Three Cheese Enchiladas

Three Cheese Enchiladas

1/2 c      Vegetable oil
8            Tortillas (you may need more if you are using corn tortillas)
1 1/2 c   Sour Cream
4 oz       Cream Cheese
2 1/2 c   Meat (Beef, Chicken, Pork, Turkey) - Shredded
1 c         Cheddar Cheese -Shredded
2 c         Monterey Jack Cheese- Shredded  (OR a bagged blend totaling 3 c)
1/4 c      Chopped Green Onions- Optional
1/2 t       Salt
1/2-1 t    Cumin
1 can      Enchilada Sauce (10 oz) Green or Red or Christmas (1/2 Green & 1/2 Red)

Heat Oven to 350

In a large bowl, stir together Sour Cream and Cream Cheese until smooth. Stir in Meat, cheddar cheese 1c Monterey Jack Cheese, green onions, salt and cumin.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat, 2-3 minutes. With tongs, dip each tortilla in hot oil, coating lightly. (For flour tortillas, I often skip this step. For corn- this is a must, they will crack and break otherwise.)

Place 1/2 c meat mixture in the center of each tortilla, roll up. Place in a baking dish (or aluminum pan if you are planning on freezing for later), seam side down.

You may need more or less mixture in each tortilla, it depends on how full you prefer your enchiladas.

Bake for 15 minutes. (or cover well and freeze for an easy meal later)

Pour enchilada sauce over tortillas, spread to cover. Continue baking for 12-15 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Continue baking 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

If you freeze these, allow them to thaw in the refrigerator overnight or- cover with foil and place in a 250-30o degree oven until they are hot, then follow directions above.

I never add the green onions, Heather adds olives- Make them your own and add your favorite ingredients.

I also never use the individual cheeses, I always have bags of mexican cheese blend in my freezer so that's what I use.

To get your cooked meat, use leftovers- cook a little extra chicken when you grill on the weekend, use up the rotisserie chicken that was for dinner, some shredded pot roast would be great and what about some thanksgiving enchiladas?

From the Land O Lakes cookbook (the only recipe I use in this book- it now opens to the right page automatically)

Delicious White Bread

Delicious White Bread

6 c bread flour (I use all-pupous)
3 T Sugar
1-2 T Yeast (I use instant-saf yeast)
2 c water- Very hot (as hot as you can get from the tap)
1/4 c
2 t Salt

In the mixer combine 2c flour, sugar, and yeast. Mix.
Add the hot water and the oil. Mix.
Allow to sit for around 10 min as the  mixture expands (this counts as the first rise).
slowly add the remaining flour, mixing as you go. You may or may not need all the listed flour. when the dough looks smooth and elastic, stop adding flour and allow to mix for 10 min.
Shape into 2 loaves or a bunch of rolls or use it for Pizza Roll-ups (which of course I modify and use pepperoni, sausage and parmesan with the mozzarella)


Bake at 375
For loaves 40-60 minutes
For Rolls 15-20 minutes
For Pizza Roll-ups 15-25 minutes

This recipe is from the back of a huge bag of flour I bought right after I got married. I used up the flour and saved the recipe and have been making it ever since. I try other recipes and always end up coming back to this one.

Overnight Danish

Ingredients:

 2 envelopes yeast (5 t)
1/3 C sugar

½ C warm water

4 C flour

2 t salt

1 C cold butter, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 C milk

4 egg yolks

1 egg white, slightly beaten

1 ½ C jam or preserves (or pie filling) 

Directions:

8-24 hours before baking:

Stir 1 t sugar into water and add yeast.  

In a 4 quart mixing bowl, mix flour, remaining sugar and salt.  Add Butter, cutting into the flour with 2 knives or a pastry blender until the mix looks like cornmeal.  

Add milk, egg yolks, and yeast mixture.  Stir with a spoon to make soft dough.

Cover and refrigerate 8-24 hours.

Cut into 24 pieces, roll and coil (loosley) on pan.  Brush with egg white

Let rise 25 minutes or until puffy.  

Make a depression in the middle and place 1-2 t jelly in each center.

Brush with egg white again and bake at 350° 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Optional: The kids really like a simple glaze drizzled over the top of these while they are still warm.

Serving Suggestions:

These have always received rave reviews in our family.  Remember- the jam or jelly is extremely hot when it comes out 

Loose coils on the pan:

Filled with jelly and ready to bake:

Ready to Enjoy!

