Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

I like Mexican food. I'm from Texas. I think it's a requirement.

I love my previous chicken enchilada recipe, but I wanted to try something a bit different this time. I hope enjoy it!

Ingredients:
-1 cup diced raw tomatillos (about 3 to 5 tomatillos)
-3 tablespoons butter
-2 tablespoons flour
-1/2 cup heavy cream
-1 cup milk
-2 cups shredded monterrey jack cheese
-3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
-1 tablespoon garlic powder
-1 teaspoon onion powder
-1 tablespoon chili powder
-1/2 teaspoon cumin
-tortillas (at least ten)

Directions:
Spread the diced tomatillos out in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Spray with cooking spray and roast at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until the tomatillos are soft but not overly browned.

Set aside.

In a medium size pan, place the shredded chicken. Add just enough water to barely cover the chicken. Add the spices and stir to combine.

Heat over medium heat and simmer, uncovered, until most of the water has cooked out. Set aside.

In a regular skillet, melt the butter over medium/medium low heat. Whisk in the flour to make a roux and cook another couple minutes, stirring frequently. Add the cream and whisk to combine. Cook for a few more minutes until starts to thicken. Add half the milk and whisk to incorporate. Allow to cook, stirring frequently, until thickened slightly. Add the rest of the milk and repeat process. When the sauce is heated through and has started to thicken again, add the tomatillos. Then add 1/3 of the cheese and allow to melt, stirring frequently, until well combined.

Set the rest of the cheese aside to top the enchiladas. Reduce the heat to low to keep warm while assembling the enchiladas.

Spoon a line of chicken into the center of a tortilla. Wrap the tortilla around the filling and pace seam down in a large casserole dish. Repeat until all the chicken and tortillas are used up.

Pour the sauce over the rolled tortillas.

Top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes,

until the cheese is melted and everything is hot and bubbly.

Serve and enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

In addition to soup, hot casserole dishes seem to grace my table with their presence more during the winter. I guess it's partly because they're usually decently hardy and usually served piping hot, both things I tend to crave when it's cold.

This is a bit of a variation on a typical chicken and rice casserole, and I think it turned out pretty well. I hope you enjoy it as well. :)

Ingredients:
-1 cup raw cubed chicken breast meat
-1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
-2 cups cooked rice (I used instant white rice, but use whatever you like)
-3 tablespoons butter
-2 tablespoons flour
-1/2 cup heavy cream
-1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)
-1 tablespoon onion powder
-salt and pepper to taste
-shredded cheese to top the casserole (I probably used about 1 cup-ish of colby jack)

Directions:
Combine the rice, chicken, and broccoli in a 2 qt or so casserole dish.

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Whisk in the flour to make a roux. Continue cooking the roux, stirring frequently, for a couple minutes. Whisk in the heavy cream and cook sauce until slightly thickened. Add the milk and whisk it in, continuing to cook the saice until it thickens slightly once again.

Add in the onion powder and salt and pepper. Whisk to combine well. Reduce heat to low and cook another couple minutes until the sauce is thickened a bit but still a pourable consistency.

Pour the sauce over the casserole ingredients already in the casserole dish. Stir slightly to let the sauce coat as much as possible of the other ingredients.

Top with the shredded cheese.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through, the cheese is melted, and everything is hot and yummy.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Breakfast Casserole

Sometimes you need a hardy breakfast. Or breakfast for dinner. :)

This is a very filling breakfast casserole, full of eggs, cheese, hashbrowns, and sausage. It's a whole big breakfast in casserole form. Yesssssss. Super easy to put together, this is a wonderful option for breakfast. It does take a little time to bake, so keep that in mind, but it's still awesome. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
-12 eggs
-1 package (approximately 6 cups) hashbrown potatoes
-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
-1 lb of breakfast sausage
-1 cup heavy cream
-salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook the sausage in a skillet over medium/high heat until cooked through.

Drain and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk (like you would for scrambled eggs).

Whisk in the cream.

Add salt and pepper and stir to incorporate. Set aside.

In a large glass baking dish (13 by 9 or so), pour the sausage,

hashbrowns,

and cheese,

reserving about 1/2 cup of the cheese to sprinkle over the top later. Mix together so ingredients are evenly distributed.

