Whipped Cream tip from Lifehacker

Whipped Cream!

Enchilada Pasta Casserole

 I stumbled on this recipe by accident on Pinterest (where else?). I wasn't looking for recipes and I hadn't been on Pinterest in quite some time.


Enchilada Pasta Casserole
By: Table for Two
Serves 6

1 pound ground beef
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
5 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 can (10 oz.) enchilada sauce (I used the red sauce)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese, divided
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chiles
12 ounces egg noodles
Salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large pot, bring water to boil and cook egg noodles according to package instructions.
3. In the meantime, in a very large skillet, brown your ground beef then drain the fat. Then add the chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine.
4. Add in the cream cheese until melted and combined.
5. In a large bowl, combine sour cream, enchilada sauce, half the cheddar cheese, half the monterey jack cheese, corn kernels, and diced green chiles. Stir to combine.
6. Pour mixture over the beef and let simmer for 2-3 minutes.
7. In the meantime, drain your pasta. After you’ve drained it, add the pasta to the beef mixture. Make sure everything is coated in the sauce.
8. In a large casserole dish, pour in the pasta mixture and top with the remaining cheese.
9. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese has completely melted.
10. Serve hot. Keep in airtight container for up to 1 week.

My Notes:

 I didn't have diced green chiles, monterey jack cheese, or enchilada sauce. I made some enchilada sauce from scratch, substituted mozzarella for the monterey, and left out the green chiles. Instead of just corn I tossed about 2C of mixed frozen vegetables in the mix.

I doubled the recipe and used 1/2 ground turkey and 1/2 ground beef. Everyone liked this dish, pretty sure it's going to go on the regular rotation. I also have decided from now on I will be making my own enchilada sauce, it's just waaaay better.

Naturally Sweet Agave Glazed Carrots

This is part of my cooking for a month series.
Who doesn't like carrots? I mean they are pretty awesome, this recipe is no different. Tasty, easy to make, easy to freeze, easy to reheat. Tada!
You can find agave just about anywhere now, I get mine at costco mainly because it's a good deal and I never think to look when I'm at the grocery store. Agave can be substituted for honey in equal parts.

Naturally Sweet Agave Glazed Carrots

Serves 8

2lbs carrots, cut into batons

¼ C water

¼ C freshly squeezed orange juice

3T unsalted butter, melted

2T agave

3T fresh lemon thyme

S&P

In a large skillet over medium heat, combine carrots, water, and orange juice. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots are just tender (remember you are freezing these so don’t over-do it).

Add butter, agave, thyme and cook uncovered, stirring often, until liquid has evaporated and carrots are glazed. Season with salt and pepper, stirring one last time. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

To Freeze – pour cooled carrots into gallon size freezer bag.

To reheat – thaw completely overnight in fridge then reheat carrots in a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until heated through.

My notes

I don’t know what batons are and I don’t really care. I just diced the carrots.

Good luck finding lemon thyme in your grocery store. I used regular thyme and it turned out just fine.

Make it a Meal Meatloaf

This is a part of my month of meals series. Generally speaking I am not a huge fan of meat loaf. It's just not high on my list of things I love to eat; but! Jeff is a fan of meatloaf and who doesn't want to make their guy happy? So when I saw this recipe in the cookbook I thought, why not?

About little less than half of this loaf fed us for dinner, along with glazed carrots. I'm serving again tonight with the remaining carrots and some mashed potatoes.

Make it a Meal Meatloaf

Serves 8

1lb extra-lean ground beef

1lb ground pork

2 eggs

2T Dijon mustard

1/2C dry whole wheat bread crumbs

3 scallions, minced

2 carrots, minced

1C dried cherries

1T Italian seasoning

Pinch of cayenne

S&P

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a large loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Transfer to loaf pan, firmly packing.

Bake for 75 minutes. Set on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes then invert to remove from Loaf pan. Allow to cool completely.

To Freeze – wrap meatloaf and freeze

Oven reheat – Preheat oven to 375. Bake for 30 minutes or until heated through.

My notes

Serve with glazed carrots and mashed potatoes. Yum! Jeff was skeptical about this one when I was making it because of the cherries. I have to admit, so was I. However, this turned out quite tasty and all 3 of us enjoyed it. I ground the fatty end of a center cut pork loin for this after talking to my butcher, it’s a versatile cut of meat.  They are usually cheaper than buying pork chops pre-cut and you get 2 smallish roasts after you cut it up. Can you say pulled pork? Mmmmmm

(Not My) Mom's Green Chile Chicken Breasts

This is part of my cooking for a month series...
This recipe is from the Make Ahead Meals Made Healthy cookbook; it did not come from my Mom. To my knowledge my Mom has never made Green Chile Chicken Breasts... Just to clear things up.

