Tempt My Tummy Tuesday ~ Cheesy Baked Chicken Enchiladas

Ok I have to do it again, I found another recipe out of the Dollars to Donuts and I have to share. As many of you know Rick is a HUGE Mexican anything fan. Usually when I make it, it doesn't stack up to high reviews. But as we found with lasagna from Mondays post, Rick came back for seconds! SCORE, I may just have to cook every recipe in this book if he's going to have seconds! Get this Cole even ate a whole one! Yup mister picky ate one, now Caden not so much but he wanted to fill up on bananas.

You'll love this one, it was super easy to make and I even enjoyed it. Usual Mexican night not something big on my list but this was amazing. The Cilantro was just a great refreshing taste, can you believe I used fresh ... LOL :) Enjoy! I can't wait to see what you guys thing? Sorry I haven't been around today, work was VERY buys I finally just finished up and now it's time for bed ;(. I'll be by tomorrow night and promise to catch up on what I missed! Now back to the recipe.

Cheesy Baked Chicken Enchiladas: Take This, Takeout

Posted by Dawn Welch

Prep time: 18 min
Cook time: 30 min

Maybe it’s because I own and run a restaurant, but it’s definitely one of my pet peeves when I order a meal and know right off the bat that I could’ve made it better. Now I’m the first to admit that there are some restaurant dishes I’ll never be able to one-up (I mean, how do they get the soup into those Shanghai soup dumplings anyway?), but there are others that I can definitely top, and cheesy enchiladas are one of them.

That’s why I never, ever order enchiladas in restaurants anymore, and honestly speaking, I bet you won’t either once you’ve tried making them yourself. Super simple, inexpensive, and so good, they leave you feeling happy and satisfied, not comatose, after eating.

HERE'S OF COURSE LOOKS AMAZING COMPARED TO MINE, BUT MINE STILL TASTED GOOD!

Ingredients
About 2 1⁄4 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 small red or white onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeño chile pepper, seeded and ribbed for a milder flavor, finely chopped (optional)
1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
3 cups No-Cook Garden Vegetable Sauce or your favorite salsa
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 (8″) flour or whole-wheat tortillas
2 cups (8 ounces) grated Cheddar and/or Monterey Jack cheese
Sour cream, for serving

ALEXIS NOTE: Instead of Jalapeño I picked up a jar of green chili peppers, I used a jar of our favorite salsa (I'm cheap and like to make things fast), Sorry we only had regular tortillas on hand and used a bag of Italian shredded cheese.

Make the filling. Heat the oven to 400°F. Place the chicken in a large bowl and gently mix with the onion, jalapeño (if using), all but 2 tablespoons of the cilantro, 1⁄2 cup of the vegetable sauce, the lime juice, salt, and pepper.

Roll and bake the enchiladas. Evenly spread 1⁄2 cup of the vegetable sauce over the bottom of a 13″ x 9″ baking dish. Place the tortillas on your work surface and divide the filling among them, arranging it in a strip down the center of each tortilla. Roll the tortillas around the filling and place the filled tortillas seam-side down in the baking dish.

Cover with the remaining 2 cups of sauce. Sprinkle evenly with the cheese. Bake the enchiladas until the sauce is golden brown and bubbling, 20 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining cilantro and serve hot with sour cream on the side.

Here's mine :)

Don't forget to pick up the book!

Come on I've shared 3 recipes so far and you know you want more!

Make Something Monday ~ Three-Cheese White Lasagna

Here we go again, come on don't you know me by now. I'm crazy when I get with something I like or in this case love. We're talking about food here people, and I'm all about making it fast, cheap and yummy!

I'm all about the Italian food, it's one of my favorites we even had it for the wedding! Now bring on the Lasagna, one of my favorites. Rick always turns his nose up at, he says my noodles are always hard (stop no comments). So this time I precooked them, so take that big boy! And guess what he ate TWO yes two helpings and no sissy little plates he usually has (then eats crap food late at night).

So Here it is a yummy recipe for Three-Cheese White Lasagna. Now they have a recipe for making the sauce but I just used the store bought Alfredo Sauce, yes did you read the fast part! Ok her's looks freaking amazing when it was sliced. Mine not so pretty, may have to do something with kids pulling on my leg to dish them up. For some reason they think they need to be fed on a regular bases! LOL just playing!

Here's her amazing recipe! Check it out and let me know what you think!

Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min

Extra creamy and decadent, this casserole is like macaroni and cheese dressed up for company. Many kids and even adults aren’t fans of ricotta cheese, which is how I came up with this Cheddar and Monterey Jack–loaded alternative to the traditional lasagna. Sautéed onions and a mix of beef and pork give the dish some backbone, while a little Parmesan sprinkled over the top offers up an irresistible golden-brown crust. You could make this even more like macaroni and cheese if you wanted by using elbow macaroni or even ziti in place of the lasagna noodles.

