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!

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

Creamy Parmesan Tilapia

According to "Women's Health Magazine" Tilapis is only the 14th healthiest fish to eat. Apparently they say Catfish is #12... So I don't know if I trust them. In any case, most people agree that fish in all forms is still pretty great for your heart and has omega 3s  and good stuff like that. Anyways, I use Tilapia because it is cheap. If you are feeling rich, go ahead and try this recipe with Salmon or Mahi Mahi.

I think I first saw this recipe on Pinterest. It was originally a recipe for chicken, and since it worked so well with the chicken, I thought I would give it a try with fish.

No pictures yet, I will put them up as soon as I make it again.

Ingredients:
4 Tilapia Fillets
1 cup Mayonnaise*
1 cup Parmesan Cheese
Dash of Garlic Salt
Dash of Pepper
3/4 cup Italian Breadcrumbs

Spray an 8X8 baking dish with cooking spray. Lay Tilapia in bottom of pan.
 In separate bowl, mix mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese. Spread mixture over the top of fish, covering fish completely. Sprinkle bread crumbs over cheese mixture and top with garlic salt and pepper to taste.
Bake at 400 degrees for  12-14 minutes, until breadcrumbs begin to brown and fish flakes easily.

*Substitute Plain Greek Yogurt for healthy dish

Brown Rice Enchiladas with a Black Bean Sauce

So remember my awesome friends who I grew up with? The ones who gave me the best salsa recipe ever and the delicious Black Bean Soup? Well I have yet another wonderful recipe from them. And I don't know the official nutrition facts on this recipe, but I am willing to assume it is at least kind of healthy because everything the Collet's make is healthy.

I made these as part of our "Vegetarian Project" and they got very positive reviews from the boys. A quote from one of them: " I can't believe these don't have meat in them, they taste so good". That is a huge deal, in case you didn't know.

They take a little bit of prep work and a little bit of time, but they are delicious. My only regret is that the pictures didn't turn out any better... Oh well, make them yourself and you can take a better picture for me to use.

RICE ENCHILADAS W/ BLACK BEAN SAUCE

Sauce:

1 can green chiles                                           

1 can black beans, undrained

1 can vegetable broth                    

 ½ c chopped onion

2 cloves garlic                                      

1 bay leaf

3 Tbsp hot sauce

Combine in saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer and let simmer 5 minutes. Pour mixture into blender (taking care because it is hot) and process until smooth. Set aside.

Filling:

1 c cottage cheese  

½ c sour cream

½ c feta cheese

Blend in blender.  Then stir in:

¼ c onion                         

1 chopped seeded jalapeno

2 c cooked, brown rice

2 Tbsp hot sauce (optional)

To make:

6 Flour tortillas

¾ cup Monterrey Jack Cheese

Chopped cilantro, to taste

Fill 6 flour tortillas (or 10 corn tortillas) with rice/cheese mixture, roll and place in 9 X 13 dish coated with cooking spray.  Pour about half of the black bean sauce over tortillas; cover and bake at 350 for 25 min.

Uncover, sprinkle with Monterrey Jack cheese.  Bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is bubbling.

Serve warm with cilantro for topping and the rest of the black bean sauce for pouring on top. 

College Friendly: Lemon Garlic Tilapia

I was on the phone with my mom the other day and she asked for some easy, healthy recipe ideas for my brother heading back to college. Apparently there are a disproportionate amount of desserts on my blog...  Which sparked an idea for a project! A collection of recipes that have 5 or less ingredients, are budget friendly and healthy. Fun, right?

This is  my first attempt, and here is the breakdown:

Tilapia has low calories, omega 3, vitamin B12 and plenty of potassium. Lemons are immune boosting and have lots of vitamin C. Garlic apparently prevents cancer. So healthy.

Lemons are about 50 cents each, Tiliapia is just over a dollar a fish and garlic is pennies. So cheap.

And easy. Assuming you already have salt and pepper, the only ingredients you need are
1 tilapia fillet
1 lemon
2 tsps of minced garlic (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
2 Tbsps of olive oil
1 Tbsp dried parsley

Here is what you do. Line a pan with tinfoil (to make clean up easier).

Squeeze 1/2 of the lemon into the pan, drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil, add 1 teaspoon garlic, 1/2 Tbsp parsley and a dash of salt and pepper.

Lay tilapia in the pan and add remaining lemon, olive oil, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. If you want to you can add some lemon zest or lemon slices.

Broil at 400 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes.

Serve with rice and vegetables.

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

I am trying to be healthier. Eat vegetables, fruits, drink water, not eat cake, all that jazz. To motivate myself I teamed up with my sisters in law and mother in law in a little competition. We get points every day for healthy things (drinking water, running, getting sleep) and lose points for unhealthy things (soda, treats, watching tv). It has been pretty fun, and a little hard too. I don't think I realized how much 8 full glasses of water is. Or how it might affect the bladder. Try it sometime.

In my effort to be healthy I made some fish, thats healthy right? Problem is, the first time I made this it was kind of ugly. I guess it tasted ok, but I didn't even bother taking pictures because it was funny looking (croutons do not turn into a fine breadcrumb when you crush it with your hands). So I tried again last night. Used a blender to crush croutons. And added a tomato so I would get a point for a vegetable. Give it a go!

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

4 tilapia fillets
1egg
2 T Italian Dressing
1tsp fresh garlic
1T Italian Seasoning
1 cup crushed croutons (again, try the blender)
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

Pasta Dish

1 cup penne noodles
1/4 cup italian dressing
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 tomatoes
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 T fresh basil
1/2 cup fresh baby spinach ( I didn't have this, but I am sure it would taste awesome in this recipe)

For Tilapia: Mix egg and italian dressing. Blend croutons, italian seasoning and parmesan cheese until fine. Dip fish one by one into egg mix and then coat completely in crouton crumbs. Lay in buttered baking dish (or olive oil). Bake at 400 F for 10-15 min.

For Pasta: Boil noodles until al dante, drain and return to pan on medium heat. Add italian dressing, vinegar and parmesan. Just before serving toss diced tomatoes and spinach in with basil. Eat.