Enchiladas

I can not say enough about these enchiladas by Pioneer Woman. I made the chicken ones a couple of weeks ago. They were so good that I couldn't wait to try the beef ones. Equally fabulous. I've decided the key and most important step to making enchiladas, is the frying of the shells. It may not be the healthiest way but, all thoughts of that go out the window after the first bite.

Simple, Perfect Enchiladas
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Prep Time: 1 Hour30 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 6

Ingredients
FOR THE SAUCE:
1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
1 can (28 Ounce) Enchilada Or Red Sauce
2 cups Chicken Broth
½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro
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For The Meat:
1-½ pound Ground Beef
1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
2 cans (4 Ounce) Diced Green Chilies
½ teaspoons Salt
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For The Tortillas:
10 whole (to 14) Corn Tortillas
½ cups Canola Oil
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TO ASSEMBLE:
3 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
½ cups Chopped Black Olives
1 cup Chopped Green Onions
½ cups Chopped Cilantro

Preparation Instructions
Step #1 – The SauceIn a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for one minute. Pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes.
Step #2 – The MeatBrown the meat with onions in a skillet. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cans diced green chilies and seasoned salt. Set aside.
Step #3 – TortillasHeat canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat. One by one, using tongs, fry tortillas in oil until soft, not crisp – about 30 seconds per side. Remove to a paper—towel lined plate. Repeat until all tortillas have been fried.
Step #4 – AssemblyPreheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour ½ cup red sauce in bottom of baking pan. Spread to even out. Dip each tortilla into red sauce, then remove to work surface. Spoon meat, a little grated cheese, a little black olives, and green onions in the center of tortilla. Roll up and place, seam down, in baking pan. Repeat until pan is filled. Pour extra red sauce over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle cilantro over enchiladas before serving

Chocolate Sheet Cake

I got this recipe off of Pioneer Woman after rave reviews from my friend Suzanne. I've made it a couple of times and it is really good. Although, I do recommend reading the directions and actually cooking the ingredients before throwing them all in the mixer. I kind of skipped that part this time and realized too late that I'd completely over looked a major part of the recipe. Amazingly enough, it still turned out pretty good although, not as good as the first time I made it. It's great for serving a large crowd. I'm not sure I completely agree with the "Best ever" title it was given but, than again, I haven't tried that many sheet cakes in my time.

Best Ever Chocolate Sheet Cake
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 24

Ingredients
CAKE Ingredients
2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
2 sticks Butter
1 cup Boiling Water
½ cups Buttermilk
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla
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FOR FROSTING:
½ cups Finely Chopped Pecans
1-¾ stick Butter
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
6 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar
Preparation Instructions

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.
While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.
Cut into squares and eat!

Our Favorite Pumpkin Pie

I've been making this pie for years. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is the most requested dessert of my family. Cream cheese and pumpkin...proceed with caution. It doesn't get much better than this.

Double Layer Pumpkin Pie

1 extra-serving size graham cracker crust
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 T. milk or half and half
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 c. cool whip

Mix cream cheese, milk and sugar together. Fold in cool whip. Spread in bottom of graham cracker crust.

1 cup milk or half and half
2 pkgs. (4 serving size) instant vanilla pudding and pie filling
1 (16 oz) can pumpkin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Pour 1 cup milk into bowl. Add pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk until well blended, 1 to 2 minutes (mixture will be thick). Stir in pumpkin and spices with wire whisk; mix well. Spread over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate at least 3 hours (I don't always do this). Garnish with additional whipped topping and almonds, if desired.

Olive Garden Salad

My sister was having a party this week on the same day she was singing for a benefit. I volunteered to come do the cooking for her since she is always so willing to sacrafice her time whenever I'm in need of a vacation from little punks. Not too mention, hanging out at the lake on a Saturday is not too shabby a way to spend the day, even if I am cooking for most of it. She wanted fall themed foods. It was fun to plan and to satisfy my never ending craving for pumpkin. Lots of pumpkin recipes to follow...

Darby was also having an Anti-homecoming party for all of her punk friends that are either not old enough to date or didn't have a date for homecoming. I doubled everything from Kat's party and served the same thing for Darby's. Ford heard one of the kids say "how come the food is so good?" I'm not sure they are used to fancy food at these teen parties.

