Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Turkey Enchilada Casserole

Turkey Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey breast
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano leaves or 1 tablespoon dried
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salad oil
1 can (29 oz.) red enchilada sauce
Salt
12 corn tortillas (6 in. wide)
2 cups shredded reduced-fat jack cheese (8 oz.)
Chopped fresh cilantro
Preparation
1. In a 5- to 6-quart pan over high heat, stir turkey, onion, garlic, oregano, and cumin in oil until turkey is crumbly and no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Stir in 1 cup enchilada sauce. Add salt to taste.

2. Meanwhile, cut tortillas in half. Arrange a fourth of the halves evenly over the bottom of a shallow 3-quart casserole, overlapping to fit. Sprinkle a fourth of the cheese evenly over the tortillas, then top with a third of the turkey mixture and a fourth of the remaining enchilada sauce, spreading each level. Repeat to make two more layers of tortillas, cheese, turkey mixture, and sauce; top with another layer of tortillas and sauce, then cheese.

3. Bake in a 425° regular or convection oven until cheese is melted and casserole is hot in the center, 18 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Nutritional Information
Calories:249 (20% from fat)
Protein:27g
Fat:5.7g (sat 3.1)
Carbohydrate:23g
Fiber:1.7g
Sodium:1048mg
Cholesterol:58mg

Monday, March 29, 2010

Smoothered Chicken and Rice

Smothered Chicken and Rice from here

4-6 pieces of chicken

1 cup rice

1 small onion

1 package mushrooms

1 can cream of mushroom

1 1/2 cups water

salt and pepper to taste

Salt and pepper chicken, place in deep cooking pan skin side up. Pour in 1 cup rice, mix soup and water till it reaches the 2 1/2 cups line, pour over rice. Add chopped onion and mushrooms. Bake @ 350 for 1-1 1/2 hours


Review: I used chicken breasts. This was a goo d weeknight meal. I think next time I will add a little more flavor, the rice was really good, but the chicken was a little bland.

Valveeta Salsa Dip

Valveeta Salsa Dip from here

Ingredients:
16 ounces Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 jar (16 ounces) picante sauce or salsa
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, optional
Preparation:
Place cheese cubes and picante sauce in a slow cooker or crockpot. Cover and cook on HIGH, stirring occasionally, until melted and blended, about 2 hours. Stir in cilantro when melted.
Serve right from the slow cooker, with tortilla chips or corn chips.

Note: This recipe can be varied by adding chopped chile peppers, Ro-Tel tomatoes instead of the salsa, a few dashes of hot sauce, or other additions.
Makes about 1 quart of dip.

Croclpot chicken Marsala

Crock-Pot Chicken Marsala from here

4 half chicken breasts
1 stick butter
8 ounces cream cheese
2/3 cup Marsala cooking wine
2 cans mushroom soup
3/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste.

Cut chicken breasts into cubes. Place chicken, butter, water and spices in slow cooker. Mix cream cheese, wine and mushroom soup until combined and pour over chicken. Cover and cook for 4 to 8 hours on high. Serve over cooked egg noodles.

Review: This was good. I would add more Marsla wine, about a cup. We also added mushrooms.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Weekly Menu Planning

Monday: Taco Puffs
Tuesday: Lemon Herby Chicken
Wednesday Apple Smothered Pork Chops
Thursday : San Fransisco Chicken
Friday:Tuna Noodle Casserole
Saturday: BBQ Joes
Sunday: Skillet Enchilidas

Check out orgjunkie.com for more ideas



Saturday, March 27, 2010

JIM BOB'S AMAZING BBQ

Yesterday, I was in search of a quick and easy dinner. What could get easier then a can of tuna and some barbecue sauce. The barbecue sauce masked the flavor of the tuna and it was a great new way to serve tuna!


