Hamburger Enchiladas

Wow! It has been forever since i last posted! well today i have a very yummy and easy dinner recipe for ya! it is of course one of my mom's, but that just means it's a good one!



1 1/2 lbs hamburger
1 lb cheddar cheese
1 pkg. soft taco shells
1 pkg. enchilada sauce mix (i use McCormick... i've tried others and they don't work right!)
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 can tomato sauce
sliced olives

Cook hamburger meat, drain. Shred cheeses. Warm tomato sauce, enchilada mix, 1/2 can water. Put a small amount of sauce in bottom of baking dish (9x13) and spread around. Roll hamburger meat and cheddar cheese in taco shells and place in baking dish. Pour the rest of sauce over enchiladas. Top with mozzarella cheese and sliced olives. Bake uncovered at 350° for about 30 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.

Chocolate Chip cookies

Ok so I cant cook the Hershey Chocolate Chip cookies . They always come out flat. But with these they always come out perfect!! I love having these because they freeze so easy and we always have cookies in the house!!

Here is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe from the Brown Family.

Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe makes so much dough that I suggest you put them in ball shape on wax paper and freeze them. Once the dough has hardened, take the frozen dough balls and put them in a gallon zip lock bag and cook them whenever you want warm cookies! Adjust the baking time to 11 minutes if cooking frozen dough.

Cream Together:

1 cup shortening

1 cup butter

1 ½ cups sugar

1 ½ cups brown sugar

3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Mix together in a separate bowl:

4 ½ cups flour

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1 ½ tsp salt

Slowly mix dry ingredients in with wet ingredients. There is a lot of flour so take your time! Mix in 1 12 oz bag chocolate chips or 2 cups chocolate chips. Bake at 375* for 10 min

(I do have to cook mine longer but I always start out with 10 minutes.)

Frozen

Cooked

Ps monster cookies are still my FAVORITE!! But these are second on the list! :)

Lemon Bars

now this recipe will make a ton of bars... it's for the big cookie sheets approx 11x17. and of course are extremely delicious because it's another of my mom's recipe's!! oh and this is being posted just for you amelia!

Crust:
3 cups flour
dash of salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups(3 cubes) margarine/butter

Spread into bottom of cookie sheet evenly - i just use my hands, so make sure your hands are clean :) Bake at 350° for 15 minutes (don't let it cool for more than 2-3 mins before putting filling on it!!)

Filling:
1/2 cup flour
4 cups sugar
8 eggs - beaten
12 Tablespoons lemon juice

I try to have the filling completely done before the crust is done, that way I can leave the pan in the oven and just pour the filling onto it there (pull the rack out a bit of course!). it's usually way too full to try and move it after the filling is poured in, just so ya know!! ;) then you bake it again at 350° for another 25 minutes, or until it no longer looks jiggly!! set on top of cups or cooling rack, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. cool for an hour or so, then refrigerate. they taste much better when they are cold!!

Chicken Enchiladas

this is my mom's recipe (most everything i have is!) but we all absolutely love it!! i actually made them about a month ago, just never got around to posting the recipe!! anywho... enjoy!

4-6 chicken breasts - cooked and cut up
1 lb monterey jack cheese (sometimes i use a little cheddar if i don't have enough mj cheese)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 small can green chilies
1 16oz container sour cream
taco shells

Mix soup and sour cream and spread a small amount in bottom of baking dish (9x13). Add chicken, green chilies, and all but 1 cup of cheese to soup mixture. Roll this mixture into taco shells, and place in baking dish. Spoon remainder of mixture on top of rolled taco shells and sprinkle cheese on top of that. Cover with foil and bake at 350° for about 40 minutes.


finished product, and oh so yummy!! we usually put on/with it, yummy either way!

Cornbread Tacos

Cornbread Tacos

1 lb. ground beef

1 cup of corn

1 small can of sliced olives

1 large can of tomato sauce

1 packet of Lawry's taco seasoning ( I just used what I had.)

1 packet of Marie Calendar's corn bread

1. Cook ground beef, seasoning with garlic salt and pepper (drain)

2. Add corn, olives, tomato sauce and taco seasoning (set aside)

3. Follow directions on back of corn bread

4. In a 9x13 pan add the meat mixture and spread out evenly. Next add the cornbread mix and cover meat mixture completely.

