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!

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

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!

Peach Cobbler Muffins

Have I talked about how much I love peaches? They are right up there with lemons. I can't think of a better fruit than a ripe peach from a farmer's market. And oh those beautiful peachy colors! Peaches are so great, I wanted them in my wedding. I don't remember if I mentioned this before, but we had peach cobbler at our wedding instead of wedding cake. It was amazing, and made for a nice display. 

Anyways, I think I first made these muffins for a camping trip. They were a sweet, portable breakfast of sorts. I know this post is terribly out of season, but I figured we could use a little summer in the midst of this cold winter. 

Peach Cobbler Muffins 

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

A dash of milk

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups white sugar

2 cups peeled, pitted, and chopped peaches

1.      Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease 16 muffin cups.

2.      In a large bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the oil, milk, eggs, and sugar. Stir the oil mixture into the flour mixture just until moist. Fold in the peaches. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups.

3.      Bake 20-23 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Creamy White Chicken Chili

I made this chili for a big family gathering at a lovely cabin in the mountains. Chili is perfect cabin food, and this creamy chili is comforting and a little spicy and you can make it tangy with your lime wedges and crunchy with those chips. Delicious. 

Creamy White Chicken Chili

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp fresh garlic

1/2  onion, diced

2 chicken breasts, grilled and diced (or 4 chicken thighs)

1-4oz green chili

1-4oz jalapenos

3- 15oz can of white beans, drained (Great Northern, White Navy, White Chili Beans)

1 can chicken broth 
1- 15 oz can green enchilada sauce

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp oregano

4 oz cream cheese (1/2 package) or 4 oz jar of sour cream

1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
lime wedges and tortilla chips for eating

Heat oil in large stock pot. Cook onions and garlic until translucent. Add green chilis and jalapenos. Cook until onions begin to brown. Add grilled chicken beans, broth, and all spices. Simmer 1 hour. 15 min before serving, stir in cream cheese/sour cream and cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips and lime wedges. 

Crock pot version: Throw everything in a crock pot and cook on low for 4-8 hours. Add cream cheese/sour cream, cilantro and stir until incorporated. Serve with lime wedges and tortilla chips. 
*Note: This version is super convenient and great for a busy day but you do lose depth of flavor by not grilling the meat and not sauteing the veggies. 

Instant Pot Version:
SAUTE Funtion: 
Add oil, garlic, onion, chilis and jalapenos. Saute until soft. Push to the sides, add chicken and brown on one or both sides. Remove chicken. Pour 1/2 can of chicken broth in pot and stir to deglaze pan. Insert steamer basket on top of broth and sauteed veggies. Place chicken on top of steamer basket. 
MANUAL Function:
For Chicken Breasts set for 5 min. Let it natural release for 5 min and then quick release. 
For Chicken Thighs set for 8 min. Let it natural release for 5 min and then quick release. 
Remove Chicken breasts and steamer basket. Dice Chicken breasts and return to pot. 
SOUP Function:
Add beans, chicken broth, enchilada sauce and spices. Set for 5 min. Let it natural release for 10 minutes and then quick release. Add cream cheese and close lid. I let it sit for a few minutes and then stir it in until melted. 
Right before serving, add chopped cilantro. Serve with lime wedges. 
*Note: This recipe will fit in a 6 Qt Instant Pot. If you want to double the recipe, you will need a larger Instant Pot, or you will need to transfer to a crock pot or stock pot when you add beans and broth. 

Happy Pie Day!

At work yesterday I was looking up some January and February Holidays to celebrate. Sometimes it is fun to celebrate those little holidays that no one know about. Like that January is National Soup Month. That is why I was posting all those soup recipes for you.
... Ok fine, I learned about National Soup Month after the fact. But it was still a good idea.

Anyways, I learned in the nick of time that today is National Pie Day! Like an actual pie, not Pi (3.141592653) Day, another day where people often eat pie to celebrate. My husband asked forever ago if I would make Chicken Pot Pie and I never got around to it. Thankfully he is forgiving and this recipe is delicious. 

Extra Flaky Pie Crust 

2 cups sifted cold flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon vinegar (to make crust flaky)

2/3 cup butter

6 tablespoons ice water

Sift flour, sugar and salt together.  Grate cold butter (on cheese grater) into flour/salt and add vinegar. I grate the butter so that I don't have to cut it in with a pastry fork. Mix butter and flour together gently with hands until a crumbly mixture has formed. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time while mixing with hands until a ball is formed. Dough should be pliable and hold together but not wet at all. Adding too little water will cause the dough to crack when rolling, and adding to much water will make the dough sticky.  Split in half and roll out both halves on floured surface, then put one half in pie plate.

