Beef & Brown Sugar Enchiladas

This is a recipe from The Recipe Club! Super yummy recipes over there!!

1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 can black refried beans
1 can red enchilada sauce, divided
1/3 cup brown sugar-- or to taste
1/2 tsp. onion powder
2 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided
10-12 flour tortillas

Brown ground beef in a large pan. Drain off fat & add refried beans, 1/2 of the enchilada sauce, brown sugar & onion powder. Mix well & bring to a simmer. Remove from heat.
Fill one tortilla with about 1/4 of a cup of filling & 2 Tbsp. cheese. Roll up & place in a 9x13 pan. Repeat process until pan is full. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over prepared enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream, chopped tomatoes, sliced olives, diced onions, shredded lettuce, avocado or guacamole.

Alright, my enchiladas stuck to the bottom of my pan a little so next time I think I'll spray it with pam or put down a little extra sauce. It calls for 1 can of enchilada sauce and I bought 2 of the 12 or 15 ounce size cans. (I already threw them away, sorry!) I used one can in the meat mixture and one can on top of the rolled tortillas. I think it could have used one more can of sauce on top! We like things saucy:) This was really good and it made up really fast! I used the mild enchilada sauce but it could definitely handle the medium if your kids don't mind the spice.

Harvest Chicken & Potatoes

I got this recipe from the magazine but I believe you can find it on their website familycircle.com

Makes:6 servings

Prep: 20 Min

SLOW COOK: 5 hrs on HIGH or 7 hrs LOW

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1-inch pieces

3 TBS flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

12 ounces small red potatoes, scrubbed and halved

2 cups baby carrots, cut into thirds

2 celery stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 large onion chopped

1 can (4 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried sage

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 TBS unsalted butter, softened

1)In a medium bowl stir together chicken, 2 TBS flour, 1/4 tsp of the salt and pepper; add to slow cooker. Stir in potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, garlic, 1/2 tsp of the thyme, the sage and broth. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.

2)In a small bowl, stir together remaining 1 TBS four and the butter until a paste forms. Push the chicken and veggies to one side and whisk paste, remaining 1/4 teaspoon of both salt and thyme into the slow cooker. Cook one more hour or until thickened.

It was a lot more tasty than the picture makes it look :) I don't have unsalted butter so I used normal butter and normal chicken broth (but I love salt!). I also didn't add celery because I detest it. Lastly my crock pot seems to burn everything I cook in it so I added more broth than it called for and it turned out great. Zach even ate everything but the potatoes from his bowl.

Lemon-Herb Chicken Fettuccine

Recipe from Our Best Bites.

My ward had a cooking class this summer called Cooking with Lemons....best class hands down. Ever.  Everything I tried that night was so scrumdidiliumptious, but this fettuccine recipe stood out above all the rest.  It tastes best with fresh herbs and garlic and has a super lemon kick to it that I love! And sorry, I'm horrible, I forgot to take a picture:(  Just click on the link and she has all the pictures on her blog!

2 Large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Lemons
2 T Red wine vinegar
Olive Oil
1/2 lb Fettuccine (half of the box)
2 medium zucchini
1 Cup shredded Parmesan cheese
5-6 Cloves garlic
Fresh basil (about 1/2 cup)
Fresh oregano (about 1/4 cup)
Salt and Pepper

Prepare grill. You could also do this on the stove top in a skillet, or a grill pan.

Place chicken in a zip-lock bag with the juice of one lemon, a couple TBS of olive oil, and a couple TBS of red wine vinegar. Smoosh around and set bag aside while you get your other things ready.

Put the pot on the stove to boil water for the pasta.  While you are waiting for the water to boil, slice the zucchini in half length wise.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Press, or finely mince garlic cloves.  In a small sauce pan on the stove, place about 1/4 cup olive oil and add garlic.  Turn burner onto low heat.  It shouldn't be popping and frying, it should just slowly warm, infusing the oil with the garlic and removing that zing that fresh garlic has.

When water boils, add pasta and a spoon full of salt.

Remove chicken from bag and salt and pepper both sides.  Place chicken, and zucchini on grill.  While chicken and zuchs are grilling and pasta is boiling, chop herbs and get out cheese.  Zest both lemons and juice the one that hasn't been juiced.

See, now you're all ready.  When everything is done cooking you can throw it together.  Keep an eye on that garlic.  You DON'T want it to get brown and crispy.  It should still look nice and white.  Give it a stir.  If it starts really cooking, just take it off the heat and set aside.

When zuchs and chicken are done take them off the grill and chop them up.

Reserve about 1/2 cup pasta water.  Drain pasta and immediately place in a big bowl.  Place chopped zuchs and chicken on the top.  Add lemon zest, lemon juice, cheese, herbs, and garlic olive oil mixture.  Just pile it all in there.

