Cabbage Enchiladas

Credit http://healthylivinghowto.com/1/post/2012/01/winner-winner-beef-enchilada-dinner.html for this recipe.

A weird thing happened. My kids asked what we were having for dinner (8,000 times) and every time I told them it was cabbage enchiladas, they said things like, "That sounds yummy!" & "Mmmmm". It was kind of weird, but I ran with it. In the end, everyone liked the meal. I didn't even have to remind them to stop staring at the food and put it in their mouths. And this enchilada sauce is super good. I'm officially saying goodbye to the canned stuff.

• Enchilada Sauce
• 2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp. Chili Powder
• 1 C. Beef broth
• 5 oz. tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Directions

In saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together all ingredients except olive oil.

Bring to low boil then reduce heat to low to keep warm.

Before pouring over cabbage rolls, whisk in olive oil.

 Beef Enchilada Cabbbage Rolls

• 1 lb. Ground Beef
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• medium head cabbage
• shredded cheese
• 2-4 avocados

In a large stockpot, add a couple of cups of water and bring to boil.

Remove core from cabbage and very carefully peel off 10-12 leaves.

Place leaves in boiling water and turn off heat.

While cabbage leaves are softening, pan fry ground beef, onion, salt and pepper in skillet.

Once ground beef is cooked though, remove from heat and add crushed garlic.

With tongs, remove one cabbage leaf at a time, fill with beef mixture, roll tightly and lay in glass baking dish.

Cover cabbage rolls with enchilada sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Serve with avocado slices and sour cream and enjoy!

Creamy Mac & Cheese

• This was super easy and really creamy. Not grainy like most homemade Mac & Cheese recipes I've tried. I love me a one dish meal.

It comes to us from http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/03/skillet-creamy-macaroni-and-cheese.html

INGREDIENTS

• 3 1/2 cups water, plus extra if needed
• 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
• 12 ounces (about 3 cups) elbow macaroni
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
• 6 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
• 6 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small chunks
• Ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring 3 1/2 cups water, 1 cup of the evaporated milk, the macaroni, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a simmer in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat. Cook at a vigorous simmer, stirring often, until the macaroni is tender and the liquid has thickened, 9 to 12 minutes.
2. Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup evaporated milk, the cornstarch, mustard and hot sauce together in a small bowl, then stir into the skillet. Continue to simmer slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
3. Off the heat, stir in the cheddar and Monterey Jack, one handful at a time, adding water as needed to adjust the consistency of the sauce (I didn’t need any additional water when I made it). Stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Breakfast Hashbrown Casserole

this was a good basic breakfast casserole recipe. I liked the two cooking stages a lot. It came out with a really good texture. You can definitely add other things you like,  but I wanted to have the basic on here for future reference.

Bag of frozen hashbrowns
1-2 cups Ham or cooked sausage
1 cube butter
1-2 cups shredded cheese
Other toppings (green onion, bacon, tomatoes, olives, etc)
6-10 eggs (the recipe calls for 6, but I always like more)
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

Cover bottom of 9 x 13 pan with half or whole bag of hashbrowns. Pour melted margarine over the top. Layer chopped ham or sausage and grated cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.

Beat together  eggs,  evaporated milk, and seasoned salt. Add to hot casserole and bake at 350 degrees for an additional 30 minutes.

Pear & Cream Cheese Tart

This comes from Flower Patch Farm Girl. Yes you should make it. Yes it's easy and yes it tastes gourmet. AND...it has fruit in it so it's totally healthy!
 1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup sugar, divided
1 cup flour
1 pkg (8 0z) cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 thinly sliced pears, peeled

Preheat oven to 425.
Beat butter and 1/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy. (I do this in my Kitchenaid mixer.)
Add flour, mix well.
Spread firmly onto bottom and up the sides of a springform pan (I push it about 3/4 of an inch up the sides of a 10-inch pan. A 9 inch pan is a more standard size, so you could push up about an inch.)

Beat cream cheese and 1/3 cup sugar in same bowl.
Add egg and vanilla, mix well.
Spread evenly over crust.