YES THAT IS HER FINISHED PICTURE ~ HOT HUH?

SEE MY PICTURES BELOW!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press
1⁄2 pound lean ground beef
1⁄2 pound ground pork
3⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1⁄2 cup low-fat or whole milk
3 cups homemade Parmesan sauce or store bought Alfredo sauce
9 no-boil egg lasagna noodles
11⁄2 cups (6 ounces) grated Cheddar cheese
11⁄2 cups (6 ounces) grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1⁄2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese

Alexis Note: I used store bought Alfredo, along with we only had cheddar cheese so that is what I used. Also no EVOL here, we have the regular oil :). Oh yeah no boil egg lasagna noodles either. You know my moto use what you have on hand!

Make the sauce. Heat the oven to 375°F. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic, salt, and pepper and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute longer. Add the beef and pork and cook 2 to 4 minutes until the meat is browned. Pour off the extra fat from the pan.

Assemble and bake the lasagna. Stir together the milk and Parmesan sauce and evenly spread 1⁄2 cup over the bottom of a 13″ x 9″ pan. Lay 3 lasagna noodles in the pan lengthwise. Stir together the Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses in a medium bowl with the egg. Pour 3⁄4 cup of the sauce over the noodles and top with 2 cups of the cheese-and-egg mixture. Pour 3⁄4 cup of the sauce evenly over the cheese, and follow with 3 more noodles, the meat mixture, 3⁄4 cup of the sauce, 3 more noodles, the remaining 1 cup of the cheese mixture, and the remaining 3⁄4 cup of sauce. Sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan.

Bake and serve the lasagna. Cover the pan with foil and bake until the cheese is bubbly and brown, about 30 minutes. Cool 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.

If you have not picked this book up yet, DO it now!!! Oh yeah and for you Food Network fans like me that love DDD I've attached when her dinner was featured on there!!!

TMTT ~ Dollars to Donuts: No Bake Oat-Peanut-Chocolate Chews

I'm so excited when I receive a cook book to review, because I not only get to drool over pictures I can make items in it and of course show it off!

As many of you are doing is working on a budget, ok really I try to stick to a budget. I have this horrible habit of finding a recipe and then having to go and make it. Then I get to the check out and that one meal cost me like $50 because I had to find items that I don't have. Then in comes Dollars to Donuts: Comfort Food and Kitchen Wisdom that actually list on EACH recipe the cost of the recipe and the PER serving cost! Ok guilty pleasure LOVE the food Network 2 of my favorite shows are Sandra Lee's new one that she does just this and the Melissa new show $10 meals. So let's just say this cook book was right up my alley!

I love the personal stories, ok let me just tell you one! One of the pizza recipes she talks about working in a pizza joint and guess who the manager was? Ok you'll never guess Garth Brooks, ok not a country fan but come on can you believe a star to be working with you? I always think stories like that are very cool, ones you'll tell your grandkids. Ok back to the book, well it has some amazing recipes and yes the Pizza is on my list to do (you'll see it soon) but I got started late today so I couldn't let the yeast in the bread rise so what to do .... of course go the desert section! I know like there was any doubt any of your minds that is where I would go! And no it's not pumpkin so back off! I have a healthy obsession with pumpkin, now when I turn orange ... like the one time Caden did from all the sweet potatoes when he was a baby you have to worry. BUT only then!

Today I give you something even better, chocolate! This where super simple just like the blurb above the recipe says you can whip these up in 10 minutes and have them for snacks and you can switch up with toasted nuts and dried fruit if you so want to be healthier and skip the chocolate. I know who would do such a thing, oh yeah you skinny people ... LOL just playing ;).

This is an amazing cookbook that has 262 pages of recipes to choose from and you can even browse the weekly menu maker in the back. Don't worry it's like a normal cookbook with a Index in the back to help you pick some yumminess from! Pick up your own copy of the Dollars to Donuts at Amazon Regular price is $19.99 but currently on sale for $13.59 it's in stock and ready to ship to you for some amazing meals!

Check out the No Bake Oat-Peanut-Chocolate Chews I made. I even show pictures of the recipe in the book with the cost break down! And yes I'm lazy I don't do cookies I do bars that I will cut. Come on I have 2 crazy boys, bars are what we do!

Ingredients:

1 Cup Sugar

4 Tbs Unsalted Butter

1/4 Cup Peanut Butter (Crunchy or Smooth)

1 3/4 Cups Instant Oatmeal

1/4 Cup Whole Milk

1 Cup (6 oz) Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Place the sugar, butter, and peanut butter in a small saucepan and melt over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes, then pour the mixture into a large bowl. Stir in the oatmeal and milk and then stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until they're hard, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a sealed plastic container and store in the refrigerator until serving.