Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

I've flirted with the idea of making enchiladas for probably longer than the hubs and I have been married. I've always wanted to do it, but I've also been intimidated by the idea. I wanted them to be good! So tonight, I made the commitment - we were having enchiladas, it was necessary, and I was going to make them semi-healthy. (Healthy went pretty much out the window with the cheese I used, but I get a point or two for good intentions, right?)

In any case, I did a little research about what enchiladas actually were, and how they were assembled. I went ahead and had my own way with this. This recipe is super Americanized (sorry!) and I didn't use corn tortillas - I just don't like soft corn tortillas, they have an odd after taste to me! I used Fat free Flour Tortillas. They're my absolute favorite and I found I actually like them better as tortillas go than regular ones. How often do you find lighter fare that actually tastes better than the original? Not often. The only drawback to these tortillas is that they're really soft and thin, and so when you pull them out of the package you have to separate them carefully or else you will end up ripping them apart. And they're so good, that would be such a shame!

Anyway, when hubby came home tonight, his reaction to what I had in the oven was visible. He said to me, "If what you have in there tastes as good as it smells, I'm kissing you...then you're going to explain why you've never made it before." Cute. But I was nervous until the first bite was taken. I'd never made this before! I'd also had a ruined Mexican inspired dinner memory that had weakened my confidence in this arena. I didn't relax until I had my first bite. It was so so good! Yum is not even the word. So, I immediately scooted over here to write it down before I forgot what I did.

Now, it's confession time. I am not at all a technical cook. I'm a technical baker, but when it comes to spicing something, it's a shake or two here and three shakes there. I know a lot of people like written in stone measurements, so I've guessed on some of it below. The thing with cooking is that all you're doing is adding flavor. So if you like a lot of flavor add more, if you don't like as much of this or that, add less. I'm relatively hippie-like with my seasonings. It's all free-love with my spice cabinets. :) 

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

For the chicken:
2 chicken breasts fully cooked and shredded
1 cup of chicken broth (I used the broth the chicken had cooked in)
1/2 can of rotel
1 tsp of minced garlic (I used it from the jar)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp of salt
3-4 jalepeno slices from the jar along with a little of the juice poured in
1/4 tsp of garlic powder
1/4 tsp garlic pepper
1/4 red pepper
1 pinch of dried cilantro 
4 shakes of Franks red hot

For the sauce:
1 T of Vegetable oil
1 T flour
2 cups of Chicken broth*
2/3 jar of Trader joe's salsa
1/2 cup of Kroger's mild Taco sauce
1 8 oz. can of Kroger's Tomato sauce
1 pinch of Cilantro 

*chicken broth comes from the cooked chicken. I always add salt and Country Crock light margarine to mine to give it a little more flavor)

Tortillas:
6 fat free tortillas lightly toasted for 30 seconds in a 500 degree oven

Cheese:
2 cups of Kraft's Triple Cheese blend
1 cups of Kroger's Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Woops! Forgot a picture of the Cilantro. I swear by this freeze-dried stuff!

 Okay, so I began with cooking my chicken breasts. I put them in a pot with water, two spoonfuls of light margarine, and about a teaspoon of salt. Again, I'm not very technical. There are times when I forget to actually use the broth I make when I boil my chicken, and then there are other times when I'm a little smarter, like today, and actually remember that there's no need to get the processed stuff out of the can (Not that I don't use it as much as the next person, it's just awesome to realize that you've got the real thing in front of you and there's no need to open any cans or spend any more money on it if you don't already have it).

Ahem...ANYWAY.

Next, I removed the fully cooked chicken breasts and shredded them (As yet another aside, if you happen to have a KitchenAid mixer, you can use the whisk attachment to shred your chicken and it is glorious. All my food processors do is make contemptible chicken crumbs. J/S). In a large pan I threw in all of the ingredients listed above: broth, cilantro, rotel, minced garlic, garlic powder, garlic pepper, salt, pepper, red pepper, Frank's, jalepenos and their juice, etc. And then I sauteed the mix until all of the liquid had cooked out of it. When the liquid's gone, your chicken is done (and delicious).  This is evidenced in my smokey picture below.

In the same saucepan I used to boil the chicken, I put in my vegetable oil, flour, and chicken broth and stirred until the flour dissolved into the broth. I then poured in my salsa, taco sauce, and tomato sauce. When the sauce was steamy and bubbly, I spooned a just little of the sauce into my sauteed chicken mixture. Why not? :)

While everything was cooking, I set my oven at 500 degrees and placed my tortillas on a pan (On a big pan I could put about three at a time) and let them cook for about 30 seconds each. The point is to get them a little toasty without making them hard, so don't leave them in the oven any longer than that.

Here we are pre-cheese and sauce.

When everything was ready to go, I sprayed a 9x13 dish and coated the bottom of the dish with the sauce mixture. Then I dipped and coated each tortilla into the sauce pan and filled them one at a time with the chicken and topped with cheese before rolling them up and placing them seam side down in the baking dish. Once the dish was full, I topped the enchiladas with the rest of the triple cheese (there wasn't enough to keep), then ladled some of the sauce over each enchilada. I topped it all off with the sharp cheddar cheese and put it in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes. The goal here is to allow the cheese to melt.





