Tamale Pie

Yup, It's the Homemade Enchilada sauce making another appearance! 

This recipe makes 1 casserole, but I felt that the amounts of ingredients were a bit odd, so I doubled the recipe and made one for the freezer and one for dinner.  Most likely, at my house, the ingredients that were left in the fridge would have gone bad. 

I didn't double the required amount of ground beef though, and I added green peppers as an added veggie. 

I also added a can of black beans - which made it even more perfect. Go Ahead and experiment with the recipe. Make it your own! 

Create!! 

Here is my baked cornbread crust, you can see in the back, I used a rectangle glass dish to make my second casserole. 

Added corn, green peppers, and black beans. Lots of yummy goodness. 

 

 

Easy Bean Enchiladas

Up until I made this recipe, Enchiladas were a special occasion food for my family. I almost always made chicken ones and they were really a lot of work.  I had to cook the chicken before, make the filling and then roll all the enchiladas and once that happened, I still had to bake the whole thing. My family loves them, but I would make pans of them for holidays and birthdays and that was about it. 

But I realized once when we were out to dinner at a little mom and pop Mexican food place that we go to in town that all my family orders are cheese enchiladas with beans and rice.  (And They Love IT!) So I needed a quick dinner last week and I decided to make enchiladas. I had picked up a package of corn tortillas for a really great price and the rest is history. 

I forgot however that I had used every single can of enchilada sauce in my house on Christmas day to make enchiladas and so I had to make my own. 

It turned out So Great, that I had made it again and sworn to myself that never again will I buy a can of enchilada sauce. (it really is That good - and not hard to make at all).  I will post the recipe for you on Friday.  But for now, here are the easiest enchiladas in the world. 

Quick Chicken Cordon Bleu

At the beginning of last month, my friend Candi, at Eat Well Utah posted a recipe for chicken cordon bleu made in a skillet. 

This is one of my family's favorite meals and so I put it on my list of recipes to add to my Meal Plan. 

With some leftover Thanksgiving ham and a can of chicken, I used my trusty SoS Mix and made this meal in under 20 minutes. Really, all it took was the time for the pasta to boil. I did everything else while that was happening. 

I modified an old Food $ense recipe from the free Soup or Sauces Cookbook.

Although it is a casserole recipe, I mixed everything up in the big pot that I boiled the noodles in and served it right out of that. You can make it a casserole if you want, or just serve it as a pasta dish as I did. 

Ingredients:
3 cups curly noodles
7 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup SOS Mix
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup milk
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup onions, chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
1 cup diced ham
1 cup cooked chicken
1/2 cup swiss cheese, grated
 salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp fine bread crumbs

Directions

Boil noodles in 7 cups water with salt. Drain. 

In a small bowl, whisk the SOS Mix, water and milk together until well blended. Set aside. 

In a skillet, heat the olive oil. Stir in chopped onions, peppers and diced

meat. Cook for 5 minutes. 

Add the SOS Mix and water/milk mixture.

Heat through. Remove from heat. Stir in grated cheese, noodles, salt

and pepper.

Spoon into a 2-quart shallow baking dish. Sprinkle bread

crumbs on top. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until heated through.

Soup or Sauce Mix, I can't live without it

This little mix here, is pure kitchen magic. I use it nearly once a week when the fall and winter roll around and I start making a lot of soups, skillet meals and casseroles. I had to make a new batch up this weekend and thought I would share it with you, because it is the most amazing thing in my pantry. 

It practically makes dinner all by itself!

It is basically, dry milk, corn starch (as a thickening agent), and flavor from chicken bullion, onion and seasonings if you add them.  I mixed it up in a bowl and then put it in a jar for you guys, but normally, I just dump all the ingredients into a zip top plastic bag and mix and store it in the same bag. 

If you are wondering what to do with the stuff, you use it any way that you would normally use a can of "Cream of -----" Soup. Except!! this is chemical, preservative, strange ingredient, fat, and gluten free. 

Food Sense has a free Cookbook that you can download and it has the most wonderful easy recipes that you can make. I am not kidding, it actually makes me a much better cook.  You'll wonder how you ever lived without this in your pantry. 

