Chicken Enchiladas

I work in a chiropractic office. The owner of the clinic and her husband have quite the vegetable garden every summer. Much more food than the two of them could possibly eat, so she brings in baskets of veggies for us and the patients to take home. I just happened to pick out a green, orange, and jalapeno pepper, and decided that was a perfect excuse to make up some Chicken Enchiladas for dinner.

We got this recipe from a Milk Calendar about five million years ago and it's one of Andre's favourites. Who knows, maybe it will become one of yours?

Chicken Enchiladas:

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red (or orange pepper), chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped (optional)

Note: If using jalapenos, please be careful and use gloves when chopping to avoid having oils on your hands and then touching your face. Trust me I have done this, it HURTS.
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup water
1 tsp cumin
1/2 cup shredded low fat mozzarella cheese, shredded
Whole Wheat tortillas (about 5-8)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place chopped onion and garlic in skillet over medium heat.  Cook until golden.

Add chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add peppers, salsa, water, and cumin. Continue to cook over medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated. About 15 minutes.

Fill tortillas with meat and veggie mixture, and a little bit of cheese. Roll. Place in 9 x 13 pan.

You are suppose to have some liquid left in the end of all of this to pour over enchiladas. I never have. Usually I just sprinkle the stray veggie mixture over, then add some extra salsa, then sprinkle with a little more cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Serve with Mexican rice and salad, or side of your choice. If you're a tired pregnant woman like me just throw an enchilada on a plate and eat.

Slow Cooker Triple-Layer Lasagna

I made this recipe forever and a day ago and DH and really liked it (but didn't love it). I was talking to a co-worker about what we were making for dinner a couple weeks ago and she made lasagna. I immediately thought about this recipe.

I found it in a Prevention Guide Slow Cooker Recipe Book.

I'm going to include the original recipe, followed by my additions and substitutions.

Triple Layer Lasagna

1 pound extra lean ground beef (very important that it's extra lean!)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 clove of garlic, minced
9 oven-ready lasagna noodles
1 jar tomato sauce
1 container fat-free cottage cheese
2 cups shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (we never have this so I don't use it)

Additions/Substitutions
-I use 1 pound of ground turkey instead of ground beef. It adds a little more of a milder flavour to the lasagna, and it's a little more healthy
- I add waaaaaay more garlic
- added half a red pepper, chopped
- added one handful of spinach, chopped
- added a few shakes of Club House Italiano Seasoning (or whatever is your favourite)

1. Combine meat, vegetables, and seasonings in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until meat is no longer pink, 8-10 minutes .


2. Coat 4-quart or larger slow cooker with cooking spray. Place 3 noodles, side by side, in bottom of cooker. Top with one third each of the tomato sauce, cottage cheese, meat mixture, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers two more times, ending with mozzarella. Sprinkle with Parmesan on top.



3. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours, or until lasagna is cooked through and cheese is bubbly.

Note: I find that if you put the cheese on and then cook it, it gets hard and over done. I usually top the last noodle layer with tomato sauce and meat mixture, making sure that all the noodles are covered to keep moist, if it looks a little dry add some of the liquid that was in the skillet with the meat mixture.

When the lasagna is about half an hour from being done, or when you get home from work, sprinkle with the last bit of mozzarella, and wait for it to melt.

Yummy!

Recipe Time!

And just in time for Easter!

I have made this pie twice already when getting together with friends. It was a hint both times, and the best part is that it is deceptively light, which is a bonus after eating a big meal.

I found this recipe in that little Magazine that Kraft sends out a few times a year. I swear I started to drool the moment I saw the picture. So if you haven't decided what to make for family for Easter dinner, make this! The best part is that you can design the top of the pie in whatever design you want. When I made it at Christmas I made a picture of a little gift. When I made it a few weeks ago, I just made lines. For Easter you could make an Easter Egg!

