Chicken quesidilla redoux

1 package boneless skinless chicken
1 medium yellow onion chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 12 oz can green chille enchilada sauce
1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp pepper
2 tsp salt
2 pinch crushed red pepper flake
burrito size flour tortillas

Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Combine chicken, garlic, onion, chicken stock, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook on low for 5 hours. Open and drain juices reserving chicken, onions & garlic. Shred with two forks and add enchilada sauce. Return to slow cooker and cook on low for 15 minutes to heat sauce through. Heat non stick pan over medium heat. Place flour tortilla in center and place generous amount of cheese on half. Add layer of chicken mixture. You don't want to much or it will all just fall out. Top with more cheese and fold tortilla over. Cook on each side until brown and crispy. Serve with sour cream, salsa and hot sauce.

Variations
For vegetarian combine 1 can black beans with onions, garlic, salt and pepper. Heat until soft. Add enchilada sauce and warm through. Make the same as chicken enchiladas.

For spicier flavor use pepperjack cheese. You can also use a chedder cheese but I prefer the milder mozzarella for this.

(look closely there is cheese on there)

This is the enchilada sauce I use.

Easy Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin

INGREDIENTS
2-3 pound pork tenderloin
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 tablespoon olive oil

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Combine salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary, thyme, basil and olive oil in a small bowl forming a paste.
3. Place pork tenderloin in roasting pan, and rub the paste mixture fully covering the pork.
4. Roast for about 35-45 minutes.

Roasted chicken with bacon brandy sauce, asparagus & mashed potatoes

Tonight I revisited this recipe. However this time I made it with a roasted chicken, asparagus and I added shallots to the sauce.

Bacon Brandy sauce
1/4 package bacon sliced into 1/2 pieces
1 package mushrooms chopped up
1/4 cup brandy
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 tbsp pepper
5 cloves garlic chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 shallot chopped

In large sauté pan sauté bacon until crisp over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and shallots into bacon grease and sauté until brown. Remove from heat and pour in brandy, light on fire. Wait for flame to die down and place back on heat. Reduce heat to medium low. Pour in cream, stock and garlic, pepper and garlic powder and simmer until thickened. Serve over steaming hot bowl of mashed potatoes.

Roasted Chicken
4 chicken thighs
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp salt
1.5 tbsp pepper
1 tsp red pepper flake
2 tsp ranch seasoning
3 tsp chicken & rib rub**

Preheat oven to 400. Season chicken on both sides. Pour stock into baking dish. Place chicken in baking dish skin side down. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Flip and bake for another 20 minutes skin side up. Uncover and broil on low for 10 minutes to crisp skin.

** Mine had salt, sugar, black pepper, paprika, nutmeg, sage, cayenne and crushed red pepper.

Roasted asparagus
1 bundle asparagus
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic sliced
1/4 shallot sliced
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

Drizzle olive oil over asparagus and cover with garlic, shallot, salt & pepper. Roast uncovered on cookie sheet for about 30 minutes or until desired doneness.

**Tip I like to roast my asparagus on foil. That way if it is done before my chicken I can pull it out and wrap the foil around it to keep the heat in. Also this saves you from cleaning a dish.

Mashed Potoatoes
5-6 medium white potatoes or yukon gold
3 cloves garlic sliced
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp pepper

Boil potatoes until done. Drain and place on low heat for 1 minute to allow water to vaporize out. Add butter, salt and pepper and half of cream. Mash potatoes, add more cream if necessary. Keep on low heat until serving.

Your bacon should look like this before cooking. It will cut up easier if still cold.

This is the point you want to add your brandy

How it looks before thickening up

Finished product. Cook this for company everyone will think your awesome. I like to put a little extra of the sauce on the plate to dunk the chicken in.

Whole wheat pasta with healthy chicken sauce

2 cups uncooked whole wheat pasta
2 cups chicken stock
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut to bite size pieces
2 cups mushrooms chopped
1/2 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp butter
2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp cold water

While pasta is boiling combine chicken, mushrooms, paprika, crushed pepper, salt, pepper and butter. When chicken is almost done add onions & garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add chicken stock & bring to a boil. Mix cornstarch and cold water in cup and add slowly to chicken. Reduce heat to low to let thicken. (If sauce doesn't thicken add more cornstarch and cold water a tbsp at a time). Drain pasta and add to sauce. Serve and enjoy.

Banana Bread With Pecans

Ever wonder what you should do with those browning bananas on your counter? My favorite thing to do is make banana bread. It's quick and easy, and most likely you have all of the ingredients in your house already!


INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-5 overripe bananas
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture.
4. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes; you want a light and fluffy banana cream.
5. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla; beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
6. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated; no need to overly blend.
7. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
8. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning.
9. Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Easy Pepperjack Macaroni and Cheese

INGREDIENTS
1 box (16 oz.) macaroni
1/4 cup butter, cut up
2 1/2 cups milk
16 oz Velveeta pepperjack cheese, cut up
2 cups pepperjack cheese
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese
1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
2 tblspoons flour

DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees 2. Cook macaroni according to package directions 3. In large sauce pan add butter, milk, and Velveeta cheese. Heat until butter and Velveeta cheese is melted. Wisk in flour to thicken up mixture. 4. Mix sauce mixture in with pasta and add pepperjack cheese. Stir until pasta is fully coated. 5. Put pasta in 13x9 baking dish. Top with cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs. 6. Bake for 20 minutes.

Update

I've updated this recipe with a new sauce

Updated Pictures - Enchilada Lasagna

I have added pictures to the recipe!

*TIP- I used the left over chicken from the Slow Cooked Spanish Chicken to make this. It is an easy way to get two good dinners with hardly any prep time at all.

Slow cooker ribs with recipe update

I have included pictures of the main ingredients below so you can know what you are looking for at the store

Anyway I used my crock pot and I bought the Reynolds slow cooker bags. They kick major ass people. Especially since I don't feel like cleaning right now.

Here is my recipe it is for a half slab not a full slab, for full slab double recipe but I don't know how it would fit in the slow cooker

1/2 slab pork spare ribs cut into two halves (about 3-4 ribs on each piece)
1/2 bottle Sweet Baby Rays Original sauce
1/2 bottle Sweet Baby Rays Hickory & Brown Sugar sauce
1/2 bottle Lawry's Baja Chipotle Marinade
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 ring of pineapple
.5 tbsp salt
.5 tbsp pepper
1 tbsp McCormicks Grillmates Spicy Montreal seasoning
1 tbsp McCormicks Grillmates Pork Rub
1 can Bud Lite

Combine all ingredients besides ribs and pineapple ring in slow cooker in off position. Mix well. Add ribs and turn in sauce several times. Put pineapple ring on top. Turn on low for 2 hours. Open and stir ribs and rotate top to bottom. Replace lid and turn to high for two hours. Ribs will be done. Please note, my husband does not like his ribs falling off the bone, he likes them tender but he still likes to pick up the bone and chew the meat off. This cooking method will give you chewy yet extremely tender ribs. If you prefer yours to fall off the bone you need to cook them all day on low!

**Updated to add: Tonight I made these and I guess I had run out of pineapple juice. I substituted for apple juice and the ribs were just as delicious.

I served these with my potato salad.

Updated Pictures - Slow Cooked Spanish Chicken

I added pictures to the recipe!

Asian glazed pork tenderloin with roasted asparagus and finger potatoes

Serving size 2

1 Pork tenderloin
Marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 orange, juiced
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 clove garlic, diced
1 green onion, chopped
Crushed red pepper, pinch
Pepper

Asparagus:
1 Bundle asparagus
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
salt & pepper
olive oil to coat

Finger potatoes:
about 20 finger potatoes, cut in half
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
salt & pepper
olive oil to coat

Sauce:
Cornstarch
water

For pork tenderloin, combine marinade in bag and place pork in. Marinate over night. Preheat oven to 350. Remove pork from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature. While pork is coming to temperature combine all ingredients for potatoes and place on left side of a cookie sheet. Roast potatoes in oven for 20 minutes. Remove cookie sheet and place pork in center. Combine all ingredients for asparagus and place on right side of pork. Roast uncovered for 40 minutes. While pork is roasting place marinade in small sauce pan and simmer on low for 35 minutes whisking often. At this point mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 3 tablespoons cold water. Slowly add mixture a little at a time until sauce thickens enough to coat a spoon. Allow pork to rest about 5 minutes then slice thinly on an angle. Top with a drizzle of your sauce. Pork will be soft enough to cut with a fork or butter knife.

Feedback

Hi everyone. I was just wondering if you regular readers out there can start leaving us some feedback. We would like to hear if you are actually cooking stuff, if there is something you would like to see on the site, or if the recipe worked for you. Did you make substitutions? Was there stuff you couldn't find? Please help us make the website more efficient for you.

