Enchilada Casserole

Here is an easy and flexible recipe that you can customize to fit your family's tastes.  It is numerous layers of precooked ingredients.

Start with a layer of tortillas in a 9x13 pan.  We use corn tortillas as they tend to hold up better, but flour would be fine. The next layer was refried beans spread over the tortillas.  More tortillas, browned seasoned ground beef and shredded cheddar cheese.  More tortillas, refried beans and green chile peppers.  Another layer of tortillas, browned ground beef, enchilada sauce and topped with shredded cheddar.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until the cheese is melted, about 25-30 minutes.  Serve with sour cream on top and enjoy!

French Toast with Apple Butter

Simple and delicious, skip the syrup and add some Apple Butter the next time you make French Toast.

Roasted Carrots

Looking for a new way to serve carrots?  Try this recipe to change your dinner.

This recipe was used to make 2 pounds of carrots:

2 lbs Carrots - sliced and quartered
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Paprika
1/4 cup Orange Juice
2 tbsp Olive Oil

Mix the ingredients in a large baking pan.  Toss with the carrots to coat thoroughly.  Place the pan into a 400 degree oven.  Let the carrots roast for 20 minutes, toss and roast again for another 20 minutes or until the carrots begin to achieve the appropriate texture and soften.

Enjoy!

Penne Pasta with Vegetables and Ground Chicken

This is a very easy recipe and has a lot of room for modifications to fit your tastes.  That is what truly makes this recipe fun.

Ingredients:
1 lb Penne Pasta
1 lb Ground Chicken
1/2 bag Baby Spinach
1 lb Sweet Peppers (your choice of pepper)
5 Roma Tomatoes - diced
1 pint Mushrooms
1 can Tomato Paste
2 tbsp Minced Garlic
1 tbsp Dried Oregano
1 tbsp Red Pepper Flakes
Olive Oil
Salt
Black Pepper

Brown the ground chicken in a skillet over a medium high heat along with the minced garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper.  Remove the chicken, but do not remove the drippings.  Add olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Add the sliced sweet peppers and stir occasionally until the peppers begin to soften.  Add the coarsely sliced mushrooms and diced tomatoes along with the oregano.  Stir frequently until the tomatoes begin to break down.

Lightly chop the spinach and place it into the sauce and let it begin to sweat down.  Stir it in and add more as you continue.  The sauce will appear soupy at this time.  Add some or all of the tomato sauce into the sauce along with the ground chicken.  Continue this process until you achieve the consistency that you desire is achieved. 

Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and stir.  Serve the pasta topped with some Parmesan Cheese.  Enjoy!

BBQ Chicken Breasts with Grilled Pineapple

Last night, we had the opportunity to light up the BBQ Grill.  In Illinois, the first few times you can actually stand outside and cook as opposed to lighting the grill and running back inside to avoid frostbite are always the best meals of the season.  Two reasons I find this true are that your anticipation on the taste buds is at a really high level.  Second, you have had all winter to wait to try new things.

Last night was no exception to either of those.  Last October, we met a couple of guys, Steve and Josh, who produce some mighty fine BBQ sauce.  They have a company in Columbia City, Indiana named Masters Hand BBQ, LLC and make a couple of different sauces. 

We got the chance to try their original recipe "A Taste of Heaven" on our chicken breasts.  It was a nice mild sauce that we added very late in the cooking process.  It was thick enough to be brushed on without difficulty of spilling and stayed on the breasts very well.  The flavor was sweet and just the hint of a tang.  Very mile and enjoyable indeed.

We paired it with some grilled pineapple rings and a rice pilaf for a nice light meal.  The pineapple was dusted with cinnamon and applied directly to the grates.  Cooked pineapple has an entirely different flavor.  Try it sometime.

Happy National Peanut Butter Day!

Have you ever made your own peanut butter?  Try this one for something different.  It is also very kid friendly as well.

Ingredients

• 15 ounces shelled and skinned roasted peanuts
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
• 1 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil

Directions

Place the peanuts, salt and honey into the bowl of a food processor. Process for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Place the lid back on and continue to process while slowly drizzling in the oil and process until the mixture is smooth, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Place the peanut butter in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

Chicken Breasts with Sweet Potato Pecan Butter

This is a simple recipe that provides a lot of flavor, and a quick, easy dinner entree.  These go well with a squash dish or sweet potatoes. 

Ingredients:
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Sweet Potato Pecan Butter
Salt
Pepper

Lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts.  Cover liberally on the top with Sweet Potato Pecan Butter and place on a baking pan.  Place into a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes (depends on the size of the fillets).  Serve and enjoy!

Sweet Jerk Wings

If you are looking to try a sweet and spicy recipe for your wings? We made these as part of our halftime feast of the Bears - Packers NFC Division Championship get together. While I will most likely prefer grilled wings to baked wings anytime, they turned out to be quite tasty.

Ingredients:

12 Wings
1/2 cup Dad's Roadhouse Jamaican Jerk Hot Sauce
1/2 cup Cola
Salt
Pepper

Salt and pepper the wings. Bake (or grill) them at 350 degrees until almost complete. We had rather large wings. It took about 1 hour, turning them half way through. Mix the cola and Jamaican Jerk Hot Sauce in a separate bowl. Place the wings in the sauce to coat thoroughly. Place the wings back onto the baking sheet and pour any remaining sauce over the wings. Broil for about 3-5 additional minutes to crisp up the wings. Serve and enjoy!