Pour the egg mixture over the hashbrowns, sausage, and cheese. If the eggs aren't evenly distributed, you can mix everything together in the baking dish.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the entire dish. Cook in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, until the eggs have set up and a knife inserted at the center comes out clean. Serve immediately.

Alfredo Pasta Shell Bake

I think pasta shells are fun, don't you? I mean, pasta comes in lots of fun shapes, but shells make me smile for some reason. Haha. I know, I'm a little nutty, but hey. They are fun. :)

This recipe is super simple and super yummy, if you like alfredo sauce. Which I do. You can add some other goodies like chicken, spinach, etc, to make it even better if you want. I just kept it simple this time. :)

This will probably feed 3-4 people depending on appetite, so adjust accordingly.

Ingredients:
-8 oz pasta shells (the medium sized ones)
-1.5 cups alfredo sauce (I made mine from scratch- find my recipe here, just don't add the spinach...unless you want to)
-1 cup shredded mozzarella or Italian Cheese Blend

Directions:
In a large pot, cook pasta until just al dente; slightly underdone is better than slightly overdone. Drain it and return it to the pot. Pour in the alfredo sauce and stir to coat the pasta.

Next, pour into a 1.5 quart baking dish

and top with the shredded cheese.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes, until the cheese on top is melted and everything is hot and yummy.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

I have shared my Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas before, and I love them. My husband does too. So I decided to try something a little different just for fun.

It seems to me like when the weather warms up, I get in the mood for more...summery flavors or something. Does that happen to anyone else? Or perhaps I'm just nutty? Haha. Anyway...I decided to try some honey lime chicken enchiladas. Yum.

In order to cut down on the acidity of the lime and the sweetness of the honey, I added some heavy cream to the sauce. I think it really added something nice to the sauce without overwhelming the whole thing. This recipe made enough for at least 10-12 enchiladas. I hope you enjoy this great, kind of summery, enchilada recipe. :)

Ingredients:
-2 chicken breasts
-Marinade: juice of one lime (approximately 3-5 tablespoons), 3 tablespoons honey, 1 teaspoon chili powder
-two cans green enchilada sauce (or you can make my homemade sauce)
-1/2 cup heavy cream
-2 tablespoons honey
-juice of half a lime (approximately 2 tablespoons)
-1 teaspoon chili powder
-tortillas
-2 cups shredded cheese (I used a Mexican cheese blend)

Directions:
Cook the chicken, then shred it. I did this in my food processor,

but you can do it with two forks as well. Place the shredded chicken in a large zip top bag. Mix together the three marinade ingredients in a small bowl.

Add the marinade to the bag with the chicken. Knead the marinade into the chicken.

Set aside in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

When the chicken is marinated thoroughly, it's time to start everything else. In a sauce pan over medium low heat, heat the enchilada sauce. Add the lime juice, honey, and chili powder, and stir to combine.

Pour a little of this sauce mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13 in baking dish, just enough to cover the bottom. Add the cream to the remaining sauce in the pan. Stir to combine.

Reduce heat to low and stir occasionally while compiling your enchiladas.

Sprinkle a little of the shredded cheese in a line in the middle of a tortilla.

Spoon on some of the chicken.

Roll the tortilla around the filling and place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat until the baking dish is full.

Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the entire dish of rolled tortillas.

Sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheese.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes, until everything is hot and bubbly and yummy.

Woohoo!

Bread Pudding

Ingredients:
-5 pieces of bread
-2 tablespoons butter
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/4 cup raisins
-3 eggs
-1/2 cup sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1.5 cups milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the bread into chunks and put into a large bowl.

Melt the butter and stir in the cinnamon.

Pour over the bread and stir to combine. Add the raisins and stir to incorporate.

Pour into a baking dish.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs. Add the vanilla, sugar, and salt and stir to combine.

Heat the milk up until it's hot, then add to the egg mixture.

Mix well, then pour over the bread mixture in the baking dish.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until the pudding has set and the whole thing is baked through.

Yum! Serve hot, room temp, or cold. Doesn't really matter.