Chicken Enchiladas

Here's what's for dinner tonight--our family's favorite enchilada recipe!

1 can (16 oz.) refried beans
10 flour tortillas (6 to 8 inches)
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup sour cream
3 to 4 cups cubed roasted or cooked chicken (I often just use 2 cans of chicken)
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 can (15 oz.) enchilada sauce
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup sliced ripe olives
Shredded lettuce, optional

Spread about 2 tablespoons of beans on each tortilla. Combine soup and sour cream; stir in chicken. Spoon 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the mixture down the center of each tortilla; top with 1 tablespoon cheese. Roll up and place seam side down in a greased 13" x 9" baking pan. Pour enchilada sauce over the top; sprinkle with onions, olives and remaining cheese.Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until heated through. Just before serving, sprinkle lettuce around enchiladas, if desired.

Zucchini Brownies

I've got some frozen grated zucchini and I think I'm going to pull it out and make these delicious brownies. I'm feeling nostalgic.

2 cups grated zucchini
1 ½ cups sugar
1 egg
½ cup oil
2 cups flour
¼ cup cocoa
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 heaping tsp. baking soda
½ cup chopped nuts

Mix together and bake in a greased 13x9 pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Frosting:

¼ cup butter, melted
2-3 T. cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar
1 T. milk (or more if needed to achieve desired consistency)
1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter, then add and dissolve cocoa. Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Add more milk if needed to achieve desired consistency. Frost cooled cake.

Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies

We can't have a Yummy Yoo-Hoo! blog without having a couple of Grandma Yancey's recipes on it. I remember Grandma storing these cookies in a Tupperware container and passing them around at family gatherings. I love the cookies and the memories.

Cream together in mixing bowl:

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup shortening
2 eggs

Add and mix well:

1 teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
2 cups flour
1 cup applesauce
2 cups oatmeal

Add:
1 cup raisins or chocolate chips (we like the chocolate!)
1 cup nuts (if wanted)

Mix and drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 11 to 15 minutes.

Gooey Caramel Popcorn

I love this recipe because the caramel stays soft for days (if you can get it to last that long!).

1 cube butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup

Bring to a boil cooking on medium-low heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Then add:

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Stir and pour on popcorn (it's the perfect amount for 1 batch of air-popped corn). Stir until popcorn is well-coated.

And, just so all of you know, YES, I'm having a hard time losing weight for my New Year's goal. Do you wonder why?

Grilled Cajun Chicken Sandwiches

If you like hot-and-spicy, then this chicken is for you. It was so tender and delicious. Honestly, I didn't notice too much spice because the mayonnaise on the sandwich toned it down. Jesse used some leftover chicken on a salad and really liked that, too.

4-6 chicken breasts (I used 6; and all of them were fairly thin)
1 T. Cajun seasoning
2 T. lime juice
1 T. olive oil

Mix seasoning, juice, and oil, and pour over chicken in a Ziploc bag. Marinate for at least 30 minutes (I marinated ours for about 6 hours). Discard the marinade and grill chicken breasts until done. Serve on a bun with lettuce, tomatoes, colby-jack or pepper-jack cheese, sliced avocado, sliced red onion, and mayonnaise. We also enjoyed it with barbecue sauce.

South-of-the-Border Sandwich

Our family really likes this open face warm sandwich from the Lion House Entertaining Cookbook! We’ve made it with sun-dried tomato turkey from the deli and of course, we used the pepper jack cheese to add some spice. Enjoy!


8 sandwich rolls, split open,
OR 1 loaf French bread sliced
½ cup olives, chopped
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup green onions, chopped
¾ to 1 pound cooked turkey, thinly sliced
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 ripe avocados, sliced
¾ cup cheddar cheese, shredded
¾ cup pepper jack or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

In a bowl, combine olives, chili powder, cumin and salt; set aside 2 tablespoons of this mixture. Add the mayonnaise, sour cream, and green onions to the remaining olive mixture.

Place bread on an ungreased baking sheet and spread 1 tablespoon of the mayonnaise mixture on each slice or roll. Top with slices of turkey and tomatoes. Spread with another tablespoon of the mayonnaise mixture. Top with sliced avocados and cheeses. Sprinkle with the reserved 2 tablespoons of olive mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until heated through. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Topping

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE peanut butter. And what better way to have it than over a scoop of ice cream. Add a little drizzle of chocolate sauce and a sprinkle of salted peanuts, and you've got what I call a masterpiece! This recipe was originally a Taste of Home recipe, but I've changed it to incorporate food storage.

