Burritos

I first tried these burritos when my friend Margaret made them for a church function we were having. There was something sweet tasting in them that I really liked. She was kind enough to give me the recipe and I have made them several times since. The great thing about this recipe is that it makes a lot of filling so you can easily get a couple pans worth of burritos or even freeze some of the filling for another meal.

Burritos

6 chicken breasts, boiled and diced (I have never used this much chicken. I usually use about 10 tenders.)

1 package Zataran's "Red Beans & Rice" mix. Cooked as package directs.

3 cups cheese

1 cup sour cream (I almost always bake with light sour cream.)

1 small jar of salsa (I always just eye this from my larger jar - I'd say 1/2 -1 cup is sufficient.)

1 4 oz. can chopped green chilies

1 can sliced olives (I omit.)

1 15 oz. can corn

1 15 oz. can black beans

1-2 10 oz. cans mild green enchilada sauce

12-15 flour tortillas

Add everything to a pot and heat on stovetop. Pour a little bit of green enchilada sauce in bottom of 9X13 pan(s). (Can use your own recipe or 10 oz. Old El Paso brand can works well.) Fill flour tortillas and lay side by side in pan. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and grated cheese. Warm in oven at 300 degrees for 20 minutes or so - long enough for cheese to be good and melted on top.

Fresh Tomato Basil Pasta

Oh my goodness! Can I tell you how much I loved this dish?? And Ben loved it too! I got this from http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com. Is it so obvious how much I love that blog?? This is the perfect summer pasta. It is light and tastes so fresh. I didn't have any tomatoes ready to be picked from my garden so I settled for tomatos from my Bountiful Basket (the co-op that I participate in most recently) - which were great. I used linguine, which I thought was the perfect noodle choice for this dish, but really spaghetti or fettucine would taste great too.

Fresh Tomato Basil Pasta

2 large ripe, firm tomatoes, diced (about 2 cups)

1 Tb fresh chopped basil or 1 tsp dried basil

1-2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

½ tsp kosher salt

1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper

Shredded Parmesan cheese

6-8 oz angel hair pasta

Mix together the diced tomatoes, chopped basil, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Let "marinate" on counter for 30 minutes. Cook the pasta al dente. Drain and toss with the tomato mixture. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

The boys and I picked strawberries from our backyard the other day. I love fresh strawberries and especially turning them into jam! My favorite freezer jam recipe is the Ball brand one. It only calls for 1 1/2 cups of sugar to 4 cups of strawberries and I think it tastes plenty sweet. This jam goes perfectly with the bread machine rolls (see previous post.)

Strawberry Freezer Jam

4 cups strawberries crushed
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 packet Ball brand fruit pectin

Mix sugar with pectin and set aside. Crush strawberries - a pound of whole strawberries equals about 1 cup crushed. Mix sugar mixture with strawberries and spoon into jars. Twist on lids and let set 30 minutes. Then refrigerate or freeze. It can last up to three weeks in the fridge.

Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells

I love pasta! I found this recipe at http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com. The first time I made this recipe was the first time I ever bought jumbo size pasta shells. They are so much easier to stuff than manicotti! I think I will stick with them. This recipe is great - I really liked it. I made it the first time using both blocks of cream cheese (as called for) and thought it was too heavy on the cream cheese taste. The second time I made it I only used one block and it was just right for me. This makes two 9X13 pans so you could freeze one of them for later.

Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells

44 uncooked jumbo pasta shells (That’s about one and one-half 12-oz boxes.) *I stuffed mine pretty full so I only used one box.

2 c chopped cooked chicken

2 c fresh chopped spinach

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (15oz) container ricotta cheese

2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1 (5oz) package shredded Parmesan cheese (about 1 2/3 c.)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 Tb dried parsley flakes

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 c shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1 (26oz) jar prepared spaghetti sauce (any variety)

Cook shells according to package directions (be sure to stir every once in awhile so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan and tear apart); drain and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease 2 13x9x2inch baking dishes.

In a large bowl, combine chicken and all the rest of the ingredients except mozzarella and spaghetti sauce. Stir in 1 cup mozzarella. Spoon into shells. Spread half of spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dishes. Arrange shells over sauce; top with remaining sauce. Cover tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella. Bake for 5 to 10 more minutes.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Hootenany Pancakes

I got this recipe from my mom. She made these many times while I was growing up. I've since learned that this dish goes by many different names! I don't know where "hootenany" came from - kind of a goofy name - but that's what we've always called them.

Hootenany Pancakes

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup flour

1 cube butter

Preheat oven to 425. Melt butter in 9X13 pan in oven while it's heating. Combine eggs, milk and salt in blender until fluffy. Slowly tap in flour. Pour batter into 9X13 pan and bake for 25 minutes. Top with syrup (or whatever your heart desires!)

Lime Chicken Soft Tacos

This recipe is a fun deviation from your traditional tacos. The tortillas pictured are the uncooked flour tortiallas they sell at Costco. You heat them in a dry frying pan for about 30 seconds on each side. They taste so good and fresh!


Lime Chicken Soft Tacos

1 1/2 lbs. chicken breast meat cubed or shredded

1/8 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 lime juiced (If you have one of the baby limes I would use the whole thing.)

1 tsp. white sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground pepper

2 green onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. dried oregano

10 flour tortillas

tomatoe, diced

lettuce, shredded

Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

sour cream

salsa

*Could also add avacado (I did) or guacamole.


