Chicken Taco Grande Recipe

Hi, everyone! Hope you’re enjoying your Labor Day holiday – I know I am! So far it’s meant a lazy morning (which is why I’m just now working on my MPM post) snacking on cereal and watching cartoons with the boys (they’re both big fans of this new Cat in the Hat cartoon on PBS, by the way – have you seen it?).

Well, last week I missed out on MPM – I had a stomach bug that was NO fun at all, trust me. Thankfully it was short-lived and I was back to normal the next morning, but it threw my entire week off. This weekend we’ve managed to get a lot done around the house and are back on track – I love that feeling! Hopefully next week I won’t be writing about how we’re all scattered again. :)

Here are our meals for the week:

Monday: Picnic! We’re just going to make some sandwiches and have them with some chips & raw veggies, and then play at the park some after we eat. We haven’t done the whole picnic thing too often yet but I think the boys are getting old enough that a) they’ll actually sit with us and eat, and b) they’ll have fun with it.

Tuesday: Chick-Fil-A night! We also have a coupon from our calendar for a free sandwich, so that means we’ll all eat dinner for the cost of one combo.

Wednesday: Rotini pasta with marinara and grilled chicken (I put Italian seasoning on the chicken), green beans, and garlic bread.

Thursday: We bought some peppers at the farmer’s market on Saturday, so we’re going to use some and make chicken stir-fry. Wish us luck on not going overboard with the heat! We’ll have zucchini, carrots, and onion along with the peppers, and we’re using short-grain brown rice along with it.

Friday: We had dinner at our friends’ house this weekend, and our friend Jen made baked chicken tenders coated with Buffalo sauce and then rolled in Panko crumbs. SO GOOD! We’re having this with french fries.

Saturday: I’m finally trying a new recipe – it feels like it’s been a while! I got this off of the Pillsbury website, after looking for something to make with some crescent roll dough I have on hand. We’ll be making Chicken Taco Grande. Here’s the slightly modified recipe we’ll be making, if you want to try it for yourself:

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 can of black beans, drained
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 pkg taco seasoning mix
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 cans Pillsbury crescent dinner roll dough
• lettuce
• salsa
• sour cream

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray pizza pan or cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat until hot. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink in the center, stirring frequently.
3. Add black beans, bell pepper, water, and taco seasoning mix; stir well. Heat until bubbly. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Remove from heat, stir in cheese, and set aside.
4. Unroll both cans of dough & separate into 16 triangles. Arrange triangles on cookie sheet with short sides of triangles toward center, overlapping into wreath shape and leaving a 5-inch round opening in center. Lightly press short sides of dough to flatten slightly.
5. Spoon chicken filling onto widest part of dough. Pull end points of triangles over the filling and tuck under dough to form ring (filling will be visible).
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Serve with lettuce, salsa, and sour cream.

If I were taking this to a party I’d get a small bowl to place in the center of the ring and fill it with salsa or guacamole, I think!

Hope you all have a wonderful (and only 4-day, woohoo!) work week!