Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients
* Broiler chicken
Taco seasoning
Flour tortillas
Shredded cheese
Can green enchilada sauce

Directions
Place chicken in crockpot, sprinkle with packet of taco seasoning and 2 cups water.  Cook on high.  Once done, debone and place meat in a skillet.  Cook with another packet of taco seasoning and 2 cups water on stove.  Simmer until water is gone.

Spray 9x13 pan with non-stick spray, pour some enchilada sauce on the bottom of pan and spread out.

Take flour tortilla and spread chicken in the middle in a line.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Roll up and line in pan.  Once the pan is full, pour sauce over.  Sprinkle with cheese. 

Bake at 350 for about an hour or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Enjoy!

* I also use rabbit, guinnea hen, or any other yummy meat you can think of!

And a picture of the carnage that is usually left when we have these at home.  I'm actually surprised there were two left!

Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

Rolls
1 cup eggnog, warm (you can use regular milk if you prefer)
2 1/2 t yeast
2 eggs
1/3 cup melted butter
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 t salt
1/2 cup sugar

Filling
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 T cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

Frosting
4oz whipped cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 t vanilla
1/6 t salt

Directions
Warm eggnog or milk melt butter, place in bowl with yeast to proof.  Add eggs, salt and flour.  Mix well.  (I use my Kitchen aid with bread hook instead of kneading it).  Let rise until double.

Roll out on a lightly floured surface in a rectangle, let rest while you mix butter, cinnamon and brown sugar.  Spread over dough.  Roll up and use a string to cut into 12 pieces.  Place in lightly greased 9x13 pan and let rise until double.

(Fun hint, instead of the second rise place them in 2 disposable square baking pans, cover with tin foil and freeze.  When you want them, take them out and let defrost for a couple hours and rise.  Great for an easy breakfast!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Mix cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt.  Spread on warm rolls.

ENJOY!

Homemade Holidays

I LOVE the holidays.  Even if I'm still in a little denial that Thanksgiving was next week, I am looking forward to the upcoming season.  I've even started my planning.

Last year, I got the quilting bug and made some blankets for gifts.  This year, I plan to do the same thing.  I always do some baking as well.

Are YOU doing anything homemade for the holidays?  Here's some of what I did last year

Cathedral Rag Quilt for my Mother in Law 

Teacher's quilts for my kid's teachers.  School colors and apple cut-out apliques.

Wheat Pita Bread

Ingredients
2T yeast
2 cups warm water
2T sugar

2T dark molasses
4 cups wheat flour
1 cup ground flax meal
1 cup all purpose flour
2t salt

Directions
Add yeast, water and sugar in mixing bowl and allow to proof (apx 10 minutes).  Add molasses, wheat flour, salt and flax meal and mix.  Slowly add all purpose flour until smooth.  (I always use my Kitchen Aid to mix breads)

Grease a large bowl and place dough inside.  Set in warm place and allow to double, about 1 hour.
*Tip - if it's colder in the house due to winter, put a pan of water on the stove and turn on low.  Place a cooling rack over the pan and place the bowl with dough over that.  It will give the warmth the yeast needs to rise.

Punch down dough and knead.  Divide into 12 pieces.  Roll out to desired thickness (about 1/8 inch or so) with rolling pin.  Lay the pieces out on the lightly floured counter and cover with a towel.  Allow to rise apx 30 min.

Pre-heat oven to 400 with the baking sheet inside.  If not using a nice stoneware pan, sprinkle with cornmeal to prevent sticking.

Place dough rounds on sheet, as many as will fit at a time.  Bake for 8-10 minutes until tops have a slight browning.  Remove to cooling rack.  Once cooled, slice in half and cut pocket if needed.

Enjoy!

Super Cheesy Scalloped Potato Recipe

I LOVE cheese.  And I love potatos.  What better way than to put them together for a side dish that will break the mold of mashed or baked potatos??  Best part, you can make them up ahead of time and put it in the fridge for a day or so until you're ready to cook it!  This picture is from the leftovers that I sprinkled some MORE cheese on and warmed up in our toaster oven.  Mmmmmm.  Best lunch!

Ingredients
12-16 medium potatos peeled and sliced (I use a mandolin to get nice, even slices - cooks better!)
2 cups shredded Colby Jack Cheese
1 cup shredded Mozzerella
1/4 cup chopped onion (or dehydrated diced onion)
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups milk
1 package bacon, cooked and diced
4 Tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Directions
Peel and slice potatos and place into 9x13 casserole dish (I would recommend spraying the sides with PAM).  Shred cheese and mix together.  Take 2 cups and mix in with the potatos.  In a seperate bowl, combine sour cream, soups, milk, butter, salt, pepper and 3/4 of the bacon and mix well.  Pour over the potatos.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon.  Also good sprinkled with fresh chives!

Bake at 350 for apx 60 minutes, or until potatos are tender to the fork and cheese is slighly browned.

Enjoy!

Lemon Blueberry Nut Bread

Ingredients
1/3 cup softened stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 Tablespoons grated lemon peel
1/2 cup choped walnuts (or nut of choice)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (do not defrost frozen before adding to batter)
Glaze
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Mix in eggs one at a time, making sure they are well beaten.  Add lemon juice.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt in seperate bowl.  Add slowly to mix with milk (using a standing mixer, I slowly pour in both at the same time.)  Mix well.  Fold in the lemon peel, nuts and blueberries.

Pour into greased loaf pan and place on lowest rack in pre-heated oven at 350.  Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for apx 10 minutes before removing from pan.  Place on wire rack and drizzle glaze over the bread.  This gives it a sweet finish and helps lock in the moisture.  You can also prick the bread with toothpicks for more of the glaze to soak into the bread.

Enjoy!

V is for Victory: Recipes

I got the coolest present this weekend.  My Father-in-Law gave me this wonderful cookbook that he received from a neighbor.  Since I'm a bit of a history buff (given that is what I studied for my undergrad degree) and WWII is one of my favorite eras, I was very excited to receive this!  I can't wait to dig through the recipes and see what's in there.  Can you imagine some of the cool, old-fashioned, lost recipes I'll find?  I'll be sure to share some of them with you!



Look at that! 1943!