Chicken Kiev

INGREDIENTS
Vegetable oil
4 chicken breast boneless, skinless
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
6 tablespoons chilled butter
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1 lemon
Salt
Pepper Plain
Toothpicks

DIRECTIONS
1. Flatten chicken breasts with meat mallet between sheets of plastic wrap until about 1/4" thickness.
2. Combine herbs and garlic in small bowl.
3. Cut 4 (1 1/2 tablespoons) pieces of cold butter and roll each piece in the herb garlic mixture.
4. In three separate bowls, set out flour, beaten eggs with a splash of cold water and bread crumbs.
5. Squeeze a lemon juice over chicken breasts. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
6. Place an herb-covered piece of butter on each piece of chicken.
7. Wrap and roll chicken breasts tightly up and over the butter cubes. Secure stuffed chicken with toothpicks.
8. Roll stuffed breasts in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs.
9. Put about an inch and a half of vegetable oil in a large skillet, heat over medium high heat.
10. Fry chicken 7 to 8 minutes on each side until deep golden brown all over.

Chicken Marsala

INGREDIENTS
4 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
1/2 cup flour
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Oregano, to taste
4 Tbsp oil
4 Tbsp butter
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Marsala wine

DIRECTIONS
1. Flatten chicken breasts with meat mallet between sheets of plastic wrap until about 1/4" thickness.
2. Combine flour, salt, pepper and oregano in a mixing bowl. Put chicken pieces in the flour.
3. Heat oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken breasts on medium heat for about 2 minutes on the first side, until lightly browned. Turn breasts over to cook other side.
4. Add mushrooms to skillet. Cook breasts about 2 more minutes, until both sides are lightly browned. Continue to stir mushrooms.
5. Add Marsala wine around chicken pieces.
6. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Shrimp fried rice

2 Cups rice (that is measured uncooked) Cook according to box
2 Pounds peeled, deveined, uncooked shrimp, cut in half
5 cloves garlic, chopped
4 Tbsp Onion, Chopped
1 Cup Peas & Carrots (frozen or can)
1/2 Stick butter
Soy sauce to taste
Salt & Pepper to taste

Cook rice according to directions then set out uncovered allowing it to cool and dry a little. In saute pan melt butter, add shrimp and half of garlic and saute until shrimp is done (probably a good idea to taste it while cooking for doneness). Remove shrimp and set aside leaving butter and juices in pan. Add rice to pan with garlic, onion, and soy sauce. Cook over medium low heat. Don't stir it a lot, allowing rice to get fried and change colors to a slight brown. When rice is almost done add in shrimp, peas and carrots and toss until all is heated through.

Blackberry Sour Cream Scones

Warning...This one gets a little messy! But then again, all good cooking should.

Yields: 8 large scones or 16 small scones

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1/4 cup for dusting
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
A pinch of cinnamon
A dash of nutmeg
5 tablespoons butter, cubed, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1 cup blackberries (you can substitute any berry for blackberries), slightly smashed
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar in the raw or decorative sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Add the cubed butter until a coarse meal forms. Pulse in the sour cream and egg yolk until just combined.

Turn the sticky dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough comes together into a ball. Cut the dough into 2 parts. Gently pat or roll the dough down into a 1/2 inch thick square shape. Spread 1/2 of the berries over the dough, then fold in the sides of the dough and smoosh (technical cooking term, remember that one!) together. Spread the dough out and with a large knife cut into 4 large triangles. Repeat with second half of the dough. If you want smaller scones you can cut each large triangle in half.

Transfer the triangles onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, placing 1 inch apart. Brush the tops of each scone with heavy cream and sprinkle it with some sugar in the raw or decorative sugar. This creates a shiny and crunchy top for the scones. Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes until the bottoms of the scones are light brown.

Remove from oven, cool slightly on the sheet pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I like serving these with a little lemon curd and whipped cream (the real stuff, not the stuff from a can).

Coming this week

Part of my New Years resolution was to make weekly menus. It is helping me save money. I used to have a habit of going to the store 2-3 times a week and coming home with over $70.00 in stuff and still not having 7 days worth of food while at the same time having 49 days worth of junk I wouldn't eat. So I put my husband in charge of cleaning out the garage freezer and I went and stocked it all up (still need to hit up Sams club for chicken), but basically I have Pork Spare ribs packaged in two serving portions (for me two portions is dinner and left over for hubs lunch since I don't eat it, you may want to package into 3-4 portions for left overs, it will save you a ton on lunch), steaks, chicken with bones and chicken with out. I don't keep fish in the freezer that is something I buy fresh the week I want to make it. I keep rib eye for my husbands friday meal (I'll explain later) and tri tip for any week night steak meals as I can make left overs out of that. I also have a pretty well stocked pantry so I only have to buy a few sides or veggies that don't store well over a week. Here is this weeks menu it starts on Sunday so that he has left overs for monday

Sunday: Quick beef tostadas
Monday: Pork rib adobo
Tuesday: Italian garlic chicken with asparagus & mashies
Wednesday: Husband wants to go buy sushi
Thursday: Roasted asian pork tenderloin with white rice (as a bonus I will post a recipe for a second meal made from this dish)
Friday: Rib eye with mushroom bacon sauce and finger potatoes
Saturday: Husband will talk me into getting KFC or some equally gross fast food to make him happy

