Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

These just make my mouth water.  The look and sound so so yummy!  I'm not a huge fan of the "original red sauce enchiladas"  but I LOVE new versions and can't wait to try this recipe.

(Picture and adapted recipe courtesy of http://www.thegirlwhoateeverything.blogspot.com/.  Original recipe courtesy of http://www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com/)

4-5 T. honey
5 T. lime juice
1 T. chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (I put some chicken in the crockpot. You can save time by using a store bought rotisserie chicken. If you like a lot of filling in your enchiladas, I would recommend doubling this which I did.)
8-10 flour tortillas (I made 6 enchiladas with 10" tortillas)
1 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded
16 ounces green enchilada sauce
1 cup heavy cream (I followed the other reader's recommendation to only use a 1/2 cup since a full cup can make it too rich)

Mix the honey (their tip: spray your measuring spoon with cooking spray before measuring out the honey), lime juice, chili powder and garlic together and toss with the shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least 1/2 hour (or toss together in a Ziploc bag and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours). Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese (and a little enchilada sauce), saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover marinade. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top.(The sisters cafe recipe says to put the enchiladas under the broiler once they're finished to melt the cheese and brown them a little.) I served mine with sour cream, pico de gallo, rice and black beans.

Fiesta Chicken

In honor of Cinco de Mayo (which is tomorrow!!!) I thought I would post a couple of mexican recipes that have caught my eye.  I thought I'd post them early so you could use one of them for your Cinco de Mayo party/celebration!!!  What? Like you don't make up excuses to have a party with lots of yummy food?!?  Well you need to start.  Celebrate Cinco de Mayo by making this yummy recipe or the one to follow.  Heck, throw a pinata in there and call it an all out FIESTA!!!! :-)

(Picture and recipe courtesy of http://www.thegirlwhoateeverything.blogspot.com/)

4 chicken breasts, frozen or thawed
1 (15 1/2 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce) can corn, drained
1 (15 ounce) jar of your favorite salsa
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

Take 4 frozen, yes, frozen (or thawed), boneless chicken breasts put into crock pot. Add 1 can of black beans, drained, 1 jar of salsa, 1 can of corn drained. Keep in crock pot on low for about 4-5 hours or until chicken is cooked.

Add 1 package of cream cheese (just throw it on top!) and let sit for about 1/2 hour. It may look at little strange at this point. Don't worry. Stir in the cream cheese.

Serve over rice or in warm flour tortillas.

French Style Baguette

This is my kind of bread!!! I made this yesterday for Sunday dinner.  We ate it with Lasagna and it was delicious.  It's super easy and very fast.  It makes 2 cute little loaves.  The loaves would be perfect to make bruschetta with......I guess I'll have to find a recipe for that. 

(Pictures and recipe courtesy of http://www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com/)

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 1/2 Tbs. (2 packages) dry yeast

2 tsp. sugar

3 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a small bowl mix the warm water with the yeast and sugar. Let it sit for about 5 minutes - foam should form on the top.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour and salt. Gradually add the yeast mixture. Mix until the dough becomes a smooth ball and knead for 5 minutes. (I use my Kitchen Aid with the dough hook)

Cut in half and then shape into 2 baguettes. To make them smooth and pretty, roll each half of dough into rectangle and roll up lengthwise. Pinch the edges to seal and place on lightly greased cookie sheet (or silpat) with seam down. Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes.

Once the dough is done rising, with a very sharp knife (I like to use a serrated blade), gently make a slash down the length of each baguette. (Make sure you don't cut too deep so it doesn't deflate your dough) This will give it that authentic look. Pour water in a cookie sheet and place it on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake the bread for 15 minutes.

Half way through, brush the bread with melted butter. 

***Don't butter the baguette after you take it out of the oven.  It will make the crust a little softer and I think it's meant to be crispy.

Peanut Buttery Ice Creamy Delight

Nice title, huh?  We didn't know what else to call it, and Jed thought this title sounded good......so there ya go!  Josh and Steph told us about something like this.  We couldn't remember exactly how they explained it so we kinda made up our own version.  We seem to like it pretty good.  It's nothing too special or out of the ordinary, but it is quite tasty.  You'll especially like it if you are a peanut butter fan like us.  Hope you like it!!
(Pardon my non-professional picture taking!!)

