Cheese Enchiladas

My friend & co-worker Lisa gave me the recipe to make enchilada sauce. She assured me that it's super yummy, and she was right! This is her recipe:

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
3 tsp red chili powder
1.5 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
6 oz can of tomato paste
1 cup water
1.5 cups chicken broth
10 corn tortillas
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2.5 cups grated Mexican blend cheese


Directions
Melt butter in sauce pan. Make a roux by browning flour in melted butter mixing constantly. Add spices & tomato paste. Stir until well blended in roux. Add water & chicken broth gradually using a whisk and stirring constantly. Heat until boiling and continue simmering until desired thickness is achieved. Taste and adjust spices to your liking.

Coat the bottom of a 9x13 dish with sauce. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet and slightly brown each tortilla on both sides. Add cheese in middle and fold into enchilada. Place in 9x13 dish on the sauce. Poor remaining sauce over enchiladas. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake in oven on 325 for about 20 minutes (or until cheese is fully melted).

New and Improved Ranch Chicken

I've modified this recipe, and it's so much better now!

I combine the chicken in the crock pot with a can of cream of chicken soup and an envelope of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix. I add a small amount of butter - maybe 2 tablespoons. We still serve it over rice.

Yum! Much better! :)

Chicken Soup

1 package chicken tenders
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots
1 cup mini-pasta

Boil chicken tenders until fully cooked. Remove chicken from broth and shred - put aside. Add onion, celery, and carrots to broth and let simmer until soft. Add chicken and pasta and let simmer until pasta is fully cooked. If you want a richer broth, you can add a cup or 2 of chicken broth to the soup. You could also add more noodles and make chicken noodle soup.

This was the perfect meal a few weeks ago when Jamie was coming down with a cold. Great in the winter too!

Ground Beef Casserole

I have several new recipes, and haven't updated in ages. This one is really good, and Elise actually loves it!

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup Minute Rice
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp garlic salt
1 can diced tomatoes
6 slices of American cheese

Fry meat & chopped onion. Drain fat. Add remaining ingredients and cook over low heat for about 10 mins. Spread in 9x13 dish and place cheese slices on top. Let cook on 350 degrees until cheese is melted (about 10-15 minutes).

Pot Roast & Veggies

I put this in the crock pot this morning before heading out the door to work!

I cut up carrots, onion, and red potatoes this time, but you can do it with any combination of veggies. I put the veggies in the bottom of the crock pot and added 1.5 cups of beef broth. I sprinkled some garlic and wine seasoning over the veggies (I got the seasoning at The Melting Pot in our NYE gift bag). I put the chuck roast on top and sprinkled more seasoning, along with salt & pepper.

It cooks on low for about 8 hours. I have to get someone to run by the house and turn it down to the "keep warm" setting around 2-ish to avoid it getting overcooked. (Thank you, Dad, for doing this for us today!!)

It's so great to come home to a great smelling house and delicious meal, already cooked and ready to eat! :) This is also a relatively cheap meal for a whole family. You can buy chuck roast at a really great price at Sam's (package of 2 for only $11 - cook one now and freeze one for later). We had enough food to feed all 3 of us, plus Grandma & Pa Pa, and there are leftovers for sandwiches tomorrow. :)

No Peek Chicken

Ingredients:

1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix
1 1/2 cups minute rice
3/4 cup milk
2 lbs chicken (I like breast halves or boneless, skinless chicken tenders)
Aluminum foil

Mix the cream soups, minute rice, and milk together in a bowl. Pour into 9x13 baking dish. Place raw chicken on top. Sprinkle onion soup mix over chicken. Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake on 325 for 2 hours.

No peeking!

Ranch Chicken

This is probably the easiest thing in the world to make. It comes in a close 2nd to the chicken spaghetti in Jamie's book. The prep time is literally 5 minutes or less.

I use boneless, skinless chicken tenders, but you can really use any part of the chicken. Put the chicken in the crock pot. Then add one stick of butter (I cut it up into smaller pieces and spread evenly over the chicken). Combine one envelope of Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix with one cup of milk. I mix that with a wire whisk. Then pour over the chicken. That's it! I let it cook on low for around 4 hours. Cooking time will vary depending on your crock pot, though, so keep an eye on it until you figure out how it's going to cook. Also, if you use larger chicken pieces, such as whole breasts, it will need to cook a bit longer.

I serve it over rice, but it would also be good alone with veggies or over noodles. I love it with rice, because the melted butter, milk, and juices from the chicken make a really yummy broth. We cut up the chicken into small pieces (it practically falls apart) and mix with the rice and broth for a yummy chicken & rice type dish.

We had it for dinner tonight, and I think it was one of the better batches I've made so far. And now we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. :)

Elise doesn't appreciate the greatness of ranch chicken yet, so she had mac & cheese and yogurt. Go figure!