Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Last week, I had my oldest two boys help me plan the dinner menu for the week. I don't let them get away with chicken nuggets, hot dogs, etc so they knew they had to choose "real" food. Rugby asked for Chicken Enchiladas and I have this great recipe that was in my Gramma Carol's church cookbook (I think) and it's become a family favorite over the years. When Tim was working over the road, I'd make it in two smaller pans instead of the one bigger pan and take half to my grandparents because they like it, but the two of them can't eat a whole pan of it and R&R were small enough then that the three of us couldn't eat a whole pan, either so it was win-win! This week when I had Rugby and Riley help plan meals, Rugby asked for this again! Enjoy!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

12ish tortillas (I use whole wheat ones)
1 1/2-2 pounds cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup sour cream (I use light with no trouble)
2 cans cream of chicken (do not substitute cream of mushroom, trust me. But, feel free to use a lower sodium version if you wish.)
2 oz can chopped green chilies
Shredded cheese...cheddar or a blend of orange and white cheeses


Preheat oven to 350.

In a small pan, heat the soup, sour cream and chilies until warmed through.

In the center of each tortilla, place 1/4 cup (ish) chicken and 2 tbsp of the soup mixture. Roll up and place in greased 9x13 pan. Continue until your pan is full. Top with remaining soup mixture doing your best to cover all the tortillas with the mixture because any area left exposed will get dry and hard. Top with cheese. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

LF Chicken and Dumpling Soup

The other day, while we were all sick, my mom brought me Taste of Home's BIG BOOK OF SOUP. There are a TON of recipes in this book that I'd love to make. So, expect to see some soup here soon!

So, last night, it was 4:30 and I hadn't given any thought to dinner. AT ALL. Nothing thawed, no leftovers, nothing I could just throw on the table. I opened this book and this recipe just jumped out at me. I had everything in the house and it was QUICK. Love that! So, here's the recipe...Enjoy!

Low Fat Chicken and Dumplings

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2" cubes (I cut mine smaller because of the babies)
2tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cans chicken broth
3 cups water (I used 4, just because)
4 medium carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped (I used a bit more since all I had were the inner ribs with the leaves...used the leaves, too!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
rubbed sage, crushed rosemary, and marjoram...to taste. I think I used about 1/2-1 tsp combined
1/4 tsp black pepper

In a large skillet, pan fry the chicken in the butter and garlic cloves. In your stock pot, bring to a boil the broth, water, vegetables and seasonings. Add chicken to this. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered about 30 minutes.

Dumplings:
3 egg whites
1/2 cup cottage cheese
2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup ap flour

Beat the egg whites and cottage cheese in a mixing bowl. Add water and salt. Stir in flour, making sure to mix well.

When soup has simmered for 30 minutes, bring the soup back to a boil and drop dumplings into the soup by the tablespoonful. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes longer. DO NOT LIFT THE LID WHILE SIMMERING. Serve immediately.

(Looking for a use for the egg yolks?? How about this recipe? YUM!)

Cashew Chicken

A couple weeks ago, we were in this little tiny diner in Gresham and on the counter they had this 3 ring binder cookbook. It was from a "local author" and I was looking through it and saw SEVERAL recipes that I thought sounded good...but my DH didn't think I needed another cookbook....well, I thought differently and when he went to the bathroom I bought it and stashed it in the diaper bag (I'm gonna be sooooooo sad to stop carrying that big thing!) Rugby and Riley happened to find the book about a week ago and went through it, page by page telling me what they thought sounded good....so I set them up with a notebook and they wrote the recipe name, page and who thought it was gonna be a good one...now, I only have to look at their sheet for TONS of dinner ideas!! And I'll actually be using the cookbook, double bonus! We made chicken quesadillas the other day that were so good, but how do you screw that up? It's pretty simple. Anyway, another one that was marked "Both" (as in they both wanted it) was Cashew Chicken. My kids love chinese food and since most of what they like is simple stir fry stuff, I was happy to make it. This recipe is no exception. VERY SIMPLE and VERY tasty! I think the sauce would be good if I could figure out the breading to make peanut butter chicken. YUM! EnjoY!

Cashew Chicken

Peanut Butter Sauce:
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp honey

Mix together until well blended and set aside.

