Recipe of the Week: Beef Enchiladas with Green Sauce

I really should stop calling these "Recipe of the Week" as I don't post them nearly that often but I guess it's too late to change it now.

Anyway,  we love these enchiladas!  I use what my local grocer calls "taco beef."  It's coarser than ground beef but finer than stew meat.  I really like it for my Mexican dishes.  If you can't find "taco beef," ground beef will do just as well.

Beef Enchiladas with Green Sauce

2 lbs taco beef or ground beef
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
9 large flour tortillas
1 can black olives, sliced
28 ounces mild green enchilada sauce
1 lb shredded cheddar cheese
optional: salsa and sour cream for serving
Brown your meat in a large skillet.  Drain if needed and add seasonings and about 1/2 cup of the sauce.  Roll up a couple of heaping tablespoons of the meat mixture in each tortilla and place in 9x13 inch baking dish.  When they are all in there, scatter the olives on top, pour the rest of the sauce over and cover everything with cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes and serve with salsa and sour cream (or without).

Enjoy!
Korrina

Recipe of the Week: Loaded Baked Potato Soup

This is another one of those recipes I found online and tweaked to suit my own needs.  Rich and creamy, this soup is a wonderful winter comfort food.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

4 cups frozen hashbrowns
2/3 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups milk
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 green onions, chopped
12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup sour cream
 ~ Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk. Add hashbrowns.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thick and bubbly and hashbrowns are cooked, 5 or 6 minutes.  Add salt, pepper, green onions, bacon, and cheese. Cook until cheese is melted and soup is heated through. Stir in sour cream. Serve.

Enjoy!
Korrina

Herbed Cheese Spread

I think my favorite herb is marjoram.  I hadn't ever tried it until I found a recipe I wanted to try that had marjoram in it.  I decided to bite the bullet and get some.  It was love at first taste.  I also love cream cheese spreads so this recipe was perfect for me.  Serve it on crackers or melt 1/2 batch of it into 2-3 cups cooked green beans.  Yummy!

Herbed Cheese Spread

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon each: basil, dill, marjoram, thyme, black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Put all ingredients in a food processor and process till smooth. (I just mash it with a fork until it's mixed thoroughly.)  Serve on crackers or raw veggies.

Enjoy!
Korrina

Easy Chicken Parmesan

This is not a low-fat recipe but it is really good!  Serve it over a bed of angel hair pasta with your favorite sauce.  In the photo I used frozen ravioli and Hunts canned pasta sauce.

Easy Chicken Parmesan

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. pepper
Salt to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup melted butter
Pound chicken flat between layers of plastic wrap. Combine bread crumbs, cheese, oregano, pepper, and salt; set aside. Lightly saute garlic in 2 T. butter then stir in remaining butter. Dip chicken in garlic butter then roll each piece in bread crumb mixture. Place chicken in 9x13 pan and sprinkle with remaining bread crumb mixture. Pour on remaining butter. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes.
(Sorry for the blurry photo.)

Enjoy!

Korrina

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This recipe is one of my family's favorites.  Although, my oldest daughter complains that she doesn't like it and then proceeds to eat seconds.  I call it a casserole instead of just "enchiladas" because everything is just layered in there like a lasagne-  I don't have time to fill and roll individual enchiladas for eight people.  If you want to put it together in individual enchiladas, go for it.  You'd just roll the beans, chicken, and olives up inside the tortillas and add the sauce and cheese over the top.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

2 lbs chicken breasts
12 corn tortillas
2 10oz cans red enchilada sauce
2 cans black beans, drained
1 can black olives, sliced
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
Cube chicken and cook in a little oil over medium heat.  Spread 1/2 can sauce in bottom of 9x13 pan.  Arrange 4 tortillas over sauce.  Top with half of the chicken, half of the olives, 1 can of the beans, 1 cup cheese, and a half can of the sauce.  Add 4 more tortillas, remaining chicken and olives, another can of beans, 1 cup cheese and a half can of sauce.  Top with remaining tortillas, sauce and cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through.  Serve with sour cream.

Enjoy!
Korrina

Macaroni and Cheese

It's that time of the week again!  Recipe day!  This is one of my family's favorite recipes.  My 14-year-old doesn't usually care too much what she puts in her mouth but she had seconds and thirds the last time I made this.  It tastes absolutely nothing like any of the boxed varieties (and that's a good thing).

