Creamy Chicken Enchilada Recipe

This is easy and delicious - your family will definiately request this again!

12 flour tortillas
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 1/2 cups sour cream
2 small cans diced green chiles *
3 cups shredded chicken
2 to 3 cups shredded cheddar or jack or combination cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 13 x 9 pan. Mix soup, sour cream and chiles together, spread about 1/4 to 1/2 cup on bottom of baking pan. Reserve 1/2 to 3/4 cup of soup/sourcream mixture and set aside. Add chicken to soup mixture. Cut tortillas in half and arrange 6 halfs on the bottom of baking pan (to cover). Top with soup/chicken mixture, and 3/4's of the cheese. Top with remaining tortillas, spread reserved soup/sourcream/chile mixture on top; top with remaining cheese. Bake about 20-25 mins.

*a can of rotel tomotoes with chiles (drained) can be used in place of chiles (or 1 can chiles with 1 can soup).

Home Made Cherry Pie Filling


You will never buy pie filling in a can again! So much better than what you buy on the grocery store shelf - and so easy and cost effective. No preservatives in this stuff. I made cherry the other day - a 16oz bag of frozen cherries would be enough for cheese cake topping but I would double for a pie. I can't wait to try other fruits!


Cherry Pie Filling


2 cups pitted cherries (or 16 oz bag frozen, slightly thawed)**see note
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch


**Note if using frozen fruit decrease water to 1/8 cup or even no water depending on how 'watery'.


In a saucepan, cook cherries in water for 10 minutes. Mix together the sugar and cornstarch (this is very important to mix together well); add to cherries. Cook cherry mixture until thickened. Cool slightly before using to fill pie shell or other dessert.

Freezer Jam
I was a little leary of using jello to make jam with - but I always wanted to try it and the results are excellent! I can get Jello on sale at Walgreens often as cheap as 25cents a box - this makes using jello (instead of pectin) a great (frugal) option!! My family loves this jam.

Freezer Jam
2-3 cups mashed strawberries (or other soft fruit), depending on desired thickness
3 cups sugar

Bring to a hard boil in a large pot. (It boils up)
Reduce heat to medium, skim off 'foam'
Boil 10 minutes.

Add: 1 3-oz. package flavored gelatin, your choice of flavors

Mix until well dissolved and bring to a boiling point again. Remove from heat and let set a few minutes. Stir again.

Put in sterilized jars or freezer containers and keep in refrigerator or freezer. The fun of this recipe is the options you can use! Can be easily doubled.

Beer Cheese Soup

This stuff tastes like it comes from a fancy restaurant. What a great thing to serve on a cold Football Sunday afternoon. The original recipe calls for Cheese-Whiz. I'm sure that's DELICIOUS but its very expensive (3 jars would be about $18). Velveeta is about 1/2 the price and my soup lovers never knew!

2 1/2 lbs Velveeta (that's right - a package and one-half!)
3 cans (15 0z) chicken broth
2 12oz cans beer - open the cans to settle a little
salt & pepper to taste
a pinch of cayenne pepper
1 lb. bacon (for topping)
green onions or chives, chopped

Chop bacon and fry in a pan, set aside. Put chicken broth in large soup pot, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-ish and add Velveeta. I like to slice/chunk it up a little. Stir until cheese is melted. Add beer and seasonings. Stir until hot, I like to simmer for an hour (if you have time).

Serve with crumbled bacon & green onions on top.
Garlic Bread and a salad goes great with this.

Crab Quiche

Feed crab to teenage boys? Is that affordable? Every now and then Walgreens has a sale on canned crab that I can't pass up. They are about 6oz (same as regular tuna can) - I use this for this recipe and it's excellent! As for pie crust, try Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts, they are pretty good and of course EASY. I keep them on hand especially for Quiche! Unless you have the talent to make your own, frozen just doesn't seem as good.

3/4 C mayonnaise
2 T flour
3 eggs
3/4 C evaporated milk
2 cans crab meat - drained well (about 1 C)
1 1/2 C shredded cheese (swiss or Monterey jack - combo of mozzarella & cheddar is fine)
1/2 C green onions, chopped
2 tbsp parsley (fresh or dry)
Optional: a couple tablespoons of chopped roasted red pepper adds a nice touch if you have it on hand
9" unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, beat together eggs, mayonnaise, flour, and milk until thoroughly blended. Stir in crab, cheese, and onion. Spread into pie shell. Take strips of foil about 2" wide to wrap around the edges of your pie crust so they don't burn, remove the foil about the last 15 minutes of baking. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Chocolate Ice Cream Topping

This is fast, easy, and delicious! You probably have all of these ingredients on hand!

1 C sugar
4 Tbsp cocoa
1/4 tsp salt
3-4 Tbsp butter
1/4 Cup water (more or less to make a stirable consistency)**see note
1/2 tspf vanilla extract

**Note: if you have leftover coffee from the morning use 1/2 water 1/2 coffee for a great flavor. it won't taste like coffee - it's just a "hmmm that's good" taste

Combine sugar, cocoa, and salt in small saucepan. Add enough water to make stir able constancy. Add butter to cocoa mixture. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Allow to boil for 1 minute, stirring. Remove from heat. Add vanilla.

Enjoy!

Can't Leave Alone Bars

These are easy to make (from a cake mix) and delicious as a dessert, snack or kids lunch treat.

INGREDIENTS
1 package (18-1/4 ounces) white cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter, cubed

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine the dry cake mix, eggs and oil. With floured hands, press two-thirds of the mixture into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Set remaining cake mixture aside.
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the milk, chocolate chips and butter. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 30 seconds; stir. Microwave 30-45 seconds longer or until chips and butter are melted; stir until smooth. Pour over crust.
Drop by teaspoonfuls of remaining cake mixture over top. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool before cutting. Yield: 3 dozen.

