Easy Chicken Enchiladas

2 C chopped cooked chicken
2 C sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 C shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (6 oz)
1 1/2 C shredded colby jack cheese (6 oz)
1 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chiles, drained
2 Tb finely chopped onion
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
10 (10-inch) corn tortillas
vegetable oil
1 C (4 oz) shredded colby Jack cheese)
salsa

combine first 9 ingredients; stir well. Fry tortilla's, 1 at a time in a skillet 5 seconds on each side or until softened; drain.
Place heaping 1/2 C chicken mixture on each tortilla; roll up each tortilla and place, seam side down, in 13X9 baking dish.
Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 min. sprinkle with 1 C cheese and bake, uncovered 5 min more. Serve with salsa.
yeild: 5 servings

NOTE: I usually just use a mexican blend of cheese, or just cheddar and mozerella. Also,
i cook it at least 30 min. - or until bubbly.

How to Cook Chicken

This is my favorite way to cook chicken for recipes that call for cooked shredded or diced chicken breast. It always comes out so moist and tender. This is also one of those recipes you can read once and remember - you don't have to refer back very frequently.

1. Place frozen chicken breasts in pot of water at fill with water just to cover.
2. Add a handful of onions and celery roughly chopped (the inside stocks of celery with the leaves especially). Also season the water with salt and pepper. I just scoop a small handful of salt - maybe 1-2 tsp.
3. Cover with a lid and cook on medium heat until boiling, then reduce heat to low.
4. Leave the lid on the chicken and simmer on low for 5 minutes. Then turn heat off and let the chicken sit 20 minutes with the lid still on.
5. Shred or dice accordingly.

Chicken gets really tough and dry with too much heat so that is one reason this cooks so well.

Let me add a note that 95% of the time I am too lazy to thaw chicken before I cook it and since it turns out so moist and delicious every time, it makes me even lazier. For thawed chicken, you would do everything the same except, just bring it to a boil and turn it off.

French Bread

I made my very own French Bread today! It turned out WONDERFUL!!! The recipe was for 3 loaves, so I am freezing the other two. (what was I thinking cutting up the pretty one for a picture ;-) If you would like the recipe, let me know. It took about 3 hours start to finish but that includes lots of rise time and cooking. If time weren't a factor (and messy dishes of course), I would never buy it from the store again.

Fried Baked Zucchini

The link:
Fried Bake Zucchini

I was inspired to make this because of the part where she says "we did the crouton thing'. I thought that flavor would make these incredible! So, I did "the crouton thing" and they turned out pretty good. The text of the squash was spot on, but the texture of the croutons wasn't quite what I wanted. I did end up eating an entire squash by myself however. I am going to experiment with the batter and see if I can figure out something better.

Roasted Potatoes and Pork Chops

Pan-Seared, Oven Roasted, Thick-Cut Pork Chops

The two things that make these Pork Chops very moist and tender are placing them in a brine and allowing them to rest. Delicious!

3/4 C packed light brown sugar
1/4 C table salt
4 bone-in rib pork chops 1 1/2 inch thick (obviously I did boneless)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 T vegetable oil

1. Dissolve the brown sugar and salt in 6 cups cold wat4er in a gallon-size zipper-lock plastic bag. Add the pork chops and seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Refrigerate until fully seasoned, about 1 hour. Remove the chops from the brine, rinse, and pat thouroughly dry with paper towels. Season the chops with the pepper.
2. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position, place a shallow roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet on the rack, and heat the oven to 450 degrees. When the oven reaches 450 degrees, heat oil in a heavy bottomed 12" skillet over high heat until shimmering (I use my cast iron pan). Lay the chops in the skillet and cook until well browned and a nice crust has formed on the surface, about 3 minutes. Turn the chops over with tongs and cook until well browned and a nice crust has formed on the second side, 2 to 3 minutes longer.
Using the tongs, transfer the chops to the pre-heated pan in the oven. Roast 8 to 10 minutes, turning the chops over once halfway through the cooking time. Transfer the chops to a platter, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes (use this time to make a pan sauce if desired). Serve immediately. (temperature can be checked with a digital instant read thermometer to check for doneness)

Chicken and Three Cheese French Bread Pizza

This is another one we made when Melanie was here. We used the first tomatoes and green onions from my garden!

