My New Creation: Verde Chicken Lettuce Wraps

For what seems like ages, I have been wanting to try lettuce wraps.  I've seen them on T.V. and in magazines. A handful of times I've even seen them listed on a menu. Usually, though, I would bypass the wrap for something else I wanted to have. Yet, curiosity abounded. What did a lettuce wrap taste like? It looked like it could be good. In recent months, I started seeking out recipes on Pinterest for a lettuce wrap. I found a few, but hesitated on making any of them because they often seemed complicated or even had ingredients that I had no hope of finding in my local area.

Not long ago, I found a lettuce wrap recipe that appeared doable. Yay, me! I pinned it immediately. This morning, as I was working on my menu planning for the week before going grocery shopping, I decided that we would try the wraps, Chipolte Chicken Lettuce Wraps, for dinner tonight.

The wraps did not take a lot of effort to make, and ended up tasting delicious! My DH and I enjoyed them very much. I say this before getting into how to make them because I significantly changed the recipe. That was not my intent, but when you can't find an ingredient, you sometimes improvise. At least, that is what I do if I want to try something bad enough. However, despite my changes, I followed the basic idea of original recipe. Basically. (Some day, I do hope to try the recipe as it was written.)

The first thing you need to do is to roast some corn. Put one cup of corn that has been mixed with 2 Tbsp of olive oil, salt, and pepper, onto a cookie sheet. Place it under a broiler for about 7 minutes.

While the corn is roasting, you will work on the sauce. The sauce is what changed in my version. The original recipe calls for 2-3 chipolte peppers and adobo sauce. I had problems locating both items at our grocery store. I found dried chipolte peppers and picked them up. I fully intended on soaking them once I got home, but forgot. (My baby was hungry. I needed to nurse her and got distracted.) I tried to soak them about 15 minutes prior to prepping them, but that wasn't nearly enough time. So, the chipolte peppers were not used at all in my recipe. Instead, I used one jarred roasted red pepper.

The adobo sauce was impossible to find as well.* I searched on the internet for a substitute when I got home and found none. I realized that adobo sauce is just a spicy tomato sauce with a chipolte base. I decided I would use the salsa verde that I had left over from the tacos I made the other night.

So, back to the sauce. In a food processor, place 1/2 cup cilantro, the juice of a lime, 1 roasted red pepper, and 3 Tbsp salsa verde. Process this combo until fairly smooth. (It tasted pretty good. Lucky me!)

The chicken mixture

In the meantime, you will be heating up some chicken in a skillet. Now, the original recipe called for making the chicken right then. That step seemed pointless to me. My husband had recently grilled a bunch of chicken for recipes that call for cooked chicken, so I decided to use that chicken. I got about 2 1/2 cups of the pre-cooked & diced chicken and let it warm up in the skillet. Once the chicken was warm, I added the sauce to the chicken as well as the roasted corn and 1/2 of a roasted red pepper (another change...not a fan of bell peppers but I can handle them like this so it was my cheat so I would like it more).

I let the mixture sit on low heat as I readied the Bibb lettuce. You will want to wash the lettuce, drain it, and then pat it dry before serving (about 6-8 lettuce leaves).

The final step is to serve it all with about 3 chopped scallions on the side. You (hopefully) won't be disappointed! I'm so glad that my changes worked! It really was delicious. :)

*My husband pointed out to me that I could have picked up a can of chipolte in adobo sauce because it would have the 2-3 peppers and adobo sauce. It never dawned on me until I got home. Duh. Nearly 8 months of sleep deprivation is taking its toll. LOL

Verde Chicken Lettuce Wraps

2-3 cups cooked & diced chicken

1 cup frozen corn

1 lime, juiced

1/2 cup cilantro

1 jar of roasted red peppers

3 Tbsp salsa verde

3 scallions, chopped

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

1 head Bibb lettuce, rinsed and separated

1. Mix frozen corn with olive oil and salt & pepper. Spread out on a 

cookie sheet to broil for about 7 minutes.

2. In a food processor, add cilantro, lime juice, 1 roasted 

red pepper, and salsa verde. Process until smooth.

3. Heat up pre-cooked chicken in a skillet. Once warm, add sauce from 

the food processor, roasted corn, and a chopped up roasted red pepper.

4. Spoon chicken mixture into lettuce when served and 

add scallions as a garnish.

