Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

I'm usually not a fan of green chile enchilada sauce but I really liked it in these.  They are really creamy (with cream cheese not sour cream) but if you aren't a creamy kind of enchilada person you might not like them.  But we loved them.  They are from melskitchencafe.com.  We like a lot of her recipes.  How cool am I, I even put in the picture :)

INGREDIENTS:
Filling:
3 cups cooked, chopped chicken
2 (4 oz.) cans of green chiles, lightly drained
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, cubed
1 can white or black beans, rinsed and drained (you can really use any type of bean you prefer here)

Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion (about 1/2 medium onion)
2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup chicken broth
¼ cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 can (7 ounce) green chile enchilada sauce
½ cup sour cream

8 ounces (about 2 cups) Monterey jack cheese, shredded
8 medium (soft taco size) flour tortillas
Handful of chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine the softened cream cheese and green chiles. Mix well. Add the chicken and black beans. Mix to combine. Set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and starts to turn translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir well. Cook for 1 minute, stirring. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and milk. As you whisk and the mixture cooks, the flour will get less lumpy around the onions and the mixture will become smooth. Cook over medium heat until the mixture is bubbling and has thickened, about 4-5 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the enchilada sauce and sour cream.

Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish. Spread about 1/4 cup of the sauce on the bottom of the dish. Fill each tortilla with about ½ cup of the chicken/cream cheese filling. Top with a small handful of shredded cheese, a couple tablespoonfuls for each enchilada. Save at least 1/2 cup cheese for the top of the enchiladas. Roll the tortillas up and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Continue filling enchiladas until the dish is full (I can easily fit 8 enchiladas in one pan).

Pour the white sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the enchiladas are bubbling, hot and lightly browned. Sprinkle fresh cilantro over the top and serve.

Meatballs

We made these tonight, they were super easy and yummy.

1 pound ground turkey
1 small onion diced
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 1/2 tsp italian seasoning
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
dash of tabasco sauce
1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/3 C milk
1/4 C grated pepperjack cheese
3/4 C seasoned bread crumbs

Combine. Bake on cookie sheet at 400* for 20 minutes or until not pink in the middle.  We had it with spaghetti of course! Though Michael could have eaten just the meatballs and been happy.

Shout out for Craftsy

Hey all!  I just found out about this website that teaches you how to do different crafty things--like sewing, cooking and cake decorating.  The classes are about $30-60 but you have unlimited access, so I thought if anyone was interested we could all go in on a class together.  The classes that I thought looked awesome were the Artisan Bread Making Class, Classic Croissants at Home and any of the cake decorating ones.  Check it out and let me know if you're interested!  Or if you don't want to pay, I'm sure I'll still take one and you can come visit and eat the fruits of my labor (:

http://www.craftsy.com/

Turkey Twist

Our Favorite use of leftover turkey so far.  Adapted from Karen's chicken puffs.

Make your favorite roll recipe and let the dough rise.
In the meantime:
Saute:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
chopped celery (optional)

Add:
1/2 tsp. salt
6 oz. cream cheese
2 cups cubed turkey
chopped almonds (optional)

Roll out enough dough to fill a jellyroll pan.  (Add just enough flour to keep it from sticking or cover with parchment paper.)  Place the turkey mixture down the middle of the rectangle.  Cut the dough horizontally from the edge toward the turkey mixture on each side.  Then weave the dough over the turkey mixture alternating sides.  (Be creative with this part.  You can also fill individual rolls with the turkey mixture.)

Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with seasoned breadcrumbs.  

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.  Smother with leftover gravy and enjoy!

Potato Soup from Heaven

Once upon a time Brody and I were engaged. Brody loved cooking, so I wanted to show him that I could cook (please contain your laughter). After looking at food.com I stumbled upon this little gem. The first time I made it, I forgot the blending step and tried to serve Brody a bunch of watery potatoes. He helped me see my mistake and all was well in the world. 

