Chicken Enchiladas

I love to post my recipes because then I can make them even when I'm out of town and don't have my recipe file! I got this recipe from my sister-in-law, Stacy.

Ingredients:
12.5 oz can white chicken (drained) (I've also used larger cans)
8 oz light sour cream
1 can cream of chicken
1 can green chilis (we use mild)
2 cups cheese (Mexican or Sharp Cheddar)
garlic salt
ground cumin
flour tortillas
green enchilada sauce


Directions: Mix chicken (break up chunks with fork), sour cream, cream of chicken, and green chilis together in bowl. (I add the green chilis later as Alex doesn't like them in hers.) Season with cumin (about 1/2 tsp) and garlic salt to taste. Add 1 1/2 cups of cheese. Mix together and fill tortillas. (I use about 10-12 tortillas.) Cover with green enchilada sauce and remining 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375-400 degrees.

English Toffee

I've made English Toffee every year for about 7 or 8 years with very mixed results. I've thrown out probably half of the batches. I think it has to do with the humidity in Houston! But, this year, I tried a slightly different recipe. And, this one uses a thermometer which takes some of the "guess work" out of it. The toffee turned out wonderful!!! So, here's a link to the recipe at "cooking for engineers" - complete with lots of photos! Just in case the link doesn't work at some time in the photo, I thought I'd post the recipe here, too. (I used my own wording.)

Ingredients:

6 oz. (170 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips (I would use 12 oz)

1 cup (200 g) sugar
about 1/2 cup (60 g) chopped almonds (I used sliced)
1 (5 mL) teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter

In a medium saucepan (but large enough for volume to double), melt butter with sugar, salt, and about 2 tsp water over low heat. Stir occasionally.

When everything is melted, increase temperature to medium-high and stir constantly. The butter and sugar will rise then collapse and thicken. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature. You should cook it until the temperature reaches 300 degrees F but before it reaches 320 degrees F.

Remove heat and stir in vanilla extract. Add the almonds and stir. (The recipe actually calls for the almonds to be placed on top of the chocolate, but I mix them in with the sugar and butter.)

Pour the mixture onto non-stick 9x13 cookie sheet and smooth with a spatula almost to edges of cookie sheet. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. Wait a minute or 2 for chocolate to start melting, then smooth the chocolate with the spatula. Place cookie sheet in refridgerator to cool and harden. Break into pieces and store in fridge.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies

These aren't one of my traditional Christmas recipes, but Alex and I made these last week and the whole family loved them. So, we made some again today.

I found the recipe at http://www.allrecipes.com/. The original recipe makes 48 cookies. Last week, I didn't have enough oatmeal, so we only made 1 dozen. This week, we made 2 dozen. (There is an ingredients convertor with the recipe online.) I love that the recipe only has 6 ingredients and is quick to make - and to clean up after!

Ingredients

3 cups white sugar
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats


Directions


In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, butter and milk. Bring to a rapid boil and boil for one full minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and peanut butter. Mix in the oats, stirring until the mixture begins to cool. Transfer to a large bowl if it does not fit into the pan well. Drop batter by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper. Let cool until set.

This recipe makes 48 cookies. Nutrition per cookie: 152 calories, 7.5 g fat, 8 mg cholesterol

Unplug Your Kids: Homemade

Our last day of school was Thursday and we started our day by doing our Unplug Your Kids Challenge for the week: Homemade. I called my mom and got her recipe for whole wheat pancakes - a healthier alternative to regular pancakes! And, they're yummy!


Ingredients for my mom's Wheat Pancakes (we halved the ingredients as we were only cooking for two):

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup white flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 4 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

You mix the dry ingredients separate from the wet ingredients and then mix together.

(By the way, I thought my camera was broke this morning or I would have took more photos. It turned out I'd hit a button and finally got everything working OK. Whew!)

Chocolate Shakes

Alexandra and I made chocolate shakes the past 2 nights. We modified an online recipe a little. The shakes are delicious, though runnier than I'd like. I wonder if it would help to just not blend it as long. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbs chocolate syrup
3/4 cup ice cream (vanilla)
1 tsp sugar
Just combine and blend for about 10-15 seconds and enjoy! (This was enough for the 2 of us to share.)

Strawberry Banana Smoothie & Ham & Cheese Pie

On Monday, I tried 2 new recipes I found on Kelli's There's No Place Like Home blog. The first was for ham & cheese pie. Both Alexandra and my husband loved it. Alexandra ate 3 slices! The crust is made with refrigerated cresent roll dough and the pie's main ingredients are Montery Jack cheese and diced ham. Kelli had linked to another blog, so you can find the recipe here.

I also found this recipe for strawberry banana smoothies through Kelli's website. (Again, she'd found it somewhere else). I only used 1/2 a banana instead of 1 banana and Alexandra still thought it tasted too much like banana. (But, I loved it!) So, next time, I'm going to double the amount of strawberries, pour hers, and then add the banana for mine. I froze the leftovers for popsicles. (Alexandra came up with the banana on the side as a decoration. She also put 5 slices around the top as a flower, but the photo didn't turn out. She loves to watch the cooking channel!)