Peanut Butter Cup Pie:

(I think I need a more photogenic pie plate!)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups Oreo Baking Crumbs 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted (I use margarine)
1 pkg (8oz) Cream Cheese (I use light), softened
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp, creamy peanut butter, divided
1 cup cold milk (I use skim)
1 pkg (3.4oz) Vanilla flavoured Instant Pudding
2 cups thawed Cool Whip, divided (I used light)
3 squares of Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Mix oreo crumbs and margarine; press onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch pie plate. Set aside.

Beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup peanut butter in medium bowl until well blended. Add milk and dry pudding mix; beat 2 minutes. Whisk in 1 cup Cool Whip; spoon into crust. Refridgerate until ready to use.

(it's not this yellow looking, for some reason my camera made it look that way)

Meanwhile, microwave remaining Cool Whip and chocolate in a microwaveable bowl on High for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes, or until chocolate is completely melted (stir halfway) and mixture is well blended. Cool completely (I let it cool a bit). Spread Chocolate mixture over pudding layer in crust.

Microwave remaining peanut butter in a microwaveable bowl until melted and smooth. Drizzle over pie.

For this step I find it easiest to pour the melted peanut butter into a plastic bag, and then snip one of the corners, or you could use a pastry bag and a tip.

Refridgerate for 4 hours, or until firm.

Enjoy!

Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

I was still running a fever late yesterday afternoon, so I am still sick. What better way to use my time off then post another slow cooker recipe. I'm sure you could make this recipe on your stove top, but why?

This recipe originially hailsfrom 300 Slow Cooker Favorites by Donna-Marie Pye, with some changes from me. This is one of the best recipes I have found that not only stretches a jar of tomato sauce and a pound and a half of ground meat something fierce, but it also comes full of veggies which is a recipe must have in our house.

Anthony's Big Ragu (spaghetti sauce)

1 lb ground turkey
1/2 lb ground beef
2 onions finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic minced
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
handful of spinach leaves finely chopped
4 tbsp Clubhouse Italiano Seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes with juices
1 carrot finely chopped
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 can of pasta sauce (or roughly 3 1/2 cups)

In a large skillet brown the ground turkey and beef. Drain and add to slowcooker.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the slowcooker and stir to combine.

Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours, or on HIGH for 4-6 hours, until hot and bubbling. Serve over your favourite pasta, or over some spaghetti squash just like we're going to do tonight. That way there is no guilt even though I'm also eating garlic bread.

This recipe works best with a 6-7 quart slowcooker.

Been Baking

A little while ago I was blog surfing, and I came across a blog entry talking about a new cook book that was out. Actually they were giving away free copies of this cook book. I was intrigued to say the least. So I did some more surfing and decided to purchase Pioneer Woman's new cookbook. I have tried out a couple recipes, but they have all been from the dessert section.

The first was this recipe for a chocolate sheet cake for Andre's birthday. It turned out really well, and sure enough, everyone did moan about how good it was.

Then last week (New Years Eve to be exact) I wanted a brownie. Actually I needed a brownie, so I cracked open her cookbook again and made her mocha brownie recipe. I'm not a huge fan of mocha icing though so I substituted the icing recipe from the chocolate sheet cake instead. They were so yummy, I served them as dessert for our company for New Years Eve.

Here is a picture of the finished product:

Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice

(taken from the Crock Pot Recipe Card Collection)

I got a recipe card collection for Christmas last year for my slow cooker. You may have noticed that quite a few of the recipes I share are for slow cookers. Andre and I both work long hours at work, and the earliest either of us arrives home to start dinner is 6:45. Pretty late to start a traditional dinner that takes an hour to cook. Needless to say I cheat and use my slow cooker a lot so we can still have a good meal together at the end of the day.

This is one of my favourites. I was a little skeptical when I read the ingredients, but let me tell you, coming into your house at the end of a long day and taking a whiff of this great dinner will turn you into a believer! Just whip up some veggies, and dinner is done. In fact, this is cooking in my kitchen at this very moment.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice

Ingredients:

3 cans of condensed cream of chicken soup (we use the sodium reduced, or reduced fat varieties)

1 lb of chicken breasts or cutlets (can be frozen)

2 cups of brown instant rice, not cooked

1 cup of water

1/2 cup chopped celery

salt, pepper and paprika

Start by adding the soup, rice and water to the slow cooker.

