Green Chili and Quinoa Enchiladas

I was making these enchiladas last week. And I realized my brown rice was all the way downstairs in my storage room. But my quinoa was sitting on top of the fridge. I was way too lazy to walk all the way down stairs so I decided to substitute the quinoa instead. And it worked. It really worked! And was totally delicious. And now I feel super trendy because I used quinoa. 

These enchiladas turned out really good. They were a little spicy because I subbed 1 can jalapneos for my normal green chilis and they had a good ratio of creamy chicken and chili mixture to quinoa. 

Ingredients:

Filling:

2 chicken breasts, grilled and shredded

1 cup plain greek yogurt (or sour cream)

2 small cans chopped green chilis

1 small can chopped jalapenos (if you don't like the heat, you can just use another can of green chilis)

Mix all ingredients in large bowl, season with garlic salt and pepper as desired. 

1 cup shredded cheese

2 cups cooked quinoa (I do the rice cooker method and it turns out perfect every time)

8-10 tortillas

1 large can green chili enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13 pan and pour 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce on the bottom. Fill tortillas with chicken mixture, quinoa and cheese. Roll up and lay seam side down in the enchilada sauce. Pour an additional 1 cup of enchilada sauce over tortillas and top with cheese. Bake at 400 for 15-20 min. Switch your oven to broil and broil for 2-3 minutes until cheese on top is bubbly and starts to brown. 

Serve warm and enjoy!

Amish Friendship Pancakes

 Remember that one time I got Amish Friendship Starter? And I made that delicious bread? Yeah, it was awesome. And then I got creative and used that starter to make sourdough pancakes. They were so good.

And there are so many options! Add cinnamon for that traditional "Amish Friendship Bread" taste, or just top it off with a cinnamon syrup. Or add fruit like I do to my bread. 

These sourdough pancakes have that delicious sourdough tang, and they are still fluffy and a tiny bit sweet. 

These are a great alternative when you get tired of your Amish Friendship Bread or if you just want to try something new!

On your baking day (Day 10 or something), do this:

Add 1 cup milk, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup flour to your starter bag. Mash it all. Now it is ready to use!

In a large bowl combine:

1 egg, beaten

1 cup Amish Friendship Starter

1/2 cup milk

2 Tbsps oil (or applesauce)

1 tsp vanilla

Next add dry ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Mix until smooth. It might take a little while to get the lumps out, but just keep mixing. Once smooth, spoon batter on to hot griddle and cook both sides. Top with a favorite syrup or jam. 

Tinfoil Tacos

 Have I mentioned how much I love camping? I do. In fact I do it for a living. But more on that later.
I love the hiking, and the fire, and the fresh air and trees and the food. Mostly the food. It might be my favorite part of camping. Ok fine, it IS my favorite part of camping! And I like getting creative with camping food. Like these tacos.

Tinfoil dinners are pretty classic, and they are pretty good. But not my favorite. So I spiced them up and made tacos! They were a huge hit with the group we went camping with. They are easy, delicious and quick. 

 You can mix it up with soft shell and hard shell tacos, different kinds of beans and so on. Here's how you do it:

2 lbs hamburger- seasoned with taco seasoning, cooked and stored in an airtight bag
1 package small tortillas
1 package hard shell tacos
1 can beans (black or pinto work great)
Shredded cheese

Stuff torillas/taco shells with meat, beans and cheese. Wrap in tinfoil. Place in coals/fire for 10-15 min. Tacos are done when you can hear the cheese sizzling through the tinfoil. Open carefully with tongs and top with toppings:

Sour cream
Salsa
Lettuce

Amish Friendship Bread

A friend from my church brought over a cute little loaf of Amish Friendship Bread and a starter bag for me. And I ate the whole loaf that night. My husband didn't even get any. It was so delicious and I knew I must have more. So I went for it. After the 10 days I dutifully divided up my starter, made my bread (with a few variations) and then gifted my new starter bags to family. Life was wonderful. And I am sure many of you who have done this whole process are shaking your heads and laughing at my niavete of the whole process. Just you wait Cynthia, this delicious bread is crazy and will take over your life! Get out while you can! But guess what? 

