The weekend?!?!

I really like that I haven't been cooking much on the weekends!!!! Leftovers RULE! I did make steaks for the boys and chicken kabobs for the girls Sunday night but that's easy!!  Monday night we had spaghetti.....I always use Ragu but this time in an effort to save more $$ at the grocery store I bought Hill Country Fare sauce and actually liked it better! No one even knew the difference, score one for me! Tuesday night we had Chicken Tomatillo, spanish rice and ranch style beans. The chicken was REALLY good and flavorful! Another Crockpot recipe! I LOVE my crockpot!!!!! The rice recipe can be found in an earlier post.

Green Tomatillo Chicken

Ingredients


6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 medium yellow onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup green tomatillo salsa

1 1/2 cups sour cream

Directions

1.Place the chicken breasts in the Crock-Pot® slow cooker.

2.In a small mixing bowl, combine the onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, lemon juice and salsa. Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts.

3.Cook on Low 6 to 8 hours (or on High for 3 to 4 hours).

4.Remove the chicken from the stoneware and keep warm.

5.Stir the sour cream into the juices in the stoneware and blend well. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve immediately.

Crockpot Chicken Marsala

Ingredients


4 chicken breasts

1 stick butter

8 ounces cream cheese

2/3 cup Marsala wine

21 1/2 ounces mushroom soup, canned

3/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

salt and pepper

Directions

1.Cube chicken breast. Place chicken, butter and spices in the slow cooker.

2.Mix cream cheese, wine and mushroom soup. Pour over chicken.

3.Cover; cook 4-5 hours on High.

Beer Roasted Lime Chicken

Beer Roasted Lime Chicken
1 4lb whole Chicken
1 12 oz can of Beer
1 Lime
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Cut lime in half and squeeze over chicken place inside cavity. Place opened beer in roasting pan and place chicken on top of it. Cover with foil. Roast for about 1 1/2 hours or until juices run clear, remove foil last 20 minutes.

I had some new potatoes in the fridge that I had boiled for potatoe salad that I didn't end up making, so I cut them in chunks drizzled olive oil over them and sprinkled them with Kosher salt and roasted at 400 for about 30 minutes stirring every so often, they were really good!! I will make them like that again!

Last night we had Stouffers Lasagna I had bought at HEB(it was one of their meal deals)I hate that stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyways, it was dinner!

Beef Burgundy

I have Beef Burgundy in the crockpot for tonight and it smells really good! I will serve it over rice. This recipe came from crockpot.com.

Beef Burgundy
Ingredients
½ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
4 pounds beef chuck cubed
¼ cup olive oil
2 onion(s) sliced
1 cup mushrooms sliced
1 cup fresh parsley minced
6 teaspoons garlic minced
4 bay leaves
2 cups burgundy wine
1 cup beef broth


Directions
Mix the flour, salt and pepper.
Dredge beef in flour and brown in olive oil on stovetop.
Place beef and remaining ingredients in slow cooker.
Cover; cook on Low 4-6 hours or High 2-3 hours

WOW am I behind!!!

I can't even remember all of last week so I will start with Friday! I made Baked Cream Cheese Enchilada's, I doubled them to take a pan to a friend who recently had a baby....I made Cilantro Lime Rice and canned black beans to go along with it.

Baked Cream Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients:
- 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 c. sour cream (I use FF)
- 2 c. prepared salsa
- 2 c. grated cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese
- 2 c. shredded cooked chicken
- 1 c. frozen corn kernels, thawed
- 1/2 t. cumin
- 1/4 t. dried oregano
- 1/4 t. cayenne (I use chili powder)
- salt and pepper
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced
- 12-14 flour or corn tortillas, 6-8 inch

Directions:
- Preheat oven 325 degrees.
- In a medium bowl cream together cream cheese and sour cream. Stir in 1/2 c. salsa. Stir in 1 c. grated cheeses.
- In a second bowl toss together the chicken, corn, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper, and 1/2 scallions.
- Add the chicken mixture to the cheese mixture and stir to combine.
- In a baking dish spread 1/2 c. salsa over bottom. Place about 1/3 c. filling on a corn tortilla, roll up and put in dish seam side down. Repeat process for remaining tortillas.
- Pour remaining salsa over enchiladas, spreading to coat all of them. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. (Enchiladas may be prepared up to this point 12 hours in advance) - Transfer to preheated oven and bake 20-25 minutes until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with the remaining scallions and serve warm.

Saturday night we went out to dinner with friends to Cafe Adobe...YUM!!!! Sunday night we had egg salad sandwiches!!

Way behind again!

Thursday last week we had leftovers and friday night we went out to dinner with friends! Saturday night I made some yummy grilled chicken sandwiches. Sunday night kids had pasta and sauce and mike and I had grilled sandwiches. I will post the recipe later for the sandwiches!

Cabbage Rolls

My mom used to make these when we were kids and Mike and I were watching Drive Ins, Diners and Dives and they had them on there. So I went looking for a recipe, I found one in that cookbook from my grandma's church and I kinda followed it!! They turned out really good!