Cheerio Bars

• The ingredients

2/3 c Karo Syrup

1 c brown sugar

1 c peanut butter

6 1/2 c cheerios

• Mix the Karo and the brown sugar in a heavy sauce pan, heat until it starts to bubble around the edges.

Remove from heat and add the peanut butter. Stir well.

Add the cheerios, or pour the mixture over the cheerios in a large bowl and mix well.

If desired add in chocolate chips towards the end so they don't melt.(too much)

If you want your 9x13 to bee this full, make a double batch

These got a thumbs up from Adam

Rice Pudding

This is the exact recipe as dictated by mom, so if you need more directions or other measurements- don't ask me

milk

butter

thicken with cornstarch (1T per cup milk)

eggs (1 per 2-3 cups milk) make sure to temper the eggs-beat them in a bowl, add a little of the hot liquid a stir, add a little more hot liquid and stir, when they are the same temperature as the pot, add them to the milk/butter/cornstarch mixture

sugar

leftover cooked rice

cinnamon

nutmeg

vanilla

I was going to make this tomorrow, but when I called Mom for the recipe, we were talking about using up leftover rice and she suggested fried rice. So now we won't be having rice pudding for breakfast, we will be having fried rice for dinner.

Cake Pops (or balls)

I decided to try my hand at making some cake pops since I was basically addicted after Sarah made them for the 4th of July. Now, I love red velvet cake, so that's what I made. And I didn't put them on the sticks cause it was too much work :) Here's a couple pictures from Bakerella's blog that look exactly the same as what I made. I was very pleased with how they turned out. Here's the recipe too :)

Red Velvet Cake Balls
1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)




YYYYUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! :)

mmmmmm

so emma, sarah, and I decided to make a delicious dessert tonight. it turned out amazingly!!! here's the recipe and pictures :) I am very happy with our success :)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell*
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped pecans
Serve with ice cream (optional)

• Preheat oven 325 degrees F.
• Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high until foamy.
• Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter.
• Stir in morsels and nuts and spoon into pie shell.
• Bake for 55-60 minutes. (we had to cook it for like an extra half hour, cause it wasn't even close to being done after an hour) Cool on wire rack. Serve warm.

Recipe from Nestle Classic Recipes, 2003
* If using frozen pie shell, use deep dish style and thaw completely. Bake on baking sheet and increase baking time slightly.

No Toppings.... :(


Toppings... :)

That is all.

Royals (cookies)

Royals

(cookies)

1 2/3 cups flour 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 t salt 3/4 c butter, softened 3/4 c firmly packed brown sugar 1/3 c sugar 1 t vanilla extact 1 egg 1 12 ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 cup coconut (packed) 3/4 c Macadamia nuts, halved( or lightly chopped)

Heat oven to 375. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, soda and salt. In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugars and vanilla. Beat at high speed, scraping the bowl often, beat mixture until creamy( 1-2 minutes) Add in the egg, beat until well mixed.(1-2 minutes) Reduce the speed to low, gradually adding in flour mixture. Beat well after each addition (1-2 minutes) By hand, stir in chips, coconut and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon ( I used a # 40 scoop) on ungreased cookie sheet (parchment works great) Bake about 10 - 12 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Let cookies cool for about 2 minutes before removing to cooling rack.

Jackie's Super Soak

I have no idea who Jackie is, but this is how I got the recipe and it is working great

Jackie's Super Soak

1 C generic dishwasher detergent

1 C Purex colorsafe bleach (this is so much cheaper than biz or clorox)

5 Gallon bucket

Put both powders in the bucket.

Add hot water from the tap to dissolve the detergent.

Allow to cool

Add clothes as they become spotted

On wash day pour into the washer

optional- add a little soap

wash as normal

Check for stains before drying you don't want to set in anything stubborn.

Linen Spray

From The Grocery Cart Challenge

Homemade Linen Spray

1 teaspoon of essential oil (a popular scent is lavender but we don't really care for it. A nice fresh scent is jasmine and I really like mango oil for a light fruity scent.)

1/4 cup of witch hazel (you can substitute this with vodka, cetyl alcohol or stearyl alcohol)

3 1/2 cups of water

I used an old hairspray bottle with a pump spray and just washed it out. Then I poured in all the ingredients and gave it a good shake. Just spray on your sheets every morning when you make the bed. You can use this on tablecloths or any linens. It dries quickly and leaves a wonderful scent that smells so good when you turn down your sheets at night.

