Secret Enchiladas

INGREDIENTS:

Nonstick cooking spray
1 Tbl olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cubed (about 3/4 lb)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 cup carrot puree OR sweet potato puree
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
1 cup shredded, reduced fat (2%) cheddar cheese or part-skim mozarella, divided
6-10 whole wheat flour tortillas
1/2 cup spinach puree (I used fresh spinach...it wilts down in the oven anyway)
1/2 cup mild tomato salsa

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350
Coat 9 by 13 inch pan in nonstick cooking spray
Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
Sprinkle the chicken pieces with garlic powder and pepper
Cook the chicken in the pan 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is cooked through and no longer pink in the middle
Take the pan off the heat and mix in the carrot OR sweet potato puree, sour cream, and HALF the cheese in the skillet
Fill each tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll up
Place seam side down in baking dish
Dot the tops of each enchilada with the spinach puree (or sprinkle the middle with fresh spinach like I did)
Spoon the salsa over the spinach and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese
Cover with foil and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the cheese melts and the filling is hot.

***
My friend Natalie gave me this recipe.  To make the carrot puree, steam some carrots until soft, then puree in a blender with some of the steaming water.  These tasted really good!  No need for enchilada sauce, which was great because Cam doesn't like it.  My kids gobbled them up!  The "secret" carrots were never detected!  I want to try the sweet potato next.

Creamy Taco Mac

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
4 TB taco seasoning
3 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
10 oz dry rotini pasta
Cheddar cheese

Cook pasta according to directions.  Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water before draining.  Set aside.

Cook beef and onion.  When browned, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add tomatoes and taco seasoning and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add reserved pasta water, cream cheese, sour cream and cooked pasta.  Simmer until well combined.  Serve with cheddar on top and season with salt and pepper.

***
This tasted so good!  It was better than I thought it would be.  We also added some corn in ours.  Yum!

Every Day Smoothie

We have made this smoothie every day for the past few weeks.  Obviously the possibilities of a smoothie are almost endless, but we don't vary too much from this one!

Frozen mango or peaches
Frozen berries
Add milk, filling the blender about halfway.

PULSE the fruit FIRST to break it up, then blend until smooth.

Add a handful of spinach and 2-3 spoonfuls of vanilla yogurt.  Blend.

Add a handful of old-fashioned oats, and some days I throw in a banana.  Add more milk if too thick.

Serve immediately.  YUM!

Cowboy Taquitos

credit: ourbestbites.com

1 cup white rice, cooked
1 small tomato, diced
1 cup black beans
3/4 cup frozen sweet corn
1 cup diced, cooked chicken
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
BBQ sauce

Combine ingredients in a bowl.  Add bbq sauce to make desired saucy consistency.  Place spoonful of mixture onto a tortilla.  Add extra cheese.  Roll up tightly, tucking ends in.  Repeat with remaining tortillas.  Brush with butter.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Move to top rack and broil until tops are brown, watching carefully to avoid burning.

***
These are SO good!  Really easy to throw together too, we will be eating these a lot this summer!!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Soup:

8 cups chicken broth
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion diced
1-2 cloves of garlic diced finely
1 1/2 cups of carrots diced
3 stalks of celery diced
2 tsp good chicken bouillon
1 bay leaf
Sea Salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp dried thyme or basil
1 1/2 cup cooked chicken diced

Sauté onions in olive oil until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add garlic & cook for 30 seconds. Add broth & the remainder of ingredients. Cook over medium low heat for 1-2 hours.

Noodles:
2 cups of flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 to 1/3 cup of milk

In mixing bowl combine flour, salt, egg and milk. Mix until you produce a slightly sticky ball of dough. Flour the counter and roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. You want them very thin because they thicken when cooked. Cut noodles (I use a pizza cutter) to desired size and place on wax paper. Let the noodles dry out on the counter for at least 1 hour before adding them to the soup.

About 30 minutes before serving soup, drop noodles in and cook. Enjoy.


