Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

I've made these for years & they are always a delight. They are super easy & really good without being too spicy (depending how many green chiles you add) because they have no red enchilada sauce. They have more of a sour cream enchilada sauce on them...anyway every one of my kids will eat these so they have stayed in the recipe rotation for a long time & I predict they will be continuing their successful run over in the Brenay kitchen for many more moons.

creamy chicken enchiladas:

2- 12.5 oz. (large) cans of chunk chicken or 3-4 chicken breasts shredded
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
2 soup cans full of milk (or add more to reach desired consistency)
1/2-1 small can of green chiles (depending on your desired spice level)
shredded cheese
10-12 flour tortillas
diced onions (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl empty 2 cans of soup, milk & chicken. Mix well breaking up chunks of chicken with a wisk. Pour just enough of this mixture into a 9x13 pan to cover the bottom.

2. If you prefer to saute the onion & green chiles you can (I leave out the onion & just drain & dump the green chiles in), add into the chicken mixture.

3. Hold one tortilla flat in your hand and spoon a good amount into the tortilla & spread it into a line. Sprinle some cheese inside and then carefully roll it up and place it in the dish.

4. Continue filling tortillas until your pan is lined with 8-12 enchiladas, leaving a little bit of the chicken mixture to gently spoon over the top of the enchiladas (especially wetting the ends of the tortillas so they don't get too crispy while baking). Sprinle with cheese.

5. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Top with sour cream, lettuce, tomato, olives or whatever you enjoy. Serve.

Impossibly Easy Chicken Pot Pie

SURPRISE, Surprise!! We have a guest chef!! Introducing the always funny Monda! Monda has 3 little girls & makes jewelry & furniture & who knows what else :) She's multi-talented as you will see with her delicious sounding recipe for chicken pot pie! Go check out her other endeavors, click here. Thanks for stopping by Monda, you did not disappoint!

I decided to put myself out there and be subjected to the snickering and criticism of the blogging world.

On Monday night we had friends over for GAME 5 of the Phoenix Suns playoffs and I made chicken pot pie. The fans went crazy....even the super picky 8 yr.old we call Abbi. Well... maybe not crazy but she did manage to eat more than 2 bites and didn't do her usual choke and gag routine. I hope your fans like it as much as mine did.

impossibly easy chicken pot pie:

1 2/3 cups of Green Giant frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup cut up cooked chicken
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup Original Bisquick mix
1/2 cup of milk
1 egg

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix vegetables, chicken and soup,in ungreased glass pie plate. 9x1 1/4 inches.
2. Stir together remaining ingredients with fork until blended. Pour on top of chicken mixture.
3. Bake 30 mins. or until golden brown.

That is the OFFICIAL recipe: I doubled the recipe because it says it serves 6. Yeah right !! I used 3 large chicken breast cooked in my pressure cooker.(because it's super fast) and I also added potatoes, salt, pepper and garlic. If the mixture looks thick add milk or water depending on your tastes or diet.

I asked the fans to let me take a picture of the meal on a plate but this is all I was able to get. The crowd was getting restless. Guess it looked a little better before we cut into it. Oh well... it was good and the fam wants it again. So Monday night, not only were the Suns a winner so was I.
your guest chef,
Monda

Lemon Poppy Seed Sugar Cookies

If this recipe doesn't scream spring time, you must not have tasted one (or 3)! Light, fluffy with a hint of lemon, drizzled with a delicious glaze, ALL of my kids LOVED them!

lemon poppy seed sugar cookies:

2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 T. poppy seeds
1/2 C. butter softened
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. sugar
1 egg
1/4 C. buttermilk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
zest of 1 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter & sugars together until light and fluffy. Add in the egg, vanilla & zest of lemon. Mix well.

2. Add in dry ingredients along with buttermilk. Mix well.

3. Drop onto greased or lined cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 mins or until edges are set. the cookies will be puffy and light in color. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

glaze:

1 C. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. vanillla
2 T. milk
1/2-1 tsp. lemon juice (optional)

1. Whisk until desired consistency is reached. With parchment or wax paper underneath wire rack, drizzle glaze over cookies with a wisk. Allow to set up before stacking or storing.

*Makes approx. 3 dozen cookies

Homemade Oreos

These cookies are the most moist, delicious, soft, cream cheesy dream I can imagine right now! A friend who has a birthday tomorrow, has never had the pleasure of tasting these little jewels so I knew I must whip up a batch in his honor! Seriously something might be wrong with you if you aren't salivating at the thought of these puppies! Sigh.......................

homemade oreos:

1 box devil's food cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 C. oil (or butter flavored shortening)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Blend together, roll dough into balls a little bit bigger than a quarter in size. Bake for 10-11 minutes, remove cookies from oven and allow to cool completely.

cream cheese frosting:

1/2 C. butter softened
1-8 oz. pkg of cream cheese
3-4 C. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Cream butter & cream cheese together well. Add vanilla & powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.

