Chicken Enchilada Recipe July 9, 2008

This is a very fast and simple chicken enchilada recipe. This yields two 9″x13″ pans of enchiladas.  I made them last week, cooked one pan and froze the other for a meal to be named later.

2 lbs cooked chicken, shredded

1 lg can enchilada sauce -I prefer spicy but if it’s too hot you can cut the heat by adding a sm. can of tomato sauce

20 tortillas, corn or flour

2-3 cups of shredded Cheese – I use 1/2 colby and 1/2 jack freshly shredded

I can of black olives, diced

1 bunch of scallions, sliced thinly

2 tomatoes, diced

1 onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, diced without seeds (optional)

Preheat oven to 375

In a mixing bowl combine 1/2 of the cheese, chicken, chopped onion, jalapeno with enough sauce to coat the mixture.

In a sauce pan heat the remaining sauce over low heat.  Using tongs dip a tortilla into the sauce to coat one side.  Fill coated side of the tortilla with the desired amount of the chicken mixture.  Roll up and place into your pan.  Repeat until all tortillas are filled.  I pack them tightly into the pan to keep them from unrolling during cooking.

Pour the remaining sauce in the pan over the enchiladas and top with the remaining sauce.  Combine the black olives, scallions and tomatoes and sprinkle on top of the cheese.

Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake until the cheese on top is melted and bubbly.

Bulk cooking update June 29, 2008

I ended up making three lasagnas tonight.  The third lasagna did not end up getting as much of the cheese mixture as I would like but it will do.

It really was no more difficult to make three lasagnas than making one.  I had no wasted ingredients at all and I now have at least two more meals prepared and ready to be put in the oven when I need them.  It’s a great feeling.

Based on a suggestion from my brother, Tony (who needs to get a blog!), I will be trying this method out this week with my mom’s delicious chicken enchilada recipe.  At this rate my freezer will full in no time.

Cooking in bulk June 28, 2008

As a way to save time and money I’m trying to figure out a way to cook more meals at once.  I’d like to eventually build up a stockpile of meals in our freezer so that when I don’t feel like cooking an entire meal I have something I can pull out, defrost and heat up.  My hope is that having this option will make us less likely to order take-out, plus I will have less wasted produce as I will not be using half of something and then throwing the rest away.  That half ingredient will now go into another meal.

My first foray into this new era of cooking in our home is taking place tomorrow.  I am going to make 2 or 3 lasagnas instead of one.  I will then break them up into meal size portions and put them into our deep freeze in the basement.   Wish me luck!

The Arboretum June 28, 2008

Here are some more pictures from mine and Riley’s trip to the Morton Arboretum with Michelle, John & Ethan.  The weather was perfect and the kids would have stayed in the Children’s Garden all day if we had allowed them.

The Art of the Trailer June 23, 2008

Who knew that Ferris Beueller was so dramatic? Beuller? Bueller?

Here’s a lovely little family film.

Are You Paying Attention? June 10, 2008

This information was posted on a message board that I frequent a week or so ago and it blew me away.

Do you consider yourself an observant person?

Do you get frustrated when you are trying to get a piece of aluminum foil or plastic wrap out of the box and the whole roll comes out of the box instead?

Did you know there is a simple way to prevent that from happening?

Next time, look at the sides of the box and you will see two little perforated push tabs, push them in and the roll stays in place.

I checked all of the rolls in my kitchen and they all, even the cheap WalMart brand items, have these tabs.  They have been there all along and I have never noticed them before.  Most people I talked about this didn’t know they were there either.  I suppose it is a good reminder to look at your world a little closer, you never know what you may discover.

Comments May 28, 2008

I think I fixed it so that you no longer have to be logged into WordPress to comment. 

My lack of internet knowledge is astounding.

Technology Says Suck It May 28, 2008

Our DirecTV DVR decided that since I hadn’t already watched all of the episodes of this seasons Hell’s Kitchen or the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy yet that I was S.O.L. For some reason the entire history, to do list and play list were deleted. Gone! You feel betrayed when your DVR does you wrong. Up until now we’ve had a loving and trusting relationship, I’m not sure that we will ever get back to that place again.

I called DirecTV tech support to find out if we needed a new box. The tech assured me that this problem “was just like chicken pox” that once you get it you can never get it again.  Suuuuuure, if you say so dude.  Electronics with immunities is a new one to me.

Girly Girl May 27, 2008

Riley is a girly-girl. I am not.  I never have been and I am trying hard to learn how to be one.  It’s not easy, at all.    Sometimes I feel like there is the whole world of knowledge that most women have that I know absolutely nothing about.  I don’t know how to expertly apply makeup, I can’t braid hair, I can barely get her hair to stay in a ponytail.  I’m learning, trying and learning…

Do You Know The Way To Norway? May 27, 2008

While driving through the Illinois countryside we came across the little town of Norway, IL.  Based on the signs we saw the town revels in its Norse heritage.  What we weren’t expecting on the way out of town was a crashed plane.  Not a recent plane crash but a permanent display/monument/art piece.  My camera was in the car so of course I made Matt turn around so that we could investigate.

The plane is an Agricultural Crash Monument and is put there by a local Stihl Dealer.  I love discovering things on a road trip.  If only gas prices weren’t out of control.