Cheesy Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

I love a good pasta sauce. Having a quick pasta for dinner can save my night, but I often like to change it up, sometimes tomato sauce can get a little bit tired. - and although my kids love it, I am not a huge fan of Alfredo sauce.

I do love sauces that are based with squash though. we bought a jar many years ago from Costco because I thought it sounded so strange. I was really nervous to try it, but I just loved it. Of course, it was a seasonal item and they have never had it back, so I started making my own. 

It makes the most creamy decadent sauce and my kids have no idea they are getting super high nutritional squash. You can make squash sauces with fresh pumpkin, acorn, butternut and I even use canned pumpkin sometimes.  This recipe is nice and cheesy, but I didn't call it Mac and Cheese - for fear of a blue box revolt! - I love it seasoned with sage or curry or Mmmm bacon. There are a million ways to experiment with it. 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 apple, peeled and chopped

1 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup Italian cheese blend (Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano)

salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Place the squash into a saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Simmer the squash until very tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain excess water. Cooked squash should equal 2 cups.

Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium-low heat, and cook the onion, garlic, and apple, stirring frequently, until softened and brown, about 15 minutes. 

Add butternut squash and chicken broth, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat just to a simmer, and stir in the milk and cheese blend. 

Stir until the cheese has melted and the sauce has reached desired thickness, 5 to 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Top your favorite pasta and enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

It doesn't get more basic and easy than this. I use this casserole recipe as a base from Broccoli Casserole, Mixed Veggie Casserole, you could add whatever you had on hand or in the freezer to it. 

And although the recipe can have any veggies added to it.  I will a lot of times, make it without any veggies at all. That doesn't mean that I don't serve it without veggies, I just don't put them in the casserole. The night last week that I made this, I had a great big green salad that I served with it. But you can serve any veggies sides since you don't have to bake them in. 

That makes this a perfect freeze ahead meal for me, because I don't have to fret about, well Lex won't eat cooked broccoli or Joseph doesn't like peas. Everyone eats the casserole because it is just chicken, cheese and rice and then I can add whatever I need to to round out the meal. 

And although casseroles lose the popularity in the summer, I love to make this in the summer months and serve it with fresh raw veggies and a big slice or watermelon.  Not baking the veggies inside the casserole leaves me a lot of rooms for fresh options. 

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 

olive oil 

salt and pepper

4 cups cooked long grain rice

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour 

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup milk 

½ tsp salt 

¼ tsp smoked paprika

8 oz. medium cheddar, shredded

Instructions:

Cut the chicken breast into small ½-inch cubes. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium, then add the olive oil and swirl to coat the surface. Add the chicken pieces and cook until slightly browned on the outside. Remove the chicken pieces to a large clean bowl.

Add the cooked rice to the bowl with the chicken and then stir to combine, then add ½ of the shredded cheddar (about 1 cup) and stir to combine again. Set the mixture aside.

Begin to preheat the oven to 350ºF and coat the inside of a 2 quart casserole dish with non-stick spray. 

Add the butter and flour to the same skillet used to cook the chicken. Cook and whisk the butter and flour over medium heat until it begins to foam, then continue to stir and cook for one minute.

Slowly whisk the chicken broth into the flour and butter mixture. Allow it to come up to a simmer, at which time it will thicken. Once thickened, whisk in the milk and allow it to come up to a simmer again. When it's thick enough to coat a spoon, season with smoked paprika, pepper, and salt.

Pour the sauce over the rice mixture in the bowl and stir until everything is combined and coated in sauce. Transfer the mixture to the casserole dish. 

Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese over the casserole.

Bake the casserole, uncovered, for about 35 minutes or until it becomes golden brown around the edges. Serve hot.

As you can see in the picture, I put breadcrumbs on top of this casserole. Sometimes I do this, and sometimes I don't. It really all depends on whether I have bread crumbs or stale crackers or whatever. I just sprinkle them thinly on top. I think the cheese usually has enough oil in it to crisp up the crumbs.  