Mix well, and then add the chicken. I always cheat, and add the chicken while it's frozen, you can always thaw it first.

Then season with a little salt and pepper, and paprika, and add the chopped celery on top.

Cover, and cook on Low for 6-8 hours (I find 6-6.5 works perfectly), or on High for 3-4 hours. This is how is should look:

If you are cooking your chicken from frozen, I would suggest checking to make sure the chicken is fully cooked with a meat thermometer (I'm a little bit of a freak like that making sure the meat is cooked properly, regardless if frozen or thawed from the start).

Make some veggies and dinner is done!

Enjoy! I know we will tonight!

Helen

That was my great-grandmother's name. Yes, I got to know my great-grandmother. In fact, I even got to know my great-grandfather as well. I was 21 when she passed away. She never got to meet Andre, even though her wish was to see me married off. I believe she was with me though when Andre and I said our vows.


The reason for this trip down memory lane is that I've been thinking about her a lot lately. I've been burning the candle at both ends so to speak lately and I've been paying the price. It seems like every weekend my body has enough and I start to feel like I'm coming down with something. This past weekend was the worst. As I was doing my best to do nothing on my day off on Monday all I wanted was my great-grandma. I knew that she would give me a hug and make me a pot of her homemade chicken soup.


See she was the type of grandma that believed that the common cold or flu could be cured with chicken soup. The moment she found out that anyone had come down with a cold she would immediately hit up her arsenal (the freezer) pull out some chicken and in just a few hours you would be seated in front of a steaming bowl of homemade chicken soup with the biggest (and best) egg noodles. Her soup was the best. And all I wanted this weekend was her soup. It would make me better, I knew it would.

Instead I had to settle for copious amounts of water, COLD FX and sleep. It seemed to do the trick for the time being. But last night when Andre and I went to the grocery store, I picked up an extra whole chicken, they were on sale. I had big plans for this chicken. So last night after we had finished the roasted chicken dinner when the slow cooker had barely had time to cool I threw in the required ingredients for chicken soup.


Here is my recipe:
1 chicken carcass, pieces of chicken, whole chicken. whatever you have
1-2 carrots chopped in three
1-2 celery stalks (with leaves) chopped in three
2 bay leaves
1 onion, chopped into quarters
2-4 cloves of garlic (I love garlic, I added 6)
6-8 cups of water
salt and pepper
sprinkle of paprika (I've been searching for that little something extra, I think this might be it)

Throw everything into the slow cooker, and let simmer on LOW for 12 hours. She wouldn't be happy that I'm not standing over a simmering pot for hours, but lets face it, I just don't have that much time. I like to let my soup simmer overnight.

Take out the chicken and strain and compost the vegetables. Let the broth cool and skim off the fat. Chop up the chicken and add to broth along with cooked veggies of choice. Cook egg noodles, rice, whatever you like and add to broth. Voila! You have soup!

Now I am prepared for whatever the fall throws at me. I know that I can handle it as long as I have some soup just waiting in the wings (my freezer).

Here is a picture of my great-grandparents:


I hangs in our dining room. It's them in their garden in their home in "the city", because all of us that lived on the escarpment lived in "the country". Together with the picture of Andre's departed grandparents that resides underneath, they watch over us. Making sure that we eat our chicken soup and take care of us every time we get sick.

Drunken Roast Chicken

As fall approaches I am slowly dragging out some of my favourite cold weather recipes. There is nothing better than coming home from work on a blustery cold day to a warm house smelling of deliciousness. This recipe was taken from "300 Slow Cooker Favorites" by Donna-Marie Pye (with some changes by moi).

No Frills happened to have a sale on President's Choice whole chickens this week so I have been stocking up. Tonight was suppose to be wish dish night (AKA Jenna is on strike, fend for yourself!) but I would be home earlier than my usual 8:20 from work, and Andre felt like chicken so I threw this in the slow cooker for dinner really quickly this afternoon.