When they were done, I sprinkled a little parsley flakes over top for color and added a spoonful of fat-free sour cream on top.

This recipe may have a lot of steps, but it definitely does not take very long to make. My husband ran out to wash and vacuum his car, and by the time he got back they were in the oven with less than ten minutes to go. I can even begin to express how good these were. The chicken and the tortillas were really flavorful and tender and didn't pack too much heat (If you want more heat, I'd suggest upping the jalepenos and/or red pepper). We were really pleased with this dish and it is definitely something I'll be making again. Maybe next time, however, I will take the time to buy some fat free cheddar and won't have to take my dogs on a walk around the entire neighborhood so I won't feel as guilty!

Hope you enjoyed your dinner tonight as much as we did!

God Bless!

Tater Tot Casserole

So it's been a long time since I've sat down to blog, but tonight, I'm going to make it up to you with several posts. I might just make it up to you with this version of tater tot casserole, which, if I do say so myself, is the bomb....dot com. I've tried two or three different ways of making this casserole, and this seems to be the crowd pleaser (well, if you count my hubs as a crowd, because I do). A lot of them turn out really dry, which is disappointing. And even though I love the Duggars, theirs doesn't have any cheese. Although theirs is likely healthier, no cheese is just not acceptable in this household. We live for cheese!

Anyway, on the list of things that we buy almost every time we grocery shop is ground turkey. As I have mentioned before, I'm not a ground beef fan, so we're always looking for ways to make ground turkey throughout the week that isn't redundant and tiresome. Because I don't often buy tater tots, I have to make a point to buy them with the intention of making this dish. It makes it a rare enough effort that always turns out as a special treat that breaks the ground turkey routine of baked spaghetti and hamburgers. So without further adieu, I give you my version of Tater Tot casserole.

Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients:
1 bag of tater tots
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/3 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of milk
2 cups of shredded cheddar or colby blend cheese
1/2 cup of Velveeta cheese (I used the 2% kind, but it really is whatever you want)
1 or 1/2 pound of ground turkey (depending on how meaty you'd like it to be)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 T of Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp of pepper

In an oven, bake the entire bag of tater tots according to the package directions. While the tots are cooking, brown your turkey meat in a pan. Season with garlic powder, W-shire sauce, salt and pepper. In a large sprayed 9x13 (3 qt) casserole dish, pour the browned ground turkey into the bottom of the dish. Top with cooked tater tots. In a bowl or measuring cup, mix the milk, cream of mushroom soup, and sour cream. Stir well and sit aside. Cut off Velveeta cheese into quartered chunks and tuck in with tater tots all over the dish. Pour liquid mixture over the top and then top with with the shredded cheese. Bake on whatever your oven is already on from baking the tater tots (425 or so) for 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted. You're done!

I like this recipe best because the milk really gives the casserole an added moisture and creaminess that it lacks without it. Also, in most recipes they suggest you can just bake the tater tots in with the casserole. But this is where my Mama came in. She told me that it's a lot more guesswork with unbaked tater tots, a longer cooking time and then you still run the risk of uncooked tater tots in overcooked casserole (yuck!). So I just go ahead and bake them to be safe. :)

In this house, we like a little tater tot casserole with our ketchup if you know what I mean, but it is just as good without it.

Enjoy!

Bruschetta Chicken

I have to blog about this one because this chicken was so good, my husband and I thought we had gone out to eat at a restaurant. The best part was that it was, you guessed it, really easy (healthy too!). I am always looking for ways to spice up chicken breast. Scarcely a week passes that we aren't eating some kind of chicken breast meal. Naturally, that gets really old, so anything that I can do to liven up a weekly staple, I look for it. This recipe, if you can even call it that, was born of me wanting to prepare something ahead of time so I wasn't sitting there at five o'clock searching for something to do. I was looking for a Crock-pot recipe that didn't require an instant ranch or Italian dressing packet, and when that didn't happen, had begun digging through my fridge trying to find something to marinate my chicken breast in. Fortunately, I found a jar of Trader Joe's bruschetta tomatoes. Eureka!

Bruschetta Chicken 

Ingredients
1 jar of Trader Giotto's (Trader Joe's) Bruschetta
2 large chicken breasts, cut into four chicken pieces
1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese
1 T of Parmesan Cheese
1 T of Litehouse Italian Seasoning

To make:

Cut two large chicken breasts into four smaller breasts and place inside a gallon sized zip-lock bag with half of the jar of Bruschetta. Allow to marinate for at least four hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour contents of the bag of marinated chicken into a greased baking dish. Pour the remaining Bruschetta over the top of the chicken, top with Parmesan and Italian seasoning, sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and bake for 45 minutes, or until chicken is done.

This is a versatile dish that can be served with a variety of sides. It will be tasty with vegetables or pasta, depending on your mood or what you have available.We had plenty of red potatoes and broccoli so that's what I served. It turned out great and hubby said I needed to go rummaging through the fridge more often, haha.

Enjoy!

