Black Bean Enchilada Lasagna

Here is the recipe that inspired this meal, but it simply added some inspiration.

But here's what I did...


Enchilada Sauce:
2 cans of tomato sauce
1 can of cream of chicken soup
3 tsp chopped fresh garlic
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
2 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt

Black Ben Filling
1 tbsp jarred jalapenos
1 half large onion chopped
2 tsp chopped fresh garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt or less( I didn't measure, just spinkled some)

12-13 corn tortillas
1-2 cups shredded cheese

What I did:

I put all the ingreds for the sauce in a large pot and brought it to a boil. I let my son Kace help me with this since it was pretty easy and he was able to measure and pour most of this and stir, so you know if my five-year-old can its easy. Then in a large skillet I heated the oil for the filling and added the onions, jalapenos and also the garlic and sauted on med until the onions were translucent, but not brown. I then added the salt and oregano until the oil was able to make the spice aromatic. Then the beans. I let them hang out with the other veggies until they were pipping hot and smelled yummy. Then I put a large spoonfull of the sauce into a greased 9x13 pan and then layered the first corn tortillas on, them layered sauce on top of them. The half the bean mixture and then someof the cheese. I repeated this and ended with tortillas and topped that with the reamining sauce. I baked in a preheated 350 oven for 30 minutes or until bubbly and the sauce was nicely absorbed. It was really YUMMY!

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

Here is a GREAT new recipe I found for some boneless skinless chicken thighs that I had and some chicken breast that I addded to make a full meal.

and here is what I actually did with it!

1 c soy sauce
1/2 -3/4 c white sugar
1/3-1/2 cider vinegar
2 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsp corn starch
3 tbsp cold water

In a sauce pan over med/low heat I heated these ingreds. And then when they had thickened and darkened and tasted right. I coated the thighs and breats that I had already put in a greased 9x13. I simply poured enough over to cover both sides of the chicken, which wasn't too much. I then covered it with foil and placed it in a 425 oven for 30 minutes. I then removed the cover and baked another 20 minutes after turning the chicken over. I then shredded it and served it with some pasta I had made with some of the left over sauce! This was SOOO good and even had a ton extra! We could also have kept the teriyaki sauce in the fridge for prob a week or so, serving over just about anything. Such a versitile sauce! Remember this is not super sweet, but if you are uncomfortable with that much sugar make it with splenda, I bet it would be just as good, although you will probably have to up the corn starch amount. Happy eating!

Chicken Alfredo/Tomato Bake

2-3 boneless skinless chick breast sliced into thin strips
1-2 tbps olive oil
1-2 tsp chopped garlic
1 green, red or yellow pepper cut into strips (or a mix of all)
1/4 c. chopped procuito or ham
2 cups large egg noodles (cooked to package directions)
1 jar tomato pasta sauce or equivalent in homemade (about 15 or more ounces)
1 jar Alfredo or homemade Alfredo sauce ( about 15 ounces)
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350. Brown chicken in oil until cooked through. Add garlic and ham/prosciutto. Cook until garlic is tender but not burned and the prosciutto is a little browned. Then add the peppers, cook until tender, but still crisp. Add half the tomato sauce to the pan mixture. grease a 9x13 baking pan and then dump the skillet mixture into it. Top with the remaining tomato sauce. Add the jar of Alfredo sauce, drizzling on the top in lines, it will not cover the top totally. Add the cheese on top. Bake 20-30 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Serve immediately with garlic bread and salad! YUMMY! This is one of our favorite recipes, easy to fix and definitely comfort food. The kids love it. We don't eat it too often, but when we do we rarely have leftovers.

Tried and Enjoyed

Tried This recently and really enjoyed them! We Hope you do too! It's not my recipe, but I cannot find the link to the recipe. I am not trying to steal the credit at all!

