Shredded Beef Enchiladas

4-12 oz cans roast beef
3 T red wine vinegar
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
1 onion, diced
8 oz green chiles
1 T flour
2 c sour cream
2 c shredded jack cheese, divided
20 corn tortillas
oil

Heat oven to 375. Mix beef, vinegar, chili powder and cumin.  Saute onion till soft, mix in chiles and flour.  Cook 2 min.  Stir in sour cream and 1/2 of the cheese.  Reduce heat to low and cook 10 min.
Soften tortillas in oil 30 sec or microwave, or just have crumbly tortillas. ;)
In each tortilla, scoop 1/4 cup beef mixture, and 1/4 cup sour cream mixture.  Roll and sprinkle with 1 cup Jack cheese.  Cook 30 min.

Food storage:  canned onion is a great sub!

Chicken and Ham Roll-Ups

from the fabulous Kathy Rickertson:

2 -3 boneless chicken halves
about 10-15 slices deli ham (the Kirkland brand from Costo is perfect cut in half the short way)
block of Swiss cheese (you will only use a portion), cut into about 1/4"-wide sticks (however many strips of chicken you end up cutting is how many pieces of cheese you'll need)
(This should serve about 4-6, adjust accordingly)

Sauce:
1 can cream of chicken soup (of course I use one recipe of the SOS mix!)
1 cup sour cream

These are basically cheater chicken cordon bleu!  :)   I would allow for 2 roll-ups for kids and 4 for adults.  Personally I only eat 2 and then fill up on veggies since they are deliciously cheesy and creamy and therefore probably not the best for my non-exercising self ;)

Prep:  Cut your ham slices in half (however many you would like for your family - if you end up with extra rolls I have frozen the assembled rolls, sans sauce, and thawed and baked them later with great results).  Take a couple of chicken breasts and then slice then into strips (like you would for fajitas) in a diagonal direction - I get about 8-10 strips per breast.  Feel free to place smaller pieces of chicken together to equal a longer piece when assembling.  From a block of Swiss cheese, cut off a chunk about 1/4" wide.  Cut that into long sticks (like a cheese stick).  Slice as many cheese sticks as you have chicken strips.
Assembly:  Lay out the ham slices and place a slice of chicken breast and a cheese stick in each.

    

Roll up so the chicken and cheese are rolled up inside the ham. 

Lay roll-ups side by side in shallow baking dish (seam side down) misted with oil.  I don't stack them.
Mix sauce ingredients and spread on top of roll-ups.  Cover and bake 1 to 1.5 hrs at 325 degrees F.

Enjoy!

Chicken Breasts with Peppers

I made this a few months ago and loved it!  I took the picture and then promptly lost the recipe so I couldn't post it - so frustrating!!!  But we've been doing some organizing and I finally found the recipe.  It's amazing what you find when you clean.  ; )

Chicken Breasts with Peppers

2 Tb olive or vegetable oil
2 medium red, green or yellow peppers, cut into thing strips
1 tsp garlic powder
1 envelope (or 1/4 cup of your homemade mix) onion soup mix
2 boneless chicken breasts, halved (meaning if you bought them butterflied, or the halves of the breast were connected - cut them into separate halves. You should end up with 4 halves like the one pictured above)
1 c water
1/2 tsp basil leaves

In large skillet, heat oil and brown chicken over medium-high heat.  Remove chicken.  Add peppers and cook, stirring frequently, two minutes or until peppers are crisp-tender.  Stir in onion soup mix blended with water and basil; bring to a boil.  Return chicken to skillet and simmer uncovered eight minutes or until chicken is done, turning chicken once.  Makes 4 servings.

Adaptations:
For a Food Storage meal- use canned chicken and peppers or another veggie.
For the Crockpot - dump all the ingredients in the pot!  Cook for the typical 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 on low.  You could absolutely use frozen peppers and chicken without thawing first - just toss them in as is!  You may brown the chicken first if you prefer.

Pronto Pups

from Amy

1 cup flour
1/2 cup corn meal
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk (plus 1 or 2 Tbs)

Stir together dry ingredients.  Add milk and egg and stir to a thick batter (add extra milk if too thick).  Warm hot dogs in microwave or boiling water.  Dry with paper towels.  Spear with popsicle sticks, then dip in batter and deep fry until brown.

