MamaJo’s Enchiladas Verdes
**this is the NO alarm version, to add some smokey heat, add chili powder on the chicken and a chopped fresh jalapeno to the chicken mix.
Ingredients:
- 2 lb boneless, skinless, chicken breast
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 1 green onion, chopped
- 1 handfull cilentro, stemmed and roughly chopped
- 1/4 c + 1 T canola oil
- cumin
- paprika
- salt
- pepper
- 2 T sour cream
- 1 can green enchilada sauce or green salsa
- 1 c shredded cheese
- 8 corn tortillas
Instructions:
- In a large iron skillet, heat 1/4 c oil to medium high
- lightly fry corn tortillas
- set aside on paper towels
- in same skillet, add extra 1 T of oil if needed
- add onions, cook until softened
- generously sprinkle one side of the chicken with spices, place spicy side down in skillet
- generously sprinkle other side of chicken
- cook chicken until done, about 10 minutes. Turn over at 5 minutes.
- with two forks shred chicken finely.
- add cilentro and cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently
- allow chicken to cool slightly, in a medium size bowl, add sour cream and 1/4 c enchilada sauce, mix well
- put 1 T chicken mix in each tortilla, add cheese
- roll tortillas
Now…you can cook these the easy way, or the long way…
The Easy way: individually plate enchiladas, cover with green sauce and cheese, microwave on high for 1 minute.
The Long way: place rolled enchiladas in a baking dish, cover with enchilada sauce, and generously cover with cheese, bake in an over preheated to 375 until cheese is bubbly.
Filed under: Kitchen Quickies, Out-to-Eat Fakies, breakfast | Tags: berry compote, french toast
Nope, that title isn’t a mistake…this french toast is made from day old french bread.
…I know you were just thinking about what to do with the french baguette from last night’s dinner…well, here you go. Enjoy!
MamaJo’s French French Toast
Ingredients:
- Day old french bread (half a loaf or more)
- 4 eggs
- 1 c milk (I didn’t measure so this is approximate)
- dash of nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- butter
Instructions:
- Heat griddle or pan to medium.
- Wisk eggs, milk, spices and vanilla together in a large bowl or baking dish.
- Butter griddle or pan.
- Quickly dip bread in egg mix so that both sides are covered and place on griddle or pan. (only dip what will fit in the pan)
- Flip when bottom of bread is a nice golden brown. Remove when both sides are golden and set aside (preferably in a slightly warm oven).
- Repeat until you have used all the bread.
You can freeze whatever excess you have made and revive the French French Toast in the toaster or toaster oven (do people even have these anymore?) for a fast, easy, mess free breakfast.
MamaJo’s Tart Berry Compote
Ingredients:
- 1 T unsalted butter
- 2 T cream cheese brought to room temperature
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 handfuls blueberries, frozen or fresh
- 2 handfuls raspberries, frozen or fresh
- a splash of no sugar added apple juice
Instructions:
- Melt butter and cream cheese over low heat in a small sauce pan.
- Wisk with a fork until creamy and add sugar. Stir constantly until melted.
- Add berries and stir. Raspberries don’t hold together well under heat and will reduce beautifully. Stir constantly until raspberries reduce.
- Add apple juice until your desired thickness is reached.
- Spread compote over hot french toast.
Filed under: Italian, Main Course, Seafood | Tags: mediterranean, pasta, shrimp
I sat down and came up with this recipe today and cooked it for dinner this evening. I had shrimp and pasta on the menu tonight but I didn’t really make up my mind as to what I actually wanted to do with them when I made my menu.
Shrimp have such a delicate flavor and I hate to weigh that down with heavy sauces or greasy batters. I wanted something light and bright, but with depth too. I think it turned out pretty good! Preparation is quick and simple and the ingredients are easy to find. Try it and let me know what you think! Enjoy.
Mama Jo’s Apple Shrimp in Mediterranean Orchard Sauce
Prepped, next time I won't toss, but will serve the sauce on top instead.
