September 10, 2013 by gn0mel0ver

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

This recipe was another recipe I got from Pinterest. I have made it four times. It is a family favorite. I love to share recipes I have tried with you guys that I think are delicious. This recipe originated from the blog, “Pearls, Handcuffs and Happy Hour.” What a cool name! The only thing I changed in her recipe, was I topped the adult bowls of pasta with chopped cilantro. Otherwise, simply click on the link above. You will not be disappointed. She came up with an amazing dish!

The best part, besides the incredible taste of this dish, is it only takes about thirty minutes start to finish to prepare. I use rotisserie chicken (so simple). That is my kind of dish!

Here are the following pictures of the quick process:

I used way too much olive oil! Use less than me!

Please let me know if you make this! Do you have any recipes from Pinterest that I must try out? Please share!

I shared this on Savvy Southern Style

And My Romantic Home

August 18, 2013 by gn0mel0ver

Tuna Pie

Yes, tuna pie.

It is my favorite.

Dish.

Ever.

I am a freak.

When I was a young lass, a friend was planning a surprise party for me, she called my best friend to see what to serve at my party. She wanted to serve my favorite dishes.

My best friend responded, “Well, I do not know what you are going to serve. All I know is, she likes tuna pie.”

This answer still makes me laugh. Hysterically. Because I imagine being the person receiving that response and the questions and images it inspires.

But I digress…

My grandmother used to make this for me. My mother would make this for me.

My grandmother and mother used to make homemade pie crust and fold cheese into the edges to make the most amazing crust. Folks, I am lazy. If you choose to be ambitious, that would take this pie to the next level.

Tuna Pie (makes one pie)

Ingredients:

Package of refrigerated pie crust (I prefer Pillsbury. Choose the pie crust that can be rolled out. Not the frozen kind).
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
2 cans of white albacore tuna in water, drained
2 cans of cream of celery soup (and yes, it must be cream of celery. Not cream of anything else. It will not taste good.)
1/2 stick of salted butter or 4 tablespoons
1 green bell pepper seeded and diced
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/8 tsp. ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place refrigerated pie crusts on counter at room temperature while you perform the following tasks:

Melt butter in a skillet. Place onions and green pepper in skillet on medium heat. Cook until soft, about eight minutes. Turn off heat.

In a separate bowl, mix drained tuna, cream of celery soup, and pepper. When onions and green bell pepper are soft, add them directly to this mixture. Do not drain. Add that glorious flavored butter to the tuna creation.

Mix.

Add shredded cheese.

Mix.

I forgot to add pepper to my pie! Maybe I should have read my recipe first! Be better than me. Season.

Open pie crust package. It should now be malleable. If it is not, wait five more minutes before you handle it.

Place one layer of pie crust on the bottom of the pie pan. Pierce with fork.

Pour tuna mixture into the pie pan.

Cut a pretty shape into the remaining pie crust with a small cookie cutter.

Place over tuna mixture. Crimp edges. Pierce with fork.

Isn’t this lovely? You would never know it was a tuna pie.

Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes.

Let cool for 15 minutes before serving. It’s not going to be pretty when you slice it. Hey! You’re eating tuna pie. This is the least of your worries.

This pie is even better reheated the next day. You have to eat it by the next day. Tuna products are bad after that.

My husband despises this pie. It’s okay. My dad despises this as well. My mother still cooked it. Thank God! So, I cook it when my husband is at work. The kids and I love it.

If you love tuna, make this! Enjoy! If you hate tuna, look away! While I enjoy!

Have a great day!

I shared this on Savvy Southern Style

And My Romantic Home

August 4, 2013 by gn0mel0ver

Beef Enchiladas

I make these beef enchiladas with my leftover meat from Tyler Florence’s Pot Roast Taco recipe. If you are not using that recipe, any shredded beef will do. They sell it in the refrigerated section or I am sure you could find an easy crockpot version. I just like using up my leftovers.

My husband raves about these. We all enjoy them. But at this point, both of my children are in braces. This is kind of a hard meal for them to eat. I cannot wait until I no longer have to worry about brackets. Popcorn, here we come!

This recipe makes 16 beef enchiladas. It really depends on how much meat you have left over from your tacos. Sometimes I only can make a dozen. It is the same sauce as my cheese enchilada recipe.

