Salsa Verde Enchiladas

Ok, so I take no credit for these. I got these, again, from my mother-in-law, who got them from a neighbor. But they are so easy and so good that they deserve another shout out. Plus, the blog needed something! My oldest son started kindergarten, which I didn't realize would take over my life, and then I've battled a not so awesome three + months of pregnancy which has made trying new recipes not a great idea.

So I'm passing along one of our go-tos! Give it a try and let me know what you think.

http://afoodieinutah.blogspot.com/2010/11/salsa-verde-chicken-enchiladas.html

I have found that the brand of salsa makes a big difference. Not a better/worse, but you'll need to decide what you like!

Serve with this...

http://afoodieinutah.blogspot.com/2010/08/cilantro-lime-rice.html

or a packet of Lipton Rice- Taco flavor! SO GOOD!

Lemon Pork Chops

So I can't tell if this is blurry or not, but this is a picture of a picture. I definitely don't take credit for the fancy layout they've done here. This is from some recipe cards I got in the mail and some of them have turned out to be really quite good.

This one, for example, is one of our new favorites! It throws together quickly and it has simple ingredients. The last time I made it, I new I'd be busy all day, so I floured the pork and mixed up my sauce and put it in the fridge first thing in the morning. Twenty minutes before we wanted to eat, I threw it on. So great! And it's a quick stove-top of skillet recipe, another awesome bonus in the summer time.

Recipe:
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 lbs boneless pork chops (thin ones, about 1/8" thick)
2 T butter
2 T oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, minced
1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
1 T grated lemon zest

Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Coat the pork with the flour.

Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Saute the onion and garlic lightly. Add the pork in batches until browned on both sides and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the pork to a plate and keep warm with foil.

Add the broth, lemon juice and zest. Stir until the liquid thickens to make the sauce. (I usually have to add a bit more flour here)

Place pork on serving plate and pour sauce over the pork. Serve immediately.

***My kids ate this really well, but they thought it was a bit lemony. So the second time I made it, I kept the sauce on the side and used it as a dip, so you could add as much as you wanted.
***I like things saucy. So I doubled the sauce and then I had plenty to use with these potatoes that I served with it.

Hope you like it!

My New Favorite

So we've been in a major boring cycle of eating the same things over and over that are easy and stuff I don't have to think to much about. But in the mix of those, we've been eating THIS a lot. My mother-in-law tried it and I fell in love and now we make it all the time.

On her link it shows the stove top way. I've made it in the crock pot and it works out just fine as long as you have that extra cup of water with the juices for the last few steps.

Give this one a try and don't forget the queso fresco!

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

I got this recipe from my really great friend, Whitney. We've loved it and it's one of those fun ones you can make with whatever you want. This is the vegetarian version, but it would be good with some seasoned ground beef or shredded chicken. It goes together fairly quickly and has lots of great flavor. We served ours with some fresh guacamole, but you could top it with anything.

Recipe:
4 flour tortillas
1 jalepeno- minced (for less heat, take out ribs and seeds)
1/2 onion- diced
2 garlic cloves- minced
1/2 tsp cumin
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed (we used one black, one red- it added good color)
1 1/2 c water
1 can corn-drained
2 1/2 c cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 9" pie pan. Heat 2 T oil in skillet. Add onion, jalepeno, garlic and cumin. Season with a little salt and pepper, cooking til onion and pepper are soft. Add beans and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until almost all the water is absorbed and then stir in the corn. Remove from heat. Layer in you pie pan, tortilla, 1/4 of the bean mixture, then cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Bake for 20-25 min, until heated through and cheese is melted. Serve sliced into wedges with whatever you want!

You can make this in the morning and refrigerate until ready to cook. Just add 5 minutes to cooking time. Great if dinner time is always busy time!

Spicy Black Bean Enchiladas

This is a pretty quick and easy enchilada recipe. I've tweaked a few things to make it a little more our style.
Recipe:
8 flour tortillas *I highly recommend the uncooked tortillas*
2 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 pkg enchilada seasoning
2/3 c water (this wasn't quite enough, I think I'd go closer to 3/4)
1 10 oz can enchilada seasoning- we like medium, if you can handle the heat!
1 c sour cream
shredded cheese- the pepper jack I used turned out really good, but use whatever you have or like

In skillet, mix water and seasoning packet, then stir in the beans. Let that simmer til the sauce thickens and beans are tender. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of sour cream.
Assemble the enchiladas by spreading 2 T enchilada sauce on the tortilla, 1/4 c bean mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Roll and put in greased 9x13, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining 7 tortillas. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top of rolled tortillas.
Cover and bake for 15 minutes at 375. Uncover and sprinkle the top with cheese, bake an additional 5 minutes. Serve with remaining sour cream.