I sat down to make my grocery list and realized that I already had the ground beef, ribs, chicken and steak in my freezer. That meant all I had to buy was the pork tenderloin, I got a big one so it cost a whopping $5.00. Then I just had to buy some salad stuff, asparagus, finger potatoes, and other random veggies. Everything else I bought was just normal house staples, milk, creamer and macaroni. I barely spent any money and I was in and out in no time. I've already started a menu for next week and what I hope to eventually do is have about 6-7 different weekly menus that I can start rotating through. Anyway this is my weekly menu and it was really cost effective. I will be using a Lawrys premade marinade but I already had those in my pantry. Walmart sells them for about a buck fifty so I stock up on them when I go there. I like to do that because its one less thing I have to buy later on plus it helps give me ideas on meals if I base them around the different yummy marinades I have.

Like I said I stock up on certain things in my freezer. I don't stock up on ground beef I usually buy that fresh the Sunday before cooking. However I always keep a few staples that I know are diverse.

Pork spare ribs

• Pork adobo
• Slow cooked ribs
• Grilled ribs (this is also a great staple for my husband on days he wants to cook for himself)

Tri tip

• BBQ tri tip (duh)
• Fajitas

Rib Eye

• Fancy fun friday night meals

Chicken bone in skin on

• Fried chicken
• Roasted chicken
• Grilled chicken
• Stuffed chicken

Chicken boneless skinless

• Tacos
• Pastas
• Stuffed chicken
• Quesidillas
• Salads

So you see once you have a nice freezer built around these staples all you really need is a few sides. I ALWAYS have potatoes, and green sauce for quesidillas, Onions, Garlic, marinades, tomatoes in a can, and red pasta sauce (this stuff is soooo diverse). That means when I go to the store I really only need some veggies to complete a meal. I hope this helps you start planning weekly meals and save a few bucks here and there. Good luck!

Chicken and Gnocchi in Cream Sauce

INGREDIENTS
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
4 chicken breasts, sliced in strips
2 small branches rosemary
4 garlic clove, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
½ cup ricotta cheese
1 pint heavy cream
1 package gnocchi (I like Monterrey Pasta Co., Parmesan) Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS
1. Combine garlic, lemon juice, rosemary and chicken in a mixing bowl. Let marinate for about 2 hours.
2. Combine Parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese and heavy cream in a mixing bowl and set aside.
3. Add EVOO, onions, bell peppers, and zucchini to pan on medium heat. Saute until onions are translucent.
4. Add marinated chicken and cook until slices are brown on all sides.

5. Reduce heat and add sauce mixture. Bring to a simmer.

6. Cook gnocchi according to package directions.
7. Drain cooked gnocchi and add to pan with chicken, vegetables and sauce. Stir to coat gnocchi with sauce.
8. Serve topped with extra Parmesan cheese.

Beef Lumpia

Lumpia

1.5 Lbs EXTRA lean ground beef
2 Tbsp ground pepper
2 Tbsp Garlic powder
1/3 Tsp salt
2 Green onions, finely minced
1/3 Carrot, finely minced
3 Cloves garlic, finely minced
1 Egg
1 Package egg roll (sometimes called spring roll) wrappers
Soy sauce for dipping

Open egg roll wrapper bag and separate all wrappers from each other. Put on a plate in the middle of two moist towels. Combine all ingredients in bowl.
Lay Egg roll out in diamond shape and place small amount of mixture toward the bottom of the wrapper. You want it about as thick as a sausage and maybe a little wider about 4.5 inches wide. Roll the bottom corner over it and then roll halfway up.

Fold outer corners toward the inside and keep rolling. When you get to the very top dip your fingers in water and moisten the top and roll to seal.

Finished product. These have to be fried. You will either need to preheat some oil in a pan about an inch worth or heat up your fry daddy at this point. Fry egg rolls in single layer until they are golden brown.

You want them about this color. Pull one out and cut in half to make sure there is no pink inside.

See pretty like this. One pack of eggroll wrappers will make 25 of these. They freeze amazing I usually wrap them in bundles of 6-8 in foil. You will need to thaw them a little to pull them apart after you freeze them and then they fry up just the same. My husband dunks his in soy sauce.

I made him this soup that he loves to serve on the side. You just follow the package instructions but I like to whip up two eggs and pour them in just at the end. What I do is turn down the heat and start stirring the soup with a fork and then slowly pour in the eggs while slowly stirring in circles then turn off heat and serve.

It makes 2.5 cups but the husband eats it all.