1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 T. butter
Pinch salt
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 T. dry milk
1/4 cup water

In a saucepan, combine sugar, syrup, and butter. Bring to a boil, stirring a few times, and continue to boil until sugar dissolves. Immediately remove from heat. In separate bowl or cup, mix dry milk with water. To saucepan, add peanut butter and stir until it is mixed in. Add milk mixture and stir until smooth and creamy. Serve warm over ice cream. Yum! Makes 1 1/4 cups sauce. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Italian Herb Chicken & Rice

Today we had a miracle in our home and I had to document it. We had Italian Herb Chicken, Nice Rice, homemade oven baked french fries, and orange jello with whipped topping on it for dinner. (A lettuce salad would have been a nice addition as well.) Paige ate everything and asked for a cookbook of her own to record her favorite recipes. And she wanted to include the chicken and rice recipes from dinner!!! So here they are if you'd like to try them. I made enough chicken that I'm looking forward to using it in the Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza I put in the newsletter a year or so ago.

ITALIAN HERB CHICKEN

1/2 cup Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/4 lbs)

Mix salad dressing and seasonings. (I pounded out my chicken so it was thin because I wanted it to cook quicker and my chicken breasts were gigantic. [I almost left the second "chicken" out of the previous sentence, but knew I'd get some comments from my astute family.]) Brush chicken with half of salad dressing mixture. Place chicken on grill over medium-hot coals or rack of broiler pan. Grill or broil for 8 to 10 minutes. Turn; brush with remaining salad dressing mixture. Continue grilling or broiling 8 to 10 minutes or until tender. Makes 4 servings.

NICE RICE

1 Tbsp. butter or margarine
2 cups water (though it may need more because my rice was still a little chewy, but the water was all soaked up)
1 Tbsp. instant chicken bouillon (or 3 cubes)
1 cup long grain rice

Put the butter and water in a 3-qt microwave-safe casserole. Microwave uncovered on 100% power for 5 minutes until boiling. Stir in the bouillon and rice. Cover with a lid or vented plastic wrap. Microwave on 100% power for 3 1/2 minutes. Stir. Microwave covered for 12-14 minutes more at 50% power stirring once or twice until moisture is absorbed. Allow 5 minutes standing time. (I just had the thought that this might cook up easier if I just did it like I normally do rice on the stovetop. Then I might not need the extra water. What a concept.)

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

I didn't want Kendra and Teresa to think they were the only ones using this blog, so here's a recipe I made a couple nights ago when I was struggling with knowing what to make for dinner. Luckily I had all the ingredients and was able to put it together pretty quickly. Though I started at 5:30 so we were eating dinner at 6:30. We love the Chicken and Wild Rice Soup at Mrs. Powell's in the mall. So through the years I've tried many recipes and this is the closest I've come to the soup we love. I usually use a little more celery and carrots. This last time I used a 12.5 0z. can of chicken for speed. It was great.


Chicken Wild Rice Soup

5 2/3 cups water
1 package (4.3 oz) long grain and wild rice mix
1 envelope chicken noodle soup mix
1 celery rib, chopped
1 medium carrot chopped
1/3 cu chopped onion
2 cans (10 3/4 oz each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup cubed cooked chicken

In a large saucepan, combine water, rice with contents of seasoning packet, and soup mix. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in celery, carrot and onion. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in chicken soup and chicken. Cook 9 minutes longer or until the rice and vegetables are tender. Yield: 5 servings.

Sausage Tortellini Soup

After spending 4 hours in a freezing house (we had all the windows open to get rid of the fish smell from Wednesday's dinner; read my post about it here), I was really needing some soup to warm me up. If you like spaghetti sauce, then you'll like this soup. It's flavorful and filling!

1 14.5-oz. can French-style green beans, drained
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes (Chunky Italian is best; if you can't find this, then use regular, but add 1 tsp. Italian seasoning to soup)
1 10-oz. can French Onion soup
3 cups water
1 16-oz. pkg. smoked turkey sausage, cut into half-moon slices (I used light Kielbasa)
1 20-oz. package refrigerated cheese tortellini (or 2 cups frozen)
Parmesan cheese, for topping

In a large pot, mix drained green beans, tomatoes, soup, and water. Bring to a simmer. While simmering, brown sliced sausage lightly in a fry pan and then add to simmering soup. Turn heat to low; cover pot and let simmer for 2-4 hours (you could also put it in a slow-cooker rather than a pot on the stove). Add tortellini approximately 1/2 hour before serving. Serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top of individual servings.