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

1 lb. ground beef

1 lb. ground pork

1 cup rice cooked

1 onion chopped

2 eggs

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 large can tomatoe sauce

1 large head of cabbage

Place 12 large leaves in boiling water and let steam a few minutes to soften. Saute onion in a little butter until softened. Combine meats, cooked rice, salt, pepper, eggs and onion, mix well. Place mound of meat on each cabbage leaf, fold sides over and roll up. Place in pan and cover with tomatoe sauce. Bake covered 2 hours at 375.

Organized!!!!!!!!!!

I was tired of tripping over backpacks and having stacks of paper laying around and notes and reminders stuck ALL OVER the fridge, so with my awesome friend Theresa we made use of some hallway space. The kids hang their backpacks on the hooks, and if they need me to sign something they put it in my folder!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was hard to get a picture of it because it is in the hallway going to my laundry room, but hopefully you can see it!

Taquitos

Made some taquitos from On My Menu Blog, they were really good!! They would be great to use as an appetizer to take to a party.

CREAMY CHICKEN TAQUITOS

1/3 cup (3 oz) cream cheese (I used half a block (so 4 oz) of 1/3 fat cheese)
1/4 cup green salsa
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. granulated garlic (I wasn't sure what this was so I used garlic powder)
3 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp. sliced green onions
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used 1 can)
1 cup grated pepperjack cheese
small corn tortillas (I used 24)
kosher salt
cooking spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.
2. Warm the cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine, and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.
*You can prepare up to this step ahead of time; just refrigerate!
3. Working with a few tortillas at a time, heat them in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. Place 2-3 Tbsp. of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges, and then roll it up as tight as you can. Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Spray the tops of the tortillas lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.
4. Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

I made Spanish Rice to go with it and a can of black beans. The rice recipe can be found in an earlier post.

Banana Bread and Homemade Granola

This banana bread recipe comes out of a cookbook from my Grandma's church in New Castle, PA. I have tried many recipes for banana bread and none beat this one. I didn't have buttermilk Saturday when I made it so I substituted vanilla yogurt and I think it made it more moist! It was really good. This recipe also makes 2 loaves so it's great......I usually give one to a friend or neighbor or freeze one for later, it freezes very well!
Grandma's Best Banana Bread
2 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. shortening
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas
3 c. flour
1 1/4 c. buttermilk (or yogurt)
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mashed bananas and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk. Add nuts. Pour into 2 greased 9X5 loaf pans and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes(until wooden pick comes out clean).

I also made our favorite Homemade Granola on Saturday. It's low fat and is really good sprinkled on yogurt and fruit. It's a weight watchers recipe so if you count points one serving is 1/2 cup and 3 points.

Homemade Granola

Ingredients
3 cup(s) uncooked quick oats
2 cup(s) ready-to-eat puffed rice cereal
6 Tbsp honey
1 tsp canola oil
1/4 cup(s) apple juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup(s) slivered almonds
1/4 cup(s) dried cranberries
1/4 cup(s) raisins

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix uncooked oats and puffed rice cereal together and spread on a non-stick baking sheet with sides; bake for 10 minutes, stirring once.


Meanwhile, mix honey, oil, apple juice, spices and vanilla together in a cup. When oats and puffed rice are done, spoon into a large bowl; set pan aside. Add almonds to cereal mixture and stir to combine. Pour honey-spice mixture over cereal mixture and mix thoroughly to distribute and coat completely; spread mixture back over pan.

Salmon

Thursday night we had Salmon, box wild rice mix and some veggies. The Salmon was pretty good.

Roasted Salmon
2 Tbs. Dijon Mustard
4 Tbs. Soy Sauce
6 Tbs. Olive Oil
4 Cloves minced garlic
Whisk all ingredients together, set 1/2 aside for dipping...pour remainder over salmon and let marinade for 15 minutes. Remove from marinade and roast in preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

I didn't even cook friday night......too much going on so Mike and Emily ate while shopping at Sam's and Blake and I had cereal!!

Saturday night was easy cooking, grilled sausage, velveeta shells and cheese, and can of baked beans!:)

Sunday after church we left for a spontaneous trip and met some friends in San Antonio. We hung out at the hotel pool and that evening we went out for some Bar b Que!! Spent Monday at Sea World, we expected it to be crowded but it wasn't at all! We rode rides with out even getting back in line! It was GREAT!! On the way home we stopped at Bucees (of course) and the kids and Mike had sausage cheese kolaches for dinner and I had a yummy Southwest Wrap. It was really alot of fun and sometimes being spontaneous is good!

Easy Crock Pot Recipes

I LOVE my crockpot!! This week I made 2 meals in it, Cashew Chicken on Monday and Chicken Parisienne is cooking for tonights dinner. Tuesday I made Hamburger Steaks, mashed potatoes and roasted carrots and brussel sprouts.

Cashew Chicken
1 1/2 lbs. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or Tenders cubed (I buy whats on sale)
2 Tbs. Butter
1/4 chopped green onion
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom
1 cup sliced celery
1 1/2 Tbs. soy sauce 1/2 cup cashews

Combine all in crockpot, cover and cook on low 6 hours or High 4 hours. Serve with rice.

Chicken Parisienne
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 can cream mushroom or chicken
8 oz. canned sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup sour cream
6 cups Hot Cooked Egg noodles
Combine all in crockpot except sour cream and egg noodles.
Cover and cook on high 2 to 3 hours. Add sour cream last 30 minutes. Serve over noodles.