Recipe from: fortheloveofcooking.blogspot.com

***
WOW, this soup was sooo good!  I was nervous about making my own noodles, but they were SO easy.  Next time I will add even more veggies. 

Last Minute Lasagna

1 16-oz bag frozen large cheese ravioli
1/2 of a 24-oz jar pasta sauce
1/2 10-oz box frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed
1/2 8-oz bag shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Heat oven to 350.  Spoon 1/3 of the pasta sauce into a 9x9 dish.  Place half of the ravioli on top in a single layer.  Sprinkle with spinach and half of the mozzarella.  Layer on remaining ravioli and top with remaining sauce and both cheeses.  Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.  Uncover and bake until bubbling.  Serves 4.

***
We had a parent meeting today at Cameron's school, and one of the mom's brought this recipe to share, along with the actual dish she made as an "after-meeting snack".  It was SO good, and Allie liked it so much that I only got a few bites!!  It only serves 4, so you could also double it and use a 9x13 pan.  The mom said you can throw beef or sausage into it too, but I thought it tasted excellent just like this.  Yum!!

Smart Cookies

1/4 cup applesauce
2 Tbsp butter (no substitutes)
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup oats
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350^ F.  Beat together applesauce, butter and sugar.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Stire flour mixture into first mixture and mix well.  Then stir in oats, followed by chocolate.  Bake for 10 minutes.

***
This recipe was on the back of my weekly grocery ad.  I was so excited to try it because I LOVE to have some sort of baked good around, but always felt guilty!!  I love how these pack in some extra nutrition and use WAY less butter than most cookies.  These turned out really yummy, although my oven is seriously retarded, and baked them really un-evenly.  So someone try these in a working oven and let me know how they turn out!!

Baked Spaghetti

1 lb hamburger (I usually use less)

1/2 onion, diced

green pepper, optional

1 can cream mushroom soup

1 can cream tomato soup

8 oz cooked spaghetti

1/2 c cheese

Brown hamburger with onion and green pepper. Add soups and 1 can water. Add noodles. Put in baking dish and top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

***

This is an easy, inexpensive, kid-friendly recipe.

Baked Fish Sticks with Tartar Sauce

1 lb white fish such as cod, halibut, or tilapia
1 Tbs canola oil
1-3 eggs
6 Tbs flour
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 C panko bread crumbs
1/2 C unseasoned breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush canola oil on a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.

Crack egg(s) into a shallow dish and beat lightly (start with one egg and crack another if you run out). In a separate shallow dish combine flour, seasoned salt, pepper, and paprika. In one more shallow dish combine panko and bread crumbs.

Cut fish into sticks about 3-4 inches long and 1/2-1 inch tall.

Working with a few pieces of fish at at time, dredge first in flour and then shake off excess. Then dip each piece in the beaten egg, and finally the bread crumb mixture. Make sure all sides are well coated with bread crumbs and then place fish on the baking sheet.

When all pieces are on baking sheet, place in oven and cook for about 10-15 minutes. Cool for a few minutes and then serve with tartar sauce for dipping.

Tartar Sauce
1/2 C mayonaise
2 Tbs sour cream
1/4 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 Tbs finely minced onion
1 T minced dill pickle
1 pinch seasoned salt
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Mix all ingredients and stir well to combine. Chill for at least one hour before serving. (The longer the better, make ahead if you can!)

****************

These were a big hit. Isaac called them fish chicken nuggets. This is one of the first homecooked meals of mine that he's ever eaten (not counting pizza, tacos and spaghetti). Jonathan loved the tartar sauce.

Sloppy Joes

Brown 1 lb ground beef, drain fat. Add seasonings, an 8oz can tomato sauce and 1/2 c water. Serve on toasted hamburger buns.

1 T minced onion

1 t green pepper flakes ( usually don't use this)

1 t salt

1 t corn starch

1/2 t minced garlic

1/4 t dry mustard

1/4 t celery seed

1/4 t chili powder

Pizza Night!

