by It’s fun to tour other people’s homes, and just as fun to me is talking foods…as in, what are some of your family’s favorite main dish dinners?
Here are the “basic run-downs” for two of ours…fried chicken quesadillas and smothered steaks! I apologize that there aren’t exact ingredients…but that’s what these kind of dinners are all about! No brainers–no recipe required! Got any? Share them or links to them, please! I’d love some new main dish meals…
Fried Chicken Quesadillas
My mom fixed these one night a few years ago when dh and I happened to be visiting over the dinner hour…I think it was a spur of the moment creation for her, one I took special note of, thankfully!
For a family of five, you’ll need:
- 3-4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 7-9 chicken tenders (raw, uncooked)
- a large plastic Ziplok bag or bowl filled with 1.5 cups flour seasoned with your favorite seasonings (I use powdered garlic, minced onion, Lawry’s Seasoning salt…)
- large skillet w/vegetable oil covering bottom evenly
- around 1.5 cups of your favorite shredded cheeses
- 7-8 large flour tortillas
- Salsa, if desired
Slice your raw chicken into strips (about 1 in x 3 in) and dredge them in flour mixture, covering completely. Place floured chicken into hot oil in skillet. Cook around 7 minutes, flip chicken to other side and cover with lid. Continue cooking for another 15 minutes or till done. Remove from skillet and drain chicken pieces on a plate covered with a paper towel.
The skillet should still have some oil left in it, leave the stove top on about medium heat and begin filling your tortillas. I use one tortilla per person, laying chicken pieces on one half of the tortilla and then sprinkling cheeses over the chicken. Then I fold the tortilla (in half) over the top of the chicken and put it in the hot skillet. You can brown two tortillas at the same time in this manner. My husband likes me to add salsa to the filling in his, everyone else likes theirs just plain chicken and cheese. We love these…the tortillas crisp up so crunchy and golden, and it’s just a fun treat to have fried chicken embellished in this easy way!
Smothered Steaks
This delicious recipe has been a stand by ever since the birth of my second daughter…a friend from church brought it over and I had to get the recipe! Of course, she claims there is no recipe, but she told me how she fixed it and I’ve been fixing it ever since! It’s yummo!
For a 9×13 pan full (our family of five always overeats on this and still has leftovers) you’ll need the following:
- 2-3 lbs cubed steaks (these may be called minute steaks or club steaks or round steaks–however, round steaks are pretty tough, you’ll need to tenderize them prior to using)
- a large plastic Ziplok bag or bowl full of flour with your favorite seasonings
- large skillet w/vegetable oil covering bottom evenly
- 1 regular sized can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2-3 cups milk
Dredge your cubed steaks in the flour mixture and brown them lightly in hot oil. Drain the browned meat pieces on a paper towel covered plate and place into a 9×13 pan. In medium sized mixing bowl, combine mushroom soup, sour cream and milk until mixed thoroughly. Pour this mixture over your browned steaks and cover 9×13 pan tightly with foil. Place in a 350*F oven for 2-2.5 hours. This is delicious with mashed potatoes, there’s usually enough sauce to use for gravy, though not enough for leftovers. We love how this cooks up, so tender and saucy. I’ve never tasted better smothered steaks!
So there you have two of our favorite main dish meals! Hope you give them a try sometime, and in the meanwhile, whatcha got for me? 😉
WE love quesadillas at our house. I love to make the filling with corn. You defrost a cup of frozen corn. Then toss it into a hot skillet with a T of oil. You let the corn get brown and toasty it makes a wonderful addition to the chicken. Our favorite kind of cheese to use is the quesadilla cheese from Aldi’s it melts to a wonderful stringy consistency. Next time we will have to try the chicken fried I usually just brown it in the skillet.
Mmm! Love that idea, Andrea! Will definitely try it next time! YUM. 🙂 I didn’t realize Aldis had a special quesadilla cheese!
This is practically embarrassing it’s so easy and it doesn’t sound that good, but it is. When I get bored cooking and ask my family their favorites to get me going again they always request this. They almost always make this when hubby and I go out to dinner and they are home without me cooking.
Cook up a pound of pasta, drain, and add
a couple cans of tuna
a couple big spoons of mayonnaise
-Mix and serve. I kid you not, in ten minutes they are happily eating. Often sliced cucumbers go along as a “salad.” Sometimes we add salt and pepper and sometimes we don’t.
My husband and I cater wedding receptions, and I love to cook, but when I want easy, fast, and tasty, it’s always pasta.
Cena, easy is GOOD! 😉 This sounds yummy to me, too, I have always enjoyed anything tuna. Do you rinse the pasta in cold water then, or is this a slightly warm salad? We have so many cucumbers right now, so this would be a great thing to try…if I had any tuna in the house! (Jotting it down on my brain list…)
Thanks for sharing this!
I may be using this recipe for church. Two weeks from now we are doing something called “International Day” and a lot of us are going to do international recipes. Since I am Hispanic I am expected to make something authentic! Yikes! I CAN’T COOK! I did not inherit the cooking gene.
But this recipe seems simple enough, even for me. I wonder if I need to have the meat though?
Leticia’s last blog post..I just can’t shake this….
For quesadillas? My family loves them with cheese only, but when we fix them that way we spread butter on the outside of the tortillas and brown them in a pan with NO oil. But I don’t think they would stay crispy during the transport. Leticia, I have a super easy chicken enchilada recipe that is TO DIE FOR, you don’t even have to cook the chicken you can buy it in a can. The drawback is that it uses a whole lot of cream, which is kinda expensive. But it’s worth it! It’s basically a dump and bake recipe.
I’ll post it here sometime, if you’re interested. Soon!
I usually rinse the pasta to cool it off, but it’s usually eaten right away (which is the whole point in having a super quick meal.) When I’ve made it ahead, in case of My husband and I going to be out, I stick it in the fridge.
Okay! Thanks, Cena!