Recipe Swap

Amy over at Park City Girl is hosting a recipe swap. Who doesn't love finding a great new recipe? I have 2 family favorites to share. These are both originally from www.recipezaar.com

Sweet Salsa Dump Chicken

• 1 pkg Taco seasoning mix
• 8 oz Apricot preserves
• 12 oz salsa (your favorite - I like to use a spicy salsa to offset the sweetness of the apricot)
• 1 1/2 lbs chicken pieces (any chicken you like, I use boneless breasts)

Dump everything into a large ziploc freezer bag. Squish it around to mix well. I like to let it marinate in the fridge overnight, but if you don't have time for that no worries. Dump the contents of the bag into a baking dish and bake at 350 until juices run clear. I serve it with white rice.


Taco spaghetti (makes 2 casseroles - one for now, one for the freezer)

• 10 ounces dried spaghetti or linguine or fettuccine, broken
• 2 lbs ground beef or ground turkey
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) envelope taco seasoning mix
• 2 (11 ounce) cans corn mixed with chopped peppers, drained
• 1 1/2 cups colby-monterey jack cheese or cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 cup favorite salsa
• 2 (4 1/2 ounce) cans diced green chili peppers, drained
• 4 cups lettuce, shredded
• 1 medium tomato, chopped

1. Cook pasta according to pkg directions, drain.
2. Meanwhile, cook ground meat and onion until meat is brown, in a dutch oven.
3. Drain off fat.
4. Stir in water and taco seasoning mix.
5. Bring to boiling and reduce heat.
6. Simmer, uncovered for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Stir in cooked pasta, corn, 1 cup of the shredded cheese, salsa and chili peppers Divide mix evenly between 2 lightly greased 2 qt casseroles.
8. Package up, label and freeze up to 3 months.
9. To serve remaining casserole, cover and bake in a 350F oven for 20-25 minutes or until heated through.
10. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
11. Top with lettuce and chopped tomato.
12. If desired, pass broken tortilla chips and dairy sour cream as additional toppings.
13. To serve the 2nd casserole, thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
14. Bake, covered in a 375F oven for 1 hour or until heated through, stirring once about halfway through baking time.
15. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup shredded cheese.
16. Serve with 4 cups shredded lettuce and 1 medium tomato, chopped.

Let me know if you try either of these - I'd love to hear if you enjoyed them!