My Mountain Melt

My friend Limor and I have been spending our girl's night at our wonderful neighborhood Ale House. After realizing that their famous Mountain Melt has a million more calories than even two people should share in one sitting, and being the foodie I am, I knew I could make it at home...

So it began. (Adapted from a recipe from Fiesty, Frugal and Fabulous)

Here's what the original recipe said to use.

Ingredients

• 6 medium potatoes cut into cubes (skin on)
• ⅓ cup oil (olive or vegetable)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ tablespoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 5 tablespoons hot sauce (I used Frank's.)
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch cubes
• 2 cups shredded cheese (I used 1 cup cheddar, 1 cup mozzarella.)
• ½ package (7 strips) Maple Leaf Ready Crisp Bacon, cooked and crumbled
• ½ cup diced green onion

First - scrub clean the potatoes and cut them however big you wish. Cubed, of some size. And preheat your over to 500. Yes, 500. Trust me. 

Second - cook the bacon. I love bacon, so I do it on the stove in a pan. Full fat. Yumm-o! Dry it on a paper towel and then chop it with a knife. I don't crumble bacon. It's weird. 

Step 1: mix olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and hot sauce in a bowl. *Note - I do not really 'measure' things. You can. Please do. We like garlic and onions here. We use a lot of that, so...

                

 

Step 2: Coat the potatoes in the mixture you just made. Then, put them in a casserole dish, but make sure you leave as much excess 'juice' from the bowl, in the bowl. (That's what will coat your chicken.) Bake in the 500 degree oven for 1 hour. Stir them every 10-15 minutes. This will make them crispy. Trust me, you will want them crispy...

                     

Step 3: After the potatoes are done, take them out and turn your oven down to 400. Let it cool a bit before putting the casserole back in for final cooking, or it will more than likely burn. Toss the cubed chicken in the bowl of leftover juice. Coat evenly. Put the raw chicken on top of the potatoes. Cover with the cheese and bacon. Put back in the 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes. When it looks all bubbly and yummy, it's done. If you need to be sure, test a piece of chicken.

THEN IT LOOKS LIKE THIS: (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Enjoy. 

  

Taco & Cheese Roll Ups.

Well. Jimmy loves mexican food. And any variation there of. I hate grocery shopping, but love to cook. So I used what I had...PS - It turned out FABULOUS!

 

What you Need:

1 pound ground beef (Use turkey if you want. We are red meat people...)

Taco Seasoning (I make my own...recipe off Pinterest, from Spend With Pennies)

10 (or so...) lasagna noodles

1 small block of Velveeta ( I like the Mexican kind. It spices it up a bit.)

1 can of Rotel or similar. (Pick desired 'hotness'. I always go middle of the road.)

1 handful Mini Sweet Peppers

1 onion (I used a white onions. Vidalia or red would work too.)

2 spoonfuls of minced garlic

1 can of refried beans

Shredded Cheese

So the recipe is on the simple side. I used 1 pound of ground beef. Cook it. And season it. While you are doing that, cook the lasagna noodles. Lay then out to dry off. They are easier to work with.

Heat the refried beans u; microwave or stovetop is fine - your preference. Meanwhile, chop the peppers and onions. In a 2qt saucepan, with just a dab of olive oil, heat the 2 spoonfuls of garlic (I used a small kitchen spoon and got 2 little heaps form the jar), the peppers and onions, on medium heat. Let them cook a while. Cut up the Velveeta in cubes. After you can smell the onions, garlic, and peppers, drain the liquid from the Rotel and add that to the pot. (Some juice is OK...it will help the cheese melt faster.) So let that get hot, and then add the Velveeta. Watch it and stir it often. Don't let it burn. Add the meat and stir it all together. Let it mesh a while. It will taste better, and the low setting on the stove never killed anything...

Now, just put them together. I put the refried beans down first, with a small spatula. the spooned on the cheese. Rolled it up. Put it in the pan. You will see some recipes on Pinterest that add salsa or enchilada sauce to the bottom, but that weighs it down for me, and frankly, I think it tastes better this way. Top with cheese. I used a bit of shredded mozzarella and a bit of shredded cheddar. It's what I had. 

Put it in the oven. I did 320, for 30 minutes so I could shower and relax. Then I did 10 minutes on 400 to brown up the cheese on top.

Best. Mexican(ish) roll ups. Ever.

The greatest Mexican style shredded chicken...EVER!

I have been getting bored with dinner. I always eat the same stuff. So after perusing Pinterest and reading 10 or so recipes, I made my own. Here it is...

Into the crock pot: 1 can enchilada sauce. 1 packet of ranch dressing mix. 1 tablespoon of taco mix. 1 cup of chicken broth. 6 chicken breasts. I put it on low in my crock pot for about 6 hours. The smell is AMAZING! I left it in the crock pot and shredded it with 2 forks. Take it out with a slotted spoon.

Best. Tacos. Ever.

This is the happy husband.