This recipe is a really basic one for me.  I wanted homemade mac and cheese one day so I just started making it.  I really don't have it written down anywhere (until now).  You can also eliminate the macaroni and use the sauce for fondue- it's wonderful on cubed bread or toast and fresh veggies!

It's not the healthiest recipe but at least when you make something from scratch, you can substitute healthier ingredients- and you know you're not getting all of those chemicals.  Use whole-wheat pasta (I used the rainbow kind here), skim milk, lowfat mozzarella (for the cheddar), and, well, there's not a lot of substituting you can do for the butter but you can use a lower-fat margarine (don't try to brown it like the recipe says-just melt it).  I'm more worried about avoiding chemicals than fat and sugar (for right now, anyway) so I just use the butter.

Macaroni and Cheese

Sorry for the lousy picture- I had to use my cell phone...

12 oz bag macaroni
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
3 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded fresh parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Boil the macaroni in lots of water until it's done, drain it and set aside. Melt the butter over fairly high heat, stirring often, until it starts to brown. Add the flour all at once and whisk until smooth. Lower the heat to medium and slowly add the milk, whisking constantly.  Continue stirring until mixture has started to thicken. When it's about the consistency of a nice, thick cream gravy, take it off the heat and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to cool a little. Put the sauce back on the heat (low this time) and add the cheeses and salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, over low heat until the cheese has melted and the sauce is nice and creamy. Add the sauce mixture to the macaroni and serve.

I usually serve it as a side dish with pork chops or salmon.  It's also great with a baked ham!

Enjoy!
Korrina

P.S.  If you ever try one of my recipes, come back and comment.  I'd love to know what you think!

Broiled Shrimp with Parmesan

We love shrimp in our house... 'nuff said. :)

Broiled Shrimp with Parmesan

1 lb cooked shrimp
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1/4 cup shredded fresh parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
I remove the shrimps' tails before cooking to make it easier for my little ones to eat but this step is optional.  Preheat broiler to 450 degrees. Toss everything together in a mixing bowl or large plastic bag.  Spread it all out on a broiler pan tray and put it in the oven.  Broil for 5-10 minutes until everything is hot and cheese starts to melt.

Enjoy!
Korrina

Stuffed Shells

I've only made this a couple of times 'cause stuffing the shells takes a little more work than usual but my kids really prefer it to spaghetti and meatballs.  The ingredients are almost exactly the same as for lasagne.

Stuffed Shells

15-20 meatballs, quartered
1/2 box of jumbo shells or manicotti
1 jar spaghetti sauce
3 c. Ricotta cheese
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1 egg
2 tbsp Parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
16 oz. Shredded Mozzarella cheese
Cook shells according to package directions. Mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, salt, and pepper. Stuff shells or manicotti with cheese mixture and place in a 13" x 9" baking dish coated with non-stick spray. Scatter meatball quarters over shells.  Spoon spaghetti sauce over each shell and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350°F.

Enjoy!
Korrina

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

My husband spent two years in South Africa before we were married and this was one of his favorite recipes.  I rather suspect the dish is more English than African, but then again, most of the food he ate there was...

Anyway, while he was there, he bought a South African cookbook in the hopes that his mom could replicate some of his new favorite foods.  It never happened and not long after we were married, I discovered the book and found some really great stuff inside.

This is almost straight from that cookbook.  Of course, all of the measurements are metric so I had to do some converting and, over the years, I've tweaked it to fit our family's tastes better.

So, here it is:

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

My 12 year old daughter made this.

1 lb macaroni
6 eggs
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 t mustard
4 c milk
3/4 lbs shredded sharp cheddar
2 T butter
1 tomato cut into wedges
Preheat oven to 325.  Cook the macaroni until done.  Drain.  Beat eggs, add seasonings and milk.  Add the macaroni and the cheese and spoon into a large greased oven dish.  Dot with butter.  Garnish with tomato wedges.  Bake for 60-90 min until middle of casserole is set.

Although I have cut this recipe in half, it still makes quite a lot.  Feel free to halve it again...

Enjoy!
Korrina