cream of chicken soup. Add milk to until you have reached a good consistency. (David and I like it a little thin - you don't have to add any milk if you don't want to.) Cook for one hour. Serve over rice.

Chicken Enchiladas {my favorite}

My mom made this for us all growing up. This is the recipe that I would always request for my birthday dinner. I love it. I can't think of a meal that is a better feel good - comfort food. Once, my little sister tried to ruin this creamy goodness by putting enchilada sauce on the top. Just the thought of it makes me squirm. Apparently, she said it was good - but I like the combination of the flavors and textures here.

Chicken Enchiladas
Source: Lori Walker

Ingredients:
1 large chicken breast
3 cans cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
1 - 8oz can chopped green chilies
1/2 onion, diced
3-5 cups cheddar cheese, grated
Flour Tortillas - about 12 depending on their fullness

Directions:
Boil chicken until done. Mix soups and sour cream and divide in half. To one half of the mixture: add chilies, onion, 1/2 of the cheese and all of the chicken. Roll chicken mixture in tortillas and place seam side down in baking pan that has been lightly sprayed with Pam. Cover with remainder of sauce and then grated cheese. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove tinfoil and bake for 15 additional minutes.

Nacho Soup

We got this recipe from and we absolutely LOVE it.  Seriously, this is a new family favorite. (Originally posted in 2011 - updated in 2025 with the name change of "Nacho Soup" which is what we call this soup. 

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Source: Howe to Cook

Ingredients:
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can chicken broth
1 jar Fiesta Nacho Cheese (Campbells)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 shredded chicken breast (I boil it for about 30 minutes)
1/4 packet taco seasoning
1/2 can diced chilies
1 can corn (drained)

Directions:
Put everything into a pot, stir together, bring to a boil, and serve with tortilla chips.