Saturday, June 27, 2009

Easy Chicken Enchilada's

Chicken breasts (or pork roast)
big can of green chile enchilada sauce
Green onions, chopped
shredded cheese
Corn tortillas

Place chicken breasts or pork roast in crock pot. Add some water and pour a little of the enchilada sauce on top. Cook until done, then shredd. Put the shredded chicken or pork in a bowl and pour enough enchilada sauce over the meat to cover it.

Place the corn tortilla's in the microwave to warm up. If you try to roll the tortilla's cold, they will tear. When warm, take one, and spread the chicken in the middle. I like to add another spoonful of sauce over it. Then, cover with cheese and add some green onions. Roll tortilla up and place in casserole dish. Continue to do this until dish is full. Add more sauce to the top then cover with cheese. If I have more green onions left over, I will sprinkle over the top.

Bake at 350 degree's until cheese is bubbly.

VARIATION: if you want beef enchiladas, use the red enchilada sauce. It's best if you use a roast of some sort and shred.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Carrot Cake

4 eggs
1 1/4 cups applesauce
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans (0ptional)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, applesauce, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.


To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Stacked Burrito Pie

1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground beef OR Steak or roast (See different directions below)
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp salt
¾ cup water
1 (15 ½ oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels
4 (10 inch) flour tortillas
½ cup sour cream
1 cup salsa
Cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, grated

If using ground beef- In a large skillet over medium-low heat, brown the ground beef, onions and garlic. Add the chili powder and cumin. Cook the mixture until the beef is browned and no longer pink, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Add the salt, water, black beans and corn, and bring the mixture to a boil. Allow it to continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates, about 20 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes.

If using steak or roast- this is my preferred method
Cook the roast/steak in the crock pot with. I will add onions and garlic to this, but then will add a little more later. When done, shred.

In a saucepan, add black beans, corn, chili powder, cumin, salt and water. I will also add some more onions and garlic, to taste. You will find that you may need to add a little more water. I only cook until mixture heats up. Add the shredded beef to the mix.

This recipe calls for a springform pan. If you don’t have one, use a round cake pan and serve more like a lasagna, but the springform pan is definitely a lot more fun!

Lay your springform pan over one of the tortillas and trim to the size of your pan. Do this to three of the four tortilla’s.

Butter the sides of the pan, if I find that I don’t need to butter my springform pan at all. Press the untrimmed tortilla evenly on the bottom of the pan. Spread 2 TBS (or more of sour cream over the tortilla. Spoon ¼ cup salsa over the sour cream. Spread ¼ of the beef mixture over the salsa and sour cream, then as much cheese as you desire. Place one of the trimmed tortilla’s over the top of the first layer and repeat until it’s all gone. You should end up with four layers, topped with the final sprinkling of cheese.

Bake the pie until heated through, about 30 minutes. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the rim from the springform pan, if you used one. Slice the pie into wedges using a sharp knife.

Serves 10

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I got these recipe's from my friend Tauna, who is an amazing cook!!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

½ cup Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce, plus more for chicken
¼ cup of pizza sauce (see following recipe)
2 cups cooked, chopped chicken
½ red onion
mozzarella cheese

Mix ½ cup BBQ sauce and pizza sauce together, set aside. In a separate bowl mix cooked chicken and desired amount of BBQ together, set aside. Saute red onion. Spread sauce over uncooked pizza crust (see following recipe), top with desired amount of cheese, then top with chicken mixture and red onion. Place in 450 degrees oven on pizza stone. Cook for 8-10 minutes.

Pizza Sauce (Makes 3 to 4 pizzas)

I often make a double batch and freeze the extras so I always have it on hand.

28 oz can tomatoes
3 oz tomato paste
4 Tbsp Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 tsp oregano
1 Tbsp garlic (heaping)
3/4 Tbsp black pepper
3 tsp sugar
2 tsp dried basil

Put all ingredients in blender and mix. Allow flavors to mix for one hour.


Pizza Crust (Makes 1 pizza)

This crust recipe can be multiplied depending on how many pizzas you want. It also makes good bread sticks.

1 Tbsp yeast
1 cup warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
¼ cup olive oil or cooking oil
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour (I often do 2 cups wheat and 1 cup white flour)

Mix the yeast with water and sugar, then let it sit for 5 minutes. Stir in the oil and salt, then add the flour and knead until smooth, adding more flour if needed. Let the dough rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Place pizza stone in oven and then preheat to 450 degrees. Sprinkle cornmeal on a piece of parchment paper and roll pizza dough out on parchment paper. Top as desired and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Barbeque Beef Casserole

1 lb ground beef
onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 can corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 to 1 cup BBQ sauce
1-2 packages cornbread

Cook beef, onion and green pepper. Add corn, tomatoes and BBQ sauce. Put in 9x13 dish. Mix cornbread according to directions and add spread on top of beef mixture. (I added shredded cheese on top of cornbread)

Bake for 25 minutes (or until browned and cornbread is done) at 400 degree's.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Korean BBQ Beef Short Ribs

4 to 4 1/2 pounds beef short ribs
1/4 cup chopped green onions with tops
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
1/4 cup beef broth or water
1 TBSP brown sugar
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp Asian sesame oil
Hot cooked rice or linguine pasta
2 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

Place ribs in the crock pot slow cooker. Combine green onions, soy sauce, broth, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and pepper in medium bowl; mix well and pour over ribs. Cover; cook on LOW 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or until ribs are fork tender.

Remove ribs from cooking liquid, cool slightly. Trim excess fat. Cut rib meat into bite-sized pieces discarding bones and fat.

Let cooking liquid stand 5 minutes to allow fat to rise. Skim off fat.

Stir sesame oil into liquid. Return beef to stoneware. Cover; cook LOW 15 to 30 minutes or until mixture is hot.

Serve with rice or pasta and garnish with sesame seeds.

Variation: Substitute 3 pounds boneless short ribs for beef short ribs.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Quick Sweet & Sour Chicken

2 Tbs. corn oil
1 lb. Chicken, cubed

1 can 20 oz Pineapple chunks in juice

1/2 C. Karo light corn syrup

1/4 C. cider vinegar

2 Tbs. ketchup

2 Tbs. soy sauce

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 small red or green pepper, cut in 1” squares

2 Tbs. corn starch

2 Tbs. water

Hot cooked rice


In large skillet heat corn oil over medium-high heat; add chicken and brown all sides. Add Pineapple, corn syrup, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, and garlic. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes, or until chicken is done. Add pepper. Mix corn starch and water; stir into chicken mixture. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium heat and boil 1 minute.


Serve over rice or noodles

Serves 4