Enchilada Casserole

I LOVE enchiladas! I  LOVE LOVE LOVE them! Luckily so does my family. This is a quick way to whip them up in a hurry. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do! I have little ones, this recipe is very mild, so if you prefer your Mexican Food to be SPICY, adjust accordingly. For our rather large brood, we double this recipe, making an 11X15 pan. But it really does make a lot and we don't finish it all in one sitting.

Enchilada Casserole
1 lb. ground beef, (or cooked cubed chicken) I lightly season mine
1/2 a medium onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1-10 oz can mild enchilada sauce (we use Walmart brand) 
1/2 can of corn, drained
1/2 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
12-14 corn tortillas, cut into 16 pieces (4X4)
1/2 lb grated cheddar cheese, divided (you can always add more cheese, we thought it had enough)
1 can sliced olives
 Optional Garnish: Sour Cream, Guacamole, or fresh salsa

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9X13 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a skillet brown the ground beef with the onions until well browned. Set aside.

In a 6 quart stock pot combine cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soups, stir in enchilada sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil.

Mix in the meat, corn, black beans, and tortilla pieces, stirring until they are well combined. Stir in 2/3 of the grated cheese, stir only until the cheese is mixed in. Pour into the prepared baking dish.

Top with remaining grated cheese and the sliced olives. bake uncovered for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is nice and bubbly. Remove from oven and cool slightly before serving.

Garnish with Sour Cream, Guacamole, or fresh salsa

English Toffee

One of my favorite candies in the whole wide world is the Toffee-ettes from See's Candies. But they are so stinkin expensive! I usually only get them for my Christmas or my Birthday. So I did what any Toffee lovin gal would do, I set out to make my own toffee! And it turned out REALLY GOOD! Apparently I'm not the only one in my family to have a toffee addiction now. My hubby cleaned out the majority of my last batch. I found lots of little hands reaching into the bag as well! Funny thing is that my hubby said he didn't really LIKE toffee. Liar!

So here's my recipe! Try not to eat the whole batch yourself. ;) Seriously this stuff is so easy to make (and eat), my kids help me make it (and eat it). It only takes a few simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand. Dangerous, I know.

1 pound butter, cut into slices (4 sticks)
2 cups white sugar
2 Tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 bag chocolate chips (I use milk chocolate)
3/4 cup chopped nuts (usually almonds)
(I cheated, I had a can of ice cream nut topping in my pantry, so I used that. It worked GREAT!)
Candy Thermometer (I don't recommend making any candy without one)

Line a jellyroll pan with heavy duty aluminum foil and lightly spray it with cooking spray. Set it aside.

In a 3 quart, heavy bottomed sauce pan combine butter, sugar, water, and salt. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, bring it to a rolling boil over medium/high heat, for my stove that is a 6 on the dial, 10 being the highest heat setting. Continue stirring until your candy thermometer reaches 280 degrees. You are going to want to watch it really closely, those things jump in temperature really fast, when you see that it is getting really close to the right temp, you might want to pull it off a little early.

After toffee has reached the right temperature, and is nice and golden in color, remove it from the heat and immediately add the vanilla. Stir vigorously! You need to incorporate the vanilla before the toffee cools to much or it will start to separate.

Pour evenly over your prepared jelly roll pan. You can smooth and spread with the back of a spoon, but again, this part needs to be done pretty quickly. Let it sit for about 3 minutes then sprinkle the top of the toffee with the whole bag of chocolate chips. Let that sit for 5 minutes then spread it out with the back of a spoon until it looks smooth and pretty. Quickly sprinkle the chopped nuts over the top of the chocolate and then..... WAIT.... for it to set. For us, we let it sit over night, for it to cool properly. Although, I must admit that we have been known to take a small sampling before we go to bed. You know, just to make sure the batch turned out right. ;)

When it is all set, break it into pieces and store it in an airtight container. Sadly, I don't really know the shelf life of this yummy stuff. It's always gone too quickly! Enjoy!

Tip: Soak your pan, thermometer, and wooden spoon to get any remaining toffee off.

Creamy White Chicken Chili

The first time I made my White Chili I was just hoping that the kids would EAT IT. I have some VERY picky eaters that can make dinner time... interesting. Imagine my surprise when they devoured the chili, asking for 2nds & 3rds! I wasn't even there to witness it, I was at a class.

After making it again tonight.... one of my kiddos told me that my White Chili has healing powers! He said it made him feel better and that it made his cold go away. (WOW! *Blush*) I don't know about that, but our almost 2 year old ate almost a full cup of it and he hardly eats ANYTHING! My husband and I tend to do a little victory dance every time we get him to eat more than a couple of bites of something! I guess this recipe is a keeper! We hope you like it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creamy White Chicken Chili

6 Cups Water

2 Cups Heavy Cream

8 Chicken Bullion Cubes, peeled and crushed

½ Cup Flour

6 Tablespoons Onion Flakes

2 Tablespoons Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano

1 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin

A Pinch Of :

    Pepper

    Mrs. Dash

    Cayenne Pepper

2 Cup Sour Cream

4 pounds cooked boneless skinless chicken breast, diced (4 breasts)

4 Cans Cannellini Beans, Rinsed and drained

4 Cans Great Northern Beans, Rinsed and drained

In a LARGE saucepan, whisk together water, cream, bullion cubes, and flour. Add all the spices (everything else except the sour cream, beans, and chicken).

Bring sauce to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Sauce should have thickened a bit. Add sour cream and stir again, until sour cream is well incorporated. Add beans and chicken. Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently. The sauce should have the consistency of gravy. If  the sauce is too thin, simmer longer. If the sauce is too thick, you could add a little milk. Serve hot.

Note: If you want you can add a can of green chilies and some diced green peppers, but as I mentioned, our kids can be picky eaters. As is, every single one of them ate it. YEA!