Cafe Rio Style Chicken Salad

I have a new favorite meal!!!!!! This one takes the cake, it was sooooo good!!! Let me teach you how to make this knock-off Cafe Rio Chicken Salad, so you can enjoy it too!!

Cilantro Lime Rice
2 cups uncooked white rice
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 cups water
1/4 cup lime juice
1 Tbsp dried cilantro
Salt to taste

In a large pot on the stove top, heat the oil and slightly fry the rice in it. Then pour in the water and other ingredients. Cover and let it boil until the water is all absorbed and the rice is tender (add more water if necessary). Stir well and remove from heat.

This is the bottom layer of your salad.

The next layer is a can of Seasoned Black Beans. Drain it and heat it in a small pot on the stove.

Now for the chicken. I got the recipe from Mandy's Recipe Box, and I wouldn't change a thing. It was perfect!

Cafe Rio Chicken
2 lbs chicken breasts
1 cup zesty Italian dressing
1 packet ranch dressing mix (mixed with 1/2 cup water)
1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
1/2 Tbsp chili powder

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on High 5-6 hours. Shred with fork.

Top the salad with romaine lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing. Voila!! A delicious homemade meal, healthier and less expensive than eating out at Cafe Rio/Costa Vida (which might I add are my very FAVORITE restaurants). Try it. Love it. Yum!!!

Cafe Rio Style Chicken Salad
Cilantro Lime rice
Seasoned Black beans
Cafe Rio style chicken
Romaine lettuce
Shredded cheddar cheese
Ranch dressing

Layer it, in that order. Try adding a tortilla, tortilla chips, salsa, avocado, whatever you want! Enjoy!!! :) :)

Crash Hot Potatoes

Tonight I tried the recipe from The Pioneer Woman for Crash Hot Potatoes. It was a hit! We ate it with some delicious grilled steak, watched some football... it was a great Saturday. God bless America :)

Crash Hot Potatoes
Boil potatoes till fork tender (about 20 minutes)
Drizzle olive oil generously on a baking sheet
Smash potatoes individually on the baking sheet (I used the bottom of a big cup to smash them, it worked great)
Drizzle more olive oil on each potato
Season generously (I used salt, pepper, chives, parsley, and seasoning salt)
Bake at 450 for about 25 minutes

They were crispy and delicious!! We loved them!! I definitely have a new go-to potato dish. While it took a little time, it wasn't hard at all, and it would be easy to make a whole bunch. I can't wait to make it again!!

Spicy Crock Pot Mac and Cheese

Here's tonight's dinner! Delicioso!!

Spicy Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
1 lb elbow macaroni
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the macaroni according to package instructions, then drain. Dump in the crock pot with all other ingredients. Season generously with salt and pepper, and stir. Cook on low for about an hour, then set to "warm" until you're ready to eat it (if you don't wanna use the crock pot, cook it all in a pan in the oven for about half hour at 350). Super easy, fun twist on the regular American dish! Sure to please the whole fam.

**Optional: If you're in the mood for something meatier, throw in some ground beef! Yum! :)

Chicken Bacon Florentine Pasta

I used the recipe from 5 dollar dinners. Here is my slightly adapted version. It was OH so delicious :)

Chicken Bacon Florentine Pasta
1 box penne pasta
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
5 strips of bacon, cut and cooked
10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1/4 C Olive oil
Dried Oregano, to taste
Dried Thyme, to taste
Dried basil, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook and drain the pasta, then toss in all other ingredients. Serve warm. It was so delicious!

Crock Pot Cheeseburger Rice

Crock Pot Cheeseburger Rice
1 1/2 C uncooked rice
3 C water
1 lb ground beef, cooked
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1/2 C onion, diced
2 C cheddar cheese

Montreal steak seasoning, to taste
Cook the rice and water in the crock pot, about 1.5 hours on High. Stir in all other ingredients and let it sit on "warm" until you are ready to eat it. Yummm :)

Best Crock Pot Mexican Casserole ever!

This easy recipe will make you feel so good about yourself. Everyone who eats it will call you the best cook of all time!

Okay so it's possible I'm exaggerating a tiny bit, but seriously, this stuff is GOOD. And I'm super proud of it. :) The meat adds a lot, but for a quicker version (or a vegetarian version) you can leave it out and still have a delicious, high-protein meal!

Crock Pot Mexican Casserole
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 packet taco seasoning
1 Tbsp minced onion
1 cup salsa (your favorite kind)
8 oz sour cream
8 oz shredded cheese (any kind)
1 lb cooked ground beef OR cooked shredded chicken (optional)

Stick rice in the crock pot, set to "high," with 3 cups water. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours.

Set crock pot to "warm." Dump all other ingredients into crock pot. Mix, and let it all warm up together for a couple hours. Serves well with tortilla chips!

Seriously guys, it's so easy. And SO. YUMMY. Enjoy!

St Patrick's Day Dinner!

We officially have a new St Patrick's Day Dinner tradition!  Everything we made was soooo good!  I wanted to do something along the lines of "green eggs and ham," so I searched some egg casseroles and came across this "Egg and Spinach Casserole" from allrecipes.com, and it was perfect!  Because the spinach made it green!  And it was sooooo good.  Here's the recipe I used:

6 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 (16 oz) package small curd cottage cheese
1 (16 oz) package shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup butter, melted
salt and pepper to taste

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl with the onion and flour until the flour is no longer lumpy, then stir in all the other ingredients.  Cook at 350 for about 45 minutes, in a 9x13 pan (don't forget to spray it with Pam!)

Here's a picture- seriously, it's so good!

Then, I made shamrock pancakes!  I just used a mix that you add water to, but I added green food coloring!!  Then I heated up the frying pan and sprayed it, and just kinda moved the mix around to make shamrocks!  So cute!  And tasty :)

Then we had green Kool Aid, and green cookie bark for dessert!  I had seen this "Oreo Cookie Bark" on Pinterest last week, and it gave me an idea for St Patrick's Day, to just add green food coloring!!  I bet you could also use green mint oreos and give it a minty flavor, but I just used this recipe and it was sooooooo unbelievably delicious!!

11 oz Ghirardelli white chocolate chips
16 regular size Oreos

It said to melt the chocolate in a double boiler, but I don't have one, so I just boiled a small pot of water and put the chocolate chips in a glass bowl over it.  The steam does the trick so you don't burn the chocolate, and it works just as well!  So get the chocolate all the way melted into a creamy deliciousness- then put in the food coloring :)  Mash up the oreos, we used a freezer bag and just smashed them.  Then mix the oreos into the melted chocolate, and pour the mixture into a small (8x8 or 8x10) baking dish that is covered in wax paper.

Let the chocolate harden, we put it in the fridge for like 15 minutes.  Then lift it all off with the wax paper, and break it apart!  It was amazing and super easy and festive!

Happy St Patrick's Day!!