Cornbread Enchilada Casserole

Wow, so no gold star for keeping the blog up-to-date for me! Hehe - it's officially summer now that preschool is over and you all know how great a job I do at maintaining a cooking routine when there's no "normalcy" in my schedule. Between Luke's birthday, the kiddos' nights over with my parents and the boy's parents, and all the other craziness our schedule has endured the past two weeks, we've barely eaten at home. And when we have, it's junky quick food - nuggets, mac-n-cheese, PB&Js, burgers, hot dogs, etc.

I did manage to cook once last week and was so super excited - cornbread chicken enchilada casserole! This recipe was the most read post from the blog last year (thank you Mrs. Katie Brumbelow!) and one of my personal favorites. I was stoked to make it, seeing as I had a fresh jar of salsa from the farm with which we're doing our crop share, and at 5:00 when I opened up the crockpot, I was ready to eat it straight out of the pot. I took the first big bite and after I burnt half my mouth, I realized that it would never fly with the kiddos. The salsa, while absolutely PERFECT for me and the boy, would be just a bit too spicy for them. Linds took one sniff and said, "whoa - that is like, a hundred million thousand, seventy-hundred, sixty-two" spicy." (Yes, she is into numbers lately and strings together as many as possible to exaggerate her assuredness of something.)

Now, as I'm writing the update, I've been back and forth with Katie, and it seems as if we're planning to repeat our cooking extravaganza next week - and if so, look for some photos and a post of all the yummy stuff we're going to make! So, here's a repost of the casserole recipe, and a little tease for what's to come! ;-)

Cornbread Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
1 small can diced green chiles (4 oz)
1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
3 to 4 chopped scallions (or 1/4 cup onion)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (or a box of Perdue chicken shortcuts)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn with red & green peppers, drained
1 (10 oz.) can enchilada sauce
1/2 cup egg substitute (or 2 eggs)
1 (8.5 oz) package corn muffin mix
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded Mexican cheese
for garnish - sour cream, fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Place salsa, scallions, chicken, beans, corn, half the chilies, and enchilada sauce into the cooker; stir well. Cover with lid and cook on LOW for 4 hours.
2. Combine the other half of the chiles, corn muffin mix, and egg in a bowl. Spoon batter evenly over the bean mixture in the cooker. Cover and cook 1 hour until the crust is done.
3. Sprinkle the cheese over the corn bread, turn off the crockpot and let it sit 5 minutes until the cheese melts. Top each serving with a tablespoon of sour cream and additional cilantro. Makes about 6 servings (unless you're me, then it's like 3...haha!).

And, while I'm at it, I realize I have a few veggie friends who don't eat meat, and I wouldn't mind expanding my "meat-free" wings here and there. I'm pretty sure this would be just as delish without the chicken, so perhaps next time around I'll use mild salsa and go meat-free!

May 25 - Apple Pie!

So today is my little man's birthday...he's already two years old! I can't believe how quickly these two years have gone...I can still remember him curled up in my lap, nursing away when he was a teeny tiny little guy (well, he was 14 lbs. by 8 weeks, so maybe not that teeny tiny?! but definitely smaller!). I can't post about him without including a few of my favorite photos :)

Birth:

1 month:

Almost 6 months:

1st birthday:

2nd birthday:

When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday surprise (cake, ice cream, pie, brownies, cookies, etc.), he screamed "pie!" Now, when I was a kid, I asked for my mom's apple pie from scratch every single year. It was tradition for as long as I can remember. When Luke said pie, I was SO excited to continue the tradition! Linds and I wrapped presents and then around 8:30 last night we started the pie. I completely forgot how long the process was! The crust alone took a good 20 minutes, the peeling, coring and slicing up the apples took awhile, and then it's a 45 minute bake time. Whew! It was all worth it though because that pie tasted AMAZING!

Apple Pie
Crust Ingredients:
1 & 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening

Filling Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
6 apples (skinned/sliced)

Topping Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions
Crust:
Mix flour and salt. Add 1/3 cup shortening. Mix with hands and 3 or 4 T of cold water until forms into ball. Roll out on floured surface. Form into baking dish.

Filling:
Combine powdered ingredients and add apples to mix. Put in crust.

Topping:
Turn into crumb by playing with it. Top pie with mixture and bake for 45 minutes at 425 degrees.

May 24 - Garlic-Lemon Double Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Linds has been begging for mashed potatoes lately and since her last day of school is Wednesday, I figured I'd make them Tuesday night as a pre-celebration. I made the taters, green beans with almonds and garlic-lemon double stuffed chicken breasts. It didn't dawn on me how much butter I used until after I was done - used a good amount over the chicken, sautéed the almonds in it, added a little to the beans, and then all the butter that goes into the potatoes...by the time I was done, my nice little meat/potato/veggie meal felt as greasy as fast food?!? It tasted great, but I'd like to just ignore the calorie count that was in that one, thankyouverymuch!