The witch hazel or alcohol is used as an emulsifier to keep the oil and water from separating. You can make it without, but you'll need to shake it very well to get it to mix together without leaving oily spots. I recommend using the emulsifier.

Febreeze

Homemade Febreeze...

2-4 Tablespoons fabric softener ( I use my homemade stuff that can be used as a liquid or dryer sheet)

25 ounces of water

My old Febreeze bottle or another spray bottle

The Grocery Cart Challenge

Homemade Dryer Sheets

Again, from The Grocery Cart Challenge

Homemade Dryer Sheets

2 cups of water

1 cup of vinegar

2/3 cups of any hair conditioner

Mix in spray bottle and stir. Don’t shake, this will cause foaming. Soak a cloth rag and ring it out until slightly damp. Then throw it into the dryer with your load of clothes.

This can also be used as a liquid fabric softener in the rinse cycle.

I use dollar store conditioner so this mixture costs me just a bit over a dollar to make. I've been able to get almost 50 loads out of one batch. I keep this stored in a tupperware container by my dryer with the rag already in it so all I have to do is squeeze and add it to the load in the dryer.

Simple and cheap with none of the wax from the store bought sheets that wear your clothes out.

Oxy Clean

Again, Not to be taken internally but this works great!!

I modified it a little, I Spray the Hydrogen Peroxide on the offending garment, sprinkle with baking soda and allow to sit. The next morning or latter that day I throw the clothes in the washer and wash as normal. Most organic stains have been coming out with this mix. Thanks to The Grocery Cart Challenge for the recipe.

Homemade OxyClean

(as a pretreater)

1 cup water

1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide

1/2 cup baking soda

Mix together and soak laundry in it for 20 minutes to overnight and then wash as usual. Or you can just skip the water and pour the peroxide and baking soda directly into the wash with your laundry soap and wash as usual.

Powdered Laundry Soap

So this is not to be taken internally, but it is a recipe none the less and I didn't want to lose it and have to hunt it down again.

This is from one of the groups I am in and it is followed by the chemistry of why it works.

Powdered Laundry Soap

Here's the recipe:

1 55 oz. box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

1/2 cup Mule Team Borax

2 Cups Oxygen Cleaner-She recommends Sun ($5 @ Dollar General)

1/2 cup Simple Green--I USED HOLY COW MYSELF--later in the thread she said

the any multi purpose cleaner will do.

1/2 cup Calgon Water Softening Powder (or one capful liquid)

Empty all into a bucket and mix together with your hands. Use 1 heaping

scoop (like in the oxygen cleaner) for diapers, 2 scoops for regular

laundry.

The detergent must be dissolved in HOT water before adding to the

washer (it's too abrasive on fabrics if it isn't).....so I bought a

pitcher, I fill it half full with HOT water, add a scoop of detergent and

use a wisk to mix until dissolved, then pour it in the washer.

If you can't find Washing Soda - Call 1-800-524-1328. They can tell you

where to find it locally, or you can order directly from them.

If you can't find the powdered Calgon, use a capful of liquid, but you'll

have to add a box of baking soda to counter act the extra liquid.

So, how and why does it work.....the chemist had to explain.

Washing Soda (Sodium Carbonate)- Strong enough to actually change organic

compounds (food, grass, etc) and keeps them suspended in the water so they can

easily be washed away. It is a naturally occurring compound free from

enzymes, dyes, and perfumes, and is the main ingredient in most powdered

laundry detergents.

Calgon - Softens water and, therefore, prohibits buildup of minerals on fabrics that is common in hard water. If you have especially hard water, you may need to add some Calgon Water Softener to each load (1/3 of what it says on the package)

Borax - whitens and brightens without phosphates and enzymes. Borax is too

harsh, both to fabric and sensitive skin to be used in large amounts, and

tends to not rinse out well. Less is more with Borax in laundry. (makes and

excellent household cleaner, though)

Oxygen Cleaner - stain remover and whitener. Oxygen cleaners do not react

well with extremely hard water and will add to scum build up. If you have

extremely hard water, as noted above, add additional water softener.

Simple Green - Provides the necessary surfactants- to lessen the water

tension and allow the detergent to become a part of the water and actually

get into the clothes. I'm not sure if I understand that, but I'll take her

word for it.

