Tex-Mex Chicken and Tortilla Stack

Good Monday midday! :D I've been busy this weekend, and not in the mood to really blog today, but here I am anyway! :D

Dad was gone last week, but Kenn also had a really bad infection in his tooth. So I wasn't sure I was going to get to make this - but I did. On Tuesday night, I tried this Tex-Mex Chicken and Tortilla Stack from Recipe.com.

First of all, I will admit: I took the METHOD of this recipe more than the recipe itself. Every place I looked for jicama, it was sold out. So we didn't have jicama in ours.

And I don't like precooked chicken, unless it's in a can (and I still don't LOVE it, then!); it almost always gives me heartburn, and I don't care for the chemicals they use. So, I used two boneless, skinless chicken breasts and poached them in water with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried minced onion. When they were done, I shredded the chicken and let it cool.

I wasn't sure I was going to like this recipe; it's served cold, and I tend to like COOKED Mexican food. :D You know, HOT and a little spicy. :D But we really did like it! It got a YES, PLEASE! from both of us! And of course, I personalized it. :D

For instance, I made our guacamole. Doing it myself saved at least a dollar - and it's not a CHEAP recipe, although it's not too bad. Part of the cost for US, though, is that I need to use low-carb tortillas. To cut down on the whopping cost of my favorite white flour LC tortillas, I alternated them with whole wheat ones. (I tend to not like those at all because of texture and flavor. It's a personal thing! :D) I would say this, by itself, serves 4 - it makes 8 pieces, if you cut it like a cake. :D but we didn't have anything WITH it.

I also didn't put red peppers in it - again, they don't like me. I also added cilantro to the cheese layers - did you know it's one of the top 5 nutrient-dense foods on the planet?!? - because Kenn LOVES it, and I like it. My mom says its flavor is too "loud" - it overpowers everything else. :D

I used fat free regular refried beans. Kenn doesn't tend to like things too spicy, so no jalapeno, either. And his system is sometimes intolerant of the colors they use in cheeses, so I used Velveeta queso blanco shredded cheese. I also added tomato to the top!

I guess what I'm trying to express is this: don't be afraid to play! :D I wouldn't have tried a "stack" if I hadn't found this recipe. I'd have loved to have had the jicama for the recipe, but oh, well. :D I know what we like, and if I can get things that are good for us into a recipe, I'm gonna! :D

OK, I'm outta here. LOTS to do! :D Have a WONDERFUL day! Be BLESSED!!!!

Copycat: Cafe Rio's Chicken Tortilla Soup

It's FRIDAY! :) Are you ready for some weekend?!?!? :)

Today's recipe is for a copycat of a place I've never heard of, Cafe Rio. If you have one near you, what do you think of their food? Anyway. :D The website that brings you this recipe is the same as Wednesday's, Favorite Family Recipes - because that pico de gallo I reviewed Wednesday is in this soup!

This is one of the meals I made while my parents were visiting my sister. I don't think they'd like it much, but I may be wrong. Maybe it's just Dad who wouldn't like it. :D Because we did! It gets a YES, PLEASE! - except the leftovers, not so much.

This is an assembled soup, which made it nice because I could do prep work the day before - like making the pico, baking the chicken and freezing what I didn't want to use for another meal. And it's a healthy soup - lots of fresh vegetables, not too high in sodium, chicken.... It's pretty, too! :)

When I reheated the chicken to put into the soup bowls, I ladled in some broth - with all the spices, etc., in the broth, it gave the seasoning to the chicken I wanted. I added a little cumin to the chicken, too, but couldn't find any cayenne pepper in the grocery the day I went. That was the strangest thing...! And I didn't use any taco seasoning; Kenn doesn't like it, and I didn't want to buy a package that we weren't going to use all of it, anyway. :)

The tortilla strips absolutely made this soup. Well, for ME, anyway. :D I've never made them fresh before, and oooooooh, were they good just out of the oil and salted. :D I stored them in a paper bag, so it would absorb the extra oil and they would stay crispy.

This will probably be a soup I make when we have people over on the beach; I can get almost everything ready the day before, and keep the broth and beans in a crock pot while we're doing things on the beach. :) It's Kenn's idea of what food should be: fresh and flavorful.

And I'll make extra tortilla strips next time. ;)

OK, I'm outta here. Have a WONDERFUL day! Enjoy your weekend - and let me know if you try anything new!!