cream cheese and chicken enchiladas

It was a boring Tuesday night.  

no soccer, no after school clubs, no games, no plans.
so of course I thought to myself - "woman  .. find something new and exciting for dinner!"
after an exhausting 3 minute search - I found this blog and awesome recipe. 
"Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour.." 
You should visit the blog, for the simple fact that the name is off the charts awesome; then stay for the easy squeezy recipeasies :)  (see what I did there .. huh huh ? do ya ? :P)

Back to it .. 
.. who am I to pass up making something that is 'to die for?'
exactly.
I'm not.

we gave them a whirl and holy delciousness, Batman!
these bad boys live up to their name - so here's the recipe : 

2-3 chicken breasts, shredded (or rotisserie)

1  pkg. cream cheese {8 oz.}

1 28 oz. can green enchilada sauce

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
optional - 1 can green chiles -
by optional I mean, you should add them or you'll regret itmmensely if you don't

2 cups cooked rice
{I'll teach you how to make rice .. real rice!}

Tortillas
{use flour tortillas - they work a lot better than the ones in MY picture}

1-2 cups shredded monterrey & colby cheese

cook and shred the chicken while you make the rice
Mix the shredded chicken, cream cheese, and 2 cups of the enchilada sauce together.
Pour half a cup of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
Layer the rice & black beans to your taste, inside the tortilla
 top with the chicken cream cheese mixture
Roll up each of the tortillas
place them in the baking dish seam side down.
Top with 1 cup of the enchilada sauce…
and 1-2 cups of shredded cheese.

Cover the baking dish with foil and bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.
Uncover the enchiladas, turn on the broiler, and broil for about 3-5 minutes uncovered
...just long enough to brown the cheese.

shove everyone out of the way and get your grub on!!
enjoy the ridiculous feast fit for someone super awesome.
YOU !!

chicken pot pie biscuits of ridiculousness

I've seen a lot of different versions of this recipe, online. 

Different meat, soup & prep methods; inevitably ending up with the same thing.  

A biscuit with cheese, soup, meat and veggies baked into it.

No matter the different spices, measurements or personal twists people lend to the recipe; in just about every one I saw online, people were calling them CUPCAKES. 

@#($&*@#*&%$*(%&$(*%&

At BEST I would think they'd be considered muffins.

They're missing the ever-important qualifier to receive cupcake status. 

Icing.                   *homer simpson drool*

If not having icing isn't enough to disqualify them as cupcakes

- consider this mind blowing fact -
THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE CAKE !! 

LOL .. I'll give you a minute to mull that one over.

Anyway .. I think I had a point.

Oh yea - we'll always call these 'chicken pot pie biscuits' in our house.

Enjoy!!

They're ridiculous easy & ridiculous delicious.
I'm such a girl that I ate them with a fork.
judge me all you want .. I've got cupcakes. biscuits.

Chicken Pot Pie Biscuits

2 cups cooked chicken, diced.
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup veggies
1 cup cheddar cheese
salt & pepper
2 cans biscuits

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In bowl, combine the diced chicken, soup, veggies, cheese and spices.
Separate your biscuits, spreading each one slightly so they are like a tiny crust.
Oil your muffin pan and spread the dough, pressing down the sides and into the center.
place your meat mixture into the center of the 'crust'
Bake for approximately 15 minutes, checking at about 10 (just to be sure they aren't overflowing, exploding, spilling over, bursting into flames or any of the other things that float through my mind as I bake something for the first time. :) 

home faked deliciousness ..

Even though in my teenage years I worked at a Red Lobster & made hundreds of dozens of the actual 'cheddar bay biscuits' ... I had never attempted to make 'em at home.

until now ...

I made 'em ... everyone loved 'em.

what else matters ?

haha oh right .. a recipe might help, eh ?
I used the recipe below @ the girl who ate everything.com.

I hope your family enjoys them as much as ours did :)

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Ingredients:

Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups Bisquick

4 Tbsp cold butter

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

3/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Butter Glaze:

3 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp dried parsley flakes

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease or line one cookie sheet with parchment; set aside.

Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter (I just used 2 forks). Don't worry about mixing too thoroughly; there will be small chunks of butter in the mix about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and garlic powder. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.

Drop 1/4 cup portions of the dough onto the lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes in preheated oven or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

While the biscuits are baking, melt butter is a small bowl in the microwave. Stir in garlic powder and dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread the garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Sprinkle a little kosher salt on the freshly coated biscuits. Makes one dozen.

gyoza - pan-fried bits of happy

we all have those nostalgic family foods that will forever take us back to some happy childhood place.

And if you're anything like me, said list of foods is borderline embarrassing long.

Just about every member of my family, past and present, is known to comfort loved ones with calorie packed goodness.
mom loved sugary, baked treats
grampa almost always had cashews & other things salty

but .. hands down - my favorite memories related to food come from my gramma.

march 1969

She was a strong, funny woman who met my grampa during his world war II duty in Japan. They fell in love, got married & moved back to the US; where they raised their beautiful family of 4 girls and 1 boy.

So many of the happy stories from my childhood, start out with me at their house, in Miami.

yard sales...
Sunday donuts ..
going to bloomingdales ...
my sister and I getting caught spying on grammas late night parties with the ladies ..

LOL - we just loved to listen to gramma & her friends, regardless of our bedtime. They would spend hours laughing at their own bad karaoke, playing hona fuda over sake and good food.

*sigh* I miss her, all the time.
I get carried away anytime I talk about her to my husband or my kids .. and now, apparently my blog.
I can't help it ... I hope I never can help it.
/end rant.

aunts/uncles/parents/siblings .. if I get a detail wrong *pbbbbtttt* - this is how I remember it .. 
 onto the gyoza ..


Gyoza ingredients :

1 lb. ground plain pork sausage
1 medium head napa cabbage
2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger root
1 bunch green onions
1 pkg wonton wraps

couple eggs

You'll want to start by cleaning off all your vegetables. Not only do they come out of the dirt, but I've heard horror stories about what happens to ground vegetables at harvesting.

So, wash them.

Twice. :)

cowboy casserole

a buncha years ago - way back in the time before I had a clue, a car or even a hint of normalcy; this was known on many late nights to my friends and I as 'tatertot casserole.'

however - when I found the long lost potatoe goodness a couple months ago on Pinterest ... it's been known as that blog says ever since - Cowboy Casserole.

I ran to the grocery store and retrieved all the ingredients needed to make the cheesy treat that very night; just as I do with far too many things I find 'pinning.'

multiple rudolphs spotted!!

OOOoohhhhh !! It's the 'day before the day before Christmas!'

I just can't WAAAAAIIIIIT !!
..... but they say I have to (frowny face).

So, today to pass some time - mission : Christmas treats for friends & neighbors.

the star was definitely the 'pinspired' Rudolphs

They're simply sugar cookies in a gingerbread man shape, turned upside down and painted awesomely .. by my super-amazing, excellent icing piper husband ;)

By the time these were ready to be beautified, I was so baked out, carded out and shopped out; I couldn't see straight. I merely showed him the picture and he happily went to town ... one more reason I love him so.

The final product was a dozen or so friends and family trays ... yum-o.

Just a few of our family's traditional Christmas treats, ever since I can remember.

Happy Holidays and try to do something nice for someone who has less than you .. pay it forward.

(left to right, clockwise) chocolate cherry cheese squares, walnut walkaways, peanut butter cookies, Gramma Kitty's sugar cookies, and brownies.