chicken enchiladas with green pepper sour cream sauce

I found this recipe on... wait for it.... Pinterest! I know no surprise there. That is where I get most of my recipes lately! But it is so yummy and pretty easy to make. I've already made it a couple times. I even sent it with my husband to a work potluck. It was a huge hit! The only dish that was completely gone! Just as a heads up this makes a small batch. Like 5-6 enchiladas. So you might need a double batch but thats not too hard either! I don't really have any complaints about it except it is under seasoned! With a little extra seasoning it is amazing.
Hope your family loves this one as much as mine did!

What you need:

• flour soft shells
• 2 cups cooked chicken (always season your meat even if just with salt and pepper)
• 2 cups cheddar cheese
• 3 T butter
• 3 T flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 can diced green chillies drained
• Cayenne Pepper (only if you want an extra bite, not for kids)
• garlic salt

What you do:

1. preheat oven to 350. Spray glass cooking dish
2. mix chicken and 1 cup cheese
3. roll in tortillas and place in pan
4. In a sauce pan melt butter, stir in flour and cook about a minute until golden.
5. add broth and whisk until smooth. This may take a little bit.
6. Cook until it thickens and bubbles.
7. Stir in sour cream and chillies DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL
8. add garlic salt to taste
9. pour over enchiladas
10. top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with cayenne pepper if you choose to use it.
11. Bake for about 22 mintues

 Tips/variations:
Make sure you let chicken cool before mixing with cheese.
Add in one cup white rice with only 1 1/2 cups of chicken. Makes it more filling.
Sprinkle shredded lettuce over the top right before serving.
 
 

Bakes Creamy Chicken Taquitos

These are to die for! I love chicken taquitos. I was always buying the frozen ones before I found this recipe. It is good but just as a warning they are definitely best fresh! Not very good leftovers. They get a little dry in my tastes! But as fresh they are amazing! Definitely a crowd pleaser and very easy to adapt to your own tastes!

What you need:

• 3 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup green salsa
• 1 T lime juice
• 1/2 t cumin
• 1 t chili powder
• 1 T chopped onion seasoning
• 1/4 t Garlic salt
• 2 cups cooked chopped chicken
• 1 cup grated pepperjack cheese
• Flour or corn tortillas (It really depends on my mood which I like better. But definitely get the small ones!)
• Cooking spray
• optional: 2 T sliced green onions (great if you have it but if not they are still really good)

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Line baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray
3. Heat cream cheese for 30 seconds so its soft enough to stir.
4. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, chopped onion, garlic salt. Mix well!
5. Add chicken, pepperjack cheese and green onions. Mix again. (you can prepare it up to here and save it in a fridge until ready to use)
6. Place mixture in lower third of tortillas about 1/2 inch from edges and roll tightly
7. Place seam down on baking sheet. Cook for 15-20 minutes

A couple tips to make this easier!!
If you are having a hard time keeping them rolled spray one side of the tortilla with cooking spray it will help it stick!
Corn tortillas have a tendency to tear! So to help this out place a couple in the microwave just till warm and they won't tear as easy.

Hope you enjoy!

Famous Dave's Beans!!

I absolutely love Famous Dave's Beans. But going out to eat is expensive so I love finding mock recipes( I have a good one for Chili's Queso that I need to post). I found this recipe and am in love.
Let me warn you right here this is not an easy or quick recipe! But it is worth it! Especially for pot lucks or barbeques! Now I did not change a single thing that is in this recipe. I did let it sit over night and it defintley deepends the flavor! Since it is not my recipe and I did not adapt it I will simply give you the link!
It really is worth all the time and effort! Just takes about an hour to make. Let it sit overnight and reheat. If its for a potluck reheat in a crockpot to make life a little easier for you.
It does have a lil bit of a bite so if you have young ones be careful. Maybe remove the jalapeno?
Well I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!!

Pepsi Pork Chops! (Crockpot Recipe)

I don't think I can say how much I Love crockpot meals! Especially on Sundays! I am not a big fan of the ones that have a ton of prep work. I think crockpot meals should be easy to put together and not have much work at the end.
This recipe is great for that! The original recipe was a little too sweet for my taste. I added some seasoning and I changed it to boneless pork chops but I didn't change much else. There is a rice recipe below as well.
What you need:

• 4-6 boneless pork chops
• 1 can pepsi
• 1 can cream of chicken
• 1 can cream of mushroom
• 1/2 bag onion soup mix
• 1 cup chicken broth
• Famous Daves Burger and Steak Seasoning (I used a couple Tablespoons)
• Salt & Pepper
• corn starch (If you want to turn juices into gravy)
• Cumin (Just a teaspoon or 2.)

1. Season pork chop with salt and pepper
2. Place in crock pot
3. Mix Pepsi, cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, soup mix, chicken broth, Famous Daves, Cumin
4. Pour over pork chops
5. Cook on low for 7-8 hours
6. Drain juices but SAVE THEM
7. Shred pork with 2 forks (Should be so tender it falls apart)
8. Cook juices on stove with some corn starch to thicken Serve over rice.

Now if you want to make this dish easier don't make the gravy and just use the juices. I made rice but anotehr way to simplify the end work is to use minute rice.
A trick to add more flavor to minute rice is to use stock instead of water! Gives it tons more flavor!!