My Notes:  I cut my hot dogs in thirds and don't use sticks.  I fry at 365F for about 2 minutes.

Cheese Enchiladas

This recipe comes from Spark People's recipe site sparkrecipes.com.

I quadrupled the recipe so I could use the whole container of ricotta.  I bagged the rest and froze three additional meals for later.  I placed the sauce, olives and cheese mixture in three separate baggies (quart and snack-size) and then placed all three baggies in one gallon bag so the whole meal was together.  

Sorry about the picture.  We had almost finished eating before I remembered to take a picture!  So here is my son's plate - sour cream and all!

I served this with the Hillbilly Housewife's Taco Rice.  Scrumptious!  I loved this meal!

No Guilt Cheese Enchiladas

12 8-inch Corn Tortillas
1 cup shredded Mexican four cheese blend
1/2 cup fat-free cottage cheese
3/4 cup chopped white onions
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
1 can (19 ounces) enchilada sauce
2 Tbsp diced green chilies
3 Tbsp sliced black olives

Pour the enchilada sauce in a skillet and heat. Or make your own - check out the link above!  Dip each tortilla in the hot sauce, coating each side, for a few seconds. Shake off and place on microwavable platter, 3 or 4 at a time, making sure that they do not overlap. Microwave for 20-40 seconds, until soft. (Time will vary according to your microwave oven.) Set aside to cool. I skipped the microwaving and just dipped the tortillas in the skillet that I made my enchilada sauce in.

In a bowl, mix 3/4 cup finely chopped onion (about 1/2 a large onion) I used rehydrated dry onion, ricotta, cottage cheese, green chiles (mild or hot, to taste), and salt and pepper to taste. Add half the shredded cheese (1/2 cup.) Mix with fork until ingredients are blended.

Spray a rectangular casserole dish with non-stick spray.
Place approximately 1/12th of the cheese mixture (about 1/4 cup) on a tortilla and loosely roll. Place seam side down in casserole dish. Repeat until all tortillas are filled. I did this dish as a casserole to save on mess and time.  I placed a layer of dipped tortillas on the bottom of the pan, topped with spoonfulls of the cheese mixture (about 2 1/4 cups total) and topped with more dipped tortillas.  Spread remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the enchiladas.

Bake for 15 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. After 15 minutes, remove and evenly spread the remaining cheese and the black olives on top. Return to oven for 10 more minutes.

Serve hot.

Number of Servings: 6

Quiche

Absolutely one of my favorite dishes! I usually make it when I've made veggies and had leftovers sitting in the fridge for a couple of days that need to be used up.

Of course there are more traditional quiche recipes - quiche Lorraine or a yummy spinach quiche - I love them all! When I make one of those quiches I use the recipes from my Better Homes and Gardens cook book with great success! I actually combined those traditional recipes to make this quiche. I love that I have a yummy way to get some more veggies in our diet and use up the leftovers in the fridge.

1 single pie crust (here is a good quick one - I use it often for quiche when I don't really care about getting the perfect flaky crust. I use my food processor and overmix to my heart's content. If I have a recipe where the crust takes a more prominent roll in the dish I use another recipe that takes a bit more prep)

6 beaten eggs (4 is OK too - especially if you have more veggies and don't want your filling to spill over with the increased volume)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp white pepper

dash ground nutmeg

1 cup cooked veggies

2 tsp dried onion flakes

1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 Tb all-purpose flour

Line unpricked pastry shell with double thickness of foil and bake at 450F for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 4-5 minutes until pastry is dry. Remove from oven. Reduce oven temp to 325F.

Whisk together eggs, milk and sour cream till well combined. Add rest of ingredients and mix well. I always cover the crust to prevent over-browning. Pour filling into hot pastry shell and bake until done. Check at 40 minutes, could take up to an hour.

Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Ripienos

...another winner from my college roomie Wendy. Rumor has it Wendy's parents enjoyed some fabulous ripienos when on vacation in Italy and begged the cook for the recipe. So here you have it - thanks to them for sharing!

