White Chicken Enchiladas

I live in Texas and well seen and tasted 1000+ enchiladas sooooo I decided enough wasting money I can do this!! Soooo here it is....ENJOY!!

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack(1) and Colby Jack(1) or whatever your fave is

8 flour tortillas (soft shell)

Rotisserie chicken(remove all meat and save the drippings in the container

Bechamel Enchilada Sauce:

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups of chicken broth

Salt and pepper

1 cup sour cream

1 can of diced tomatoes and green chiles

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Shred your chicken and mix it with 1 cup of shredded cheeses. Add drippings to the mixture. Lay 8 tortillas out and fill each one with the chicken mixture making sure they are all even. Roll them up tightly and put them in a greased 9×13 baking dish.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and add in the 3 tbsp of flour. Mix and cook for about one minute. Add in the 2 cups of chicken broth, whisking until it’s a smooth. Whisk over medium heat until it is thick and creamy.Mix in the sour cream, salt/pepper, and the can of chiles. Pour the sauce over the rolled up tortillas. Add 1 cup of the cheese over the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

Vanilla Brown Sugar French Toast

So this morning only comes twice a year for us.....thy Sunday morning where we watch our church services on tv, the LDS General Conference, and we get to relax at home(in our pjs) and listen to our leaders messages. 

So for us that means an amazing breakfast we can ALL sit and enjoy together without rush!!! 

My family loves French Toast and we try it all ways but this time I decided to bring it back old school with a simple recipe with simple, basic cabinet staples!! As far as bread, I used thick sourdough but you can use any thick bread you would like!! 

Enjoy!!!

Ingredients:

Loaf of sourdough bread, at least 1-2 inches thick

4 large eggs at room temperature 

1 cup of heavy whipping cream 

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 vanilla bean or 1 tablespoon of vanilla 

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 

Directions:

Mix eggs, cream, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon together. 

Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat and melt butter. Then dip slices of bread into custard and place on griddle. Cook until golden brown. 

Serve immediately with some great toppings!! 

Salted Carmel Apple Cheesecake Strudel

Soooo it's FALL.....yeah!!! And even better it finally feels like it in Texas. So to celebrate let's combine falls favorite fruit, apples with my favorite dessert.....cheesecake, of course!!! Here's to falling for Fall!! 

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

Cheesecake Filling:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided

3 large eggs(room temperature)

Vanilla bean

Apples:

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

For salted Carmel either buy or go bold and get recipe from my blog.....you can do it!! 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender (or 2 forks) until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 9x13 baking pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 3/4 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust.

In a small bowl, stir together sliced apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Lay evenly over cream cheese mixture.

For the streusel topping: In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. I like to really combine it by using my clean hands to thoroughly combine the butter into the mixture.

Sprinkle Streusel topping over apples. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with salted caramel topping and let cool. Serve cold and enjoy!

**adapted from Paula Deen.**

Brown butter salted Carmel Krispy Treats

Well after having my wisdom teeth pulled out this week there was nothing I could eat besides pudding and soup so I obviously wanted a lot more this weekend. So I decided that what was better then rice crispy treats… Brown butter salted caramel rice crispy treats of course!!!! So please enjoy these fantastic treats and share with your family if you have to of course. Eat on… And enjoy!

2 sticks of butter

1 vanilla bean, the seeds scraped

2 (10 ounce) bags mini marshmallows

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 1/2 cups rice krispies

1cup of salted  Carmel, either store bought or homemade. Recipe below.  

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Grease two 9x13 inch pans.
2. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot add the butter and vanilla bean seeds, melt butter over medium heat until just browned. Butter will melt, foam, and froth, then begin to brown along the bottom. Whisk browned bits off of the bottom of the pan. Just as the butter begins to brown, add the marshmallows and turn off the heat. Stir the marshmallows around until completely melted. 
3. Add in salted Carmel. If the marshmallows are not fully melting turn the heat back on to low and stir until smooth and melted.
4. Add Rice Krispies and coat them completely in marshmallows.
5. Divide among the pans.
6. Set aside and let cool and firm!!
7. Enjoy of course!!