Peanut Butter
Vanilla Ice Cream
Chocolate Sauce
Peanuts

Put about 1 Tbs. or a little less of creamy peanut butter into a bowl.  (We usually only use Adam's Natural Peanut Butter, but with our new little budget plan we are on......and I do mean little.....we just used what we had which was Western Family.  Place the bowl in the microwave and melt the peanut butter.  Spread the peanut butter around with a spoon so there is an even layer in the bowl. 

The scoop some ice cream in and drizzle with your favorite chocolate sauce.  Garnish with peanuts if desired. 

See, nothing too fancy.  There is just something about the melty peanut butter and the cold ice cream that is just divine.  I LOVE the texture of the two together.  It's great for a new quick dessert, give it a try!

Strawberry Shortcake

Oh my My MY!!!  This is THE most amazing Strawberry Shortcake I have ever had.  It's much better than the twinkie with strawberries and cool-whip on top.  We had this for dessert tonight and I was in heaven.  Give it a try, I promise you'll love it!!

(Picture and recipe courtesy of......Annie!!)

1 White Cake Mix
Strawberries sliced up
Vanilla Ice Cream
Sugar

Make the cake according to the directions on the box.  Be sure to use egg whites instead of whole eggs.  While the cake bakes, slice up your strawberries.  Once their sliced up, put them in a bowl and pour some sugar over them and shake the bowl around so the all of the strawberries are well covered.  Put a lid on the bowl and put it back in the fridge.  By doing this, the sugar will disolve in the strawberry juice making some delectible sauce to drizzle on the top. 
Once your cake is baked and completely cool, cut a piece of cake and put a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream on top.  Spoon some strawberries on top of the ice cream and then drizzle some of the strawberry sauce on top of that.  Scoop yourself up a bite and enjoy this amazing little dessert.

Summer Tortellini Salad

It sure doesn't feel like summer today but maybe if I start making yummy summer recipes like this one, summer will finally come.  I saw some tortellini at Costco over the weekend, but I didn't buy it.  Now that I have this recipe, I'm definitely going to buy that tortellini.  Picture that home made ranch dressing with this....yummo!!!  I can't wait to try this recipe.

(Picture and recipe courtesy of http://www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com/)

1 pkg. (9 oz.) uncooked refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini (You can also use dry tortellini. Barilla has a yummy four cheese and Costco has really good tortellini as well)
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped (I use the equivalent of baby carrots instead)
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
4 green onions with tops, thinly sliced
1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley (or 4 tsp. dried parsley if you don't have fresh...fresh is always best of course, but dried works fine too)
1/2 cup home-made or you're very, very favorite ranch dressing (I tend to skimp a bit on this measurement but 1/2 a cup isn't too much, just trying to be healthy:)
Parmesan Cheese - to taste
*Option - I have added left over Rotissere chicken to this and really liked it

Cook tortellini according to package directions, drain and rinse under cold running water. Place tortellini in a large colander and set aside. Meanwhile, slice zucchini. chop carrot(s). Cut tomatoes in half and slice green onions. Snip parsley, if using fresh. Add vegetables to tortellini. Pour salad dressing over salad. Grate parmesan cheese over salad. cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Yield: 6 servings

Homemade Ranch Dressing

I think we can all agree that we LOVE ranch dressing!!!  And ranch isn't real ranch unless it's made from the packet......none of that bottled crap! :-)  Well I came upon this beauty of a recipe and was utterly thrilled.  I remember Grandma Nell making ranch from scratch like this and it was absolutely heavenly.  I can't wait to make it and use it on the next recipe I am going to post (Summer Tortellini Salad).

(Picture and recipe courtesy of http://www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com/)

6 1/2 cups regular mayonnaise
1 quart buttermilk
3 rounded Tbsp onion salt
1 rounded Tbsp accent
3 rounded Tbsp garlic salt
3 rounded Tbsp white pepper
3 rounded Tbsp flaked parsley

Mix by hand and then put it in a bottle. Over time it will separate and water will settle to the bottom; do not remix.

