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!

Spaghetti for Dan

About 2 years ago, one of the guys from work, Dan, fixed a problem I was having on my computer. I told him I would make him homemade spaghetti as payment.

Have I told you I'm a procrastinator? I think I've mentioned that before...

Well, I procrastinated.

Until now.

Dan's last day is Wednesday, so I thought I'd better get on it. I was going to come home from work on Tuesday night and get it going. I got all the ingredients Saturday, I was on the ball!!

I didn't go to work today (Tuesday). I spent the morning in the dentist's chair of pain having a tooth pulled. Ok, I was only in the dreaded chair for about 10 minutes. It took longer to give me the novacaine than it did to pull the tooth. I went home and took a long nap and when I woke up I didn't feel like doing anything, let alone cook. But I had made a promise to Dan last week that I would definetly make him spaghetti and I couldn't go back on my word, especially after putting it off for two years!

Browned 1 lb. ground beef with 2 chopped yellow onion and a gazillion cloves of garlic (ok, 4). Added that to a big can of crushed tomato, 2 med cans of tomato sauce, some tomato paste. Toss in some dried parsley, some thyme, basil and brown sugar. Brown sugar? Huh? It cuts some of the acidity of the tomato. Normally I would add raisins instead of the brown sugar, but most people say "ewww" when I tell them I put raisins in my sauce. Then I browned some Italian Sausage and threw that in too, along with a splash of Shiraz wine that was sitting around. I'll simmer it through the evening and turn it back on tomorrow morning while I boil the noodles. Then off to work I'll go with it!

Good luck to Dan in his new venture!!

Stay tuned cuz next week I'll be blogging about the breakfast I'm throwing for some family members during the Ruby Mtn Balloon Festival! We'll watch the balloons launch on Sunday morning while feasting on frittata, fried taters, muffins, apple skillet cake, scrambled eggs and bacon. Those last two items courtesy of Jeff for those who might not want frittata. Coffee, hot cocoa, spiced cider....

The World's Pickiest Eater

This is Jesse.

He's the son of my roomies Shauna & Jeff.

If you look in the dictionary for the

definition of "picky eater"

you will see his picture.

We bought this off the Internet a couple weeks ago after seeing the infomercial: It's the Express RediSetGo. And it came with a bunch of recipes. One of which was for personal pizzas. So yesterday I made the recipe for the pizza dough that was included.

Sure, I could have bought pre-made dough.

But I am trying to be more self-sufficient and stay away from processed, boxed foodstuff.

The recipe made 12 little balls of dough which could be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. I thought that if Jesse liked the first one, he would be able to make himself pizza for lunch during the week this summer.

I showed him how to roll out the dough and then he built himself his pizza.

The pizza was done in 7 minutes, the crust was perfect and was really yummy.

More important was that Jesse the Picky loved it! That brings the count up to 2 items that I cook that he will eat. #1 being stuffed chicken breasts.

This is the pizza that I made for myself...

Pepperoni, zucchini, crushed red pepper, Colby jack cheese (we forgot to by mozzarella) and Parmesan cheese.

YUM!

Love in the Grocery Aisle

Once upon a time there was a container of dipping spice.

The dipping spice was lonely. All he did was sit on the shelf with

his other lonely dipping spice buddies.

On the shelf below him sat Ms. EVOO. She too, was lonely and spent her days wondering why no one took her home. "Does no one understand the goodness that will come with purchasing me?"

Well, one day two ladies were shopping and their eyes caught sight of Mr. Dip & Ms. EVOO and said "YUM!" while tossing them both in the cart next to the Twinkies and microwave popcorn.

The ladies discovered that when mixed together, they created a wonderful melange of flavor.
And then the ladies dipped a fine artisan bread chunk into the bowl and were transported to heaven!

**This was so yummy! We tried to get Jeff and Jesse to try it, but were unsuccessful. But Jeff's brother Brandon stopped by and he had a taste and it made him want to go home and make spaghetti. Did he make you spaghetti Sunshine?!?!