Salted Carmel

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons salted butter, cubed

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook just the sugar. Whisk it occasionally as it melts and cook it until it turns a deep amber color. Then add the butter and stir until it is melted. Add the heavy cream and whisk until the caramel is smooth. Remove from heat and let cool.

Garlic knots

I love bread.....and more importantly I love fresh bread that I made. It makes me feel accomplished and wifey. So here is now my kids absolute favorite....garlic knots!! 

1 cup of water

2 tbsp of butter, softened

1 egg (room temperature)

3 1/4 cup of flour

1/4 cup of sugar

1 tsp salt

3 tsp regular active dry yeast

Place all dough ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed. Select the DOUGH CYCLE and press start. This next part you use maybe your table or a large surface area to work on. Sprinkle with flour so it won't stick. Once dough is done flatten the dough onto the well floured surface then using a pizza cutter, cut into strips.

Take each strip and tie into a knot, making sure to keep it well floured so it doesn’t stick together. 

Place each knot onto the baking sheet. Once you have tied all the strips into knots, cover them with a cloth and set in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake 9-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Topping:

1-2 tbsp of butter, melted

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

3-4 fresh basil leaves, chopped finely

Add butter and minced garlic together and cook in the microwave until melted. Add the fresh chopped basil and stir. Once the knots are out of the oven, brush the top of each knot with the garlic basil butter. Serve immediately. Enjoy.

Cream cheese pound cake

Sometimes you just need to eat cake....found a recipe my sister in law shared on FB that I instantly fell in love with. So I adapted from that recipe but I used cake flour instead because I wanted it lighter and fluffier. 

Ingredients 

¾ pound · Butter 

• 3 cup · Sugar, granulated 
• ½ pound · Cream cheese(room temp)
• 6 large · Eggs(room temp)
• 3 cup · Cake flour, sifted 
• ¼ teaspoon · Salt 
• 1 ½ teaspoon · Vanilla extract 
• 1 teaspoon · Almond extract 

Cream cheese glaze:

4 ounces cream cheese, room temp

1/2 cup powdered sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

3 to 4 tablespoons milk

Directions

Beat cream cheese until very creamy. Beat in powdered sugar. Stir in vanilla. Add 3 tablespoons milk. Totally combine. Add more milk to get desired consistency for drizzling.

Cake directions: 

Preheat oven to 325. Grease bundt cake pan. 

Cream butter, sugar and cream cheese. Add salt, vanilla and almond extracts. Mix well. Add eggs one at a time. Stir in sifted flour. Just mix until incorporated, you don't want to over mix batter. Pour into greased bundt pan and tap on the counter so that all batter sets evenly. 

Bake for 90 mins. Let cool on bakin rack for about 15-20 mins then flip on to serving plate. This is important so that cake doesn't stick I pan. 

Pour glaze on and enjoy. 

Black bean and corn salsa

1 can black beans (drain)

1 can black eye peas (drain)

1 can corn (drain) or 1½ c frozen corn

2 large tomatoes, diced (Roma)

½ large Anaheim pepper, diced (freeze the rest)

½ red bell pepper, diced (freeze the rest)

3 green onions, diced

½ bunch cilantro, chopped (about 1 c; no stems)

1 lime, zested and juiced

½ tsp salt

½ tsp coarse black pepper

1/8 c white vinegar

1 Tbsp water

½ pckg (½ Tbsp + 1 tsp) Italian zesty dressing mix

2 Tbsp olive oil

Combine first ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl mix together vinegar and water. Add dressing mix and whisk. Stir in olive oil. Pour over salsa. Wait a while for the flavors to set in. Serve with Tostitos Hint of Lime chips!