**This is a great dish to make ahead and then refrigerate until you are ready to eat. Just add an additional 10 minutes of baking time to warm through!

Pasta and Alfredo Casserole Style

You can't really call this fettucine alfredo, because I wouldn't use fettucine. Besides that noodles are hard for kids, a noodle isn't great for this dish.

Kev's grandma was making this one day when I went over to cut hair. She was just sort of inventing it as she went along and I took the idea and tried it out too. It turned out pretty good and the kids seem to like it too, which is always a bonus.

I've tried all sorts of sauces and all work, but so far, homemade is my favorite. I really like this one by Shirley J, but you have to have their universal mix. So any recipe you have will work, and you can do jar alfredo, it just isn't quite as good.

Boil pasta, but make sure it isn't too soft. Then mix with sauce. I like to add chopped canadian bacon or ham, and crumbled bacon would be great too. You could also throw veggies in. I was going to add small pieces of cauliflower, so the kids couldn't tell, but so they'd get some vegetable nutrition, but that will have to be next time.

Put what you've combined into a 9x13 and then I top mine with seasoned bread crumbs. You could also just grate fresh parmesan on top, or both. Bake for 20 or so minutes at 350.

I like to make this early in the day and then put it in my fridge until dinner time. If you do this, bake it for closer to 35-40 minutes. You can also eat it without baking. We've done that and it is really good and creamy.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Kev's grandma made this for us one Sunday dinner, and it was divine. The kids devoured it, okay, except the green pepper, who are we kidding. But I've been making it since then and it is one of our favorites. I usually make it in the morning when the kids are happy and the baby is napping and then keep it in the fridge until it's time to bake it.

Here are my chicken tenders all breaded and browned, although the lighting isn't helping much.

Slice a green pepper, open a can of pineapple slices and layer with the chicken.

Mix up the sauce and boil until it thickens up a bit. Then pour it over the chicken layered in the pan and bake it.


Serve over rice.

Mmmm.

Recipe:

5-6 chicken breasts, or tenders (a few more of those)

1/3 c oil

1/2 c flour

salt and pepper and season salt

Heat oil in frying pan. Coat chicken in flour, shaking off any excess, then season with salt and pepper and season salt. Brown both sides in oil.

1 16oz can of pineapple slices

1 green pepper, sliced thinly, reserving juice

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Sauce:

1 1/4 c pineapple juice, adding water if you don't have quite enough

1 c sugar

3/4 c cider vinegar

1 T soy sauce

1 tsp chicken bouillon or base

2 T cornstarch

Mix sugar and cornstarch in saucepan, then add other ingredients. Bring to a boil stirring constantly until thickened.

Layer in 9x13 chicken, green pepper slice and pineapple slice. Repeat. Pour sauce over the top and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. If you use tenders they will cook quite a bit while browning, so you will only need 1/2 hour or til chicken is cooked through.

Serve over rice.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Since I decided to start this blog on an impulse, the first few posts will just be what was already on the menu.

This one is actually from The Pioneer Woman. To get her full post and instructions, which is quite detailed, click here.



I boil my noodles first and then while they are in the strainer, I use the same pan to make the sauce. Anything that makes clean-up faster, makes me happy. Since this is Macaroni and Cheese, the recipe calls for macaroni, but my boys get to pick whatever pasta shape looks the most exciting to them. Today it was rotini.


This is the started sauce. I added a bit of ground red pepper for a kick, and I think next time I'll add a bit more. Also, the original recipe calls for whole milk, which I am sure adds to the creaminess, but for the health factor, we use skim, and it seems to taste just fine.

Here's the tempering of the egg, which you will want to do. I wouldn't think scrambled eggs would compliment this dish much.

After the sauce is thickened, carefully add the noodles back into the sauce, or like I did, you'll drop some onto the floor, then step on one. Ty, my four year old, quickly reminded me that the recipe didn't say to put a noodle on my shoe. Thanks. I top my finished meal with seasoned bread crumbs and then put it in the oven to give it the baked taste and texture. If you are lucky, you'll have time to color a few pages with some cute kids while it bakes. That always makes waiting a bit easier.

For full recipe, follow the link at the beginning of the post. Enjoy!