Crock pot pork with red cabbage

Ingredients:

• 4 cups shredded red cabbage
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 3 pound boneless pork shoulder roast

Preparation:

Combine cabbage, onion, brown sugar, and vinegar in 4 to 4 quart slow cooker. Sprinkle roast with salt and pepper and brown in heavy skilllet, about 5-6 minutes total, turning until browned on all sides. Place pork in slow cooker; cover, and cook on Low for 7-8 hours. Serves 6.

New Recipe: Penne with Ricotta and Bacon

1 pound penne
8 slices bacon (about 1/2 pound)
½ large onion, sliced
15 ounces whole-milk ricotta cheese, at room temperature
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh garic or one garlic clove chopped
sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes

1.In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the penne until al dente. Reserve one ladle of cooking water, then drain the pasta and transfer to a serving bowl. In a medium skillet, fry the bacon until crisp and transfer to a plate, leaving the bacon fat in the skillet. Add the onions to the skillet and cook until golden, about 10 minutes. Stir the onions and ricotta into the pasta along with the reserved pasta cooking water. Crumble the bacon and sprinkle it over the pasta, here I would actually add an additional step, I would pour everything except the basil into a baking dish and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until it is nice and hot. I would even top it with a little parm or mozzarella. After taking it from the oven I would top with the basil then.

I tried this first exactly to the specification on the web page, but after sitting down and it getting cold I was ready to make a few changes. I woud also not mind subbing in dried basil flakes into the ricotta instead of fresh. My kids didn't like the wilted salad in their pasta and picked all of it out, which is not usual for them. This recipe is very filling, we had left overs and everyone was stuffed after one serving, I even ate less than I thought I would, not because it wasn't good. I also WOULD NOT add any extra salt.

Here's the original recipe!

Recommended Recipes That Aren't Mine

We try to keep our meals shaking up some, although we have lots of favorite that we fall back to often, here are links to some recipes we tried and LOVED! Enjoy trying some of these even though they aren't mine!! :D

BUFFALO CHICKEN POT PIE ****

While we all enjoyed this one dish meal we thought it could have used less corn bread mix, one package would have been more than enough in our opinion, we also are able to adjust the spicyness of this dish as my youngest son DOESN'T do spicy.  We have had it twice already, over several months and while it's not a staple recipe its certainly a good meal that we all like to shake it up with periodically!

MOROCCAN CHICKEN THIGHS ***1/2

The kids loved this couscous and I personally thought the nuttiness of the grain paired excellently with this chicken! It was very YUMMY, but also kinda work intensive, unless you get boneless skinless chicken thighs, next time I will as I don't really enjoy handling raw chicken. I subed in raisens, that was a little too sweet for my taste next time I go all out and do the dates they would have made this 4 to 4 1/2 stars.

CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE ****

My only change to this would be cooking the brisket longer in the water before roasting it at the end. I cooked it 2 1/4 hrs and it wasn't as tender as I would have liked, but it was so YUMMY! Carrots and Cabbage were perfect and so flavorful! Totally a redo! The kids loved it too, although we rarely have issues over kids wanting to eat any more. They are all pretty open to just about anything lately, praise the Lord!

BAKED POTATO SKINS *****

YUM, YUM, YUM, YUM, YUM! Horrible for you, but oh so goooooooddd! Give her a try and see if you don't think so too! Just remember it's a bazillion calories! :D

Tomato and Celery Salad

8- 10 small vine grown tomatoes or 1 large garden fresh tomato
heart of the celery stalk (the yellowish interior with a sweeter taste) or 1 stalk celery chopped
1/4 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 ground black pepper
1/8 tsp ground garlic powder

cut tomatoes into quarters and add to bowl. Mix in celery (leaves don't matter if you are usuing the heart of the celery. Stir this up to mix. Add salt and other seasonings, mix well and serve immediately. makes 2-3 servings. This is great as a snack for one person too, but it would def be too much for me to eat so I would cut it down a bit. You could also double if you have more of everything, it would probably be good with a little red onion too, or a shallot or two. Just some ideas that are rolling around in my head. Easy and good compliment to a pasta/meatless meal without a tomato sauce (which gives me serious indigestion--hate to admit it, but tomato sauce and me disagree).