Sausage & Bean enchiladas

so what is more comforting then enchiladas?...wait i know, eating sausage & bean enchiladas smothered with sour cream, avocado & fresh tomatoes all in the comfort of your favorite chair or couch IN the family room, watching a movie, YES that makes the crazy busy week seem to melt away. LOVE LOVE Friday nights. When the kids were little friday nights were always movie night and "eat in the family room" why is it so fun to watch TV and eat in the family room? its a great way to unwind i guess, my family would do this every night but I'm kind of a stickler for sitting down at the table for dinner, If we ate in the family room every night then it would not be a treat to do so on friday nights....right? RIGHT :) 
Now that the kids are older we don't always watch a movie together, with a 14 and a 18 year old trying to find a movie that everyone enjoys can be a bit challenging, but it does happen on occasion. 

I Love to use these big gigantic 12" flour tortillas, the only place I can find these are at GFS (Gordon Food) I go to the one in Bradenton, but there is one is coming to Sarasota..YAY!

Found these beans, PERFECT!! You could use refried bean instead but these were great.

I spread some cream cheese (about 1 Tbs ) on each tortilla before I added the meat & cheese, just for some extra creaminess & yumminess!

Must haves for Enchilada night!

SO Yummy, I only have one picture of the finished product, my son was standing next to me with fork in hand as i was taking pictures just waiting to get his hands on his dinner. 
He is the better photographer but if he is hungry...forget it he just wants to eat.

There are so many variations you could do with this recipe, you could use ground beef or chicken instead of sausage, you could skip the whole cream cheese thing, you could use wheat or corn tortillas....so be creative and make it your own, but i do have to say these were fit for a king.....i mean a mennonite :)


RECIPE:
1# Sausage, browned & crumbled
1 can beans, could use refried beans if preferred
1/2 onion
spices, I used cilantro, chili powder, salt & pepper
shredded sharp cheese
fresh cilantro
flour tortillas
1 can enchilada sauce
cream cheese, approx. 4 oz.

Pour a little enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan, combine sausage, beans, onion & spices, spread approx. 1 TLBS cream cheese on each tortilla, fill with meat mixture & some cheese, roll up and place in pan, cover with rest of enchilada sauce, sprinkle with more cheese and cilantro if desired.



ENJOY!!
Rose

Stuffed Shells

So i had already started supper when Sara came into the kitchen...starving as usual! when i said we are having stuffed shells she jumped for joy!....well not literally but her face showed jumping with joy on the inside, so i grabbed my camera and decided, why not? lets post it.

I decided on stuffed shells because i had a lot of cottage cheese that needed to be used, normally i use ricotta cheese but i hate to waste things so cottage cheese stuffed shells it was... but then i thought....why couldn't i put my eggs and cottage cheese in the vita-mix to make it smoother? so thats what i did and OH WOW, it looked like vanilla pudding, AWESOME! then i added the parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and oregano, LOVELY!! (Note: it is a little bit thinner when you blend it,  (you could use one less egg and that might make it a bit thicker)

I like to sneak in some veggies when i fry up the ground beef, i also added some onion, garlic and seasonings, you can't hardly even find the carrots when its all said and done,    ( wonder if they are even beneficial if you can't see them....hmmm)

nope its not pudding! its 3 eggs and about 2 cups cottage cheese, sorry i didn't measure.

to the egg mixture i added parmesan cheese, sorry again didn't measure....parsley, salt & pepper, oregano & basil.

all set up and ready to assemble.

all done and ready to devour!



RECIPE:
18 large shells, cooked
1# ground beef
onion, garlic, basil, salt & pepper, oregano, 
shredded veggies and of your choice (optional)
approx. 24 oz. pasta sauce
3 eggs
2 cups ricotta or cottage cheese
approx. 1 cup parmesan cheese
basil, oregano, parsley, salt & pepper
2 cups mozzarella cheese

cook & drain pasta shells, cook ground beef, drain and add veg & seasonings, add pasta sauce, set aside, mix or blend eggs & cottage cheese, then add parmesan cheese & seasonings.
grease a 9x13 pan, spread some of the meat sauce in bottom, stuff your shells with egg/cheese mixture, and place in pan, top with rest of meat sauce, sprinkle mozzarella cheese over all and bake at 350 for approx. 30 min. or till hot and cheese is melted.

NOTE: stuffing the shells can be a bit messy, i have seen where people put the egg/cheese mixture in a bag, cut off the tip and squeeze it into the shells, kinda like a frosting tube, i have not tried that but it sounds like it should work, i just get messy, i would rather wash my hands than extra utensils, but thats just me :)


ENJOY!
Rose

Chicken Rotel

This is one of our favorite dishes, well my daughter is not a big fan but everyone else LOVES it, kinda spicy, noodlely, cheesy, its kinda casserole, kinda soup, whatever it is...its yummy!!