You will need:

2 11 x 7 pans to cook enchiladas in. Distribute 8 into each pan.
Sauce pan
One skillet
Blender

Ingredients:

Shredded Beef made from Tyler Florence’s Pot Roast Tacos
4 dried ancho chile peppers
1 tsp. ground Mexican oregano
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 cloves diced garlic (or one heaping teaspoon from a jar)
1 tsp. chicken base
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 small can of tomato paste
4 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
2 cups shredded cheese
16 corn tortillas
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Optional toppings:

Sour cream
Chopped cilantro

Optional sides:

Mexican rice
Refried beans

For this recipe, I adapted an Adobe recipe of Zarela’s (I recommend watching her video. It taught me a lot) and added a couple of items to make an enchilada sauce.

First, Rinse your dried ancho chiles. Cook the dried ancho chile peppers for about ten seconds each side in a skillet.

Remove. Break off top and shake out the seeds.

Soak chiles in a bowl for twenty five minutes.

Remove chiles. Add to blender with oregano, garlic, chicken stock, chili powder, cumin, chicken base, & salt. Blend until smooth.

In a large saucepan, melt butter. Add flour. Stir to combine, until it is, as Zarela says, “the color of a cockroach.” Which might be my very favorite cooking tip ever!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add blended ingredients to butter and flour mixture. Carefully, this will splatter! Stir. Add tomato sauce. Stir until smooth. Let simmer on low heat ten minutes.

While sauce is simmering, heat vegetable oil in skillet. Add tortillas, one at a time. Fry quickly on each side until just beginning to bubble. About ten seconds each side. Remove to paper towel covered plate. For every four you fry, place two more paper towels on top.

When all tortillas are fried. Turn off heat. (Be very careful with hot oil! Do not pour down sink! This will ruin your sink! Let cool completely and discard.) Turn off heat to enchilada sauce.

Pour a little enchilada sauce in pan you are cooking the enchiladas in, to coat it. Take a tortilla and fill with shredded beef. Roll. Place seam side down in pan. Repeat 7 more times until pan is full.

Repeat the step above with another pan.

Pour sauce equally over Enchiladas in both pans. Distribute cheese equally over enchiladas.

Cover with foil and bake for fifteen-twenty minutes. Remove foil. Bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Remove pans. Turn off oven.

Serve with toppings and optional sides.

Enjoy!

May 18, 2013 by gn0mel0ver

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Have you had this at Chili’s Bar & Grill?

When given a choice of any restaurant in town to eat dinner at, my children will always pick Chili’s. Their favorite thing there is the chicken enchilada soup. I wanted to learn how to make it. I found this wonderful recipe from Joy at Lindsey’s Luscious, on pinterest. Let me quickly say I love this lady’s blog. She is humorous and warm. Her love of cooking is infectious…

Anyhoo, the best part about this soup is, it is made in a crockpot. It does not get any easier than that!

I simply follow her instructions. Except:

I use diced rotisserie chicken.

I use eight tortillas, instead of six.

I also omit the cayenne pepper.

I use a stick blender before I add the chicken.

Serving with cilantro and tortilla chips is a must!

I buy the large block of velveeta. I use half and store the other half for another batch to make later. It is almost the same price as the smaller block. Plus, it stays fresh in the refrigerator for an ungodly amount of time.

My friend cannot use tomato based products in cooking for her family and makes this soup with green enchilada sauce instead of red. She says her and her family love it. I am anxious to try that as well.

The taste of this soup is indescribable, but I will try. It is creamy and spicy. The flavors tasting almost like a chicken enchilada, but with a cheesier smoother finish.

I love this recipe so much.

When I type in “chicken enchilada soup” into my Weight Watcher’s points plus system, it says a cup of chicken enchilada soup is six points! I very much hope that is true. Well, I am going with that and sticking to it.

This makes enough soup for my family to eat it two nights in a row. I am breaking down the total cost for my family’s pot of soup, excluding spices, because those are cheap. I add beans and corn when making this for my friends. That would add $2 to the total below. I do not add those ingredients when making the soup for my family:

1 rotisserie chicken $5
Enchilada sauce $2
Onion .50
Cilantro .33
1/4 bag of corn tortillas .40
Chicken stock $1.70
1/2 large block of velveeta $3
8 oz. tomato sauce .50
4 oz. shredded cheese $1
Sour cream .50
Tortilla chips $2

Total: $16.93

Enjoy! Please let me know if you make this! Thank you, Lindsey for a fantastic recipe!

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

cheese

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

Tuna Pie

Beef Enchiladas

Chicken Enchilada Soup