Chicken Enchiladas

I can cream of chicken soup
I cup sour cream
1/2 onion chopped (usually I omit this)
4 oz. can of diced green chillis
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
8-10 tortillas
3-4 boiled chicken breasts

boil the chicken until fully cooked, and let it cool. then grated or chop the chicken.
Mix the first 4 ingredients together. Grab a tortilla, layer the sauce, chicken and cheese in the tortilla and wrap and place in the pan. ( you can use leftover sauce on top and add more cheese if you would like, but you don't have too.) bake @ 350 for 30- 35 minutes or until boiling in the middle and the onions are cooked. you can also make an extra pan and cover with foil and freeze before cooking for an easy meal on a busy day in the future.

Black Bean Soup

I got this recipe from my good friend and neighbor. Its so simple and easy, and freezes really well. I adapted it just a teeny bit.

BLACK BEAN SOUP
serves 8

2 cups dried black beans (food storage!)
2 cups frozen corn (or 1 14 oz can corn)
one medium onion, diced
2 Tbs. garlic (about 2 cloves, finely diced)
2 Tbs. cumin
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

You can easily add extra grains in this soup. Quinoa, barley, millett would all be easily disguised.

Sort and rinse the beans. place them in a large bowl to soak. I usually soak my beans for 2 or 3 days before I cook them, just be sure to drain and rinse them well twice a day, keep them covered with water.

When you are ready to cook your soup add the soaked beans to a crock pot and cook them about 8 hours on LOW. Add corn, onion, garlic, cumin, salt pepper and chicken stock. Smash the beans a little if you want and let everything heat together in the crock pot. Add pre cooked quinoa, barley or millet a few minutes before serving. Top with avocados, tomatoes, cheese, salsa, sour cream, or other favorite toppings and scoop up with chips or serve with corn bread!

Enchiladas

The measurements are not exact here, just put in what you have or like and layer it in a pan with corn tortillas. These are meatless, but you could add ground beef or turkey in if you want.

can tomato sauce
can diced tomatoes
frozen corn
black beans (cooked, about 1 cup)
red beans (cooked, about 1 cup)
pinto beans (cooked, about 1 cup)
onion, finely chopped
garlic, diced
can of green chilies
shredded cheese
corn tortillas

In a pan mix together diced tomatoes, corn, all the beans, onion, garlic, and can of chilies. Warm thru.
dip 6 corn tortillas in tomato sauce and lay in bottom of 9 x 13 pan.
Top with bean mixture
Repeat until you have about 3 layers.
Top with cheese
Bake 350 for about 35 - 40 minutes.
You can also freeze this, dont bake it first. Assemble it, cover it with foil and put it in the freezer.

Serve topped with sour cream, avocados, lettuce and tomato.

Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Shells

This is enough to make 2 9 x 13 pans, I like to make one for dinner and one for the freezer.

2 boxes of uncooked shells (I think the ones I bought were kind of smallish, I stuffed about 6 of them, if you buy the gigantic shells, you will obviously need less)
3 c fresh chopped spinach
1/2 onion, chopped
1 container ricotta cheese (about 16 oz)
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened (I used the low fat, nufatel stuff)
1 cup Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tb dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 (26oz) jar prepared spaghetti sauce (any variety)

Cook shells according to package directions, drain and set aside. Be sure to stir them occasionally so they dont stick together.

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and 1 cup of mozzarella. Dont put in the spaghetti sauce. Spoon cheese mixture into shells. Spread half of spaghetti sauce into baking dishes. Arrange shells over sauce then top with remaining sauce and a little cheese.

Cover tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil.

Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella.

Bake for 5 to 10 more minutes.

Makes 8-10 servings.

If you make one for the freezer, dont bake it. Cover it tightly with foil and freeze, it will last about 2 months in the freezer. When you are ready to eat it, take it strait from the freezer and put it in the oven. 350 for about 2 hours.

Loaded Sloppy Joes

I got this recipe from one of my idols. I love this girls blog and her cooking style.

The original recipe can be found here. I had to make a few minor adjustments. My version is as follows. This is a fantastic way to add whole grains into our families diet. I have not eaten many sloppy joes in my life, now that I have this recipe I will be eating them more often. I thought they were really tasty. I threw the leftovers in the freezer and we had them for lunch today. This recipe freezes and reheats well.

1/2 pound ground beef
1 cup cooked millet
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 onion, chopped - use the real thing, onion powder just is not the same.
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic - use real garlic here too
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
2 cups tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and seasoning. Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook vegetables. Add garlic, grains, red wine vinegar and worcestershire sauce to meat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook mixture 5-10 minutes longer or until desired consistency.

Mini MeatLoaf

These were a hit last night. I was surprised when even Andy commented on how good they were. Double the recipe and stick half in the freezer for a quick meal in the future.

1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tbs. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
1 egg
3 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cups Chex cereal, crushed
2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 lbs. ground turkey

In a large bowl combine ketchup, brown sugar and dry mustard. Set aside 1/3 cup. In separate bowl (I used my Kitchen aid) mix together the remaining sauce, egg, Worcestershire sauce, crushed cereal, onion powder, seasoned salt, garlic powder and ground turkey. Press into muffin tins (about 1/3 cup each). Spoon the sauce you set aside earlier on top of each one. Bake 375 for 35 minutes.

If freezing: flash freeze the mini meatloaves in muffin tins. (dont bake them first, freeze them while they are raw) Leave them in the freezer about an hour. Remove and place in zip lock bag. Seal and re freeze. You can also freeze the 1/3 cup sauce you set aside for this batch. Just spoon it into a small zip lock bag and after it is thawed, snip a corner of the bag and pipe it on top of the mini meatloaf. Bake on a baking sheet after they are thawed at 375 30-35 minutes.

Lasagna

This is my version of lasagna. I have switched some of the ingredients from traditional lasagna to incorporate some healthy additions.
Red sauce:

sauce:
-can of spaghetti sauce (if you are making a big pan and want to extend your sauce, just add a can of tomato sauce)
-grated carrots or zucchini (in the summer, when our garden is overflowing, I add fresh tomatoes, grated squash, corn...you can add any veggies you want here)
-fresh garlic
-if you dont want to pre cook your lasagna noodles, fill the spaghetti jar about 1/3 full of water and add it to the sauce mix.

white cheese layer:
-cottage cheese (you could use the original ricotta too)
-2 eggs
-spinach about 4 cups fresh or 1 box of frozen, thawed
-salt and pepper
-1 cup mozzarella cheese

layer everything in a pan. starting with red sauce on the bottom. then press uncooked noodles into the sauce. top with white cheese layer. repeat until you have a few layers in the pan. top with cheese

bake at 400 for about 40 minutes. If you want to make 2 of these and stick one in the freezer, this freezes really good. Do all the steps, minus the baking. cover it with foil and freeze for up to 2 months. It makes for a quick meal if you are in a bind. You can pull it right out of the freezer and stick it in the over for about 2 hours.

Serve with salad or french bread