JIM BOB'S AMAZING BBQ found on Tired and True recipes from Heidi
6 cans tuna, well drained
1 18 oz. bottle bbq sauce (they suggest Kansas City Masterpiece)
Mash tuna in a mixing bowl to break apart. Add bbq sauce and mix (the more sauce the better). Spread on bread, buns, or crackers.
*I scaled this recipe down. I mixed one tuna pouch with enough bbq sauce to coat it very well

Garlic and Ranch Turkey Burgers

Garlic and Ranch turkey Burgers from allrecipes
Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey
1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
1 egg
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
seasoned salt and pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Directions
Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil the grate.
Knead together the turkey, ranch mix, egg, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, and pepper in a bowl until evenly combined; divide into 4 equal portions and form into patties.
Cook on the preheated grill about 5 minutes per side for well done. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

Review: Oh my goodness I think I perfer turkey burgers over beef. These tasted great and where simple. I added red pepper flakes for some kick, I would also add bread crumbs next time to make the patties easier to handle. Overall a great dinner and it came together very quickly!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Slow Cooker Meatloaf

My husband loves meatloaf, but I hate making the same old kind. Here is a slow cooker recipe for meatloaf. It was simple to put together and then it cooked in the slow cooker all day.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds ground beef

1/4 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup Italian breadcrumbs or crushed crackers

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 small onion (diced)

1/4 cup water



Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Form into a meatloaf shape that will fit into your crock pot. Cut a strip of foil and place under the meatloaf in crock pot. Cut it long enough to cover the bottom and sides of meatloaf. Place meat loaf in crock pot and top with an additional 2 tablespoons ketchup & chili sauce. Cover and cook on low for approximately 8 hours or high for four hours.

Review: It tasted great and also had easy cleanup.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Banana panckaes


I had orginally seen this recipe, but I don't have a waffle maker (think i am going to ask my mom to borrow hers) so I went in search of a baanana pancake recipe.

Banana pancakes from allrecipes

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Directions
Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil and bananas.

Stir flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides; serve hot.

Review: These were good. I have never had banana pancakes so I do not have much to compare with, but it was another great way to use leftover bananas.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Bourban Chicken and Asparagus in Wine

So as you can see I have started including pictures of recipes.I really like when other sites do this, but I feel like the pictures do not due the items justice. Any ideas for taking pictures of food? Do you like when sites include pictures? Thanks in advance for your opinions.


Bourbon Chicken from What's for Dinner

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite size pieces
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

Directions

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned. Remove Chicken from skillet and set aside. Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and sugar has dissolved. Add chicken back to the skillet and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve over rice or noodles

Review: This tasted good, it was simple and Delicious.

Asparagus with Wine from here

Asparagus in Wine ingredients list:
2 lbs of asparagus.
Boiling water.
¼ cup of butter.
¼ cup of white wine.
½ teaspoon of salt.
¼ teaspoon of pepper.

Instructions for Asparagus in Wine:
Wash the asparagus and snap off the ends.

Lay the asparagus spears in a shallow pan and cover with salted boiling water.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 8 minutes.

Drain and turn into buttered ramequins.

Melt the butter and stir in the wine.

Pour over the asparagus.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 15 minutes.

REVIEW: out of all the ways I made asparagus this was my husbands favorite, it is simple and has good flavor!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Skillet Fried Potatoe

Ingredients:
4 cups potatoes, diced
4 tablespoons butter
Garlic Powder, to taste
paprika, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Heat butter medium heat in a heavy skillet; add potatoes and . Fry, bringing potatoes up from bottom of pan with a spatula occasionally for even cooking and browning. Season to taste with paprika,garlic powder salt, and pepper

We love these with eggs and sausage in the morning or as a side dish for dinner!.

Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops

Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops
from Real Mom Kitchen

6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick
1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
10 oz can Cream of Chicken Soup


Place pork chops, Ranch seasoning and soup into a medium sized crock pot over high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours

Review: Simple and yummy! A little salty, but overall good flavor!

