white chicken enchiladas

8-10 tortillas

2-3 cups shredded cooked chicken

2 cups cheese

10 oz can cream of chicken soup + one can of water

1 cube chicken bullion

1 cup sour cream

4 oz cream cheese

4 oz green chilies

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Fill each tortilla with shredded chicken and cheese.

Roll and place in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 baking pan with the seam side down.

Over medium heat on stove top combine cream of chicken, water, bullion, sour cream, chilies, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper.

Stir for about 5 minutes just before boil.

Pour over the enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

marshmallow fondant

i love making this stuff. it easy to do and tastes much better than regular fondant. most recipes make a larger batch. i don't like having that much fondant around, unless i'm making a bigger cake. i'll just end up eating it. so for my make shift recipe...

5 oz of mini marshmallows (about half a package)
1T water
1/2 lb powdered sugar
butter
put marshmallows and water in a microwavable bowl and microwave for about 90 seconds. stir the mixture every 30 seconds. once mixture is completely combined add powdered sugar. stir until combined... it'll be sticky and messy. butter up a clean counter and sprinkle some powdered sugar on top. put marshmallow mixture on the prepared counter and knead. oh and be sure to butter up your hands. otherwise you'll end up having marshmallow covered hands. add more powdered sugar as needed. the mixture should be firm and pliable. don't add too much powdered sugar or the fondant will break apart and be really dry. you want the fondant to be similar to the texture of play dough. once desired texture is achieved roll fondant into a ball and coat the outside with a little butter. wrap in plastic wrap and let sit on the counter for at least 30 minutes. then you're ready to decorate. be careful when adding colors. the more color you add the fondant starts falling apart. so try not to add too much food coloring. have fun decorating!

my favorite white bread... for now.

aaahhhh, can i tell you how much i love the smell of bread baking? it's one of the most comforting smells in the world. and today i thought i'd share my love of bread. as my mother always told me... making bread is done by feel more than by a recipe. so this is my attempt to let you know how i make bread. this is one of my favorite ways to make bread because it's simple and i almost always have all the ingredients. and to be honest i add and subtract ingredients all the time. it all depends on what i have on hand, how i want the bread to taste, and how long i want the bread to last. today i did a simple white bread. so here we go...


2 cups of warm water (the hottest your tap water will get usually works great)
1/2 cup sugar (i like mine sweet, but you can go more or less depending on your desires)
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 T yeast (i buy my yeast in the vacuum packed package, if you buy the packets it's 2 packets)
flour (as much as you need, i honestly don't measure)
1 - 2 t salt (once again, depends on what you like)
vegetable oil


so i put the water, sugar, butter and yeast all in a bowl and let it sit until the yeast develops (till it gets all foamy) then add salt and enough flour to make a loose sticky dough. put a handful of flour on your clean counter top, then pour the loose dough out onto the flour and begin kneading. add flour as needed until you get desired consistency (if the dough sticks to the counter, add a little more flour. if it gets stiff and won't fold into itself anymore... you've added too much flour. so it's a happy medium. heavy, but not stiff. sticky, but not so sticky you can't work with it. it truly takes practice to understand the consistency. i'm still working on it.) (btw you can always try using a bread maker... i prefer kneading by hand because you can feel the consistency rather than trying to guess if it's right.) once desired consistency is met, pour a little oil in your original bowl and place dough on top. then flip the dough. make sure dough is coated on all sides. this prevents the dough from drying out while rising. cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel. let dough rise until doubled in size. depending on the room temperature, this could take 30 min to 2 hours. (sometimes i let the dough rise longer, depending on if my kids need to be feed or bathed or chased down... you know the usual chaos that is motherhood.) then the aroma begins to develop in the house... i love this. once the dough has reached the desired size, dump it out on the clean counter top, separate dough into 2 equal pieces. then flatten  each into a large rectangular shape. fold into thirds and then again into thirds in the opposite direction. then place into 2 greased loaf pans. place clean kitchen towel over both pans and let dough rise until double in size. place in 400F oven for about 20 min. remove bread from pans and place on rack in oven for additional 10 min with the oven off. and wha la, your house if filled with the most comforting smell on earth. and the best part is you get to eat it! just try not to eat a whole loaf in one sitting. then again that's why i make two, so my husband doesn't know ;)

yummy jerky

1.5 lbs roast thinly sliced
1 T garlic powder
1 T onion powder
1 T cracked black pepper
1 T brown sugar
2 T soy sauce
1 T lemon juice

combine all the ingredients. place in dehydrator for... well for as long as you like. we like ours extra dry, almost crispy. enjoy!

chris' favorite chocolate chip cookies

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

1 T vanilla

2 eggs

3 cups flour

3/4 t baking soda

3/4 t salt

2 cups chocolate chips (chris prefers butterscotch chips)

combine butter, brown sugar, and sugar. beat until well combined (aprox 2 min.) add vanilla and eggs. beat for another 2 min. put flour, baking soda and salt on top of butter mixture, then beat all together until just mixed. stir in chocolate chips. bake at 350F for 10-12 min. 10 if you like them soft. 12 if you like them crunchy. enjoy!

pizza pizza pizza!!!

• 
  
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cups warm water

• 1 cup warmed milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• mozzarella cheese
• whatever toppings you like

sauce: combine diced tomatoes, oregano, marjoram, basil, garlic powder, salt in a blender. pulse for about 30 seconds or until desired consistency (i prefer mine pretty thin.)

dough: combine water, milk, sugar. sprinkle yeast on top. let sit for about 10 minutes. after yeast gets all foamy, add 3 1/2 cups flour, salt and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. stir till combined, then let the dough rest for 10 minutes. spread out the remaining flour on clean surface (i use my counter. my mom likes to use a canvas cloth on the counter. it's totally whatever you're comfortable using.) scoop out the dough onto the floured surface and knead for about ten minutes... or until desired consistency (yes i use that phrase a lot, but truly it's not a "time thing", it's a "when it feels right thing.") you may need to add more flour if the dough is too sticky. after kneading, place dough in an oiled (vegetable oiled) bowl and cover for about an hour, or until dough has doubled in size. take dough out of bowl and knead for a few more minutes. place dough back in the oiled bowl, cover and place in refrigerator for 4-8 hours. if the dough starts to overflow out of the bowl, just push it down. take out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to using.

pizza: heat oven to 475 F. flour your clean surface and roll out the dough to fit into a half sheet pan (approx. 18"x9".) pour remaining 3 tablespoons oil in half sheet pan, then spread around to cover the surface and edges. place rolled out dough into pan. pour sauce onto rolled out dough. i only use about half the sauce, but you can use more. it all depends on what you like. add mozzarella and other toppings (once again as much as you like.)  place pizza in oven for approx. 25 min, or until cheese is bubbly and browning. enjoy!

new posts

a friend of mine and i were talking about how i haven't posted anything recently. she mentioned that i should post some of the food i've been making for regular meals and such. i thought hey why not. it looks good and tastes good. it may not be difficult to make. but gosh darn it, it tastes good. so that's what i'm gonna do. i'll still do posts about difficult food to make. but why not share the everyday goodness with everyone. i may even throw in the not so good stuff, just so you know the good from the bad... or at least my take on it. thanks for checking up on me.