King Ranch Chicken

Are you a cheese fan like me? I mean come on, who can resist the ooey gooey yumminess melted on a burger, Panini, baked potato or the added flavor it adds to quiches, casseroles, and pasta?! Oh I could go on and on about this wonderful stuff called cheese. I love it all from the stinky kind to the liquid gold we know as Velveeta. Today I am using this "liquid gold" to make a crowd favorite (and freezer favorite), King Ranch Casserole.

Here are the ingredients that you will need

Before you start the casserole you will want to take your chicken breast and boil them in water til cooked through. I like to add half a diced onion, salt and pepper to my water.

Once your chicken has cooked through, shred it, add seasonings and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then take out your favorite sauce pan and melt 1 stick of butter.

Once butter has melted, add your diced bell pepper, garlic and onion. Sauté til soft and onions are translucent.

Next, you will add in your canned ingredients (cream of mushroom and chicken, Rotel, diced tomatoes, and half a can of green chilies.)  Stir to combine.

Then add in your "liquid gold" and cook til all has melted. You may need to add a little chicken stock to your mixture if you feel it is too thick.

Cut your tortillas into these cute little triangles. Why? Well because it's cute :)

Now it's time for the assembly. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Start with your cheese sauce first. Then add your chicken.Then your tortillas. Repeat til you have filled your casserole dish and you have ended with the ooey gooey deliciousness I like to call cheese...aka liquid gold...aka yumminess!

And just because I love cheese so much and it gives it that extra little pop. You will want to add some grated cheddar on top!! Yum!

Bake at 350 for 45 min or until it is bubbly hot. I hope you enjoy this crowd pleaser as much as my little crowd did!


King Ranch Casserole

4 chicken breast (boiled and shredded)
1 pkg. tortillas (cut into cute wedges)
1/2 med. onion - chopped
1/2 bell pepper - chopped
1 clove of garlic -minced
1/2 lb Velveeta - cubed
1 can Rotel
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 small can of green chilies
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of chicken
1 stick of butter
chicken stock


Preheat oven to 350. In saucepan, melt stick of butter. Once melted, add onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook til veggies are soft and onion is translucent. Add in cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, Rotel, diced tomatoes, and green chilies. Then add cubed Velveeta and cook til melted. Use chicken stock if you need to thin out the sauce a bit. Assemble casserole. Top with grated cheddar. Bake at 350 for 45 or until bubbly. If you want to freeze this meal you can stop before the baking process, cover with foil and freeze.

What's Cookin' in the Kitchen

Who doesn't love to eat?! What about Pinterest, are you obsessed as much as me?! I have been asked many times "how did you make that?," "can I get your recipe?," "what can I make with this?" Well I have decided to take this part of my blog and use it as my recipe box. I will be sharing family favorites, leftover makeovers, as well as trying out Pinterest meals to see if it's as good as it looks in the picture :) So join me on this journey of, What's Cookin' in the Kitchen!!


July 30th, 2014

Happy Birthday to my Daddy!!! In honor of his birthday I'm cooking up his favorite meal of lasagna. Lasagna is not only an easy meal to make but it freezes great too and that's just what I'm going to do with the ones I made today.

Here's what you will need:

Recipe:
1-2 lbs. ground meat
Fajita Seasoning
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1 42 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce
1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
 Lasagna noodles (cooked)
16 oz. bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet brown your meat, adding your chopped garlic and season with fajita seasoning, salt and pepper. Drain. Add your jar of spaghetti sauce, and turn to simmer. In a small bowl combine ricotta cheese, egg, basil, and oregano.

In a 13x9 baking dish, spread 3/4 cup of sauce. Next, place 3 to 4 noodles on top of sauce. Spread your ricotta mixture on top of noodles. Add sauce and then sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Repeat 2 more times. End with noodles on top and spread the rest of your sauce. Top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for 40-45 min. or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into it.

Make Ahead Directions: Prepare recipe as directed; DO NOT BAKE. Cover with plastic wrap, then foil. Refrigerate up to 48 hours or freeze up to 2 months. Remove plastic wrap; replace foil. Bake refrigerated at 350 for 45 min or frozen lasagna about 1 hour and 30 min, removing foil during the last 10 min.

Enjoy!!

I'm back to blogging!!

It's been a long time since my last post....um let's say 2 years! Wow!! So much has happened in those 2 years and I've decided that now is the time to start blogging again. I've changed things up a little. Not only do I have a passion for teaching, and scrapbooking when I can, but also for cooking! I love to cook! I also love to add millions and millions of food pins to my pinterest page (who doesn't) and let's be real, I hardly ever make what I pin. Well that's all about to change.

I've decided to start a page on my blog called What's Cookin' in the Kitchen. Here you will find family favorites, leftover makeovers, and yes, I'm going to make some of those fabulous recipes I've pinned and I'm going to let you know if it's a go or a big fat NO!! So join me on my journey of good eats and pinterest pleasures and Check out What's Cookin' in the Kitchen.

Fourth Of July

Happy 4th of July!! This 4th was shared with family and friends! We spent our morning in Abilene with family...

and our evening at home with friends.

Both Owen and Marlee thought the fireworks were a little too loud:)

We had a great 4th!!

Family Weekend

This 4th of July we made our first out of town trip as a family of four to Abilene. We stayed with Grandma, PawPaw, and Jessica. Owen got to share a bed with Jessica and wasn't too happy about it at first. He told me he didn't want to sleep with Jessica because she talked to much:) even though any time he has slept with her he is already passed out before she even comes in there!! Aunt Ashley and cousin Hudson showed up and Hudson and Graham got to meet for the first time. It was a lot of fun hanging out with family, eating good food, and shooting fireworks. We even had our very own photo shoot. Enjoy the pics of our sweet babies!!!

Looks like they are sharing secrets already:)

Uh Oh!! Brother snuck up on them!!:)

And yes, we did end up having to put Graham on a different formula. This time doc recommended we switch over to Gerber Goodstart. So let's pray this one works out!! He seems to be a lot more content after every bottle (no screaming), but it doesn't tied him over as long as the other so instead of going 6 hours at night we are going 3 1/2-5. I'll take it over screaming though!

 A happy baby makes a happy momma and a happy momma makes a happy family:)

One Month Old!!

I can not believe we have reached one month!! Since I'm a little behind on blogging, Graham turned 1 month old on June 29th. He weighs roughly 9lbs. and 14oz. and is on his 3rd kind of formula. We have been through the regular Enfamil, caused spit-up and gas. Then moved to gentlease and spit-up became worse. So we went to doctor and he recommended the AR Enfamil formula, which is for acid reflux. It definitely helped with the spit-up but he screams after every bottle!! Looks like a new kind may be in the future!

Yes daddy put his hair in a mohawk! I thought it looked pretty cute:)

Big Brother had to wear is number 1 shirt too:)

Cousin Time

It has been a few weeks since my last blog and we have had alot go on since then. 3 weeks ago Aunt Carolyn, cousin Jaxson, and Madyson came to visit and see Graham for the first time. Owen and Jaxson had a blast playing together. They played with cars, watched movies, and swam in Owen's pool. It was so much fun!!! We can't wait to see them again!