Chicken Enchilldas

This is a Tyler Florence (Food Network) recipie that I love. With Cinco De Mayo right around the corner this is a great way to start things out.

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast
• Salt and pepper
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Mexican Spice Blend
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1 can diced green chiles
• 1 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 16 corn tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, canned
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar and Jack cheeses
• Garnish: chopped cilantro leaves, chopped scallions, sour cream, chopped tomatoes

Directions

Coat large saute pan with oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken over medium heat, until no longer pink. Sprinkle chicken with cumin, garlic powder and Mexican spices before turning. Remove chicken to a platter, allow to cool.

Saute onion and garlic in chicken drippings until tender. Add corn and chiles. Stir well to combine. Add canned tomatoes, saute 1 minute.

Pull chicken breasts apart by hand into shredded strips. Add shredded chicken to pan, combine with vegetables. Dust the mixture with flour to help set.

Microwave tortillas on high for 30 seconds. This softens them and makes them more pliable. Coat the bottom of 2 (13 by 9-inch) pans with a ladle of enchilada sauce. Using a large shallow bowl, dip each tortilla in enchilada sauce to lightly coat. Spoon 1/4 cup chicken mixture in each tortilla. Fold over filling, place 8 enchiladas in each pan with seam side down. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees until cheese melts. Garnish with cilantro, scallions, sour cream and chopped tomatoes. Serve with Spanish rice and beans.

Handmade Ice Cream

This is one recipie the kids will love helping out with after dinner!

1 cup milk
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries or strawberries
1 quart sized Ziploc Bag
1 gallon sized Ziploc bag
Duct Tape
2 pounds crushed ice or ice cubes
1 cup coarse rock salt
1/2 cup water
Towel

In a medium bowl mix together milk, half-and-half, vanilla, and sugar. If adding fruit, mix all ingredients together in blender. Pour into a quart sized Ziploc bag. Squeeze out excess air and seal with duct tape. Put the quart sized bag into the gallon sized bag and fill the gallon bag with ice, salt and water. Squeeze excess air out of bag and seal with duct tape. Toss the bag up and down for about ten minutes. Use a hand towel to prevent hands from getting cold. When ice cream is frozen, rinse off the quart size bag and cut off a corner of the bag. Squeeze ice cream into a paper cup or bowl and enjoy! Makes a 1 1/2 cup serving.

For chocolate lovers, crush up your favorite candy bar and add a Tablespoon of Malt instead of the fruit.

Deviled Eggs

Now that you have eggs in a rainbow array of colors, it's a great time to whip up some deviled eggs. The most time consuming part is done, the eggs are cooked. Here's the way my mom taught me to make them, and there's never leftovers when these are on the table.

1 dozen hard boiled eggs
2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1/2 to 3/4 cup Miracle Whip
Salt and Pepper to taste

Peel eggs and pop yellow yolk out into a bowl. Mash yolks up until fine. Add mustard, some miracle whip, salt and pepper and mix until smooth and moist. You don't want a dry mixture so add more miracle whip if needed. Spoon mixture back into egg whites or pipe it in with a Ziploc baggie you've cut the tip off of. Enjoy.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Who knew making your own dye for Easter eggs was so easy? My kids and I watched the simple tutorial on Activity TV together and had to give it a try. You can play around with your food coloring and come up with some real fun colors.

• hard boiled eggs
  
• vinegar (plain white)
• small bowls, cups or empty margarine containers
• water
• food color drops

Put one cup water in containers. Add 1-2 Tablespoons vinegar to each cup. Add 5 drops food coloring to the water. Lay newspaper below your work surface. Use a Tablespoon to put eggs in the dye and take them out. The longer you leave them in the darker the hue.

To mix things up a bit color with a crayon on the outside of the egg first, the dye won't stick where you have colored. You can also place small stickers on the eggs before dyeing then pull them off when the egg is dry, it will leave fun patterns.

Cinnamon Streusal Blueberry Muffins

I found this recipe on allrecipes and it is truly one of the best blueberry muffins I've ever had. These are just like the Einstein Bagel Blueberry Muffins. They are to die for!

