Velveeta Cheesy Chicken Skillet

What's not to love about mac n cheese, yummy vegetables, and chicken all mixed up? I chose this recipe because it used Velveeta Shells & Cheese which is my favorite boxed dinner EVER. It was very good and we will be making it again. Next time, I may steam the veggies a bit before adding them though because I prefer them a bit more tender than they turned out.

Velveeta Cheesy Chicken Skillet

Source: Kraft Foods

Ingredients:

1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bit sized pieces

1 package (12oz) Velveeta Shells & Cheese

1c milk

1c water

1c broccoli florets (I used frozen but thawed them before adding)

1c sliced carrots

Directions:

Cook chicken in large skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat for 5 minutes, or until cooked through.

Add shells, milk and water, stir. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add broccoli and carrots, stir. Cook, covered for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in Velveeta sauce.

Easy Ramen Noodle Bowl

This tasted just like my dad's fabulous stir fry, just with added noodles! I LOVED it!

Easy Ramen Noodle Bowl

Source: Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

2tsp vegetable oil

1lb boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into thin strips

2c water

1 package Oriental flavor ramen noodle soup mix

1 package (1lb/4c) fresh stir fry vegetables

1/4c stir-fry sauce

Directions:

Spray large skillet with nonstick spray, heat oil over medium heat. Add beef, cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown. Remove beef.

In same skillet, heat water to boiling. Break block of noodles from soup mix into water, stir until slightly softened. Stir in vegetables. Heat to boiling. Boil 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender crisp.

Stir in seasoning packet from soup mix, the stir-fry sauce, and beef. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until hot.

One Pan Taco Dinner

Another quick and easy dinner. This one is a keeper for sure! It's got all the great things about a taco, plus the extra base of rice. This was just delicious and will also make great leftovers for lunch.

One Pan Taco Dinner

Source: Kraft Foods

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef

1 package taco seasoning mix

2c water

2c instant white rice, uncooked

1c shredded cheddar cheese

2c shredded lettuce

1 large tomato, chopped (I omitted)

Directions:

Brown meat in skillet. Drain.

Add seasoning mix and water, stir. Bring to boil.

Stir in rice. Sprinkle with cheese and cover. Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. Top with your choice taco toppings. We used crushed up taco shells, sour cream, lettuce, salsa, and extra cheese.

Homemade Pizza

Yum! This was really good and is such a versatile dish made up of things we almost always have on hand. I think we will be making more homemade pizzas in the future. Next time, I am going to play with some spices and/or cheeses in the crust to give it a little something more. The recipe I used for the crust can be found here.

Homemade Pizza
Source: Betty Crocker
Ingredients:

For the crust:
1 1/3c flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1/2c milk
2tbs olive oil

For the sauce:
6oz tomato paste
8oz tomato sauce (more or less depending on how much sauce you like)
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
Italian seasoning to taste

1 1/2c shredded cheese of your choice (we used and Italian blend)
Toppings (We used sausage crumbles on my husband's side and a bell pepper, onion, and tomato on my side)

Directions:
Heat oven to 400.

In medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in milk and olive oil until a soft dough forms. On lightly floured surface, knead dough ten time. Shape into a ball and cover with bowl for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine sauce ingredients. Set aside.

Place dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly and roll out to a 12in circle. Bake 8 minutes.

Spread sauce over crust, top with your choice of topping and cheese. Bake and additional 15 to 20 minutes until crust is light golden brown and cheese begins to brown.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Taco Soup

This soup is amazing and so simple. Matt and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We had so much left over that we sent some home with Matt's brother for him and his wife and we still have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

To keep it easy to assemble before work, I browned the ground beef and chopped the onion the night before. I put those two ingredients in the crock pot dish, covered it, and stuck it in the fridge until morning. Then when morning came all I had to do was dump all the canned items in a stir.

Ingredients:

3/4 to 1 pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 (16 oz.) can chili beans, undrained

1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, undrained

1 (15 oz.) can whole kernel corn, undrained

2 (15 oz.) cans tomato sauce*

1 (4 oz.) can diced green chile peppers

1 packet taco seasoning

Sour Cream

Taco Shells/Frito Chips

Shredded Taco Cheese

*If you like tomato chunks you can substitute 1 (8oz.) can tomato sauce plus 2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes

In a medium skillet, cook the ground beef until browned over medium heat. Drain.

Place ground beef, onion, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce, green chile peppers, and taco seasoning in slow cooker. Stir to blend and cook on Low for 8 hours.

Serve topped with a dollop of sour cream, taco cheese, and crumbled up taco shells.

Adapted from: Slow Cooker Taco Soup at allrecipes.com

Recipe: Campbell's Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Ingredient:
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 1/3 cups water
3/4 cups uncooked regular long-grain white rice
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (I use broccoli)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375*
Stir soup, water, rice, onion powder, black pepper, and veggies in an 11x8in baking dish.
Top with chicken. Season as desired. Cover with foil.
Bake for 50 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the rise is tender. Top with cheese.
Let stand 10 minutes.
Stir rice before serving.

Recipe: Mexican Chicken Skillet

Ingredients:
2 or 3 chicken breast halves, thawed
2 or 3 tbs vegetable/canola/ oil
small bag frozen sweet corn
one 15oz can black beans drained and rinsed
one jar salsa OR on can 14.5oz petite diced tomatoes
one 4oz can red of green chilies, diced (optional but yummy!)
chili powder to taste (I used one or two tablespoons)
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat
Cook chicken breasts covered, about 4 minutes each side until no longer pink in the middle
Add remaining ingredients, cover and bring to boil stirring occasionally
Lower heat and cook until corn it hot (about 15 or 20 minutes give or take)

Serve with corn bread muffins and a dollop of sour cream if you so desire.

This makes an excellent leftover for take to work lunches!