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©Life of a Foodie and Her Family 2008-2013, Lynn Tabor

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12/31/2014

Chicken Enchiladas

While menu planning this week I thought of my nephew Mikey joking about my Chicken Enchiladas.  I haven't made them in years, I think maybe 4 or 5 years.  He would always request them when he was hanging out at house during Christmas break or summer time.  So I came here to get the recipe and I couldn't believe it!  I never blogged it!!!  Well that has to change, because it is yummy and one of my favorite comfort food things.

1 3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped green onion, white and green parts
1/3 cup minced cilantro, if you don't like it use parsley
1 tbs minced fresh jalapeno
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin

1 pound boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips
Vegetable Oil

8 (8 inch) flour tortillas

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (mild or sharp)
1 cup bottled salsa (totally forgot this last night)
1 chopped tomato

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray a 13x9 pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl mix together sour cream, green onion, cilantro, jalapeno, garlic and cumin.  Set aside.

In a large skillet add the vegetable oil and cook the chicken breast strips over medium high heat until browned on both sides and no longer pink.

Lay out the 8 tortillas and divide the chicken evenly.

Spread the sour cream mix on top of the chicken breast strips.

Roll the tortillas and place seam side down in the baking dish.

Sprinkle with the cheese.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Uncover and broil for a few minutes until the cheese starts to bubble and the edges of the tortillas start to brown.

Remove from oven and spoon the salsa  in a strip down the center and sprinkle on the chopped tomato.

You can serve this with salad or rice.








These always come out great!  I need to put them back on the menu more often.

Gingerbread Cookie Cake

Here is another thing that I had planned on making this Christmas season.  The original recipe comes from Crazy for Crust.

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 1/2 cups flour

Sprinkles, for decorating

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan and set aside.

Sift the dry ingredients in a medium bowl

Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy.

Add molasses and mix until mixture is smooth.

Add eggs one at a time until combined.  Add vanilla and beat until combined.

Mix in the dry ingredients.

Press mixture into prepared pan and decorate with sprinkles.

Bake for approximately 24 minutes until the top just begins to get golden and is no longer shiny.

Let the cookie cool completely, then remove from pan.

Place on serving plate.  You may also make a quick glaze with powdered sugar and milk, but I didn't want this to sweet.




I really liked how this came out.  It was not hard like a regular gingerbread cookie and not soft like gingerbread.  I did top my with a bit of whipped cream, but I think this would be fabulous warmed a bit with ice cream.

Chocolate Peppermint Easy Fudge

Miss V loves anything that is chocolate and mint flavored.  I saw this on Pinterest a while back and wanted to make it before Christmas.  I don't know about you, but I found the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas went so FAST this year.   I felt bad that we didn't get to make cut out cookies with cousins, spritz cookies, and so many other things.

I figured since we are still on Christmas break that we could still make some new Christmas recipes.  The original recipe for this came from A Spicy Perspective.



1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 pound dark chocolate chips/chunks (I used dark chocolate chips)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Andes Peppermint Chunks
Cooking Spray (I used Coconut Oil spray)

Spray a 8 X 8 baking dish with cooking spray. Sprinkle half the peppermint chunks in the bottom of the dish and set aside.

Place a medium sauce pot over medium heat with 2 inches of water. Place a glass bowl over the top--making sure the glass doesn't touch the water and add the butter and condensed milk. Allow the butter to melt and the milk is very warm.  Add the chocolate chips and salt in the bowl. Stir the chocolate and allow to melt slowly.  Stir with a silicone spatula.

The mixture is very thick.  Remove the bowl from the heat and add both extracts and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the dish. Tap the dish on the counter a few times so any air bubbles to rise to the surface and to smooth the surface.

Sprinkle the remaining peppermint chips over the top and press them in gently.  Refrigerate for a few hours.

To cut, take the dish out of the refrigerator for a few minutes.  Then dip a sharp knife in hot water, wipe it off on a dry towel and cut quickly into small squares.  Repeat the process until the fudge is cut into squares.  Store in gladware containers or ziplock baggies.





This is very rich and tasty.  Definitely will make this again next year.

