Fiesta Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas

First off, I love Picky Palate. Her stuff is so easy and delicious! And she takes such pretty pictures. Actually, her pretty pictures will come into play again here shortly.

I also loooooooove Mexican. Any form. My poor husband, who LIKES Mexican, often tells me I need to cool it a little on the Mexican menu items. But the fantastic pictures of enchiladas (see?! She even takes good pictures of enchiladas! It's amazing!) convinced my husband it was a good dinner to try...Mexican or not.

Now, here's the dilemma. I do not take pretty pictures. But I generally still try. I also apparently ended up with slightly stale, or perhaps just completely-and-totally-difficult, these-dang-things-are-too-small-to-roll corn tortillas (there was a lot of breakage action and selective swearing on my part). See, I'd never used corn at home, always flour. So I grabbed the first corn tortillas I saw...and that was a mistake.

Anyway...my enchiladas were...how do you say...totally NOT as pretty as Picky Palate. So bad, in fact, that I decided while making them there was no way I was getting good pictures.

So I have no pictures. But this IS a good recipe (and yes, it has cream of chicken in it). And if you want to see how pretty it can be, you can go here.

Fiesta Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas
(Picky Palate)

*This made 2 9"x13" pans full of enchiladas for me...or enough to feed my husband and I for 2 dinners, and a variety of lunches*

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 japaleno, minced (I removed seeds and ribs)
3 fresh cloves of garlic, minced (I used pre minced. I love that stuff)
10 oz. bag baby spinach leaves, chopped
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I used 3 HUGE bone-in breasts that I had in the freezer)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt (I used garlic powder since we added salt above)
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin (DH felt this was a bit much cumin. I may cut back next time)
1-10 oz can Mild Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles

Sauce
1 lb (large family size can) cream of chicken soup
1 cup red enchilada sauce
8 oz sour cream
1/2 cup milk
pinch of salt

Corn tortillas
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place oil in a large skillet or dutch oven and heat over medium heat
- Add onion and jalapeno and saute until softened, about 5 minutes
- Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute
- Add chopped spinach and cook until wilted down
- Stir in chicken, salt, pepper, garlic salt, cumin and diced tomatoes
- Reduce heat to low and simmer

- Place cream of chicken soup, enchilada sauce, sour cream, milk and salt into a large saucepan over medium heat
- Stir until warmed through

- Ladle a small amount of sauce into the bottom of a large 9" x 13" pan (I used 2 that size) -- just enough to cover the bottom
- Place a spoonful of chicken mixture inside of the corn tortillas, roll up and place seam side down in the pan
- Fill tortillas until chicken filling is used up
- Top evenly with sauce from the saucepan and shredded cheese

- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

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Menu Monday

Nothing glamorous this week...

Saturday: Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies & Soft Pretzels (for football on Sunday)
Sunday: Probably nada -- it's football!!
Monday: Spaghetti or ravioli for my dental-work DH
Tuesday: Fiesta Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas
Wednesday: Steak, steamed broccoli, baked potato
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: I'm on my own all weekend -- DH in WV for a rafting trip! Give me suggestions to cook! (Something your husband/boyfriend won't eat is probably going to be the same in my house!)

Banana Coconut Muffins

Coconut is one of those things that I go in and out of enjoying.

I also tend to forget it exists until it pops up again on my radar.

So when I saw the recipe for Banana Coconut Muffins (aka, Five Kinds of Awesome) over at the No Slivers Here blog, I figured it was time to re-incorporate coconut into my cooking.

And these.are.that.good.

I could've eaten them all as soon as they came out of the oven! YUM!

I swear, a little dollop of whipped cream on top, and these bad boys would taste like pie!

Banana Coconut Muffins

(http://www.epicurious.com/, by way of No Slivers Here blog)

Note: The recipe says it makes 8, 1/2" deep muffins. But I never buy specialty sized muffins tins, so I used my standard 12-muffin tin. I got 10 muffins.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 very ripe bananas, mashed (3/4 cup)

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted

2/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions

- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line muffin cups with liners.

- Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

- Whisk together bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup coconut in a large bowl until combined well, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened.
- Divide batter among lined muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut.

- Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 minutes.

- Transfer muffins to a rack and cool slightly.

Edit: I've entered this recipe in Joelen's Culinary Adventures blog event -- Marvelous Muffins!

Skillet Beef Stroganoff

This recipe is amazing. It's just...it's THAT GOOD. I originally saw it over at A Taste of Home Cooking -- and when she made it in back-to-back weeks, I knew it had to be good!

And it definately lived up to the hype. I could've eaten the whole skillet full, it was THAT good. In fact, now we're having it back-to-back weeks!

I do reccommend sucking it up and buying the brandy for the recipe, though. I think it adds a nice depth of flavor (and I usually don't say things like that!). I live in Pennsylvania, which means I have to go to a specific store to buy alcohol...so if I can do it, so can you! (And it only cost me $5)

I also used the ground beef, rather than steak (Same reason -- I don't like steak chunks in my pasta dishes) -- and DH and I really enjoyed it that way. Using the ground beef also makes this about a 30-minute meal, which makes it perfect for weeknights.

Finally, I added some frozen peas/carrots mixture to my plate of stroganoff. I hate mushrooms, but added them for DH. So I picked them out of mine -- but wanted some kind of veggie included!

Skillet Beef Stroganoff

(America's Test Kitchen Easy Skillet Suppers, by way of A Taste of Home Cooking)

1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak tips, pounded and cut thin across the grain (I used ground beef)

Salt and pepper

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

10 ounces white mushrooms, sliced thin

1 onion, chopped fine

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups beef broth

1/3 cup brandy

1/3 pound wide egg noodles (3 cups)

2/3 cup sour cream (I used reduced fat)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions

- Pat beef dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook half of beef until well browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to medium bowl and repeat with 1 tablespoon more oil and remaining beef. (I browned my ground beef and transferred it to a bowl)

- Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in now-empty skillet until shimmering. Cook mushrooms, onion, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until liquid from mushrooms has evaporated, about 8 minutes.

- Stir in flour and cook for 30 seconds, then add both broths and the brandy, and return beef and accumulated juices to pan. Bring to simmer, cover, and cook over low heat until beef is tender, 30 to 35 minutes. (Once I added the ground beef I continued right on to the next step).

- Stir noodles into beef mixture, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until noodles are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Menu Mondays

Nothing fancy this week, DH and I have both has sinus infections and quite a nasty cold bug for the last 2 weeks...we need some re-coup time.

Sunday: Banana Coconut Muffins
Monday: Steak, baked potatoes, steamed broccoli
Tuesday: Homemade chicken noodle soup, garlic cheddar biscuits
Wednesday: Beef Stroganoff (it was so good last week we're doing it again!)
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Spaghetti and cheesy garlic bread