Asparagus Parmesan

from Allrecipes

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound fresh asparagus spears, trimmed
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Melt butter with olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add asparagus spears, and cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes, or to desired firmness. Drain off excess oil, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Review: This tasted good and was somple. I sauteed some onion and mushrooms to go along with this. Tasted great

Baked Pork Chops

Baked Pork Chops
from: Taste and Tell

Serves 6

6 pork chops
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups Italian-style seasoned bread crumbs
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup white wine
8 oz. sliced mushrooms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Rinse pork chops, pat dry, and season with garlic powder and seasoning salt to taste. Place the beaten eggs in a small bowl. Dredge the pork chops lightly in flour, dip in the egg, and coat liberally with bread crumbs.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the pork chops 5 minutes per side, or until the breading appears well browned. Transfer the chops to a 9x13 inch baking dish, and cover with foil.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. While baking, combine the cream of mushroom soup, milk, white wine and mushrooms in a medium bowl. After the pork chops have baked for 30 minutes, cover them with the soup mixture. Replace foil, and bake for another 20-30 minutes.

Review: This pork chop dish was great! It was also good the next day heated up for lunch! I would use low sodium can of mushroom soup!

Asparagus with Maple-Mustard Sauce

Asparagus with Maple-Mustard Sauce
from Taste and Tell

4 servings

1 pound asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 tablespoon real maple syrup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil

Heat 1 inch of water to boiling in a 12-inch skillet. Add asparagus. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook fro 4 to 5 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender; drain.

Mix maple syrup, mustard and oil. Drizzle over asparagus

The Sauce Tasted sooo good! I will make it again this way!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Meal Plan Week for the week 3-15

Sunday: Crock pot Sweet and Sour Chicken
Monday:
Crock pot Meatloaf
Tuesday:Bourbon Chicken

Wednesday:Mini Shepard's Pie
Thursday: Sloppy Joe Baked Potato
Friday: Tuna Noodle Casserole
Saturday: Smoother ed Chicken and Rice
Sunday: Three Cheese Baked Spaghetti

Crockpot sweet and sour chicken

from Easy Frugal Living

6 boneless/skinless chicken breast halves
4 tablespoons melted butter
3/4 c. ketchup
1/2 c. white vinegar
3/4 c. brown sugar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
dash salt and pepper
dash ground cayenne pepper
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
1 can drained pineapple chunks

Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine melted butter, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, salt and pepper, hot pepper, chicken broth and pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 7 hours, until chicken is tender but still moist. Add pineapple and cook for 20 minutes longer. Serves 6.

Serve over rice.

This is currently in the crocpot so we will have to see how it tastes in a few hours!

Loaded Tortillas

From Allrecipes
Prep Time:10 Min
Ready In:
10 Min

Recipe Yield 4 servings
Ingredients
4 (7 inch) flour tortillas
1 can refried beans
1 packet of Taco seasoning
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup real bacon bits
1/4 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup chopped red onion
Directions
Place tortillas on an ungreased baking sheet. Mix refried beans and taco seasoning. Spread with beans and salsa. Top with cheeses, bacon, onion and tomato. Broil 4 in. from the heat for 4-6 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges of tortillas are lightly browned.
Review: The mixture had great flavor, my only complaint was that the tortillas were soggy. The soggy tortillas took away from the full flavor of this simple luch dish. I even took another authors suggestions and pre crisped the tortillas. by placing them on the oven rack at 350 degrees for 7 minutes

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Chicken Stir fry

Chicken Stir Fry from All recipes

4 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup sliced celery (1/2 inch pieces)
1 cup thinly sliced carrots 1 small onion, cut into wedges
1 cup water
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules

Directions
Cut chicken into 1/2-in. strips; place in a resealable plastic bag. Add cornstarch and toss to coat. Combine soy sauce, ginger and garlic powder; add to bag and shake well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
In a large skillet or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil; stir-fry chicken until no longer pink, about 3-5 minutes. Remove and keep warm. Add remaining oil; stir- fry broccoli, celery, carrots and onion for 4-5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add water and bouillon. Return chicken to pan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

Review: I doubled the sauce and added a tablespoon of brown sugar. I also used a bag of veggies. It was a quick weeknight meal. I would make it again