12/29/2014

Cinnamon Roll Tree

Yes I am "that" Mum who finds way to many ideas on Pinterest.  This one is simple enough...

2 cans of Cinnamon Rolls in a tube
Sprinkles of your choice

Place rolls in a tree shape, add sprinkles and bake according to package directions.  Drizzle on the icing and more sprinkles if desired.  Enjoy!





Cheesy Sausage & Potato Breakfast Casserole

I made this on Christmas morning and it is super good!

Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole

1 pound breakfast sausage in a roll, cooked (I used Jimmy Dean Sage)
1 yellow onion, chopped, sauteed in the sausage when the sausage is about done
7 eggs
1/2 cup milk
20 ounce bag frozen Ore-Ida Diced Hash Browns, defrosted in the microwave.  Mine took about 8 minutes and were nice and warm.  I like to pre-cook them if not they still have a raw bite to them.
2 cups of shredded cheddar, mild or sharp
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9 x 13 with non-stick spray.  Set aside.

Prepare sausage and onions.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, including sausage and onions.  Pour into prepared casserole dish.  Reserve roughly one cup of the cheese for topping.

Bake for 35 minutes.  Remove from oven and top with reserved cheese.  Return to oven for 10 minutes.

Allow casserole to cool for 15-20 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

I didn't take any other pictures of the inside of the casserole, just totally forgot.  The breakfast in the pie dish is my favorite Ham & Swiss pie.

Copy Cat Biquick mix

I ran out of Bisquick and didn't replenish last time I went shopping.  So I found a few copy cat recipes and this worked perfectly!!!

Bisquick mix (I only made a 1/4 of a batch)

8 cups flour
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons baking powder
4 teaspoons salt
1 cup shortening

Instructions

In a food processor, place all the ingredients and process until it looks like cornmeal

Store in an air tight container up to one month or in the freezer up to 2 months. Use as an exact substitute for Bisquick in recipes.

12/15/2014

Archers Farms Sea Salt Caramel Hot Cocoa Mix

This past Saturday, I hosted a small event called Cookies & Cocoa.  It was a very small and nice cookie swap.  Friday I was running around trying to find my favorite Land O Lakes hot chocolate mix packets and boy the stores were so picked over.

I ran into Target and found some other brands and the Archers Farms Sea Salt Caramel looked very interesting.

OH MY WORD!!!!  This stuff is wonderful!!!!  It was rich and you could really pick up the Sea Salt and Caramel taste.  I am definitely going back and finding more boxes to stock my pantry!!!

Christmas Cupcakes

I had fun making cupcakes this weekend for a friend.  I found two very different cupcake toppers/wrappers at Baker's Nook.  I love when I am looking for something specific, I can always find it at Baker's Nook, their prices are fantastic and shipping is always so fast.

This set can be found here at Baker's Nook.

The wrappers can be found here at Baker's Nook.

The toppers can be found here at Baker's Nook.


For these, I found pretty gold sanding sugar at Hobby Lobby.  These came out so pretty!


For these I used Red & White sanding sugar on half and Green & White sanding sugar on the other half.  These came out really cute and fun.



12/10/2014

Quinoa Edamame Salad

I have made this a few times, just haven't had time to post the recipe.  The original recipe can be found at The Girl Who Ate Everything.  I did tweak it and below is what I do.

2 cups uncooked quinoa
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup celery, sliced
1 small bag of frozen corn, thawed under warm water
1 (15-oz) can chick peasbeans, rinsed and drained
1 heaping cup dried cranberries
1 (12-oz) package edamame, cooked and shelled
2 red bell peppers, diced (or you can use any color)
1 cup sliced almonds (or any nut you like)
3 Tablespoons olive oil (more or less to taste)
5 Tablespoons lime juice (more or less to taste)
salt and pepper to taste


Add the quinoa, water, and salt to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, turn the heat down to low and cover. Cook for 15-20 or until done. Transfer to a cookie sheet that has been lightly oiled with olive oil and fluff with a fork.  Spread it out to let it cool faster.

I do like to roast my chick peas and edamame for better flavor.

Add remaining ingredients and toss to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I like to portion this out into small plastic containers.  This makes 12 cups.