Chicken Filling

4 oz sour cream (1/2 cup)

1 Tablespoon milk (optional to make it smooth)

½ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup cooked veggies ( my mom always used steamed broccoli pieces, and I like to add peas, corn and chopped carrots, just make sure they are not too wet when they go in the bowl)

1-2 chicken breasts, grilled and chopped into bite size pieces

A dash of garlic salt and a couple dashes of pepper to taste. 

Mix all ingredients together. Fill crust in the pie plate with filling and then cover with the other pie crust. Pinch sides together to seal. Brush evaporated milk on top of crust before baking for a golden brown crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

Banana Snack Cake

I woke up yesterday and wanted to make some rice pudding with my leftover rice. So I put the rice in the pot and realized I was out of milk. No big deal, I used some evaporated milk. Turns out I was also out of sugar, white and brown, so I used the last of my honey. I decided it was time to go grocery shopping...

Armed with fresh ingredients, I decided to make this delicious snack cake with those bananas that has been sitting on the counter for too long. I accidentally doubled the first two ingredients, so I just had to double the rest. Too bad :)

This recipe is a family favorite and one of the recipes that we would make all the time when we were down in Peru because it is easy and we always had bananas.

Banana Snack Cake

1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk (or milk with a tsp of vinegar or lemon juice)
2 bananas- mashed
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup whole oats
1 ½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add eggs. Stir in buttermilk, vanilla and bananas.
In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix well. Add
chocolate chips and pour into 9x13 greased pan or greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 35-40 min or
until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Sour Cream Chicken

My husband and I had a discussion yesterday. Mostly he was telling me his favorite dishes that I make. Usually I have to poke and prod a little to get his opinion on what to have for dinner. So it was nice that he offered this list so freely. He brought up one of my family favorites, Sour Cream Chicken. It is one of those warm, comfort foods that is fantastically simple.

Sour Cream Chicken

6- 8 chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream (8 oz)
2 Tablespoons milk (if you want it a little smoother)
dash of garlic salt
dash of pepper
Optional Seasonings: Parsley, basil, parmesan etc

Place chicken breasts in baking pan and sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper. Combine soup and sour cream and milk. Pour soup mixture over chicken and completely cover chicken. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. You can cut the chicken smaller and it will cook faster if you need to.

What to do with leftover rice

Make this creamy rice pudding!

When you wake up to this

Then it's time to make this

Growing up, our rice pudding was a baked dish, and it was delicious. It wasn't until I went to Peru that I learned that people make rice pudding on the stovetop, and it too is creamy and delicious.

Creamy Rice Pudding


1 1/2 cups cooked white rice
 2 cups milk, divided
 1/3 cup white sugar
 1/4 teaspoon salt
 1 egg, beaten
 1 tablespoon butter
 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a clean saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg; cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

Pumpkin Waffles for General Conference

It's funny the things we remember. I have vivid memories of General Conference weekend when I was growing up. Even if we only did something once, it seemed like a tradition.

Like the soup luncheon in between sessions with our friends. I think we only did it one year, but for some reason that is what I think of when I think of "between sessions". Or the Bingo cards that Sandi made for the younger kids, but that we all filled out anyways. And how we didn't have tv channels so we used to listed to it on the computer, or go over to the neighbors. The boys would dump out this huge bucket of legos and play for 2 hours. One year I made a whole stack of greeting cards. I might even still have a few leftover.

While I was in Peru we listed to conference in a our little house over the internet. But to get a good enough computer connection we had to plug directly into the router. Except the router was hooked up in a room infested with fleas. So we stretched the cord as far as it would go to the doorway and then we all sat in the hallway on our mattresses and hoped the fleas wouldn't attack. Good times. Yay for another temple in Peru!

Wow, that was a lot more rambling than I intended to do. I really wanted to point out that as with many other people, General Conference means good breakfasts. I dont know how I got so side tracked...

In any case. This GC I tried something new. Pumpkin Waffles. And because pumpkins and cream cheese were a match made in heaven I also invented something I will call Cream Cheese Syrup (It is suspiciously a lot like Cream Cheese Frosting).

And so without further ado

Pumpkin Waffles
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil for brushing waffle iron or cooking spray

Pre heat waffle iron. Stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl with buttermilk, pumpkin, and butter until smooth. Whisk in dry ingredients just until combined.

In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Folk them gently into the waffle batter, until just combined.

Brush waffle iron lightly with oil and spoon batter (about 2 cups for four 4-inch Belgian waffles) into waffle iron, spreading quickly.

Cream Cheese Syrup

4 oz cream cheese (1/2 block)
1/3 cup powdered sugar
3/4-1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Heat 1/2 cup milk and cream cheese in saucepan until smooth and powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Add more milk until you have reached desired consistency. Serve warm over waffles.