home is where my story begins...

Make Ahead Chicken Echiladas

   By 2 Comments

Being a “new” teacher is tough work!  I put new in quotes because this is my 19th year teaching, so I’m not really new.  I’m just new in the district, since moving to Snohomish this year.  I have had a lot of new teacher meetings to go to, which means I’m home later than I was last year.  There are many nights when my kids need to be fed and out the door by 5:30, so my after school meetings are making it tough to feed my family a decent meal.

Last weekend, I was very proud of myself!  I spent a little extra time making meals to put in the freezer.  I left a note on the counter for the kids to put the enchiladas in the oven at 4:00pm at 400 degrees.  By the time I got home from my meeting, dinner was ready!  Oh, how I love it when a good plan works out.

I usually start by putting a few chicken breasts in the crockpot with some taco seasoning (Yes, I buy the package even though I try not to buy prepackaged stuff.). I let that cook all day and by late afternoon, I’m ready to assemble the enchiladas. 

Combine 1 cup sour cream with one can of Cream of Chicken Soup.
Add a package of taco seasoning to the creamy mixture.

Lay out a tortilla shell.
Spread a little of the creamy mixture on the tortilla.
Add cheese and chicken.
Roll it up and put it in the (greased) pan.
Think of it like a taco and build it like that.
You can decide how much meat, cheese, and sour cream you usually like.

Once you’ve used all of the meat, lay the enchilada in the pan and smear (that’s a technical term) the rest of the creamy sauce over the top.  Top with cheese and bake for 30 minutes at 400.  The cook time will be longer if it is coming straight from the freezer.

I guarantee this is a family favorite in the making.

It’s Sunday again, so I’d better getting cooking for the week ahead!
Happy cooking!

A Teacher’s Secret to Surviving the Last Full Week of School

   By 2 Comments

We’re in the home stretch, Friends!  These last few days before Summer are filled with report cards, field trips, computer training, packing up the classroom, and still coming to school with undying energy and excitement.  Top that off with a handful of health problems, and it’s a recipe for one exhausted Mom at the end of the day.
Do you want to know my secret for staying sane and getting dinner on the table?
It’s called the Crock-Pot!
This morning, before I left for work, I put four chicken breasts in the Crock-Pot with a bunch of BBQ sauce.  When I came home from work, (after dealing with a natural gas leak, a gazillion kids who couldn’t get home, making phone calls to families, and then getting stuck behind a big accident on my alternate route home) dinner was almost ready.  I took a frozen pizza crust out of the freezer, topped it with the cooked chicken and a bit of the sauce it was cooking in, added some chopped onion and cilantro (fresh from my garden), and a little mozzarella cheese.  I baked it up for a few minutes and dinner was finished!
I’m telling you… that Crock-Pot is my BFF.  Want to know my other secret?  There’s a lot of paper-plate-eating these days.  Ooh, I can’t forget to tell you, I also called, “Family Clean Up!” when dinner was just about over.  I sat myself down to fold laundry and my kids and hubby emptied the dish washer and threw away our paper plates.  

With my trusty Crock-Pot, paper plates, and help from my family, I think I’m going to make it…
just maybe!

Easy Crockpot Lasagna

   By 2 Comments

I posted this recipe for Crockpot Lasagna quite a while ago.  When I made it for dinner last night, my son started begging me to make it more often.  My whole family loves it, so I figured it’s worth a repost.

First, let my say that when you dish it up, straight out of the crockpot, it does not look this pretty.  Honestly, it looks like a sloppy mess.  This picture was actually taken of the leftovers.  Once it’s cooked, it cuts perfectly and looks much prettier.  But, who am I kidding, no one in my family cares about pretty lasagna.  They just want yummy lasagna.

Here’s what I did:

Mix together:
15 oz ricotta
2 cups mozzarella
1 cup Parmesan
2 cups chopped spinach
1 egg
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper

I buy 2 bottles of Newman’s Own Alfredo sauce when I make lasagna. For this recipe I also bought some precooked chicken sausage.  It was one of those yummy sausages from Costco that has sundried tomatoes and cheese inside.  I’ve also made it with browned Italian sausage, but use what you like.

