ENCHILDADAS

ENCHILDADAS

Posted by Parties and Patterns on 1:11 PM in main meal,

MAKING THE ENCHILADAS

1 10 oz. can enchilada sauce

1 10 oz. can tomato soup

1 cup beef broth

1 tablespoon oregano

2 chopped onions

1 clove garlic chopped

2 cups grated cheese

18 corn tortillas

Make a sauce by combining first four ingredients. Add chopped garlic. Heat thoroughly. Brown the beef and onion together. Drop the tortillas in hot oil just to soften. Lay on paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Dip each tortillas in the heated sauce and lay on a plate. Add about two tablespoons of the meat. Sprinkle cheese on top of the meat. Roll up each one and lay in a greased 9x11 dish with the end on the bottom. Sprinkle cheese on the top and cover all with the remaining sauce. Bake at 350 decrees for 20 minutes.

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CHICKEN LASAGNA Dianne Abbott Kitchen

CHICKEN LASAGNA Dianne Abbott Kitchen

Posted by Parties and Patterns on 8:06 AM in main meal,

MAKING THE LASAGNA:

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic pressed

1/2 lb. mushrooms slices

1/2 cup butter

3 cups diced cooked chicken

One 16 oz. can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons minced parsley

1 tsp. dry oregano

1 tsp. dry basil

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

10 oz. lasagna noodles

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Sauté onion, garlic, and mushrooms in butter. Stir in the rest of the ingredients except for the cheese. Bring to a boil. Cover for 2 minutes. Layer 2 layers of noodles and sauce with the cheese ending with cheese.

Bake 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

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CHICKEN FRITO CASSEROLE Kris Hatch Kitchen

CHICKEN FRITO CASSEROLE Kris Hatch Kitchen

Posted by Parties and Patterns on 6:21 PM in main meal,

MAKING THE CASSEROLE:

2 cups crushed Fritos

3 cups cooked chicken

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 cup chopped onion

10 ounce can Red Enchilada Sauce

1 cup grated cheese

Combine 1 cup chips with everything. Bake 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly. 

Stir and top with remaining chips and cheese. Bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

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BEEF ENCHILADA Doris' Kitchen

BEEF ENCHILADA Doris' Kitchen

Posted by Parties and Patterns on 4:54 PM in main meal,

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1 can brown gravy

1 large can enchilada sauce

2 small cans green chilis

Onion flakes to taste

1/2 can can

Stew meat cut into small pieces

Tortillas

MAKING THE ENCHILADAS:

Place all ingredients into a large saucepan. Cover and cook 1 hour, stirring occasionally until meat is flaky and tender. Spoon meat out with slotted spoon reserving the sauce. 

Lay tortillas out on counter and in each one place a spoonful of meat and cover with grated cheese. Roll tortilla up and place in a baking dish with loose end on the bottom. Repeat until pan is filled. Cover with sauce, sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 1/2 hour at 350 degrees.

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Spicy Flank Steak

Spicy Flank Steak

Posted by Parties and Patterns on 7:55 AM in Elaine's corner, main meal, meats,

Spicy Flank Steak
(So Yummy!!!)

1 1/2 lbs. flank steak, scored across grain on both sides

2 tbsp. water

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1 1/2 to 2 tsp. crushed red pepper or pepper flakes

1 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tsp. seasoned salt

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. chili powder

2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

In a large seal-able plastic food storage bag, combine all ingredients except the steak, mix well. Remove 1/4 cup marinade for basting. Add steak, seal bag. Marinate in refrigerator at least 1 hour. Remove steak from marinade, discard used marinade. Grill steak to desired doneness, turning once and basting often with additional 1/4 cup marinade. Discard any remaining marinade. Thinly slice steak on the diagonal across the grain. 

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Pressure Cooker Beef and Broccoli

Pressure Cooker Beef and Broccoli

Posted by Parties and Patterns on 2:31 PM in ana's corner, main meal,

Super fast, super yummy

Pressure Cooker Beef and Broccoli 

(with stew meat)

Beef and Broccoli is one of my favorite Chinese take-out dishes...but why pay upwards of ten dollars for a small little container when you can make five times that much for less money when you make it at home! This recipe is yummy, relatively inexpensive since it uses stew meat, and pretty fast (less than an hour start to end...which is crazy for cooking stew meat!)--it's one of my favorite things to make!

Super fast, super yummy Pressure Cooker 

Beef and Broccoli with stew meat

2 Tablespoons cornstarch (or flour)
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 cup water
chicken bouillon 
1 lb stew meat (my tray was closer to a pound and a half)
2 tablespoons olive oil

a large head broccoli
1 onion, cut into wedges

1/3 cup soy sauce
2 packed tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ginger

Serve with your favorite rice

In a cup or small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of cornstarch (or flour), 2 tablespoons of water, and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder until smooth.  Pour over meat and toss to coat.  

Heat oil on medium high heat, and sautee meat until brown on all sides.  (I sprinkled the meat with some pepper and onion salt as I sauteed it as well).  I then added half a cup of hot water with a heaping teaspoon of chicken bouillon powder, sealed on the lid, and turned the heat up to high.  Once the knob on the pressure cooker started to rock I turned the heat down to low and cooked the beef for twenty minutes. 

