Chipotle Tamale Pie

I apologize for my absence lately.  It really is quite easy to get so swamped with life and endeavors that you want to pursue.  Currently, I'm pursuing the development of an App.  Yep, be excited for a really sweet App for both Android and Apple to come your way just before Christmas.

Even with this App excitement I have been baking and cooking.  I can't let my family go hungry.  Last week I made my Chipotle Tamale Pie.  This is a fabulously hearty, delicious, and nutritious meal.  Enjoy!

Chipotle Tamale Pie
From my Diabetic Cooking Cookbook (No, I'm not diabetic, and I'm not sure where I got the cookbook from.  However, there are some good ones in here)

1 lb of ground turkey or ground beef (I use an entire pkg of of the Jennie-O ground turkey so I believe that is 20oz)
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups of diced bell pepper (choose whichever color pepper you prefer)
4 cloves minced garlic
2 tsps ground cumin
1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of stewed tomatoes, undrained (the recipe says 8 oz, but I use the big can which is 13.75oz or something)
2 canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (minced)- You can do more here if you like it super spicy
1-2 tsp of adobo sauce from the canned chilies (the more you add the spicier it will be)
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of cilantro chopped
and whatever ingredients you need for cornbread whether that is a jiffy mix (egg, milk, and the mix) or your own

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cook turkey, onion, bell peppers, and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat until meat is cooked through.
3. Sprinkle cumin on top of skillet mixture and stir it all in.
4. Add beans, tomatoes, chilies, and adobo sauce; bring to a boil over high heat.  Then reduce heat to medium; simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.
5. Remove skillet from heat and stir in cheese and cilantro (sometimes I don't do cilantro, or I used dry cilantro).
6.  I spray a 13x9 baking dish with nonstick spray.  Then I pour the skillet mixture into the baking dish.
7.  Finally, I make my cornbread (I have a great recipe that I'll share later) and pour the cornbread over the over the turkey mixture.  If you use a jiffy mix for cornbread then just one box of jiffy mix will work great.
8.  Cook the dish uncovered for 20-30 minutes until the cornbread is a beautiful golden brown.

I hope you enjoy this dish.  It is one of our family favorites!

Megs

Hamilton Chili

Sorry, that it has been so long since I have posted, but we are back from vacation, and back in the swing of making new recipes. Before I jump into the recipe I wanted to give Christina a shout out and thank her for being an amazing friend and letting us come to visit them in SF. Hopefully someday we will be back close again. We miss you guys already!

Now, for the Chili!! It is fall so, even here in Texas, we can finally start making some of our favorite comfort foods. We originally got this recipe from a book called "Come Home to dinner", but since then we have made a lot of little changes to make it our own. One of the changes that we have made is to add the kidney and black beans. Ethan and I love lots of different beans, so we added them, but feel free to take them back out if you don't like either kind. Finally, sorry for forgetting to take a pic, but it pretty much looks like every other chili.

Chili

1 lb. Ground Beef
1lb. Sausage, Mild or Spicy both work
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1-28 oz can Diced Tomatos, undrained
1-15 oz can Tomato Sauce
1-15oz can Black Beans, rinsed
1-15 oz can Kidney Beans, rinsed
1-32 oz can Chili/ Pinto Beans, rinsed
2 TBSP Chili Powder
1 1/2 Tsp Ground Cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Toppings:
Shredded Cheese
Sour Cream
Fritos
Corn Bread
This chili is also yum served over rice.

Brown the ground beef and sausage in a skillet, drain grease and add to slow cooker. Rinse all beans and then add to cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients. Let cook for 6-8 hours, on low. As with most chilis, feel free to let this simmer away on low all day!

Creamy Chicken Pockets

Okay, this is one of the recipes from the recipe party I hosted the other day. Thanks you Amber for bringing these super yummy pockets! Also, I made a huge mistake at the grocery store and accidentally  bought country biscuits instead of the crescent rolls. Although the biscuits turned out a lot thicker, they still made good pockets. So, if you get home and realize you have the wrong canister for this recipe, still give it a try. 

Yield: 24 pockets
4 TB olive oil
2 chicken breasts, diced (8 tenders or 2 big cans of canned chicken)
1 cup minced onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 TB butter, softened
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
4 tablespoons milk
3 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls/ or 3 pastry sheets (each cut into 8 squares)
2 TB butter, melted
Bread crumbs (Italian seasoned or Panko)
Preheat oven to 375˚F.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken with the onions and garlic.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and 2 tablespoons melted butter until smooth. Stir in the cooked chicken, onions and garlic. Add the salts, pepper and milk. Mix well.
Separate the crescent roll dough into the eight triangles or cut into eight squares. Dollop a tablespoon of filling into the center of each triangle and fold the corners up to seal. Press and seal firmly. Place on ungreased baking sheet or stone and repeat with the remaining dough and filling OR use greased cupcake pans. Brush the tops with the melted butter and sprinkle with the bread crumbs (optional).
Bake for 11 – 13 minutes, or until golden brown.
Recipe Note: To heat up leftovers, bake in a preheated 350˚F oven for 10 minutes.

