Honey Lime Enchiladas

Ummm... wow! Can we all say YUM!! These were so incredibly tasty. I've been meaning to make these for a long time, and I'm so glad I got around to it. I love enchiladas anyway, but this recipe gives them such a fun twist that even if you don't like enchiladas... you'll like these.

They were a little spicy for my kids, but I think it was the green enchilada sauce I used.

I found this treasure on My Kitchen Cafe. She's got the best stuff.

Honey Lime Enchiladas

6 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons lime juice (1 large lime)
1 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (about 3 small chicken breasts)
8-10 flour tortillas
1 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded
16 ounces green enchilada sauce
1 cup heavy cream (to lighten them up, I have substituted sour cream with good results)

Mix the first four ingredients and toss with shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least 1/2 hour (I tossed mine together in a ziploc bag in the morning and let it sit in the refrigerator all day). Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover marinade. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top.

Oreo Truffles

Oreo truffles are easy, impressive, and oh so tasty. There are a million different sources for this recipe, so I'll just post the one I know best. I'm sure there are different ways to do these, but I've had great success with my way. My mouth waters just thinking of them. Yum! They are perfect for a party or special occasion.

Oreo Truffles

1 pkg. OREO Cookies, finely crushed, (I like to use the holiday red cream oreo)

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate or white chocolate, melted (I find that almond bark works just as well)

Mix the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.

Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) To easily coat truffles with the melted chocolate, add truffles, in batches, to bowl of melted chocolate. Then use two forks to roll truffles in chocolate until evenly coated. Remove the truffles with forks and allow excess chocolate to drip back into bowl before placing truffles on prepared baking sheet

Top with cookie crumbs, sprinkles, or drizzled white chocolate.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Ham and Pasta Skillet Dinner

My family loves things with ham. I usually have a ham steak of two in the fridge so I can prepare a quick and yummy dinner that we will all eat and enjoy. And I have come across some delicious dinners incorporating ham. This little gem is from My Kitchen Cafe and is so so good. My whole family gives it five thumbs up. If you don't have all the ingredients, it is easy to improvise or leave things out all together. I have had great success on substituting and excluding ingredients.

Ham and Pasta Skillet Dinner

1 pound small tube or shell pasta
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 cups fully cooked ham, diced
1 large sweet red pepper, diced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions - only cooking until al dente since pasta will continue to cook and soak up liquid when added to the skillet. While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat until butter is melted. Add pepper, onion, and garlic and cook until vegetables are tender, about 4-6 minutes. Add ham, basil and oregano and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in broth (or stock) and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half (at first it looks like it will be way to "brothy" but never fear, if you are patient, it will reduce!). Stir drained pasta into ham and vegetable mixture (I cooked a full pound of pasta but only added about 3/4 of the cooked pasta to the skillet so the other ingredients weren't lost). Add 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and toss. Sprinkle parsley and remaining parmesan cheese over the top of the pasta. Serve immediately.

Root Beer Cookies

I found these cookies on Real Mom Kitchen and was instantly intrigued. We are Root Beer fans in this family. They turned out very interesting. The hint of root beer wasn't as strong as I had first imagined, and if I had not known what was in them, I'm not entirely sure I could guess that they were root beer flavored. BUT, they were very good and I loved the frosting. I'd like to play around with the recipe a bit and see if I can get the Root Beer flavor to be stronger but not overwhelming.

Root Beer Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. root beer extract (also called concentrate)
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup water (optional–only use if dough is too dry)
Root Beer frosting (recipe below)

Cream butter and dark brown sugar until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the root beer extract. Whisk dry ingredients together. Add a little at a time to the creamed mixture. The dough should be slightly sticky.

Chill for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease several baking sheets, or line them with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Roll into small balls (about 1″ diameter).

Place them on the pan, leaving a bit of space between the cookies. Gently press the tops of the dough. (If you leave out the water, sometimes the cookies don’t spread very much.) Bake for 6-8 minutes, rotating cookie sheet halfway through. Makes about 4 dozen.

Frosting Recipe

1 cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. root beer extract (also called concentrate)
a few tablespoons hot water

Beat butter on high with an electric mixer until it is fluffy. Add a little powdered sugar and the root beer extract. Beat until smooth. Add remaining powdered sugar alternately with a little hot water until a nice spreading consistency has been reached.