Dough:

1 pkg yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

1 Tb sugar

1 cup water

3 c flour

1 t salt

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. After yeast has started to proof add flour and salt. Knead till dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise until doubles (30-60 minutes).

Filling:

1 32oz carton cottage cheese

6 oz shredded mozzarella

1/3 to 1/2 pound bacon, chopped and browned

sliced mushrooms (as much as you like - I use 1/2 pound)

I also add some dried onions - about 1 to 2 Tbs

Cook bacon and pat off grease, reserving a few tablespoons of grease in the skillet. Cool bacon. Cook sliced mushrooms in reserved grease and set aside to cool.

Mix the cottage cheese and shredded mozzarella together in a large bowl. (At this point I add the onions as well). After mushrooms and bacon are cool, add to cheese mixture. I usually have more time waiting for the dough so I just refrigerate the filling until the dough is ready.

Cut dough into six pieces, roll into a circle (I usually do 6-8 inches diameter) on a floured surface and place filling atop circle. Fold dough in half over the top of the filling and press edges to seal the ripieno. Then fold the edges over again and crimp - like a pie crust or just press with the tines of a fork. Place on greased cookie sheet. Brush the tops of each ripieno with tomato sauce (I usually don't unless I have leftover pizza or spaghetti sauce).

I always have left over filling - so I either double the dough recipe or put half of the completed filling mixture in the freezer for another meal. Or I nibble at it in the fridge for a day or two - it is so delicious!

Bake at 475 for 7-10 minutes or until the edges are nice and brown.

Obviously you can change up the filling and use whatever you have on hand or whatever your family likes! Other yummy variations would be to add some herbs to the dough - Italian seasoning, oregano, basil, etc.

Chicken Curry Casserole

adapted from Kim's recipe

For a meatless meal - this is delicious w/o the chicken!

For a food storage meal - use canned chicken and veggies

2 cups brown rice (uncooked)

16oz broccoli florets (or use one pkg of frozen broccoli)

2/3 cup SOS mix (or use 2 cans of cream of chicken soup and omit water)

2 1/2 cups water

1 cup mayo

2 Tbs curry powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp seasoned salt

2 cups cooked chicken (or 1/2 of a quart jar of canned chicken)

1/2 cup to 1 cup shredded cheddar or cheddar mix

Cook rice and steam broccoli. In a small saucepan, add SOS mix and whisk in water water a little at a time to prevent lumps. Heat mixture to boiling, cook 2 minutes and then take off heat. Mix together cooked rice, cooked broccoli, soup/SOS sauce, mayo, seasonings and chicken. Pour into 9x13" dish, sprinkle cheese on top and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

This is easily doubled (then you can use the full quart jar of chicken) and frozen in either a gallon freezer bag or in a 9x13" pan covered with 2 layers of foil. Make sure you label it!

Take out the night before to thaw, pour into pan and cook as usual. You can even thaw in the microwave for a last minute dinner.

Turkey Gobble-Up Sandwiches

I found this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine and finally tried it out this year with our leftovers from Thanksgiving. Very good and filling - I think a half an English muffin was perfect!

1 large ripe avocado, peeled and pitted

1 T lemon juice

2 T mayo

2 T sour cream

1/4 t hot pepper sauce

6 English muffins, split and toasted

12 slices turkey breast

12 slices tomato

12 slices cheese (I used Swiss)

12 bacon strips, halved and cooked

Place muffin halves, cut side up, on cookie sheet lined with foil. Mix together avocado, lemon juice, mayo, sour cream and hot sauce till blended. Spread over muffin halves. Layer turkey, tomato, and cheese on top.

Broil on low for 3-4 minutes until cheese is melted and then add bacon to the top of each open-faced sandwich. May broil an add'l minute to get bacon "stuck" to the melted cheese.

Homestyle Turkey

1 turkey (ours was 18 lbs this year)

6 T butter/margarine, divided into six 1 T pats

4 c warm water

3 T chicken bouillon

2 T dried parsley

2 T dried minced onion

2 T seasoning salt (or whatever mix you like - rosemary, garlic, sage...)

Preheat oven to 350F. Rinse and wash turkey. Discard giblets.

