5-minute Enchilada Casserole

This is a 5-minute prep. And with all super quick meals I cannot promise good health, but it is delicious and easy.

Ingredients:
about 14 taquitos (frozen food) chicken or beef
1 large can of refried beans
1 can of enchilada sauce
1.5 cups shredded cheese

Spread refried beans into a 9x13 pan. Place frozen taquitos on top of refried beans. Spread enchilada sauce on top, sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes. serve with desired toppings like sour cream, olives, guacamole.

Cheddar Cheese Soup

Ingredients:
2 to 3 carrots - grated
1 onion - chopped
7 ribs celery - chopped
1 large bunch broccoli
3 quarts water
1/2 cup chicken bullion
1 pound butter - melted (Do not substitute)
2 cups flour
1 16 oz. jar Cheese Whiz

Directions:
Mix the flour and melted butter in a separate bowl, set aside.
In a large pot, cover vegetables with 3 quarts of water. Cook until tender over stove top. Add 2 more quarts of water. Bring to a boil. Add chicken bullion. Stir in the flour/butter paste. Add the Cheese Whiz. Simmer 15 minutes to 1 hour. Stir frequently because it sticks easily.

Lemon Thyme Chicken

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt and pepper. Set aside 4-1/2 teaspoons for sauce. Sprinkle the remaining flour mixture over both sides of chicken. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook chicken in oil over medium heat for 7-9 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Remove and keep warm.
In the same pan, sauté onion in butter until tender. Add thyme and reserved flour mixture; stir until blended. Gradually stir in the broth and lemon juice, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve over chicken. Sprinkle with parsley.

The sauce was really tasty on top of the chicken.

Mini Deep Dish Pizzas

Pillsbury Grands Refrigerator Biscuits (Home style, Butter, whatever)
Your favorite spaghetti/pizza sauce
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Pepperoni, sausage, ect.

Preheat oven as directed on the biscuit package (I think it was 375*, but I could be totally wrong). Grease a muffin tin. Place biscuits, one to an opening, in muffin tin. Gently press the biscuit to form a cup around the sides of the muffin tin ... sort of like making a little cup to hold sauce, toppings, and cheese. Bake empty 'cups' for 8 minutes until puffy and just slightly brown. Remove from oven. Add a TBS of sauce, then sprinkle cheese, then sprinkle toppings. Return to oven and continue baking until cheese is melted and toppings are golden. Kids will love it!

Rocky Road Cake

This was taken straight from FoodNetwork.com ... it is Paula Dean's recipe ... I added the marshmallows to make it a Rocky Road cake. It's what I served when Cadi was in town.

Cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) can chocolate syrup (recommended: Hershey's)

Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease and flour a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.

For the cake: Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in another bowl. Add to creamed mixture, continuing to beat. Add vanilla and chocolate syrup to batter and mix well. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. While cake is baking, prepare the frosting.

For the frosting: Put butter, chocolate chips, sugar and evaporated milk in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stirring ingredients together, boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and nuts. Allow frosting to cool a bit and then add marshmallows. Pour over warm cake. Serve at room temperature.

Chili and Cornbread Casserole

I combined two recipes and came up with this...

1 lb. Ground beef
1 can (15-16 oz) chili beans, undrained
1 c. salsa
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes with cilantro and lime juice
3 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 pkg. (15 oz) honey cornbread mix
1 1/2 c. Mexican cheese
Sour cream

Brown the beef and drain, add beans, salsa, diced tomatoes, chili powder, and cumin. Heat until bubbly. Make cornbread mixture according to package. Spread half of cornbread mixture on bottom of 2-quart casserole dish. Layer beef mixture on top. Spread remaining cornbread mixture on the top just around the edges. Leaving a hole in the middle. Bake at 400* for 18-20 minutes. Then sprinkle with cheese and bake for another 5 minutes until cheese is melted and starting to crisp. Remove from oven. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Smoothie-licious

Welcome to my very first made up by me smoothy recipe. This recipe may exist on some fabulous blog somewhere, but I don't know, this is all me. Of course with the help of several fabulous smoothy tasters, I am sure they are willing to be hired out "Will be opinionated for smoothies" is their tagline! ha-ha!

Two 6 oz containers of strawberry yogurt
1 can of frozen Dole Strawberry-Orange-Banana juice concentrate
1 banana
1-2 cups strawberries (I used fresh but I am sure frozen will work too)
1-2 tsp of honey

place in blender until smooth. Add ice cubes to get desired consistency. Enjoy!

Weeknight Skillet Lasanga Toss

1 lb. ground beef
2 c. chopped green peppers
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 2/3 c. water
1/4 c. Italian dressing
12 lasagna noodles broken into quarters
1 c. mozzarella cheese

Brown meat, drain. Add peppers, garlic, sauce water and dressing. Bring to a boil. Add noodles, reduce heat. Simmer 10-15 mins. or until noodles are tender. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese. Let sit for 5 mins. Serve hot.

I love this recipe because it is super fast and it tastes just like the real thing. You can also add some ricotta cheese or blended cottage cheese for that cheese layer in the middle when you add the noodles.

Sara Bury's Crescent Rolls

A few may remember a family in the Concord 1st ward that had six kids. Well I got this recipe from the mom, Sara Bury. The rolls are a little bit of work the night before but super easy the next day. And fabulous to-boot.

Ingredients

1/4 c. warm water
1 pkg. yeast(rapid rise)
3/4 c. scalded milk(hot to finger, perfect)
1/2 c. margarine(imperial)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. sugar
3 beaten eggs
3 1/2-4 c. flour
1 cube butter, melted butter(reserved)

Instructions

Scald milk and add butter and salt. Cool to luke warm. Whisk eggs, just to get air into them. Add yeast and sugar. Slowly add flour and make a soft dough. Let rise over night or for 2 hours(if in a hurry). Roll out 1/4" thick and cut into crescent shape with a pizza cutter. Spread reserved margarine over top then roll up into rolls. Spread again with margarine after all on the pan. Let rise for 4-5 hours. (The more they raise the lighter they are). Bake at 350* for 10 mins. Just lightly brown. Enjoy with butter and jam. Makes about 3 dozen!

Onion Straws

INGREDIENTS
1 large onion, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk, or as needed
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
seasoned salt to taste
1 quart oil for frying, or as needed


DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C).
Separate the onion slices into rings, and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Dip the onion slices into the flour mixture until they are all coated; set aside. Whisk the egg and milk into the flour mixture using a fork. Dip the floured rings into the batter to coat, then place on a wire rack to drain until the batter stops dripping. The wire rack may be placed over a sheet of aluminum foil for easier clean up. Spread the bread crumbs out on a plate or shallow dish. Place rings one at a time into the crumbs, and scoop the crumbs up over the ring to coat. Give it a hard tap as you remove it from the crumbs. The coating should cling very well. Repeat with remaining rings.
Deep fry the rings a few at a time for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to paper towels to drain. Season with seasoning salt, and serve.