Baked Chicken Enchiladas

Here is my (simplified) version of baked chicken enchiladas.  I use a few shortcuts for this recipe, to make it easier to prepare this meal after work or in a pinch.

Ingredients:

10 boneless chicken tenders (or you can use boneless chicken breasts)
Fresh garlic
1 lime
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can of black beans
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
8 soft flour tortilla shells
1 can of crushed tomatoes/green chilis (easily found at the grocery store, but if you can't find the tomato/chili combo, just buy a small can of each)

Instructions:

In a pan, crush two cloves of garlic, and let it simmer in the olive oil.  Now, dice up the chicken so that is in smaller, manageable pieces.  I thawed chicken tenders that I had in my freezer to do this, but you can use any cut of boneless chicken.  Add the chicken pieces to the pan, and add a pinch of salt and pepper.  As the chicken begins to cook, add the juice of one lime.  This will give the chicken a nice Mexican-style flavor. 

Meanwhile, drain the extra juice out of the can of black beans.  Don't drain the juice out of the crushed tomatoes, but have each item ready in a bowl for the next step. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Now, when your chicken is cooked, you are going to let it cool for a minute or two.  Rather than layering the ingredients, I make individual chicken wraps and lay them side by side in a baking/casserole dish.

In each tortilla shell, I put chicken, black beans, crushed tomatoes/chilis, and a little bit of cheddar cheese.  I fold them up like burritos, and lay them next to each other in the dish.  Next, sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese on the top.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until all the cheese is completely melted.

I like to make the enchiladas this way because they are only mildly spicy, however if you want them hotter, I would recommend using enchilada sauce.

*Recipe yields 5 servings*

Silkie Soaps

Besides learning and sharing new recipes, there is another hobby that I am interested in: crafting homemade soaps!  My Mom and Dad make soap with the milk from their goats, and I help out with the marketing aspect (making labels for the soaps and maintaining our Facebook page which has photos of our goats and the soaps.)  We call them Silkie Soaps.

The soaps are made in small batches.  They are made with goat's milk and essential oils, and are available in various scents.  Some of my favorite scents are Sweet Pea and Cranberry. 

Today, I thought I would share some pictures of the different soaps that we have.  

Here are some of our newest creations:

Here are our rough-cut soaps:

This is a handmade wooden box, filled with 12 soaps - 1 for every month!  These boxes are great for gifts; we also have a smaller sized wooden box that can fit 4 soaps. These boxes are great for storing small items in the bathroom.  

Here are some of the packaged soaps, ready to go!

Please check out our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SilkieSoaps

We have the different scents listed there, as well as many cute pictures of our goats!

Blueberry Cake

With the extra blueberries that I picked, I made a blueberry cake

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter
2 eggs
Milk
Teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups blueberries
Optional: cinnamon, to sprinkle on top of the cake

Instructions:

Melt the butter, then let it cool a bit.  Pour melted butter into a measuring cup, crack the two eggs into it, and then fill with milk until it reaches the 1 cup marker.  Add the vanilla. 

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.  Add the mix in the measuring cup to the dry ingredients.  Stir in the blueberries.  Stir entire mixture together, and pour batter into your baking pan.  Sprinkle extra sugar on top of the batter (we used raw sugar and a bit of cinnamon for the top).  Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes (until center is fully cooked.)

*yields one 8x8 pan of cake*

Enjoy a slice for breakfast, or eat as a dessert!

Blueberry Jam

Here is my recipe for homemade blueberry jam.  This recipe is easy to make, and the best part is you can go pick blueberries locally and enjoy the entire experience. 

I went blueberry picking this morning with my mom and my sister.  Here are some photos from the blueberry "fields."

This was my bucket of blueberries, quickly filling up!

 Ingredients:

4 cups of blueberries
4 cups of sugar
1 box pectin
1 brick paraffin wax

Instructions:

Pour all blueberries in to a large pot.  Using a potato masher, crush up the blueberries a bit.  They don't need to be completely mashed, just enough to get the juice out of some of the berries.  Bring the berries to medium heat, and pour in the pectin powder.  Now, turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.  Let the pectin dissolve.  

At this stage, your mixture will look like this:

When the mixture has come to a boil, add the sugar slowly and continually stir.  Let it boil for one more minute.  Now take off the burner and let it cool for a minute.  Now, using a funnel, pour your mixture evenly into your jars.  

In a separate small pan, bring the paraffin wax to medium heat.  When it has completely melted, take off the stove top and ladle the melted wax into your jars.

Like so:

Wait until the wax has formed in the jars (about an hour) before putting the lids on.

Enjoy!

Harvest from the Garden

Summertime means fresh produce from the garden and using the grill more often!  Here are some of the vegetables my Mom has been getting fresh from her garden...

