Sunday, June 19, 2011

What's For Supper? Pulled Beef Enchiladas



Yesterday morning I had planned on making my favorite pulled pork recipe. I usually substitute the pork for beef, and it comes out great. I'm not sure where it's gone, but my slow-cooker cookbook that has that recipe in it is missing. What to do? I had the Crock pot out, I had the beef, and I needed something to put in there with it. This is what I came up with.

Ingredients:


2 - 2 1/2 pounds beef
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 15 oz can Fire Roasted Tomato Enchilada Sauce

6-8 Flour Tortillas
1 15 oz can Refried Beans
1 15 oz can Medium Enchilada Sauce
Mexican blend shredded cheese



I used 2.4 pounds of beef


Place beef in Crock pot. Add water, apple cider vinegar and the fire roasted enchilada sauce.


Everything placed in Crock pot.


 Cover and cook on high 1-2 hours, and then cook on low until done. I cooked mine about 6 hours on low.


Remove beef from the Crock pot and place on a large platter. Take 2 forks and shred the beef.

Shredded beef


I poured a few ladles of the liquid left in the Crock pot over the shredded beef so it would add even more flavor to it.

At this point, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.



Using a butter knife, spread refried beans on a tortilla.




Refried beans spread on a tortilla.


Using a slotted spoon to drain away the excess liquid, scoop up some shredded beef and place in center of the tortilla. Spread out and sprinkle some cheese on top.




Roll up the tortilla and place in a 13 x 9 inch pan. Repeat until the pan is full.

Pour the can of Medium Enchilada Sauce over the rolled up tortillas, and then sprinkle cheese on top.






Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until heated through. They came out great! I'm not trying to brag (okay, maybe a teensy-weensy bit), but my Fiancee, who loves my cooking, said after dinner that this was the best meal he had EVER had. Well, Yay! He loves spicy food, so that probably helped me out. :-)

I hope you'll give it a try.

~ Thanks for stopping by! ~

Jaime









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My Version Of The Overnight Blueberry French Toast

Last weekend I found this recipe over on Chef In Training's blog. Overnight Blueberry French Toast. How yummy does that sound?? Nowhere near as close as actually tasting it. I made it this past Friday night, put it in the fridge, and couldn't wait to get it in the oven the next morning. I adjusted a few things, but nothing major, from the recipe.

Bottom layer of bread. I used Texas Toast.



Cubed cream cheese and frozen blueberries sprinkled on top of 1st layer. I used almost 2 cups of blueberries, instead of the 1 cup listed in the recipe.



Eggs, syrup and milk all mixed up. I used 2 cups skim milk, and 1/2 cup syrup.



Egg mix poured over the bread, blueberries & cream cheese.



Next morning....just out of the oven. YUM.


Syrup, simmering. I used a little over 1 cup blueberries, and forgot to add the butter at the end.  It tasted DELICIOUS.



Casserole w/out the blueberry syrup.



Casserole with blueberry syrup. Yes, it is as delicious as it looks.



~ Thanks for stopping by! ~

Jaime

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Feta Stuffed Chicken with Cherries On Top




This recipe came about a few nights ago when I wasn't sure what I wanted to make, and didn't have a lot of ingredients on hand. I had a package of boneless chicken breasts, and I had Feta cheese. What to do, what to do......


Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 oz. Feta cheese
olive oil
minced garlic
10-15 cherries
1 lemon


First, I mixed the Feta cheese, approximately 2-3 Tbsp. of olive oil, and 2-4 tsps. minced garlic. Add according to your own preferences. I LOVE garlic. :-)




Next, cut an opening in the thicker side of each chicken breast, being careful not to cut all the way through to the other side. 

Stuff the Feta mixture into the chicken (time to get your hands dirty), and then place each breast into an 11 x 7 or 13 x 9 pan.

Using a zester (is that what it's called??), take the zest from the lemon, and sprinkle it on top of the chicken breasts, and then squeeze the juice from the lemon over the top of them as well.

Chop up the cherries and place them on top of, and around, the chicken breasts.