Now take some tongs and give everything a big toss.  If you feel it needs more moisture, add a little of the pasta water, or a little more olive oil.  This will make 4 generous portions.  Garnish with a little more Parmesan on top and another squeeze of lemon.

Teriyaki Sauce

Tauna's Teryiaki Sauce

8 oz soy sauce

10 oz water

1 1/2 - 2 c brown sugar

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp garlic salt or powder

1/2 - 1 cube butter

Pour over meat and bake!

I got this recipe from my Sister-in Law, Gina. It can be found on her family's recipe blog.

This sauce is super easy, yummy, and my kids will eat it!!

The recipe is enough sauce for a 13x9 dish. I combined all the ingredients in a sauce pan first and warmed until the sugar dissolved and the butter melted. Then I poured over the chicken. I baked mine with chicken tenders tonight. 375 degrees for an hour-ish. I served over rice (the extra sauce is good on the rice) and broccoli.

I can't wait to try the leftover cold chicken on a salad tomorrow!

Rosemary Chicken Pasta

(Recipe and picture from: vittlesdivine.blogspot.com)

Ok, so I know I just posted, but I gave this new recipe a try and we LOVED it! My Dad and Brady came over to help fix our washer and Brady ate 3 helpings of the chicken.....so it has to be kid friendly and good. My favorite Brady quote, "Um...there is a little grass on my chicken!" aka rosemary, I ended up buying the dried leaves.

*My only substitutes were less garlic, no onion and next time I will probably just use the whole 16 oz. of pasta......I like to live on the edge!


Ingredients

3 breasts of boneless, skinless chicken

2/3 cup flour

4 tsp olive oil (divided)

4 tsp butter (divided)

1/4 cup diced onions

4 minced garlic cloves

2 cups water

1 cup unsweetened white grape juice

4 cubes chicken boullion

1 tsp ground or regular rosemary leaves

1/2 tsp salt

dash pepper

12 ounces angel hair pasta (not 16 oz!!)

fresh chives (optional; I have never used them)

Directions

Cut thawed chicken breasts into bite-size pieces and put into bowl. Pour flour into bowl and stir until chicken is well coated with flour. In a wide, deep skillet, combine 3 tsp olive oil and 3 tsp butter and heat over med-high until bubbly hot. Add chicken and cook, turning until lightly browned and cooked through (approximately 5-10 minutes). Remove chicken and set aside.

To skillet, add 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp oil. Add onions and garlic cloves, saute until softened (about 2-4 minutes)

Add water, white grape juice, bouillon, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Simmer covered approximately 5 minutes. Return chicken to skillet and simmer covered approximately 8-10 minutes. Sauce will thicken slightly and chicken will be heated through.Before chicken is added to the pot, get started on the pasta. Cook angel hair pasta and drain as suggested on package, but do not rinse (tip I learned from America's Test Kitchen).

One idea for this recipe is to break pasta into 2-4 inch pieces before boiling.When pasta is ready, slowly add pasta to the skillet with the sauce and chicken. Optional: cover and simmer for 1-2 minutes, serve warm. (I say "optional" because I sometimes forget to keep simmering it and it's ok. Last night I just dumped the sauce and noodles together into a serving bowl.) It will look very soupy, high-liquid when you first add the pasta to the sauce if you have done the previous steps right -- covered-- but after it sits for a few minutes, most of the liquid will absorb into the noodles. Don't be alarmed! Trust me, you want it this way! It all works out in just a few minutes!

Pineapple Chicken Tacos

About a year ago my friend Rachel posted on her facebook what she had made for their dinner. It sounded so good I immediately posted asking her to send me the recipe. It's been a favorite since! I use fresh pineapple when available and pre-chop everything then add it all at once. We like to add a few extras like: tomatoes, avocado, cheese, fresh tortillas and sour cream.

Ingredients:
1 large lime
1 can crushed pineapple (drained)
1 red pepper and 1 orange
1 small onion
1 bag flour tortillas
*2-4 boneless chicken breasts cut into strips (I usually use 2, but it depends on how many people you are making it for)
Jamaican Jerk seasoning (I couldn't find it except through pampered chef so I used Caribbean Jerk)
Salt/Pepper

Slice chicken and cook in skillet with a little extra virgin olive oil add a little S/P and squeeze lime over chicken. While it's cooking slice peppers and onion into thin slices add seasoning. Once chicken is cooked add peppers/onions let simmer. Once they look cooked through add pineapple.
To serve: Heat tortillas in microwave to soften and spoon in mixture. Wrap up and enjoy!
*I like to cook the chicken ahead of time, dice and add.

Start to finish it takes me maybe 15-20 min. It's nice to have something so yummy on a day that you don't have a lot of time to cook dinner. I hope you like it, it's one of my favorites.