Beef and Bean Enchiladas

You will need:

1-2 pounds ground beef
1 10oz. can refried beans
1 16 oz. can red enchilada sauce
1 package tortillas in soft taco size
cheese


In large skillet, brown and drain ground beef.
Return to skillet and add refried beans.
Mix until well blended with beef.
Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto tortilla, roll, and place in pan.
Continue until pan is filled with rolled tortillas.
Shake Enchilada sauce, and pour over top or rolled tortillas.
Top with as much cheese as you like.

Bake at 350 until bubbly.

Eat!

Philly Cheesesteak Pie

Soooo yummy! And Easy!

1 lb. Stew Meat
1 med red pepper
1 med yellow onion
mushrooms (optional, and I didn't use any)
1 can Campbells beef broth (get the kind that says "double rich, double flavor under the title)
Mozzarella cheese (I like cheese, so use as much as you'd like)
1/3 C. flour
1 Tbs Italian Seasoning
2 Tbs. Olive Oil (although I use Grapeseed because it has a higher temperature rating)
1 package Flaky Layers rolls
Casserole Dish
Deep sided skillet

Preheat oven to 350, and spray casserole dish lightly with Pam.

Add Olive (or Grapeseed) Oil to skillet, and heat on medium heat
Cut pepper and onion into small strips and add to warmed pan
While veggies cook, mix 1C of beef broth with flour
When veggies are limp, add stew meat, Italian seasoning, and broth mixture to pan.
Cover and simmer until thickened.

Meanwhile, take Flaky Layers rolls and pull each roll apart to double the batch. Take half and put along bottom of casserole dish. Lightly brush with melted butter.

When meat mixture is thickened, add to casserole dish. Take Mozzarella cheese, cut into chunks, and disperse throughout mixture. Top with remaining Flaky Layers rolls. Brush lightly with melted butter.

Cook until top is browned and bubbly.

Eat.

When I made this, the whole family loved it, and ate the ENTIRE thing! I will double the batch next time and freeze some of the meat mixture to make an easy meal even easier!

Opulent Chicken

6-8 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts
sliced swiss cheese
2 cans cream of chicken soup
½ c. sour cream
½ c. water
2 c. Ritz cracker crumbs (1 wrapped stack approx. 2 c.)
½ c. melted margarine

Lay chicken in greased baking dish and put a slice of cheese on each. Mix together soup, sour cream and water. Pour over chicken. Mix cracker crumbs and margarine and sprinkle over chicken. Bake 2 ½ hours at 275.

Jakes Chicken Curry with Onion Naan (YUMMY!)

My brother-in-law made this for us when we were visiting and it is DELISH! I'm definitely going to make it, but thought I'd share his recipe with you in the meantime.

Onion Naan
(You can take the onion out and just have
naan if you prefer)

3 T. butter (room temp is best)

1 C. finely chopped or grated onions

1.2 C. warm wager

1 tsp. salt

1.5~2 C. Bread or all purpose flour

Sauté the onions until clear (add butter to skillet at

medium-high heat. Add onions and reduce to low heat.

Cook until the onions turn clear.

Meanwhile -

Melt butter in skillet and pour into a large mixing

bowl. Add warm water, onions, salt and 1.5 cups of

flour (.5 cup at a time). Work the dough into a ball

by hand. If it continues to feel sticky, add 1 or 2

tsp of flour. Work the dough with your hands until it

is slightly firm, 1-2 min.

Shaping -

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and form each into a

ball. Cluster them into a group on a floured work

surface and let them rest for 3 min. Flatten each

ball and roll out as thin as possible. If a piece

resists, move onto another and come back later. Cover

Naan with a towel as each is completed.

Baking -

Using an ungreased heavy non-stick pan, cook naan or

high heat 3-4 minutes on each side. Don't be

concerned if they brown unevenly.

The Curry is very easy.

I chop up and cook the vegetables separately usually in

butter (potatoes, onions, carrots) I usually boil

chicken, but you can grill it or cook it how you like.

While this is going on I cook the rice in our rice

cooker. After the rice, chicken and vegetables are

all cooked, I combine them into a large fry pan and on

low heat I add a chopped up block of either House or

Vermont Curry (You can find it at an Asian mart or a

lot of regular grocery stores have started to carry it

these days to). You can add a little bit of the chick

broth if you boiled the chicken (this steams and helps

the curry blend in a littler better). Mix it up until

the curry is all mixed through. (this is the dry

curry).

For wet curry -

Keep the rice separate. Check the curry box, but you

add the curry block to a pot with the vegetables

and water and heat it up until the curry has dissolved

in and you have a thick stew. Pour over the rice.

