Skillet Enchiladas

Enchilada sauce

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cans stewed tomatoes pureed in blender
1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Make a roux with butter and flour. Add rest if ingredients and simmer until thick.

2 chicken breast cooked and cubed
3 cups 1/2-inch-diced, peeled butternut squash (from about a 2-lb. squash)
salt and pepper, to season I oven elated mine but you could skillet cook them.
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 - 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
10 yellow corn tortillas, cut into thick strips
2 cups red enchilada sauce
1 cup reduced-fat colby jack or mexican cheese (or whatever you prefer), divided
cilantro and low-fat sour cream, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS
Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in large oven-proof skillet. Add onions, garlic, and jalapeno and cook 2-3 minutes until onions become translucent and garlic is fragrant. Add everything but 1/2 of the cheese and mix. 
Turn on your oven broiler to high. Sprinkle an additional 1/2 cup of cheese over the top of the enchilada mixture and place in oven under broiler for 3-5 minutes until cheese melts and tortilla edges become a tiny golden brown. Remove from heat and serve immediately. Feel free to add in cilantro. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, or hot sauce!

German pumpkin festival soup

1 kg pumpkin roasted in oven
2 potatoes yukons
1 onion chopped
2 tbsp butter
Salt
Cinnamon stick
1 to 1.5tsp Ground coriander
pepper
1tsp cumin
1 branch thyme
1 liter vegetable broth - plus extra water to thin it out if needed
1 pint heavy cream
pumpkin seed oil or balsamic glaze (optional)
Pumpkin seeds

Cooking Instructions German Pumpkin Soup
-roast pumpkins 350 about an hour
- Peel potatoes, cut in small pieces.
- Sautee onion in butter until soft.
- put everything in pot and simmer on low about an hour.
- Take out cinnamon stick and thyme branch
- blend!
- sprinkle pumpkin seeds and oil

Baby food pancake recipe. Our favorite.

These are my favorite to make my little.  She can't get enough of them. Also a nice thing here is we but our baby cereal on the economy so they have ones designed for ages with flavors. Today's was strawberry.  Yum!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup uncooked commercial baby cereal
1 cup formula (or another liquid such as milk)
1/2 cup apple sauce.  I used an apple banana one that was rather thick. Baby food could also be used here.
1 tbsp melted margarine or butter (unsalted type)
3 egg yolks
apple juice (about 1/2 cup maybe more) or use water if you prefer. Were adding this for pancake batter consistency. I generally just use water because of the extra sugar juice adds.

Add cinnamon, nutmeg, dash of vanilla or other flavorings if you like. These are so customizable!

Step 1: Mix all ingredients together and add enough juice/water to make pancake consistency.

Step 2: Cook on your cook top in a frying pan as you would with “regular” pancakes. Cooking these baby cereal pancakes on a griddle will work better as you will have more control over the temperature and will be better able to keep the temp. at a constant heat.

**Freezes Well**

Big Mac Attack! Better than the real thing...

Living in abroad for a few years gives us lots of opportunities but it also means lots of cultural differences. Now my fam and I rarely went to eat fast food dinner. Seriously few times a year tops. Even when traveling we'd opt for something like subway a lot. But lets face it sometimes you want some fast food. Well. Here they do not have fast food available everywhere like they do in the good ol States. SO last night I made us our own Big Macs. And they were so much better than what you'd get from McD's....

The Sauce is key to the recipe.
1/4c miracle whip
1/4c mayo
1tsp finely (super fine not just chopped) onion
3 tbs French dressing
1/8th tsp salt
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp ketchup
1 tsp sugar
3tbs sweet pickle relish

Stir it all together. Microwave 25 seconds. Stir again and refrigerate at least 1 hr. before serving...

For the burger You know how it goes. Toasted buns. shredded iceberg lettuce. sliced pickles. a little extra finely chopped onion. AND 2 2 oz. super thin patties.

*tip for the burgers. let the lean beef come to room temp and measure out your 2 oz sections. I rolled them into a ball and then used a round glass to just flatten them really thin since they puff up when cooking. and don't forget to salt and pepper!

Assemble and eat your heart out! We had green beans and tots with extra sauce on the side since it was that good. seriously....

Steak Oscar

Oh the delicious dinner last night!
I wanted to make something special for my hubby and this fit the bill. 
You'll need:
A great steak
Worcestershire sauce
Shrimp
Garlic
Potatoes like golds
4 egg yolks room temp
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
1 1/2 sticks of butter and some more butter (i didn't say this was healthy)
A pinch of sugar
A dash of cayenne
Salt and Pepper to tast
asparagus
Mrs dash

Marinate steak in the Worcestershire with a bit of pepper. Then cook the steak to a perfect med rare.  Now i was out of charcoal so i broiled the steak.

It sautéed the shrimp in some butter and garlic.

Boil and then halve the little taters.  Then place in a shallow baking dish and broil the tops.

For the hollandaise sauce
Melt and cool butter
In a blender, add egg yolks and lemon juice, whip until well combined.
While blender is still on slowly drizzle the butter until the sauce sticks to the back of a spoon.
Add sugar, salt and pepper and whip again to mix.

Oven roast your asparagus worth a little oil and Mrs dash till tender at 425 for about 25 min

Time to plate!
With your taters hot from the broiler add the hollandaise sauce then the asparagus then the sliced steak and finally the shrimp!!! It's a mountain of delicious!