Amish Friendship Bread doesn't have to be crazy! You can forget to mash your bag a few times, you can add ingredients a day late, you can stick your starter in the freezer if you need a break! I promise it won't kill it! So dive in and give it a try! Research online for variations, ideas and information, it is kinda fun. 

Also check out this link from my sister in law about controlling your bread. It was great. 

http://makeitfromscratch.blogspot.com/2009/01/take-control-of-your-amish-friendship.html

Traditional Amish Friendship Bread Instructions

Day 1: Friend gives you a starter bag! Lucky you!

Day 2: Stir the mix, or mash the bag.

Day 3: Mash the bag

Day 4: Mash the bag

Day 5: Add to your bag: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk. Mash the bag. 

Day 6: Mash the bag

Day 7: Mash the bag

Day 8: Mash the bag

Day 9: Mash the bag

Day 10:  The day has arrived! Do all this:

          Add to bag: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk. Mash the bag

          Divide mix: Measure 1 cup of mix in to 4 bags (3 for friends, 1 for you) . Label bags and add the date. 

          Make bread: Pour remaining mix in to a NON METAL bowl and follow the recipe below.

Basic Recipe:

2/3 cup oil
3 eggs

1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 box Instant Vanilla Pudding (optional, but totally delicious. If you don't use the dry pudding, just omit the milk)

Using NON METAL spoon, beat by hand until well blended. 

In a seperate bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tsps cinnamon. Grease two loaf pans or line with parchment paper, dust pans with cinnamon sugar mixture. Pour batter in to pans and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. 

Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 minutes to 1 hour (individual oven temperatures vary). Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans. Makes two loaves of Amish Friendship Bread.

See? Not to bad. But again, don't worry if you can't follow the instructions to a T. 

How To Freeze Pinneapple

So the local grocery store here had a sale on pineapple. $1 a piece! How could I pass that up? I made a special trip just for the pineapple, and bought 6 of them.  But since I picked them at their peak of ripeness, they wouldn't keep forever and so I needed to store them. Here is everything I know about Pineapples. 

Picking a pineapple: There are many ways to pick a ripe pineapple, the smell and look and softness and so on. I like to try to pluck leaves from the center of the pineapple. If it comes out easily, it is ripe. If it is really stuck or doesn't come out, it needs a little time. 

How to make a pineapple even sweeter: My sister in law shared this little tidbit with me. When you get home from the store, cut off the leaves and flip your pineapple upside down. Let it sit like this until you chop it up; a few hours up to a few days. This helps the denser sugars/sweetness filter to the rest of the fruit. 

Cut up your pineapple. There are a few different ways you can do this. Just look it up on youtube. 

Next place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and spread out the chopped pineapple, trying not to let too many pieces touch. 

Stick the cookie sheet in the freezer on a flat surface and let sit for a day. The pineapple will now be frozen in individual pieces which you can conveniently stick in freezer baggies. When ready to use, you wont have to bang the bag of pineapple on the counter to try and unstick a few pieces!

Happy Freezing!

Basted BBQ Chicken Salad with Cilantro Ranch Dressing

I made this salad last week and couldn't get enough of it. I told everyone about how amazing it was. And then they asked for the recipe... so I had to be on top of things and actually post about it. 

This salad is so delicious! And easy, you probably have most of the ingredients right now. You should make it for dinner tonight. And then tell all of your friends and they will want the recipe. 

We start with the chicken. If you don't have good chicken, you can't have an amazing salad. Now, if you are scared to try new things, go ahead and just grill the the chicken. But if you are brave and daring, try this way. It is called "basting" and it makes moist, flavorful chicken in only 45 minutes. You season and bake the chicken for 20 minutes and then brush on BBQ sauce every 4 minutes until it is done. A little bit of work? Yeah, but still worth it. 

You need the basics, the lettuce, tomatoes, avacados. Add some southwestern fun like black beans and corn. If you have tortilla strips, those would probably be great too. 