Combine remaining 1/3 cup sugar with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Toss sliced pears with sugar mixture until covered.
Arrange pears in concentric circles on top of cream cheese filling, starting with the outside and working in.
Eat any left-over cinnamon sugar pears.
(Do not share.)

Bake 10 minutes then reduce to 375 and bake 25 minutes or until golden brown at edges and the middle is set.
Cool on wire rack.
Remove outside of springform pan.
Refrigerate tart for a few hours until cool and well set.

Italian Chicken Sandwiches with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Another great meal from OurBestBites.com. The whole family loved this! Buy enough buns for everyone to have seconds.


Ingredients
7-ounce jar of roasted red peppers, drained and patted dry (about 3/4 C)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
kosher salt and black pepper
1 large french baguette (about 24″ long) or 4 large hoagie buns
2 cups cooked shredded or (or a few chicken breasts grilled and sliced)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, or several slices
a handful of fresh basil leaves
Instructions
Place roasted red peppers, garlic, mayo, and lemon juice (if you don’t have a lemon, sub red or white wine vinegar, or just leave it out!) in a food processor. Add a pinch of salt and a few cracks of fresh ground pepper. Process until smooth and then store in the fridge until ready to use. You can make the sauce ahead of time.
Slice bread in half to open it up. Lightly brush with olive oil or butter and place under a broiler until golden brown and toasted. Remove from oven and spread red pepper sauce on the bottom half of the bread. Layer chicken on top of it and top with cheese. Place back in the broiler just until cheese is melted. Top with basil leaves. Spread red pepper sauce on other side of bread and put sandwich together. Slice in to 4 large hoagies, or 8 smaller sandwiches.

Lasagna Soup

Credit goes to http://peggyunderpressure.com/2012/12/deconstructed-lasagna-soup-electric-pressure-cooker-recipe/ for this delicious dinner

This recipe is for a pressure cooker, but it would be super easy to make in a regular pot too.

• Lbs. Spicy Italian Sausage (You can also use lean ground beef or even ground turkey)
• 2 16oz. Cans of Chopped Tomatoes (Omit one can if you want less calories)
• 1 8oz. Can of Tomato Paste (Omit completely if you want less sodium and calories, which I did so I don’t have a photo of it)
• 1 Whole Yellow Onion, chopped
• 3 Cloves of Fresh Garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning 
• 4 Cups of Chicken Broth
• Package of Mafalda Pasta, which look like cute little pieces of lasagna (You can use broken pieces of lasagna as well, which is what I did. Or fusili pasta)

Cheese Balls:

• Shredded Mozzarella
• Low Fat Ricotta Cheese

In your handy dandy pressure cooker’s inner cooking pan/pot, put a bit of olive oil and heat up the browning feature if your model has it.  Otherwise you can do it on the stove in a saucepan.

Crumble the sausage or whatever meat you are using and brown the meat in the pot.  Add the Italian Seasoning and lightly saute everything together.  Turn off the browning feature.

Add in the minced garlic and chopped onions.  Also the cans of chopped tomato and tomato paste.  Give everything a good stir.

Now pour in the Chicken Broth or water.  I did a mix of broth and water until my pot was at the MAX line full capacity.  Make sure not to over fill pass this line or you’re going to have a mess.

DO NOT ADD THE PASTA YET!  We’ll do that later.

Close the lid and lock it.  Set the pressure valve to Airtight.  Program your pressure cooker to cook for 10-minutes.  Or if it has a pre-set SOUP function, go ahead and press that.

That’s it.  It’s all ready to go.

Now, I want to make sure everyone knows that when you’re making a large pot of soup that has a high liquid content, the pressure cooker will take longer to come to pressure because it has to take time to heat up the liquid inside it.  Once it is all heated and the pressure has been reached, the cook time will then begin and count down.