Daisy Mom's Pizza Crust and Sauce

Pete and Amy were here for Amalia's birthday and Felipe's mom made yummy personal pizza's for everyone. Pete requested the recipe as he got a baking stone and wooden paddle for his birthday! Daisy says that there are three key items in making it extra yummy, SAF yeast, high gluten flour and the baking stone. IT IS SUPER DELICIOUS!!!!

PIZZA DOUGH

1 1/2 TBSP SAF yeast (a great fast acting yeast)
3/4 TBSP sugar
1 1/2 TSP salt
6 cups high gluten flour
2 1/4 cups warm water

Preheat oven to 500 degrees and place empty baking stone in oven for at least 45 minutes prior to baking pizza

Add all ingredients but flour to mixer ( Kitchen aid or Bosch type) use the dough hook. Mix for a few seconds. Then add the first 5 cups of flour, add the last cup of flour 1/4 cup at a time until dough is slightly sticky. Let the machine knead the dough for 5 minutes. Coat a large mixing bowl with olive oil and place the dough in it to rise and cover with a towel for 30 minutes. After it is done rising, take a small ball and shape into a small pizza. Then place the pizza onto the paddle which should be cover with corn meal. Next brush some olive olive on the top of the pizza and sprinkle with kosher salt. Then add the sauce and toppings. Then transfer into the oven on top of the baking stone. Bake for exactly 5 minutes at 500 degress. Leave stone in oven, remove pizza. She usually bakes to small pizzas at a time.

PIZZA SAUCE

Sautee the following in a pan for a few minutes:

1 1/2 TBSP olive oil
1 onion chopped
1/2 red pepper chopped
1/2 green pepper chopped
4 cloves of garlic chopped

After it has sauteed for a few minutes, add the following:

1 large can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. drieid basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 small can tomatoe paste
1/2 cup water
1 tsp sugar

Stir. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes - stirring occasionally. If you like chucky sauces just put on pizza as is. For the grandkids she blends the sauce before using it on the pizza.

Sorry I'm a little unsure of the can sizes. The crushed tomato size is the same size can as a large pumpkin can and the paste is the tiny one, 4 or 6 oz I think.

Chicken Curry

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 Tbsp curry powder
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 ½ cups chicken broth
1 ½ cups heavy cream or coconut milk
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper
Cooked white rice
½ cup fresh basil leaves, torn
¼ cup almonds, roughly chopped

Place chicken in a bowl and sprinkle with curry powder and cinnamon. Set aside. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large skillet and add onions and zucchini. Cook until softened. Transfer to a plate. Heat remaining oil and brown the chicken. Add the broth, cream or milk, salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until chicken is cooked through and the sauce has been reduced a bit and is thicker. Add the onion and zucchini back to the pan and heat through. Serve over rice with basil and almonds sprinkled on top.

Annual Crawfish Boil

We started this tradtion because we were invited to a friend's annual boil. Crawfish make the best party food: you just keep eating and talking because it takes a bit to peel them and they are a bit on the small side. They are messy, but worth it. Here's the recipe:

Cajun Crawfish Dinner

2 pounds crawfish per person (we did a total of 8 pounds for our family)
1 package of Zatarain's crawfish boil seasoning (available in the spice aisle)
red potatoes
corn on the cob


First of all, crawfish come home with you alive. In order to make they empty their digestive tract and make them eatable, you put them in a big bowl/pot/cooler and cover them with a bunch of salt and a little bit of water and let them sit for awhile. The salt with make them spitup anything inside them. After awhile, rinse all the crawfish. Discard any dead fish (their tails will be straight instead of curve around).
Meanwhile, bring too boil a really, really big pot (industrial sized) of water with the seasoning in it. Add the live fish. Let them boil for about 10 minutes. Then let them soak. The longer you soak them, more of the seasoning soaks in.

You can serve red potatoes and corn on the cob with the crawfish. Just boil the potatoes and corn in the same pot. The whole meal is meant to be eaten with your fingers. You might want a bib, or at least a big napkin, they squirt when you peel them.

To eat: pinch the fish just behind the head and pull the tail section off. You don't want to eat the yellowish stuff. Then peel the tail like you would a shrimp. And Enjoy. This is such a fun and delicious meal. I wish that the season wasn't already over. Check online, I bet there is a sight that you could order through, or ask your butcher. Maybe they can special order for you.

Beef Noodle Bowl

My kids loved this one too. I also just used the fat-free versions of the dressings on both and they tasted great!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I've made this twice now. Even my kids like it!