Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts

Mexican Lasagne (or Burrito Casserole) | A Crockpot Win

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Because of Tyler's hockey schedule, I have no choice but to dust off the crockpot and get organized with meal planning. We're out until odd hours and when we get back home everyone is starving, especially Tyler.

Last night I decided to try a recipe on Stephanie's A Year of Slow Cooking. I like Mexican food and I was able to do this almost entirely with things I had on hand. I modified Stephanie's recipe because I wanted it to be even more of a one pot meal. I also cut the recipe about in half. We're not that good with leftovers and so many crockpot recipes make huge portions. Phil re-named my version Mexican Lasagna. Below is Stephanie's recipe with my notations after.


Ingredients
1 small onion, peeled and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (4-ounce) can roasted green chiles, undrained
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
8 flour or brown rice tortillas (brown rice tortillas are GF; read packing carefully)
4 cups cooked pinto beans (three 15-ounce cans, drained)
4 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

Optional garnishes: sour cream, sliced avocado, etc.

Directions
Use a 4-quart slow cooker. If you only have a large one, that's okay--but reduce cooking time a few hours.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, chiles, and spices.

Put a layer of tortillas into the bottom of your cooker---you may need to tear them a bit to get good coverage. Add a scoop of the onion/tomato mixture and layer on a healthy spoonful of beans and then a layer of cheese. Repeat layers until you've run out of ingredients. Top with a healthy dose of cheese.

Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours (if using a 6-quart, do 3 to 4 hours on low, then let it click over to warm--there's nothing really to cook--you're just heating thoroughly and getting the cheese to get that yummy crust).

My Changes
I did not use an onion, pepper or green chilies. I only used one can of tomatoes (because all of us don't care for whole tomato). They were Mexican style with onions and chiles, the store brand equivalent of Rotel. 

I used two 15 ounce cans of beans and partially drained one (to make up for the missing liquid from the second can of tomatoes). I only used 4 tortillas. My crockpot is just the size for Mission's medium soft taco size tortillas. The tortillas were just barely too big. I did use a lot of cheese, but maybe only three cups of shredded taco seasoned cheese. 

Now for my biggest changes: I bought one 6 ounce package of Tyson grilled chicken strips and two packages of Lipton Fiesta Sides Taco Rice. I made both packets according to directions but cut the water to 3 cups. I diced the chicken into pretty small pieces.

I layered the ingredients: tomato, rice, beans, chicken, cheese. The top was tortilla to keep the moisture in. Since the rice and chicken were already cooked, I only had this in the crockpot on low for an hour just to warm it through. I didn't use all the prepared rice in my dish. There's about 1 1/2 cups leftover. I still think I'd make two packages; using only one would make the meal skimpy unless I doubled the chicken.

Please excuse my lack of food photography skills
The results: we loved it. I cut it into four really good sized triangles and served everyone a wedge. Tyler could barely finish. This is very filling! The only change I'll make when I prepare this again is to add some salt. The brand of tomatoes I used made the dish sweeter than I like Mexican food to be.

If you're in need of crockpot inspiration, definitely take a look at Stephanie's site. I've had good luck with her recipes. Which food site do you have good luck with?

Virtual Cooking Class | Join Me at The MotherHood

Monday, March 14, 2011

This is a sponsored post

I'm not as much of a cook as I used to be. Before we had Tyler we were a lot more adventurous in the kitchen. We'd open a cookbook, choose a recipe and give it a try. These days, I don't experiment as often but I can follow the heck out of a recipe. Still, I do like to surround myself with kitchen inspiration, just in case. I subscribe to Food Network magazine and Rachel Ray. I added three new food blogs to my reader just last week (and made two of her recipes). I also have cooking shows on as background noise almost all day.