Sugar Cookies

This is Bryant's favorite cookie recipe. Aunt Harriet makes these every Christmas! I think they taste like those Grandma's cookies you can get in the vending machines. Harriet swears by using Watkins vanilla in this recipe. You can usually get this incredible vanilla at The Quilted Bear (in Midvale, Ogden, or Provo), but beware -- it's about $10 per bottle!

1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup oil
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Cream sugars, butter and oil. Add eggs and vanilla and mix in. Sift dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture. This makes a very soft dough, so you may need to chill it for a few hours in order to handle it. Roll dough out on floured surface about 3/8 inch thick. Cut into circles and place on baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees just until beginning to brown (do not overbake). Let cool on cookie sheet for about 3 minutes, then move to cooling racks. Frost with a buttercream frosting.

Harriet's Buttercream Frosting
2 cubes butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 T. flour

Mix ingredients together and use to frost cookies.

Breadstick Twists

I love this breadstick recipe and use it again and again. The breadsticks always turn out for me and are delicious!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix together:

1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water

Set aside, let yeast soften (about 5 -10 minutes).

Mix together:

1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups flour

Add water and yeast mixture to the flour and mix. Knead dough until soft. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, let bread rise until double (about 1 hour).

Melt 1/2 cube of butter in 9"x13" baking pan. Roll dough into a 10"x15" rectangle. Cut dough into strips (about 1" wide and 10" long) with a pizza cutter. Fold each strip in half. Roll in melted butter in baking pan (you can stretch them to fit the width of the pan). Twist bread strips and place in pan.

Sprinkle with Kraft Garlic and Herb Italian Parmesan Cheese Topping. I just make my own parmesan mix using parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning.

Bake 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees, until golden brown.

Coconut Bread

We received a lot of treats from our neighbors during the 2008 Christmas holiday. Fudge seemed to be the hot item this year, as we enjoyed many different varieties, including Strawberry Fudge and Frozen Fudge (complete with a parable related to the gospel). But our favorite treat was this Coconut Bread -- maybe because it WASN'T chocolate, or because it was something a little different than your basic Christmas cookies, or maybe because it was just plain delicious!!! I wouldn't be surprised if it tastes a little like Shaura's coconut bread (minus the lemon).

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 tsp. coconut flavoring
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup coconut
1 cup nuts, optional

Beat eggs, sugar, oil, and flavoring well. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, and then add and stir into mixture alternately with buttermilk. Fold in coconut and nuts, if desired. Grease 2 large or 5 or 6 small loaf pans well. Pour mixture into pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes. Remove loaves from oven and spoon Coconut Glaze over loaves, letting loaves sit in pans for 30 minutes.

Coconut Glaze
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 T. butter
1 - 1 1/2 tsp. coconut flavoring

Boil sugar, water, and butter together for 5 minutes. Add coconut flavoring and spoon glaze over baked loaves of Coconut Bread.

Turkey Honey Mustard BLT Wraps

We've had these twice now (once with a turkey breast cooked specifically for this purpose, and once with leftover turkey) and enjoyed them both times! These are so easy and quick to make!

1 large turkey breast (bone in)
2 T. McCormick Chicken Base
1 T. Montreal Steak Seasoning

Rub chicken base and steak seasoning on turkey breast. Place breast in crock pot with 1 cup water. Cook on high for about 3 hours, or on low for 6 hours (or until fork tender). Shred turkey into large chunks. (You'll only need half the turkey for this meal; freeze the other half.)

For wraps, layer the following ingredients and drizzle Honey Mustard Sauce liberally:

• Flour tortillas, warmed
• Tomatoes, sliced
• Avocados, sliced (I left this out because they make me sick; but it really sounds SO good!)
• Lettuce, chopped
• Bacon (1 slice per tortilla), cooked and drained
• Shredded turkey

Honey Mustard Sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
3 T. honey
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 T. lime juice
1/2 tsp. ginger powder