Honey Lime Enchiladas

Oh My Flippin' Delicious! Making these for Mom on Sunday.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
(from my neighbor Sarah Bevan)

Chicken marinated in lime, honey, and cumin, smothered in gooey cheese, tortillas and tasty sauce.....need I say more?

3/4 cup honey

Lime juice (1-2 limes)

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (I used 3 chicken breasts)

8-10 flour tortillas

1 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded

16 ounces green enchilada sauce

1 cup heavy cream.

1. 
   
   Mix the first five ingredients and toss with shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least 1/2 hour (I tossed mine together in a ziploc bag in the morning and let it sit in the refrigerator all day).


2. 
   
   Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan.


3. 
   
   Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas.


4. 
   
   Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover marinade. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese.


5. 
   
   Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top.

Chicken Rolls

CHICKEN ROLLS
from Melanie Heightman

5-6 chicken breasts
1 pkg dry Italian dressing mix
12 oz. cream cheese
6 Tbsp butter
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2/3 C. milk
3 Tbsp chopped onion
4 pkg crescent rolls
1 C. melted butter for dipping
4 1/2 C. crushed croutons

Cook chicken breasts in crockpot on low for 4-5 hours with dry Italian dressing mix sprinkled over top. When it's cooked through (sometimes it's shorter time), shred chicken. There will be some broth in the crockpot from the chicken--mix this in with the shredded chicken. Mix in softened cream cheese and butter. Add salt, onion, milk, and pepper. Refrigerate until it sets up (about an hour). Put a large scoop of the chicken mixture in a rolled out crescent roll and seal the edges. Dip in melted butter and in crushed croutons. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

*I have made these before and come across a number of different recipes and names (chicken pillows, stuffed rolls, chicken pockets...) but this is my neighbor's recipe and my favorite I think. It's a good mix of flavor, and moist enough to eat w/out a gravy or cream of chicken sauce. At a neighborhood baby shower, her gift was a bag full of these pre-cooked and then frozen. They were perfect when we needed a last minute dinner or I wanted a more filling snack but didn't want to cook. I just made another batch and stuck it in the freezer this week (ps- I used garlic and butter croutons).

Anyway, here you go. -Lex

Pot Roast and Potatoes

Pot Roast

I conquered pot roast last night and it turned out perfect! Do I dare say it? Maybe if I whisper it then it won't offend anyone. (Whisper) It was even better than Greg's mom's pot roast.

I have been afraid of pot roast for years, partially because it always seems so dry and partially because of gravy. In this life, I am afraid of heights, large spiders, and gravy. I DO NOT know how to make a good gravy, therefore, I avoid it altogether. I got this recipe off of allrecipes.com, but I changed it to my liking. So, here is the recipe with my alterations (and it was so succulent, it didn't even need gravy):

Mix together:
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 package Lipton dry onion soup mix
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (plus a few extra dashes just because it's fun to say and it adds so much flavor)
1 onion, quartered

Place roast in an oven bag and pour contents over meat. Place bag in roasting pan. Allow to marinate up to 3 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place meat in oven and reduce heat to 300 degrees. Cook for 3 hours.

*The original recipe called for 2 cups beef broth. However, it also called for carrots, celery, and potatoes to be added to the oven bag with the meat. If you are going to add the vegetables, I would increase the broth to the original amount. Without the vegetables, the 1 1/2 cups broth was still a ton. In the comments section on allrecipes.com, a few people mentioned that they added a can of Cream of Mushroom soup to the sauce in order to make a gravy (see above for my feelings on gravy).

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I got this recipe from a friend a few years ago, and it is hands down my favorite potato recipe. I like that you leave the skins on and it is chunky rather than traditional, smooth mashed potatoes. It makes a TON of potatoes though, so you may want to cut this one in half. Although, you could use the left-overs for Shepherds Pie and it would be fabulous, I bet.

12 cups red potatoes, cleaned and cut into 2" chunks
10 large cloves of garlic (I quarter these so the garlic distribution goes further)
5 Tablespoons salt (I thought this was too much last night, so I might cut it down to 4 Tbsp in the future)
1 cup milk
2 cubes butter (This is a lot of butter - which is probably why the potatoes are so fabulous. You could easily cut this down, although you may have to add more milk so they aren't dry.)

Place potatoes, garlic, and salt in a large pot. Add water until there the water level is about 1 inch above the potatoes. Boil for 18 minutes. Drain off all the liquid. Add the butter and milk, and mash with a potato masher.

Baked Ziti

Two months ago when Curtis first got home from the hospital, my visiting teacher brought dinner over for us. I have never seen Curtis eat so much, or so fast, or ask for more so quickly. I have also never seen him covet a food before; when I offered some Ziti to his dad and brother, Curtis looked as if I was giving our home away to a stranger! So of course I promptly emailed her a thank you and asked for the recipe.

*Here is the recipe. And what I gave you was only half of what it makes. -Aislinn

Baked Ziti
From Aislinn Morrow
1 pound ziti pasta
1 white onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
2 jars spaghetti sauce (I use Prego meat flavored)
6 ounces Provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (I use a little more than that)

Cook Ziti until AL dente, drain and set aside. Cook the ground beef with the onion and drain fat. Add spaghetti sauce and let simmer for at least 15 minutes. In a 9x13 pan, layer 1/2 the ziti, all of the provolone cheese, all the sour cream, 1/2 the sauce mixture, the remaining ziti, all the mozzarella, the remaining sauce, and top with parmesan cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Zucchini

For those that plant zucchini every year and then have more than they know what to do with (like me):

http://www.delish.com/recipes/cooking-recipes/zucchini?gt1=47048

20 Zucchini Recipes- check it out if you have a minute.

Banana Crumb Muffins

This one has been catching my eye on the Albertson's website for a few months and I finally had enough bananas to try it. Some of mine sunk in the middle, but they were super moist and yummy-more like a treat than a breakfast muffin. I've learned that with banana bread the trick is to stir just enough to moisten the batter, otherwise it will be dry. Also, the recipe says to make 10, but they were huge. 12 might work better and turn out more like the picture.

Instead of posting, click here for the link

Creamy Salsa Chicken

If someone has already invented this, I just invented it again. This recipe was inspired by Pace and by Troy. Troy likes to mix salsa and cream cheese and dip his pizza in it. His friends called it "puke sauce" (so I guess this recipe could affectionately be called "Puke Sauce Chicken"). I combined that idea with the "Picante Skillet Chicken" recipe from Pace. It's a good summer recipe because it's super easy and made on the stove... I hope you guys try it and tell me what you think.

1 lb Chicken (I like tenders)

2 tbs oil

1 16 oz jar of your favorite salsa

1 Tbls sugar

4 oz cream cheese

Heat the oil in a skillet, add chicken and cook until brown on both sides. Stir in sauce and sugar. Cut up the cream cheese throw it on top. Cover and cook 10 minutes. Stir in cream cheese (now melted). Cover again and cook until chicken is done. Serve over rice.