We started with the Olive Garden Salad. I found the recipe on The Sister's Cafe.

Olive Garden Salad

dressing:
1/2 c. mayonnaise

1/3 c. white vinegar

1 tsp. vegetable oil

2 Tb. corn syrup

2 Tb. parmesan cheese

2 Tb. romano cheese

1/4 tsp. garlic salt or one clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. parsley flakes

1 Tb. lemon juice

Mix all dressing ingredients in a blender until well mixed. It it is too tart, add a little sugar.

Salad:
1 large head romaine lettuce

slices red onion

black olives

2-4 banana peppers

2 small tomatoes, quartered

1/2 c. croutons

freshly grated parmesan cheese

Put lettuce in bowl. Place on top of lettuce red onions, black olives, banana peppers, tomatoes, adn croutons. Add some freshly grated parmesan cheese if you like, and add plenty of olive garden salad dressing on top. If you want to be really authentic, chill your bowl in the freezer for half an hour.

Pumpkin Bars

We had friends over for lunch the other day and someone brought these pumpkin bars that were fabulous. She e-mailed the recipe but, it never came through so, I had to go in search of it on my own. I don't think these were the exact same but, they were pretty darn good anyway. They were more of a bread than a bar but, I later remembered that I had misread the recipe and instead of doubling the required amount of baking soda, I quadrupled it. Maybe that's why? Didn't matter in the end, it was still good.

Pumpkin Bars

4 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
15 oz. can pumpkin
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Icing:
8 oz. package cream cheese softened
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 359 degrees. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10 inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

I actually wanted a lighter icing so went with a whipped icing:

1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and continue to whisk until you have firm peaks.

Esther's Gingersnap Cookies

These are some of my all time favorite cookies. I love them this time of year. My friend Esther usually gifts me with some and then I have to turn around and make them myself because I never get enough.

Gingersnaps
Esther Boyer

1 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. shortening
1/4 c. molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. salt

Blend all together. Roll into balls and then roll in granulated sugar. Bake at 375. The trick is not to over cook, that way they stay soft and chewy, about 9-10 minutes.

My Favorite Artichoke Dip

I love, love, love this dip. The only problem with it, is that everyone else loves it too and that limits my ability to eat the entire pan by myself. My friend Alyssa makes this for almost every gathering we have and I never get tired of it. It's supposed to be a spinach artichoke dip. I like spinach artichoke but, I haven't tried it with the spinach , because I'm afraid I won't like it as well.

Florentine Artichoke Dip

Alyssa Walker

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry

1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c. mayonnaise

2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened

2 T. lemon juice

1 c. parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a 7x11 inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese and mayonnaise until smooth. Mix in the artichoke hearts, spinach, and parmesan cheese. Season with garlic and lemon juice. Spread evenly into the prepared baking dish. Bake covered for 20 minutes. Remove the cover, and let the dish bake uncovered for 5 more minutes, or until the surface is lightly browned. Serve it with Wheat Thins, Triscuits, or breadsticks. Spinach can be left out and prepared the same.

Tina's White Chili

We had friends over the other day for lunch to celebrate and hour 1/2 less church time than normal due to the ward splitting. We ended up changing it into a farewell for one of our favorite families that got put into the new ward. It's the second ward split since we've lived in Katy. Katy 4th ward...unbelievable!

Tina brought this white chili to share and it was the first thing to disappear. It was so good, that I had to make it again two days later because by the time I got around to trying it, there was only a spoonful left.

White Chili

7 chicken breasts
1 medium onion
3 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbs. oil
4-6 cans great northern beans
28 oz. chicken broth
2 cans chopped green chilies (can add more if you like them)
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 c. sour cream
1 c. whipping cream
tortilla chips
cheese

Cut up chicken and brown with chopped onion, garlic powder and oil. Add everything except the creams and boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and add creams. Serve over chips and top with chopped cilantro and cheese.

* I actually added everything except the creams in the crock pot. Cooked until the chicken shredded and add the creams right before serving.

* This is the doubled version of the recipe. Can easily be halved for smaller portions.