Easy Chicken Enchiladas

Mix in casserole dish:
2 shredded chicken breasts (or canned chicken)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 can milk
1 can diced green chilies
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Top with tortilla chips and stir until they are wet. Then top with shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 min or so. YUMMY.

Chicken and rice

*6-7 chicken breasts (or drumsticks and thighs...much more moist)
*1 can of cream of chicken
*1 can of chicken broth
*1 cup of converted rice (uncooked)
*1 packet of dry vegetable soup mix

Butter a 9x13 pan (preferably glass dish) cover the bottom of the dish with rice, lay chicken breasts on top of rice. Mix cream of chicken, chicken broth, and vegetable soup mix all together and pour over rice and chicken. Cover dish with foil and cook at 350 for 1 hour. So yummy and so easy!

Mexican Burgers

1 lb ground beef, pork or turkey
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp seasoning salt
1/4 tsp crushed red chilis

Combine and shape into 4 patties. Grill. Istead of ketchup and mustard, top these with sharp cheddar or pepper jack cheese, avacado slices and your favorite salsa.

Scones
2 C. warm water
1 T yeast
1/2 C sugar
2 tsp salt
Put these ingredients in your mixer bowl slightly stir and let the yeast grow and bubble a little bit (about 3 minutes).

Flour (I use half wheat/half white)
Olive oil

How much flour you need will depend on the altitude you live. First start with two cups of flour turn on mixer (or do it by hand in a large bowl) and it will start to thicken. Add a little bit of oil (about 2 T at a time - do not exceed 1/2 C). Alternate oil and flour until the dough doesn't stick to your hands. Cover with a towel and let it sit for a few minutes (10 to 30 min) While the dough is resting, heat olive oil in a pan (cast iron works the best for even heat) between medium and high. Pull off pieces of dough (about golf ball size or a little bigger) and mold and flatten into thick tortilla like rounds and fry them. If they fry and darken too quickly, the oil is too hot and needs to be turned down. After they're done on both sides, let them cool on paper towels and then enjoy with honey and butter and powdered sugar...

Baked Ziti

Today a guy at work brought in the best baked ziti I've ever tasted. He recently moved here from New York, and learned to cook from his Italian grandma. I talked him into sharing the recipe.

1 lb. ziti pasta

1 large can & 1 small can tomato puree
1 bell pepper
1 small onion
4-6 cloves chopped garlic
1 tomato
3 grilled dinner sausages
1 lb mozzarella
1 lb ricotta
¼ lb parmesan
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Basil
Salt

Pepper

Sauté the garlic in oil till just before it turns brown. Then throw in the onions and the peppers, turn down the heat a little, cover, and let soften a little. Once the veggies are softer, throw in the tomatoes, and add basil, salt, and pepper. Stir frequently and try to keep covered, turn the heat up if needed. After everything is mixed together well (probably about 15-20 mins), and you can see the juices from the veggies, pour in the tomato puree and stir. Cut up your grilled sausage and throw it in. Stir repeatedly to get everything mixed well. Your house should smell amazing at this point by the way. For the most part you are done creating the sauce and just need to monitor it. Make sure things aren’t sticking to the bottom of the pot, that kind of thing. I usually put it on low, cover it, and stir about every 5-10 minutes. You can leave it on there as long as you’d like. Another 20 mins, 2 hours, a day, its really up to you. My grandmother treats her sauce like whisky, the older the better, but really it should taste amazing in about 20 -30 minutes. Remember to taste your sauce as you cook. I like to keep some bread next to the pot for dipping. Its all about tasting as you go!

Once you throw in the sausage you can start with the pasta if you don’t anticipate cooking the sauce for a long time. Once the pasta and the sauce are cooked, throw the pasta in a large mixing bowl, then spoon in the ricotta cheese and mozzarella (shredded or cubed). Save a little mozz for the top. Throw in ¾ of the sauce, and mix until pink and blended. Line a baking tray with a thin layer of sauce and then spoon in your ziti mixture. Throw the remainder of the sauce on top and cover with mozz and the parmesan cheeses. If everything is still hot, you can put right in the oven at 375 for about ½ hour or until the middle is warm and the top is browning.

The beauty about this meal is if you want you can make it, refrigerate it, and cook later. If you do, cover it loosely with foil so the cheese doesn’t stick and cook for 45-60 mins at 375 or until the middle is hot and the top is browning (take the foil off about ½ way through).

I know it’s a little rough, but you should be able to wing the unclear parts. That’s the beauty of my family’s cooking…improvising!

Ensalada Espanola (Spanish Salad)

*Generic salad mix (loads of iceberg lettuce, plenty of different greens, shredded carrots...a variety)
*Tomatoes
* 1/2 can of corn
*Can of tuna (drained)
*Diced avocado
*Mediterrean olives (optional)
*Olive oil
*Vinegar
*little bit of salt

Basically mix everthing together...the quantity of everything just depends on how many people youre trying to feed...this one is for about 4-5. It was my most favorite thing to eat on my mission and now I have it at least once a week!

Thai Chicken Wraps

I got part of this recipe from Rachel Ray...I say part, because I made it the easy way...hers was from scratch.

3 chicken breasts- cooked and shredded
1/2 cucumber thinly sliced
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1 cup shredded carrots, available in pouches in the produce dept.
3 scallions sliced

Mix ingredients, warm tortillas (15 sec. each side) in a nonstick skillet. Pile chicken mixture and liberally drizzle with Asian Ginger dressing (I use Good Seasons).

Angel Chicken

4-5 breasts of chicken
1 8oz. package of cream cheese
1/2 a package of Italian dry dressing
1 can of chicken broth

Mix cream cheese, Italian dressing and chicken broth all together, cover chicken breasts in crock pot. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. Serve over rice.

This is soooooo easy and very very yummy. I started it an hour before church and it was ready to go when we got home!