Friday, July 1, 2011

Easy Peasy Dinner

The makings of a beautiful friendship

A few people have asked me for this Mexican Lasagna recipe, so here it is! I have made this just for Doug and I (makes great leftovers) or tonight we had some friends over and it made plenty with just a little bit left over. Seriously, this is sooo easy to make and delicious and pretty healthy to boot.

Mexican Lasagna
*adapted from Cooking Light magazine

2 jars of your favorite salsa (make sure it's thick/chunky)
1 cup diced red peppers
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced zucchini
1 cup frozen corn
3 cups shredded chicken (I personally tend to do less meat and more veggies)
1 4-oz can chopped green chilis
1 10-oz can green enchilada sauce
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
1 cup Monterey jack cheese (I used cheddar because it's what we had - do what makes you happy here!)
1 cup feta cheese
12 tortillas

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray and over medium-high heat saute the onions, zucchini, corn, and red peppers for about 6 minutes.

Add cooked chicken, chopped green chilis, garlic, enchilada sauce, and spices to the mixture and cook until fully warm and mixed in, about 2-3 minutes. Spray a 9x13 dish with cooking spray and coat the bottom of the pan with salsa. Place half the tortillas on the bottom of the pan. Put 2 cups of the chicken mixture over the tortillas. Put another cup or so of salsa on top. Sprinkle with half a cup of both cheeses, and continue with another layer of tortillas. Follow this same pattern for the layers, ending with the final cheeses. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, or until things just start t bubble.

There's so many ways to create variations to this recipe: more spices, more cheese, more veggies, experimenting with different salsas and sauces, etc.

If you make this, leave a comment and let me know how it turned out! ;) We had friends over tonight for dinner and this meal was a bit hit!

I never claimed to be a great photographer! This was a delicious meal, though!


Dessert - Jello pudding Cake

This is a very light summer dessert, my mom made this a lot for my dad's birthday in July:


1 box white cake mix
one large box jello
1 box vanilla pudding
1 container cool whip

Make the cake according to the box directions. Dissolve the jello in 2 cups of boiling water. When you take it out, use a fork to poke holes inside the cake, pour the hot jello all over the cake.


Let it cool completely. Make the vanilla pudding according to the box directions and spread, top with cool whip on each slice individually or all across the top. You could also top with fruit like in the picture (stolen from google.) Enjoy!!