It was a no brainer to say yes when I got an email asking me to co-host a class in the Web’s first-ever virtual cooking school, Cooking Connections, through The Motherhood. The show chefs are two of my most favorite bloggy friends, Busy Dad and Mr. Lady.  Jim is one of the only people who can text me at 11pm and get me to come meet him for drinks and Shannon is my girl crush. The show, airing this Wednesday, is Cooking with Dad, and if Jim's videos from our Tastemaker days are any indication, it's going to be good.

When: Wednesday, 3/16 at 8pm ET

My lovely co- hosts:
Dan Deguia: Deguia.net |@deguia
MomoFali: Momo Fali | @momofali

Jim and Shannon will be live video feed, and my co-host and I will be sharing stories and tips for having fun in the kitchen with Dad (and/or the other non-cooks of the family) in the comment section. If you Tweet, follow the conversation #CookingConnections. Care to join us?

The class is sponsored by ConAgra and hosted by TheMotherhood. I'm being compensated to participate and invite you to come have fun with me. The statements that Jim and Shannon rock my socks are my own opinion.

Redbook, Food Network: Cheap Magazine Subscriptions

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Good deal alert: Amazon has a few good offers on magazine subscriptions. Right now it's only $5 for a 2 year subscription to Redbook and 1 year of Food Network Magazine for $10 with an instant $5 credit at checkout. There are a few other titles that also offer the $5 credit.

I like Food Newtwork Magazine but still prefer Taste of Home and Rachel Ray. Taste of Home is a Best Deal Magazines - Deal of the Day Offer for $4.69 for one year.

When my Gramma was here we made chicken noodle soup and ranch mac and cheese from Taste of Home and both turned out really well. I've never thought to add ranch to mac and cheese. Tyler loved it.

* 4 cups water
* 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chicken broth
* 1-1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
* 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
* 3/4 cup sliced celery
* 3/4 cup sliced fresh carrots
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 1-1/2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
* 1 teaspoon reduced-sodium chicken bouillon granules
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 3 cups uncooked egg noodles

Directions
In a Dutch oven, combine the first 10 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in noodles; cook 5-7 minutes longer or until noodles and vegetables are tender.

* 1 package (16 ounces) elbow macaroni
* 1 cup 2% milk
* 1/4 cup butter, cubed
* 1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
* 1 teaspoon garlic salt
* 1 teaspoon garlic pepper blend
* 1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
* 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
* 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Colby cheese
* 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
* 1/2 cup crushed saltines (I left this out*)
* 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, combine the milk, butter, dressing mix and seasonings; heat through. Stir in Monterey Jack and Colby cheeses until melted. Stir in sour cream.

Drain macaroni; stir into cheese sauce with the saltines. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

*We tried breadcrumbs so the mac and cheese would have a browned crust. I mixed crumbs, butter and Parmesan and sprinkled it over the top. I baked it for awhile but it didn't brown. I'm not sure what I did wrong but it still tasted really good.

(affiliate links used)

Corn Chowder Recipe from Storytellers Cafe at Disneyland

Monday, January 3, 2011

We went to Disneyland in the beginning of December for a holiday preview. We met up with Deb and her family and the little ones ran around like kids on a sugar high. They decorated cookies, got their faces painted and danced to a DJ. It was so cute. 

We also got to eat some really good food. We had a buffet dinner featuring some of the chefs from restaurants around the park. My favorite was the corn chowder. I haven't tried the recipe yet but it looks pretty simple so I thought I'd share it with you.

If I didn't have time to roast the corn (or if it wasn't in season) I'd use either the frozen fire roasted kernels or sweet kernels from Trader Joe's. This is definitely not a healthy recipe which is probably why I liked it so much! Enjoy!

Charred Nebraska Corn Chowder from Storytellers Cafe at Disney's Grand Californian (serves 4-6)

4 ears of fresh shucked corn
4 slices of bacon, divided
1 TBS diced onion
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 Yukon Gold potato, peeled and diced
4 C chicken stock
6 TBS butter
6 TBS all-purpose flour
2 C heavy cream
1 C pulled chicken meat
2 tsp cilantro (optional garnish)
Salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste

*Preheat oven to 350

*To roast the corn, put whole ears in their husk into preheated oven for 25 minutes. Cool then shuck and remove the kernels. Set aside.