 I love dipping the broccoli in fresh hummus, for a quick snack.

And what we've made with them...

 Green beans cooked with chicken stock makes a great side dish.

Here are some of the veggie & steak grilled kabobs we made last weekend for my birthday dinner.  They had green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes, and steak pieces.  The steak was marinated in a teryaki sauce, but you could easily substitute a different marinade of your choice.

Stay tuned for some upcoming recipes: blueberry jam, eggs-in-a-hole, and zucchini bread are all coming soon!

Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Here are my buffalo chicken tenders.  They are delicious!  The secret is the making the meat tender by using buttermilk for the breading.  This recipe is great for dinner, but would impress your guests if you are entertaining - because the result is better than what you can get at a restaurant.

Ingredients:

10 Boneless chicken tenders (free range chicken is always preferable)
2 cups low fat buttermilk
Salt
Pepper
1/3 cup Buffalo sauce
1 teaspoon Hot sauce 
1 cup flour
Canola oil 

Instructions:

First, marinade your thawed chicken tenders in a dish with the buttermilk and hot sauce mixed together.  I let it sit for at least a half hour like this, but if you put this together in the morning and leave it in the fridge all day, that's even better. 

When you're ready to start cooking the chicken, you can use a pan with deep sides and put about 2 inches of oil into it, if heating on the stove top.  Heat the canola oil until your thermometer reads 350 degrees.  (We use a tabletop deep fryer so it tells us when it's ready and it eliminates some of the mess.)

While that's heating up, have a separate bowl ready with the flour, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  One by one, take the chicken tenders and dredge them in the flour.  Really make sure they are coated - this is where you prepare them with their crunchy breading.

As they are coated in flour, place one by one into the heated oil.  It's important that the oil is at the right temp, otherwise you will end up with soggy breading.

Cook them in the oil until they are golden brown and crispy. This usually only takes a few minutes.

When you take them out, let them sit on a few paper towels for a few minutes so that the extra oil can drip off.

Have the buffalo sauce ready in a bowl, and toss the tenders in the sauce until they are covered. 

I serve these with ranch dressing for dipping. Enjoy!

Homemade Calzones

My homemade calzones are one of my absolute favorite dinners to make.  I made them this past week,  and thought I would share this simple, tasty recipe. 

Ingredients:

Dough (I've used homemade bread dough for these, but here is my tip for making this a fast dinner: buy frozen loaves of bread from the grocery store, and use one loaf for this recipe)
2 tablespoons of flour
Handful of pepperoni
1/2 cup of broccoli, chopped
1/2 can black olives, diced
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup marinara sauce 
1/2 cup ricotta cheese

*yields two large calzones*

Instructions:

If you are using a frozen loaf of bread, set one out to thaw in the morning before work, and be sure to cover it with plastic wrap so that it stays soft and does not form a hard crust on top.

When you get home and the bread loaf is thawed, cut the loaf in half.  Then, roll the dough out after rolling your ball of dough into a bit of flour.  

To prepare the broccoli (for my calzone,) I saute it on the stovetop with crushed garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, and a bit of lemon juice.  When broccoli is browned around edges, take it off the stovetop and let it cool before adding to the calzone.  

For each calzone: 
When you have the dough thinned out, lay it out and spread the ricotta cheese on one half of the dough.  Layer your topping of choice (broccoli & diced black olives or pepperoni).  Next, sprinkle in the shredded mozzarella.  Fold the over half of the dough over your filled side.  Press the edges together, and to seal them, use a fork to "crimp" the edges.  

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.  I can tell the calzones are done when I tap the top of one with a knife and it make a hollow sound.  They will be golden brown when done.

Dip the calzone pieces into marinara sauce, and enjoy!

This Weekend's Recipes

So it is almost the weekend, and I'm already thinking about what recipes I'm going to make in my free time.

I am going to be making some homemade blueberry jam, and some zucchini breads (with zucchini from the garden, of course.)  I'm planning on freezing the extra zucchini bread so that I can have them later in the year. 

We're also planning on making some awesome grilled kabobs for my birthday dinner this weekend. 

I'll be posting the recipes as soon as we make them - so check back later!

Squash Casserole

*Guest post from Turtle's Mom*

This squash casserole is a perfect summertime recipe.  It is great as a side dish when you're grilling up something wonderful, or even as a meal in and of itself.

If you have a garden full of yellow squash and zucchini, like we do, this is a great way to use up a lot of your vegetables!

  

Keep in mind that this can be made with just yellow squash, just zucchini, or a mixture.

 

Ingredients:

 

7 or 8 average sized squash (equal to 3 lbs. of squash)

5 tablespoons butter

1 onion

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 farm fresh eggs

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sour cream

Pinch of salt and pepper

20 Ritz crackers

 

Instructions:

 

Chop up the squash into cubed pieces, and boil them for 8-10 minutes (until soft).

