Chicken Enchiladas

Last night for dinner I made chicken enchiladas.  This is by far my favorite chicken enchiladas recipe.  If it didn't take so long to make, I would definately make it more.  The best thing, their is always leftovers and it tastes just as good the next day.

So.... I thought I would share the recipe with you and let you try it with your family.

Ingredients:

1 broiler-fryer chicken (about 3 pounds) cut into 8 pieces
1 large tomato, peeled, seeded, chopped (I used a can of already diced tomatoes)
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
12 corn tortillas (6-inch diameter)
2 cups shredded queso Chihuahua or Monterey Jack cheese


I always start by pulling the skin off the chicken.  You don't want the skin anyway.  Add a little salt to the chicken for flavor.

Place chicken in single layer in 12-inch skillet.  Sprinkle with tomato, white onion, garlic, cumin and salt; add broth.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. 

Reduce heat.  Cover and simmer 1 hour or until chicken is tender.

At this point, you can just sit back and wait for the aroma to fill your kitchen.

Remove chicken from skillet with tongs, shaking off vegetable pieces.  Let stand until cool enough to handle.

Skim and discard fat from skillet.  Bring remaining broth mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.  Boil 4 to 8 minutes until mixture is reduced to 2 cups. 



Pour reduced broth mixture into 13x9 inch baking dish.

Remove and discard bones and any left over skin from chicken.  Using fingers, pull chicken into coarse shreds.

Preheat oven to 375*

Heat cream in medium skillet over medium heat to just below boiling; remove from heat.

Dip 1 tortilla in cream with tongs (I use fingers, it's easier) a few seconds or until limp.  Remove, draining off excess cream. 

Spread about 3 tablespoons chicken down center of tortilla.

Roll up; place on sauce in baking dish.  Repeat with remaining tortillas, cream and chicken.  Pour any remaining cream over enchiladas.

Shred your cheese.

Sprinkle cheese over enchiladas.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted. 

I serve mine with just plain white rice.  I have a very picky eater so I can't dare serve him anything with any flavoring. 

As you can tell, this recipe takes quite a while to prepare but it is worth every minute.  So, whenever your looking for a really good mexican meal at home, give this one a try.

A snow day in Atlanta.....

We woke up this morning to snow.  Lots of snow.  I'm not a huge fan of snow, but I put on my boots and went out to take pictures.  I took lots of pictures, which is one thing that I do like to do.

The kids are having a great time; no school and hubby couldn't make it to work. 

Won't be having dinner on my deck table anytime soon.

The dogs have been out playing in the snow all morning.

The birdfeeder and birdhouse have been abandoned.

The snow dog is loving it.

Six inches!!!

See!!  Six Inches!!

Just because it snowed doesn't mean they won't chase each other.

We have to use our skim boards that we use at the beach to slide in the snow.  Can't find sleds anywhere.

Should have gotten one when we were in Ohio.

If you made it to the end, thanks for hanging in there.  I didn't realize I had taken so many pictures.  No wonder my batteries died.



Nancy

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

I'm so sorry I didn't get this posted yesterday as promised but I was soooooo busy.  I'm sure your thinking "yea, right" but seriously, I was.

Now on to the good stuff.

I picked up a cookbook from the library called "The Happy Baker" by Erin Bolger.  You can check out her website, follow her on facebook, twitter and even subscribe to her newsletter here.  I found the recipe for these cupcakes inside among many other things I want to try.  If you have a library near you, and I'm sure most of you do, you should definately go check out this book.


Peanut Butter Cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup oil
1 cup milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup hot water

ICING
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
3 tbsp (or more) hot water
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350*
Line cupcake tins; the recipe says it makes 18 cupcakes, but I got more like 21.

In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients.

Add oil, milk, vanilla, beaten eggs; blend well.
Stir in hot water, mix well.

Fill lined cupcake tins.  Bake for 22-25 minutes.  Let cool.

FOR ICING: Blend together butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy.  Gradually add confectioners' sugar and hot water until desired texture is achieved.

Ice cupcakes and enjoy!!



Please remember to leave a comment if you make these and let me know what you think.

Nancy

Christmas Eve and Creamy Brussels Sprouts Bake

Traditions are a wonderful thing

especially at Christmastime.

Traditions give you a sense of comfort

and the kids begin to rely on these traditions

year after year.

They are traditions that I hope they will carry

on into adulthood and continue with their own children.

Our Christmas Eve traditions have stayed the same

for the past 19 years yet they have changed

slightly each year.  Some things may not have been

so great and so the next year, we change it and do something a little different.

However, some things don't change.  We always go to church on Christmas Eve.

I can remember one year, when Trency was little, we went to the 11pm service.

He snored through the entire thing.

Some years we get dressed up and some years we wear jeans.

Some years we make cookies for Santa before church, some

years we make cookies after.  It all depends on what time church starts.

One thing we always do is take a family photo in front of our Christmas tree right before we leave.

2007

2008

2009

2010



After church we usually go out to dinner at a nice

restaurant. 

This year I decided that I would cook for Christmas Eve.

I had purchased a ham and turkey for Christmas day and decided

to make the ham for Christmas Eve.

I'm so glad I did because this is what it looked like

when I took it out of the oven.

It was delicious!!

I made some julienne potatoes and dinner rolls and we enjoyed

a nice dinner at home on Christmas eve.

The kids spent the rest of the evening tracking Santa until I made them go

to bed because Santa was moving very quickly on the tracker.  I knew he would be

in our neck of the woods very soon.

We nibbled on leftovers throughout Christmas Day.  Because

I hadn't slept very much of Christmas Eve, I didn't really feel like

standing in the kitchen cooking.

The day after Christmas was another story.  I cooked all day.

I made the turkey and also tried a new recipe: Creamy Brussel Sprouts Bake.  In a word:

YUMMY!!

It was sooo delicious and I am sharing the recipe with you today.

I got this recipe from Taste of Home Best Holiday
Recipes 2008

Creamy Brussels Sprouts Bake

1 package (8ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen brussels sprouts, thawed and drained

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sour cream until smooth; set aside.  In  a large skillet, saute mushrooms and onion in butter until tender.  Stir in brussels sprouts.  Remove from heat; stire in cream cheese mixture.

Spoon into a greased shallow 2-qt. baking dish.  Cover and bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.  Uncover; sprinkle with cheddar cheese.  Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

It was super easy to make and so very, very delicious.  We have plenty of leftovers and I can't wait to have them for lunch with some leftover ham or turkey.

It's so cold and windy outside so I plan to sit in front of the fire most of the day.

Hope you enjoy your time today with your family!

Nancy