Chris's Chicken Enchiladas

This recipe is Chris's own. A couple of friends have recently asked for it, so here it is! This recipe is in a large enough quantity to feed 12 hungry firefighters. You might want to reduce it if you are cooking for less, otherwise they make GREAT leftovers!

Ingredients:

 

3 pounds boneless/skinless chicken breasts

3- Tbsp of crushed red peppers

3- Tbsp of garlic powder

1- 7oz can of diced green chilies (drained)

1- 7oz can of chipotle chilies (chopped)

1- brown onion (chopped)

1- bunch of cilantro (chopped)

1- bunch of green onions (chopped)

1- yellow bell pepper, green will work too (chopped)

3- 28oz cans of GREEN enchilada sauce

1- 10.5oz can of cream of mushroom soup

30 pack of fiesta size flower tortillas (a size larger than soft taco size)

6 cub bag of shredded cheese

1- 2oz can of sliced olives

 

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add chicken, crushed red pepper and garlic powder to the water. Boil until cooked, no longer pink in the middle (about 20 min). 

While chicken is cooking, mix onion, green onion, cilantro, bell pepper, diced green chilies in a large bowl. Add chipotle chilies, 1-2 for mild heat, 3-4 for medium heat or 5-6 for hot. Mix all of the ingredients in the bowl.

 Once cooked, shred the chicken. This works best in a food processer using the cheese grater, however you can also do it with 2 forks if you are too cheap to replace the broken food processer like at Station 1. Mix the chicken in the bowl with the vegetables.

 In a pie dish, or shallow bowl, mix 1 can of enchilada sauce and 2/3 of the cream of mushroom soup until well blended (use a whisk, it helps). Set up your assembly line, this works best if start with the tortillas and the enchilada sauce mix on one side, a cutting board in front of you, the chicken mix bowl and the cheese (in a bowl) at the back of the cutting board and a baking dish to put them in on the other side. 

Using the remaining enchilada sauce, pour enough in the bottom of the baking dish to have a thin even coat along the bottom (1 cup at the most). Take a tortilla and place it flat in the sauce/soup mix to coat one side of the tortilla, place it coated side up on the cutting board. Put a small hand full of the chicken mix on the tortilla and sprinkle with cheese. Roll the enchilada and place it in the pan. Once the pan is full (8 or so in a rectangle baking dish) place a light coat of the regular enchilada sauce over the enchiladas, not a lot, just enough to keep them from drying out. Sprinkle the top with cheese and olives and anything else you want to make it look pretty. Place in the oven preheated to 375 F and bake for 30 min.

 Serves 11-12

Honey Glazed Holiday Ham

We usually eat ham for dinner once a year during the holidays, so we have to make it good! This is a great recipe I found online. It's delicious, and even my picky kids love it! I usually double the glaze so we have extra for dipping (in other words, we like bathe our ham in it!). 

Ingredients:

1 (5 lb) fully cooked sliced ham 

1/4 cup whole cloves

1 cup pineapple juice

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

2 oranges, juiced (or use prepared OJ)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the ham in a roasting pan and insert cloves. In a saucepan, combine all other ingredients; stir and simmer until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Pour the glaze over the ham, and bake uncovered for about 1 hour. Pour extra sauce on ham just before serving.

Easy Corn Casserole

Our traditional Thanksgiving dinner always includes this dish! It's really good, and really easy to make.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

1 (8.5 oz) package Jiffy dry corn bread mix 

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (14/75 oz) can creamed corn

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease a 9x9 baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Spoon mixture into prepared dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Chris's Homemade Pancakes

If Chris is home in the mornings, chances are the kids will convince him to make pancakes. He loves making breakfast, and loves cooking them on the ginormous electric griddle! Here is the recipe he uses. 

2 cups flour

2 cups milk (or buttermilk)

2 eggs

1/3 cup melted butter

1 tbps sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Beat the eggs in a small bowl, set aside. In a large bowl, blend the dry ingredients thoroughly.

Add the butter, milk and eggs to the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is just blended with no large lumps.  Spray a griddle or non-stick frying pan with spray or lightly oil. Heat until drops of water sizzle.  Pour spoonfuls of the batter onto the surface. When bubbles rise in each pancake, it is usually time to flip it. Cook until golden brown.

Roasted Chicken

There are a million ways to roast a chicken. One of my favorites is the Pampered Chef recipe using the fluted stoneware. My other favorite is this one! Not much is measured, so it's really easy. This makes for a very tasty, moist chicken!

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

1/4 cup mayo

1-2 cloves crushed garlic

Rosemary, dried or fresh

olive oil (or softened butter)

salt

seasoned salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the mayo, a little olive oil, salt, garlic and rosemary. Take the chicken and run your fingers between the skin and the meat so that you lift the skin up a bit. Take the mayo mixture and using your fingers, push the mixture up under the skin, covering as much of the chicken as you can. Brush some olive oil and sprinkle some seasoned salt over the chicken. Bake for about 1 hour, or until done.

Bill's Awesome Spaghetti

Bill (aka "Boo" to our kids) is a dear friend of our family, and is also a pretty awesome cook. He makes this every time he goes camping, and it's soooo good!  I'm posting it to my blog not only to share it with others, but to keep it stored somewhere safe so I don't have to call him for the bazillionth time asking him for the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 package of McCormicks dry spaghetti sauce mix

1 package of Italian sausage (spicy is the best!)

1 large can of tomato sauce

2 cans diced tomatoes (roasted garlic, balsamic, or mexican blend are best)

1 small can tomato paste

1 package angel hair pasta

Cook pasta; brown ground beef and sausage together, then add all ingredients. Add to pasta. Not much more to it than that!

Family Pasta Salad

This is another great salad for bbq's and potlucks. Super easy, and always a hit at get-togethers! You light mayo and non-fat yogurt if you want to lighten it up a bit.

Ingredients:

1 package (16 oz) uncooked cavatappi pasta (I use bowtie or spiral pasta too)

1 package (8 oz) mild cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2" cubes

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 small carrot, grated

1 cup mayonnaise

1 container (8 oz) plain yogurt

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

Cook pasta, drain. Place pasta in bowl; add cheese, peas, celery, onion and carrot, mix gently. Mix mayonnaise, yogurt, salt and pepper in a bowl, then stir into pasta. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.