It seems like a really fancy meal, but the beauty is that you can have it cooking in less than 15 minutes in the morning, and if you're just feeding two people (like us!) you will have dinner, and plenty for lunch the next day. If you're so inclined, you can also make some homemade chicken soup from the carcass!

Here we go!:

Drunken Roast Chicken (Slow Cooker)

1 roasting chicken (3 1/2-4 pounds)
6 cloves of garlic1 onion quartered
1 lemon (rolled on the counter while applying gentle pressure to loosen up the juices, then pricked with a fork)
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 cup sodium reduced (or homemade) chicken stock
1/2 cup dry white wine (can substitute more chicken stock)

Rinse chicken inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. With your fingers, gently loosen skin from chicken breast to form a pocket. Insert garlic halves under the skin. Place a few cloves of garlic and the lemon into the cavity of the chicken.

With kitchen twine, tie chicken legs together and secure wings to body, leaving an extra length of twine at each end. You will use the ends to lift the chicken from the slow cooker.

Spread the onion on the bottom of the slow cooker and place the chicken breast side up on top. Sprinkle with thyme and paprika. Pour in stock and wine.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, high for 4 hours, or until a meat thermometer inserted in thigh reads 170 F (77 C)

When finished cooking remove chicken and place under preheated broiler for 5-7 minutes to brown if you prefer crispy skin.


Skim fat from juices in slow cooker, transfer to pot, warm juices and add flour and water mixture to thicken for gravy.

Serve with mashed potatoes and veggies.

Cinnamon roll run through

I'm having some friends over in a few weeks for brunch pot-luck. We each take turns hosting, and I offered to host this next one. I was searching online for something new and exciting to make, and came across what looked like a very decadent Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll recipe on recipezaar.com. I had a recipe made with potato dough, but it was so time consuming, and this one could be made with the help of my bread maker, so I had to give it a try! Now that I have tried this recipe I will be making it again for the brunch.


With anything that involves a dough, I like pictures. There is something about being able to compare my product to the recipe that is comforting, so I snapped some pictures while baking this afternoon. The recipe that I am including below is to be used with a breadmaker on the dough setting, with a few little changes that I included after reading the reviews on the site.

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

DOUGH
1 cup warm milk
2 eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup butter (margarine) cut into small pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
4 cups all purpose flour
1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp bread maker yeast)

FILLING
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon (I used Saigon Cinnamon, the one referred to in the comments section. It is the one I use regularly at home. It can be found at Costco.)
1/3 cup margarine, softened (butter does not spread as well on the dough)

ICING
1 block of cream cheese (I used light)
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk, enough to aid in spreading consistency (optional. I found it was not needed after being whipped into submission in my stand mixer.)

Directions
1. Add the ingredients for the dough in the order listed above (or according to your bread makers instructions. Turn on machine to dough setting and go and relax with a book. Here is what the dough looked like right before I took it out of the bread machine:
















2. Take dough out of bread maker and roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide. It should be approx 1/4 inch thick.
3. To make filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
4. Spread the softened margarine over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.
















15. Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge. I cut the log in half, then in half again. Each one of those four logs can be cut into three rolls. Here is the the last log being sliced:

6. Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan.

7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
8. Cover the pan with a cloth and place on the preheating oven for 30 minutes or until the rolls rise to almost twice in size.

Here they are ready to go into the oven after the 2nd rise:

9. Bake for approx. 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

(Mine were slightly dark at after 18 minutes in the oven.)

10. While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients.
11. Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy.
12. When the rolls are done, spread generously with icing.

It was a little close to dinner time when I finished everything. But I had to steal just a little nibble to be able to give an honest opinion. They are in a word, yuuuuuuuumy! They are very rich as the recipe predicted, and very addictive, so I will be giving some to my mother tonight when she goes to visit my grandmother so they can share, and then I will be taking some more to the office tomorrow for the girls there to enjoy.

Do you think my friends will like them?

