Summer Hiatus

I've decided to take a 

break from blogging over the summer.  

Enjoy yourselves and see you in a few months!

Chicken Enchilada Pasta Bake

This recipe for Chicken Enchilada Bake comes from Gimme Some Oven.  I used leftover chicken that I had cooked up the previous day in the crockpot.

This meal was easy enough for me to prepare after going for a run.  You have no idea how much this is saying for this recipe.  I run slower than a sloth...that's asleep, however, when I've finished I pretty much just want to collapse into a pile of goo on the floor.  Had I really been thinking I would have assembled the casserole BEFORE I went into the great outdoors.  Then again, I've started running so there's something flawed with my thinking in the first place.

I made a few changes to the original recipe amp up the flavor to my families' preferences.

Enjoy!

Chicken Enchilada Pasta Bake adapted from Gimme Some Oven
1 lb. dried pasta (I used med shells)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, diced
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles
heaping t cumin
1/2 t pepper
2 cans enchilada sauce
3 c shredded cooked chicken
1 1/2 c  cooked black beans
1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
2 c shredded Mexican-blend cheese
Toppings: diced avocado, salsa, sour cream

Heat oven to 350 F. Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions. Meanwhile, heat oil in  lg skillet over med-high heat. Add onion and saute 5 min, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent. Add green chiles, garlic and pepper and saute 2 min. Add spices, cook 1 min. Add Add enchilada sauce, shredded chicken, black beans, and corn, and stir to combine. When pasta done, drain and remove from heat. Add enchilada sauce mix to pasta, and stir to combine. Add 1 c cheese until just combined, then transfer the pasta to a 9x13" greased baking dish. Sprinkle pasta with the remaining 1 c cheese. Bake 15-20 min, or til cheese melt and mixture warmed through. Serve immediately with toppings.

Creole Skillet

I found this recipe for a Creole Rice Skillet over at Oven Love.  I added a whole bunch of extra stuff to make it even more scrumptious!

Creole Rice Skillet adapted from Oven Love
2T evoo
2 medium sweet onion, quartered and sliced
5 links garlic and onion polish sausage links, sliced into half moons
1/2 each red, yellow and orange bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 15oz can fire roasted garlic tomatoes
1/2 t salt
1 t black pepper
1 t onion powder
2 t garlic powder
1 T smoked paprika
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 t oregano
1 t thyme
2 c cooked white rice
2 c cooked brown rice
3 c cooked pinto beans

In lg skillet heat oil.  Cook onion until translucent. Add sliced sausage.  Cook until sausage begins to blacken.  Add peppers. Cook 2 min.  Add garlic and tomatoes.  Cook until moisture mostly evaporates. Add all spices and cook 1 min.  Add rice and beans.  Cook til heated through.

Raw Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough

I had the biggest hankering for oatmeal raisin cookie dough one afternoon.  I was all sad and lamenting my lack there of to a friend, when I realized I could probably figure out how to whip up a batch myself.

Here's what I came up with:

This is about 1/3 of the recipe.  Gnomes attacked it before I could snap a picture.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough (by me!)
2T Margarine - very soft
2T brown sugar
1/3c whole wheat flour
pinch of baking soda
pinch of salt
3/4-1 t cinnamon
1/8 t vanilla
3T oats (Quick cooking or old fashioned)
1-2 T almond milk
1T raisins
1T cinnamon chips

Combine soft margarine and brown sugar in a small bowl.  Add flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.  Add oats.  Batter will be very stiff and crumbly.  Add Almond milk slowly until mixture resembles uncooked cookie dough.  Fold in chips and raisins.  This makes one giant serving or 2 average servings.

Blockette approved!

Oatmeal S'mores Mug Cake

 I found a recipe for a Nutella Mug cake over at The Kitchn.  Sadly, I found myself without any Nutella.  I did the next best thing...make a s'mores mug cake instead!

 

 

Smores Mug Cake adapted from The Kitchn

3 T Almond milk

1 T olive oil

1 T sugar

3 T flour

1 1/2 T rolled oats
1 T finely chopped pecans, plus more to garnish

1/4 t baking powder

1/8 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon 

1 T chocolate chips

1 heaping T mini marshmallows

1 T Biscoff

In a 12oz(or larger) mug,mix milk, oil, and sugar. Stir in oats, pecans, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until smooth.  Add chips and marshmallows. Add Biscoff to top and gently push in so it's
partially submerged in the batter. Nuke 45-60 sec depending on your microwave strength.  Try not to burn your mouth on the ooey gooey goodness!