Chicken Enchilada Pasta

This was a Pinterest find that, admittedly, looks pretty weird.  But, trust me, it is SO GOOD!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded {or shredded rotisserie chicken…I used the breasts}

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 {4 oz.} can diced green chiles

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

2 {10 oz.} cans green chili enchilada sauce

2/3 cups red enchilada sauce

2 cups shredded "mexican" cheese

1 cup sour cream

1 lb. Penne pasta

Toppings: Avocado, Green Onions, Black Olives, Tomatoes, Sour Cream

1. Cook chicken, drain, and shred {or shred your rotisserie}.  Meanwhile boil pasta according to package and chop the veggies.
2. Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet and cook onions for about 3-5 minutes.  Add garlic & red pepper and cook for another 3-5 minutes.  Add cooked chicken, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt, & enchilada sauces.  Let sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes.
3. Add cheese and stir until the cheese is melted and heated through.  Now toss in the sour cream and cook on low heat or the sour cream will curdle.  Stir until sour cream is well mixed and heated through.
4. Drain pasta & return to pot.  Pour sauce over pasta and mix well.  Serve and garnish with avocado, tomato, green onion, and a dollop of sour cream.

**I also successfully froze half this recipe (it makes a lot!) and it was just as good the second time around!  Just make sure to cook your pasta al dente so it isn't too soggy.**

Amy's Barbecue Chicken Salad

• Amy's Barbecue Chicken Salad
• 
  
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 head red leaf lettuce, rinsed and torn
• 1 head green leaf lettuce, rinsed and torn
• 1 fresh tomato, chopped
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1 (2.8 ounce) can French fried onions
• 1/2 cup Ranch dressing
• 1/2 cup barbeque sauce

Directions

1. Preheat the grill for high heat.
2. Lightly oil the grill grate. Place chicken on the grill, and cook 6 minutes per side, or until juices run clear. Remove from heat, cool, and slice.
3. In a large bowl, mix the red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, tomato, cilantro, corn, and black beans. Top with the grilled chicken slices and French fried onions.
4. In a small bowl, mix the Ranch dressing and barbeque sauce. Serve on the side as a dipping sauce, or toss with the salad to coat.

Beef Stew and Brown Bread, Yum!

We have had such warm weather that I really haven't been tempted to make delicious warm meals like this, but I thought I'd post anyway for all of my Northern family and friends who can enjoy this on a cold, snowy night. I will warn you that the bread in particular makes a LOT, but it freezes beautifully, so go ahead and make it according to the directions and you'll have it ready to go for a few more meals! 


Kyle's Favorite Beef Stew
(from allrecipes.com)

• 3 pounds cubed beef stew meat
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 4 large potatoes, cubed
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 (1 ounce) envelopes onion soup mix
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 large onions, quartered
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/2 cup burgundy wine
• 2 (6 ounce) packages fresh button mushrooms, halved
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

1. Toss the beef, flour, and salt in a sealable bag until the beef is coated.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Combine the beef and Worcestershire sauce in the skillet; cook until the beef is evenly browned on all sides; transfer to a slow cooker, but do not clean the skillet. Add the carrots, potatoes, parsley, and pepper to the slow cooker.
3. Combine the boiling water and soup mix in a small bowl; add to slow cooker.
4. Melt the butter in the skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the melted butter until soft; transfer the onion and garlic to the slow cooker and return the skillet to the heat. Combine the wine and mushrooms to the skillet; cook until the mushrooms begin to absorb the wine; pour the mixture into the slow cooker.
5. Place the cover on the slow cooker and set to High; cook for one hour. Reduce heat to Low and cook until the beef is fork-tender, 6 to 8 hours. Whisk together the warm water and cornstarch; stir into the stew; cook uncovered until stew thickens, about 15 minutes.

Honey-Wheat Bushman Bread

(from Outback Steakhouse)

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup honey

2 cups bread flour, plus extra

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons instant coffee

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast

1 teaspoon caramel food coloring (optional)

3 tablespoons cornmeal, for dusting

whipped butter, for serving

Directions

1. Place all of the ingredients except for the cornmeal and whipped butter in a bread machine and follow the manufacturer's directions for the dough cycle.  The dough will be a little on the wet side and sticky, but if it seems too wet, add more bread flour while it is mixing / kneading.
2. Remove the dough from the machine, punch down, and divide into 8 portions.  Form the portions into tubular-shaped loaves 6 to 8 inches long and 2 inches wide.
3. Sprinkle the entire surface of the loaves with the cornmeal and place the loaves on two cookie sheets.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 350F.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  Serve warm with whipped butter. 

Mozzarella Meatballs

In honor of meal swap tonight, I thought I'd post a freezer friendly favorite from the club.  It's hard to believe that we've been cooking and swapping for about two years now!  Wow!  It sure has been a blessing to me to be able to pull something homemade out of the freezer a few nights a week for dinner.  It makes those emergency grocery trips or fast food nights very few and far between, for which we are all thankful.   Now on to the recipe!