Double Shot of Home Depot

On Saturday I stopped at Home Depot to get plants.

I couldn't find the veggies.

I didn't look hard enough.

So I bought some seeds and set of jiffy pots.

But I forgot something important.

I forgot the potting soil.

So Sunday I made another trip to town.

Not just for potting soil,

I met my dad, sis and her family for a very tasty breakfast at Toki Ona's.

After my hunger was quenched, Dad and I headed to HD.

I found the veggie plants.

Picked up some strawberries, a Thai basil and an onion chive.

Here's the onion chive.

And the Thai basil. It's really pungent.

And the strawberries.

The empty pot is not empty.

There were lettuce seeds in Shauna's Kraft magazine.

So that's lettuce.

I got the Jiffy Pots started yesterday, too.

Banana Peppers, Cheyenne Peppers, Carrots, Zucchini, Cucumbers and basil.

Cross you fingers.

Useless Trivial Information

In honor of Memorial Day Weekend, today's piece of Useless Trivial Info is about hot dogs, the original mystery meat!

I found a website ( http://whatscookingamerica.net ) that had all kinds of facts, trivia and legends about these weenies:

• Movie actress Marlene Dietrich once said that hot dogs and champagne were her favorite meal.
• It is said that legendary baseball player Babe Ruth once downed 24 hot dogs between games of a double header.
• Hot dogs are primarily regarded as a fun, summertime food, and most are eaten between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
• Jayne Mansfield was Miss Hot Dog Ambassador in 1950.

There are many combinations of condiments that folks use on their dogs. Catsup, mustard, relish, onions, sauerkraut, etc.

People also like them cooked many ways: Bbq'd, broiled, boiled or on a stick. And there's a restaurant somewhere that deep fries them!

Personally, I like 'em bbq'd almost to the point of being burnt. The outside is crispy and the inside is moist. On a bun with mustard and catsup. My bro in law Gus, he makes me the meanest dogs on the planet! Oh, and after tasting a Hebrew National brand dog, it's the only kind I'll eat. Most hot dogs seem really oily, not these.

Now I want you to share with me how you like your dogs. Or if you're not a hot dog eater, what's your favorite substitute.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend :)

Cake Pops & Cake Balls!

My sister Stephanie found the recipe for these cute little cake pops on Bakerella's blog http://bakerella.blogspot.com

My roommate Shauna and I bought the stuff to make these little bundles of sweetness weeks ago.
This morning I decided today was the day we would try our hands at Cake Pops and Cake Balls

The brown candy melts had a better consistency than the blue after melting. Our first attempts at dipping in the blue resulted in a gloppy mess. So Shauna put some of it into a baggie and used it to decorate the brown pops.

We used a cake mix with pudding in the mix. That was a mistake. After adding the frosting to the crumbled cake, it was just way too moist. I guess that's what baking is all about, huh? Learning as we go...

Sausage Balls

My roommate Shauna got this recipe for Sausage Balls from one of the ladies that she works with, who got it from Paula Deen. Y'all should try them, they're yummy and easy!

3 cups Bisquick

1 lb. sausage

4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Pay no attention to the messy countertop!



Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Now wash your hands, throw the ingredients in a bowl and smush it all together. It took me about 5 minutes to get it all mixed together.


I know at this point it doesn't look too appetizing, but just you wait!

Grease your cookie sheet. Grab small hunks of the mixture and roll into 1" balls and place on you cookie sheet, keeping about 2" of space between them.

Stick your sausage balls into the oven for about 18-20 minutes. The recipe makes roughly 4-5 dozen.

I made an easy mayo-mustard dipping sauce for mine, but a couple more options might be a country style gravy or a honey mustard.

You could probably even use turkey sausage instead of the pork sausage. Personally, I'd like to try them with linguica for a spicy adventure!