2. Place big dollop of frosting in middle of the bottom of one cookie, place a similar sized cookie bottom to frosting and gently press until frosting reaches edges. Allow to set up before storing.

*Makes approx. 2 dozen sandwiched oreos

Sweet & Sour Chicken Over Rice

I've been making this recipe for probably 10 years now & still love it! Easy, yummy & instantly makes you look 10lbs thinner......ok that's a lie but it's good.

sweet & sour chicken over rice:

3 chicken breasts cooked & cubed
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1 TB cornstarch
1 can pineapple tidbits
1/3 C. vinegar

1 TB soy sauce
1 small green pepper chopped (optional...I leave it out)

1. Cook cubed chicken, set aside. Saute green pepper & set aside with chicken.

2. Mix brown sugar & cornstarch in skillet, stir in pineapple with syrup, vinegar & soy sauce. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly, reduce heat.

3. Add chicken & green pepper to sauce, cover, simmer stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Serve over rice.

Ranch Spaghetti with BBQ Shredded Chicken

How can you go wrong?? BBQ chicken, pasta & ranch??? Throw in a side of garlic bread & I think it sounds divine!! My family was mixed. Some ate it and wanted more chicken on top, some thought the 2 didn't belong together. If it sounds tempting, give it a whirl!

ranch spaghetti w bbq shredded chicken:

1 lb. thin spaghetti noodles
4 TB extra virgin olive oil
1/2 large red onion, peeled & finely chopped (I used about 1/8 onion)
2 TB dry Ranch dressing mix
3/4 C. chopped fresh cilantro ( I used about 1/2 C.)
Shredded BBQ chicken (click here for recipe)

1. Cook spaghetti noodles according to pkg. Drain, rinse with cold water to stop cooking.
2. Place olive oil into a large pot or skillet over medium heat. Saute onions until softened and golden.
3. Add cooked spaghetti noodles to onions, mix and then add dry ranch seasoning & cilantro leaves.
4. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Place noodles on plate and top with warm shredded BBQ chicken, serve.

Shark Cake

This weekend was Boston's birthday. He wanted a shark cake. A shark cake?I thought. Hmmmmm. Well I found one someone had made online and tried my best to somewhat copy their idea. So here it is.

shark cake:

1 red velvet cake mix (prepared as directed)

1 white cake mix (prepared as directed)

frosting

candy corns

toothpicks

1. First bake your white cake as directed on box in a 9x13 greased AND floured cake pan, and your red velvet cake in a large greased AND floured loaf pan until toothpick inserted into it comes out clean.

2. Let cool for 15 minutes and then turn cakes out of pans onto rack to cool completely. Carve the red velvet loaf with a serrated knife until somewhat resembles the body of a shark coming out of the water. Use a piece of the loaf you remove to cut a fin and attach it to the body of the shark with a couple of toothpicks. Remember pointed nose, rounded sides & that it doesn't need to be perfect because icing is a miracle worker :) This is what mine looked like:

3. Next because there will be a lot of "crumby" sides on your shark, do a crumb coating with icing. A crumb coating is when you use a little bit of icing to ice your cake with a really thin coating of icing to seal all of the crumbs in and then place your cake in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes to let it harden and then you can resume icing the cake without worrying about all the red crumbs pulling up and appearing in your icing.

4. Use grey (tiny bit of black food coloring paste) on the body of the shark, pink in the mouth (or you could just leave the red cake exposed), a white gum line and then cut off the bottom white tips of your candy corns and apply them with tweezers to your sharks mouth.
5. Then put the blue icing on for your water and then add the sharks fins on top of the water, 2 eyes and some gills. It did take some time & was far from perfect, but if you've got a shark lover at your house like I do, this cake will be a winner! When you cut into the shark, the red velvet cake acts as "blood"....an instant hit with Boston!

Pizza Pasta Casserole

We ate this for dinner tonight......at 7:00.....I can't wait for soccer season to end. Anyway we ate. That's what good mom's do ya know......they feed their kids. I know you're a good mom too.

pizza pasta casserole:

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion chopped (optional)
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1/2-1 pkg (16oz) rotini pasta, cooked and drained
2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese
mini pepperonis

1. Cook & drain pasta.
2. Meanwhile in a large skillet cook beef & onion over medium heat until meat is cooked through, drain.
3. Mix in spaghetti sauce, pasta & mini pepperonis (as many as you'd like).
4. Spray 9x13 pan with non-stick spray and then transfer pasta mixture into pan.
5. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Coconut Strawberry Cake

I found this recipe online & it sounded delightful! It's super easy to throw together. It is good, just very rich....I think I prefer just a plain ol white cake. But if you like good & rich this one's for you!

coconut strawberry cake:

1 box white cake mix

1. Make according to directions on box, bake accordingly in 9x13 pan.

1-16 oz. can of Cream of Coconut
1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

2. Mix together in bowl, as soon as you have removed cake from oven, poke cake all over with a fork then pour above mixture over the top of cake.

3. Place in refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
4. Scoop out and top with whipped cream & strawberries.