Garlic Parmesan Shrimp and Cheese Grits

This is one of those meals that is great for when you've forgotten to thaw some meat for dinner, or if your plans for dinner fall through otherwise. Shrimp and grits is quick, relatively simple, and very filling. A week or so ago, some girlfriends and I went out to eat at a restaurant a couple miles from my house and we ordered an appetizer of shrimp and grits. They, of course, made this a lot fancier than I typically do, but the meal had been on my mind nearly everyday until I finally gave in and made it tonight.

Garlic Parmesan Shrimp and Cheese Grits 

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup of quick instant grits
4 cups of water

1/2 cup of Velveeta cheese
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
4 tbsp of butter or margarine
2 tbsp of Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp of black pepper

For the shimp:

2 cups of frozen, already cooked shrimp thawed
3 tbsp of melted butter or margarine
2 tbsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of black pepper
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp parsley flakes
1 tsp of Italian seasoning 
1 shake of red pepper
3 tbsp of parmesan cheese

In the sink, place your shrimp in a colander and run cool water over them for five minutes or until thawed. Set aside. *I did not pull the tails off of my shrimp before I cooked them, but next time I would, it just makes for an easier meal.

Follow the package directions of instant grits and cook them in a large bowl in the microwave. When they stir thick, add butter and Velveeta cheese. Cook again for 2 minutes, then stir mixture until the butter and cheese is completely melted. Add shredded cheddar and parmesan cheese, stir well.

In a fry pan, melt butter completely in the pan. Combine your seasonings, minus the parmesan cheese, into the pan and stir. Add shrimp and mixed well, constantly stirring. As the shrimp begin to cook, alternate turning down the temperature on the stove eye with adding the parmesan cheese until the butter clings more to the shrimp and lessens boiling in the pan. Shrimp is done cooking when there is almost no liquid in the pan.

Grab a plate or bowl, and cover the bottom with the grits, top with shrimp.

Enjoy!

Bacon and Cheese Quiche

After mulling over what I wanted to post about first, I decided to go with the most recent thing I've fixed. A lot of times, my meal decisions come from simply what I have on hand. Keeping things in stock for when I need them is something that saves me a good bit of money. For instance, if I buy pie shells (which keep for a long time) right before Thanksgiving season gets underway, I'm going to find them super on sale and I have them for holiday baking and some to keep for throughout the year.

So the other night, when I needed something more substantial to add to the broccoli and cheddar soup I made for dinner, quiche seemed to be the perfect fit. Especially since I had some leftover turkey bacon from dinner the night before!

Quiche has always been a personal favorite of mine because it was one of the first things I ever learned how to cook properly. As a teenager, I'd been charged with the assignment to pick a French dish and prepare it to bring in for a food day. I chose quiche because the concept sounded a lot yummier than some of my other options, and because I thought it was simple enough to make. Ever since, it's become one of my staples. The thing I make in a pinch when I don't know what to bring for potluck, or something I make the night before Christmas so David and I will have something to eat before rushing out the door to spend the holiday with our loved ones. I love quiche, I love its versatility, and I love how simple it is to make. Here's my recipe:


Quiche with Turkey Bacon and Colby Jack Cheese

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
4-6 slices of fully cooked bacon
1 can of evaporated milk
2 cups (about one bag) of shredded cheddar or colby cheese
1 dash nutmeg (just a little)
1/4 tsp of pepper
1/4 tsp of salt
1 deep dish 9" pie crust

Bake at 350 degrees. Cook time: 45-60 minutes.

If you don't already have some prepared, cook some bacon. (It doesn't really matter how you prefer to cook it. You can fry, microwave, bake, etc. Just make sure it is fully cooked.) Cover the bottom of the pie crust in shredded cheese. Keep only about 1/4 of a cup of the cheese to put on top. Crumble the bacon and put on top of the cheese. In a large bowl, combine eggs, evaporated milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Whisk together.  Pour on top of the cheese and bacon in the pie crust. Cover with the remaining cheese. CAREFULLY, transfer the quiche into the oven. I mean be really careful. This is full on liquid in a pie shell and you will spill it into your oven if you're not careful. Cook for about 45mins to an hour, until fork comes out clean. 

 
I'm not going to lie to you here. Quiche is something that takes a little while to cook. Plenty of recipes out there will tell you that theirs takes 30 mins. I'm here to tell you that I've been making quiche for a long time, and I've never had one not take an hour. Yes, it depends on ovens and yes, it can be related to a hundred other factors. But you're putting a deep dish, pie sized bowl of eggs and milk and cheese in an oven. It's gonna take time for that to become a solid. Just a fact. If you love quiche like I do though, it's totally worth it. This has got to be one of my favorite dishes to make just because. It can serve as breakfast, lunch or dinner depending on what you serve it with.


Also if you want to make it healthier, simply use fat free cheese and fat free evaporated milk. Also, I like to use turkey bacon, and I did for this recipe. We can't tell the difference and it's definitely a lighter choice than regular bacon. Quiche is something you can make however you want. Think of it as omelet pie and put whatever you want in it - ham, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, spinach, etc. Enjoy!