Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Well, I had a baby and moved twice sooo there were very few recipes tried and even less blogging happening. Maybe this summer I can catch up...! And since I'm ready to make this a second time, here you go!
~~~
You know those videos on facebook of a recipe being thrown together? That's where this came from.

The actual link to the recipe is HERE.
We made some modifications, haha. As in, we added three ingredients. But here's how we did it:

Ingredients:
2 huge chicken breasts
30 oz enchilada sauce
6 oz olives, sliced
1 cup cheese
1/2 cup chopped yellow or white onion
1 can black beans
6oz ish corn
12 corn tortillas (I cut these in half then cut the halves into short strips)
top with more cheese and olives

Directions:
Put thawed chicken into crock pot, cover with enchilada sauce. Cook on high for 4 hours.
Shred chicken with forks, in pot.
Add sliced corn tortillas, cheese, olives, black beans, corn and onion. Stir.
Add enough cheese to cover the mixture and olives on top.
Cook 40 more minutes

Serve with sour cream, lettuce and salsa.

*I like to use an egg slicer to cut olives. Three fit in the cuppy spot perfectly and come out easily! 

YUM!

Smoothie Ideas!

Yep, I'm still pretty much stuck on my two classics - made as kits twice a month and how I start most mornings!

Pineapple Green Smoothie and

Berry Green Smoothie:

• spinach (1 cup)
• frozen mixed berries (1/2 cup)
• fresh ginger (very thin slice)
• coconut oil (1 Tbsp)
• ground almonds (1 Tbsp)  (spinach, berries, ginger, oil, and almonds go in the kit)
• vanilla yogurt (1/4 cup)
• milk (3/4 cup)

But this week I decided to finally try some of the smoothie ideas I've been pinning. So now I've got: 

Raspberry Lime Smoothie

inspired by THIS

• 1 cup frozen raspberries
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp vanilla whey powder
• 1 heaping spoonful cottage cheese
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cubes ice

Without the ice it is really thick, and foamy all the way thru. It IS tart so this won't be a daily thing. Maybe when I need a boost of vitamin c or maybe when I need an actual wake up call, haha...

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
inspired by THIS

• 1/2 cup pumpkin
• 3 ice cubes
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp vanilla whey powder
• ground cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves to taste
• 1 slice ginger root 
• 1 cup milk 

I can't eat bananas, so I hoped the coconut oil would lend some sweetening, on top of its nutritional value. And I don't own pumpkin pie spice, so I had to toss in my own. This is the most complicated smoothie I've made, only because I have to pull allll these things out in the morning, but it feels healthy to me, with that big shot of pumpkin,  

Apple Pie Smoothie
inspired by THIS

• handful almonds (I think I counted there were 9 in the blender)
• 1 red apple (I buy fuji or gala)
• 1/3 cup cottage cheese
• 1/.4 cup oats
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup milk
• 2-3 ice cubes

Despite the milk, apple and cheese all coming from the fridge, this one could definitely use some ice cubes. In fact, I dumped it back in the blender and added two! Like the other poster says, this would lend itself well to adding spinach, ginger and coconut oil, but I wanted to try it {mostly} the way it was written.

And there's some new ideas for you too!
Oh wait, I also read THIS article the other day...I was happy to note that the only thing I use is the honey in the pumpkin smoothie above, and occasionally I'll still put the chocolate Instant Breakfast in the Berry Smoothie above. So according to that article anyway, haha, my smoothies ARE good for me! Yeay! 

Alfredo Sauce - Whatever we happen to have in the fridge version

Thankfully this worked and tasted pretty good.

1 stick of butter
1 cup of half & half
2 tbsp minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp sour cream
3 tbsp ricotta cheese
3 tbsp grated Parmesan
2 to 3 handfuls of mozzarella

Put butter and cream into a cold pan and turn to medium heat. Add the garlic and allow the mixture to heat up until the butter is completely melted. Mix in the sour cream, ricotta and grated Parmesan. Allow everything to heat though and completely combine. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the mozzarella one handful at a time. Be sure that mozzarella is completely incorporated completely before adding the next handful. It may not be necessary to add all three handfuls to reach an adequate thickness for the sauce.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

We served it with fettucini, browned chicken sausage and roasted broccoli! It was all delicious!
I forgot to take a picture of dinner, but this is the leftovers put together for a lunch!

Smelling Good!

I used to burn candles alllllll the time. I now have a candle warmer but I don't use it very often...
I went thru a phase where I used Febreeze on the couches, carpets and curtains daily, but I don't know if we even have any Febreeze.
