Enchilada Sauce

This is Richie's Grandma's recipe for enchilada sauce (red).   It's the meal he requests the most.  He loves it!


oil in bottom of a sauce pan  (doesn't take a lot)

3 T. chili powder

3 T. flour (maybe a little more)

1-8 oz. can tomato sauce

1/2-1 can el pato (depending on how spicy you want it)

3 c. water

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 T. sugar

Heat oil. Add chili powder and flour to make a paste. Wisk in tomato sauce and add water. Add seasonings. Simmer for one hour.

Dip corn tortillas in hot oil to soften them. Fill them with a little bit of sauce, meat (usually do ground hamburger), and cheese. Roll and put into casserole dish (13x9 works great). Cover with remaining sauce and some cheese (and onions if you want. We hate onions but i like green onions and will garnish the top with them).

Bake at 375-400 until cheese is melted on top.

*Note: I use flour tortillas and skip the softening phase, and it turns out fine.

For all of you in Pittsburgh, there is only one place I could find the El Pato sauce there.  The super walmart by Mills Mall.
 s in the 
preheated oven, or until done.

Marshmallow Brownies

Recipe from: Six Sisters Stuff

1 c. margarine

2 c. sugar

1/3 c. cocoa

4 eggs

1 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

Soften margarine and blend in 2 cups sugar and cocoa.  Beat together and add 4 eggs, one at a time.  Add flour, salt and vanilla.

Spread on large (10x15x1 inch) greased cookie sheet.  Bake 25 minutes at 350.  Remove from oven and cover entire top with 1 package of miniature marshmallows.  Return to oven for 3 minutes, until soft and puffy.  Cool and frost with chocolate frosting.

Chocolate Frosting:

1 stick margarine (1/2 c.), softened
1/4 cup milk
1-2 tsp vanilla (depending on your taste)
3 tablespoons of cocoa
2-3 cups of powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth.  Add more powdered sugar or milk until you reach desired consistency and spread on top of bars.

Grandma's Chili Recipe

Ever since I can remember my Grandma would make this Chili recipe for Halloween dinner. I grew up eating it every year, and have made it every Halloween since! I thought I would share it with you guys, it is a fun family tradition to have warm chili waiting in the kitchen after trick-or-treating! (especially when its freezing outside) -Have a great Halloween, I miss you all!

About 1 lb of hamburger
4 cans of red kidney beans ( you can use other beans as well, I just usually use kidney beans.
I c. onion
I c. celery
I c. red or green bell pepper.
I can of crushed tomatoes.
I small can of tomato paste
I c. ketchup
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. lemon juice.
spices:
2 teaspoons. ground mustard
2 teaspoons cumin
1 tsp chili powder,or a bit more to taste.

-Brown hamburger in a skillet.
-Chop veggies into small pieces, depending on how chunky you want the chili to be.
-I usually strain two of the cans of kidney beans, and dump the entire other two because the juice adds substance.
-Add all the rest of the ingredients, stir, and cook in crock pot on slow for about 7-8 hours, or high for 4-5 hours.

Pumpkin Alfredo

Don't be afraid of the word pumpkin.  It's not overpowering at all.

Tannon said this tastes like "a fancy restaurant meal".  I agree, it tasted like it should have been served at Macaroni Grill, or something.  I dare say this may be my favorite meal I've ever made.

P.S. I'm just now noticing it calls for 1/2 batch of Alfredo sauce, instead of 1 full batch.  No wonder it tasted so good.

Recipe from Our Best Bites.

Pasta with Pumpkin Alfredo

1 Package Cheese Ravioli
1/2 batch Guiltless Alfredo Sauce
1/2 T real butter
1/4 C Finely minced onion
1/2 C canned pumpkin
2 T Chicken broth
1T chopped fresh sage (1t dried leaves)
1/2 T fresh thyme (1/2 t dried leaves)

Follow instructions on pasta to cook. In a separate sauce pan melt butter on medium heat. When melted, add onion. Make sure your onion is really finely diced. Since you have a nice smooth sauce, you don’t want big chunks of onion, you just want little bits.