Tuna Burgers

This is a great, inexpensive meal that my family loves. Add this to your menu planning once a month (or even twice) and watch your grocery budget shrink!

1 can tuna in water drained and mashed with fork (we prefer white albacore)
10-12 saltine crackers, crushed
1/4 c. onion diced
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 egg (1 egg per can of tuna used)
Salt and pepper to taste

Mash together ingredients with a fork and allow to sit for 30 min (in the fridge) to allow crackers to absorb moisture. Form into balls then gently pat out to form a small cake(1 can makes 4 small cakes). Heat skillet on med-high heat add olive oil and a small amount of butter. Add cakes to oil and fry until golden brown on both sides. You want them a little crisp, don't flip them too early they can fall apart - the crispy sides help keep them together. We add sliced cheese at the end to melt on top and serve on hamburger buns with mayo, lettuce and tomato. No matter how much I make - we never have any leftovers of these!

The Best Crockpot Chili

This is our favorite traditional chili recipe. It's easy and tastes better than anything from a can. My mother-in-law got the original recipe from a family she baby-sits for; we all love this recipe and have modified it somewhat to fit our individual families.

3 lbs ground beef
salt, pepper to taste
garlic (couple cloves) or garlic powder (couple teaspoons)
good size onion chopped
1 - 15oz can of tomato sauce
2 - 30oz cans of chili beans in chili sauce - undrained
3 (or 4) 15oz cans of dark red kidney beans - drained and rinsed
1/4 to 1/2 cup cumin
1/8 cup chili powder

Brown ground beef in a large skillet with salt & pepper, drain; add garlic after browning. Dump ground beef and all remaining ingredients in a LARGE crock pot, give it a stir and cook on low 8-10 hours. Enjoy. Sometimes, instead of a 15oz can of tomato sauce, I use an 8oz can of tomato sauce with a 10oz can (undrained) of Rotel tomatoes (or any brand of diced tomatoes with green chilies) for a little 'kick'. Serve with fresh chopped onion & grated cheese. If using a smaller traditional sized crock pot - cut this recipe in half.

Breakfast Casserole with Bacon (shown above with breakfast sausage)

I made this for my son's football breakfast potluck and it was really delicious. I think we will use for a dinner once in awhile too. It's my mother-in-law's recipe, her secret? She greases the pan with bacon grease! It really gives a great overall flavor to the dish. You can also make it with sausage or ham.

6 eggs, beaten
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
30oz bag of shredded hash browns (frozen)
2 Cups shredded chedder cheese
1 onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper (green or red or combination) finely diced
1 lb bacon, chopped & cooked (I chop it, then fry it - it seems faster)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, pour into a well greased (use the bacon grease generously) pan. Bake for 60-65 mins.

Magnificent Casserole

2lbs ground beef
8oz cream cheese
1 tbsp minced green pepper
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 C grated swiss cheese
8oz egg noodles
1 lb cottage cheese
1/3 C chopped green onions
2 C tomato sauce

In a large pan cook noodles boiling salted water to aldente. Drain & set aside. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese, cottage cheese and sour cream. Add onion & peppers. Set aside. Brown ground beef & drain fat. Add tomato sauce to ground beef. Grease 9x13 pan and arrange in the following layers: Noodles, cheese mixture, meat mixture - repeat. Top with grated swiss cheese. Bake at 375 for 30mins.

School starts in less than 2 weeks. Schedules are already hectic with football practice starting and getting 2 highs choolers and one college age kid ready. Monday night I didn't get home until 6:30 without a clue what I was going to make for dinner. Unusual, but a sign of the busy fall season gearing up. Tuesday morning (yesterday) I threw some chicken breast, balsalmic, soy sauce, and garlic in the crock pot. It was palatable but not very good. The chicken will make decent quesadillas for tomorrow but to stay ahead of the game I'm going to test some new and use some tnt (tried and true) crock pot recipes to keep these hungry men fed!

Sausage Breakfast Puffs
We like to eat breakfast for dinner once in awhile. It's an inexpensive meal that everyone loves. This recipe is a great way to stretch breakfast sausage!

1/2 lb breakfast sausage
3/4 C baking mix
1 C Shredded chedder cheese
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp diced green chiles

Brown sausage in a skillet. Add remaining ingredients and mix together, shape in to 2" balls, place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 12-15 mins.

"Summer" Rubber Chicken
Adapted from Leanne Ely
for a family of 5

Place 12 chicken breasts in2 large ziplocks (6 ea)
split a bottle of italian salad dressing (1/2 the bottle in each bag)
marinate 6 hours or overnight

grill all 12 breasts on your outdoor grill (or bake in 400 degree oven 40 mins)

Day 1: serve 6 breasts on first night, with salad, veggie, potatoes

Day 2: Chicken Quesadillas. Take 3 of the remaining chicken breasts and cube/shred. Place on 1/2 of a flour tortilla, sprinkle cheese (Monterey jack, cheddar or other), add a few diced green chiles (or jalapenos) dash some tabasco sauce or salsa (for heat). Fold in half and grill on both sides in a nonstick skillet or cast iron skillet (use cooking spray on either) until blistered and cheese is melted. Keep warm in oven while cooking the others. I get 6 quesadillas out of this. Serve with chopped lettuce, tomatos, sour cream and guacamole.

Day 3: Take the remaining 3 breasts, dice/chop for chicken salad. I use mayo, rosemary, chopped egg, onion, finely chopped celery, salt & pepper. Serve with a salad and/or fries or chips.