Place turkey in roasting pan. Separate the skin over the breast (just cut a little slit) in 6 places, 3 on each breast, and slip a pat of butter in each to moisten the white meat.

In a medium bowl, combine the water, bouillon, parsley and onion. Pour or spoon over the top of the turkey. I like to use a spoon so all the herbs don't wash off the turkey - I think it looks prettier with some on the top. I also pour some into the butter slits. Sprinkle seasoned salt over the turkey.

Bake about 45 min to 1 hour to brown and then cover it with foil. Bake 3 1/2 to 4 hours or until temp reaches 180F.

I strain the liquid into a saucepan, add 2 cups water and enough flour to thicken (4 T or so) and boil to make gravy. You need to dilute with water because otherwise the gravy is salty from the salt and the stock.

Pork Chops with Dijon Herb Sauce

These are definitely my current favorite way to cook pork. It is such a quick dish and all the family enjoys it! Mmmmm.

from Gina's Weight Watchers recipe blog

1 t butter

4 pork chops, 1" thick, trimmed of fat

1/2 t salt

pepper

3 T onion

3/4 c chicken stock

1 T dijon mustard

2 T fresh herbs (chives, parsley, tarragon - I added some Emeril's Essence, garlic, tarragon, parsley - whatever I have on hand that sounds good)

Heat butter in skillet till melted, salt and pepper the chops, then raise the heat to medium and saute the chops 5 minutes. Turn over and cook till done (150 - 160 F) - about 7 additional minutes. Remove from skillet and keep warm. I just put them on a plate and cover with foil.

Add onions to pan and cook till soft. Add stock and boil ~3 minutes. Stir in mustard, herbs and some pepper. Plate chops and pour sauce over.

Yellow Squash Puree Macaroni and Cheese

Ah yes, another Mac and Cheese recipe. This really is tasty! You would never guess it has squash in it. We cook and puree the squash from our garden and freeze it in ice cube trays. Since we are still in the baby stage in our family I am planning to use this for baby food in a few months. But it is also convenient to use in this recipe - I just microwave 8 or so cubes of squash to get the 1 cup of puree called for.

This is from one of my favorite Food Storage sites: everydayfoodstorage.net

2 C. Elbow Macaroni

1/3 C. Magic Mix
1/2 C. Water
1 C. Yellow Squash Puree
1-1/2 C. Cheddar Cheese, grated
4 oz. Cream Cheese (can be reduced fat or non-fat)
1/2 t. Salt
1/8 t. Paprika
1/2 t. PepperDirections:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the macaroni and cook accodring to package directions until al dente. Drain in a colander.

While the macaroni is cooking, combine Magic Mix and water in a saucepan. Stir rapidly (I use a wire wisk) over medium heat until it starts to bubble and thicken.

Add the squash puree, Cheddar, cream cheese, and seasonings, and stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth.

Stir in the macaroni and serve warm. (Personally, I chop up a tomato and stir it in. I really like the taste of tomatoes and cheese but that is optional. I also garnish with a little paprika and grated cheese.)

Slow Cooker Enchiladas

2 lb meat

20 or so corn tortillas, quartered (I use a pizza cutter)

1 pkg taco seasoning (1/4 c)

3/4 c water

1 can beans of choice (black, kidney, etc)

1 12oz jar salsa (Herdez, baby!)

1 can cream of whatever soup, reserve 1/2 cup

2 c shredded cheese

Toppings: olives, green onions, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce

Cook meat taco seasoning, water and all but 1/2 cup of soup all day in the crockpot - your basic 6 hours on low. Remove meat mixture to large bowl. Shred meat if necessary - mix together and add beans, salsa and cheese.

In the crock pot (don't bother to rinse it out) place a double layer of tortillas to cover the base. Layer meat mix and tortillas in alternating layers.

On the top layer (meat or tortilla - it doesn't matter what you end with, just use up your ingredients) add rest of soup, green onions, cheese, black olives, whatever you'd like.

Cook on high 2 hours.

Serve over lettuce and tomatoes.