My Little Helper: Closing the Doors

This blog post is the second of a series on Tuesdays called, My Little Helper, featuring my adorable toddler, Ginny. The first one was about how she loves to help at bath time for her sister. Today is all about how our daughter is destined to be a doorman someday, or should I say, door person.

Closing the Doors

Closing the door to the laundry room

When Ginny first started toddling, we decided it was necessary to start shutting many of our doors. Child-proofing had been done in all the rooms, but we didn't want to lose sight on our little one. Who knew what trouble she could get into. We had a fair idea of the type of havoc she could cause because we have a dog who loves to eat paper, so we were already in the habit of closing all bathroom doors.

As Ginny has gotten older, we started leaving doors open a lot more often. Okay, that may be stretching it. Basically, if we had no laundry in the laundry room, we would leave that door open and her bedroom door. Our bedroom and our office have been deemed off limits when we aren't in those rooms with her. She will find something to play with that we don't consider a toy.

At some point in the last few weeks, Ginny decided that we needed help in closing our doors. No longer are my husband and I allowed to close a door, whether it be our bedroom door or even the door outside or to the garage. Nope, closing the doors is now her job. You can ask her to do it, but often that is unnecessary. She will run up and close a door before you are even ready for the door to be closed. Often when you are still in the other room and have yet to leave it, prompting you to open the door again, much to her dismay. The dismay is short-lived since she will realize that she gets to close that door again.

She loves her job closing doors!

The problem comes when you decide to close a door on your own. Ginny will let you know, in no uncertain terms, that ONLY she is allowed to close the doors. After pitching a fit the size of KU's Allen Fieldhouse, I will inevitably reopen the door just so she can close it again. Hey, you choose your battles, and if closing a door makes my two-year-old happy, who am I to complain?

Ginny has not yet learned how to open doors. She can reach the door know, but hasn't figured out how to twist the knob and then push or pull the door. Once she has figured out how to do that, I imagine my husband and I will no longer be allowed to touch the doors at all.

Baked Crunchy Taco Casserole

Finished tacos with the toppings just waiting to be added

One of my go to things to cook at home is tacos! They are easy to make, and difficult to screw up. I make them often enough that I stopped buying the packets of seasoning. Instead, I buy the jar of seasoning. It is more cost-effective after all.

I do try to vary how I make tacos. So, when I see a new recipe for a basic taco, I will pin in onto my "Food Porn" board on Pinterest. Tonight at dinner, I tried one recipe that I spotted on Pinterest last week for Baked Crunchy Taco Casserole. (This taco dish comes from the food blog, Heather Likes Food, FYI.)

Part of what attracted me to this dish, beyond the fact that it looked yummy, was the simplicity of it. Nothing beats easy.

Beef mixture ready to be added to the shells

To start off, you need to preheat the oven to 400 then start browning your meat. Once the meat is browned (and the grease drained), you add a packet of taco seasoning, or in my case 5 Tbsp of the stuff, along with 1/4 cup salsa verde, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar, and a can of diced tomatoes. The recipe specifically calls for a 14.5 oz can of tomatoes. That seemed boring to me so I added a 10 oz can of Rotel (I used mild because that was all I had on hand) and put in a 1/2 cup of salsa verde to compensate for the difference. Blend the beef mixture until the cheese melts.

While the meat was browning, I put the taco shells in a 9x13 casserole dish. Doing this ahead helped make the next step a bit easier, at least for me. After the mixture is ready, you need to spoon it into the taco shells. Oh, I only used 12 shells instead of the 15 called for. I couldn't justify a second box for only 3 more. (Because I was short, I did end up with extra meat. I saved it for nachos on a later date.) Then, you will add a 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar on top of the tacos. Now the tacos are ready to bake. Put them in the oven for about 15 minutes.

When they are done, serve them along with your favorite taco toppings. It really is simple and delicious! My DH and I really enjoyed the tacos. I believe we will have them quite often in the future.

Baked Crunchy Taco Casserole*

 1 pound ground beef (or any meat you prefer)

1 can Rotel (10 oz)

1/2 cup salsa verde

1 packet taco seasoning

1 cup shredded cheddar, divided

1 box taco shells (12 shells)

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Brown meat then drain grease

3. Add Rotel, salsa verde, taco seasoning, and 1/2 cup 

cheddar. Stir well, mixing until cheese has melted.

4. Spoon beef mixture into 12 taco shells placed in a 

9x13 casserole dish.

5.  Bake for 15 minutes then serve with your fave toppings.

*My variation of this recipe