Pour a little Alfredo in the bottom of the crockpot. Then put in a layer of lasagna noodles.  I use the kind that you don’t need to boil ahead of time.  The noodles are rectangular and my crockpot is oval, so I had to break the noodles up so they would fit.  Next comes a few spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture, then chicken sausage, and a handful of mozzarella cheese.  I continued alternating those ingredients until I ran out.

Sauce
Noodles
Ricotta mixture
Chicken Sausage
Mozzarella
Repeat

I set my crockpot to low for 5 hours, and then had it switch to warm until I got home.  (I love having a crockpot that I can program like that!)

Happy cooking, friends! You’re going to love this!!!

Posted by Picasa

White Chicken Chili Recipe

   By 3 Comments


Please excuse the lame food styling in this photo.  My kids were starving and there were lots of groans when I said that I needed a picture before we ate.

My hubby has been asking me to make white chicken chili for YEARS.  Honestly, I have never had white chicken chili… well except for that one time that he decided to make it himself and the kids named it Dad’s Throw-up Soup.  It tasted as bad as it looked.

I decided that over the break I’d give it a try.  I had several recipes pinned for White Chicken Chili, but none of them sounded like exactly what I was looking for.  So, I decided to combine a few and make my own recipe. 

Here’s what I did:

I started by cooking a pound of chicken breast in the crockpot. 
It cooked for about 4 hours on high.
Into the crockpot, with the cooked chicken, went
6 cups of water
6 chicken bouillon cubes
(use 6 cups of chicken stock if you’d rather)
1/2 of an onion, finely diced
1 clove of garlic, finely diced
1 can of diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed
(or chop your own)
1 diced yellow pepper
(corn would be good too, if you are not a fan of peppers)
1 can of white beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper

That sat in the crockpot for 3 more hours on high.
Then came the thickening.

In a pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter.
Add 1/2 cup flour and mix
Slowly add 1 cup of half and half and 1 cup of milk
Add 8 oz of light cream cheese
Add 1 1/2 cup of Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
This mixture makes kind of a mac and cheese type sauce.

Next, I added some of the chili broth from the crockpot into to cheesy mixture to thin it out a bit.
Finally, I poured everything back into the crockpot and stirred it all together. 

It made a thick, yummy, cheesy, chicken chili that everyone loved.

My hubby says this recipe needs to go in our regular rotation. The kids both loved it too!
By the way, those little tortilla strips on top were just cut and tossed with olive oil and a bit of taco seasoning.  Then I baked them for about 5 minutes to crisp them up.  They were a perfect little topping for the chili.

Happy cooking!

Crockpot Lasagna

   By 4 Comments

I’ve fallen in love with my crockpot again.  I do this every year, right about this time.  School is back in full force.  We’re back into the crazy swing of things, and sports seem to rule our lives.  I walk in the door, from teaching all day, and we have about 15 minutes of quality family before we need to run out the door again.  The crockpot is my best friend!

I’ve never made lasagna in the crockpot before, so this was an experiment.  Friends, I may never turn back.  This was SO easy, and it was done when I walked in the door.

First, let my say that when you dish it up, straight out of the crockpot, it does not look this pretty.  Honestly, it looks like a sloppy mess.  This picture was actually taken of the leftovers.  Once it’s cooked, it cuts perfectly and looks much prettier.  But, who am I kidding, no one in my family cares about pretty lasagna.  They just want yummy lasagna.

Here’s what I did:

Mix together:
15 oz ricotta
2 cups mozzarella
1 cup Parmesan
2 cups chopped spinach
1 egg
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper

I buy 2 bottles of Newman’s Own Alfredo sauce when I make lasagna. For this recipe I also bought some precooked chicken sausage.  It was one of those yummy sausages from Costco that has sundried tomatoes and cheese inside.  But, use what you like.

Pour a little Alfredo in the bottom of the crockpot. Then put in a layer of lasagna noodles.  I use the kind that you don’t need to boil ahead of time.  The noodles are rectangular and my crockpot is oval, so I had to break the noodles up so they would fit.  Next comes a few spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture, then chicken sausage, and a handful of mozzarella cheese.  I continued alternating those ingredients until I ran out.

Sauce
Noodles
Ricotta mixture
Chicken Sausage
Mozarella
Repeat

I set my crockpot to low for 5 hours, and then had it switch to warm until I got home.  (I love having a crockpot that I can program like that!)

Happy cooking, friends! You’re going to love this!!!

Posted by Picasa