I remember when my mom first made this, our neighbor gave us the recipe and it was a different type of dish for us, but my dad loved it, so it became a regular dish at our house.

I have simplified the recipe over the years, the original recipe called for a uncooked whole chicken, (and sometimes i still do that when they are on sale) and when you cook it you have your broth ....so thats nice....but sometimes time is just not that readily available....so i usually use a Rotisserie chicken (from Sam's 4.99) can't really beat that, much easier and quicker, or if you really want to make it simple you could use a can of chicken pieces, but i like the nice big chunks of chicken in this.

before deboning

After deboning
sorry not a great picture but i like to cut down on dirty dishes so i use stuff thats already dirty (that sounds bad) 

 so colorful

so yummy 


RECIPE:

6 cups chicken broth, use your own if you cooked the chicken
8 oz. spaghetti noodles
1/4 cup butter
1 pepper
1 onion
1 can mushrooms
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 cup peas
2 TLBS worchestershire sauce
1 chicken
16 oz. Velveeta cheese
salt, pepper, basil & parsley to taste, sorry i never measure this stuff


If using whole uncooked chicken: 
cover with enough water to cover and cook till tender, let cool and debone, measure your broth so you have 6 cups, you can add some water if its not enough.

if using already cooked chicken start here:
in a large pot or dutch oven, combine cut up pepper and onion and sauté with 1/4 cup butter for about 10 min. add broth and bring to a boil, add spaghetti and cook till done (don't overcook) add rotel, mushrooms, peas and worchestershire sauce, bring back to a boil, turn heat down and add cheese, chicken and spices, heat till cheese is melted.

ENJOY!

ROSE

Corn Roast

What food can make you travel approx. 1100 miles for? well in my case it was roasted corn, its a family tradition to have a corn roast in the summer when the sweet corn is sweet and incredibly delicious!

As a kid i didn't like to eat sweet corn on the cob, i didn't like how it would stick in my teeth, but at some point in my adult life i developed a liking for corn on the cob, ( there are always toothpicks...right?) 
SO once a year we gather the whole family together and build a BIG fire and have a corn roast!

WARNING:  there will be butter dripping off your chin and elbows and your fingers will be buttery & salty and sticky....YES its that kind of meal....
but so worth it!

Start with a boat load of corn, always get some extra for those that get lost or burned up in the fire,
leave the corn in the husk and soak in cold water for at least a couple hours and up to 6 hours.

This is one piece of equipment needed, definitely not what i usually use for cooking but hey THIS is not your normal kind of cooking experience.

More equipment....or more like man toys!

 The guys made this big grate thing, hooked it onto the Gradall so they can lower it onto the fire.

unhook the grate thing and use the bucket to completely cover the corn with the hot ashes, oh men and their toys........

Note from Merle: You want to make sure the corn is completely covered, if it is exposed at all it will burn.

 Stand back and admire your handiwork :)

 ....About 45 min and the corn was ready!!

hook the grate back up to the Gradall, and lift the corn and dump :)

It may not look that great here but underneath the husk is perfectly roasted sweet corn.

We melt the butter and brush it on with a pastry brush, works great!

Some have some burnt areas, those are my favorites! great smoky flavor with or without the burnt spots.

 Way too cute!!

And this concludes another corn roast for the Miller/Weaver family.

This could totally be done on a smaller scale, but in this family we don't really like to do things in a small way :)

My nephew was watching all the guys with all their tractors and equipment, turns to me and says, "all this just for corn?" but the smile on his face above says....all is good!

Rose

Mustgo

So what do you cook on the evening before you leave for vacation or in my case leave for the weekend?

Well at our house we have Mustgo as in everything in the fridge "must go" ......so it can get a little interesting sometimes.
I don't know why i am this way but i hate to waste things, i think everything needs to be used or made into something else, of course i have to pitch stuff now and then but i don't want to waste GOOD stuff.
So tonight i had some GOOD stuff in the fridge and decided to cook it all up together and it was SO GOOD!

My son came home from work and asked the daily question "whats for dinner"? i said MUSTGO...i got the eye roll...

So I had a chicken breast, some bacon, zucchini, onion, mushrooms, feta and cilantro.....

cut up the zucchini, onion & mushrooms, toss with a little olive oil, salt & pepper....

I grilled mine but you could roast in the oven as well, after its done i added the bacon & chicken....

 without feta and cilantro for Jake

WITH feta and cilantro for ME :), those are 2 things that i LOVE LOVE LOVE!

so Mustgo will look different every time we make it, but this i will make again, SO GOOD and fit into my diet, I'm trying to stay low carb and this was perfect!

ENJOY!
Rose