Saute until soft. Since they’re small it should only take a couple of minutes. Add chicken broth and herbs. 

Use a spatula to deglaze the pan a bit and get any cooked bits of onion off the bottom. Add pumpkin and whisk to combine. Add alfredo sauce, stir to combine, and cook until heated through. 

Donuts

Growing up my aunt made homemade donuts and homemade root beer every Halloween.  It's one of my favorite traditions I can remember from my childhood.  I don't make donuts very often myself, but I decided to make some this year and they did not disappoint.  I got the recipe from Buns in My Oven.  The original recipe says not to poke a hole in the middle, and to fill with Nutella.  The donuts I made with no hole were doughy in the middle, so I only made one like that.  The rest, I just punched holes, like regular donuts.

You can either toss them while warm in sugar, or dip them in some vanilla glaze.

Ingredients

• 1 package (2 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
• 2/3 cups milk, at room temperature
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 eggs
• 7 tablespoons butter, at room temperature, cut into 7 pieces
• Canola oil, for frying

Instructions

1. In the stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the yeast and milk. Allow the yeast to dissolve, about 1 minute. Add the flour, 1/3 cup of the sugar, salt, and eggs and mix on low for about 4 minutes to develop the dough. Begin adding the butter, one piece at a time, and continue mixing for 5 to 6 minutes.
2. Remove the dough from the bowl and tightly wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 6 - 15 hours.
3. Lightly flour a baking sheet. Flour your work surface and roll out the dough into a 12 inch square about a 1/2 inch thick. Using a 3 1/2 to 4 inch round biscuit cutter, cut out the donuts. (I ended up with 11 total.) Arrange the donuts on the prepared baking sheet and cover in plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm spot for 2 - 3 hours or until doubled in height and feel poufy and pillowy.
4. When ready to fry, heat 3 inches of oil in a heavy pot to 350 degrees. Line a try with paper towels and add the remaining 1 cup of sugar in a small bowl. Add the donuts to the hot oil, being careful not to crowd the pan, and fry on each side until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on the lined tray. When cool enough to handle, toss in the sugar to coat. Return each donut to the tray to cool completely, about 3o minutes.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

I have a few wrap recipes that I make often, this is by far the best one I have ever tried.  The proportions and flavorings are JUST RIGHT! I thought this would be a fun recipe for a small girls luncheon, or shower. If you make the middle ahead of time, you could grill them up in no time.

Yield: 6 wraps

(perfect for 3 adults. For lunch I think one wrap per person would be perfect with a side salad or something)

1 cup cooked rice

1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

1 can black beans

1 green onion

½ red bell pepper

¼ cup cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

½ Tbs chili powder

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp garlic salt

2 cups shredded cheese

Sour cream

6 flour tortillas

1. Mix rice with chili powder, cumin, and garlic

salt. Add all other ingredients except cheese

and sour cream.

2. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, then arrange

the chicken mixture down the center. Dot

with sour cream and roll up tightly.

3. Spray each wrap all over with cooking

spray.

4. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Arrange

wrap seam-side down in skillet and cook

each side until golden and crisp (usually

only takes a minute or two).

(sorry, not the best picture, I remembered to take it only after my plate was a mess from eating the first one!)

Rich and Moist Zucchini Cake

We had 2 HUGE zucchini's from our garden that I needed to use.  I decided to try a zucchini chocolate cake and I dare say this was one of the best chocolate cakes I've ever had.  I even snuck some whole wheat flour in there.  Delicious and few healthy ingredients :)

{photo by Six Sisters' Stuff}

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional- I didn't use any)
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until cake springs back when gently touched. To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled cake before cutting.

