Chicken Enchiladas

Some days you're just really in the mood for a margarita, a mariachi band, some white sandy beaches, blue water and the sounds of Spanish drifting across the breeze.  Since my budget doesn't allow a quick trip to Mexico right now, I'll have to settle for the margarita, some chicken enchiladas and the Spanish music channel while sitting on my leather couch. It's a poor substitute, but the food is delicious!  So with no further ado, I'll let you join me on my trip to Mexico... Margaritas away!

3 Tbsps vegetable oil

1 1/2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast
salt and pepper
2 tsps cumin
2 tsps garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 c. frozen corn
1  can black beans
1 small can green chilies  (Ortega is good)
1 can stewed tomatoes  (I used homemade tomato sauce, 1 cup)
4 chipotle peppers (you can add more or less, depending on how hot you like it)
1/2 tsp flour
1 c. Mexican or Jack cheese
Garnish:
 cilantro, scallions, sour cream, black olives, sour cream, etc

Coat large saute pan with oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken over medium heat, allow 7 minutes each side or until no longer pink. Sprinkle chicken with cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder before turning. Remove chicken and allow to cool.
Saute onion and garlic in chicken drippings until tender. Add corn and chilies. Stir well to combine. Add canned tomatoes and black beans, saute 1 minute.  If you want a smoother sauce (and since I hate onions, I pureed mine in my food processor). 
Pull chicken apart by hand into shredded strips. Add shredded chicken to saute pan, combine with vegetables/sauce. Dust the mixture with flour to help set.

Microwave tortillas on high for 30 seconds. This softens them and makes them more pliable. Coat the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch pan with a ladle of enchilada sauce. Using a large shallow bowl, dip each tortilla in enchilada sauce to lightly coat. Spoon chicken mixture in each tortilla. Fold over filling, place enchiladas in the pan with the seam side down. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven until cheese melts.


Here is a link to a margarita recipe.  I didn't make this yet, but it should be good, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/strawberry-margarita-recipe/index.html

Gouda Apple Chicken Sausage with Garlic Alfredo Pipette

So I don't often use a lot of pre-made stuff but I stumbled across Chicken Apple Gouda Sausages by Johnsonville and I bought a pack with a coupon.  Let me tell you, I'm hooked, they taste great and aren't that bad for you (relatively in the sausage world)!  I also don't eat a lot of pasta, simply because I'm not a fan of tomato sauce and alfredo sauce isn't that great for you.  But I had just gotten home from a workout; I was sweaty, cold, hungry and craving something warm and filling.  Rooting through my cabinets I found some pasta and some Garlic Alfredo sauce and decided that I really, really wanted pasta.  I cooked about 2 cups of pasta, splitting it in half for dinner and lunch.  Let me tell you, this is something I'll be making again soon!  Delicious!

Pipette pasta or something else that holds sauce well
Johnsonville Chicken Apple Gouda Sausage, sliced thin on a diagonal
Garlic Alfredo sauce
Parmesan Cheese

Bring a  large pan of water with salt in it to a boil.  Add pasta, I used about 2 cups of Pipette.  Cook this for 8 to 9 minutes or until al dente.  In a separate skillet, saute the Chicken Sausage until it's light brown on both sides.  Drain the pasta and add back to the hot pan, setting it back on the hot burner, but make sure the burner is off.  The residual heat from the pan and burner will finish drying the pasta and heat the cold sauce.  Add a quarter cup of the Garlic Alfredo sauce and the sauce back to the pot.  Serve piping hot and garnish with a pit of Parmesan Cheese. Enjoy!