The girl said this recipe makes a TON.  She suggests cutting the recipe in half.

Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

We had these for dinner a couple of weeks ago.  They were delicious!!!  We burnt ours a little on the grill so I'm thinking next time we will bake them instead.  I think next time I will try making my own teriyaki sauce too.  The food blog I got this off of has a recipe for teriyaki sauce and she says it's to die for. 

(Pictures and recipe courtesy of http://www.ourbestbites.com/)

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs

About 8 oz. lean bacon, NOT thick-sliced (thick bacon is too hard to work with in this recipe)

1 large can pineapple chunks (you won't use all of them)
Homemade Teriyaki sauce or Kikkoman Teriyaki Baste and Glaze (Get 2 bottles just to be safe, we were a little short!!)

Kebab skewers or toothpicks

Now...the easiest way to handle the bacon situation is to remove it from the package and while it's still all stuck together, stretch it out a little (lengthwise). If you're using center-cut bacon (and the "slab" is not as wide as regular bacon), just cut it in half. Otherwise, use kitchen shears to cut the slab into thirds. Refrigerate until ready to use, partially because it's easier to work with cold bacon and partially because you don't want to kill any dinner guests with dead pig germs.

Using kitchen shears, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. You can gauge about how many pieces you'll need by how many pieces of bacon you have; you probably won't use all the bacon, but you'll need about 8 oz. or 2/3 of a standard-sized package of bacon. So count the bacon pieces and keep that in mind when cutting up your chicken.

Drain the pineapple and set up a little work station with skewers, bacon, chicken, and a 9x13 baking dish (for big skewers) or a sturdy Ziploc bag (for toothpick skewers). Wrap a piece of bacon around a chicken piece, secure with toothpick/skewer, and top with a chunk of pineapple. Repeat twice if using large skewers.

When all chicken pieces have been sufficiently staked, pour Teriyaki sauce over everything, reserving about 1/4 c., and marinate in refrigerator for at least 4 hours, no longer than about 8.
 
Preheat grill**; when about 350-400 degrees, place skewers on grill and baste with reserved Teriyaki sauce. Cook about 7 minutes and flip skewers. Baste again and cook another 7 minutes.

*If serving at a party, you can keep the appetizer-sized skewers warm in a crockpot set to low or an electric roaster set to 170 degrees.
**If cooking in oven, preheat oven to 400 and bake about 20 minutes, turning once, following the same basting instructions.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

This last weekend when we went to Vegas I was on a mission to buy strawberries....and lots of them.  We drove from Costco to Costco trying to find strawberries and finally did.  I mostly wanted strawberries to make some more freezer jam. 

In the past I've used the fruit pectin that comes in the litte boxes.  It called for massive amounts of sugar though (like 4 cups of sugar and a cup of corn syrup....yikes!!!)  It was still pretty easy, but then I found this fruit pectin that is just for freezer jam.  It only calls for 1 1/2 cups sugar, 4 cups of smashed strawberries and a little packet of this.

It was so much easier than the other fruit pectin I have used in the past and I can't even taste the difference with less sugar.  If anything, it tastes better....more like strawberries and less like a sugar coma.

Mix all those things together and after 2 batches you should end up with 11 8 oz. jars of perfectly pretty freezer jam.  I love this stuff!!!

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies.......EVER!!!

I found this recipe a year or two ago and have been hooked ever since.  I think it's the almond extract that does it for me, or maybe it's the 2 CUPS of BUTTER????  Whatever it is, they are delicious!!  I am no professional photographer or food photographer for that matter, but I did actually take my own pictures this time.  Not too bad, eh?  Try these cookies and let me know what you think.

2 Cups(4 sticks) Butter - not margarine
4 eggs
1 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Cups Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Almond extract
5-5 1/2 Cups Flour
2 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 Big box of French Vanilla Instant Pudding
1 Bag Milk-Chocolate Chips (This is just my preference.  You can use any chocolate chips.)