Better than sex cake, Carmel Delight, or simply Ty's birthday cake

Like the title of this post--there is many names this cake goes by. :) At our house it is more commonly known as Ty's birthday cake, because it's his FAVORITE. Per request I am putting the recipe out into blogger world. Know this-there is ABSOLUTLY no talent and time needed to make this...which is why I make it.

Needed:

1 box of chocolate cake.
1 thing of schmuckers Carmel
Between 8 oz and 16 oz of cool whip
Couple of heath bars. I'm not sure how many exactly. Maybe like 5? It depends on the size of the bar and the size of your cake.

Step one: make the cake.
Step two: as soon as you take the cake out start poking some holes in it. I use a fork. The more holes you make the more Carmel will seep into the cake. However...don't massacre the cake. ;)
Step three: squeeze the whole bottle of Carmel onto the cake. Or whatever amount of Carmel you deem sufficient.
Step four: let the cake cool. Once it's cool spread the cool whip over the Carmel. Use whatever amount you'd like.
Step five: break the heath bars up into little pieces. Like take a meat tenderizer and beat the crap out of the heath bar. ;) then sprinkle the heath bars over the cake.

Put it in the fridge until you're ready to serve it.

Cream Cheese and Chicken Enchiladas

this enchilada recipe, with this rice as it's side is delish.

I needed a new enchilada recipe that wasn't the same old same old...if you know what i mean.  I loved it with the white beans!...and you gotta follow the recipe, no skippin steps. 

p.s.  i have never had anything bad from this site, in fact it is one of our favorites to turn to for a new recipe.

Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

I made these for institute today and was asked to put them on here, so here they are!

Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients
1 pouch (17.5 oz) sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup firm butter
2 packages (8 oz each) softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 can (21 oz) raspberry pie filling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom and sides of 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

2. Pour sugar cookie mix in a big bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly and coarse. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of mix for later and press the remaining crumbs in the bottom of the 9x13 pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

3. Put cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla, and egg in a large bowl. Beat together with an electric mixer (medium speed) until smooth.

4. Spread cream cheese mix evenly over crust. Spoon raspberry pie filling evenly over the cream cheese. Take remaining 1 1/2 cups of unbaked crumbs and sprinkle over the top.

5. Bake 35-40 minutes or until crumbs on top are lightly golden brown. Cool 30 minutes, refrigerate about 2 hours to chill.

6. Cut into bars. Store covered in fridge. Makes 24 bars.

Winger's Chicken

So apparently there's a restaurant called Winger's.  Never been there, but I acquired a knock-off recipe for their chicken.  Bonus... it's super super easy.

1 Package of Tyson's Breaded Chicken Strips 

6 T Frank's Red Hot Sauce

4 T Water

1 1/2 C Brown Sugar

Directions:

Sauce:

In saucepan heat Hot Sauce, Water, and Brown Sugar until the sugar dissolves completely.  

Place the Chicken in a 9 x13 pan and pour sauce over it.  Stick it in the oven for the time and temp on the Tyson's bag.  I think it's 350 for 18-20 min.  Super Easy! Super yummy.  It's good by itself but we make it into wraps.  You can put honey mustard dressing or ranch if you want... or no dressing and it's still good. 

Frozen Fruit Salad

Hey you asked for it, so here it is! This is the easiest side to make.

Frozen Fruit
Cream Cheese
Yogurt
Cool Whip

Chop up the frozen fruit. Add cream cheese, yogurt, and/or cool whip. Some I hear have even added sugar if you want to make it sweeter.

