Tag: family favorite

Recipes

Chicken Enchiladas

Alasen Zarndt

These chicken enchiladas are probably the all-time favorite in our house. They even win out over my healthy chicken tacos. They are relatively easy to make, but hand rolling the enchiladas is a little time consuming. Because of that, I will often make a very large batch of these on the weekend and freeze 2 or 3 sets for easy weeknight dinners down the road.

The key to great enchiladas is using good quality corn tortillas AND being able to roll them tightly without the tortilla ripping. Many recipes use flour tortillas instead because they are easier to roll. However, if you heat the corn tortilla correctly, it rolls just as easily as the flour ones and tastes SO MUCH BETTER.

Ingredients:

  • 2 C of shredded chicken
  • 1 8 oz can of green chiles
  • 2 TBSP avocado oil
  • 2 TBSP chicken taco seasoning
  • 1-2 TBSP lime juice
  • 12 sprouted corn tortillas
  • 2 C shredded cheese
  • 24 oz of red enchilada sauce (it’s ok to buy a can that you like, or you can make your own)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. In a large skillet, heat the avocado oil. Add the shredded chicken and the green chiles to the pan and mix until heated through. Add in the taco seasoning and lime juice and mix again until everything is evenly coated. Add in half of the enchilada sauce. Allow the mixture to simmer until most of the liquid is reduced. Remove from the heat.

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Take a small pan (egg pan, non-stick works great) and heat it to about 350F on the stove top (Medium to Medium Low heat). Place one corn tortilla in the pan and sprinkle it with a little cheese. When the cheese starts to melt, add 2-3 tbsp of the chicken mixture in a line across the tortilla. Slide the tortilla onto a plate and roll it up. Place the rolled tortilla into an oven safe dish with the seam side down. Repeat this for the remainder of the tortillas.

When all 12 tortillas are rolled, pour the enchilada sauce over the top of each tortilla. sprinkle the tops of the enchiladas with cheese. Bake them at 350F uncovered for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

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Recipes

White Bean Chicken Chili

Alasen Zarndt

Chili is always a favorite in our house, especially in the winter. I love it because it’s simple to make and I can hide extra veggies in it for the kids. The kids and hubby love it because it’s delicious. This is a twist on a traditional chili recipe that is mild but flavorful. It’s also relatively easy to make in a double or triple batch. If you do this, you can freeze a portion so that you’ll have an “instant” home cooked meal on a hectic weeknight down the road.

The recipe below makes a mild chili (not spicy at all). If you want more kick and flavor, you can double the amount of spices and add another can of green chilis to the pot. My husband and I prefer the recipe with the spices and chilis doubled, but the girls like the mild version better. Either way, I hope you love this one as much as we do!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 white or yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 parsnips, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 2 15oz cans of white beans, drained and rinsed (we like one can of white kidney beans and one of great northern beans)
  • 1 4oz can of roasted green chilis*
  • 1 1/2 cups of shredded chicken
  • 1 cup of frozen corn
  • 1 1/2 – 2 cups of chicken bone broth (if you like a thicker chili, use 1 1/2 cups. You can use chicken stock if you don’t have bone broth available)
  • 3 TBSP of lime juice
  • 3 TBSP olive oil
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp cumin*
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper*
  • 1/2 tsp salt*
  • 1/2 tsp paprika*

*double these ingredients if you like your chili flavor to be stronger

Instructions

Add the olive oil, garlic, spices, and chopped onion to a large pot and place over HIGH heat. Cover the pot for 1 to 2 minutes and then stir the onion and spice mixture frequently, until the onions are soft and well coated.

Add the shredded chicken to the mixture and continue to sauté with the onions until the chicken is coated with the spice mixture (about 2 minutes). Next, add the broth, the green chilis, and the parsnips to the pot. Reduce the heat to a MEDIUM level, cover and allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes.

Finally, add the lime juice and the remaining ingredients to the pot. Stir the mixture until evenly mixed. Cover the pot until the chili is boiling, then reduce the heat to LOW. Stir the chili and scrape the bottom of the pot with the spoon to make sure no portions of the chili are stuck to the bottom. Recover the pot and allow the chili to simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

That’s it! This chili can continue to simmer on the stove top on LOW heat for up to an hour, as long as you stir it occasionally.


You can serve this alone, with some shredded cheese or a dollop of sour cream, or over rice or baked potatoes. It is also great if you garnish it with a bit of chopped cilantro. How do you love to eat this?

Recipes

World’s Easiest Chicken Pot Pie

Alasen Zarndt

When I was growing up, Chicken Pot Pie was one of my favorite dinners in the winter time. I loved the creamy warmth and the flakey crust. We always ate the store bought/frozen pies though, so I never learned how to cook them. Once I realized that gluten was off limits for me, Chicken Pot Pies became a thing of the past. Until now…

This is the world’s easiest to make pot pie. It is absolutely delicious, but also much much healthier than the traditional pot pie recipes and infinitely healthier than what you can buy in the store. The secret here is that it is loaded with veggies and it uses almond milk to add the staple creaminess. It can also be prepared in about 15 minutes since we use quality frozen veggies in this recipe (no chopping required) and pre-prepared shredded chicken.

This recipe makes a double batch of filling. You can use half the filling for the pie you are making today and you can freeze the other half for an even easier home-cooked meal down the road.


Ingredients

  • 4 cups of shredded chicken (precooked – you can also use leftover rotisserie chicken if you have that on hand)
  • 2 bags of Trader Joe’s Vegetable Melange
  • 1 bag frozen pearl onions
  • 1 bag frozen organic corn (you can switch this for peas if you prefer)
  • 1/4 cup all purpose gluten-free flour (you can use regular flour if you don’t need gluten free)
  • 2-3 cups Unsweetened Plain Almond Milk
  • Pepper to taste (we use about a tablespoon in this recipe)
  • One pie crust top (you can buy one or make one with this simple recipe)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425F.

In a large pot, place both bags of the vegetable melange, the pearl onions, and the frozen corn. Heat the veggies over medium heat until they are warmed through.

Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir until they are well coated. Slowly add in the almond milk and mix the veggies with the milk. Continue to stir the mixture as the milk thickens into a creamy sauce (you can add in more milk if you would like it to be saucier/creamier).

Once the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat and add in the shredded chicken and the pepper. Stir until all ingredients are evenly mixed.

Place half the mixture into a ceramic pie dish. Roll out the pie crust and place over the dish. Trim the crust (if needed) so that about 1/2″ of the crust overhangs the dish. Press the crust down on the sides of the dish and cut 3 slits in the top. Bake the pie in the oven until the crust is golden brown (about 20 minutes). Let the pie rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Save the remaining mixture in a freezer-safe container or ziplock bag for an easy dinner later on.