The much talked about Recipes.

I have been cooking and baking a lot lately- most of the time I forget to take pics- so you will just have to take my word on some of them for their tastiness.

Recipe # 1 Chicken and black bean enchiladas (I stole this recipe from Mary Pinegar and made my own additions)

3 strips of bacon
1 package of ground churriso
1 large can of refried beans
2 cups of rice
2 cloves garlic, minced
¾ lb chicken, cut up
1 ½ cup picante sauce
1 (15.5 oz) can black beans
1 can corn drained
1 large red or green bell pepper
1 t. ground cumin
¼ t. salt
½ c. green onion, chopped
8 oz. Mexican mix shredded cheese
12-20 flour tortillas

Fry bacon in skillet until crisp. Remove from pan. Leave approx. 2 T bacon fat in skillet. Cook chicken and garlic until chicken is no longer pink. Meanwhile cook the rice. Remove the chicken and slice it up. Cook the Churriso and re-add the chicken and garlic mix. Add ½ cup picante sauce, black beans with liquid, corn without liquid, refried beans, cooked rice, pepper, cumin, and salt. Simmer on low heat for 7-8 minutes. Stir in green onion and crumbled bacon. Remove from heat. Put ¼ cup mixture and 1 T cheese into each tortilla. Roll and place seam side down into greased baking dish. Pour remaining picante sauce over top and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Add remaining cheese and bake another 3-5 minutes. Top with lettuce, sour cream, or guacamole. To freeze, don’t add cheese until ready to bake.

Recipe # 2 Homemade Guacamole

1 avacado
1 tbsp plain yogurt
1 tbsp oil
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 cloves minced garlic
pinch of slat and pepper

squish avocado and add in yogurt and oil- stir until smooth. Add the salt and pepper and stir. Stir in the onion and garlic and it is ready to go.

Recipe # 3 Italian mac and cheese

* 1 pound small shells
* 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 8 ounces (about 2 cups) Italian Fontina cheese
* Salt
* Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
* 1/3 cup plain bread crumbs
* 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Prepare shells according to package directions, but cook only until they are 1 to 2 minutes shy of al dente. Then drain.

2. Meanwhile, dice 4 tablespoons of the butter and place in a large bowl. Warm the cream in the microwave, about 1 minute. Cover to keep the cream warm. Shred the Fontina.

3. Stir the shells into the bowl with the butter. Toss to coat well. Stir in the warm cream and Fontina, and stir until the cheese starts to melt. Season with salt to taste and the nutmeg.

4. Pour the mixture into a greased 13-by-9 ceramic or glass baking dish. Combine the bread crumbs and Parmigiano-Reggiano, and sprinkle over the pasta. Dice the remaining tablespoon butter, and dot the crumb topping with small pieces of butter.

5. Bake until the sauce is bubbling and the topping turns golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Recipe # 4 Broccoli and cheese soup

INGREDIENTS

* 1/4 cup chopped red onion and 3 cloves of garlic chopped
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 2 1/2 cups milk
* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1 pound processed cheese, cubed
* 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli (1/2 pureed and 1/2 chopped)


DIRECTIONS

1. Melt butter or margarine over medium heat in a 2 quart saucepan. Cook and stir onions and garlic in butter or margarine until tender.
2. Add milk and cream cheese; stirring until cream cheese melts. Stir in cheese food and broccoli. Stir until cheese food melts, and soup is heated through.

Recipe #5 Homemade Bread Bowl Starter

INGREDIENTS

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast



DIRECTIONS

1. Mix together flour, warm water, and yeast in a large glass bowl. Let stand uncovered in a warm place over night or up to 48 hours. The longer the mixture stands, the stronger the ferment will be.
2. After fermenting, the starter is ready to use or to store covered in the refrigerator. Feed once or twice a week with 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour, and 1/4 cup sugar; allow the starter to rest at room temperature for several hours after feeding.

Recipe #6 Homemade Sourdough bread bowls

INGREDIENTS

* 4 3/4 cups bread flour
* 3 tablespoons white sugar
* 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
* 1 cup warm milk
* 2 tablespoons margarine, softened
* 1 1/2 cups sourdough starter
* 1 tablespoon water



DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt, and dry yeast. Add milk and softened butter or margarine. Stir in starter. Mix in up to 3 3/4 cups flour gradually, you may need more depending on your climate.
2. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turn once to oil surface, and cover. Allow to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in volume.
3. Punch down, and let rest 15 minutes. Shape into loaves or bread bowls. Place on a greased baking pan. Allow to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 minutes, or till done.
5. Butter the top of the loaves to keep them moist.

Recipe #7 Mixed Berry and chocolate muffins



1 C. Milk
1 egg
1/3 c veg oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c sugar
1 T. brown sugar
small pinch of salt
1/2 cup fresh blueberries (or a bag of mixed berries)
1/4 cup/ one good sized handful mini chocolate chips
slivered almonds to sprinkle on top

Pre-heat oven to 400 and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
In a medium bowl sift the flour, baking powder and salt-set aside.
In a large bowl, blend the egg, oil and milk until mixed.
Add the sugars and mix for 10 seconds
Using a spoon or spatula slowly stir in the dry ingredients, but don't over-mix, just get all dry ingredients incorporated into milk/egg/oil/sugar mix.
Fill muffin cups about half full and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Let cool 5 minutes in the tin and sprinkle with raw almonds or sprinkle a sugar cinnamon mix on top then move muffins to a cooling rack.

(to make cinnamon/sugar mix : mix 1/4 cup white sugar with 1 tbsp cinnamon)

Recipe # 8 Zucchini Bread



INGREDIENTS

* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 3 eggs
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 1 2/3 cup brown sugar
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups grated zucchini
* 1tsp ground ginger and a 1/2 tsp ground cloves


DIRECTIONS

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini until well combined. Pour batter into pre-greased pans with a cinnamon/sugar mix sprinkled in the bottom. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mix on top of the loaf.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.


Recipe # 9 Banana Bread



2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp oil
1 large ripe banana

-Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
-Mix flour, baking power, soda, salt, and cinnamon together and set aside.
-Mix together the sugar, egg, milk, oil and vanilla.
-Add in the dry ingredients until smooth.
-Mash in the banana.
-Pour into a pre-greased bread pan with a cinnamon sugar mix sprinkled in the bottom. Sprinkle some of the cinnamon sugar mix on top of the loaves.

-Bake for 40-60 mins.

Recipe # 10 Crockpot Applesauce



Ingredients:
4 large apples, skinned ,cored, and cut in quarters
juice from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 T brown sugar
1/4 cup water

Directions:
Skin, core, and cut your apples into quarters. Plop the pieces into your crockpot. Add the juice from the lemon, and the water. Pour in the vanilla (I used imitation–we were out of the good stuff), and add the cinnamon and brown sugar.
Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. When the apples are super tender, mash with a potato masher or large fork. Enjoy

Recipe # 11 Cucumber salad



1/2 cucumber
10 grape tomatoes chopped
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 tbsp fetta cheese
1/4 cup chopped tofu
1/4 cup italian dressing

( I highly recommend the bread you see in the above picture it is called Oroweat sandwich thins- high in fiber and it has over 19 whole grains-we used them to make boca burger cheese burgers the other day with sauteed mushrooms, onions and peppers and a little bit of cheese with asparagus on the side about a 400 cal meal! )