Monday, March 8, 2010

Crock Pot Chops and Gravey

Crock Pot Chops and Gravy
by Real Mom Kitchen
4 lean pork chops
4 T soy sauce
1/2 C sliced mushrooms
1/2 tsp pepper
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 can cream of mushroom soup
1 medium onion, sliced or diced
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp parsley

Place pork chops crock pot (or in baking dish for oven). Lay onion slices (I chopped mine but you could do rings also) and mushrooms over pork chops. Mix the rest of ingredients in a bowl and pour over pork chops. Cook on low in crock pot for 5-6 hours (or in oven on 350 for 1 hour). Note: After baking I remove the chops and strain the gravy. This way I have a smooth gravy and I reserve the onions and mushrooms if you use them)\ for those who like them to put them on their chops.

Review: These chops where tender and had good flavor. The gravy tasted great with mashed potatoes!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

MEal Plan 3-8

Sunday: Itilian Chicken Roll ups

Monday:Crock pot chops and Gravy

Tuesday: Chicken Stir Fry

Wednesday: Sloppy Joe Potato

Thursday: cockpot sweet and sour chicken

Friday: Clam Chowder (Hopefully I'll make it this week)

Saturday: Tangy Pork Sandwiches

Garlic Potatoes

So I have a full bag of potatoes in the pantry that need to be used before they go bad. Therefore in my quest to use the potatoes I went on a search for a new potatoes recipe. My quest landed me on the following websites Eat at Home I referenced the Pioneer women's recipe and ended up doing the following:
potatoes
garlic
white wine(this didn’t make it into the picture)
kosher salt
pepper
Wash and dice the potatoes. Chop the top off the garlic bulb (the end that comes to a point) so that you expose the cloves inside. Put the potatoes in a shallow pan and set the garlic in with the potatoes. Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes and garlic. I used about 1/2 cup of white wine, but I didn’t really measure. Sprinkle with kosher salt (or regular table salt will work too) and pepper. It’s okay to eye ball all of these ingredients. Just add what looks good for the amount of potatoes you are making.

Review: These were good. The original recipes called for new potatoes. I'll make these again for sure!

Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes. To get the garlic out of the bulb, I held it with paper towels so that I wouldn’t burn myself. The I used a fork to pop the cloves out into the potatoes. Stir it all up and serve.

Italian-Style Chicken Roll-Ups

Italian-Style Chicken Roll-Ups from Real Mom Kitchen

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup finely chopped green peppers (I used green onion)
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.), pounded to 1/4-inch thickness
4 KRAFT Singles, cut in half
1 cup spaghetti sauce

HEAT oven to 425ºF.
MIX cream cheese and peppers; set aside.
TOP each chicken breast with 1 Singles piece. Spread with cream cheese mixture; roll up. Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with spaghetti sauce. Cover with foil.
BAKE 20 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF). Remove foil; top chicken with remaining Singles. Bake, uncovered, 3 to 5 min. or until melted.

Review: I must confess that I waited to try this recipe, but am I glad i did it was really good. It was simple to prepare. My picky princess liked it as well.

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

From Finding Joy in my Kitchen
Ok I truly enjoy Chicken Codon Bleu and was really looking foreward to tryin this recipe, but my husband forgot to turn off the crockpot and needless to say it was burnt by the time I got home. I did try some. The dressing gave the chicken great flavor! Looking forward to trying it again soon!


Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 chicken breasts (or tenders)
~1/2 bottle Honey Dijon dressing
4 slices of honey ham
4 slices of Baby Swiss cheese
1 C bread crumbs (or Stove Top Stuffing)

Spray the crockpot with cooking spray. Layer the chicken breasts in the bottom of the crockpot. Drizzle Honey Dijon dressing over the chicken, to taste (around 1/4 C).



Layer ham and cheese over the top of the chicken.



Top with stuffing, and drizzle about 1/4 C more dressing over the top.



Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours, or until chicken is 180 degrees and tender.