I have a couple of pizza dough recipes that I like--I haven't done a scientific taste test so I'm not sure which is my favorite. I'll post both and let you decide.

Pizza Hut Dough

1/4 c dry milk
1/2 t salt
1 T sugar
1 pkg yeast (2 1/4 t)
1 1/3 c water (105 degrees)
2 T oil
4 c flour

Put dry milk, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl. Add water and stir to mix well. Let it stand for 2 minutes. Add oil and stir again. Add flour and stir until dough forms and flour is absorbed. Turn out onto a flat surface and knead for 10 minutes (I don't usually make it the whole 10 minutes--you could also do this in a BOSCH). Divide dough into 3 equal balls. Cover the bottom of 3 9-inch cake pans with oil, spreading evenly. Using a rolling pin, roll out each dough ball. Place in cake pans. Spray outer edge of dough with cooking spray (I don't always do this). Cover with a plate, place in a warm area and let dough rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Top pizzas with desired toppings. Bake pizzas at 457 degrees for 10 minutes.


"Pizza Caterpillar"/Pizza Dough
I got this recipe from my neighbor in Fort Wayne. It's a stuffed pizza braid and my kids love it. They nicknamed it pizza caterpillar and request it all the time. It looks fancy and really isn't hard to make--it's fun! I also use this dough to make regular pizza. Tonight I doubled the recipe and made one of each.

3 1/4 cups flour, divided
1 T sugar
1 t salt
1 pkg yeast (2 1/4 t)
1 c warm water
1 T butter, melted

Mix 2 1/4 cups of flour with the sugar, salt and yeast. Stir in the water and butter. Mix in only enough of the remaining cup of flour to make a soft dough (I usually don't add much of it). Knead for 4 minutes (by hand or in a mixer).

To make pizza: roll out the dough on a pizza stone, top with desired toppings and bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes. (No rising time for this pizza dough)
To make pizza braid: roll out dough into a 10x14 rectangle on a greased baking sheet. Spread sauce down the center third of the dough. Top with a layer of pepperoni and cheese (or whatever you want--I've used sauce, olive oil, just cheese, etc). Make slices in the dough from the filling to the dough edges at 1-inch intervals. Fold the dough strips at an angle over the filling, alternating sides for a braided look (my kids love helping with this step). Brush the top with a beaten egg white (or olive oil) and sprinkle with garlic salt and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 18-25 minutes at 400 degrees.

Amish Casserole

Haha, okay so after seeing DeAnn's post, I'm wondering if I should call this "Ghetto Lasagna"....cuz that's sort of what it is, compared! 

Just kidding.....this casserole is one of our family's favorite meals.  I found it a few years ago at allrecipes.com.  Nate asks for it all the time, and it's a big hit with kids.  Cam always finishes his plate, and I will chop it up for Allie, and she'll shove it in her mouth as fast as her chubby little hands can go!!

1-2 lb ground beef
1 can condensed tomato soup
1/4 c brown sugar

Brown the beef in a skillet, drain fat.  Add soup, brown sugar, s&p.  Let simmer.

Meanwhile, boil a 12 oz package of wide egg noodles in a large pot.  Drain, and return to pot. 
Stir in 1 can cream of chicken soup.  Add beef mixture and combine.

In a greased 9x13 dish, place half of the mixture on the bottom.  Top with 5-6 slices of American cheese.  Add remaining mixture and top with cheese again.  Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

(sorry, this is one of those foodie pictures that looks gross!)

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

This meal is a song in my head because my kids sing it: Chiiiiiicken Broccoli Rice Casserooooooooole. This is one of the few dinners that all of my kids will eat.

Layer the bottom of a 9x13 pan with cooked, cubed chicken. I don't have a specified amount. Sorry. Add cooked broccoli on top of the chicken. Again no amount. Top the chicken and broccoli with cooked rice (I cooked 1 1/2 cups of raw rice today and it seemed just right). Next comes the sauce:

1 can cream of chicken soup
1/3 c mayonnaise
1/4 c milk

Top with grated cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes (covered with foil).