There's a Lizard in the Kitchen!

Chicken Enchiladas

This recipe is a variation of the one in the Better Homes & Garden cookbook.  Gotta warn you, I put raisins in my enchiladas.  Yah, I know what you're thinking..."Raisins, Liz?  Really?  Ugh!"  But trust me, they add a little sweetness to the enchiladas.  Like you're biting into a little blob of happiness!  You don't have to add them.  I won't hold it against you, I promise.

I don't have any measurements, I just kind of play it by ear... This recipe will yield one pan of 'ladas.
I usually double it to two pans since my roommates and I have a difference of opinion on the whole raisin issue and I like flour tortillas while they prefer corn.  You are free to use the tortilla of your choice.

You'll need:

2 or 3 chicken breasts, baked and shredded
1 large can of enchilada sauce
Shredded Cheese, lots of  shredded cheese (I use a Colby-Jack mix, but you can use your favorite)
1 can diced green chiles
Yellow Onion, diced
Raisins, optional
Diced Black Olives
Tortillas of your choosing

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

If you're using corn tortillas, wrap them in foil and and toss them in the oven for about 5 minutes to make them pliable.

I didn't do this the first time and they broke apart when I rolled them.

It wasn't a pretty sight.

Put your shredded chicken in a bowl and stir in enough enchilada sauce to coat the chicken a little.

Add some of the sauce to the bottom of your casserole dish, just enough to coat the bottom.

I got a papercut underneath my fingernail yesterday at work, it hurts.

Just thought I'd share that with you.

Take a tortilla and place it on a clean work surface.  Plop some of your chicken in it.  Top that with some cheese, onion, chiles, olives and raising.  Use as much or as little as you want to.

Roll the tortilla and place it seam side down in the casserole.

Repeat that last step with all your tortillas.

Pour more enchilada sauce over the tops of your rolled tortillas.  I use a pastry brush to spread it around evenly.  At this point I also toss more of the onion, chile, olives and raisins on top.

Cover the casserole with foil and put it in the oven for about 35 minutes.

Pull your pan out of the oven, uncover and smother the top of the enchiladas with more of the shredded cheese.  Use as much or as little as you want.

Put your uncovered pan back in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Hey, guess what?  They're done!  Enjoy!

There's a Lizard in the Kitchen!

So this morning I was thumbing through a bunch of recipes that Roomie Shauna found and a couple of them caught my eye.  Parmesan Garlic Knots and Soft Pretzels.  Yum!  

Soft Pretzels

via tasteofhome.com

• 1 pkg, (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast
• 1-1/2 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 to 4-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 8 cups water
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• Kosher salt, sesame or poppy seeds, parmesan cheese, cinnamon sugar mix - you choose!

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add the sugar, salt and 2 cups all purpose flour; beat until smooth.  Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough.
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Punch dough down; divide into 12 portions.  Roll each into an 18 inch rope and twist into a pretzel shape.
• In a large saucepan, bring 8 cups water and the baking soda to a boil.  Place pretzels into boiling water, one at a time, for 30 seconds.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
• Place on greased baking sheets.  Brush with egg and sprinkle with the desired topping.
• Bake at 425 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.  Transfer to wire racks. Serve warm.  Makes about 1 dozen.

I made these this morning and used Kosher salt on half of them and a cinnamon sugar blend on the other half.

Shauna's going to make some spicy nacho cheese dip for the salted ones and we want to make a cream cheese icing to dip the others in.

Then Shauna and I made the Parmesan Garlic Knots later this afternoon.  

These are so simple!  So easy!  So yummy!  

You'd best have some marinara sauce or ranch dressing or both 

on hand in which to dip these little bites of heaven!

Parmesan Knots

• 1 tube (12 oz) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon parsley flakes

• Cut each biscuit into thirds.  Roll each piece into a 3-inch rope and tie into a knot; tuck ends under.  Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
• In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; add the warm knots and gently toss to coat.

This makes about 2-1/2 dozen.

