Green Enchilada Casserole

This is my go to dish if I need to pull off dinner in an instant.  It's quick and easy, super yummy, and makes for great left overs.  Everyone in the family likes it and cleans their plates when I serve it up.  I think I might even make it tonight.  (My recipe calls for a lot of canned items, that's because  what I like about this casserole is how quickly I can pull it together.  However, you could definitely substitute canned items for homemade if you have the time.)  You've got to give it a try!  Here's the DL...

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 onion, diced
4 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 can (10 oz) green enchilada sauce
1 can (10.75 oz) cream of chicken soup
1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
9 corn tortillas
2 cups grated Montery Jack cheese
2 cups gated Cheddar cheese (or instead of both cheese, 4 cups Mexican cheese blend)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In saucepan over medium heat melt butter.  Add onion and cook for 8 minutes, or until translucent.  Set aside.
Fill a medium size bowl with water.  Emmerse tortillas into the water.  Set aside.
Mix the two cheeses together.  Set aside.
In a medium bowl mix enchilada sauce, cream of chicken soup, green chilies, sour cream, garlic, and cumin.  Reserve 1 cup, set aside.
Add chicken and onion to the remaining sour cream mixture.
Spray the bottom of a 9 inch by 13 inch baking dish.  Spread the cup of reserved sour cream mixture evenly in baking dish.

Place three tortillas down, you can tear them apart to fit, but try not to overlap them.  Evenly spread a third of the chicken mixture on top.  Sprinkle on 1 cup of the cheese blend.  Repeat the tortilla, chicken, and cheese layers 2 more times.   Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese on top.

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until bubbly.  Serve in squares and enjoy!  (serves 6-8)

Soft Pretzel Bites

Pretzel bites have been a favorite snack in our family for the past couples years.  I would just buy the frozen  ones and nuke them in the microwave when needed.  But the frozen ones are expensive and  who really knows what they put in them.  I had avoided making homemade pretzel bites because quite frankly, raised bread dough scares me.  I've often struggled with it and the only two things I make bread-wise are pizza dough and 1 hour dinner rolls.  The other day I really wanted some pretzel bites but we were out of them, & so was the grocery money for the month.  So I finally buckled down and tried making these babies for myself.

I gotta tell ya, I don't know what I was so scared of!  They were super easy, the dough was very forgiving, and one batch made around 85 pretzel bites (way cheaper than the frozen ones).  These were gobbled up so fast and I froze a big bag of them to warm up as needed.  There's nothing like warm soft pretzels.  I don't usually do step by step pictures, but because the idea of making these scared me I thought the pictures would put any other timid bakers at ease.  You've got to give these a try,  they really are amazing.  They would make a great snack for you kiddo's class too.  Here's the skinny...
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm (not hot) water
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/4 (or 1 package) active dry yeast
4 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 1/2 cups flour
vegetable or canola oil
2 quarts water
1/2 cup baking soda
egg beaten or melted butter for brushing tops
coarse sea salt
Directions

Combine water, sugar, yeast, and butter in mixer bowl.  Let sit 10 minutes.
Using the dough hook, mix in the salt and flour on low speed just until combined.  Increase speed to medium and continue mixing until dough is smooth and starts forming into a ball.  Remove dough from bowl and shape into a ball using your hands.  Coat a large bowl with canola/vegetable oil.  Set dough in oiled bowl, roll dough around so it is coated with oil.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Bring water to a boil in large pot.

Meanwhile divide dough into 4 equal parts.  Roll each section out into long rope about an inch in diameter.

Cut dough into 1 inch pieces.

You should have a bunch of these babies waiting and rearing to go.

Add the baking soda to the boiling water.

Boil a few dough  pieces at a time for 30 seconds.  You don't want the dough pieces to touch while they're boiling so don't put too many in there at once.  Remove pieces with a slotted spoon or spider.

Transfer boiled pieces on to greased baking sheet with about 1/2 inch in between each piece.  Brush the tops with beaten egg or melted butter, sprinkle each one with coarse sea salt.

Bake for 15 minutes or until tops are dark brown.  Remove and let cool a few minutes before serving with Cheese Sauce (I suggest American or cheddar cheese sauce).  Enjoy!

Quick & Easy Spasagna

I've been making a lot on quick dinners, and this one fits the bill.  There are a number of recipes for spasagna, but I like this one because I always have the ingredients I need to make it.  Plus, it takes no time at all to pull together and everyone likes it.  The cream cheese keep everything moist and creamy.  Even kids who aren't too wild about spaghetti sauce will like this because of the creaminess added by the cream cheese sauce & mozzarella.  This would be a great freezer dish or meal to take to someone.  Here's the skinny...
Ingredients
16 oz thin spaghetti
4 cups spaghetti sauce or Red Sauce
1 pound ground beef or Italian sausage (without casings)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
10 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup half & half
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook spaghetti until al dente and drain.
Meanwhile brown ground beef in skillet until cooked through.  Add spaghetti sauce.  Set aside.
In medium saucepan over medium-low heat melt the cream cheese.  Whisk in the half & half, Italian seasoning, garlic powder & 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese.  Add mixture to spaghetti & stir until noodles are coated.
Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  Spread a layer of the meat sauce on the bottom of the dish.  Place spaghetti on top.  Sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup mozzarella   Top with remaining meat sauce.  Sprinkle remaining mozzarella on top.
Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.  Let cool for a few minutes, cut into squares & enjoy!

