Southwest Chicken Sandwich

My Sister told me about this sandwich. She ordered something similar at a restaurant and told me how wonderful it was! I LOVE everything in this sandwich!! She told me it was called the Southwest Chicken Sandwich at the restaurant and since I thought the Green chili, Cream cheese, Pepper Jack cheese, Chicken sandwich would be way too long of a name....I decided to just call it the Southwest Chicken Sandwich also. This sandwich is simple and SO yummy!! I bought my roasted whole green chilies in the produce section of my local grocery store, but you can always roast your own green chilies, it's pretty easy...maybe there will be a post to come about roasting peppers. Let me know if any of you would like one.

Southwest Chicken Sandwich

Ingredients:

• Boneless, skinless Chicken Breast (pounded to desired thickness)
• Roasted Green Chili
• Cream Cheese, sliced
• Pepper Jack Cheese, sliced
• Buns (I used homemade)

Directions: Season chicken(I used Lawry's seasoning salt and seasoning pepper). Grill chicken until almost cooked through. Place green chili on top of chicken(while still on the grill), then cream cheese, and last pepper jack cheese. Cover and continue to cook until chicken is cooked through and cheese is melting. Place chicken on bun(I like to butter and toast my bun) then top with whatever fixings you like(I just topped mine with lettuce this time and spinach last time I made these.

This sandwich is SO good!! I wish the picture did it justice!!

Simple Fruit Dip

I got this recipe from my Sister. It is simple and YUMMY!!

Simple Fruit Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 sm. jar marshmallow cream
• 1 sm. carton yogurt, any flavor (I use Yoplait Lemon Burst)

Directions: Beat ingredients together until creamy.

Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

It's been a LONG time since I have been on here. I adapted this recipe for cream cheese enchiladas from the blog, Our Family Treat(Check out their blog! LOTS of yummy looking recipes!). These enchiladas are delicious!! I have another YUMMY recipe using chicken, cream cheese and green chilis to share with you soon.

Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken Breasts-shredded
• 1 8 oz block Cream Cheese
• 1 28 oz can Green Enchilada Sauce (I like La Victoria, but if any of you have a good homemade green sauce recipe....PLEASE share:))
• 1 can Black Beans-rinsed and drained
• 2 cups cooked Rice-with juice from one lime and the lime zest. Also add ~1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro. (I add the lime zest to the rice while cooking and then add the lime juice and cilantro after the rice has cooked.)
• 6-8 Tortillas
• 1-2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese.
  

Directions: Mix the chicken, cream cheese and ~2 cups of the enchilada sauce together and set aside. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray, pour ~1/2 cup enchilada sauce into the bottom of the pan. Layer about 1/4 cup of rice, then black beans (as much as you would like) and then about 1/4-1/2 cup of chicken mixture on each tortilla. Wrap up the tortilla lay seam side down on 9 x 13 baking sheet. Continue until mixture is gone. Top with 1 cup enchilada sauce and 1-2 cups of Monterrey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese. Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes covered. Then uncover for about 5 minutes to brown cheese.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I haven't had banana cake since the occasional office party when we lived in Oregon. I love it and was SO happy when I saw it at Gourmified. I didn't get a good picture of mine. You should go check out Lisa's picture of her cake here(seriously SO pretty!). If you have some bananas that are past their prime and turning black...try this recipe.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 2/3 c. sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp. soda
• 2/3 c. butter, at room temperature
• 4 mashed bananas, large
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 c. buttermilk or plain yogurt
• 2/3 c. chopped nuts (optional)
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together: flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and soda. Then add: butter, and bananas. Beat thoroughly, then add: eggs, buttermilk, chopped nuts and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Pour into a greased & floured 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. When cooled, top with Cream Cheese frosting. Recipe below.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 8oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 c. powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 c. butter

Directions: Combine all ingredients until smooth.