Kaiserschmarren - German Apple Puff Pancake

1/2 c flour

5 T sugar

1/2 t salt

1 c milk

5 eggs - separated

1 cup chopped apples

2 T butter

Powdered sugar to top

Sift together dry ingredients (who are we kidding - mix it up in a bowl!). Add milk gradually (I use dry milk to the dry ingredients and add the appropriate amount of water). Add egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition. Add fruit to batter. Beat egg whites till stiff then add and fold in 1/2 at a time to batter. Melt butter in a skillet and dump in batter. Cook batter until firm. Flip and cook other side. Tear up into pieces and serve with powdered sugar.

I always double for our family (2 adults, 3ish kids) and cook in our huge electric skillet. Flipping is impossible so I cut the pancake into 6 pieces after I've cooked the first side and flip each section individually.

Yaki Soba

1 package of spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained

1 onion, chopped

1 head of cabbage, chopped

1 pkg bacon, cooked (I also add chicken as a variation)

2 T ginger

soy sauce to taste

1 can mushrooms, drained

Warm through and serve.

Chicken Taco Filling

1 pkg (4T) taco seasoning

1 c chicken broth

1 lb chicken breast

Place all in crock pot and cook on low 6-8 hours. Use two forks and shred.

To freeze, place meat and juice in freezer bag, press out air and seal.

Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese

8 oz macaroni, cooked and drained (2 cups dry)

13 oz can evaporated milk

3 c shredded cheese

1/4 c melted butter

Mix all ingredients together and put in freezer bag. Freeze flat. When time to serve, thaw and put in crock pot 2-4 hours on low.

This is a cinch to double (so you use the whole box of pasta) and have an extra.

Penne with Spinach Sauce

from Leia

1 lb whole wheat penne

3 garlic cloves

2 oz goat cheese (I buy it at Costco and freeze in 2 oz portions)

1 oz reduced-fat cream cheese

3/4 t salt

1/2 t pepper

6 oz spinach leaves (I'm very generous with this)

2 T grated Parmesan

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook till tender but still firm.

Mince garlic in food processor. Add goat cheese, cream cheese, salt and pepper, and 1/2 of spinach. (I usually do ALL the spinach). Blend till creamy. Set aside.

Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid. Spoon pasta atop spinach in a bowl. Scrape sauce over pasta, toss to coat. Add enough liquid to moisten. Season with salt and pepper and top with Parmesan.

Angel Chicken Pasta

Adapted from allrecipes.com

6 chicken breasts

1/4 c butter

1 packet Italian dressing mix

1/2 c milk

1 10.75oz can of cream of mushroom soup

4 oz cream cheese with chives

1 lb angel hair pasta

Chop up chicken and place in crockpot. Mix up sauce till blended and stir into crock. Cook 2 hours on high and 2 hours on low - longer if using frozen chicken. During last 20 minutes cook and drain pasta. Mix up pasta and sauce and serve.

Classic Mac & Cheese

from America's Test Kitchen

Bread Crumb Topping

6 slices sandwich bread (I use the cheap store bread - .99 or so on sale - that I've frozen and don't bother to thaw)

3 T butter

Pasta and Cheese

1 lb elbow macaroni

1 T salt

5 T butter

6 T flour

1 1/2 t mustard powder

5 c milk

8 oz Jack, shredded (2 c)

8 oz Sharp Cheddar, shredded (2 c)

1 t salt

For crumbs: pulse bread and butter 10-15 1 second pulses in food processor.

Pasta:

Boil 4 qt water, add pasta and 1T salt. Cook till tender (1-2 minutes less than package directions). Drain and set aside.

In pot you used for pasta, heat butter over med-hi heat till foaming. Add flour and mustard whisking well to combine. Continue till fragrant and deepened in color ~1 minute. Whisk in milk; bring to boil; whisk constantly. FULL BOIL. Reduce to medium heat and continue stirring till thick ~5 minutes.

Add pasta and warm through ~6 minutes.

Pour into 9x13 pan, sprinkling crumbs on top. Broil 3-5 minutes on lower middle rack - watch carefully! - until nicely golden.