And then we get to the really good stuff. BBQ sauce and Cilantro Ranch Dressing! All that saucy goodness on those fresh veggies and yummy chicken. Dream come true!

BBQ Basted Chicken

Preheat oven to 350. Cut 3 chicken breasts in half and lay the 6 sections on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper/baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil or spray with pam. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika. Bake for 20 min. Take out and brush your favorite BBQ sauce on each piece every 5 min. After 5 or so brushes, take chicken out and chop into bite sized pieces. 

Salad

1 head romainne lettuce, chopped

2 roma tomatoes, chopped

2 avacado, chopped

1 can corn, drained

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

tortilla strips 

Sauces

BBQ sauce

Cilantro Ranch: Combine the following in blender: 1 cup mayonaise, 1 cup milk, 1 packet/3 TBSP Ranch Dressing Mix, 1 bunch fresh cilantro. Thicken with mayo or thin with milk as desired. 

Sausage & Crescent Roll Breakfast Casserole

My sister in law made these for some family function or another. They are so good, it's like biscuits and cheesy gravy in a bar form. They are convenient for big groups, delicious and super easy to make (only 3 ingredients!).

Pillsbury makes the coolest thing. Crescent roll dough in one sheet! Think of all the possibilities!

Stuff it with a cream cheese and sausage mixture

Add another dough sheet and bake until golden brown. 

Make these. They are so good. And so easy, you have not reason not to. 

Sausage & Crescent Roll Casserole

1 lb of sausage ( I recommend Hot or Maple)
8oz package of Cream Cheese
2 rolls of Seamless Crescent Roll Dough

Cook sausage, add cream cheese into warm pan until incorporated. Lay dough in ungreased 9X13 pan. Top with sausage mixture and layer with another dough sheet. Bake at 350 for 20-25 min. Eat warm!

Honey Almond Chia Seed Pudding with Strawberries

I first had this little guy at a work retreat.  One of our chefs brought it as an example of a creative way to use a healthy grain. She gave a presentation about how to use quinoa in salads and incorporating millet and farro in soups and such. It was a cool presentation, but this visual aid was my favorite. And the best part? It is so stupid easy to make. 

Chia seeds do this really cool thing when they get wet. They expand and form a jelly like coating that instantly thickens whatever they were added to. I love them in my smoothies or you can even add them to plain water. They remind me a bit of tapioca, so if you are not a tapioca pudding fan, you probably wont like this. Just a heads up. 

And like with most of my recipes, it is easily adapted to fit your dietary needs and taste preferences. But here is how I made it, and it turned out delicious. 

Ingredients:

1 cup Honey Greek Yogurt (I recommend Greek Gods brand)

3/4 cup Vanilla Almond Milk (unsweetened)

2 Tablespoons whole chia seeds

1/2 cup sliced strawberries

1 Tablespoons honey

2 Tablespoons sliced/slivered almonds

Directions: 

Combine yogurt, milk and chia seeds in bowl. Mix well and let sit for 10 min. In a separate bowl toss strawberries and honey and let sit. When ready to serve, spoon pudding, strawberries and almonds in to a bowl, parfait style if you want. Enjoy!

Salmon and Veggie Stir Fry

A few months ago my sister in law and brother in law came for dinner. We cooked some fish, threw together some veggies and added a little this and that. And it was delicious. So we decided to try and recreate it for this week's "Healthy Recipe of the Week". I messed with the amount of veggies and I like a lot of sauce to go with my rice, so I made more of that too. As with all my recipes, it is easily adapted and changed to fit your taste bud's desires.

Salmon and Veggie Stir Fry

4 pieces salmon (4oz)

Dash of olive oil

1 yellow squash, chopped

1-2 zuchinnis, chopped

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

1/4 cup hoison sauce (found in most grocery stores)

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

2 Tablespoons grated ginger (try freezing it and zesting it with a zester)

A dash of red pepper flakes

2 cups Brown Rice, for serving

Heat pan to medium heat, add oil and cook salmon. Break in to pieces. Add all veggies and sauce ingredients stir well. Cover and let cook for 5-7 minutes until veggies are al dente. Serve warm over rice. Serves 4. (300ish calories per serving!)

