Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

by penji1

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas This was also a new item on the menu for dinner Monday night with Alyse, McKenna, Ryder and baby Drew.  It is a Six Sisters’ Stuff recipe and it was fast, easy and delicious – my absolute three favorite things in a dinner recipe.

marinade:

6 tablespoons honey

5 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

enchiladas:

1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (I just boiled some Costco frozen chicken breasts and then shredded them in my mixer bowl with my paddle attachment)

8 – 10 flour tortillas

1 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

16 oz green enchilada sauce

1 cup heavy cream (I used fat free evaporated milk instead to try and take the calorie count down a bit, they tasted great and no one seemed to notice)

1  Whisk 4 marinade ingredients together and toss with shredded chicken in Ziploc bag or sealed container.  Let marinate in fridge for at least 1/2 hour but preferable a half day or so.

2  Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce in bottom of 9 x 13″ pan.  Fill tortillas with chicken (saving any leftover marinade) and shredded cheese, reserving about 1 cup cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas.  Put rolled tortillas in pan as you go.  Mix remaining enchilada sauce with cream (or evaporated milk) and leftover marinade if there is any (which there wasn’t for me).  Pour sauce over top of enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top.

Corn Salsa

by penji1

Corn Salsa This was so good!  We had friends over for dinner last night and this was a new recipe that I decided to try.  It’s a Food Network recipe, courtesy of Trisha Yearwood, it was so easy and quick to put together, it would be great for a summer barbeque.

1 (15 oz) can yellow corn, drained

1 (15 oz) can white corn, drained

1 (4 oz) can chopped green chiles, drained

1 (2 1/2 oz) can sliced black olives, drained (I left these out)

4 green onion, minced (I just added the whole bunch)

2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped (I added one more)

2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped

3 tablespoons white vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)

1/3 cup olive oil (I think next time I will cut this down to 1/4 cup)

1/4 teaspoon salt (I upped this to 1/2 teaspoon)

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro (hate it!  left it out!)

tortilla chips

Mix all ingredients except cilantro and chips together in a medium bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  Just before serving, stir in cilantro.  Serve with chips.

Slow Cooker Chicken Carnitas Tacos

by penji1

Slow Cooker Chicken Carnitas Tacos I’m a bit behind, this was dinner for Cinco de Mayo on Monday night.  The chicken was delicious and easy to make and I served it with Lime Cilantro Rice and black beans, yum!  The recipe comes from a blog called Closet Cooking and I would encourage you to go look at the pictures there because they are beautiful!  I struggle with my food pictures, I feel like I just don’t have the time to make them jaw dropping, oh well, someday maybe.

1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts or thighs

3/4 cup orange juice (about 2 oranges)

1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 limes)

4 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1  Place chicken in slow cooker.  Stir together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken.  Cook on low 6 – 8 hours, until tender.

2  Shred chicken (I shredded it with my mixer using the paddle attachment), mix in 1/4 cup juices, spread out on baking sheet in single layer and broil until it starts getting crispy, about 5 minutes.  Mix in 1/4 cup juice, stir it all up and broil for another 5 minutes then mix in 1/4 cup more juice.

3  Serve as desired.

Caramel Pretzel Crunch Brownies

by penji1

Caramel Pretzel Crunch Brownies

My husband has been down now for a long time with a bad back waiting for surgery and we’ve had some great neighbors who have taken pity on us and have come over to help try and tame our out of control yard, perhaps they are just tired of looking at the fiasco!  You probably know by now that if you help out the Johnsons then you are probably going to get some treats as a thank you.  These are a Betty Crocker recipe and they are a gooey, delicious mess!  I highly recommend them and bonus, they couldn’t be any easier to make.

1 box brownie mix plus ingredients to make brownies

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 (14 oz) bag caramels, unwrapped

1/4 cup butter

1 tablespoon milk

1 cup pretzels, coarsely crushed

1/3 cup toffee bits

1  Heat oven to 350 or 325 if your pans are dark.  Spray 9 x 13″ pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2  Prepare and bake brownies as directed on box, adding 1/2 cup chocolate chips to batter.  Cool 5 minutes.

3  In microwavable bowl, microwave caramels, butter and milk uncovered on high 2 – 3 minutes, stirring once, until caramels are melted.  Carefully pour and spread over warm brownies.  Sprinkle with pretzels, chocolate chips and toffee bits.  Cool completely.