While the beef cooked, I cut up my onion wedges, and cut all of the florets off of my broccoli head (including as much stem as possible) and cut them into smaller pieces.  I also mixed 1/3 cup of soy sauce with 2 heaping tablespoons of packed brown sugar and a teaspoon of ginger.  

After twenty minutes I removed the pressure cooker from the heat and cooled it immediately under running water in the sink.  I opened it, stirred, added the broccoli and onions, and then resealed the lid and returned it to high heat just until the pot was pressurized.  I then immediately removed it from heat and cooled it.  

At this point, just add your soy sauce mixture and stir! Because I used so much meat I ended up adding a bit extra of the soy sauce mixture, but it turned out great! The beef was so tender, as were the broccoli and onions (I prefer them to be on the softer side--if you prefer crunchier vegetables then just stir fry them for a few minutes instead of bringing the pot up to pressure with them).  We served this over brown rice (warning: brown rice takes FOREVER to cook), but you could also serve it over white rice, instant rice, or just eat it by itself!

Hope you enjoyed this recipe for super fast, super yummy Pressure Cooker Beef and Broccoli! I've made this in the crockpot before as well--just plan on a good 6-8 hours to get your stew meat as soft as you'll want it to be.

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Pressure Cooker Ribs

Pressure Cooker Ribs

Posted by Parties and Patterns on 9:15 PM in ana's corner, main meal, meats,

So for Mother's Day this year I got a pressure cooker, and I only have one thing to say: how did I ever cook without one?! It makes cooking ANYTHING so fast, so easy, and so delicious.  Pressure cookers can cook roasts in an hour, ribs, in 35 minutes, chicken in four minutes.  FOUR MINUTES! I'm sold.  And I'm going to try to sell you too...but only because I know you're going to love it :-)  These ribs were fall-off-the-bone-tender one hour after the time I cut through the plastic packaging.  Pretty impressive!

 Pressure Cooker Ribs

--one rack of ribs (I bought pork ribs...it was just over 3 pounds)

--seasonings (I used salt/pepper/onion powder/garlic powder/paprika...you could use whatever you want)

--one can of coke (you could use water, broth, one recipe I read called for beer)

--your favorite BBQ sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's)

Cut the ribs into serving sizes (I cut every two-three bones).

Season the ribs as desired (I mixed a couple dashes of all the seasonings above and rubbed them on).

Heat oil in bottom of pressure cooker.  Sear ribs on all sides.

Insert rack in bottom of cooker.  Place ribs on top. Pour Coke over ribs.  Seal top on pressure cooker and turn heat to high until the knob starts to shake.  Reduce heat to medium heat and continue to cook for 35 minutes.  Allow the cooker to release pressure naturally, then open and drain liquid.  Coat with your favorite sauce over low heat and serve!  The ribs fell right off of the bone--leaving absolutely nothing there!

Pressure Cooker Ribs

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Best ever Pot Roast: Quick, easy, and oh-so delicious

Best ever Pot Roast: Quick, easy, and oh-so delicious

Posted by Parties and Patterns on 9:14 AM in ana's corner, main meal, meats,

Pot roast is one of my absolute favorite meals--it's filling and satisfying in every way, it's wholesome, and every time I eat it I think "dang, I could eat that every night and never get sick of it." The funny thing is, no matter HOW MANY times I make pot roast, I can never remember how I do it! How long do I cook pot roast at? What temperature should I cook pot roast at? Should I do a crockpot roast or should I cook my roast in the oven?  Should I sear my roast first? When do I add the vegetables to my pot roast again? I have to find a recipe online EVERY time.  And I can never find the same recipe. I mean, really, how can I not remember these things?! So, having made a yummy pot roast last night, I decided I'm going to write down exactly what I did!

Easy and Delicious Pot Roast Recipe

-One roast (I used a rump round roast, chuck roast is usually a bit cheaper I think...I usually buy a 3 pound roast for around $10-$15)

-Garlic salt

-Onion powder

-Pepper

-Water

One large onion, cut into wedges

6 large carrots, peeled and diced (I used the large setting on my ChopChop, sometimes I use a small bag of baby carrots and leave them whole)

6-8 potatoes (I used 8 smaller potatoes)

-butter
-milk
-Ranch
-salt/pepper (to taste)
(you can add anything to mashed potatoes: sour cream, cream cheese, evaporated milk, heavy cream, any combination of spices, bacon--do what sounds good to you)

Gravy
-cornstarch (or flour)
-Rosemary
-Thyme
-Pepper
-bouillon (I actually use a powdered form of CHICKEN bouillon--I like it better than the granules and I HATE the pain of using the cubes. I'll explain why I don't use beef bouillon below)

A lot of recipes will tell you to sear your roast first.  Usually I do. Last night I didn't.  Honestly? I didn't notice any difference whatsoever (besides the fact that I had one less pan to wash-yahoo!).  If you do want to sear your roast, preheat oil on high in a skillet, season your roast, and sear each side for a minute.