Oven Tacos

Okay, I know all of your jaws are dropping right now. Yes, I am alive! I have been one busy mama and had to remove the unnecessary aspects from my life for a while...um year. I gave myself one pleasure and that would be pinterest. So, needless to say I have MANY recipes to post. The kids are back in school and I should be able to post more often. Sorry all for my absence and thank you for not kicking me to the curb :)


Okay, now to the recipe. It is a simple recipe that the family went crazy over. Don't you just love when you make something simple and easy, because you can’t figure out what to make for dinner, and the family loves you for the "special" meal you prepared for them?!?! This is one of those. Even Josh loved it and asked for it to be placed on the permanent meal plan list! I halved this recipe and made about 8 very full tacos.


Oven Tacos
Recipe from: lynnskitchenadventures.com

2 lbs ground beef
1 can refried beans
8 ounce tomato sauce

1 pkg taco seasoning or homemade taco seasoning

1 ½ cups shredded cheese

18-20 hard taco shells

Lettuce, salsa, sour cream, etc for serving.


1.Brown ground beef. Drain off any fat and add refried beans, tomato sauce, and seasoning.

2.Spoon mixture into taco shells.

3.Place filled shells into a 9×13 pan, standing up. Sprinkle with cheese.

4.Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until heated through.

5.Enjoy!


Okay ladies, it has been so long since I posted that blogger has changed everything! I cannot figure out how to get a picture on the post??? I wonder if the website is having a hard time because half of the buttons are not where they should be, according to the help video blogger has. When I figure out the new format I can add a picture.

Beef Chili Mac & Cheese

 

Before I get too far into this post I have always though of Chili mac as first, bizarre, and second, something that would strictly be for kids or other individuals lacking taste-buds. However, when we were making our menu almost two weeks ago, Ethan got so excited when he saw this recipe in a magazine that I couldn't refuse. Well, I couldn't refuse, but I could make a very big salad for myself as a back-up. To my surprise, I loved this recipe. Since I think that one of the main reasons that I had originally discounted this recipe was because I couldn't imagine eating noodles and beans in the same bite, I was glad to see that this recipe was really a beanless chili. I also liked all the different seasonings and tomatos in this recipe because I think it gives a more "grown-up" taste. Another thing that I really liked about this recipe (which has nothing to do with taste), is that this is really a pantry recipe. Even though we usually don't keep canned Tomatoes with Green Chilis on hand, or Mac and Cheese, all the other ingredients were things that we normally have on hand. In that way, I think this could be a fun recipe to just have on hand int he pantry as food storage. Finally, this recipe cost less than $10 dollars to make and Ethan and I were able to have it for two meals, plus Ehtan had it for a lunch too. So for all the rest of you with kids, this might not last as long, but it still is a cheap meal! With all that said, we will definitely be trying this recipe again next month.


Ingredients:
1 Packages (7 1/4 oz each) Mac & Cheese. Store brand worked out just fine.
1 lb Ground Beef
1 med Onion, diced
1-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1-10 oz can Tomato with Green Chilis
1- 8 oz can Tomato Sauce
2 Tbsp. Chili Powder
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 cups (16oz) Sour Cream
1 1/2 Cups, Shredded Cheese

Bring water to boil in a large pot. Add mcaroni; cook 8-10 mins. Leave the noodles Al dente.

In a large sauce pan brown the ground beef and onionsover medium for 6-8 minutes. Drain fat. Stir in tomatoes, tomatoes and chilis, tomato sauce, and seasoning.Drain macaroni and add to the tomato mixture. Add in contents of the Mac and Cheese packets, sour cream and cheese.

Transfer to a 13-9 pan. Bake uncovered at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly. (Ours took closer to 30 minutes.)

Serve and Enjoy!

Slow-Cooker Carnitas

Ethan and I just tried this recipe last night and it was the best carnitas that I have ever made in the slow-cooker. No joke. We loved it! The only thing that we changed from the original recipe is that we added canned pinto beans and it turned out perfect so I'll just be sharing the recipe as we made it!


Ingredients:
3 lb. pork roast
4 oz can Chopped Green Chilis
3 cloves Garlic, chopped
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
2-10 oz. cans Diced Tomato & Green Chilis (Like Rotell)
3 cube Chicken Bouillion
2 cups Water
2-Cans Pinto Beans, rinsed

Toss the roast in the slow-cooker on Medium (or if your cooker is like mine, the 8 hour setting). Add in everything except the beans. Cover and Wait. Add the beans about 2 hours before you are ready to eat.At this time, you also want to shred the pork.

