Category: Food

Categories
Food

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This is a blend of a yahoo foods recipe, the back of the Old El Paso enchilada dinner kit, and what was in our pantry!
Ingredients
1 lb chicken
Old El Paso seasoning mix
flour tortillas
enchilada sauce
about 2 cups of cheddar cheese
1 can black beans
1 cup salsa

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
Cut chicken in bite sized pieces, saute then add 1/2 cup water and Old El Paso seasoning mix. continue cooking on medium-high for 4-8 minutes.
Mix chicken, 1 cup cheese, 1 of the enchilada sauce packets, rinsed & drained black beans in seperate bowl.
In ungreased 11×7 pan place tortilla halved on the bottom. Top with some of the other enchilada sauce then 1/2 of the chicken mix. Add another layer of tortillas. Top with salsa & some cheese. Add layer of tortillas. Top with other half of chicken mix. Add layer of tortillas. Top with salsa & cheese. (This is kinda however you want.)
Bake on 350 for about 30 minutes. If desired, served with sour cream, diced red peppers, green onions.
The yahoo & Old El Paso recipe called for onions sauteed with the chicken but we didn’t have any & don’t really like them. The yahoo recipe adds rice & the El Old Paso recipe adds sour cream in with the chicken/cheese/black beans mixture. Sadly we didn’t have either on hand, but I might try that for next time.

Categories
Food

Chocolate Chip Apple Oatmeal Cookies

I found this recipe on a nestie cooking blog (goodthingscated) and tried it this week for a co-workers going away party. I think they were a hit. They’re kind of different, but I thought the flavors blended well together. And as a plus they were pretty easy to make.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup oats
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 small dash of ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted & cooled until warm
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 large apple, peeled & diced, about 1 cup
Directions
adjust oven racks to upper & lower middle positions & heat oven to 325. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper (I didn’t do this and think that might’ve been good b/c they stuck a little)
Whisk dry ingredients together & set aside
With electric mixer or by hand, mix butter & sugars until thoroughly combined.
Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined
Add dry ingredients & beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in chips & apple
Original directions say to do the following. I just scooped tablespoon sized chunks of dough onto the pans. “Roll scant 1/2 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball. Top dough ball with extra chocolate chips.”
Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown & outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft & puffy, about 12-15 minutes.
Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking & place on wire rack to cool.

Categories
Food

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

I found this recipe online (I can’t recall where) and finally found somewhere to make them for. This week I took them to our Chi O Alum Dinner Club then shared the leftovers with co-workers. I admit they were really good! Thought I’d share the recipe with the blogging world.
Margarita Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 package (18.25 oz. white cake mix (no pudding in the mix)
1 can (10 oz.) frozen Margarita mix, thawed (undiluted) (I used strawberry) 
3 egg whites
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated lime zest 
Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Line standard muffin pan with baking cups.
In large bowl, combine cake mix, Margarita mix, egg whites and vegetable oil using electric mixer.
Stir in lime zest; mix completely.
Fill prepared pans 2/3 full.
Bake 22-24 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pan on cooling rack 5-8 minutes.
Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely. Frost cooled cupcakes with icing and garnish, if desired, with a strawberry and/or lime twist. Yield: Makes 24 cupcakes.
 
Key Lime Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons key lime juice
1 teaspoon key lime zest or lemon zest
4-5 cups confectioners’ sugar
Directions
In large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese, juice and zest with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Add 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time; continue beating until light and fluffy.
If icing is too thin add additional confectioners’ sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Makes about 3 cups icing.
Categories
Food

banana bread

I was in a baking mood tonight! I was making the Blueberry Cake to take to work tomorrow and I found this recipe that I’d saved and had all the ingredients so I decided to test it out too. I’ll add a few pictures and yumminess info soon.

Easy Banana Nut Bread
Ingredients
3 eggs
½ cup margarine, melted
3 ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup water
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans (I used 1/2 cup b/c DH & I don’t love a lot of nuts in our banana bread)
Directions
Combine eggs, margarine, bananas, water and vanilla in large bowl—mix thoroughly. Stir in cake mix and beat well. Stir in nuts. Pour into a greased and flowered 10 inch tube or bundt pan (I used 2 loaf pans). Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until golden brown.

Categories
Food

Blueberry Scones

I’m still on my blueberry kick! I made blueberry scones for Jason & I for brunch this morning. I’m not sure which blog/website I got this recipe from, but it certainly was a hit at our house.
Ingredients
2/3 cup frozen blueberries
2 cups flour plus 2 tbsp, plus 1 tbsp
1 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar (the original recipe calls for it chilled, but I used room temp)
1/8 tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, plus 1/2 tbsp
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup half & half
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with parchment (I used a non-stick baking mat).
In a small bowl, add the blueberries and 1 tbsp flour. Toss to combine then put back in the freezer.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar & salt.
Cut butter into chunks and add to flour mixture. Cut butter into flour until pea sized or smaller.
Add vanilla and half & half and mix with a spoon until just barely incorporated.
Knead the blueberries into mixture until mixture forms a ball of sticky dough.
Place dough on floured surface and pat down into a rough 9-10 inch circle.
Cut into 8 triangles and place scones onto prepared baking sheet at least an inch apart.
Take 1/2 tbsp butter and cut into 8 small pieces. Place one small piece of butter on each scone.
Bake for 15 mins. Let cool & enjoy!