A Box of Sunshine Care Package

by penji1

A Box of Sunshine

I don’t know about you guys but I am done with winter!  I’m tired of the cold and snow and rain and wind and just all of it!  So yesterday I decided to put together some care packages for some missionaries and I found this cute idea on Pinterest from a blog called “Happy Money Saver” so I decided to make some boxes of sunshine and send them out.  I baked up a couple of pans of treats (Lemon Magic Cake Bars and Lemon Cake Mix Bar Cookies with White Chocolate Chips, both of which you can find on the blog) and then hit the Dollar Tree for some sunshiny things like these:

A Box of Sunshine

I found some great yellow stuff – paper lanterns that light up, silly string, M&M’s, cupcake mix, biscuit mix, liquid soap, notepads, highlighters, pens, bubbles, candy, candles, post its, drink mix, it was fun and don’t you just love the dollar store?  So if you’re tired of winter and know someone else who is as well and might need a pick me up then how bout a box of sunshine or a gift bag of sunshine, so many possibilities!  Come on Summer!

Lemon Magic Cake Bars

by penji1

Lemon Magic Cake Bars

YUM!  They look a little funky but taste so, so good!  This recipe comes from a blog called “Inside BruCrew Life”, her treats look better than mine so check it out.

1 lemon cake mix

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened

1 egg

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup miniature marshmallows

1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup sprinkles

1  Combine cake mix, butter, egg and lemon juice until soft dough forms.  Press into bottom of greased 9 x 13″ pan.  Layer white chocolate chips, marshmallows and coconut on top of dough.  Drizzle with sweetened condensed milk, covering everything as much as possible.  Top with sprinkles.

2  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (mine seemed a little well done so maybe check them at 20 – 25 minutes).  Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Chocolate Delight Muffins

by penji1

Chocolate Delight Muffins

Made these muffins last weekend and they were yummy, really chocolatey!  The recipe comes from Betty Crocker.  (And with this post, I’m finally caught up!)

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1 cup flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips (I used regular sized ones)

1  1  Heat oven to 375.  Line muffin pans with 12 paper liners.  In medium bowl, mix buttermilk, butter and eggs with spoon until blended.  Stir in flours, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda, vanilla and salt until moistened.  Stir in chocolate chips.

2  Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

3  Bake 15 – 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan.

One Bowl Chocolate Cake with Mom’s Chocolate Frosting

by penji1

One Bowl Chocolate Cake with Mom's Chocolate Frosting

Courtney is always asking for chocolate cake for dessert and every holiday I’m always like I’m going to make this tart or this cobbler or this trifle but for Easter I decided to make her chocolate cake cause I’m great!  This is a “Six Sisters’ Stuff” recipe and it was easy and delicious and super chocolatey!

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup oil

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 cup hot water

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 9 x 13″ pan.

2  Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl.  Mix in oil, buttermilk and eggs.  Once batter is fully mixed, pour in hot water and mix well.  (Batter will be runny.)

3  Pour batter into pan.  Bake 33- 38 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  When cake is cool, frost with Mom’s Chocolate Frosting and top with sprinkles.

Mom’s Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3 tablespoons cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients with mixer until smooth and spreadable.

Oven Roasted Parmesan Broccoli

by penji1

Oven Roasted Parmesan Broccoli

Made this for Easter dinner and it was gone in a flash!  It was really good and really easy to make.  It’s a “Six Sisters’ Stuff” recipe so of course it’s good.

2 cups broccoli, cut into bite size pieces

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1  Preheat oven to 400.

2  Dump broccoli into large bowl and drizzle with oil.  Toss broccoli to coat.  Sprinkle with garlic salt and mix.

3  Spread broccoli on large baking sheet covered in aluminum foil and bake for 15 – 20 minutes, until it starts to turn golden brown.

4  Dump broccoli back into bowl and mix with cheese.

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

by penji1

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

I’m behind in my blogging, between Easter and then work, I’ve got a few recipes I need to get posted so we’ll see how I do over the next few days.  I made a bunch of muffins on Friday night for Saturday morning and then the Saturday morning reason for the muffins fell through and I found myself with about 3 1/2 dozen muffins lying around the house.  Bob, Zach and I do not need that many muffins so I texted one of my best friends in the whole wide world (who happens to have 5 kids!) and said do you want some muffins?  It was like a cartoon because a few minutes later my doorbell rang and it was one of her cute daughters standing on my doorstep smiling at me!  Who doesn’t want free muffins?  This recipe comes from a blog called “My Kitchen in the Rockies”.    They were delicious!

muffins:

1 3/4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup melted unsalted butter

3/4 cups sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

topping:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

(Instead of the cinnamon sugar mix, I used my Alison’s Pantry Cinnamon Vanilla French Toast Sugar)

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Line 12 muffin cups with liners.

2  Mix all dry ingredients, flour through cinnamon and set aside.

3  Mix all wet ingredients, butter through milk including sugar.

4  Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just combined.

5  Scoop batter into muffin cups.

6  Bake 18 – 22 minutes.

7  Mix sugar and cinnamon for coating.

8  Brush hot muffins with melted butter and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture.