Chicken Enchiladas

I love enchiladas because you can add so many odds and ends to them. It is a great time to try new things in them. This is great for the family when you go out of town because you can freeze it and bake later. Im making this for a family who just had a baby. Im taking it uncooked and they can cook it whenever they are ready for dinner. This is one of Daves favorites. I make it half corn and half flour tortilla for us because thats how we like it.
Here is my basic recipie that I use.

Prep: 25 min
Cook Time: 30-40 min
Serves: 6

2 cups shredded chicken
1 pkg of Toco seasoning
1 15 oz. can beans drained ( i like black)
1 10.5 oz. can cream of chicken
1 3.5 oz green chiles diced or about 1/4 cup
1 14 oz of diced tomatos (drained)
1 cup of grated cheese (any kind you have)
10 - 20 corn tortillas or you can use flour if you like it softer.

Cook chiken on the stove with water till cooked. Using 2 forks shred the chicken into bite sized chunks. Add Toco seasoning and let it simmer in some water for about 3 min. To the pan on the stove add beans, cream of chicken, chiles, tomatos (drained) and 1/2 cup cheese. Preheat oven to 425*. In a 9x9 pan spoon some of the mixture on the bottom to coat. (Caserole version follows, start from here) Heat up the corn tortillas so that they are soft and wont break when rolled. you can do this in the microwave on a plate with a damp paper towel on top of stack of tortillas for about 1 min or so. Using a hand towel, (to keep your hand protected from hot ingredients) place warm tortilla on towel and spoon mixture into center of tortilla, about a little less than 1/4 cup. Roll the tortilla up and place in pan. Repeat until pan is full. I usually stuff it. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake for about 30-40 min or until the cheese is melted and golden brown. You can also do a caserole version of this.
Caserole instructions:
Cut Tortilas up like a pie so you have triangles. Spoon some mixture on bottom of the pan to cover. Place cut tortillas in pan overlaping. cover with 1/4 mixture. Repeat 3 more times. Sprinkle with cheese and bake the same.

Breakfast Casserole

This was the recipe I used for Emily's baby shower on May 24. Let's just say I ate like half of it myself... It's really similar to Heather's quiche (posted May 14).

It's a really easy one because you can just make it however you like it. I use bacon with a mixture of mozzarella, mild cheddar, and colby jack cheese. I think next time I'll add it some mushrooms too.
Breakfast Casserole

Serves: 8-10
Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 large (30 oz) bag of frozen hashbrowns (shredded potatoes)
1 cup butter
4 cups cheese (any combination)
1 lb. (2 cups) bacon or sausage
6 eggs
2 cups half & half
1 tsp salt

Directions:

Thaw hashbrowns and pack into the bottom of a 9x13 pan (make like a crust). Melt 1 cup butter and pour over the top of hashbrowns. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. While the cust is baking, cook the meat. Drain excess grease, and mix with the 4 cups of cheese. Put meat and sasage mixture over the cooked hashbrowns crust. Whisk the half & Half, eggs, and salt together. Pour over the entire casserole. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until the casserole looks set and starts to brown.

Cheezy Chicken and Broccoli Calzones

Serves: 4
Time: 20 min

"This is so Blog-worthy" "I could eat this everyday!" "We should make these to impress our friends." "Everytime you make this meal it is good for 3 free footrubs." These are just a few of the things that Dave said about this meal. And it is so quick and easy to do!

2 (13 oz) pakages of pizza dough

2 cups cooked and cubed chicken

1 cup chopped broccoli

1 cup shreded cheddar cheese

1 can cream of chicken

2 garlic cloves minced

Cornmeal

Preheat oven to 425*. Cook and cube chicken (I cooked mine in the microwave for 10 min from frozen.) In a bowl mix all ingredents (not dough). Separate pizza dough into 4 eaqual parts. Roll out to make 4, 8" circles. On a cookie sheet lined with tin foil (for easy clean up) and sprinkle cormeal around sheet. Fold each circle in half and transfer to sheet. Open each and fill with 1/4 of mixture in center and away from edges of dough. Fold each in half again and pinch around edges to seal. Bake in oven for 10 min or until crust is a nice golden brown. Serve hot.

King Ranch Chicken

I've made this recipe for baby showers and other get-togethers and it always seems to be a big hit. My kids love this easy meal and it's one of our family's favorite dish. Sorry, I can't give the prep time, etc. I suppose it all depends on how fast you want to prep and cook it.

Ingredients:

¼ c. margarine or butter

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup

1 can (10 oz.) RO*TEL Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies (hot or mild), undrained

2 c. cubed cooked chicken

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

tortilla chips

Toppings:

sour cream, shredded cheese, sliced olives

Directions:

Sautee onions and pepper in margarine, for about 5 minutes. Add soups, RO*TEL, chicken and cheese, stirring until well blended over medium heat. Heat until bubbling. Serve over tortilla chips, topped with sour cream, shredded cheese and olives (and anything else you'd like to add). Serves 8.

** FYI: I prefer to make this recipe in a crockpot. After the onions and peppers are sauteed in a pan, I transfer them into a crockpot and add the remainder of the ingredients, stirring until well blended. Heat on low or medium setting until bubbly. Serve with toppings. Best when it's served warm. There's also a baked casserole version of this recipe at: www.ro-tel.com. Enjoy!!! :)

English Muffin Pizza

1 pkg Thomas English Muffins
1 jar pizza sauce
8 oz Mozzarella cheese


Split the English muffins put 1-2 tsp sauce on each halve and sprinkle cheese. You can add any type of topping. I usually put pepperoni on for the kids and make mine with olives. Sometimes I like to add pineapple. Heat the oven to 350 and cook until the cheese is melted.

For a healthier version, i use the Light English muffins or the ones that have double fiber. Also instead of pepperoni, I sometimes get the turkey pepperoni. As for cheese I have use the fat free shredded but it doesn't melt very well.

More Spinach Salads

Crunchy Spinach Salad

1 package fresh spinach
½ head purple cabbage (sliced into thin strips)
½ cup toasted slivered almonds
1 package Sun maid dried fruit bits (Next to raisins)

Dressing:
¼ c. sugar
½ c. vegetable oil
¾ tsp. salt
1 ½ tbs. dry minced onion
¼ cup vinegar
¾ tsp. dry mustard
½ tsp. celery seed
Combine dressing ingredients in a jar. Cover tightly. Shake vigorously. Chill several hours. Shake again before serving over salad. Serves 6-8.

Spinach Salad #2

Dressing:
3 Tbl cider vinegar
3 Tbl Honey
6 Tbl Mayonnaise
1 Tbl. Dijon Mustard
1 Tbl. Finely minced onion
1.5 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
pinch of salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Heat vinegar & honey until honey dissolves
2. Pour into bowl and cool
3. whisk in mayo. must, onion, parsley, and salt.
Gradually whisk in oil Makes 1.5 c- can be prepared 3 days
ahead. cover and Refrigerate.

Salad:
Baby spinach Red Onion
mushrooms Strawberries
Craisins Pine Nuts
bacon-crumbled
Swiss cheese
*Obviously you can substitute with whatever toppings

Hashbrown Quiche

I was making Shelleys coconut cookies and accidentally used the whole egg instead of just the egg whites. I didnt want to waste 4 good eggs so I thougt we would have breakfast for dinner tonight. This is what I came up with. It turned out pretty good.

Serves: Makes a 9 in quiche
Time: 1 hr 20 min

Crust:
3 c hashbrowns (I use frozen)
1/4 c butter
salt

Fill a pie pan with hashbrowns and arrange around pan and up the sides to make crust. drizzle butter all around and bake for 40 min at 450 degrees. Or until it is light brown on sides and cooked on bottom

Filling:
8 eggs
1/4 c milk
1/2 cup chopped onions (green would be good too)
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/2 c frozen corn
1/2 c chopped spinich
1/2 c grated cheddar chese (any cheese will do)
salt and pepper
add any spices or herbs you like

Reduce oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs. Add milk and cheese, mix. Add salt and pepper to taste and any spices or herbs. Pour all other ingredients over crust. Pour egg mixture over that. Bake for 40 min or until eggs are solid in center and puffed up. Let cool for a few minutes and serve. Garnish with sour cream.

Strawberry Spinich Salad

Serves: 4
Time: 5 min

1 bag spinich (6 oz)
2 c sliced strawberries
1/2 c fetta cheese crumbled
Newman's Own Raspberry & Walnut Dressing
1 c Thick sliced deli turkey crumbled or cubed (optional)(good without but with its a meal)

Mix Spinich and strawberries together in a bowl. Sprinkle with fetta and turkey and serve with raspberry dressing. So good! I can eat all of this for lunch.

Fleming's Potatoes

Serves: 6-8

Time: 1 hour (including prep)

These are the best potatoes in the world! This is like the recipe from Dan and my fav restaurant called Flemings.

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse Potatoes

1-1/2 C. heavy cream
1 C. half-and-half
2 t. salt
2 t. black pepper, finely ground
1 small jalapeño
3 oz. leeks
3 C. cheddar cheese, grated
4 lbs. russet potatoes

Heat cream and half-and-half in large sauce pot on medium high heat to simmer. Add salt and black pepper. Finely dice the jalapeño. Cut off ends of leeks, clean them and dice only the bottom 3 inches of leek into 1/2-inch dice. Place jalapeños and leeks in a large mixing bowl. When cream is hot, remove from heat, add cheddar cheese and blend in thoroughly. Peel potatoes and slice into 1/4-inch-thick circles on a mandoline slicer, by hand or with the slicing blade of a food processor. (these potatoes are sliced like scalloped or au gratin potatoes would be) Combine potatoes and cream mixture in mixing bowl with leeks and jalapeño and mix well. Spray sides and bottom of a 9 x 12-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place potato mixture in pan and evenly distribute the potatoes. Cover with plastic wrap and then with aluminum foil (the plastic wrap melted on me but I think it was because I needed to cover it bettter with the aluminum foil but if you can try to find oven safe plastic wrap because it is necessary to keep the moisture in). Bake in 350°F. oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove wrap and foil and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes to brown top.

Cheddar Bread Bowls for Your Fav Chili

Serves: 4

Time: 20 min

Cheddar Bread Bowls

These bread bowls are so easy and I just serve them with my favorite chili that I like to make.

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

1pound fresh or frozen pizza dough, thawed according to package directions. ( I buy made pizza dough from the store but you could make it very easiliy)

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar

Directions:

Divide dough into 4 equal parts and roll each portion into a ball. Place balls on prepared baking sheet, top with shredded cheese and bake for 15 min. (I had to bake for like 20-25 min, depends on oven I guess. But, just so that they are nice and golden and the cheese is crispy and golden). Remove from oven and when cool enough to handle, cut a small portion from the top of each ball like you would cut a pumkin top off. Spoon your favorite homemade chili into bowl ..top it and enjoy.