*Dice 2 slices of bacon and saute. Drain all but 1 TBS of of the fat. Add onion and garlic and sautee until transparent. Add corn, potato and stock. Bring to a simmer.

*Meanwhile, in another pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour, whisking until smooth. Cook 3-4 minutes until mix loosens slightly. Cool.

*Add cooled butter/flour mixture to the simmering broth, mixing well with a whisk. Stir often to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Simmer 30-40 minutes. 

*Add cream and chicken and simmer another 10 minutes. 

*Meanwhile, cook the other 2 bacon slices until crisp. Drain, dice and set aside. 

*Add to chowder salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste. Serve and garnish with bacon and cilantro.

I copied this recipe into Google Docs for you to print: http://bit.ly/StorytellersCafe_CornChowder

Disclosure: Disney provided tickets to the park, dinner and the entertainment for the kids. This is not a sponsored post. You all know how I love my corn chowder! I get so many people visiting my blog looking for the recipe to the Chili's corn soup. I hope this one will be a good substitute. It's fantastic!

Tastemaker Challenge #3 Meals in a Time Crunch

Friday, January 29, 2010

For the third and final Tastemaker 2010 challenge, we were to prepare a meal in 30 minutes or less. I found a Loaded Baked Potato soup recipe to use up all the potatoes I had leftover from the last challenge.

If I make this again I'll only use 3 potatoes instead of 5 and increase the chicken stock to 3 1/2 - 4 cups. The soup went from liquid-y to almost mashed potato consistency after I turned it off as the potatoes soaked up all the moisture. 

Being part of the Tastemaker Challenge was fun. It was a little out of my comfort zone since I'm no chef but I liked looking for the recipes. 
I'm looking forward to our final challenge at Blissdom. If you'll be there please RSVP for the party and make sure you say hello!

Video #1- Potatoes Celebrate National Seafood Month here.
Video #2- Meals on a Budget here.
Video #3- Nutrition in a Time Crunch here.
 
The US Potato Board and Fleishman-Hillard are covering my costs to attend the Blissdom conference and provided money to buy and/or ingredients for the Tastemaker meals.

Tastemaker 2010 Challenge Update- The Video is Up!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009


Editing is not my strong suit. Apparently, my new! laptop is more technology than I know how to use. But, my movie night themed You Tube video is finally up! In it, I give a few appetizer ideas and mention a few products.* I've linked to the recipes below.




After you watch the video, don't forget to rate it using the five star system. I got the two salmon recipes from Taste of Home's website. The mashed potato pizza is a replica of an appetizer I had when I was out with Deb.

I looked online for a recipe to make sure I was on the right track and the site I found had a good one. Nick from Macheesmo used homemade dough, but I went with Trader Joe's. After making the pizza, I wish I had rolled the dough out a lot thinner. The bread is supposed to be secondary to the mashed potatoes and a little crispy. Mine wasn't quite like that.

Taste of Home recipes
-Salmon Tarts
-Salmon Stuffed New Potatoes

Macheesmo.com

-Mashed Potato Pizza


Thanks again to McCormick and Schmicks for the salmon and to Fleishman-Hillard!


*FTC disclaimer: The only items given to me for this video were the salmon, a video camera, a gift card for expenses, red carpet and director's clapboard. The rest I purchased or borrowed. The websites I've linked to didn't ask me to do so, nor do they know I did (until now).

Easy Weekend Recipe #5: Lemon Chicken Spaghetti Toss

Friday, December 5, 2008

I found this one on one of my favorite food blogs, Dine and Dish. I add some broccoli to make it even more of a meal. Kristen posted her recipe on Recipe Zaar. If you'd like to try it print it out here.

Ingredients

5 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons olive oil orvegetable oil
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
3 tablespoons lemon juice*
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon seasoning salt**
1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1 7 ounce package thin spaghetti
Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, saute onions& garlic in butter& oil until tender.