Since just before Christmas I've been simmering a smelly-good pot of stuff that I dump and start new almost daily. My family is tired of it, but the kick of vitamin c in the air gets me going in the morning and keeps me motivated. I think that's pretty important with the gray days we have around here most of the winter...!

I put in the peel of a clementine (Cutie, little orange...its not a tangerine, it really is called a Clementine)
the core of any apples or pears I slice up for the kids, and any peel that I might cut off
4 craisins
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
and the peel of a ginger root

I turn the burner up to medium high heat to get it boiling, then I keep it a very low temp the rest of the day, adding water as it boils off!

I absolutely love it!

Its That Time Again!

I know I have lots of posts to catch up on and post, and maybe in a week or two I'll sit down and do that. In the meantime, here is what I'm currently thinking about in the food department....

School Lunch Menu 2014-2015
	Main Dish		Dairy		Other		Drink
Day 1	PBJ Sandwich		Gogurt		pretzels		capri sun
Day 2	Bean/Cheese Burrito				tortilla chips		capri sun
Day 3	Pasta		String Cheese		beef jerky		capri sun
Day 4	Meat/Cheese/Crackers				treat		capri sun
Day 5	Deli Sandwich				granola bar		capri sun
Day 6	PBJ Sandwich		Gogurt		cheese nips		capri sun
Day 7	Pizza/Pepperoni sandwich				treat		capri sun
Day 8	Wraps		Yogurt Cup		chips		capri sun
Day 9	PBJ Sandwich		String Cheese		beef jerky		capri sun
Day 10	Hot Lunch
Vegetable		Fruit
Cucumber/Ranch		Watermelon
Carrots/ranch		Apples
S Potato/Ranch		Clementines
Olives		Coconut
Celery/PB/raisins		Grapes
Peas in Pod		Berries
Cauliflower/ranch		Trail Mix
Broccoli/Ranch		Pears

We'll see how that shows up with the blog formatting... hahaha....

But in case you can't tell, this is our plan for school lunches! I pinned a few of those "collection of ideas" and we used that for inspiration, and created this menu based on what our kids like.

Each Sunday evening, we'll prep all the fruit, veggies, snacks and dairy into bins.

We thought we'd make the sandwiches, burritos and wraps and stick them in the freezer, but that didn't work very well for the deli sandwiches. Instead, we grab everything in the morning, make the main dish, and toss it all in!

Each school morning the kids choose a prepped fruit and veggie, and otherwise follow the menu! Hopefully this will make things much easier for us all this year...I'll get back to you on that for sure, haha!

Kabobs in Tin Foil!

Last night we did something just a little different...I saw an idea to skip the skewering of kabobs, and instead wrap it all in tin foil and grill it! That's about perfect for the super busy nights we've been having- I prepped it all ahead of time and my husband put the packets on the grill as soon as we got home!

It was quite a bit like a tin foil dinner, but we used our kabob ingredients instead. This night was cubed russet potatoes, our marinated chicken, thinly sliced zucchini and frozen corn!
Super easy, super tasty!

Pineapple Green Smoothie: plus tips!

Probably more green in color than in actual nutrition, but this is my current favorite. Very, very favorite.

This particular smoothie is this list, and measurements are approximate!

• chunked fresh pineapple (3/4 cup)
• spinach (1 cup)
• avocado (1 Tbsp)
• fresh ginger (very thin slice)
• coconut oil (1 Tbsp)
• ground almonds (1 Tbsp)
• vanilla yogurt (1/4 cup)
• orange juice concentrate (1/4 cup)
• milk (3/4 cup)

When I first put the smoothie kits together, I started by eyeballing what looked "right" in the blender itself, then dumping all that into a baggie. But now I'm just shoving handfuls into the bags and calling it good. We've learned a few tips since THIS POST.
So I do most of grocery shopping on (or as close as possible) to pay day. I write out a dinner menu, I know what we need for lunches (we're very boring lunch people) and breakfasts usually take care of themselves. Right now, for our smoothies, I'm buying the big container of baby spinach from Costco, and this bag of berries shown below, which is also from Costco. I've been getting a fresh pineapple from wherever it's cheapest, and a couple avocados too. I get a knob of fresh ginger root, which we peel and slice very thinly. We also still have frozen strawberries and peaches. The number of kits I make depends on how far the spinach goes- when I'm out of spinach, I'm done making kits!

We were putting 6-8 whole almonds in the kits, but grinding up the almonds first, in a little food processor or food chopper helps them come out completely smooth. My husband drinks his with a straw and doesn't like the 1/3 whole almond getting stuck... and drinking is easier than chewing, lol... So now I just add a heaping tablespoon of ground up almonds to each kit!

Putting a spoonful of coconut oil in between the spinach leaves guarantees it makes it into each smoothie. I forgot about it often enough that this just makes it easier.