Spinach Salad

We had this Sunday at Mercede's Birthday party, and Hannah wanted the recipe on the site.

Spinach Salad

1 bag baby spinach

1-2 heads romaine

2 small cans mandarin oranges

2 c swiss cheese, grated

1/2 lb cooked bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

poppy seed dressing

Optional- sliced strawberries

De-vein and clean the spinach and romaine. Tear them into bite size pieces.

Just before serving toss all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Make sure you get some before Adam eats it all. ( He loves this salad and requests it whenever we are asked to bring a salad to a function)

Poppy Seed Dressing

1/4 c. white vinegar

1/2 C. sugar

1/2 to 1 t. dry mustard

2T Dried onions or to taste

1 T Poppy Seeds or to taste

1/2 C. good olive oil (or canola oil)

Combine in blender and mix until smooth. I always taste for the sugar and adjust accordingly. Pour on salad and toss. It will keep, refrigerated, for severaI days.

I learned this recipe from Tammy, and it has been served often at weddings (can you say bags and bags of spinach?), showers, and many family dinners.

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Chocolate Sheet Cake

• 2 c. sugar
• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. hot water
• 1 tsp. soda
• 3 Tbsp. cocoa
• 1 c. oil
• 1 c. buttermilk (I use 1 Tbsp. vinegar + 1 c. milk, mix and let sit for a few minutes)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• a few drops of red food coloring (I omit this when my family will be eating the cake, but it does give it a rich color)

Dissolve soda in hot water. Add all ingredients to a large bowl. Mix till batter is smooth. Pour into greased and floured (I just spray mine with non-stick spray) 10 1/2 x 15 cookie sheet pan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Spread with icing while hot.

Icing

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 2 Tbsp. cocoa
• 3 Tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• powdered sugar

Melt margarine in a saucepan. Mix in cocoa and milk until well blended. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and enough sifted powdered sugar (this is one time I do make the effort to sift… I don’t want lumpy icing) until icing is creamy and a good spreading consistency.

From: The Finer Things in Life

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

1 pkg white or yellow cake mix

1-2 c quick cooking oats

2 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t baking powder

3 eggs

1 3/4 c chopped peeled apples (I don't add these, I tried them the first time and the kids spent the whole time trying to pick out all the apples)

1 1/3 c milk

1/4 c melted butter

1/4 c applesauce (if using apples, delete applesauce and increase butter to 1/2 cup)

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a well in the center mix all the wet ingredients and then incorporate the wet into the dry.

Spoon into prepared muffin tins

Bake at 350

20-25 min regular muffins

9-11 min for mini muffins

By the way: If you double the recipe and make mini muffins, be prepared for slightly less than six million muffins!

From: Cake Mix Magic

Tortilla Chip Enchiladas

2 c chopped cooked chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 c sour cream
1/4 c chopped onion
1 bag (12 oz) tortilla chips, crushed in bag (plain chips, doritos: nacho cheese are out)
1 cup grated monterey jack cheese, (we used more than this)
1/2 c salsa (we forgot the salsa)

Preheat oven to 350

In a large bowl combine chicken, soup, sour cream, and onion.

In a greased 9x13 pan, layer half the chips and half the soup mixture. Repeat layers. Top with cheese and bake 30 min.

Serve with salsa. Makes 6-8 servings

From 101 things to do with a casserole

Eggs a La Goldenrod

Every Easter this is a must for our family. It's usually a little more technicolor from using dyed eggs, but the dyes didn't seem to go through the shells as much this year. This version of the recipe makes a much smaller batch than I have ever made, but you get the general idea.

SERVES 3 -4

• 6 hard-boiled eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 8 slices bread, toasted

1. Melt butter, add flour and stir until the mixture is smooth and well blended.
2. Add milk very slowly stirring as you add.
3. Continue to stir and cook over a low heat.
4. Cook until the mixture starts to thicken.
5. Add salt and pepper to mixture and set aside.
6. Peel boiled eggs and remove the yolks from the eggs.
7. Chop the whites of the eggs and add them to the white sauce.
8. Toast bread and slice it diagonally.
9. Arrange the bread slices on a plate and pour the sauce over the toast.
10. Take a grater and grate the egg yolks over the sauce.
11. Serve warm.

From Recipe Zaar #216201