Stuffed, lemon zest, juice, and cherries on top.



Side-view



Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour. These were delicious! The lemon flavor went through the breasts, and of course, the Feta cheese was so yummy. I hope you'll give it a try! 


All done!



Sooooo good. : -)


~ Thanks for stopping by! ~

Jaime












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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Hoo Are You?

It's that time again!




NightOwlCrafting


Today's Questions:


1. What is your favorite summertime snack?
2. Do you tan at all? (tanning bed, outside, spray, etc.)
3. What is your favorite activity to do outside?
4. Do you recycle?
5. How hot is it where you live today?


My Answers:


1. Watermelon is one of my favorites. Any fresh fruit sounds good to me. :-)

2. I haven't in a long time. I used to go tanning once in awhile, but life is so busy that I haven't. When it's not too hot to go outside with the kiddos, I get a little color from the Sun.

3. I love to take the kiddos to a place in town called Progressive Park. It was built for children with special needs, but anyone is welcome. Lots of bright colors, large swings (and even swings for children in wheelchairs). It is a wonderful place for the kids to expend all of their energy. :-)

My babies at the park, having fun with the globe suspended by water. : -)



A good view of the large swings and the wheelchair swing. : -)



4. I recycle our aluminum cans. Save a bunch and then take them to one of the recycling plants here in town. I save our newspapers for the rare occasions that we light the fireplace in the winter, and for craft projects.

5. It is 101 degrees right now and forecasted to get up to 107 by the end of the afternoon. Thank goodness for A/C! :-)


~ Thanks for stopping by! ~

Jaime

Sunday, June 12, 2011

My "As You Wish" Breakfast Casserole Add-Ons

This morning I made the As You Wish Breakfast CasseroleChameleon Girls posted the recipe last week, and what I love about it is the "as you wish" part. It gives you a basic recipe, and then you add what you wish to make it your own.

My Add-Ons:


3 Queso Poblano Chicken Sausages, cooked & crumbled
5 scallions, chopped & sauteed
4 large spoonfuls of Clint's Texas Salsa (medium heat)
Paprika
Sage
small spoonful of minced garlic
Mrs. Dash southwest chipotle
Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime


This is a wonderful recipe to use up leftovers, and to make your casserole your own. Go check out the recipe, and see what you can come up with!


Yummy! I used bread instead of biscuits. Soooo good.



Already to eat with the Cheerio Muffins I made this morning. : -)



~ Thanks for stopping by! ~

Jaime

Cheerio Muffins

This morning, I wanted to make muffins. I was looking though my Morning Food cookbook, and saw the recipe for Morning Glory Muffins. Delicious! Fruit and veggies added is a bonus...  But, I didn't have everything needed to make them. So, I decided to add in what I had and improvise on the rest. This is what I cam up with.


Cheerio Muffins


Ingredients:


2-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1-1/3 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. Cinnamon
3 carrots, grated
2 large apples, grated
1-1/4 cups shredded coconut
3/4 cup raisins
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups apple cinnamon Cheerios
1 cup dark chocolate chips


Carrots and apples ready to go into the food processor.


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the carrots, apple, coconut, and raisins. Add the eggs, oil and vanilla; stir to combine. Stir in the flour mixture, just until blended.


Dry ingredients ready to sift, and the shredded carrots and apples.



Sifted dry ingredients, carrot/raisin/apple/coconut mix, and Cheerios & Chocolate chips.




Now add the Cheerios and the dark chocolate chips to the mix until combined.



YUM!



Put into lined muffin tins, and bake for 20 minutes (original recipe said 20-25....mine were done at 20).


Ready to be baked.



All done! In the background is the breakfast casserole that was baking while I put together the muffins. : -)



Ahhhh, breakfast is ready. Enjoy!!


I was a little nervous about what my Fiancee and the kids would think of the muffins. No worries, they were a huge hit! I loved the blend of the flavors, and the Cheerios were a great addition. I hope you give them a try!

~ Thanks for stopping by! ~

Jaime








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