Amazing Buttermilk Rolls

Buttermilk Refrigerator Rolls
by Melanie from Sisterscafe


Image by Sisterscafe

3 cups Buttermilk (room temperature)
3 cups flour
1 T. yeast dissolved in ¼ cup warm water (first let rise a few minutes)
½ cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten with a fork
2 tsp salt
5 cups flour (sometimes you need a cup more–it should not be too sticky)
½ cup oil
1 tsp baking soda

Dissolve yeast in ¼ c. warm water and let proof a few minutes. Mix the buttermilk, flour and yeast together thoroughly in a large mixing bowl. Cover and let this stand at room temperature until double in size, about 2 hours.
Add sugar, eggs, salt, flour, oil, and baking soda. Mix well and knead for 7-10 minutes. Roll out what you want and place the rest in the refrigerator, lightly covered so air can still circulate. The next time you want some fresh baked rolls, take from the bowl what you want and again put the rest back in the refrigerator. It will keep for 7 days. (This is perfect for Sunday meals because you don’t have a lot of mess to clean up and it’s quick.)
Let rolls rise on baking sheets until double in size. Time depends on the room temperature, usually 1½ – 2 hours. Dough from the refrigerator will take longer because the dough is cold.
Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes. Brush with melted butter if you like. Makes about 24-32 rolls.

Tri Tip Sandwich

Apparently here in Bakersfield California this is a favorite!  We had it at a friends house and loved it!  Tri tip is a little costly so grab it when it's on sale!  The best part is how easy it is!

Ingredients:
  Tri tip
  Provolone cheese (I hear munster is good also)
  Ciabatta buns
  Salsa (optional)

Cook tri tip in crockpot 6 hours then shred.
Butter buns and then toast in oven on broil for a minute.  Careful they burn quick! We melt the provolone onto the bun.  Put the meat on the bun and eat!  Seriously easy and Delish!

I didn't add salsa but it was recommended that I should and Jefferson liked it!

Pasta Salad

I've never been much of a pasta salad person, but this is one that I actually really like. I love that it's so quick & easy. It's a great summer meal. Or you can omit the chicken and make it a side for a BBQ.

Mix dressing in blender and refrigerate night before.

Dressing:

1 cup sugar
2 cup canola oil
1 cup red wine vinegar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dry mustard

Cook:

1 pkg bow tie noodles
1 pkg colored spiral noodles

Add:

2 to 3 cut-up cooked chicken breasts {seasoned}
1/2 lb. cooked bacon, crumbled
Broccoli
Chopped red onion
1 pkg frozen baby peas or edamame

Add dressing & serve.

*Omit chicken to make it vegetarian

Quinoa Corn Edamame Salad

This dish is packed with all things good for you. Delicious, too! It's my favorite quinoa dish that I've tried. I'm sad I didn't take a picture, because it's so colorful and gorgeous.

*You can add shredded chicken and call it dinner

QUINOA CORN EDAMAME SALAD


2 cups frozen, shelled, edamame

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup cooked, cooled quinoa (leftover is great)

1 green onion, sliced (just green parts)

1/2 red sweet bell pepper, diced

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Dash cayenne

.

Briefly boil the edamame and the corn, just until tender.  Drain very well and cool completely.

In a large bowl combine the edamame, corn, quinoa, green onion, red pepper, and cilantro.  In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, lime juice, salt, chili powder, black pepper, thyme and cayenne until emulsified.  Drizzle over the salad and toss to coat.  Cover and chill for at least two hours.

Vegetable Tostadas

another favorite of ours.

1 T. cumin

1/4 t. s and p

2 t. canola oil

sprinkle that on top of 4 chicken breasts cut up and fry it in a large frying pan until chicken is done.  don't over cook, it will make your chicken hard.

when chicken is done add:

1 red onion chopped

2 ears corn (you can use a can)...fresh is always better.

1 chopped zucchini

1/2 c. green salsa verde

3 T. chopped cilantro

when veggies are soft, spray both sides of a tortilla with pam, put it on a cookie sheet and place it in the oven on broil for about 30 seconds.  flip it over and let the other side cook...this will make your tortilla crispy.

after tortilla is crisp place the mixture on top and some cheese on top of that.  put it back under broil until cheese is melted and eat like a tostada!  YUM.. and healthy too.