Now this is how I made my rice!
What you need:

• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 2 Green onions
• 1 1/2 cups long grain rice
• 3 cups water
• Salt & Pepper

1. Melt butter on stove.
2. Add green onions and cook for 1-2 minutes. (Careful not to wilt and overcook)
3. add rice and cook another 1-2 minutes
4. add water
5. bring to boil
6. cover and turn down to med low.
7. cook until water is gone
8. fluff and serve

Hopefully you will enjoy this meal as much as my husband did. He put it in his top 5 which is saying alot! For leftovers you could make yummy openface sandwhiches!
I am curious how it would taste with a little mozzerella cheese but I didn't try it so I'm not sure!
Let me know what you think!
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Hawaiian Sweet Roll Sammies!

These are way yummy and easy to make! They can be made ahead and then put in the fridge which is a huge plus for me! The original version was yummy but not very kid friendly since it is so oniony. I changed that and mixed in some cheddar so the swiss cheese wasn't so strong since my husband isn't a huge fan of swiss. I have already shared this recipe with some friends and they all love it! Even if you aren't an onion fan given this a try!

What you need:

• 8 T Butter
• white onion
• 3 T Dijon Mustand
• 2 T worchestershire
• 2 1/2 T Flour
• 2 T poppy seeds
• 1/2 pound ham
• 12 hawaiian sweet rolls (you can use other rolls instead these just make it easier since they are all attached)
• 5 slices swiss (you could do all swiss or all cheddar if you prefer that)
• 4 slices cheddar
• salt & Pepper (Even if a recipe doesnt call for this I always add some to enhance the flavor)

What to do:

1. Grate onion! (I use a food processor so it is almost a paste so there are no large chunks)
2. Melt butter on stove.
3. add onions, dijon, worchestershire, poppy seeds and flour.
4. Mix well.
5. Simmer until onions are soft. This only takes a few minutes.

6. Slice hawaiian sweet rolls in half. (Keep them all connected makes it easier)
7. Line a glass 9x13 pan with foil and place bottom half of rolls in.
8. Spread some of the onion sauce over the rolls.
9. Put the ham over the sauce. I tore the pieces apart so they were a lil thicker.

10. Make a checkerboad pattern with swiss and cheddar.

11. Cover with tops of rolls
12. Pour more sauce over the top (Careful not to get too much in cracks of rolls, You don't have to use all the sauce either)

13. Cover with aluminum foil.
14. Bake in oven at 350 for 20 minutes
15. Slice down roll lines

This is a really easy recipe that is a great people pleaser! My husband and I eat about 4 each so if you are having lots of people you will need to make more! The great thing about this recipe is it can be changed to use whatever you have in your house. You can try different meats or cheeses! Don't be afraid to experiment a bit!
Let me know what you think!

Baked Spaghetti!

When it comes to Spaghetti I always think of the boring noodles and meat sauce. My mom made spaghetti about once a week. Needless to say when I got older I was not a fan of it. (no offense mom) My husband loves spaghetti! So when I found this recipe on Pinterest. I tried it and it was pretty good but needed a little tweeking. After a few minor tweeks I love this recipe! When making my weekly menu I bring up this recipe more often then my husband now. One of my favorite parts is you can do all the prep work and then put it in the fridge or freezer for a later time. That is a big plus for me since its hard to cook with a 7 month old. So recipes I can make while my husband is home but then throw in the oven later are great!
Here is the original recipe. It wasnt bad just in my opinion a little bland.


Onto my version of the recipe:


what you need:

• 1/2 box of spahetti (which is about 7 oz)
• 1 pd hamburger
• 1 Jar Spaghetti sauce (I used 24 ounces but you might want a little more depending on how much cream cheese you want to taste)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• Grated Parmesan
• French Fried Onions
• Seasonings: Parsley, Basil, chopped onion, salt, pepper

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cook spaghetti as directed.  Drain and set aside.
3. Cook hamburger. I seasoned with a little salt and pepper and a palmful of chopped onion. Drain grease
4. Add spaghetti sauce to hamburger and heat through. (taste as you go)  I wanted to add more flavor so I added basil and parsley.
5. While that is heating through on stove, Nuke cream cheese until soft enough to spread. Add melted butter to it and stir.
6. Layer in 8x8 glass dish
• Little meat sauce (after you put a lil meat sauce across the bottom mix the cream cheese in with the rest)
• Noodles
• Cream cheese/meat sauce mixture
• Parmesan cheese 
7. Put in the oven at 350 for 25 minutes
8. Add french fried onions. cook another 5 minutes.

Before cooking

Finished product

Like I said I love this recipe! It tastes great and is a good alternative to the usual spaghetti!
Let me know what you think!

Tips and tricks:

• If you do not have a big enough pot just break the noodles in half before cooking.
• Always salt the water you cook pasta in, to prevent it from sticking together.
• Be careful not to burn french fried onions! They make this recipe.
• Try whole grain spaghetti to make it healthier.
• My favorite type of sauce to put in this recipe is definitely creamy vodka!
•  If you want to prep it in advance stop at step 6, cover and refridgerate.
• You can also freeze this recipe before cooking as well.

Welcome!

Hey everyone,
       My name is Michele and I love to cook! I love to experiment in the kitchen. I usually take recipes and tweak them! I usually have people asking me for recipes and I am usually pretty stingy but I decided its time to share! So I am using this blog to share different recipes that I tested out (I get alot from pinterest) possibly changed and loved. I would love feedback if you use the recipes! And please feel free to send me recipes to test out! Either recipes you love or something you are curious about but don't want to try out without knowing how it tastes. Hope you enjoy!