Saute chicken in a medium saucepan over medium heat for about 20 minutes. Add vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, green onion, garlic and oregano. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve lime chicken mixture in warm tortillas topped with tomatoe, lettuce, cheese, sour cream and salsa.

Bread Sticks

So normally these look a lot nicer and more uniform but it just wasn't happening tonight. They were still delicious though. I got this recipe from my mom who I believe got it from one of her best friends, Denise. The best thing about these bread sticks is that they hardly take any time at all! You can be making dinner at 5pm and decide you want bread to go with it - no problem. These take from 30-45 minutes from start to finish.

Bread Sticks

1 Tbsp yeast disolved in 1 1/2 cups warm water. Add 3 Tbsp sugar. Let set for a few minutes. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 3 cups flour.

Mix and knead for 3 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes. Melt cube of butter (I use about 3/4 cube) on jelly roll pan in oven. Roll dough out on floured surface into a rectangle. Cut into strips using a pizza cutter. (I cut dough in half width wise and then cut long strips length wise.) Dab both sides of strips in butter as you lay strips on the pan. Sprinkle with garlic salt, parsley flakes, seasoned salt, parmesan cheese - one or all of them. Let raise on pan for 10-20 minutes. Bake at 375 for approximately 15 minutes.

Grilled Lemon Chicken Skewers

This recipe comes from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. I was introduced to Ina Garten for the first time earlier this year while watching the food network with my mom. This recipe is super easy and flavorful. The lemon gives the marinade quite a kick. This makes quite a bit of marinade and next time I will likely halve the recipe or double the amount of chicken I use.

Grilled Lemon Chicken Skewers

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
3/4 cup good olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, halved and skin removed (I used tenders.)

Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme. Pour over the chicken breasts in a nonreactive bowl. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight.
Heat a charcoal grill. Grill the chicken breasts for 10 minutes on each side, until just cooked through.

Aunt Katie's Oatmeal Pancakes

I love breakfast foods but most mornings it is cold cereal or oatmeal for us. The other morning, however, I decided to get fancy and made these oatmeal pancakes for the boys. They loved them and I loved that they loved them! I served them with Nauvoo syrup - yum! (See recipe for Nauvoo syrup posted with recipe for Oven French Toast Sticks.) This pancake recipe comes from http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com.

Aunt Katie's Oatmeal Pancakes

2 cups quick oats (I used regular old fashioned oats and ground them up a bit in my blender.)
1/2 cup flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs (slightly beaten)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
cinnamon (optional)

Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and let sit for 20-30 minutes, covered. Cook slowly on a griddle at 325 degrees or lower. Spray griddle before each batch.

Abuela's Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

Every time we went to visit my Abuela growing up, she'd have a fresh batch of her famous macaroni and cheese waiting for us in the oven. I got this recipe from her when I was in college but she had a hard time putting it down on paper - she never measured anything! I've played around with this recipe several times and substituted other cheeses for the cheddar or added meats to it. I also don't bake mine but it seems like my Abuela always did....or maybe she was just keeping it warm in the oven?? Anyway, this is so much better than boxed mac & cheese!

Abuela's Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

16 oz. elbow marcaroni - cooked according to package directions

1/2 cup butter (I usually use less.)

6 Tbsp flour (approximate)

2 cups milk

1/4 cup more milk

8 oz. grated cheddar cheese (I always use at least two heaping cups full - and I've tried colby jack and sharp cheddar - both good!)

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Parmesan cheese

Make white sauce by melting butter in small saucepan over low heat. When melted, add flour. When begins to bubble, add 2 cups milk. Stir on stove top until it has thickened. Remove from heat and add cheese. Stir until melted. Add the extra 1/4 cup milk.

Salt, pepper and garlic salt the cooked macaroni. Pour cheese sauce on top of it.

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Chicken Caesar Wraps

My friend Molly brought these to a picnic one time and I had one of those, "Why haven't I ever thought of that??" moments. I have made them several times since.

Chicken Caesar Wraps

Flour tortillas

4-6 chicken breast tenders - fried in olive oil and seasoned (I use McCormick's Montreal Chicken Seasoning.)

Romaine lettuce - cut up (I added some spinach tonight too.)

Shredded parmesan cheese

Croutons

Caesar salad dressing - your favorite brand/recipe

Toss salad with cheese, croutons and dressing. Cut chicken into strips. Fill tortilla with lettuce mixture and chicken strips. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Lasagna

I forgot to take a picture when I made this the other night. I got this recipe from my old neighbor Lesa and I have made it several times. It is perfect for those nights when you want an easy meal like lasagna but you won't be home to throw it in the oven and wait while it cooks. Lesa adds several vegetables to hers like zucchini, squash, carrots, olives and mushrooms but I haven't ever tried that...my husband and kids probably wouldn't eat it if I did. :)

Crock Pot Lasagna

lasagna noodles (I use the oven-ready ones.)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
cottage cheese (I use two 16 oz. containers but you could use one of the larger size containers.)
1/2 lb hamburger
1/2 an onion
mozarella cheese (I use quite a bit because I love cheese!)

Brown the meat and onion, add other veggies (if desired). In a lightly greased slow cooker put a small amount of sauce on the bottom and then layer as follows: noodles, meat mixture, cottage cheese, sauce, mozarella cheese.

Make the layers as thick as you like. (I usually do three layers.)

Cook on low for 4-5 hours. It may be quite saucy the first day so you can eat it out of a bowl if desired. The next day it will be thicker.