Click on the link for the recipe: Chicken and Three Cheese French Bread Pizza

Lately I have been omitting the red peppers, but they are good also.

White Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies

We made these cookies and they were delicious!!! I use to make them using a cake mix but now that I have made them from scratch, I will probably pass on the cake mix. This is also a great chocolate cookie for Homemade Oreos.


White Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup white sugar 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup cocoa powder 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups white chocolate chips 2 eggs 1 cup butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream sugars, eggs. butter and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients into butter.
3. Drop by teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes

Nachos

Clark wanted nachos and he wanted them on a platter - family style so this is what we came up with. Refried beans (see note) dolloped with sour cream and cilantro surrounded by chips and melted cheese, and topped with lettuce, tomatoes, chicken, pretty much anything you like/have on hand.


I don't like canned refried beans, so I made my own with this recipe for Black Beans. I drained off a lot of the liquid before mashing however. I plopped the cooked beans in the middle and surrounded with cheese and put it in the oven until melted. Then added everything else.

I wanted chicken, but Clark didn't, so half has chicken for us. Chicken cooked as per quesadilla recipe.

Eat it family style - it is a social meal. No plates needed.

p.s the lettuce is from my garden....yay!!!

Vanilla Cream Syrup

Syrup of the week:

Vanilla Cream Syrup

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup fresh fruit, diced, or fresh berries (optional)

Combine sugar, corn syrup, and cream in a 1-quart pan. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Simmer for 2 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and fruit.

yield: 1 Cup (enough for about 4 people)

I have made this without fruit, or poured it over fruit. Delicious! Seen with French Toast.

Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad

I am trying to figure out what to eat here in the summer when it is hot outside and hot inside, and I don't have a grill, so I threw this together last night and it is a keeper!!! This is probably one of the only recipes I have made up so I am pretty proud. It was really easy too. Unfortunately I don't have exact measurements, so just do it to taste.

Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad

1 chicken breast cooked and shredded
penne pasta cooked according to package ( I use 1/2 bag of Costco Penne)(use whatever you have on hand! bowtie would be very good)
1/2 C - 1 C peas (toss into boiling pasta the last minute of cooking)
1 chopped green onion
handful of diced tomato
ranch dressing
freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 C diced cucumber (new addition. it was wonderful!)

Drain pasta & peas and run under cold water to cool. put in large bowl and toss with chicken, green onions & tomato. Drizzle with ranch dressing per taste & sprinkle with parmesan. Mix together and chill or serve immediately. Sprinkle with pepper to taste.

MLRE - desserts

And of course some MLRE.org desserts:

Brownie Trifle (WOW!!!)
Caramel Corn
Scotch-a-Roos (half with chocolate for Clark and half without for me)
Junior's Cheesecake
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Dutch Apple Caramel Streusel Cheesecake
Strawberry Pie (Fresh Strawberries)
Caramels ( I have yet the skill to make this perfect, but it is my goal to attain it someday)
Fudge

Favorites from MLRE

mlre.org is my go to website for several recipes and here are some of my favorite:

BBQ Chicken Pizza
Chicken and Three Cheese French Bread Pizza
Cream of Carrot and Tomato Soup
Creamy Meatballs and Potatoes
Stuffed Crescent Rolls
Tangy Barbeque Sandwhiches
Smoked Turkey Quesadilla Stack
Easy Baked Chicken Breasts

Buttermilk Syrup

Buttermilk Syrup

3/4 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 stick real butter
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine buttermilk, sugar, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda in a LARGE pot. Like one you'd make soup in. Yes, you'll have way more pot than ingredients, but this will boil all over your newly-cleaned stove if you put it in a smaller saucepan.