Stir Fry:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
3 cups broccoli, chopped
2 ribs celery, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 green onions, chopped (I skipped this for the kids)
2 Tbsp vegetable or peanut oil (I used butter)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated gingerroot (next time, I might add a bit more, but I LOVE ginger)
2 packages ramen noodles, flavor packages discarded
1/2 cup cashews

In the oil, saute the chicken, garlic and ginger until the chicken is no longer pink. Remove from skillet and set aside. In the skillet, add a little more oil (or like I did: a bit of chicken broth...less than 1/4 cup) and saute (or steam if you added the broth) the celery and broccoli for about 4 minutes. Add the green onion and continue to cook, stirring often until the veggies are tender-crisp. Add the chicken back to the skillet and pour the sauce over. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat. While you are waiting, add the ramen noodles JUST THE NOODLES, NOT THE FLAVOR PACKET to a pot of boiling water and boil for 3 minutes; drain. Add the noodles to the chicken and veggies. Sprinkle with cashews and serve.

Peanut butter flavor is very subtle, not at all over whelming. I hope you like it!

Honey Hot Wings

Sorry for the long delay in posting. The move has gone fairly well. The only thing that got broken (that we've found so far) was 4 jars of my grandma's pickled beets. I guess if that's the worst of it, that's not so bad. While we were settling in, we had my husband's parents and grandma over for dinner one night and we initiated a new grill that night, too. We needed a new one and Tim wanted to get it before he left for work so that I could still grill while he was gone. THANK YOU, HONEY!! As a kind of "thank you" to him, I made Honey Hot Wings. He LOVES hot wings. This recipe made enough for him with a couple for me, a couple for his mom, and one for his dad and grandma. Enjoy!


HONEY HOT WINGS

• 2 pounds chicken wings, tips discarded
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup honey, separated
  
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot, but I think next time I make them, I'll use hot sauce from Apple Acres in Indiana.)
  

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat and lightly oil grate.
2. Wash the wings well and pat dry with paper towel. Season with cayenne, salt, and pepper. (I didn't measure the s&p or the cayenne...just gave the chicken a light sprinkling of them and it was perfect!)
3. Cook the chicken wings on preheated grill until cooked through and juices run clear, 20 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the wings. Brush the wings liberally using 1/2 cup of honey while they are cooking.
4. Melt the butter, pour into a large bowl and mix in the remaining 1/2 cup of honey and hot sauce. Remove the wings from the grill and immediately toss them in the hot honey butter sauce to coat. Serve the wings 'wet' or return them to the grill for 1 minute per side to set the sauce.

Ginger Soy Chicken

I made this for dinner Tuesday night. It was pretty good. I'd have liked to have more, so I'll probably double it next time. YUM!


Marinade 1 1/2 pounds of chicken in:

1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c sherry
4 tbsp brown sugar
4-6 large cloves garlic, diced (I use a press)
2-4 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp EVOO

Grill the chicken. While it's grilling, boil the marinade until reduced by half.

Sesame Vegetables

carrots, chopped into 1 inch chunks
1 onion, chunked (love the technical terminology, right?!!)
(Additional veggies would be good too....whatever your family likes...broccoli, mushrooms, etc)
1/2 stick butter
1 tbsp or more (your choice) sesame seeds

Saute until onions are tender and carrots are slightly crisp and tender.

When the chicken is done, cut up into cubes and stir into the veggies. Pour the reduced marindae over this. Serve over rice noodles (or Tim thought mashed potatoes would have been good also.) Enjoy!!

Happy New Year (of the Ox!)

Yesterday, the kids had no school, so we celebrated the Chinese New Year! In the morning we made paper lanterns.


For dinner, we made peanut butter chicken and crab rangoon. Tim brought home chopsticks and SUSHI! (Philly rolls and eel rolls) We had a great time!



Now that I was going to post the peanut butter chicken recipe, I can't find it. I'll keep looking and post it when I find it. The crab rangoon is already posted, just follow the link over there on the right-->

**EDIT: I found it! WooHoo! Here you go! I wasn't overly impressed with it, but it wasn't terrible. I think that some extra peanut butter would be good, but we are PB freaks here....

Peanut Butter Chicken

Marinade:
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp spicy sesame oil (I used regular sesame oil.)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup pineapple juice (don't let that freak you out, you can't taste it in the end!)
S&P to taste
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into julienne strips about 3 inches long (I used 1.25 pounds of boneless breast tenderloins)


Mix together and add chicken. Allow to marinate 2-3 hours in refrigerator. Drain and discard marinade. Dredge chicken in flour.

Sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup whipping cream (I used half and half)
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I used JIF brand. It could have used more, in our opinion.)
Roasted peanuts and/or chopped green onion to garnish

In a medium saucepan, heat some sesame oil, just enough to coat the bottom of the skillet. Saute chicken, turning occasionally until golden brown and cooked through.

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine butter and flour and mix until smooth. Cook slowly until bubbly. Add stock and increase heat to high. When stock begins to thicken, add whipping cream and peanut butter, stirring until peanut butter is melted and sauce is the consistency of gravy.

To serve, place fried chicken on a plate, top with sauce and garnish. Enjoy!

*******My notes: The kids didn't like the heavy flavor of the sesame oil. Next time, I think I would deep fry the dredged and marinated chicken. Also, there didn't seem to be enough sauce to our liking. Simply remedied by making double the sauce for that amount of chicken. We really enjoyed this served with rice. I made white rice, but a fried rice would be fabulous here.

Wild Rice Casserole

I've made this a couple times and it's always been well received with the boys. It's a good thing to make a day or two after I roast a chicken since it uses cooked chicken. I haven't roasted a chicken in a while, so I used a small package of chicken tenderloins that I had in the freezer and just boiled them up and tonight, I made it with fresh mushrooms (because I had them handy and they were going to go bad soon), a finely diced stalk of celery and 1/4 of an onion.

1 cup long grain and wild rice, uncooked
2 cups chicken broth (or water)
1/2 pound pork sausage (I use Farmland breakfast sausage)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
small can sliced mushrooms with juice
1/2 tsp worcestershire
3 cups cooked chicken, chopped
3 slices bread, chopped
1/4 cup butter

In the microwave, make the rice with the chicken broth. Meanwhile, brown the sausage (with the onion, celery and fresh mushrooms if using). Break the sausage up into bits and drain the fat. Add the canned mushrooms (if using), cream of mushroom soup, and worcestershire. In a 2 qt casserole or 9x13 pan, mix the rice with the sausage mixture and the chicken. In the skillet that you browned the sausage in, melt the butter and lightly fry the bread crumbs. Place this on top of the casserole. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Ethan's BBQ Chicken

My BIL Ethan made chicken drummies for Tim when he was in Indiana visiting. Tim fell in love with them and made them again for us when he got home. We've had them once a week since his return. THEY ARE THAT GOOD! So, trust me on the brand names specified, they do make a difference....we've tried.

BBQ Chicken

Chicken Drummies or thighs (we make a family pack for the 6 of us) placed on A FOIL LINED BAKING SHEET with an edge. (I use my jelly roll pan and a cake pan)

Sprinkle generously with:
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Paprika
FRANK'S RED HOT SAUCE

Dot around the pan with butter like this:

Bake at 325 for 1 1/2 hours. Then, drizzle with SWEET BABY RAY'S BBQ SAUCE. Turn heat up to 425 and bake another 10-15 or so. Enjoy!

Rosemary Ranch Chicken Non-Kabobs

Well, they were supposed to be kabobs, but I figure why skewer them to just have to pull them off to cut up for the boys anyway? So, here it is:



They were yummy. Riley LOVED them, Rugby LOVED them, and TJ even ate it. Woo Hoo! Those are my 3 hardest to please, so I'm doing good!

I found the recipe on allrecipes.com, but read the reviews (most of which were good) and tweaked a few things. Here's the recipe as I made it:

1/4 cup EVOO
1/2 cup ranch dressing (I used HVR)
3 Tbsp Worcestershire
1 Tbsp minced fresh rosemary (I used dried and wish that I had a mortar and pestel to grind it up instead of having the hard leaves in there....anyway)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (you could use white)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper (I used about 1/2-1 tsp)
Chicken breasts cut into strips (I made about 1 1/2 pounds)

In a bowl, mix together and let stand 5 minutes before adding the chicken. Stir in chicken, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Grill on medium-high heat until cooked through, turning once. Should take 8-12 minutes or so.

Enjoy!

**If you boil the marinade, you can use it as sauce. I made Basmati rice and stirred it right into it and it was AWESOME!