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

I was bored one night and decided that I wanted to bring blueberry muffins into work the next morning.  Not really knowing if I had all the ingredients I decided to make do with what I had in the refrigerator.  This was the recipe that I used, but I didn't have vanilla honey Greek yogurt, so I substituted it with buttermilk and vanilla.  They were fluffy, delicious and absolutely wonderful!  The lemon flavor really made the blueberries pop!  Give these a try if you're in the mood for soft, tasty and moist lemon blueberry muffins
Lemon Blueberry Muffins
1/3 cup of milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 container of vanilla honey Greek yogurt   (I used 1 cup of milk and 1 Tbsp of lemon juice, combine, let sit for a few minutes and it turns into buttermilk.  I also added a teaspoon of vanilla for extra taste)
1 egg  
1 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp grated lemon peel
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Glaze
1 cup powered sugar
1 to 3 Tbsp of lemon juice

Heat oven to 400ºF. Grease bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffins cups.  I promise they won't stick, just spray the bottoms well!  (don't spray the sides or the muffins won't climb up the sides and they'll be short and dense). 
In large bowl, beat milk, oil, yogurt (or buttermilk) and egg using wire whisk or fork. Stir in remaining ingredients except blueberries, until flour is moistened. Coat blueberries with a smart amount of flour so they don't sink straight to the bottom.  Gently stir in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.  Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan.
Mix the glaze together, making it as thick or thin (using the lemon juice) as you desire.  Drizzle the glaze over the muffins and then sprinkle with powdered sugar. 
Enjoy! 

This recipe is from the Betty Crocker Website with some modifications...  Betty Crocker Lemon Blueberry muffins

Peach and Blueberry Oatmeal Bake

Oatmeal is probably one of my favorite breakfast foods.  I especially love it when it's cold outside and wind is whipping past my window and I'm warm and cozy inside.  This scenario happens every morning in the winter while I'm at work; after my cold dash from my car to work, I just want something warm and filling.  This Peach and Blueberry Oatmeal Bake caught my eye in my Healthy Cooking magazine and I decided to give it a shot.  I added some brown sugar and wheat germ to this recipe, which just adds some more nutrition and texture. 

Peach and Blueberry Oatmeal Bake
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 can sliced peaches, drained and chopped
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/3 cup walnuts (I used almonds)
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, mix the oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Whisk the egg whites, egg, milk, canola oil, and vanilla.  Then add to the dry ingredients and stir until blended.  Let it sit for 5 minutes so the liquid can start to absorb.  After the five minutes has elapsed, add the chopped peaches and the blueberries. 
Pour into a 9x13 inch pan that is well greased or a 11x7 inch pan.  Sprinkle with the walnuts. Bake, uncovered for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees until the top is lightly browned.  Serve with additional milk if you prefer!  Delicious and filling

Accoring to Healthy Cooking magazine nutritional facts: 277 calories without additional milk, 11g fat, 1g saturated fat, 24mg cholestoral, 263mg sodium, 38g carbohydrates, 3g fiber, 8g protein.
1/2 tsp salt

Granola Fruit Bars

The warm smell of the almonds and oatmeal roasting in my oven this morning made the whole house smell warm and cosy as I sipped my coffee on the couch.  Once the granola bars were in the oven, the brown sugar and cinnamon combined for a truly homey feeling.  After some cooling time, the crunch of the oatmeal and almonds combined with the coconut, apples, craisins and sunflower kernels made for a perfect breakfast meal. 
I make breakfast for the week on Sundays because I work four mornings a week at 6:00am and I believe that breakfast is the most crucial part of the day.   I've made Brown Sugar Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal (I'll include the recipe later) and Peach Blueberry Oatmeal Bake, but this week I was craving something crunchy for breakfast.  I decided that Granola Fruit Bars would be ideal.  This recipe was modified from Healthy Cooking magazine, but with the addition of some salt and extra vanilla, the taste and crunch are great! 