Baking options:

Crockpot: 8-10 hours on low
Place your roast in crockpot fatty side up after seasoning all sides. I sprinkled each side with onion powder, garlic salt (you could obviously do garlic powder, onion salt...or both as powders and then just add salt) and pepper.  Then I added a couple cups of water to the bottom (the water was 1-2 inches thick) and put the lid on.  It's ideal to cook pot roast on low (8-10 hours), but if you cook it on high it should be ready in 5-6 hours. Pot roasts are like sleeping babies: they do better if you just leave them alone. Don't open the lid or mess with your roast...just let it cook.

After nine hours, I opened the crock pot to throw in the onions and basted the roast while I was in there--it didn't look dry at all and I could tell it was already super soft.

At this point (an hour before serving), I started to boil my carrots in one pot (on high, already diced and in salted water), and my peeled, whole potatoes in another (on high, in salted water).  It took the carrots about twenty minutes and the potatoes about thirty to be as soft as I like them.

Returning to the roast: it's best to let your roast sit for 15 minutes before serving.  I flipped my roast over for a few minutes so that the seasoning from the fatty top could soak into the juice, then I removed it to a serving plate (I hate fat so I scraped it all off), basted it in juice, and covered it with the now soft and yummy onions.  I poured the remaining juice into a small sauce pan and turned it to medium.  

To make the gravy, I scooped out some of the hot juice into a cup and mixed it with a couple spoonfuls of cornstarch (you could use flour) until smooth and then returned that to the juice to thicken it up.  I added some pepper, rosemary, thyme (to taste), and a cup of hot water with a spoonful of my powdered chicken bouillon.  I don't use beef bouillon because I feel like it has a super strong, fake-tasting flavor.  Any time I've used beef bouillon in something (gravy, soup, etc.) it starts tasting like I dumped it out of a can, and I hate that!  Chicken bouillon adds awesome flavor while keeping things lighter-tasting...you would never even know that the gravy had "chicken" seasoning in it--it just had a great, yummy flavor.  If your gravy is thick, add more water/bouillon (or just water if it's too strong). If your gravy is thin, add more cornstarch/flour. If you don't stir the cornstarch/flour into a small amount of liquid first, you'll get lumps that you'll never be able to get out.

Right before serving, drain carrots and add pepper and butter (and more salt if necessary).  Drain potatoes and mash with 1-2 tablespoons butter, a huge squirt of ranch, a dash of milk, and some pepper (as you mash you can add more of anything to make them creamier or more flavorful). I mash my potatoes with my hand-held electric beater.

And, voila, you have a yummy, awesome pot roast that everyone will rave over!

Baking a roast in the oven:
If you want to bake your pot roast in the oven (it's faster, so it's a great option if you forgot to throw it in the crockpot)--preheat oven to 275 and bake in a covered baking dish for 3-4 hours (depending on size of the roast...though I lean towards 4 hours even for a three pound roast).  You'll want some water in the bottom (same as with your crockpot) and you can throw your vegetables in there too, but if you cook them the entire time they'll be pretty mushy by the end.

When do you add vegetables to your roast? If I'm not doing mashed potatoes, I'll throw my cubed potatoes, carrots, and onions into the crockpot about two hours before the roast should be done (maybe an hour and a half before it's done if your adding them to a roast in the oven).  You don't want to open your roast because you don't want it to dry out...so if you do open it to add something just make sure you baste your roast in juice before closing it back up again.

And there. Now you (and by "you" I really mean me) have one place to come for an awesome roast reference whether you're making a pot roast in the crockpot OR cooking a roast in the oven.

Enjoy!

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Yummy Chicken Quiche

Yummy Chicken Quiche

Posted by Parties and Patterns on 4:41 PM in ana's corner, main meal,

Ana's Corner

Quiche is something that I absolutely love--but I had never made it before! When I had some leftover pie dough after making the best ever Chicken Pot Pie ever, I decided to use it to make this quiche.  This quiche is so delicious--it's creamy, cheesy, and full of yummy things (and a great way to use up left-over chicken...something else I had on hand)!

Yummy Chicken Quiche

1 pie crust (can use frozen or follow THIS recipe for the best pie crust ever)

splash of olive oil

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup chopped green pepper

1 heaping tablespoon flour

1 heaping cup shredded cooked chicken (you could use canned)

1/4 teaspoon salt (to taste)

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (I use a little more)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese (I used 3 slices cut up)

3 smaller eggs

1 cup milk 

1 cup sour cream

Sautee the green pepper and onion in the olive oil for a couple minutes.  Then add the flour and stir.  Then add the chicken and all of the seasonings and fry together for a few more minutes to combine the flavors.  Whisk together the eggs, milk, and sour cream and combine with chicken mixture. Pour into a deep-dish pie plate.  Bake at 400 for 50 minutes. Let the quiche set for ten minutes after baking before serving. So simple, so easy, and so good! My baby girl could not stop eating it--even her very picky little friend kept asking for more!

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