Hot Chocolate Cake

I cut this recipe from a Real Simple magazine years ago...2005. I found it in a file the other day and couldn't wait to try it. The original recipe shows this baked in a mug. I bought some mugs, but didn't know for sure if they were oven safe or not....so I made it in my 10-inch springform pan. This cake is rich and super yummy. I am definitely going to find some oven safe mugs or ramekins to make this in next time. The cake was messy and hard to dish out, so the individual servings would be great!! I will definitely be making this again!

Messy to dish up, but SO yummy!!

Hot Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 8 T unsalted butter, plus extra for coating
• 3 T all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 10 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 4 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 cup mini marshmallows
• 2 T unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter, flour and sugar eight 6-ounce coffee cups or mugs made of ovenproof stoneware. Wipe the rims clean. Place the 8 T of butter and the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and melt, stirring once or twice until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes. Using a handheld mixer(I just used my kitchen-aid), beat the eggs, yolk, vanilla, salt and 1/2 cup sugar at the highest speed until the volume doubles and mixture becomes foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir the 3 T flour into the chocolate, then gradually add it to the egg mixture, beating on low until it's fully incorporated. Ladle the batter into each cup until it's about 1/2 inch from the rim. Bake until the cakes puff and begin to crack but the centers are still a bit runny, 13 to 17 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with marshmallows, then return to oven for 2-4 minutes, until the marshmallow tops begin to crisp. Remove from oven; let cool about 5 minutes. Sift the cocoa on top.

To make a cake instead....butter, flour and sugar a 10-inch springform pan. Pour batter into pan and bake for 22-25 minutes or, if you prefer a more gooey center, bake for 17-20 minutes. Remove from oven, cover with marshmallows and bake for another 2-4 minutes.

Cafe Rio Chicken

When I go to Cafe Rio (which isn't very often, unfortunately) I always get the sweet pork. SO...I'm not sure if this tastes like Cafe Rio's Chicken, but I can tell you it tastes WONDERFUL!! Of course this chicken is great for tacos, quesadillas, burritos, salads and more. My mom gave me this recipe along with the recipe I have the the Cafe Rio Sweet Pork, Cafe Rio Black Beans(oops...thought I had posted this recipe before but can't find it. Guess I'll have to make them and post them soon along with the recipe for the Cafe Rio Rice) and my neighbor gave me the recipe for the Cafe Rio Creamy Dressing. Click on the links if you would like the other recipes.

Cafe Rio Chicken

Ingredients:

• 5 lbs chicken breast
• 1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 T cumin
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Directions: Cook all ingredients together in a crock pot for 4 hours(I cooked mine on high and it was done in just under 4 hours). Shred meat and cook 1 additional hour on low.

Heavenly Brownies

My family wanted brownies the other night. I was going to make applesauce brownies, but my oldest son requested Mississippi Mud Cake. I didn't have any marshmallows but I did have some marshmallow creme and then I found this recipe at cooks.com. I can't seem to find this exact recipe on their site this morning, but luckily I had printed it out. Try these brownies they are YUMMY!! I'm sure I could have gotten a prettier picture if I would have had the patience to wait until they were cool to cut into them...:)

Heavenly Brownies

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks butter (1 c.)
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 c. nuts (optional)
• 3 T cocoa
• 4 eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 jar marshmallow creme (sm jar)

Directions: Melt together butter and cocoa. Beat eggs and sugar together, and add cocoa mixture alternately with flour. Add nuts and vanilla. Bake in 9 x 13-inch pan at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Spread top with marshmallow creme as soon as it is removed from oven. Let cool and frost with the following.

FROSTING: Melt together 1/2 stick butter and 1 heaping T cocoa. Add 1/2 box Powdered sugar. Beat with 1 T milk. Spread on brownies.

**note...I used salted butter, if you use unsalted butter I would add a little salt to the brownie mix and the frosting. To make the marshmallow creme a little easier to spread, you could melt it a little by placing the jar into a bowl of hot water. I didn't have a box of powdered sugar, I just added until it was the consistency that I wanted.