Salsa Verde/Enchilada Sauce

This recipe has been updated since I first posted it. It is delicious! We use it to give burritos and tacos a different and more yummy flavor! We also use this to make our own Enchilada sauce. It makes 4 cups total. We freeze them in 2 Ziploc freezer bags quart size bags with 2 cups each. To make enchiladas I use shredded chicken, a cup of cheese, 1/2 cup salsa verde, 1 cup sour cream and mix. Roll sauce into tortillas and then pour remaining 1 1/2 cups of salsa verde over the top.

6 cups tomatillos cut in half
1/2 c onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 Anaheim pepper, chopped
3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c water
olive oil
1 lime

In a saute pan add tomatillos, onion, garlic, and peppers. Drizzle with olive oil and saute for a few minutes on med-hi. Add water, cilantro, cumin, and salt. Cover and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. When the tomatillos are soft add everything to a food processor and process until its smooth. I did two batches since my food processor would not take it all. You can probably use a blender too. When its smooth cut the lime in half and squeeze the juice into the salsa. Stir and serve.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake

2-4 chicken breasts
4 slices good thick ham
Swiss cheese slices
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c sour cream
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c breadcrumbs
2-4 Tbsp butter

Cut chicken and ham up into bite size pieces. Mix and place half of the chicken and ham in a 9x9 baking dish. Cover with swiss chesse slices and then place remaining chicken and ham over the top. Combine soup, sour cream, and Worcesershire sauce in a bowl. Pour over top of chicken and ham. Top with a layer of breadcrumbs and melt 2-4 Tbsp butter in a dish and drizzle over break crumbs.

Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

Jeannie's Homemade Bread

This bread recipe is the BEST. You can make it in 1 hour from start to finish. I use it for everything now. Cinnamon rolls, rolls, scones, pizza...everything! The yeast and soy lecithin might be something you can only get in Utah at stores but it can be ordered off the Internet. Best part is it costs 25 cents a loaf to make this. We only eat homemade bread in our house now! I make a half recipe on Sunday and we eat a warm loaf of bread with dinner and use the other loaf for sandwiches and toast during the week. When we do Movie night on Friday I make a second half batch and use half for pizza dough and make another loaf of bread. Pantry Secrets has classes on how to make this bread and perfect it.

• 10 ½ cups White unbleached bread flour (NOT all purpose- they do not have enough gluten)

• ½ Cup Sugar (white or brown or you can use 1/3 honey or molasses but it will not freeze well)
  

• 3 rounded/heaping tablespoons Saf-instant yeast (Macey’s sells it, keep in freezer and add to the recipe directly from the freezer, it does not have to warm up)

• 1 Tbsp Salt
  

• 3 tablespoons liquid Lecithin* (use instead of oil, it’s made of soy, it cleans arteries has a 4 year shelf life and you can buy it at Kitchen Kneads, Bosch or any health food store and buy the liquid in squeeze bottles not the granules)

• 4 cups hot tap water (you can use powdered milk and for Wheat flour you add 1 cup applesauce in place of hot tap water) mix for 10 minutes.

Mix dry ingredients. Add lecithin and water. To add the lecithin, squeeze or pour approximately 3 tablespoons of lecithin directly into the bowl. Do not measure, it’s too sticky. (An amount about the size of a quarter equals 1 Tablespoon)

Mix for 1 minute and check consistency. If dough is too dry, add more water a little at a time but only 2-4 Tbsp. If dough is too moist, add more flour (You want nice soft dough). It’s better to be on the sticky side than to be too dry and hard. The stickier dough will stretch out better when you roll it. Mix for 5 minutes in mixer or knead by hand for 10 minutes. Do not add water or flour to the dough after it has finished mixing or it will be unstable.

Spray counter and pans with Pam (do not put flour on counter; it will dry out your bread, the gluten doesn’t develop in the extra flour and the dough won’t stretch as well and the breads will crack. Get a little Pam on your hands. Cut; don’t pull the dough into four pieces, shape loves and cover with a dish towel to keep the dough moist. Let raise 25 minutes.

Bake at 350º for 25 minutes on the middle rack in the oven. This recipe makes four loaves of bread. You can half the recipe for 2 loaves of bread.

For a year’s worth of bread (4 loaves a week)
6-25 bags of flour
6 pkgs of Saf-instant yeast
4-6 bottles of lecithin

You can keep a loaf of dough overnight in the fridge. Spray the inside of a bread sack with Pam. Put dough in and tie loosely. Put in Fridge. You might have to punch down the dough before you work with it. Great for pizza, scones, braids, etc. Might not form a pretty loaf of bread though.

Tater Tot Casserole

I got this recipe from Pam. This makes the kiddos happy and its yummy for Mom and Dad too. The best part is that if you keep the a spare bag of tots in the freezer its a great meal when you don't know what else to make. I like to make it early in the day and leave in the fridge until about an hour before we are ready to eat.

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1/2 lg onion diced in processor

1 pkg or 1/4 c taco seasoning
2 cans of cream of chicken

1 can evaporated milk

1 bag frozen tater tots

Cheese

Brown meat, onion, and taco seasoning. Combine cream of chicken and evaporated milk and stir until smooth. Layer tots in a 9 x 13 pan, cover with meat, a layer of cheese, and then pour sauce over the top. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Spinach, Caramelized Pecans, and Parmesan Salad with Pepper Jelly Dressing

Pepper Jelly Dressing:
3 Tbsp Pepper Jelly
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/8 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Dijon Mustard

In a small bowl whisk together ingredients. Microwave for 30 seconds and allow to cool.

Toss 6 cups Spinach, 1 cup Caramelized Pecans, and shredded Parmesan cheese. Toss with dressing and serve.

Caramelized Pecans

1/2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup pecans

Add butter to a med sauce pan and allow to melt on low. Add sugar and pecans and cook over med heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar caramelizes. It will start to turn brown and the sugar will lose the appearance of the grains. It takes about 5 minutes.

When it is done spread out onto a cookie sheet with foil.

Alfredo Sauce

Got this off All recipes from the Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce. The original recipe used garlic powder but I prefer the real thing. Its wonderful with Roasted Red Peppers or Sun Dried tomatoes added in!

1/2 cup butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 garlic cloves minced
2 cups whole milk
6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and garlic, stirring with whisk until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in Parmesan and pepper. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long. Toss with hot pasta to serve.