The avocados have been chopped up and I put maybe a tablespoon, maybe more, into each smoothie kit. There is NO avocado taste, it just makes them all a little greener in color and a little creamier. YUM.

I buy either plain or vanilla yogurt for these smoothies. My original recipe was for an Orange Julius, which called for vanilla extract. Sometimes I'll go that route, but I've learned that I do better if I have protein with my breakfast. My morning protein of choice is either peanut butter on toast, or sausage, so I've decided that yogurt is the healthiest route, haha.

The ginger root we peel with a potato peeler, and then slice as thinly as possible. It gives each smoothie a bit of brightness. Its not overpowering at all, but when we leave it out they seem rather plain. Which is funny to me... And any left over ginger is grated or cut up and put into my water for the next few days! Apparently it has a slimming effect- I just like that it flavors my water naturally and that encourages me to drink it!

Summer Meal

Here was dinner a couple weeks ago, to spark your own plan:
Meatballs, Corn on the Cob and Grilled Pineapple! (those who don't like pineapple got a fruit salad of apples, bananas and grapes!)

To grill the pineapple, he cut it into halves and brushed them with a mixture of brown sugar, honey, apple cider vinegar (and considered using Sprite).

And just so you know, its not just me who thinks life is easier with a menu plan. Check THIS POST out! Use it as inspiration and make a plan that works for you!

Meal Planning

I don't know about your house, but I definitely make better dinners if I have a plan ahead of time. If its 430 pm and I'm suddenly realizing these people need to eat, we don't eat very good meals...and I start to look and sound like this:

haha. Anyway, my system works like this:
We get paid every 2 weeks. I have a grocery budget which I try very hard to stick to. I like to get my major shopping done on payday, allowing for the fact that will need to restock milk and produce, and whatever else may come up. So if I plan dinner ideas for at least 14 days, and then buy the food we need to make those dinners, we should be set! (I also keep a pantry full of "food storage" that we rotate into our fridge food...if that makes any sense to you.)
Recently I was trying to put together my menu and was not in the mood to think of meals, so I was asking friends for ideas. (friends are a fabulous resource!!!) Two of them half-jokingly told me that when I came up with my menu I needed to do theirs as well. Hence this post! *grin
I get my dinner ideas by asking my kids what they want (which is always pizza and spaghetti), looking at food blogs (I bookmark specific recipes when I see them), checking my food emails (from Pillsbury & Betty Crocker), and flipping thru our stack of recipe books. And when I can't fill a menu from that I scroll thru this blog for meals that I know we like! I also make sure to have at least one leftovers night per week to make sure the fridge isn't hoarding any science projects, although honestly my husband often takes the leftovers to work for free lunches!

So here is my current menu plan, with links to recipes where I can add them! Enjoy!!

• Saturday: Domino's Pizza
• Sunday: Crock Pot Orange Chicken, Fried Rice
• Monday: Tortilla Soup, chips
• Tuesday: Leftovers
• Wednesday: Mexican Shepherd's Pie, chips, mixed veggies
• Thursday: Tomato Zucchini Pasta, garlic bread, peas
• Friday: Grilled hamburgers, deep fried french fries, grapes
• Saturday: Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli, mixed veg, slice of bread with jam
• Sunday: Meatballs, baked potato with butter & cheese, roasted broccoli
• Monday: Leftovers
• Tuesday: German Pancakes, bacon, fruit
• Wednesday: Beef & black bean enchiladas, chips, lettuce
• Thursday: Hash
• Friday: Baked chicken tenders, baked french fries, apples
• Saturday: Crepes, fruit
• Sunday: Swedish meatballs (recipe found on McCormick Swedish Meatball seasoning & sauce mix packet) & fettuccine noodles with alfredo sauce, mixed veggies

I just noticed, we've been having a LOT of chicken lately...hmm.

Sometimes I like to sort of have a "schedule" that is really just me spacing out similar foods, where each week we have a soup, an Italian meal, a Mexican meal, a breakfast dinner, a super simple meal like burgers or mac n cheese, leftovers and then some kind of meat and potatoes type meal. That gets me thru a week without a whole lot of brain power, haha. Also, since I shop for all these things just as the menu period is beginning, I easily can switch things out depending on how busy I am or what I am more in the mood for each day.
Hope this helps you out today too!

Summer Idea

Somehow we ended up with two open 2-liter bottles of root beer. Okay, I know how it happened but it was not really a good situation, lol.
The point is we ended up with flat root beer, which is not very tasty. But its been unusually hot around here. So I had an idea!

I poured the flat root beer into our little popsicle molds and THAT is a tasty way to cool off!