Frost the cooled cookies and let stand for a few minutes to let the frosting set up. (It should dry a bit on the top.) You can leave out the root beer extract and you’ll have a tasty, soft brown sugar cookie.

Moo Shu Noodles

My oldest daughter has been begging me to make a dinner we can use chopsticks to eat with. So as I was browsing My Kitchen Cafe, I found this little gem, and knew it was the one. As I scanned the list of ingredients, I got a little nervous, and excited, because there are quite a few things that I don't keep on hand and I don't regularly cook with. So by the time I finished preparing dinner, I felt quite gourmet. And the best part is that it's not even a difficult recipe. It just uses some yummy, ethnic ingredients that give the dish so much flavor. I really loved this.I thought it turned out delicious... much better than chinese take out. The only modification I made was I used chicken instead of pork.

My kids thought it was a bit too spicy, so next time I'll try to remedy that. We had a lot of fun eating with chopsticks.

Moo Shu Noodles

12-ounces fettuccine
3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
3 eggs, beaten
3 medium-sized boneless pork chops, thinly sliced (it is easier to slice thinly if pork chops are slightly frozen)
Ground black pepper
3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons ginger (about a 2-inch piece), peeled and grated
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
1/2 pound mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 small head Napa or Savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chicken broth

Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil. When the water comes up to a bubble, add some salt and drop in the fettuccine. Cook the pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain the cooked pasta and reserve.

Combine the hoisin and soy sauce together in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a 12-inch non-stick skillet, heat one tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add eggs and scramble. When done, scrape them onto a plate and reserve.

In the same skillet heat two tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Season the pork with salt and pepper, add to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes (don't overcook or pork will be tough!). Remove the meat from the pan onto the same plate as the eggs and keep warm.

Add the scallions, ginger and garlic to the pan, and cook until aromatic and the scallions are tender, about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms to the pan and stir-fry until golden brown, 4-5 minutes.

Add the cabbage to the pan and stir-fry until tender, about 3 minutes. When the cabbage is tender, add the reserved pork and scrambled eggs back to the pan along with the hoisin-soy mixture and the chicken broth. Stir-fry to fully heat through, about 1 minute, and then toss with the reserved cooked pasta. Cook to heat through and serve.

Mom's Pumpkin Bread

Mmmm... Yummy pumpkin bread.... This was one of my favorite treats during the fall and holiday seasons growing up, and it still is today. My mom used to make this pumpkin bread to give out to neighbors and we would always beg her to keep some for us. She usually kept a loaf or two for her ravenous family, but it was never enough. ;) I could eat a whole loaf myself at one sitting. And the Cream Cheese frosting on top is a must. It finishes the bread deliciously and beautifully.Mom's Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil (I use half olive oil and half vegetable oil)

4 eggs (beaten)

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cloves

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp all spice

1 cup pumpkin

1 cup applesauce

2/3 cup water

Mix sugar and oil until smooth. Add eggs and mix.

Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add to wet ingredients 1/2 cup at a time. Add pumpkin, applesauce, and water. Mix until smooth.

Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 45 - 60 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Usually makes 2 to 3 loafs depending on your loaf pan size.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz cream cheese

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

1 tsp vanilla

3 to 4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 to 1/2 cup milk

Melt cream cheese and butter in microwave until soft. Beat with beater about 1 minute or until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add powdered sugar, a little at a time alternately with milk until desired consistency and taste is reached.

You can also make into cute mini loaves. These are really dangerous. They are deliciously cute.

Spooky Spiders and Creepy Critters

I just love Halloween. There are so many fun snacks and treats to make. I love making them (and eating them) just as much as my kids. These were so much fun to make, and turned out super cute. My kids were absolutely ecstatic about these spooky spiders and creepy critters. They didn't taste half bad either. ;)

Spooky Spiders

Halloween Oreos
1 tsp. frosting

Mini M&M's

Black string licorice

For each cookie, cut eight 1 1/2 inch pieces of licorice for legs. Insert four pieces into the filling on each side of each cookie.

With the frosting, attach 2 mini M&M's to the top of each cookie for eyes.

And Voila! Spooky, but yummy spiders!

Creepy Critters

HoHo's or similar chocolate snack cakes

Chocolate and vanilla frosting

Assorted candy (we used M&M's, Mike and Ike's, candy corn, and mentos)

Fruit roll-ups

For each critter, use icing to attach candy however you want.

Cut fruit roll-up into tongue shapes; attach to cakes.

Pipe teeth with frosting.