Directions:

Combine butter, eggs, sugars, vanilla and almond extract in a large bowl. Mix until sugars have dissolved into the mixture and it is smooth. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda and vanilla pudding mix. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the large bowl. Once ingredients are combined, slowly mix the chocolate chips. Place on greased cooking sheet.

Bake at 375 degress for 8-10 minutes.  (I like mine a litte under-cooked.  That way they are a little crunchy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside.  I bake mine for 8 minutes.)

It makes between 75 and 100 cookies depending on the size. So it is perfect for when you are really hungry or to share with family and friends.

This does make a huge batch so I like to bake half of it and then freeze the other half. To freeze them, I make them into small cookie dough balls on a pan and then put them in the freezer. After about 15 min. I take them out of the freezer and put them into freezer ziploc baggies with the temperature and time listed on it. It makes for great quick cookies whenever you want them and yummy cookie dough too!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

This looked and sounded yummy!  Too bad the Super Bowl is already over.......guess I'll have to make it anyways! :-)

1 (10 or 12 ounce) can chunk chicken, drained
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup Ranch dressing
1/2 cup Buffalo wing sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot, not to be confused with their pepper sauce. Start with less if you want and add more to your desired hotness.)
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
blue cheese crumbles (optional)

Heat chicken and Buffalo sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Make sure to break up the chicken so there are no big chunks. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in shredded cheese. From here you are actually supposed to stick it in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Since we are always in a hurry we just sprinkle more cheddar cheese and blue cheese crumbles and microwave it until the cheese melts. The blue cheese is a little much for some people so we usually only sprinkle it on half. Serve with chips.

Super Easy Saltine Toffee (aka CRACK)

I'm not much of a toffee person, but I was looking for a quick and easy recipe for dessert.  This one just happened to work for me since I had al of the ingredients on hand.  This recipe REALLY suprised me.....I LOVED IT!!  I think I even messed it up a little too :-)  Jed thinks it tastes just like a score bar...SCORE!! Give it a try and let me know what you think.

1- 1 1/2 sleeves of saltine crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate, whichever you prefer)
3/4 cup sliced almonds or chopped pecans, toasted (optional, I didn't use these)

Line a 15x10" jelly roll pan (I just used a cookie sheet) with foil. Spray with non-stick spray. Arrange saltines in a single layer over the bottom of the pan. You will use one sleeve plus a little more. Combine butter and brown sugar in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequentlyBoil for 3 minutes.
(When you first start cooking the butter and sugar, it will look like a mess. Don't worry. After 3 minutes it will turn out nice and caramely).
Pour over the crackers and spread evenly. Bake at 400° for 6 minutes or till hot and bubbly. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let sit for a few minutes till the chocolate melts, then spread it around. Top with nuts. Cool completely and break into pieces. This process takes a few hours, so I put mine in the fridge to speed things up a bit.

Pizza Sandwiches

{Pictures and recipe courtesy of http://www.tastethejoy.blogspot.com/}

I thought this recipe looked yummy, quick, and easy....easy enough to whip up on a lunch break.  Just what I need.  I think your kids would love it!!  I bet it would be just as yummy if you wanted to use ham and pineapple (if you're into that sorta thing....warm pineapple, yuck!).

2 slices White Bread

Butter
Garlic powder
Pepperoni
Tomato slices
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Pizza or spaghetti sauce, for dipping

Butter one side of each piece of bread. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Build your sandwich with pepperoni, cheeses, and tomato until it looks something like this:

Place in a skillet and cook like grilled cheese, or use a panini maker (I just used my George Foreman grill) Cook till lightly toasted on both sides and cheese is melty and hot. Dip in warm sauce

Mexican Lasagna

Cook Time:20 min

Yield: 4 servings

Rachel Ray

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 pounds ground chicken breast, available in the packaged meats case

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained

1 cup medium heat taco sauce or 1 (14-oz) can stewed or fire roasted tomatoes

1 cup frozen corn kernels

Salt

8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas, available on dairy aisle of market

2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack

2 scallions, finely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil - twice around the pan. Add chicken and season with chili powder, cumin, and red onion. Brown the meat, 5 minutes. Add taco sauce or stewed or fire roasted tomatoes. Add black beans and corn. Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste.