Granola Fruit Bars
3 1/2 cups of quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup of wheat germ (optional)
1 cup chopped almonds (I used sliced almonds)
1 slightly beaten egg
2/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup salted sunflower kernels
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup chopped dried apples
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine the almonds, wheat germ, and oats on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 5 minutes intervals for 15 minutes, making sure to stir them so they don't burn.  They'll start to smell amazing about 10 minutes into the cooking process and the almonds with start to turn brown, just make sure that they don't burn.
In a separate bowl, combine the beaten egg, melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, honey and vanilla in a bowl.  Let this sit while you combine the dried fruits in another bowl. 
Once the oats, wheat germ and almonds are done, gently dump them into the liquid mixture and add the dried fruit.  Stir with a spatula until every piece is coated with the liquid mixture. 
Re-coat the cookie sheet that you roasted the almonds and oatmeal on with cooking spray.  Pour the granola mixture onto the cookie sheet and even it out.  Then bake it in the oven for 13-15 minutes or until the edges turn light brown.  Let cool on a wire rack and then slice into bars and store in an airtight container.

These are super tasty and I really enjoyed one with my coffee this morning.  Granola bars like this make me look forward to working tomorrow morning. 

According the Healthy Cooking magazine one bar is: 130 calories, 7g fat, 13g saturated fat, 15mg cholesterol, 40mg of sodium, 16g carbohydrates, 2g fiber, 2g protein

Shrimp Scampi and Bacon Ranch Mashed Potatoes

We have a family tradition on New Year's Eve night.  Before my brother and I head out for the night, we have a shrimp dinner.  Normally it's boiled shrimp, mashed potatoes and a vegetable.  This year was no exception and I felt that the leftovers needed some excitement. So tonight I decided to make dinner with the leftovers and I made Shrimp Scampi with Bacon Ranch Mashed Potatoes. 
 I forgot to take pictures of these two recipes, but when I make them again sometime I'll add the photos, sorry!

Here is the recipe though:
 
Shrimp Scampi
4 Tablespoons of butter, use real butter
1 pound of boiled, de-tailed shrimp
4 cloves of minced garlic

In a skillet, melt the butter and add the minced garlic.  Don't let it burn.  When you start to smell the garlic, add the shrimp to the skillet.  Stir and saute for about three minutes total.  Since the shrimp are already cooked, they just need to get hot and covered in butter.  Serve over rice or with the Bacon Ranch Mashed Potatoes.

Bacon Ranch Mashed Potatoes

10 large Russet Potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 pound of Bacon, cooked until crunchy
2 Tablespoon of Ranch Dry Dressing Mix
4 Tablespoons of butter
1/2 to 3/4 cup of milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes.  Add the potatoes to water with salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  Boil the potatoes until a fork can be inserted in them easily.
While the potatoes are boiling, stretch the bacon out on a grill pan and place in the oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees until crispy. Drain and let cool.

 Drain the potatoes and add them back to the pan.  Add the butter and milk to the potatoes and mix with either an electric mixer or hand mash (depending on how lumpy you want them.  I like mine smooth, so I use a mixer).  Add as much milk as needed, you will be able to tell by how easily the potatoes mix.  Not enough milk and they won't come together. 

Once the potatoes are ready, add the dry Ranch Dressing mix (you could also use Ranch dressing, just use less milk) and crumble the bacon into the potatoes.  Put the mixture into an oven proof pan, add Cheddar Cheese to the top and bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is bubbly.  Serve hot and enjoy!

Chocolate Commotion Bars

When my friends and I get together there is never a dull moment!  My group of friends in Ohio have a patio party twice a year, once in the summer (where we actually party on the patio) and once around Christmas where we party inside.  This past Christmas we held our first annual Christmas Patio Party Dinner and my contribution was Chocolate Commotion Bars.  I felt these were appropriate since it's always loud, drinks flow freely and are often invented on the spot (hello grasshopper's , lawnmower's,  whoo whoo's and chocolate wow's).
I had made these for a friend's going away party the week before and decided that I needed to change some things.  I personally thought there was too much peanut butter, so I changed the amount and the result was perfect!  Super sweet, gooey and mouth watering, they were a huge hit!  I will warn you, the cooking is super quick, but it needs to cool in between or else you end up with a mess.  Follow the instructions and it ends up as beautiful as the picture. 