It Worked! Cinnamon Rolls in Waffle Iron

I see all sorts of cool recipes/ideas/tips/tricks on Pinterest. They only sometimes turn out. I am sure you have laughed at some Pinterest fails you may have seen or experienced. I certainly have. So I feel like I should share when I have a win from something I saw online. So here is:

Cinnamon Rolls in the Waffle Iron!

Are they perfect? No. Are they the best cinnamon rolls ever? Definitely not (they are store bought after all). But are they convenient? Yes! And do they still taste good? Surely!

Here's how you do it. 

Heat up waffle iron. Spray generously with cooking spray. Place canned cinnamon roll in waffle iron. Press down to flatten and then let it cook (It will puff up a little). 

And that's it! Our cinnamon roll package came with frosting, which was a plus. 

Try it out and tell me what you think :)

Brown Rice Enchiladas with Black Bean Sauce (Updated Version)

Brown Rice Enchiladas with Black Bean Sauce

Sauce:

1 (4oz) can green chiles                                           

1 can black beans, undrained

1 can vegetable (or chicken) broth                    

1/4 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves/teaspoons minced garlic                                      

1 bay leaf

Optional: 1/2 (4oz) can jalapenos (if you like it spicy)

Saute onions in oil until soft and translucent. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for minimum 5 minutes or 15 minutes if you have the time. Remove from heat and pour mixture into blender (taking care because it is hot) and process until smooth. Set aside.

Filling:

1/4 chopped yellow onion                         

1 (4oz) can green chilis (sub for jalapenos if you like more spice)

1/2 cup cooked vegetable of choice (diced sweet potato, chopped kale or corn are great options)

1/2 c lowfat cottage cheese  

1/2 c feta cheese or goat cheese

2 c cooked, brown rice

Saute onions until soft, add green chilis, cooked vegetables, cottage cheese and feta cheese. Stir until just combined and then turn off heat. Add rice and mix well. 

To make:

Flour tortillas

Monterrey Jack or Colby Jack Cheese for sprinkling

Chopped cilantro, to taste

Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Pour thin layer of Black Bean Sauce in the bottom of the pan. Assemble enchiladas by filling tortilla with filling, sprinkling with Colby Jack cheese and rolling. Place rolled and filled tortillas into the pan. Pour more Black Bean Sauce over all tortillas until well covered, sprinkle with a little cheese.  Bake at 375 for 25 min. Sprinkle chopped cilantro and serve warm. 

Mexican Haystacks

I am pretty sure my brother lived off of this in college. And I can't blame him.  It is easy to make and has basic ingredients that you can dress up if you have the extras. 

My husband thinks these are "Taco Salads", but in my family, taco salads are way different. I will show you our taco salad another time. In my book, this is a Mexican Haystack. Top it with whatever you want, I will just give you some ideas. 

Mexican Haystacks

Filling

1 lb ground beef

2 (16oz) cans pork and beans

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp black pepper

Cook ground beef in skillet. Drain grease and return to pan. Add remaining ingredients and let simmer for 10 minutes. 

Lay a base of tortilla chips. Top with warm meat mixture. Add any of the following

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Chopped lettuce

Salsa

Sour Cream

Ranch Dressing

One Tasty Salad

Do you remember when you used to go play at a friends house and you were there around dinner and so the mom would invite you to stay? And then you would have to borrow the phone (house phones of course) and call your mom and ask if you could stay for dinner. Good times.

This recipe reminds me of eating at my childhood friend's house. They used to have this salad at almost every meal. To be honest, it was good, but not my favorite as a kid. But as I got older and wiser, I really came to love it. What really makes this salad is the dressing. It is simple, easy to adapt to your tastes and very healthy. Give it a go.

Salad:
1 head Red or Green Leaf Lettuce (chopped)
1- 2 tomatoes, large dice
1 avocado, sliced
1/8 red onion, thinly sliced

Dressing:
1 Tbsp lemon juice (FRESH!)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp black pepper