Coat a shallow baking dish with remaining extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon oil. Cut the tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer with. Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese. Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again. Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Top with the scallions and serve.

This is really good, I have only tried it with the ground turkey, but I bet beef would taste just as good. Also I just used whatever tortillas.

Toffee Dip

INGREDIENTS FOR SWEET TOFFEE DIP

•8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)

•½ cup granulated sugar

•¾ cup brown sugar

•1 teaspoon vanilla

•1 ½ toffee candy bars ( finely chopped)

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients except for toffee bar together until incorperated. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Add chopped toffee bars right before serving.  Serve with apples.

I sometimes use a lower fast cream cheese, you can't tell a difference with the yummy sugar that is added!

My Favorite Avavcado dip!

Avocado Dip

2 c. mayo

2 c. sour cream

3 avocados, peeled and diced

1 TB minced onion, crushed in your hand

1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice (I tossed the diced avocados in the lemon juice to keep them from going brown???)

Serve with veggies and chips....SOO yummy!

Banana Bars

Banana Bars

Cream:

1/2 cup margarine

1 1/2 cup sugar

Add:

2 eggs

1/2 pt. sour cream

2 ripe bananas

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Add:

2 cups flour

Grease and flour plan

Bake 25 minutes at 350°

Cool and frost with Cream cheese Frosting!

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

I LOVE Mexican food!!!  I was is heaven when we went to Mexico.....their guacamole and pico de gallo was so so yummy.  And did I mention their deep fried bananas rolled in cinnamon sugar that I ate every morning for breakfast?!?  Along with these foods their taquitos were to die for.  I want to try these and see if they even compare.  They look really good!! I'll let you know how they turn out :-)

(Picture and recipe courtesy of http://www.thegirlwhoateeverything.blogspot.com/)

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic or garlic powder
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions
2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated pepperjack cheese (I couldn't find grated so I crumbled slices)
about 16 small corn or flour tortillas (we liked flour better)
kosher salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat 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 keep the mixture in the fridge.

The corn tortillas are harder to roll without cracking. For the corn tortillas: work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or come unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown. Makes around 16 taquitos.

Dip in salsa, sour cream, guacamole, or Tomatillo Dressing. They would be great with black beans and this Cilantro Lime Rice.

Perfect One Bowl Brownies

So....I made the BIG mistake of making these brownies last night. Big mistake because

I.can't.stop.eating.them!!!

So, if you can use some serious self-control and want some delicious home-made browines......this recipe is my gift to you.  Enjoy and remember you've been warned :-)

(Picture and recipe courtesy of http://www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com/)

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
4 eggs
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips (although I never measure--I just sprinkle them on top)

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl melt butter in microwave, then stir in oil, sugar and cocoa. With a wooden spoon stir in the remainder of the ingredients except for the chocolate chips. Spread into a 9x13 pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. If your toothpick comes out clean you have cooked them too long! DO NOT OVERCOOK!

The Lyon Family's Menu

This week instead of posting a new recipe, share your menu instead.  I realize that not all of you plan out your meals for a whole week, mostly becuase you don't have to.  I, on the other hand, must do this since we live in never-never land!!  Try making a menu for a whole week and go shopping for just those items....you might find that you like doing it.  Then make sure you post it on here for all of us.  Below is our menu for the week for just our dinners: 

Monday:  Mom's leftovers from Easter dinner :-)
Tuesday:  Subway (it's our grocery shopping night)
Wednesday:  Bacon wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers with cilantro lime rice (I'll post the recipe for this later)
Thursday:  Steaks and cheesy red potatoes with peas
Friday:  Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza with green salads
Saturday: Chicken Pasta with tomatoes with breadsticks and green salads
Sunday:  Crock-pot salsa chicken with rice and broccoli
Monday:  Leftovers or Hawaiin BBQ Chicken

Can ya tell we like chicken?!? :-)