Chocolate Commotion Bars

Cooking spray
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
3/4 cup butter, divided
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream, divided
1 1/2 cups marshmallow cream
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 cups salted peanuts, finely chopped
1 (14 oz.) package caramels, unwrapped or the new caramel bits
1/4 cup butterscotch chips


Heat oven to 350°F. Coat 13x9-inch baking pan lightly with no-stick cooking spray.
Melt 2 cups chocolate chips and 1/2 cup butter in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Stir in flour. Spread in prepared pan. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until set. Cool.
Melt 1/4 cup butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in sugar and 1/4 cup cream. Boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in marshmallow cream. Spread evenly over baked layer. Cool.
Cook caramels and 1/4 cup cream in small saucepan over low heat, stirring until caramels are melted. Spread over marshmallow layer. Cool until set.
Combine 1 cup chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, chopped peanuts and 3/4 cup peanut butter in small saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Spread over caramel layer. Chill 30 minutes or until set.

These are hard to cut, but oh so good! 
Refrigerate any leftovers or they slide and don't look as pretty.

Original Recipe:   http://www.eaglebrand.com/recipes/details/?RecipeId=4461&categoryIndex=9

Red Velvet Cake...

In my mind, once December arrives, cooking and baking should commence with a vengeance.  Unfortunately, December also brings about finals week and throws my entire life into chaos.  This is the reason that it has taken me so long to catch up on all the things I have baked/cooked in the last month. 
My brother is also fortunate that his birthday is December 16th, so he often gets me at my cooking best.  Sadly, by the time we got around to celebrating his birthday, I was not in the mood to follow anymore directions, not even a recipe!  Although my cake was tasty; I failed to follow the directions perfectly and wound up with a really, really dense but delicious brick!  The icing for this cake is absolutely divine; I think that it would also taste great on a Devil's Food cake.  Give it a shot, but just make sure to read first and not assume. 

Red Velvet Cake (From Paula Deen and the Food Network)

2 cups sugar

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

2 eggs

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 ounces red food coloring (I only added 1 oz because sometimes this ingredient causes me to get migraines, so for safety's sake, I limited it)

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk (You can make this with a cup of milk and a tablespoon of vinegar, mix and let sit for a few minutes)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon vinegar

Icing

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese

1 stick butter, softened

1 cup melted marshmallows

1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar

Once you frost it, you can sprinkle on toasted coconut and pecans if you desire

To make the cake:

In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and then add to sugar mixture; mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture.  (This is where I chose to ignore the instructions and the reason my cake is so dense!!!!) Pour batter into 2  round greased and floured pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from heat and cool completely before frosting.

To make the icing:

Take half the stick of butter and melt in a saucepan over low on the stove.  Add the cup of marshmellows and melt until a liquid.  Pour warm marshmellow butter liquid over the other half of the stick of butter in a mixing bowl and mix in the box of confectioner's sugar.  Mix this with an electric mixer and then put into a cool place, like the refrigerator, so the mixture can solidify a bit.  Frost the cake once it is cool and enjoy! 

The Paula Deen Link:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/grandmother-pauls-red-velvet-cake-recipe/index.html

Sugarless Refrigerator Coconut Cookies

These cookies were the second type of sugarless cookies I made for grandma .  These were by far the best of the sugarless cookies, because I love coconut.  Instead of dates, I used chopped apricots and they were tasty.  They still bread-like consistency, so tea, coffee, or hot chocolate are still a must. 

1 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter
1 egg
1 c. sweetened coconut
1 c. chopped nuts
1 c. chopped dates ( I used chopped apricots)

Cream butter, eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix well. Add dates, coconut and nuts. Roll 2" in waxed paper. Refrigerate 1 to 7 days. Cut about 3/8". Makes 2 1/2 dozen. Bake in 350 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

 