Mediterranean Orchard Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 and 1/2 c unsweetened apple juice
- 3 T lemon juice
- 2 T corn starch
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 T unsalted sweet cream butter
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- tiny pinch of nutmeg (that stuff is STRONG)
Instructions:
- Pour apple juice and lemon juice in a medium sauce pan, turn heat to med low.
- Gradually whisk in corn starch with a fork. Never stop stirring until all corn starch has been mixed in.
- Add garlic and butter, stir quickly until butter melts.
- Add spices, stir.
- Bring to very slow boil while stirring, remove from heat immediately.
- Set aside.
Apple Shrimp Ingredients:
- 1 T butter
- 1 T extra virgin olive oil
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1 medium gala apple, peeled, cored and diced
- 2 T unsweetened apple juice
- 1 lb (app) large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1/2 of 13.5 oz box whole wheat angel hair pasta, cooked and drained
Instructions:
- In a metal skillet (not iron!), heat butter and oil over medium heat.
- Add onions and garlic to skillet, saute until tender.
- Add oregano and apple, saute.
- Add apple juice and shrimp, stir well and increase heat to med-high.
- Cook about 2-3 minutes, until shrimp begin to curl. Mixture will be watery.
- Add apple shrimp mix to sauce, stir very well.
- Serve over angel hair pasta.
Filed under: Chicken, Crock or Stock, Kitchen Quickies, Tex-Mex | Tags: black beans, soup, tortilla soup
I’ve only had tortilla soup once and actually liked it. It was about five or six years ago, when I was doing my own psycho version of Atkins, and it was a low carb find, introduced to me by a fellow Atkins psycho.
Since then, I’ve had several versions, but none that tasted much better than concentrated vegetable soup with some cumin in it. So, I took advantage of our recent cold spell and put together this fresh soup, based on my recollection of the flavors in the one I liked so much.
Not to pat myself on the back here…but it was gooood. And, for an added bonus, I have never, ever seen my hubby eat veggies so fast. Next time it’s cold out, why not try this soup and tell me what you think?!
Enjoy!
Plated, with cheese quesadillas.
MamaJo’s Black Bean Tortilla Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 large pablano pepper, seeded, cut in 1in x 1/4 in strips
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1 c (app) fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 T canola oil
- 4 cups (app) natural chicken broth
- 1 can black beans, rinsed
- 1 can diced tomatoes and green chiles
- 8 oz frozen corn
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 t cumin
- 1/4 t salt
- 1/4 t black pepper
- 8 corn tortillas
- spray oil (canola or olive)
- sour cream
- 2 avacados
Instructions:
- Add oil to large skillet, heat to medium.
- Add pepper and onion, saute until just tender.
- Turn off heat, add cilantro.
- Pour chicken broth in large sauce pot, set heat to med high.
- Add contents of skillet to broth.
- Add black beans, tomatoes, corn, and spices. Increase heat to high, bring to boil.
- Reduce heat to low, simmer at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Cut tortillas into 1/2 in strips.
- Set oven to broil.
- Spray cookie sheet with spray oil.
- Place strips on cookie sheet, try not to overlap.
- Spray tortilla strips with spray oil, sprinkle with kosher salt.
- Cook in broiler until exposed sides are golden (just a minute or s0).
- Flip strips, brown other side.
- Garnish soup with tortilla strips, fresh diced avocado, and a small dollop of sour cream.
Here’s another super-easy kitchen quickie! The chicken comes out perfectly browned and tender and juicy, the veggies are tart and crisp, and the potatoes add just a little bit of Southern-style comfort to a well balanced meal.
Enjoy!
Just finished cooking.
The whole evening menu, plated.
Lemon Butter Chicken Breasts
Ingredients:
- 2 boneless-skinless chicken breasts
- 2 T unsalted sweet cream butter
- 2 T lemon juice
- garlic powder, salt, pepper
Instructions:
- Melt butter in iron skillet over medium heat.
- Generously sprinkle garlic powder, black pepper, and salt on one side of the chicken breasts.
- Add lemon juice to skillet.
- Place chicken, spiced side down onto skillet.
- Repeat step 2 on exposed side of chicken.
- Brown chicken, approximately 5-7 minutes.
- Turn chicken over, cover 2 minutes.