Cream Cheese Cookies

These cookies are as good as they look and sound.  They quickly replaced my traditional sugar cookie recipe.  They work just as well as a sugar cookie for rolling out but you can also make them as drop cookies  when you need to save time.  Plus, they stay chewy and moist on the inside and have a slightly crunchy outside.  Perfection!  Here's the skinny...
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
Granulated sugar for dusting

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with a parchment paper or silicone mat.
Using electric mixer, cream butter and cream cheese.  Beat int he sugar and baking powder.  Add the egg & vanilla and beat until fluffy.  Add the flour and mix until incorporated.  Cover well with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.  {For drop or rolled cookies just leave dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  For cut out cookies form dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap.}
For drop cookies, take a teaspoon of dough and dredge through sugar.  For roll cookies make 1 inch size balls of dough and coat in sugar.  Place on cookie sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes.  Makes about 24 cookies.  For cut out cookies roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thick.  Baking time will vary depending on the size of shapes you use.  Enjoy!

*top picture is of drop cookies, bottom picture is of rolled ball cookies

My Favorite Chicken Salad

As summer very slowly slips away here (we've had 40 days of no rain and 80 degree days, very unusual for a Montana September) I've become acutely aware that making quick and cool summer recipes will come to a halt.  So I thought in honor of summer I would do one more summer type recipe to close it all out and usher in soup and meat season; otherwise known as "fall".  Here it is, my chicken salad.  I actually eat this all year long, but it becomes much more of a standard in the hot months.  It's so easy to make, it's fresh and flavorful,  it's healthy, and you can make a big batch of it and have it all week long.  To make it really easy on myself sometimes I'll use a whole rotisserie chicken, so good and quick.  (Then you can make stock from the carcass and freeze it for fall time soups.)  Here's the DL...
Ingredients
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
2-3 celery stalks, sliced
3/4 cup  (sliced lengthwise) red grapes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
pinch of garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
In medium bowl mix all ingredients except chicken until well incorporated.  And chicken and stir to coat.  If needed add more mayo.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.  Spoon onto sliced croissants, sandwich bread, or flour tortillas.  Enjoy!  {makes 6-8 servings}

Pecan Pie Bars

I haven't posted in a while.  Things have been a little crazy around here.  I have been cooking a lot, just not posting all the yummy recipes.  Now that we are done with a good friends wedding I can come back to the world of blogging.  And I'm coming back with a bang with these amazing, delicious, and delectable Pecan Pie Bars.  Where actual pecan pie can be too rich for me, these bars are the perfect amount of deliciousness  Plus, there's no fussing with a pastry crust.  So the prep time is minimal  I usually have these whipped up in less than 15 minutes.  These bars are perfect for Fall and the crust is to die for!  Whenever I make these bars I devour them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, & late night snack.  Here's the skinny...
Ingredients
Crust~
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Filling~
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup butter, melted & cooled
pinch of salt
1 cup whole pecans
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9 by 13 inch baking pan.
Using electric mixer blend together crust ingredients until smooth.  Evenly press crust dough into prepared baking dish.  Bake for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, beat eggs until bubbly.  Mix in sugar.  Add corn syrup, salt and vanilla.  Mix in melted butter.  Using a spoon stir in both cups of pecans.  Pour filling over the baked crust.  Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool before cutting into squares.  Enjoy!

Quick & Easy Burritos

 I just had one of those weekends.  You know, the ones where you don't stop for a second and then you suddenly realize it's Monday and you're not even going to get to think about a break or mildly sleeping in for five more whole days.  Yeah, I had one of those.

First of all I did a booth at a vintage market called The Prairie Sisters with a couple friends.  I love doing this and it's only twice a year.  But it is non stop for a day and a half and requires a lot of loading, unloading, and moving furniture.  I'm not as young as I use to be, that physical stuff wears me out after a while!  Our booth did great and I walked away with a few fabulous items as well [I'll share them with you on the Home & Garden page].

During the middle of our show on Saturday I had to quick (and by quick I mean on hour worth of travel) drive out to The Ranch and snap some pictures of a couple horses we're trying to sell.

Once I got our there I saw my children who had been out of my care since Friday afternoon and in the hands of their grandparents and father.  I found my daughter wearing her skinny jeans (that are suppose to only be for school and church, not ranch work), a pj shirt that is a size too small, and dirtier than all get out.

I also snap a few pictures of these cute baby birds by our tack room.  Then I headed back to the market to finish out the day.  Sunday is always busy around here.  This Sunday I also taught Sunday school to the cutest two and three year olds you've ever seen, the three older kids had a birthday party, and I spent the afternoon editing a pile of wedding photos.

Needless to say Sunday dinner was not in traditional form.  I had  thirty minutes to whip something together, so I made these super quick and easy Mexican Sausage Burritos.  My Mom makes these and I love them.  It's just a bonus that they literally take no time at all to make.  These are also great to freeze and have later or take to a friend in need of a meal.  They are a great meal to make when you only have a brief moment to feed your crew.  Here's the DL...
Ingredients
1 pound sausage
1/2 medium onion diced
1 can (15.5 oz) black beans, drained
1 can (10 oz) Rotel or diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup sour cream
3 cups shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese blend
8 flour tortillas (soft taco size)
sour cream, sliced green onions, picante sauce for garnish
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Cook onion and sausage in skillet until meat is cooked through.  Turn off head and stir in black beans, Rotel (or if you need it to not be spicy just plain tomatoes), and 1 cup sour cream.
Put about 2 tablespoons of cheese and 1/2 cup meat mixture into a tortilla.  Roll it up and place seam side down in baking dish.  Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Top burritos with remaining cheese and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and starting to bubble.  Let cool for 3 minutes and serve.  Enjoy!
*These burritos pair wonderfully with a fried egg!