I don't have a picture...they're all gone...no, not really.  I just didn't have my phone or camera handy.  We're going to have these with dinner tonight.  I think they'll go great with the rib-eyes that Roomie Jeff is getting ready to go toss on the grill!

Blogger's Block

I'm suffering from that right now.  There is so much that I want to blog about, but every time I open this up, whatever it is I want to write about becomes a jumble of words in my mind and I can't seen to get them to come together.  So instead of just sitting here staring at a blank 'page' and trying to force my brain to form cohesive thoughts that will flow together nicely, I'm just going to toss together a short synopsis of what I've been wanting to blog.  Short and sweet...like my sisters!

Chili Feed
Back in February, Dad and I attended the annual chili feed put on by the POW*MIA Elko Awareness Association.  This year it was held at the convention center, as the number of attendees has grown so much that they outgrew the former location.  We were treated to a wonderfully delicious variety of chili served by the amazing Nevada East Roller Girls, on skates! There was also some heated auction action and we got to see our State Assemblyman, John Ellison, model a leopard print Snuggie!   Before we ate, we all gathered in the auditorium for the presenting of the colors and a demonstration from the Association's Drill Team.  We were introduced to dignitaries from the National League of POW*MIA Families, J-PAC (the nations largest forensic science lab, they are responsible for the identification of remains, they bring a lot of families closure).

Confessions from a Former Picky Eater
Hey Momma, I eat asparagus now!  And spinach!  And brussel sprouts!  Ok, I lied, I still won't eat brussel sprouts...And I don't eat my burgers with just ketchup anymore, now I like 'em with cheese, and mustard, and garlic, and tomato, and lettuce, and sometimes I'll use baby spinach instead of lettuce!

The Bakery
I've blogged a couple of times about helping out at Trinity and Michael's bakery, Let Them Eat Cake.  Well, Trinity got an opportunity to take a job at a  fancy-schmancy restaurant in New Orleans, so they passed the torch of the bakery on to their friend Shawn.  Trinity is in NOLA and Michael is here packing up the house and getting ready to meet her there next month.  I will miss them ALOT!  I have a lot of fond memories, like this one from St. Patrick's Day.  Things got a little crazy while we were making corned beef and cabbage...

I'm going to miss the cranberry oatmeal cookies that Trinity makes, I'm going to miss the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes, I'm going to miss bickering with Michael while Trinity rolls her eyes at us, I'm going to miss the true owners of the bakery, Scooter and Vespa, the faithful Corgis.  I'm going to miss Trinity and Michael and Samantha!  One thing I won't miss about the bakery is the deadly strawberry slicer utensil...

Knit One, Purl What?
I finally got the two scarf projects I was working on done last night.  Trinity's Mardi Gras scarf is on the left and the one on the right is the crazy scarf I made for my friend, Sarah.  I'll be delivering Sarah's to her today, but Trinity said I can't UPS hers to her, I must deliver it in person.  The money in my coin jar are now earmarked for a trip to Louisiana to see Trin in New Orleans and my sister, Stephanie in Baton Rouge.

This morning I started working on another scarf and it's really frustrating me.  I've cast-on three times, followed the pattern precisely and still am ended up with one extra stickin' stitch!  Arghhh!!!

Homemade Bread
I made bread not too long ago and it tasted and looked great!  I shared pictures of it on Facebook.  What I didn't share were the pictures of the shattered Pyrex casserole dish.
The baking directions called for a pan of water being placed on oven rack below the Bread.  This doofus grabbed the first pan in sight without thinking of what would happen when she poured the hot water into the hot glass dish in the hot oven.
Um, yah.  It was loud, really loud...and scary, really scary.  After making sure that I wasn't bleeding all over the kitchen ( luckily, I wasn't hit with any flying Pyrex shrapnel) and quadruple checking the bread for glass (it was all good!), we cleaned the glass out of the oven while the bread rested on the counter.

I was s-m-a-r-t on the next go-round and used metal.

The bread came out moist with just the right amount of chewy-ness and without being peppered with glass shards.


Thanks for visiting!