While the pressure cooker is doing its thing, you can make the cheese balls!  Lasagna is known for all its cheesy goodness.  And I know cheese is really not the way to go if you’re trying to watch your calorie count.  But it’s okay, you’re just using a little bit of cheese.  It’s nothing compared to the baked lasagna that’s loaded with gallons and gallons of thick fattening cheese in layers and layers.

To avoid making a mess, use a clean plate and put some shredded mozzarella cheese onto the plate.  Then scoop out about 2-3 tablespoons of ricotta cheese and mash it onto the plate and mix it with the mozzarella.  Mash and roll until both cheeses are incorporated and roll it into a nice tight ball.  You can choose to add some dry parsley and dry basil to the cheese balls too.  Make however many balls you want and cover with saran wrap.  Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve the soup.

Whenever the pressure cooker has finished pressure cooking, adjust the pressure valve to Exhaust to release all the pressure.  For a big pot of soup, it may take almost 2-minutes for it all too release completely.  Once all the pressure is released, open the lid.  The unit should also have gone to the Keep Warm setting automatically.

Give everything a good stir.

Add about 1-2 cups of pasta to the soup.  Don’t add too much because the pasta have the tendency to soak up a lot of the liquid and get really bloated looking.  Add just enough for the amount of servings you want.  Season with salt but don’t go overboard.  I always leave salting my food towards the end or when I’m actually serving it.  Shut the lid to the pressure cooker again and program it to cook for just ONE more minute.

Once that has completed, go through the usual cycle to release the pressure and unlock the lid.

Ladle a nice portion into a serving bowl and drop a cheese ball into the center of the soup.  Serve while it’s nice and hot!  The cheese will melt and make the soup sort of creamy. 

Devil's upside down cheese (or is it flan?) cake

I'm well aware that a half eaten cake is just not that beautiful, but I've come to accept that I'll never get a picture before we consume, so this is what I've got. 

This bad boy comes from www.everydayfoodstorage.NET. I saw it on TV a while ago, pinned it and forgot about it. I rediscovered it yesterday and had to make it. I love that it can be made with food storage items. I didn't love that it took 2.5 hours to make. However, it was still simple and well worth the time. My family raved about it!

Ingredients:

• box chocolate devil's food cake mix
• water (amount per cake mix)
• oil (amount per cake mix) or bean puree (in the same amount as the oil-to learn how to use the bean puree for oil click HERE)
• eggs (amount per cake mix) or 1 T dry egg powder + 2 T water for each egg
• 1 (11 oz.) jar caramel sundae topping
• 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk*
• 1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk*
• 1/2 c.. fresh milk*
• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
• 1 t. vanilla
• 5 eggs (powdered eggs can be used but it will change the texture a little-use a heaving 1/2 c. egg powder + 1/2 c. water
• Or omit the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and fresh milk and use:
• 1 2/3 c. water
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 2/3 c. dry non-instant powdered milk or 3 1/3 c. dry instant powdered milk
• 1 T butter

Method:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a large 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick coating. Pour caramel into prepared pan. Prepare cake mix according to package directions and pour cake batter into the Bundt pan over the caramel topping.

To make the flan: Pour condensed, evaporated and fresh milks into a blender with the cream cheese, vanilla and eggs. (If using powdered milk, just add all ingredients to the blender.) Mix well.

Pour flan mixture very slowly over the cake batter. (You will see pieces of cake batter floating to the top-this is normal). Spray a piece of aluminum foil with non-stick spray and cover the pan TIGHTLY with aluminum foil. (This step is VERY important.)

Set the Bundt pan into a large pan and set on the oven rack and slide into the oven. Carefully pour hot water into the larger pan to a depth of 2 inches (The Bundt pan will be sitting in two inches of water).

Bake for 2 hours (Yes, I mean it TWO hours-don't worry, nothing will burn, I promise!). After the two hours, remove cake from water and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Peel off the aluminum foil. Invert cake onto a large plat with rim (or you'll have a caramel mess everywhere). Cool completely then refrigerate. Refrigerate leftovers.

NOTE: Even though the flan is poured on top of the cake batter, it will sink to the bottom of the pan.