Easy Layered Lasagna

I think that Lasagna is one of the greatest of all the comfort foods. I love it, my family loves it, but it is just too darn much work.  You have to make the meat sauce, make the cheese mixture, cook the pasta (which I always mess up) - then you still have to assemble the lasagna and Then bake it. 

And don't even get me started on the frozen stuff.  How does it even call itself lasagna. 

so here is this fantastic recipe for quick lasagna. I used the Very Veggie pasta sauce from the freezer, so all I did was mix the cheese up and cook the pasta. I made pretty authentic tasting lasagna in the time it took to boil the shells (11 minutes). 

Ingredients : 

16 oz. small shell pasta

1 package Very Veggie spaghetti sauce

24 oz. container cottage cheese

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp Italian seasoning

Directions :

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Cook the pasta to al dente, about 9 minutes. 

In the meantime, put a bag of your frozen pasta sauce in the sink or a bowl of warm water to thaw. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, the shredded mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning.

Now warm up your pasta sauce, you can do it on the stove top, or in the microwave. 

When you are ready to serve it, assemble it with pasta on the plate, then top with a scoop of the cheese mixture and then pour the hot pasta sauce over the top. (the hot sauce will make the cheese all melty and delicious)

You can add more parmesan cheese on the top and you are all set to eat the masterpiece that is lasagna. 

Fresh Corn and Zucchini Pie

This amazing vegetable pie can be made with our without a crust. I made it without the crust and used parchment paper that I put a little bit of butter on. 

The ingredients and the cheese made the pie "set" perfectly and I really pleased at how easy this crust-less pie turned out. 

You can add a crust if you want, just prepare one your favorite way and use this recipe for the filling. 

Ingredients:

If Using - 1 pie crust - You can use a frozen one, make your own, or use a pre-made one

Filling:

4 tablespoons butter

half of a yellow onion, diced

2 ears sweet corn

2 large zucchini, sliced very thinly (about 4 cups)

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon salt

12 ounces shredded cheese (I used both Mozzarella and Swiss)

4 eggs, beaten

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 

Heat the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add the onions, and the zucchini. 

While the veggies saute, cut the corn kernels off the cob. Add them to the pan and continue to saute until the veggies are soft, 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Once the mixture has cooled for a few minutes, stir in the basil, oregano, salt, cheese, and the beaten egg. 

 Line a pie pan (9-inch or larger) with parchment paper or just grease a pan with nonstick spray.

Transfer the mixture to the pan. Arrange the top so the zucchini slices lay flat and look nice. Top with a little extra cheese for looks, cover with greased foil, and bake for 20 minutes. 

Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes to brown the top. 

Let stand for 10-15 minutes before cutting into slices.

It will bubble up a little bit as it bakes, so put a pan under to catch drips if it's really full. 

Also, there was a little extra watery-ness (about 2 tablespoons) in the bottom of my pan when I sliced it, but the pieces held together perfectly so not a bid deal. I think the moisture could be prevented by just being a little more patient before cutting.

You can sprinkle yours with fresh herbs (parsley and cilantro or even basil or chives) 

Green Chili Lasagna

If you have already had enchiladas this week, then you need have the perfect excuse to make these green chili lasagna. The tastes are exactly what you'll recognize, and the pasta makes such a nice difference. 

The photos did not turn out pretty, there was nothing I could do to make this look any less sloppy, but trust me, it was so delicious. 

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed
2 cups salsa verde
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
2 cups Mexican cheese blend
3/4 cup sour cream
10 oz. no-boil lasagna noodles
1 (15 oz.) container crema
1 (10 oz.) can roasted green chiles
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375º F.

2. Combine chicken, green chiles, 1 cup salsa verde and sour cream in a large bowl and season generously with salt and pepper, cumin and chili powder.

3. Spread 1/3 cup chicken mixture in the bottom of a large baking dish and cover with a layer of lasagna noodles.

4. Top with another layer of chicken mixture, then cover with crema, mozzarella and Mexican cheese.

5. Repeat with another layer of chicken, crema and cheese, then top with lasagna noodles.

6. Cover noodles with remaining salsa verde and crema, then sprinkle remaining mozzarella evenly over the top.

7. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10-15, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

8. Remove from oven and serve hot.

C