Chicken Enchiladas

Wow... sorry I went MIA... life is a little crazy right now. It comes in waves, lately I've been super busy, but I think I see it chilling out a bit... I think. Unfortunately, I have done basically 0 baking :( .

This is Dads- with salsa and peppers on top... i used sour cream

I did make my version of my dad's famous Chicken Enchiladas, I think his recipe came from the Members Mark chicken breasts in a can.

[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:



2 cans 13oz Members Mark premium chicken breast in water, drained

1 cup chili salsa

1 4oz can chopped green chilies

2.5 cup Heavy whipping cream

2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese

10 8" flour tortillas

Directions

1- combine salsa, chiles and chicken



2- place mixture in tortillas and roll (I added mixed Mexican cheese in the tortillas too)




3- place seam side down in 9 by 13 baking dish



Note: these are not 8 inch tortillas - they are much bigger burrito size - we only fit 5 in a pan

4- pour whipping cream over top ( dad only bought a small thing of it, but it gave me 2 cups, and it seemed to work fine)




5- bake for 45 mins at 350 degrees

6- sprinkle cheese on top with ten minutes remaining



yum-o

These were really good, very cheesy - I let dad help me and we loaded it up... but cheesy is good. I want to try them again with smaller tortillas - i liked the cheese in the middle too :-D This was a good and easy dinner.

Somethings never change

I have a final due Wed. night... what have a done today to avoid  working on it? 1- napped 2- gotten rates for health insurance 3- counted my couch fund( bucket full of change) i had $54.77   4- posted about my new kitchen

I know this is a cooking/baking blog, but I am so excited about the things that are going to go down in this kitchen I have to share it with you now. I won't be moving in until July, but I already have my kitchenaid's spot picked out. This kitchen has so much space and so much countertop to cool cookies on I CAN NOT WAIT! :-D



I am pretty sure I have more cabinet space than I have stuff for them... maybe I can store my sweaters in some too :-D Kidding... I will fill them with cake pans and powdered sugar :-D

Did I mention there are 18 outlets in the kitchen itself? WOW!

I CAN NOT WAIT to play in here!

Mexican Lasagna

[Printable Recipe]


A while ago Matt and I went to dinner at my friend Jessica and Travis' house. She was cooking Mexican lasagna. Loving most things Mexican food I was excited. She made the main dish, I brought Mexican rice (from the packet) and dessert. Jessica's version was amazing. I decided to make it for my family asap.

I decided to change things up a little from Rachel Ray's orginial. I will highlight my changes in (RED)

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds ground chicken breast, available in the packaged meats case ( 2 lbs ground beef... it was what we had)
• 2 tablespoons chili powder (did not use)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin (didn't use this either... instead... 1 pack of taco seasoning)
• 1/2 red onion, chopped ( yellow onion)
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1 cup medium heat taco sauce or 1 (14-oz) can stewed or fire roasted tomatoes (totally forgot this at the store)
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• Salt
• 8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas, available on dairy aisle of market (regular flour tortillas)
• 2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
• 2 scallions, finely chopped (didn't have this time, but had at Jess's and they were yum-o)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat.

Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil - twice around the pan.

Add chicken and season with chili powder, cumin, and red onion. Brown the meat (I added the taco seasoning mid way through)

Browning the meat and cooking the onions


Add taco sauce or stewed or fire roasted tomatoes.(omitted)

Add black beans and corn.



Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste.

Coat a shallow baking dish with remaining extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon oil.

Cut the tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer with.

Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese.



Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again.

Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly.



Top with the scallions and sour cream and serve.



This variation was very good, I used lean beef so it wasn't too greasy. The taco sauce probably would have given it more flavor, but I think it was still very good. As far as Mexican goes, it wasn't spicy at all, but if I was making it for just myself I would use a spicier taco seasoning, and a medium salsa.