Bring ingredients to a boil and reduce heat to low (as long as it's still bubbling, you're okay). Cook, stirring very frequently, for 8-9 minutes. You're basically making candy here and candy-making requires constant vigilance.

When it's done, it should take on this luscious golden-brown color. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

You can save any unused syrup in the refrigerator and warm up another time. This didn't last more than a few days at my house though because I was looking for anything I could make to eat it with. YUMMMMM!!!!

Chicken and Bacon stuffed pizza rolls

WOW!!! This was delicious. I highly recommend it. I use the pizza dough recipe from this site also and used half the dough for the pizza rolls and the other half for cinnamon bread sticks! This was amazing, I can't believe I could actually make something this good. YUM! (obviously I recommend trying it)

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/06/chicken-bacon-stuffed-pizza-rolls.html

as a side note: I used shredded mozzarella and I also added green onions.

French Toast Waffles

I was reading in my Southern Living Book last night and they mentioned you could cook your battered bread for french toast in a waffle iron! William always wants waffles so I tried it this morning and it was pretty good...not amazing, but good. I am always looking for new breakfast foods, so if you feel adventurous, give it a try. You could also try this syrup with them:
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/04/buttermilk-syrup.html
enjoy!

New Favorite

I was just introduced to uncooked flour tortilla's and they are sooooo good! I will probably never buy regular tortilla's again. I know you can get them at Costco in the refrigerator section. It comes in two bags, so I just freeze one. To cook the tortillas, place each on a non-stick skillet and flip when starting to lightly brown. Then use as you would other tortillas.

Dinner Ideas:
Chicken Quesidilla's
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1/3 C green salsa (or any salsa)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 sweet onion chopped coarsely
shredded cheddar cheese (try a mexican blend or cheddar/mozzerella blend if on hand)
uncooked tortillas
make it your own: salsa, sour cream, tomatoes

Cook chicken, salsa, & salt in saucepan 15 minutes over med/low heat or until most liquid is evaporated, stirring occasionally. Saute onions until tender. Have all tortillas cooked beforehand. Each person can make their own quesidilla - place cheese, chicken, and onions on half of tortilla and fold over other half. Cook on nonstick skillet until cheese melts, flipping once. Adults will probably want two. Servings: 3 Put whatever you want on it, and find fun dips!

French Toast

I know what you are thinking...."yeah right, I don't need a recipe for this," but after I started making french toast this way, I will never make it the old way again. The problem I have had for years is that I always thought french toast was either too eggy or soggy. I have since learned that too much milk makes it soggy and too little makes it eggy. The secret ingredient in this recipe is flour added to the batter! Perfect french toast every time! I found this in a "Top secret restaurant recipes" book and apparently this is IHOP's recipe. I have adjusted it just a bit for my own liking though (their recipe is for 2 eggs).

French Toast

3 eggs
1/4 C milk
3 Tb flour
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla


So that you never have to read this recipe ever again, just remember one Tb flour per egg. I plan on one egg per person. Let me know what you think!

This is what's for dinner at my house

I will let you know how it turns out.

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/05/baked-creamy-chicken-taquitos.html

Rich Chocolate Cupcakes

1 (18.25 oz.) pkg. chocolate cake mix
1 (3.4 oz.) pkg. instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup warm water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips. Mix 2 minutes on medium speed. Increase speed to medium-high; mix 3 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon into cupcake pans lined with cupcake cups. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean and cool.

Makes about 24 cupcakes

German Pancakes

6 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 C milk
4 T butter
1 C flour

Whip eggs in blender till thick and lemon colored. Add milk, flour, and salt. Mix again. Heat butter in 13x9 pan while oven is preheating. Pour batter into pan of melted butter. Bake 450 degrees for 15 to 20 min.

Serve with syrup or apple syrup.

tip: be sure not to burn butter. Melt it the second half of preheating.