5. Cook at 375* for 35 minutes and sprinkle with some cheddar cheese!! (optional)

I thought this was a really good spin on cornbread and taco stuff. It had really good flavor.

When cooking the meat mixture with the sauce, it ends up being a little runny. I thought there was something wrong, but when you cook it, it becomes solid. There ends up being a lot of cornbread on top of the mixture, so I would maybe add more meat and maybe add some beans to make it more filling.

*not the best picture, but this was SOOOOO good!!

Ranch Cheddar Chicken

on the thursday night i made this chicken dish. it's actually from the Hidden Valley Ranch website, but i changed it a little bit. oh and i forgot to take a picture, so i just got one off the website!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup
Hidden Valley® The Original Ranch® Dressing
1 tablespoon flour
4 (about 1 pound)
Boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup
Shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup
Grated Parmesan cheese

Prep:
Combine dressing with flour in a shallow bowl. Coat each chicken breast with dressing mixture. Place on ungreased baking pan. Combine Cheddar and Parmesan cheeses; sprinkle on chicken. Bake at 375°F. for 25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center and juices run clear.
that's what it says in the original recipe, but i like my chicken completely done! so instead i cook it at 375° for about 30 min, then i dip the chicken in the ranch mixture and put it back in the pan. then i sprinkle the cheeses on top. then i lower the temp to 350° and put it back in the oven for another 25 min. i usually put pasta with it, but as i found out on thursday (thanks miquelyn!) i really love sauteed asparagus with it!

Cafe Rio knock off...

One of my new favorites!!

#1

Erica's Complete Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Salad

Cheese

Cafe Rio Rice

Cafe Rio Black Beans

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

Lettuce (NOT iceberg, use leafy green or Romaine)

Diced tomato,onion,and cilantro (pico de gallo)

Guacamole (optional)

Sour cream

Tortilla Strips (can be found by the produce section at Smith's)

Parmesan cheese

Cafe Rio Cilantro Ranch

SWEET PORK

2 pounds pork

3 cans Coke (NOT diet)

1/4 c. brown sugar dash garlic salt

1/4 c. water

1 can sliced green chilies

3/4 can enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness)

1 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a heavy duty Ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.

Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry).

Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.Put shredded pork and sauce in crock pot and cook on low for 2 hours.

CILANTRO-LIME RICE

1 c. uncooked rice

1 tsp. butter or margarine

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

1 can (15 oz) chicken broth

1 cup water

1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tsp. sugar

3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

BLACK BEANS

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 1/3 c. tomato juice

1 1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro. (**NOTE** we added a can of corn, drained, to the beans with a dash of cumin and chili powder, it was AWESOME! We recommend doing this even though it's not "traditional Cafe Rio")

CILANTRO RANCH

1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not BUTTERMILK)

1 c. mayonnaise

1 c. buttermilk

2 tomatillos, remove husk, diced

1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic

juice of 1 lime

1 jalapeno (we like it SPICY so we kept the seeds in it, if you like it mild, just remove the seeds)

Mix all ingredients together in the blender. That's it!

Ok so we did that but we added a different dressing. I was not going to make the original dressing because I did not want to get all the ingredients. It's from Trader Joe's. Its called Cilantro salad dressing. ITS SO GOOD!!!

Now I do have to say that this was a lot of work. Most of the time I use this recipe...

#2

Costa Vida/Cafe Rio Chicken or Pork

4 Chicken Breasts or

1 pork loin

2 Cans jalapeno El Pato (in green can)

1 cup brown sugar

a dash of cumin

sprinkle of pepper

sprinkle of garlic salt

Costa Vida Rice

1 cup rice (I use two cups of instant rice)

2 cups water

3 cubes chicken bouillon (I only use 1 cube)

½ tsp dried onion

¼ bunch cilantro

1 tsp oil 1 fresh lime

Cook rice with all ingredients on stove or cooker. Squeeze lime juice over rice and mix before serving.

Ok now I would try both. The sauce from #1 is sweater then the sauce of the chicken for #2. (I think #2 is really hot.)

My perfect meal would be either the #1 or #2 chicken. (Which ever I was in the mood for.) Rice from #2 (Its BY FAR BETTER) and then the beans from #1. And then I would use that new dressing.