The chicken was really good...a little rich, but otherwise tasty. I mostly eyeballed amounts and used what I thought we'd eat, so there's not many measurements. I usually do two large breasts for our family, which is always plenty.


Garlic-Lemon Double Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
oil, for greasing pan
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/3-fat cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch slices
shredded Cheddar cheese
milk
Italian seasoned bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly coat a large, shallow baking dish with oil.
2. Pound chicken flat. Coat one side with cream cheese and sprinkle cheddar on top. Roll together and place toothpicks through to hold. Set aside.
3. Pour milk into a shallow bowl. In a separate bowl, combine breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. Carefully dip each breast first in milk, then in breadcrumb mixture, patting lightly to firmly coat. Place breasts side by side in a single layer in pre-oiled baking dish, tucking edges under to seal.
4. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in lemon juice and garlic, and drizzle evenly over chicken.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until no longer pink in center and juices run clear.

May 23 - Crab Quiche

I finally squeezed in grocery shopping Saturday afternoon (which totally reminded me why I *never* run errands during the weekend...so packed in the store even at 2:00?!?), and then we had a family dinner out at PF Chang's later that afternoon. Yesterday my friend Meg and I ran the Victory 5K and celebrated afterwards with drinks and apps at Victory Brewing Company. I beat my previous race time by 3.5 minutes, finishing in 26:13 - the fastest I've ever done!

So today is officially the first day since actually having food that I cooked. I decided to make a crab quiche - it's been awhile since I've done a BFD (breakfast for dinner for the new followers) - and it was excellent. Last time I made it, I just did the crab and green onions, but I bought some asparagus and it gave it the perfect extra kick. Definitely putting this one back in the rotation more often!

Crab Quiche
Ingredients
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cans crab meat (or 1 cup fresh)
1.5 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions
5 spears asparagus, chopped
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, mayonnaise, flour, milk, crab, cheese, asparagus and onion. Spread into pie shell.
3. Bake for 60 - 75 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

CSA-ing it this summer!

After some consideration, we decided this year to join a CSA (community-supported agriculture) farm. I'm so excited about this! We are not great veggie eaters in this house, and it's been a bit of a challenge to introduce new foods to the boys especially (Linds and I are pretty non-discriminatory with what we eat; Scott and Luke are a bit pickier). We shopped around and found Shady Pine Farm in East Earl, Pa (just minutes from Shady Maple...yummmm) and decided to go with them. It's a bit of a hike for us (45 minute drive each week), but again - close to Shady Maple (good excuse for a dinner out) and it's also close to the boy's fam, so we can turn it into a visit.

For those not familiar with CSAs, it is a great opportunity to support local farmers, as well as to get chemical/pesticide-free fruits and vegetables straight from the farm (talk about the freshest produce possible!). Shady Pine offers about 5-10 vegetables and herbs weekly, and they have their site organized like a market where you can pick what you'd like.

I'm hoping that this will force us to expand our palate and start enjoying more veggies and less starches. We'll probably do the Hershey Farm Market's meat package, too, which means grocery shopping and meals should be a snap for the next few months. Lots of grilling is on the horizon!

If you're interested in joining a CSA, you can find lots of good information and listings at http://www.localharvest.org.

Should I start this back up?

I'm on my last bit of crumbs on the shelves (and yes, managed to delay grocery shopping ANOTHER day!), and as I started planning out a few meals that I needed to shop for, I felt a total lack of inspiration. Spaghetti, grilled chicken, tacos ::YAWN:: I needed some new recipes (or old favs I forgot about), flipped through my recipe box on AllRecipes and then wondered why I haven't bothered to scroll back through here. I came across a few recipes that I haven't made in ages and added a bunch to the menu: cornbread chicken enchilada casserole (Katie B's sensational recipe!), crab quiche, and ribs.

As I went back through old entries, I came across some really great memories...Luke's diagnosis with his peanut allergy and our journey into peanut-free living (guess who's a peanut butter fanatic now with no issues?), beers and park food with Uncle Zach and Aunt Rachel when the three of us took the kids to Hersheypark, Lindsay's and my colorful rice krispies treats...things that I had nearly forgotten about.

So, I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again - I think I'm going to try to get back into this! My tenure as MOMS Club president is coming to an end, so I will have a little extra time on my hands. I'm working now, but don't put in enough hours to be able to use that as an excuse. Bear with me...I'm sure my effort will be shaky at first, but I'll hopefully fall back into the routine.