- Finish browning chicken, approximately 3-5 minutes.
- Allow chicken to rest for at least 2 min.
Garlic and Herb Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients:
- 3 medium russet potatoes
- water
- 3 T butter
- 1/4 c milk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp basil
Instructions:
- Set a large pot of water to boil.
- Clean potatoes thoroughly, dice in 1/2 inch cubes.
- Boil potatoes until tender, drain, return to pot.
- Add remaining ingredients, except milk, and mash with a potato masher.
- Gradually add milk until potatoes reach your desired consistency. A little more milk may be needed if you prefer soupier potatoes.
Stir Fry Veggies
When making veggies, I usually try to carry the protein’s flavor over so that they compliment each other well. These stir fry veggies were prepared to compliment the lemon butter chicken, but any combination of flavors, spices, or oils would really be fine.
Ingredients:
- 8 oz frozen stir fry veggies
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 T lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Heat oil in small pan to medium.
- Add veggies, stir.
- Add lemon juice and salt and pepper, stir.
- Cook until just tender, stirring occasionally.
- Note: Veggies may turn slightly yellow/brown. This is an effect of the lemon juice and does not affect the taste.
PS- Can you tell I love my iron skillets? There’s hardly a meal that I don’t use them for.
Originally, this recipe came from Betty Crocker, but since I stole it from my friend Kim (and she references BC), I’ll just give her and this post the credit here. The original recipe is very lengthy and I’ve tweaked it just a little bit, so I’m altering it for you.
Oh, and though I would like to give the recipe the very authentically cool sounding title of chilaquiles, I cannot…sorry N, it’s not the same thing!
Enjoy!
MamaJo, Who Stole it From Kim, Who Stole it From Betty’s Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients:
- 2 cups diced chicken
- 1 T olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 3 cups shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese blend (12 oz)
- 2 cans (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles, undrained
- 1 c sour cream
- 1 package (11.5 oz) flour tortillas for burritos (8 tortillas)
- 1 can (16 oz) refried beans
- 1 regular can red enchilada sauce
Instructions:
- Heat oven to 350, lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish.
- Pour olive oil in skillet and heat to medium.
- Pour one can green chiles into skillet, sautee.
- Salt and pepper cubed chicken, add to skillet, and sautee until golden. About 5 min.
- In medium bowl, mix chicken, 1 1/2 cups of the cheese, the chiles and sour cream.
- Layer 3 tortillas in baking dish, overlapping as necessary and placing slightly up sides of dish (cut third tortilla in half).
- With spatula, spread about half of beans over tortillas. To make this easier, put a little beans between the overlapping tortillas to ‘glue’ them together, or use warm beans. OR you can do it the smart way and spread the beans on the tortillas before you put them in…DUH thanks Kim
- Layer half the chicken mix over beans, then pour about 1/3 of the enchilada sauce on top of that.
- Repeat steps 6-8.
- Place remaining tortillas on top, pour remaining enchilada sauce on top of tortillas, then sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Cover with foil, bake for 55 min, removing the foil for the last 10 min.
Filed under: Skillet Meals, breakfast | Tags: breafast skillet, breakfast, skillet
Ever since I was a little kid, Saturday mornings were reserved for cartoons and a big, yummy, homecooked breakfast. Though the cartoons, at least on the local channels (we don’t have cable), have long since gone by the wayside, I still try to carry on the tradition of a good, hearty breakfast on Saturdays.
Though this blog is typically devoted to dinner meals, I’ve decided to add some of the Saturday breakfasts to it as well. Here’s the one I made this Saturday, modelled much after my mom’s “Inn’s Breakfast”, which is, in turn, a reproduction of one of our favorite restaurants from my elementary school years in El Paso.
We were so eager to tear into this one, that I didn't take the picture until after we had breakfast.
MamaJo’s Sooouuiii! Skillet
Ingredients:
- 1 large iron skillet (this is a MUST for this recipe)
- 1 roll breakfast sausage of your choice (we prefer Jimmy Dean Sage)
- 3 small russet potatoes, cleaned and diced in half inch cubes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 T canola oil
- 10 large white eggs
- 1/4 c 1% milk
- 1 c freshly grated cheddar
Instructions:
- Heat skillet to medium, brown sausage (about 7 minutes).