Mango Chicken on Coconut Rice

I forgot about this recipe.  I got it a while ago off of the sisters cafe blog.  It is one of our favorites and super easy.

cook 6-8 chicken breasts in crock pot sprinkled with cumin and lemon pepper to taste.  when it is done shred and add:

*you may want to remove some of the chicken juice if there seems to be a lot.  maybe remove it all and if in the end it seems a little dry you can just add more salsa.

1 can corn drained

1 can black beans drained

3 cups mango salsa (i like the kind from costco)

cook it all for another hour or so...

eat this on top of Coconut rice.  Just cook your rice in coconut milk.  however; i tried to do this with a rice cooker and it didn't work.  i now just buy minute rice for this recipe.  so 1 can coconut milk per 1 cup rice.

garnish with cilantro or parsley.

No-Bake Nutella Cheesecakes

As of this week, melskitchencafe.com has become my favorite source for recipes. Because her pictures of food are mouth-watering, I click and print almost every recipe. I just have to try it. If it tastes as good as it looks, it must be amazing.

So rich, but so delicious. This mousse-type dessert so smoothly melts in your mouth, it leaves you dreaming about it for several days. Here is the original source.



*Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:
18 Oreo cookies, crushed into crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Cheesecake:
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Garnish:
Extra sweetened whipped cream, optional
Crushed oreos or chocolate curls, optional

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium bowl, stir together the Oreo cookie crumbs and melted butter. Evenly divide the crumbs between your individual serving dishes and press into the bottoms of the dishes to form a crust layer. Glass dessert cups work well for this, as well as mini-trifle dishes; you could also use a mini-cheesecake pan or simply small glass bowls.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and smooth. Add the nutella and mix until combined and smooth. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. In another medium/large bowl, whip the cream and powdered sugar together until medium to stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese/nutella mixture until well blended and no streaks remain.

Spoon the filling into individual serving dishes on top of the crust. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving, at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.

If desired, garnish with additional whipped topping, chocolate shavings, and/or toasted, chopped hazelnuts.

Mushroom Lasagna with White Sauce

I made this the other night and it was soooo good. A very different take on lasagna but this is actually my very first successful making of any type of lasagna. You also learn how to make a white sauce here which most people think they have to buy. I got the recipe here.



*Note: If you don't care to use no-boil noodles or don't have them on hand, substitute regular lasagna noodles, boiling and draining them prior to assembling the lasagna.

*Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

12 no-boil lasagna noodles (I prefer the Barilla brand)
1 large clove garlic, minced
4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup (12 tablespoons or 1 1/2 sticks) butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 pounds cremini or baby bella mushrooms (or a combination of both)
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

For the white sauce, bring the milk and garlic to a simmer in a medium saucepan, or heat it in your microwave in a glass liquid measure, and set it aside. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons or 1 stick) butter. Add the flour and cook for one minute over low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon. Pour in the hot milk, a little at a time at first and whisking until combined. Once you’ve added half of it, you can add the second half all at once, along with 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt, the pepper, and nutmeg. Cook the white sauce over medium-low heat, stirring or whisking frequently, anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes, or until thick. Set aside.

To prepare the mushrooms, slice the mushrooms 1/4-inch thick, trimming stems if desired (I left them on). In a large 12-inch skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms with a couple pinches of salt and cook for about 5 minutes, until they are tender and release some of their juices. Stir occasionally to make sure they cook evenly.

To assemble the lasagna, lightly coat with cooking spray the bottom and sides of a 9X13-inch baking dish. Spread 1/4 cup or so of the white sauce in the bottom of the dish. Arrange a layer of noodles on top (I used 3 no-boil noodles for each layer without overlapping them - just laying them next to each other), then more sauce (about 1/4 of what remains), 1/3 of the mushrooms and 1/3 or so cup of the grated cheese. Repeat two more times then top with a final layer of noodles, your remaining sauce and last 1/4 cup of cheese.

Bake the lasagna for 45 minutes, or until top is browned and the sauce is bubbly. Remove from oven and let sit, lightly covered for 10-15 minutes before serving.