This is the first recipe I made for my month of meals (I know, I've posted them all out of order). It smelled pretty good coming out of the oven, it's still in the freezer waiting to be eaten*.


Mom's Green Chile Chicken Breasts
Serves 8

8 same size boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
8 slickes monterey jack cheese
8 whole green chiles from 2 cans
2t hot and healthy spice blend or salt, black pepper, and paprika to taste

Preheat oven to 350.
Slice a pocket lengthwise in each chicken breast and stuff with a slice of cheese and a chile.  Season the outside of the chicken breasts with the hot and healthy spice blend (or salt, pepper, and paprika).

Place chicken breasts in a large baking dish and bake for 35 minutes or until just cooked through.

To Freeze
Set breasts on a baking sheet, freeze until solid and then transfer to a large freezer bag.

To Reheat
Let chicken thaw in the refrigerator overnight.  Preheat oven to 375. Place breasts in a baking dish, cover, and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

My notes
*Ok. First things first.... these things are ugly as sin and I don't/didn't want to eat them. I blame my assembly but honestly it's not terribly easy to stuff a whole green chile inside of a chicken breast. Things happened and a mess ensued. Jeff said they were good (he snuck one while I wasn't looking).
I made the hot and healthy spice blend that was listed in this cookbook but looking back it was a waste of time and $. If you really want the recipe comment and I'll post it.

Fast Fix Zucchini Slaw

This is part of my cooking for a month series....

I like zucchini and I am always looking for ways to add it into our menus. It's a versatile veggie. This dish is perfect for a summer meal, it's fresh and bright tasting.

Fast Fix Zucchini Slaw
Serves 15

6 large zucchini, ends trimmed, coarsely grated or cut into matchsticks
1/2C finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2C chopped fresh dill
1T fennel seeds
1C dried currants
2T white wine vinegar
1T dijon mustard
1/3C extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

In a large bowl, combine zucchini, parsley, dill, fennel, and currants.
In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, and olive oil.  Pour over zucchini and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.

To freeze put the slaw in a 1 gallon freezer bag, removing as much air as possible before sealing.

My notes
While typing this up I realized I left the currants out of the recipe. I should probably add them when I thaw out the slaw.
I cut the zucchini into matchsticks but next time I might coarsely grate them, it took me forever! My knife skills need some help apparently.

Low-fat Chocolate Cherry Brownies

Holy sweet gooey mess Batman! These were..... interesting. At first I thought I liked them but as time went on I realized I really was not enjoying the texture of these bad boys. Jeff took one bite and refused to eat anymore.

Low Fat Chocolate Cherry Brownies
Serves 18

1 package low-fat fudge brownie mix
1/2C plain whole milk yogurt
1 egg lightly beaten
1C cherry preserves

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13X9in pan.
Mix together all but the preserves and pour into prepared baking dish.
Using a spoon, drop cherry jam onto brownie batter. Using a dull knife to cut jam through batter.  Bake for 25 minutes or according to package directions.
Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a plate to cool completely.

My notes
Alright so I didn't use full fat yogurt and I only had strawberry preserves so there's that.
However, IF I were to make these again I would not put a whole cup of preserves in there. Maybe just 1/2C. I didn't see the point of buying one container of full fat yogurt just for brownies. Plus what is the point of buying low-fat brownie mix and then using full fat yogurt? I used fat free greek yogurt. My main complaint is that the preserves really messed with the texture of these brownies. Maybe I didn't 'cut' the jam in enough... idk. But I think I will stick to my regular brownies... the ones that Jeff makes. Ha!

Grilled Ginger Sesame Chicken Breasts

This is part of my cooking for a month series....
My family grills a lot. Like just about every weekend so we have a lot of recipes but oooh boy this recipe was good! It's definitely a keeper.  We had it for a Sunday night dinner and everyone enjoyed it.  I assembled on a Wednesday, froze it and then thawed and served the following Sunday.  The cook book says to serve with soba noodles tossed in peanut sauce or Ginger and Veggie fried rice. I served with pasta salad.

Grilled Ginger Sesame Chicken Breasts
Serves 8

1/4C olive oil
1/4C tamari
3T sesame oil
3T minced fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
juice and zest of 2 limes
3 scallions, chopped
pepper
8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

In a large plastic bag or container, whisk together oil, tamari, sesame oil, giner, garlic, lime juice and zest, scallions, and pepper. Place chicken in marinade for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Pour marinade into a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Preheat grill to medium-high and oil the grate.
Gill chicken breasts for 5 minutes and flip. Baste the cooked side with reserved marinade.  Grill for 5 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Baste with marinade. Remove from heat.