8 cups diced potatoes

1/3 cup onions, chopped

3 (14.5 oz.) cans chicken broth

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

1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, cubed, softened

1. Put potatoes, onions, broth and cream of chicken soup in crock pot.

2. Cook on low for 8-10 hours (I usually do it on high for 4-6 hours though).   Basically, the potatoes just need to be soft and blend-able.

3. After it's done cooking, add cream cheese cubes and put the entiremixture in the blender.

4. Top with bacon, cheese, chives, and sour cream. 

 Just FYI: This makes about 12 servings. We always make a full batch and then take it for lunch the next couple of days. It's the greatest!

Southwest Pasta Salad

Southwest Pasta Salad
Recipe by Our Best Bites (www.ourbestbites.com/2011/01/southwest-pasta-salad/) with some comments

Ingredients
1/2 lb bowtie pasta (I use Barilla Plus or whole wheat noodles so I can pretend I am being healthy)
1 14oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 roma tomatoes, diced or about 3/4 C or halved cherry tomatoes (I usually take out seeds too since we are not huge tomato fans)
1 large red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 C sliced green onions
1/2 C frozen fresh corn
zest from 2 limes
optional: 8 oz diced cooked chicken (this is fantastic or even leftover rotisserie meat. We always add chicken to make it a meal.)
1/2 C Queso Fresco or Cotija Cheese (or you could sub grated jack, cheddar or pepperjack)
 
Dressing:
6 Tbs fresh lime juice (about 3 juicy limes)
1/4 C white wine or rice vinegar
4-5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
2 tsp sugar (add a touch more if your limes are extra sour/bitter)
3/4 C canola oil (I used 1/2 cup and still felt like it was too much, could probably go with as little as a 1/4 cup depending on consistency)
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro


Directions

Place Boil pasta in salted water until cooked.  While it’s cooking, prepare dressing.

First zest your limes and place the zest in a large salad bowl.

Place the lime juice, vinegar, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt and sugar in a blender.  (Basically everything except the cilantro and oil)  Process until smooth.  With the motor running slowly, add the oil in a steady stream until incorporated.  Add the cilantro and pulse so it gets broken up, but some pieces still remain in tact.

When pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse immediately with cold water to cool.  Place the pasta in the large salad bowl with the lime zest.  Add black beans, tomatoes, diced pepper, green onions, corn (no need to thaw the corn),  and chicken if desired.  Toss with dressing.  Taste, and add additional salt and pepper to taste.  For best results, chill for 1 hour before serving.  Right before serving, sprinkle cheese on top.  Serve with extra lime wedges if desired.

Makes about 4-6 dinner sized servings or 10-12 side servings. We serve this with quesadillas.

Easy Pad Thai

This is seriously easy and good! Find the rice noodles in the Asian section of the grocery store.

Easy Pad Thai

(adapted from Everyday Food found http://browniesfordinner.com/2010/05/11/easy-pad-thai/ )
Serves 4
8 ounces dried, wide and flat rice noodles
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 squirt (about 1/8 teaspoon) Sriracha (optional)
2 teaspoons vegetable (or canola) oil
3 green onions, white and green parts, separated and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 large eggs, light beaten (optional, but I used them)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts

1. Soak noodles according to package instructions. Drain.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, lime juice, soy sauce, and Sriracha.
3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add scallion whites and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add eggs and cook, scraping skillet with spatula until eggs are almost set (about 30 seconds). Transfer eggs to a plate.
5. Add noodles, scallion greens, and sauce to skillet. Cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are soft (about 1 minute). Add egg mixture and toss to coat, breaking eggs up gently.
6. Serve noodles with lime wedges, topped with cilantro and peanuts.

Note: I added 3 chicken breasts to ours to make it a more substantial meal. Marinated the chicken in 1/4 sugar and 1/4 soy sauce then baked, it would probably be great grilled.  With the added chicken it was 4 servings, otherwise I would say it feeds more like 3.