Stir in the chicken, lemon juice, parsley, seasoned salt& lemon-pepper.

Saute for 15-20 min or until chicken juices run clear.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain.

Add to chicken mixture and toss.


*I like lemon. Actually I love lemon. The lemoney-er (more lemony?) the better. I usually have at least 5 TBS and add a little to the pasta water and a little more when adding the cooked spaghetti to the chicken mixture.

**I use garlic salt

(photo from Kristen's Flickr page)

Easy Weekend Recipe #4: Chicken and Rice Wraps

Thursday, November 20, 2008

My grocery budget has taken a serious beating. We've been eating a lot of chicken lately and I found a really good chicken cookbook on the clearance rack to add a little variety to my usual go to's (I actually bought two, perhaps for a future giveaway?). I forgot to pictures, I'm sorry! But the recipe turned out really well and we I had leftovers for days.

Easy Chicken and Rice Wraps

1 box of Rice A Roni Spanish rice
2 Tbs butter
1 cup of your favorite salsa
12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into strips
1 cup black or kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup corn
2 cups water
8 6-inch flour tortillas*

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the rice mix with the butter until it is golden brown.

2. Slowly stir in the water, and seasoning packet. Add salsa and chicken. Bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender and chicken is no longer pink.

4. Stir in beans and corn. Let stand, covered for 5 minutes then serve in warmed tortillas with your favorite garnishes.

I bought a large package of boneless, skinless chicken tenders and used some for this recipe and froze the rest. *These are supposed to be wraps but I didn't think Drama Kid could eat them that way without half ending up on the floor so I made them into burritos instead and wished I had purchased burrito size tortillas rather than soft taco sized.

Easy Weekend Recipe #3- Crockpot Breakfast

Friday, October 3, 2008

Dr. Oz recommends starting the day with steel cut oatmeal. Being a devout Ozzian, I went right out to get some. The half hour cooking time was a total turnoff so I forgot about it until I saw it pre-cooked in the freezer section at Trader Joe's. I like the Trader Joe's version but at $1.99 for two servings it was too pricey for me to continue buying.

Dr. Oz brought it up again on another Oprah episode and someone in the audience mentioned they use the crockpot to make it. Hallelujah! I set out to find a recipe and the slow cooker gods were looking out for me because
I found a great book on clearance and it had this recipe in it.

The first time I made it I forgot to take pictures which was actually a blessing because I got busy
clearing my reader doing other things and left it plugged in two hours too long. Ahem.


"Wake up to Health" Cereal


2 cups chopped, peeled apples

3 cups water

1 1/2 cups uncooked steel cut oatmeal

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker on low for 8 hours.

I substituted one cup of the water with apple juice (steel cut oats are pretty bland) and this time I added a dash of brown sugar. The recipe makes a lot. I was getting kind of sick of oatmeal by the time it was gone! Enjoy. Have a good weekend!

(Please scroll to the bottom to donate free mammograms. Just one click!)

Easy Weekend Recipe #2 - Vegetarian

Friday, September 26, 2008

I sampled this at Trader Joe's and was surprised that I liked it. To me, it's not chili without meat. The recipe is so easy it's a good one for older kids to do by themselves.

Vegetarian Tamale Pie

2 cans Vegetarian chili (8 oz I think)

1/2 bag of frozen fire roasted corn

1 chub of polenta (found in the aisles not the dairy case)

Shredded Cheddar cheese


Mix the chili and corn in an 8 x 8 baking dish. Slice polenta and cover the chili. Top with the
cheese. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese browns slightly.

I wasn't going to tell Drama Dad it was vegetarian until I'd served it, but I did anyway. He really liked the flavor though he's not a huge fan of polenta. He suggested crushing tortilla chips on top instead which I might try. I also won't slice the polenta but mash it to form more of a crust. The slices were a little thick. Let me know if you try it.


Have a great weekend!