My notes
The cookbook says that tamari is a wheat free salty condiment that is richer and more complex in flavor than soy sauce..... I didn't have tamari, neither did my store so I used soy sauce. It still tasted great. I also forgot to baste with the marinade, but in my defense I wasn't the person doing the grilling.....
I did not grill this before freezing, I threw the chicken in the marinade in the freezer... it worked great.

Asian Pork and 5-spice Apples

This is part of my cooking for a month series....
This was quite tasty and is definitely going on the keeper list. The great thing about pork tenderloin is it's a lean protein source. It's so versatile, there are limitless possibilities when it comes to preparing pork tenderloin. A trick I learned from AB is to remove the silver skin from the tenderloin. This clip shows how to do it.

Asian Pork and 5-spice Apples
Serves 8

2T black or balsamic vinegar
2T dry sherry
1T sesame oil
1T tamari
1T cracked black peppercorn
3T chopped fresh tarragon leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
2lbs boneless pork loin, cut into strips
2T canola oil
3 Golden Delicious apples, cored, halved, and sliced
1t Chinese 5 spice powder
2T packed brown sugar
1/4C freshly squeezed orange juice
1T cornstarch
3T minced chives
4C cooked brown rice

In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, sherry, sesame oil, tamari, pepper corns, tarragon, and garlic.  Reserve 1/2C of the marinade and refrigerate.  Add pork and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat, add apples, and stir-fry for 2 minutes.  Sprinkle with 5-spice powder, brown sugar, orange juice and continue to stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
Remove pork from marinade, allowing excess to drip off.  Add pork to the work and cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes or until pork is cooked through.
Whisk cornstarch into reserved marinade and stir into pork mixture until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in chives. Cool completely (if freezing).

To Freeze
Place pork mixture and rice in 2 separate gallon bags and freeze.

To reheat
Defrost rice and pork mixture overnight (I do 24 hours). Preheat oven to 350. Place rice in a baking dish and cover with pork mixture.  Cover with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes or until heated through.


My notes
The math on this is off. The marinade doesn't make 1/2C of liquid so I'm not sure where they get that you can reserve a 1/2C of it. I used all the marinade, then pulled the pork out of the marinade and shook off the excess and used the left over for the sauce you make at the end. I also ended up marinating overnight due to unforseen laziness.
I did not freeze this so I cannot comment on how well it froze or reheated.

Mushroom Enchiladas

This is part of my cooking for a month series....
The cook book calls this Cream Mushroom Empanadas but I think that is a typo because these are not like any empanada I've ever seen and the look suspiciously like an enchilada. Therefore I call them enchiladas. With this recipe we discovered that freezing and reheating tortillas just does not work. They get soggy and gross. So, while I think the filling (chef's treat) for these was quite tasty Jeff said they were absolute mush so I didn't eat them after they were reheated. But he said it tasted good so I think this recipe is a keeper but only when not frozen first.

Creamy Mushroom Empanadas
10 servings

2lbs mix of wild mushrooms
2T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 t dried thyme
pinch of salt
pepper
3T finely chopped fresh cilantro
1C light sour cream
8oz neufchatel cheese, cut into small cubes
1 can mild green enchilada sauce
8 burrito size whole wheat tortillas
1/2C shredded monterey jack cheese

Spray a 9in backing dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Chop mushrooms and set aside.  Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute.  Add mushrooms, thyme, salt, pepper, and cook stirring often until mushrooms release their moisture and become tender and brown, about 7 minutes.
Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in cilantro, sour cream, neufchatel, allowing the cheese to melt and the mixture to get creamy.
Heat enchilada sauce in a large skillet over low heat. Dip tortilla in sauce to coat both sides and allow excess sauce to drip off.
Lay tortilla in the baking dish and fill with mushroom mixture, rolling tortilla around filling and placing enchilada seam-side down against the side of the baking dish.  Repeat with remaining tortillas and mushroom mixture.  Pour remaining enchilada sauce evenly over tortillas and sprinkle with cheese.Put in oven for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.

This is before freezing.

My notes:
I froze this. It didn't work out so well. Also this made two (13X9) pans of enchiladas. I used regular sized tortillas instead of burrito sized because my store doesn't have whole wheat burrito sized tortillas. I think this would be quite tasty fresh out of the oven. Frozen it turned to mush during reheating. Not terribly appetizing.