Crispy Almond Cookie

Crispy Almond Cookie
makes about 60 cookies. 
Ingredients

1/2 cups butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar or 1/2 cup splenda brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking power
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped almonds
Instructions

Cream together butter and sugars, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add in eggs and vanilla and beat again.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to dough, one third at a time until all added. Stir in almonds.
Using a small cookie scoop, place dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. fork down.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 12-14 minutes. Until edges turn golden. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to racks to cool completely.

Cherry banana puree

1 bad frozen cherries thawed
3 very ripe bananas

Blend!  Place in individual containers. This thickens up which is awesome.
Fridge lasts 2 to 3 days
Freezer 3 months

My little is in the fork mashed stage and loves this right from the fridge.

Baby food pancake for my little miss

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour (this will make a dense pancake; you can use 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour if you prefer)
1 cup uncooked commercial baby cereal from the box. I had oatmeal.
1 cup formula (or another liquid such as milk)
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tbsp melted margarine or butter (unsalted type)
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup water possibly little more roll you get pancake batter consistency
Add cinnamon, nutmeg, dash of vanilla or other flavorings if you want them

Step 1: Mix all ingredients together.

Step 2: Cook on your cook top in a frying pan as you would with “regular” pancakes.

Yogurt drops

My little is teething and can't get enough of these!
It's so simple too.

Take yogurt you have on hand.  I happened to have Greek blueberry. Place in a sandwich sized ziplock or piping bag. Clip the tip and squeeze out little drops of yogurt on a cookie sheet lined with parchment and then freeze about 30 min to an hour. Pop off the drops into a freezer container and tah dah! Tasty melty baby treats.

Busy Weekend.

We had a crazy busy weekend here. Since moving to Germany we have decided to do as much site seeing as possible. We visited Frankenstein Castle this last weekend on Saturday. It was really awesome actually. Old ruins with some neat history and myths with it. Not to mention it was only about 2 hours away from us so we were able to get up and round with the baby head there sight see and have lunch at the restaurant on the grounds (the goulash is to die for!) before heading back with plenty of day left. THEN Sunday was of course Fathers day. This was the hubs first fathers day so I wanted to make it special. We had quite the Moroccan feast! I made Chicken Pastilla from scratch and let me tell you that is no joke! I started at 7am and we didn't eat till 5! Thank goodness I bought dessert from a bakery the day before on hubs suggestion. Our little who is almost 6 mo old now ate with us and enjoyed her fruit haha.

 

Can't wait for this weekend for our next trip/adventure!

 

 

 

 

Crispy Baked Chicken Wings in Honey Siracha Sauce (seriously better than fried wings)

You will need....

Chicken wings or even drummies (about 10-15 wings)
salt
pepper
cornstarch 1-2 tablespoons + a sprinkle extra if you like your sauce a bit thicker
siracha 1/4 cup
honey 1/4 cup
soy sauce 1 tablespoon
butter 4 tablespoons

Make sure your wings are thawed and dried. salt and pepper them then toss with the cornstartch making sure they are all lightly coated in a bowl. Place on a lined cookie sheet that has a cookie drying rack inside to create air flow. Bake 250 for 30 min. Then crank up the heat to 425 for 50-60 min to get that really golden crispy skin.

A few min before the wings are done toss in a saucepan the siracha, honey, soy, and butter. Heat to a simmer and whisk whisk whisk!. If you like a bit thicker sauce use a bit of cornstarch as a thickener.

This was a huge success with the hubs!

Served only 2 haha!

Crockpot roasted broccoli cheese soup

Ingredients
1 (32 ounce) bag frozen chopped broccoli - I paid extra for the florets one
2 (10 ¾ ounce) cans cheddar cheese soup
2 (12 ounce) cans evaporated milk
½ Teaspoonish of Garlic Powder
2 Clove of Minced Garlic
2 cups or so Cheddar Cheese plus extra for garnish
2 med carrots grated
1 Tablespoon of Butter or Margarine
½ Teaspoonish of Onion Powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 Cup of Chopped Onions
1 to 2 teaspoonish better than bullion chicken
Water about 10oz
1 teaspoon  paprika
Nutmeg  bit less 1/2 teaspoon
Crushed red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper this is extra for veg

Instructions
Roast broccoli in oven with garlic powder onion powder crushed red pepper alt pepper 425 for 30 min.  Then chop to bite size pieces. (This amounts of spices are extra then listed above)
Heat up a skillet on medium heat and melt butter - Sautee onions for about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Add all the spices and leave an extra 30 seconds or so
Place All INGREDIENTS in the Crock Pot. Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours.
Garnish with extra Cheddar Cheese Enjoy :)

Creamed Spinach

Creamed Spinach

Frozen spinach
1 cup cream
Splash milk
Onion
Garlic
Bacon grease/butter
Salt/pepper
1/2 cup powdered parm
1/2 cup Diced edam or other melty cheese
Cayenne

Caramelized the onion and then add the garlic for a min or so. Add the squeezed dry spinach and rest of ingredients. Simmer until thick...delish

Artichoke Soup vitamix

1 can artichoke hearts
2 cups chicken stock
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup Greek yogurt

Put everything except yogurt in blender. Blend on high 4 or 5 min then stir or blend the yogurt in on low after hot to mix.

Spinach Pesto

Spinach Pesto

2 cups spinach
1 Lemon zest and juice (extra to taste possibly)
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 or so parm (I was short a bit so also added sharp cheddar)
Fresh parsley a handful 1/2 cup probably
Salt
Pepper
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup Olive oil

Blend! Delicious!