Mozzarella Meatballs
(makes 120 meatballs-- ~6 meals worth!)
(from "Fix, Freeze, Feast")

6lbs. lean ground beef
15 sticks of mozzarella string cheese
3 c. dry bread crumbs
2/3 c. milk
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 c. minced onion
2 T. minced garlic
1 T. salt
2 tsp. black pepper

1. Remove string cheese from wrappers and cut each string into 8 equal pieces.  Place in a large bowl or 1 gallon freezer bag and freeze until it is time to form meatballs.
2. Preheat the oven to 500F.
3. Using your hands, thoroughly combine beef, breadcrumbs, milk, eggs, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.  Shape into 1- to 1 1/2-inch meatballs, around each piece of frozen mozzarella.  Seal meatballs well to keep cheese from oozing out.
4. Place meatballs close together on lightly greased broiler pans or rimmed baking sheets.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Cool meatballs.
5. Freeze in gallon sized freezer bag or serve right away with your favorite marinara!  YUM!

Garlic-Studded Mahimahi with Sage Butter

• Back before we had children I used to do more advanced things in the kitchen like "studding" a nice fillet of fish with blanched garlic. I'm not sure what possessed me to tackle this again yesterday, along with a yummy risotto and loaded green salad, but it was almost worth that screaming baby attached to my leg once it was on the table! :)
• You will definitely enjoy it without the screaming baby part.
• Can I just interject that our sweet baby girl is ten and a half months old and STILL only has the 2 teeth she got at five months. That may explain the screaming!

This recipe is from Cooking Light magazine, oh about 7 years ago!

Garlic-Studded Mahimahi with Sage Butter

• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 4 (6-ounce) mahimahi or other firm whitefish fillets
• Cooking spray
• 5 teaspoons butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 475°.
2. Place garlic in a small saucepan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Drain and cool slightly. Make several small slits on outside of fillets; stuff with garlic. Place fillets on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray.
3. Combine butter, sage, salt, and pepper; spread evenly over fillets. Bake at 475° for 13 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

It's a feels fancy meal that really isn't all that fussy in the end--enjoy!

**Please ignore the flighty fonts... Blogger is my nemesis today.**

Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pot Roast

If you haven't yet discovered Pioneer Woman, let today be the day! She is a wonderful cook, photographer, homeschoolin', country-livin' mama who has made it HUGE in the bloggy world.

Anyhoo, I made one of her specialties for Sunday dinner this last weekend and it was deeelish! Enjoy!

Perfect Pot Roast

1 whole (4 To 5 Pounds) Chuck Roast

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 whole Onions

6 whole Carrots (Up To 8 Carrots)

Salt To Taste

Pepper To Taste

1 cup Red Wine pr Beef Broth

2 cups To 3 Cups Beef Stock

3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or more to taste

3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary, or more to taste

1. First and foremost, choose a nicely marbled piece of meat. This will enhance the flavor of your pot roast like nothing else. Generously salt and pepper your chuck roast.
2. Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil (or you can do a butter/olive oil split).
3. Cut two onions in half and cut 6 to 8 carrots into 2-inch slices (you can peel them, but you don’t have to). When the oil in the pot is very hot (but not smoking), add in the halved onions, browning them on one side and then the other. Remove the onions to a plate.
4. Throw the carrots into the same very hot pan and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so.
5. If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan and sear it for about a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.
6. With the burner still on high, use either red wine or beef broth (about 1 cup) to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk to get all of that wonderful flavor up.
7. When the bottom of the pan is sufficiently deglazed, place the roast back into the pan and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway (about 2 to 3 cups). Add in the onion and the carrots, as well as 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary and about 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.
8. Put the lid on, then roast in a 275F oven for 3 hours (for a 3-pound roast). For a 4 to 5-pound roast, plan on 4 hours.

I served this with another great recipe from Allrecipes.com that was perfect in that I could fix it the night before and just let it warm up during church. They were perfectly creamy and delicious... did I mention this is a mashed potatoes recipe? Ah, details!

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

• 5 pounds red potatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic, or to taste
• 3 cubes chicken bouillon
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• 
  

1. In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, cook the potatoes, garlic, and bouillon until potatoes are tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving water. In a bowl, mash potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese, adding reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.
2. Transfer the potato mixture to a slow cooker, cover, and cook on Low for 2 to 3 hours. Just before serving, stir in butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.
   

Slow-Simmered Meat Sauce

Cooking Light magazine has a lot of ups and downs in their issues, but in my opinion, March's issue took a big step up. They had a feature on slow cooker recipes and they are even starting a new online column on freezer friendly meals! Yea!! This meat sauce was really, really good though a bit spicy, so you may want to adjust it to your family's taste.