Strawberry Banana Overnight French toast

There is a group of us that try and get together about once a month. The last couple times we have ended up getting together on a Saturday or Sunday morning for brunch. This has been great because it has forced me to research and try some new recipes, and really, who doesn't love gabbing with your friends over some mimosa's and delicious food on a weekend morning?
So after some searching on the web, I found a great recipe for overnight french toast with strawberries and banana's. It was so yummy. One of my friends who doesn't even like French Toast loved it. If that doesn't convince you maybe this picture will:


Make Ahead French Toast:

Ingredients:

5 eggs, beaten

3⁄4 cup milk

1 tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract

1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder

1 loaf Italian bread, cut into 8 (1-inch-thick)slices

(I couldn't find a loaf of Italian bread when I was shopping, so I just bought a loaf of thicker bread and just used entire slices instead.)

1 package (16 ounces) frozen whole strawberries, thawed

(I used a bag 0f President's Choice frozen strawberries.)

4 ripe bananas, sliced

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon Cinnamon Sugar

Mix eggs, milk, Pure Vanilla Extract and baking powder. Pour over bread to soak; turn to coat well. Cover. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

The next morning:
Mix strawberries, bananas and granulated sugar in 13x9-inch baking dish. Top with soaked bread slices. Sprinkle with Cinnamon Sugar.

Bake in preheated 450°F oven 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

(Recipe taken from McCormick Cooking with Flavor, 2007 McCormick Inc.)

Yummy lemon lime cupcakes

I have a subscription to Canadian Living magazine. The May 2009 issue arrived with cupcakes on the cover. YUMMMMMY! Now I was just waiting for a occasion to make some. My opportunity arrived with Mother's Day, or in our case, Mother's Day on the May long weekend. Here is the recipe:















Lemon Lime Cupcakes
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp each grated lemon and lime rind*
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk

(*I used the rind of one lemon and one lime. The lemon is easier to grate for the rind. My grandmother asked what the black things were in the cupcakes, so I think I will just use the lemon rind next time.)

In a large bowl, beat butter with granulated sugar until fluffy; beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in lemon and lime rinds and lemon juice.
In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; stir into butter mixture alternately with milk, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of the milk. Spoon into paper-lined or greased muffin cups*.
(* I ended up filling them almost 3/4 of the way full, and they didn't rise over the edge of the muffin tin.)
Bake in 350 degree oven until cake tester inserted in centre come out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to rack; let cool.

Butter Icing
3/4 cup butter, softened (I ran out of butter and used 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup becel margarine, it was fine)
3 3/4 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

In bowl beat butter until light; beat in sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. beat in milk and vanilla. Makes about 2 1/2 cups, which the magazine said was enough for 12 cupcakes, I found I had quite a bit leftover. I tinted it with some yellow paste colouring.

Famous Cookies

I'm going to temporarily jump on the Food Blog Bandwagon and post the recipe for some cookies I just made today. It's the second time I have made them and they are so delish. The recipe is from: Company's Coming: Cookie Jar Classics.

Famous Cookies

3/4 cup Hard Margarine (or butter), softened

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup Granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups Quick-cooking rolled oats, processed in blender for 10-15 seconds

1 cup All purpose flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

1 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped pecans

2 Sweet chocolate baking squares (1 oz., 28g, each) grated

Cream first 3 ingredients in large bowl. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. Beat until smooth.

Combine next 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Add to margarine mixture in 2 additions, mixing well after each addition until no dry flour remains.

Add remaining 3 ingredients. Mix well. Roll into 1 1/4 inch (3cm) balls. Arrange about 2 inches (5cm) apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake in 375 F oven for about 10 minutes until edges are golden. Let stand on cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Remove cookies from cookie sheets and place on wire racks to cool.

Makes about 60 cookies.

*Notes: Since Andre is allergic to all tree nuts, I substituted 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips instead of pecans.

For the grated chocolate I use 2 oz of Victorian Epicure chocolate (it comes already grated).

I don't know how they say this makes 60 cookies, I only end up with about 3 dozen. Maybe mine are bigger?