Category: Main Dishes

You just can’t beat a main dish that has three ingredients and takes around 5 minutes to prep.


Ingredients:
chicken tenders 1 1/2 cups cornmeal 1 envelope ranch dressing mix Begin by mixing the cornmeal and ranch dressing mix in a small bowl.


Coat each chicken tender with the cornmeal mixture.


Spray 9 x 13 inch baking dish with non-stick spray, and place chicken in dish.


If you have some cornmeal mixture left over, sprinkle it over the top of the chicken.  Lightly spray with cooking spray.


Cover and bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until chicken is done.


My kids love this chicken, especially when I serve it with mashed potatoes.  It’s got a little texture, great flavor, and the chicken is always tender.

Enjoy!

Hopeful Homemaker

This recipe is one of the all-time easiest I’ve made.  It’s also inexpensive, fast, meatless and people really like it.  Oh, and it only requires one pan (easy cleanup!).  It’s one of those recipes that prompt people to tell me, years after sharing it, how often their family eats it.


Ingredients:
1 box spanish rice mix 2 tsp. butter or margarine 2 cups water 1 cup salsa 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained 1 can corn, drained flour tortillas cheese and sour cream for garnish Here we go.  Begin by browning the rice in butter.


Add the diced tomatoes, undrained, as well as the salsa.


Pour in two cups water.


Stir together.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until rice is tender.  Then add the kidney beans, corn and the seasoning packet from the rice mix.


Stir together and cook another 2 minutes or so, just to heat the beans and corn.


Remove from heat.  Spoon onto warm flour tortillas and top with cheese, sour cream, or whatever you’d like!


Serve and enjoy.


My experience has been that children eat this meal well.  I’m  a big fan of using beans in recipes simply because they’re so good for us (did you know that red beans have more antioxidants than blueberries?) and because they’re inexpensive and easy to store.  I try to make at least one meatless meal each week (more often in the summer) and those meals almost always use beans as a source of protein, fiber and vitamins.

I’m also a believer in food storage.  We store a lot of things.  This meal is one of them.  I freeze tortillas and cheese, and everything else can sit on the shelf for a long time.  In other words, this recipe is a winner in many categories.   I hope you try it sometime!

Jennifer

This has been a favorite family standby for years.  It’s healthy, meatless, and inexpensive.


Chop 1/2 cup onion and one green pepper, and saute in 1 tsp oil until crisp-tender.


Rinse and drain two cans of black beans.


When the veggies are tender and the onion is translucent and just beginning to brown, add one can diced tomatoes, the black beans, and 1 1/2 cups of your favorite salsa.








Mix together and add 1 tsp. cumin.


Cover the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish with corn tortillas.  Then layer with 1/3 of the bean mixture.  Sprinkle 2/3 cup mozzarella cheese over the beans.  Then repeat the layers twice more.








Sprinkle the top with some sliced olives if you like them.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until casserole is heated through and cheese is melted.  Serve with sour cream.


Black Bean Casserole 1/2 cup onion, chopped 1 green bell pepper, chopped 1 can diced tomatoes 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained 1 1/2 cups salsa 1 tsp. cumin 18 corn tortillas (I usually use 6 per layer, and have them overlap a bit) 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese sliced olives sour cream In pan, saute onion and bell pepper in 1 tsp. olive oil.  Add tomatoes, black beans, salsa and cumin.  Cover bottom of 9×13 inch pan with tortillas.  Spread 1/3 bean mixture over the tortillas, then layer 2/3 cup cheese over beans.  Repeat layers twice more, ending with cheese.  Sprinkle with sliced olives, if desires.  Cover and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until casserole is heated through and cheese is melted.  Serve with sour cream.