Slow-Simmered Meat Sauce

1 T. olive oil

2 c. chopped onion

1 c. chopped carrot

6 garlic cloves, minced

8oz Italian sausage

1 lb ground sirloin

1/2 c. kalamata olives, pitted and sliced

1/4 c. no-salt-added tomato paste

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 (28oz) can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes, undrained

1 (8oz) can no-salt-added tomato sauce

1 T. chopped fresh oregano

16 oz uncooked mafaldine pasta

1/2 c. torn fresh basil

3 oz shaved fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and carrot to pan; saute 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; saute 1 minute, stirring constantly. Place vegetable mixture in a 6-quart slow cooker. Add sausage and beef to skillet; saute 6 minutes or until browned; stirring to crumble. Remove beef mixture from skillet using a slotted spoon. Place beef mixture on a double layer of paper towels; drain. Add beef mixture to slow cooker. Stir olives and next 6 ingredients (through tomato sauce) into slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 8 hours. Stir in oregano.
2. Prepare pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Serve sauce with hot cooked pasta; top with basil and cheese.

Yield: 8 servings

Serving size: 1 cup pasta, 1 cup sauce, 2 tablespoons cheese, and 1 tablespoon basil

Serve with a yummy "Olive Garden" Salad! See dressing recipe below!

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

1/2 C. Mayonnaise
1/3 C. White Vinegar
1 tsp. Vegetable Oil
2 Tbsp. Corn Syrup
2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese
2 Tbsp. Romano Cheese
1/4 tsp. Garlic Salt – or one clove garlic minced
1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp. Parsley Flakes
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
sugar (optional)

Place all ingredients in a blender until well mixed. If this is a little to tart for your own personal tastes please add a little extra sugar. You can enjoy your Olive Garden salad dressing for about 10 days if stored in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Another great use for the Olive Garden salad dressing is you can use it for a marinade for vegetables or even meats that you might like to grill.

Meat Loaf Sandwich

This meatloaf sandwich from Better Homes and Gardens is the bomb! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Meat Loaf Sandwich

English muffins (or Ciabatta rolls)

1 egg

1-14.5oz can Italian diced tomatoes

2 T. snipped fresh basil or 1T. dried basil

3/4 c. bread crumbs

1 lb. ground beef

4 oz. cheddar cheese, sliced

1 c. fresh spinach leaves

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a bowl combine egg, 1 cup of the tomatoes, bread crumbs, and basil. Add beef and mix well. Divide into 1/2 cup portion. Place on unheated rack of broiler pan. Bake 20-30 minutes. Top with cheese. Bake 2 minutes more. Serve meat loaves on buns, with spinach and remaining tomatoes.

**Serve with coleslaw and chips!

Rosemary Ranch Chicken with Asparagus

Can I hear ya say, "Hey!". Okay, if you don't go to Brevard Community Church, that means nothing to you, but if you do... maybe you get it!

Anyhoo, dinner tonight was delish and must be shared. Recipes are straight off of allrecipes.com... enjoy with a steamy baked potato!

Rosemary Ranch Chicken

1/2 c. olive oil

1/2 c. ranch dressing

3 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 T. minced fresh rosemary

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. white vinegar

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper, or to taste

1 T. white sugar, or to taste (optional)

5 chicken breasts

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the bowl, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the grill for medium-high heat..
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill skewers for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.

Bertolli Classico Asparagus Saute

3 T. olive oil

1 bunch fresh asparagus

1 T. minced garlic

3 T. Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Rinse asparagus spears and pat dry. Remove rough ends with a sharp knife if necessary.
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and asparagus spears; cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until asparagus is tender.
3. Sprinkle with Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Baja Grilled Fish Tacos

About a year ago I sent out some feelers to see if anyone would be interested in a Cooking Club/Coop/Swap. A year later, we have all been blessed! Here is a yummy recipe that I have made for the swap a few times that is absolutely delish! Hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

Baja Grilled Fish Tacos

(from Don't Panic More Dinner's in the Freezer!)

1 1/2 lbs. tilapia, striped bass, or similar mild fish

1 tsp. kosher (coarse) salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 large sweet onion, finely chopped

1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

2 small cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp. ground cumin (or more to taste)

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 c. olive oil

1/4 c. + 3 T. fresh lime juice

1/4 c. fresh orange juice

Serving Day

cooking spray or oil

salsa or pico de gallo

tortillas, heated

red onion, chopped

cilantro, chopped

avocado, diced

cabbage, finely shredded

lime wedges

Baja Lime Cream

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1/2 c. sour cream

2 T. fresh lime juice

1 tsp. finely grated lime zest

1 T. sugar, or more if needed

salt to taste

pinch of cayenne pepper

Cooking Day

Gently rinse fish fillets, then pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle both sides of fish with kosher salt and pepper. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the remaining ingredients (onion to orange juice). Place one third of the marinade in a small freezer bag and set aside. Pour the rest in a gallon freezer bag with the fish. Let the fish marinade in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes before freezing. Keep both bags together for ease on serving day.

Serving Day

Thaw fish and extra marinade completely. To grill fish: spray grill surface with cooking spray to keep fish from sticking. Fish may also be grilled on a sprayed stove top griddle pan or broiled in the oven 4" from heat, 5 minutes per 1/2 inch of thickness or until fish flakes. Grill fish over medium heat, turning only once, and basting fish with extra marinade while grilling. Once the fish is cooked, coarsely chop. Assemble fish tacos using your choice of serving day condiments. Top with a drizzle of Baja Lime Cream.