Crispy Chicken Tacos

When I was pregnant with my daughter I wanted to try this Kraft Chicken Fingers recipe. Halfway through preparing it, I knew my stomach could not handle chicken that night. I finished making the chicken so as not to waste it and threw it in the fridge. The next day I was craving chicken tacos bad. So I threw the previous night's chicken on a tortilla and viola! Delicious crispy chicken tacos!

Crispy Chicken Tacos

Ingredients:

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. Milk
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 package SHAKE 'N BAKE Extra Crispy coating mix
Cheddar cheese, grated
Shredded lettuce
Ranch dressing
Tortillas

Instructions:

1. Cut chicken breasts into strips. Cut pretty thin, because the thicker they are, the longer it takes to cook.
2. Mix mayo, milk, and pepper. Add chicken, stir to coat. Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Pour SHAKE 'N BAKE on a plate, cover chicken strips one at a time, place on a baking sheet. (Do NOT put SHAKE 'N BAKE and chicken in a bag and shake to coat! The milk and mayo will stick to the coating in the bag causing you to use more coating mix than you need to.)
4. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.
5. Warm tortillas in a skillet on Medium heat.
6. Top tortillas with chicken, cheese, lettuce and ranch.

Estimated calories: 514 calories per taco.
Suggested sides: fruit salad

Slow Cooker Honey-BBQ Chicken Wings

Who doesn't love chicken wings covered in BBQ sauce and dipped in Ranch? I combined two different Kraft recipes to make this delicious party meal.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/ashley-whitneys-honey-bbq-wings-177858.aspx
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/slow-cooker-party-wings-133304.aspx

Slow Cooker Honey-BBQ Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

3 lb. chicken wings*
1 1/2 cup Honey BBQ sauce
1 1/2 tsp Garlic Salt
Sprinkle of Chili Powder

Instructions:

1. Bake wings in the oven at 400° for 30 minutes.
2. Place cooked wings in slow cooker.
3. Mix sauce, garlic salt, and chili powder, cover over wings.
4. If your chicken wings look bare to your liking, dump some more sauce on! (I do every time.)
5. Cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or HIGH 2.5-3 hours.

*I like to get the "party wings" package because they are already dislocated, cut up, and ready to go. But if you get the full wings, you'll need to dislocate them and cut them up yourself. Here's how:

1. Where the wing tip bends, dislocate that joint and cut the wing tip off. THROW THE WING TIP AWAY! It's gross to eat, trust me.

2. Where the next part of the wing bends, dislocate that joint and cut it in half. Those two halves you want to keep, they are quite delicious once cooked and covered in sauce. :)

Estimated calories: 133 calories per wing
Suggested sides: green salad, pasta salad, potato salad

Carol's Chicken & Rice Casserole

Who doesn't love a hearty casserole? This is my grandma's recipe (her name is Carol if you can't tell by the title). It is a very large recipe as it fed 12 children (so when I make it I cut it into 1/4th of the amount). One of my friends calls it "potato chip casserole". It's warm, delicious, and comforting.

Carol's Chicken & Rice Casserole (a.k.a. Potato Chip Casserole)

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked rice
2 lbs. chicken, cooked and diced
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 can water
1 1/2 cups mayo
1 1/2 cups diced celery
6 boiled eggs, chopped
2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice (you can also use Lime Juice)
3/4 cup sliced almonds (I use slivered almonds)
1/2 tsp. pepper
Crushed potato chips.

Instructions:

1. Boil eggs in enough time for them to cool (I usually prepare the eggs the night before)
2.Boil chicken in water for about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook rice.
4. Combine all ingredients, except potato chips in 9x13 pan.*
5. Top with crushed potato chips.
6. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

*This recipe goes to the very top of a 9x13 pan, so if you don't want that much, cut it in half.

Estimated calories (based on cutting it in half): 489 calories per serving (1/8th of pan)
Suggested sides: Fruit Salad

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Taco Salad

I used to make this shredded BBQ chicken and would serve it with cheesy potatoes. Then one day my husband asked, "Can you make this chicken into a taco or something? Like Cafe Rio style?" Cafe Rio style? Oh yes baby, I can do that. So I came up with this gem:

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Taco Salad

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts (1 breast serves 2-3 people)
1 cup BBQ sauce per 2 chicken breasts
1 can Black Beans
1 can Corn
Shredded Mozzarella cheese (or Cheddar)
Avocados (about 1 per 2 people), diced
Ranch Dressing
Shredded lettuce
Tortillas

Instructions:

1. Place Chicken breasts in slow cooker, cover with BBQ sauce mixed with 2/3 cup of water.*
2. Cook on HIGH for 6 hours or LOW for 8 hours.
3. When done shred chicken, return it to the slow cooker and stir it among remaining sauce.
4. Warm up black beans and corn on the stove (in separate pans), dice avocados, warm tortillas in a skillet pan on medium heat.
5. Layer tortillas with chicken, beans, corn, cheese, lettuce, and avocado; drizzle with Ranch.

*Note: The BBQ sauce-water-chicken ratio will be dependent on the size of your slow cooker. It should almost cover  the chicken breasts. My slow cooker is an 8-qt and so I have to do at least 2 cups of BBQ sauce with 1 1/3 cup water.

Like this:

Estimated Calories: 600-700 per salad (It depends on how much of everything you put on)
Recommended sides: Fruit Salad