Sugarless Orange Drop Cookies

My grandma has a huge sweet tooth; unfortunately, her sugar counts have been really high in the past and Christmas goodies pose a huge temptation for her.  Her husband, my grandpa, craves sugar and it is a major food group for him.  At Thanksgiving, I showed my grandfather my blog and he made a comment about how good the molasses cookies looked.  So I decided to surprise him with the molasses cookies and some ginger snap cookies.  I didn't want grandma to feel left out, so I found some sugar free cookies for her.  I'll be honest, the taste was great, but they didn't have the same softness and moistness that cookies with sugar have.  They have more of a bread-like texture to them  They are amazing with a cup of tea, coffee or hot cocoa, but rather dry without something to sip on.  However, beggers can't be choosers and she was thrilled with them.  So if you have someone who needs less sugar in their life, give these a shot, just give them some tea bags, ground coffee or a packet hot cocoa to go with them. 

Sugarless Orange Drop Cookies

1/2 c. soft butter
1 egg

8 packets of Equal
1/2 c. orange juice
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. raisins (instead of raisins I added chopped prunes that I had soaked in orange juice)

 

Mix butter, egg and orange juice. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nuts and raisins. Drop by teaspoons onto cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

 

Two cookies are 60 calories!

Homemade Doughnuts with a Vanilla Glaze

My brother came home from New Orleans on the 23rd and had been craving doughnuts.  After bugging my grandmother and my mother for days, I finally decided to put an end to the commotion and just make doughnuts.  I hate actually frying anything because I always end up burning myself badly.  So it was with dread that I started this task.  I like cake type doughnuts, but everyone else likes raised, so raised won out. 

The morning I started these we had an old farmer family friend who stopped by to catch up and gossip.  It was the day after Christmas and I was elbow deep in doughnut batter.  He told me he was surprised I was cooking the day AFTER Christmas, he said most people would be happy to live off the leftovers.  I just smiled and told him that I loved to bake and cook and if he stuck around he could take a few home.  Several hours later, he left with about ten doughnuts. 
So this is a Food Network recipe that I added some vanilla and a touch more flour too.  They are moist, delicious and easy-to-make.  Give them a shot when you're craving doughnuts with your coffee.  They aren't too sweet, but next time I make them, I'm going to dip them in a Chocolate Covering.  Here's the recipe :

1 cup milk

1/4 cup water, lukewarm

1 package dry active yeast

1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup sugar

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted

3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 egg, well beaten

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Vegetable for frying

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons of water

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Mix together, it should be fairly thick

 

A doughnut cutter made this super simple, but a large round cookie cutter and a smaller round cookie cutter will work to make the doughnuts and the holes.

 

  Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium-heat. When the milk reaches a simmer pour it into a mixing bowl and allow it to cool.Meanwhile, measure 1/4 cup of lukewarm water into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast into the water then let the mixture stand until the yeast dissolves, about 7 minutes. Stir the yeast mixture into the milk along with 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Mix in 1 1/2 cups of the flour (by hand or with an electric mixer) then cover the dough starter with a clean towel and set it aside to rise and rest in a warm place for 1 hour.
When the dough has relaxed, cream the butter with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Beat the butter mixture into the dough a little at a time. Mix in the egg and salt then mix in the remaining 3 cups flour. I had to add a touch more flour to make it workable.  Use your best judgement. Work the dough until it is smooth then place it in a well-greased bowl. Cover again with a clean towel and set aside in a warm place until doubled in bulk, at least one hour.
Turn the dough out onto floured board and roll it out about 1/2-inch thick. Using a floured doughnut cutter, cut out the doughnuts. Transfer the doughnuts to a clean floured board or baking sheet. Cover once again with a clean towel, and set aside to rise until doubled.
Heat about 2 inches of oil in a deep pot over medium-high heat until the oil reaches 375 degrees F. Working in batches of 2 or 3, fry the doughnuts until they float. Once they bob to the surface of the oil, carefully flip them over. Continue cooking, turning as necessary, until the doughnuts are uniformly golden-brown. Transfer the cooked doughnuts to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. While the doughnuts are still warm, dip 1 side of each into the glaze then set aside to cool until the glaze firms.




Serve warm or at room temperature.