 

Sautee the chopped onion in a separate pan with 2 tablespoons of butter.

 

Strain your boiled squash in a colender.

 

In a large bowl, mix the squash, onions, shredded cheddar, 2 eggs (beaten), mayonnaise, sour cream, and salt & pepper.

 

Put the mixture into a casserole dish.

 

Crush the Ritz crackers, and sprinkle over the top of the casserole.  Add the last 3 pats of butter on to the top as well.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  The finished product is a crispy, cheesy, fresh casserole.

 

 Close up view of the casserole, fresh out of the oven:

 

 

Peanut butter & banana protein smoothie

This smoothie is my new favorite.  It takes less than three minutes to make, and while I have been drinking this for breakfast, it would also be perfect as a snack or post-workout treat.

I have heard controversial things about peanut butter's level of healthiness but you can't deny that it is an excellent protein source.  Oh, and it tastes really good.

Ingredients:
1 banana
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/4 cup milk (or almond milk or soy milk)
3 ice cubes

Put all ingredients into blender and blend on high for about a minute or until you see that the ice has crushed and the contents are mixed.

Enjoy your protein filled smoothie!  It will give you a boost.

Mac & Cheese

My homemade mac and cheese recipe is incredibly easy and quick.  This is great for those nights when I get home from work and don't feel like putting much effort into making dinner.  It's also convenient because if you make a little bit extra, the leftovers taste great for lunch the next day.  In fact, my boyfriend will request that I make extra mac and cheese so that he can take all the leftovers the next day!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup milk or half & half
3/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
Small handful of shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
Elbow noodles (or pasta of your choice)

Instructions:

Bring water to a boil and cook the pasta.  I do this while I am making the "cheese sauce" so that the noodles are still hot when I blend it all together.

In a sauce pot, melt the butter on low heat.  When butter is completely melted, slowly stir in the flour.  Keep stirring until it thickens.

Next, slowly add the milk or half & half.  Stir it into the butter/flour mixture.  Let this sit for a minute or two to allow the milk to heat a bit.

Begin to add the shredded mozzarella.  As soon as all of it is in the pot, begin stirring it.  If the cheese doesn't start to melt, turn the heat up a notch or two.  You should see the cheese begin to melt around the edges of the pot.  Once all the cheese has melted, pour your cheese sauce over the drained pasta. 

Once mixed, I pour all of this into an oven-safe dish, and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top.  Put this in the oven, on the "high" broiler setting, for about two minutes.  Check it about a minute in - if your broiler is really hot it will burn the breadcrumbs, and you don't want that!

Once the breadcrumbs have browned, the mac and cheese is done and ready to serve!  Enjoy!

The Garden

Some photos from my parents' garden:

Here is one of the zucchini plants in the garden.  We made a delicious zucchini casserole tonight; we will post the recipe soon!

This is one of the basil planters.  The basil will be used to make fresh pesto - recipe to come!

Broccoli, Onion, & Mushroom Quiche

*Guest post from Turtle's mom*

Here is our broccoli, onion, and mushroom quiche!  This quiche is made with eggs from our chickens and fresh broccoli from our garden.  This savory quiche is good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and can be eaten cold or hot.  

Ingredients:

Frozen store-bought pie crust (substitute a fresh-made crust, if you like)
5 farm fresh eggs
A pinch of salt
A pinch of pepper
1/4 cup whole milk or heavy cream
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup onions
1/2 cup broccoli
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:

In a bowl, combine the eggs, salt, pepper, milk or cream, and vegetables.  Add 3/4 cup of the shredded cheese to the bowl.  Wisk these ingredients together, and pour into the pie crust.  Now sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese onto the top of the mixture.  Bake for approximately 50 minutes at 350 degrees.  When you insert a knife into the center of the quiche, and it comes up dry, the quiche is finished cooking. 


Enjoy!

Welcome!

Welcome to my kitchen.  Though it may be small, it does not lack in color or excitement.  The meals I make are borne out of the belief that food need not be extravagant to be tasty and filling.  Fresh ingredients are always better, and sometimes the most simple meals are the best.  Work with the space you have and the tools at your disposal.

Soon I will share a picture of my patio garden. Because I don't have a space to garden, I got potted tomatoes and basil from my parents.  I have been diligently watering my plants and now I have my first (green) tomato.  I have been enjoying the basil for about a month already.  These fresh ingredients will be useful for a variety of dishes.

My parents have a huge garden at their home, and I will also share photos of their produce.  My mom will be blogging here along with me.  She is the one who gave me the nickname of "Turtle" when I was a little girl, and clearly the nickname stuck!  

We look forward to sharing our recipes and ideas with you.