Easy Weekend Recipe: Poppin Fresh Barbecue Cups

Friday, September 12, 2008

I'm trying to an attempt to do more cooking in the kitchen than heating things up. Trader Joe's makes it so easy to be lazy! But, I do like to cook and now that I don't have the excuse of a job, I've been looking for recipes on other blogs.


I found these Poppin' Fresh Barbecups on Food Gawker (LOVE it!) then went to the host site Taste and Tell and promptly added Deborah to my reader.


Poppin' Fresh Barbecups
from Pillsbury Dough Magic

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup barbecue sauce

1/4 cup chopped onion (I used onion powder and onion salt on the beef while browning)

1-2 T brown sugar

1 can Pillsbury Golden Layers Refrigerated Buttermilk or Flaky Biscuits
Shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 400°F. Grease 10 medium muffin cups. In large skillet, brown ground beef over medium heat until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain. Stir in barbecue sauce, onion and brown sugar. Cook 1 minute to blend flavors, stirring constantly.

Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Place 1 biscuit in each greased muffin cup. Firmly press in bottom and up sides, forming 1/4-inch rim over edge of cup. Spoon about 1/4 cup beef mixture into each biscuit-lined cup. Sprinkle each with cheese.

Bake at 400°F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges of biscuits are golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from muffin cups.


This recipe was really easy. I mean really. I ended up with leftover meat which I meant to eat Sloppy Joe style and forgot. I think I could have made 3-5 more cups with it but would have needed an extra tube of dough which would have left me with extra biscuits.

Next time I'll buy 2 cans of biscuits and make the leftover dough and have the biscuits for breakfast.
I also might omit or reduce the brown sugar. They were a little on the sweet side. I'm sure it depends on the barbecue sauce you use. I used Sweet Baby Ray's and the taste wasn't nearly as tangy as we would have liked. We had a few leftover and they are definitely better reheated in the oven than microwave. I think this is going to become a staple in the recipe box. They were fast and filling.


With martial arts, my book club, the blogging group I joined and the holidays approaching (only 113 days, 11 and 46 minutes until Christmas!) I know we're going to keep getting busier. Let me know if you try it!

Works for Me Wednesday: 5 Ingredients or Less Caramel Layer Squares

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

I love this edition of WFMW and I'm looking forward to reading all the easy meal recipes. I've been making this dessert for years. It's quick and SOO good! I get raves every time I make it.

Ingredients
Evaporated milk (small can)
Chocolate chips
German Chocolate cake mix (pudding style)

Light caramels*
Butter
Chopped nuts (That's 6, but they're optional!)


Special tools
Double boiler**


Part A

1/3 c evaporated milk

1 14 oz. package of light caramels


Part B
1 box of German Chocolate cake mix
1/2 c melted butter

1/3 c evaporated milk

Part C
1/4 c chopped nuts
1 6 oz bag of chocolate chips

1. Combine the caramels and evaporated milk in a double boiler on low heat, stirring often until melted. Remove from heat.


2. Combine cake mix, butter, evaporated milk and nuts until just moistened and mix holds together.

3. Spread just over half the dough in a thin layer into a greased and floured 9 x 13 pan.

4. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes.


5. Pour melted caramel over dough. Sprinkle with half the chocolate chips.


6. Drop remaining dough in bite sized chunks over caramel and chips. Top with remaining chips.


7. Bake 16-18 additional minutes. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.


These are awesome warm and topped with ice cream! Enjoy! (I will try to update with a plated picture. They weren't cool enough to cut yet)

*It's getting harder to find bags of individually wrapped caramels. I used to buy the Kraft ones but haven't seen those for at least a year unless it's around Thanksgiving. This is the first time I've used Werther's. I only bought (2) 5.5 oz bags and wished I had more pieces.

**I have never used a microwave for melting the caramel, but I'm sure it can be done.

For more WFMW visit Shannon's place.

add to kirtsy
 
copyright melanie sheridan 2009 template design by Studio Mommy (© copyright 2015)