The original recipe called for this to be served over chips, but Ethan and I have always been fans of tacos so we ate it taco style. We also added lettuce, tomato, and cheese on corn tortillas.

Double Crunch Chicken (or Pork)

Yet another Pinterest Recipe. Ethan and I love Pork chops, but only eat them rarely, so when I saw this recipe I got really excited. However, I realized that the recipe was for chicken and not pork. Despite that, we loved this recipe with pork. So feel free to misread and try it either way. Plus a fun dip!

4  large boneless chicken breasts, beaten to 1/2 inch thickness  

 Sift together:

2 cup flour
4 tsp salt
4 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp ground ginger
2 tbsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground thyme
2 tsp ground sage
2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Make an egg wash by whisking together:

4 eggs
8 tbsp water

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then dip the meat in the flour and spice mixture. Dip the breast into the eggwash and then a final time into the flour and spice mix, pressing the mix into the meat to get good contact.

Heat a skillet on the stove with about a half inch of canola oil covering the bottom. You will want to carefully regulate the temperature here so that the chicken does not brown too quickly. The thinness of the breast meat practically guarantees that it will be fully cooked by the time the outside is browned. Fry them gently for about 4 or 5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy.

Drain on a wire rack for a couple of minutes before dipping the cooked breasts into the Honey Garlic Sauce. Serve with rice.

Honey Garlic Sauce

In a medium saucepan add

2 tbsp olive oil
3 – 4 cloves minced garlic

Cook over medium heat to soften the garlic but do not let it brown. Add:

1 cup honey
¼ cup soya sauce (low sodium soya sauce is best)
1 tsp ground black pepper

Simmer together for 5-10 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Watch this carefully as it simmers because it can foam up over the pot very easily.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

Ethan and I love Frank's Hot Sauce, and Buffalo wings, so this fun sandwich version was a no-brainer for us. I'm so glad that we tried it because it has quickly turned into one of our go-to recipes. These sandwiches are wonderful, easy and pack a great punch! Thank you Rachel Ray

Ingredients

• 4 pieces, 6 ounces each, boneless, skinless chicken breast
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, 1 /3 palm full
• 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/3 palm full
• A drizzle extra-virgin olive oil

Sauce for chicken:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup, 4 ounces, cayenne pepper sauce, preferred brand Frank's Red Hot
• Bib or leaf lettuce leaves
• 4 crusty rolls, split
• 2 cups sour cream
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 pound blue cheese, crumbled
• Small red onion, thinly sliced
• 8 ribs celery, cut into sticks
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into sticks

Directions

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt, pepper, paprika and chili powder. Drizzle breast with a little extra virgin olive oil to coat. Pan grill chicken breasts 5 minutes on each side.

Heat a metal or oven safe glass bowl over low heat and melt butter in the bowl. Add hot sauce to the butter and combine. When the chicken breasts are done, remove from pan and add to the bowl and coat evenly with hot sauce mixture.
Place chicken breasts on bun bottoms and top with crisp lettuce. Combine sour cream, scallions and blue cheese and slather bun tops with blue cheese sour cream. Affix bun tops on sandwiches and serve with remaining sauce for dipping your veggies. Arrange Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches on dinner plates with red onion, celery and carrot sticks.

Mongolian Beef

This tastes JUST like P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef! You can serve it how P.F. Changs does (by draining the excess sauce and serving it semi-dry) OR you can keep the excess sauce and spoon it over rice (which is what we like to do because the sauce is SO good).

4 tsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. ginger, minced
2 Tbsp. garlic, minced
1 c. soy sauce
1 c. water
**3/4-1 c. brown sugar (packed)
2 c. vegetable oil
2 Lb. flank steaks
½ c. cornstarch
3 large green onions

Make the sauce by heating 4 tsp. vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Don’t get the oil too hot. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to medium and boil the sauce 2-3 minutes or until sauce thickens a little bit. Remove sauce from heat.

Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4 inch slices. Tilt the blade of your knife at about a 45 degree angle to the top of the steak so you get wider cuts. Dip the steak pieces into cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit about 10 min. so the cornstarch sticks. As the beef sits, heat up 1 c. oil in a wok (or skillet). Heat the oil over medium heat until its hot, but not smoking. Add the beef to the oil and saute for just 2 minutes, or until beef just begins to darken on the edges. Stir the meat around a little bit so that it cooks evenly.

After a few minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour most of the oil out of the skillet. Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the sauce, cook for 1 minute while stirring and add green onions. Cook for 1 more minute. Now at this point you can either remove the beef with a slotted spoon or tongs and discard the sauce (this is what P.F. Chang's does) OR thicken the sauce with a cornstarch-water mixture to desired thickness and serve it over rice with the beef.

**This recipe calls for 1cup of brown sugar, but Ethan and I thought it was way too much! So we would suggest starting with 3/4 cup and then adjusting to your taste from there.