3 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon salt 4 teaspoons baking powder 2/3 cup vegetable oil 2 eggs 2/3 cup milk 2 cups fresh blueberries Crumb Topping: 1/2 cup white sugar 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup butter, cubed 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2.	Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 2 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3.	To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4.	Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Baked Ham with Apricot Glaze

There's nothing like a good moist ham for Easter dinner. Here's a wonderful glaze that's super easy and very delicious.

1 (4-pound) precooked, sliced ham
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup apricot jam
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Place ham in a roasting pan. In a small sauce pan combine brown sugar, apricot jam and Worcestershire sauce. Heat till warm and sugar is dissolved. Spoon half the sauce over the ham. Reserve the remaining for individual servings. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, just until warmed through. Overcooking will dry out the ham. Makes 12 servings.

Spring Chick Cupcakes

Thanks Martha for this fun one.

• 20 Vanilla Cupcakes
• Butter Cream Frosting
  
• 4 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
• 1 piece (10 inches) black licorice lace, cut into 40 (1/3-inch) pieces
• 20 whole almonds
• 140 red candy-coated licorice pastels (about 1/3 cup), or pieces of snipped red licorice laces

Butter Cream frosting

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 6 large egg whites
• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, whisk sugar and egg whites until warm and sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Beat mixture on medium speed until completely cooled and stiff peaks have formed, about 10 minutes.
2. Add butter, a few tablespoons at a time; beat until combined. Add vanilla and salt; beat on low speed until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Bake cupcakes and cool completely. When turned upside-down, each cupcake becomes the body of a chick. Spread buttercream frosting on a cupcake to anchor it to the serving plate while you are working. Use a small offset spatula to coat the sides thickly with frosting, and then mound more on top to create a dome shape.Press toasted shredded coconut into the frosting -- it stands in for fuzzy feathers. Hold the plate at an angle while applying the coconut so the excess falls back into the bowl.Place eyes (made from snipped black licorice laces) on chicks using tweezers. Use a whole almond for the beak and red licorice for the feet and comb; both can be pushed into the frosting by hand.

Two Plus Two's

These are a quick and easy treat my mom used to make when we were kids.

Two Plus Twos

2 Sticks of Margarine (1 Cup)
2 Cups Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2 Cups Flour
2 Cups Oatmeal

Cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs and beat. Add flour and oatmeal. Press into a 9x13 pan. and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Frost with chocolate icing, out of the can is easy, or use your favorite frosting recipie.

Spinach Salad

This is my cousin Rachael's recipie, and one of my favorites.

Spinach Salad

1 bag spinach
1 small head iceberg lettuce, torn up
3/4 lb Swiss cheese shredded
1/2 lb bacon cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup dried cranberries


Dressing

1/2 Tbsp poppy seeds
3/4 Cup white vinegar
3/4 Cup vegetable oil
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp mustard powder


Add all ingredients for salad to a bowl and toss. Mix dressing in a tight container. Stir in dressing right before serving so the salad does not get to soggy.

Variation: to make it more of an oriental salad omit cranberries, bacon and sunflower seeds and add mandarin oranges, chow mein noodles and sliced almonds instead.

Bran Muffins

I loved when my mom made these growing up! With a little butter and raspberry jam I'm in muffin heaven. It makes a big batch but the dough keeps in the fridge so you can just make a few and then save the dough and make a more a couple days later!

Bran Muffins

1 Cup Margarine
2 Cups Sugar
1 Tbsp. Salt
5 Cups Flour
3 Cups All Bran or Bran Buds
2 Cups 40% Bran Flakes
4 Eggs

Mix above ingredients and beat well.

5 tsp. soda
1 quart milk
2 teaspoons vinegar

Dissolve soda in milk with vinegar, add to muffin mixture. Bake in muffin tins at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. It makes about 48 muffins. Keep extra batter in fridge for up to two weeks.

Teriyaki Chicken

This is one dish my Mom made over and over when I was growing up!

Teriyaki Chicken

2 Cups Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh Ginger
4-6 Chicken Breast

Steam in a covered pan with chicken breasts on medium heat for 1/2 hour. Reduce heat to low and simmer an additional 1/2 hour uncovered to thicken the sauce. Serve over warm rice.