Welcome to Day 5 in Amy’s kitchen. Amy has been very adventurous in her kitchen lately, trying out new things and getting reacquainted with some old favorites. We are very excited to see and share a week in her kitchen. We hope you enjoy this week in her kitchen.

Today’s meals were mostly about convenience.

For breakfast we enjoyed cereal and yogurt. I didn’t snap any pictures… Time was tight and I figured the shots wouldn’t be that exciting anyhow. But my husband joined us for breakfast, which rarely happens during the week, so that was exciting and fun for everyone.

As breakfast was wrapping up I began making and packing lunches for school.

Check out this beautiful bread I made for the sandwiches. (Yes, I really made it. I just store it in a commercial bread bag.)

On that bread I spread peanut butter and honey with granola crunchies. I also packed carrots and celery with ranch dip and a cheese stick.

I was very excited to put to use some cute divided containers I found at The Container Store the day before for the lunches. The divider piece can slide to make each compartment as big or little as you’d like.

You might notice the note on the lunch. We had a bit of a challenging morning with one of the guys, so I thought he could use an extra “hug” from me in his lunchbox.

Our babysitter prepared dinner for the kids. On those nights I like to offer something very simple to just heat and serve. She gets to be a little more popular when it is corn dog night. I buy the Monrningstar soy corndogs in hopes I’m keeping it a little more nutritious than the originals. With the corndogs she served cut plums, pears and strawberries.

Today I also decided it was time to tackle all that leftover chicken from the party.

I sliced it all and measured it out into 2 cup increments in individual freezer bags.

I only sustained one injury in the process. (Now I get to wear a cute Elmo bandage.)

Then I went through my options.

I kept some out to make a few different chicken salad recipes.

Then I used 4 cups in a massive batch of taco soup that I enjoyed for my own dinner, packaged some up to take to a neighbor and froze many more portions for later.

Here’s the recipe I used:

Kayla’s Chicken Taco Soup

(You can also substitute 1 ¼ pounds ground chuck or soy crumbles for the chicken.)

2 cups cooked chicken (mine was pre-seasoned)

1 onion, chopped

½ teaspoon garlic powder

3 cans Mexican stewed tomatoes (chopped)

2 cans pinto beans, drained

4 cans water

2 cans whole kernel corn, drained

1 can hominy

1 pkg taco seasoning mix

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch dressing

If using the beef, brown it with the onion and garlic then dump in a massive pot with everything else except the cheese. If using the cooked chicken, just dump everything in a massive pot and simmer for at least 45 minutes.

When serving, sprinkle with grated cheese and enjoy.

While that was simmering, I started on a light King Ranch casserole recipe another friend forwarded to me.

Since my meal-planning was already complete for the week, I opted to freeze the King Ranch Chicken Casserole for later use. (It really smelled good, by the way.)

Here’s the recipe:

Light King Ranch Chicken Casserole

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
Vegetable cooking spray
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts
1 (10-ounce) can fat-free cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 (10-ounce) can fat-free cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomato and green chiles
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 (8-ounce) block reduced-fat Cheddar cheese, shredded

Preparation

Sauté onion and bell pepper in a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender.

Stir in chicken and next 6 ingredients; remove from heat.

Tear tortillas into 1-inch pieces; layer one-third tortilla pieces in bottom of a 13- x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with one-third chicken mixture and one-third cheese. Repeat layers twice.

Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbly.

Note: Freeze casserole up to 1 month, if desired. Thaw in refrigerator overnight, and bake as directed.

Yield

Makes 8 servings

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 282(32% from fat); FAT 9.9g (sat 5g,mono 0.5g,poly 0.7g); IRON 0.7mg; CHOLESTEROL 54.4mg; CALCIUM 248mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26.4g; SODIUM 947mg; PROTEIN 21g; FIBER 3.1g

Southern Living, MARCH 2004

Before I froze it, I labeled and dated it, as well as wrote the heating directions on a piece of masking tape I stuck to it so that I would know exactly how to prepare it when the time is right.

When all was finished, I scooped myself another cup of soup and sat down to watch the Republican Convention. Then I had a graham cracker with milk for dessert. (Do you notice a nightly trend here?)

Make sure you stop in throughout the rest of the week to see what other adventures Amy is up to in her kitchen. And don’t forget to stop by her personal blog, Mom’s Toolbox, for some wonderful biblical encouragement and lots of other goodies. Thank you for your willingness to open your kitchen to us all. We can’t wait to see what you have cooking this week.

If you are interested in participating as a guest blogger for this 3 Moms feature, please leave us a comment or send us an email at 3moms@happytobeathome.net. We are looking for a variety of women willing to open their kitchens for one week to all of our readers. You do not even have to have your own blog in order to participate.

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