- Place sausage on a paper towel to soak up the grease, set aside.
- Add oil to skillet, adjust heat to med-high, allow oil time to heat.
- Generously salt and pepper the potatoes, mix well.
- Add potatoes to hot oil, cook until golden brown, flipping with spatula ever 3 min or so.
- While potatoes are cooking, spray a large pan with nonstick cooking spray (we use spray olive oil) and heat to med.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix eggs and milk and whisk until fluffy.
- Pour eggs in pan, scramble.
- Set oven to broil.
- Place potatoes on paper towel to soak up oil, return to skillet, spread evenly.
- Spread cooked sausage evenly over potatoes.
- Spread cooked eggs evenly over sausage.
- Sprinkle cheese evenly over eggs.
- Place entire skillet in oven to broil 5 min.
This makes enough for breakfast on Saturday and leftovers for breakfast on Sunday. Serve with warm biscuits and a variety of jellies or as breakfast tacos wrapped up in hot flour tortillas.
Also, the sausage can be substituted for any other breakfast type pork. Try it with bacon, ham, Canadian bacon, whatever sounds good! Just remember, if you use something besides pork, you have to change the name!
Delish!
This recipe has become a favorite around my house ever since I stole it from a friend who brought it to Bible study one night. It’s even a Tuesday night favorite! Fundamentally it’s Cheryl’s recipe, but I’ve made so many alterations to it, that for the sake of confusion I’ve just given you my own recipe instead of the original accompanied by a list of alterations.
The salad is great by itself, but when I serve it to guests as a main course, I usually add some chunks of boneless-skinless chicken breasts sauteed in olive oil, garlic, oregano, basil, and salt and pepper until golden.
Also, if you’re making enough to have as a meal for lunch the next day, which I often do so my hubby has a yummy lunch to brown bag, do not mix the dressing into the salad. It will wilt the spinach.
Enjoy!
MamaJo’s Version of Cheryl’s Ziti Salad
Ingredients:
- 1lb ziti pasta, cooked, drained and rinsed in cold water
- 1 red pepper, cut in app 1 in x 1/4 inch pieces
- 1 bag fresh spinach
- 8 ounces mozzarella, cut into ½ inch cubes
- 4 ounces sliced provolone cheese, julienned
- 1 3.5 oz bag of Real Bacon Recipe Pieces
Instructions:
In a VERY large bowl or stock pot, toss all the above ingredients together. Plate, then top with chicken breast chunks and the following vinaigrette.
MamaJo’s Version of Cheryl’s Vinaigrette Dressing
Ingredients:
- 1/2 c olive oil
- 4 TBS cider vinegar
- 4 TBS lemon juice (I use lemon juice from concentrate, but fresh is better)
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 3/4 tsp pepper
- 3/4 tsp salt
- a generous splash of red pepper sauce (Tobasco or Louisiana Hot Sauce works)
- 1/3 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
Whisk above ingredients, or put in a dressing carafe and shake until well blended. Serve with Ziti salad. (Make a little ahead of time and chill for best results.)
Gesundheit!
Hah! Just kidding.
This has to be the simplest meal I’ve ever put on the table, and it’s always a favorite! Who doesn’t love Bratwurst?
MamaJo’s Mama’s Brats’nKraut
Ingredients:
- 1 package fresh, store packed Bratwurst
- 1 can regular (not Bavarian) sauerkraut
- 1 package brat buns or hoagie rolls
- yellow or spicy mustard
Instructions:
- Cook brats in a skillet or on the grill according to package instructions. They’re actually best a little over-done with a nice ‘blackened’ outside.
- Toast buns under the broiler or on the grill.
- Allow brats to rest for a few minutes.
- Cut brat in half lengthwise, lay on bun.
- Heap a good pile of kraut on top of brat.
- Squeeze on some mustard and enjoy!
Our favorite thing to eat with brats is macaroni and cheese, but you can really pair anything with it…just remember to add a green salad or a healthy vegetable for a balanced evening meal!
