Day of Chaos-Jalapeno Chicken and Grasshopper Parfaits

Saturday began like any other day. Chris had to work, so I spent the day shopping with mom. One of our favorite malls is about 30 minutes from home, so we made the trek to the mall, despite the extremely windy weather. As we were walking into the mall we almost blew away because of the extreme winds. We didn't think much of it until we headed home and saw smoke in the air. It was about that time that Chris called to say that half of our county was on fire. Fires had started in multiple homeless camps around our county and along some of the major roads, probably from cigarette buds. Later we learned that a the fires even took a home near my parents. At one point a fire actually got so bad it crossed over I-95 and the highway had to be shut down. Needless to say Chris was pretty warn out.

When Chris comes home at night my desire is that he comes home to a haven, as well as to a home cooked meal. This week alone he dealt with a murder, sex trafficking, fires and his normal domestics and speeders. I want home to be a safe place where he can relax.

When I learned of the fires I decided that I wanted dinner to be something to look forward to, as I knew Chris would be warn out and likely didn't have time for lunch, due to the busyness of the day.

For dinner we had one of my childhood favorites: Jalapeno Chicken and for dessert I tried a new recipe I found in the Costco cookbook. Yes, I said Costco. Every year they hand out a free cookbook and this was from the cookbook they gave out about 5 years ago.

Hope you enjoy this yummy meal! Chris sure enjoyed it. He gave the chicken a 9.5 out of 10. That's HUGE for him!!

Jalapeno Chicken

Ingredients:

• Boneless Chicken Breasts


• 8 oz mild Taco Sauce


• 1 small Onion, chopped


• Garlic powder


• Salt/Pepper


• 6-8 flour Tortillas, broken up


• 1 cup medium white sauce (Recipe below)


• 6 oz shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese


• 1 (4 oz) can chopped mild Green Chili's


• Chili Powder

Medium White Sauce:

• 2 Tablespoons butter


• 2 Tablespoons Flour


• Salk/Pepper


• 1 cup Milk
  

Cook chicken. You can either boil or cook in the oven. I prefer to cook the chicken in the oven. Drizzle olive oil on top of the chicken*Sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken*Place in the oven @ 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.

When the chicken is done, tear into small pieces. Mix with the onions, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and taco sauce.Layer half of the broken tortillas in bottom of 8x8 or 7x11 pan, then chicken mixture, then rest of tortillas.
Melt 2 Tablespoons butter, add 2 Tablespoons flour, salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 cup milk, stir over medium heat until thick. Add sour cream once sauce has thickened.
Pour white sauce over tortillas and chicken mixture.
Top with cheese, chili's and sprinkle chili powder over the top.Cook covered 20 minutes. Uncover and cook an additional 10 minutes.
Let sit several minutes before cutting.
If you're looking for an extremely easy dessert that your family will fall in love with, then this is for you. I thought Chris might fall into a food induced comma after he ate dinner and dessert.

This recipe makes 12 servings. I altered so that we wouldn't have leftovers, but would have just enough for 2 of us.

Grasshopper Parfaits

What You Need

15 OREO Cookies, finely chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)

1/2 cup finely chopped chocolate-covered mint patties

2 pkg. (3.9 oz. each) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding

1 qt. (4 cups) cold milk

2 to 4 drops green food coloring

2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

COMBINE chopped cookies and mint patties in a small bowl; set aside.

BEAT pudding mixes and milk with whisk 2 min. Let stand 5 min. Meanwhile, stir food coloring into COOL WHIP until well blended.

LAYER half each of the pudding, COOL WHIP and cookie mixture evenly in 12 parfait glasses or dessert glasses. Repeat layers. Refrigerate 30 min.