Black Bean Enchilada's

My mom saw this recipe on KSL a few years back and she thought it looked pretty good.  We have fallen in love with this one and it is now a family favorite.  I love enchilada's but this one just taste unique to most that I have had.  It is a fairly easy recipe and I usually have most of the ingredients on hand.

2-3 chicken breasts diced
8 slices of bacon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 16 oz can black beans
1 red pepper
1 1/2 cup salsa
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
12 flour tortillas
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

In a large fry pan cook chicken and bacon, add the remaining ingredients except green onion, cheese, and tortillas.  Bring to a boil.  Remove from heat add in the green onion.  Fill the tortillas with the sauce amount to your liking, add cheese.  Roll.  Place in a 9X13 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min.  Use the remaining sauce on top.  Place this on after 15 minutes will just a little more cheese.  Cook on broil for about 3 minutes or until the tortillas start to brown.  Serve with lettuce, guacamole, and sour cream.Enjoy.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Our good friends and us always have a dinner in December. We trade off every year the house we go to. One of the years we went to their house and Jana made the yummiest Sweet and sour chicken. My mom also makes a very scrumptious sweet and sour chicken recipe. The other day I was thinking this sounded like a great idea. That was until I went to make it and I didn't have the right ingredients. I hate when that happens. Luckily for me I had to recipes to go off of and so I tweaked them to make a recipe I had all ingredients for. So in this post you are getting to recipes of Sweet and Sour Chicken. Both of them are tried and true and both are yummy!!

Mom's Recipe:

1/2 Cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp canola oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup chicken or pork tenderloin cubed

Mix dry ingrdients then mix with water and oil to make a batter. Dip chicken pieces in batter. Fry in small amount of canola oil.

Sauce:

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 T corn starch
1 can (8 0unces) pineapple tidbits, drain and reserve liquid
1/4 cup vinegar
2 T ketchup
1/4 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1/4 cup celery, diced

In 2 quart sauce pan mix sugar, cornstarch. Add enough water to reserved pineapple juice to measure 1 cup. Stir syrup mixture, vinegar, and ketchup into cornstarch mixture. Cook and stir constantly until it boils and thickens. Stir in pineapple, onions, green pepper, and celery. Cook until tender. Add chicken and serve over rice.

Jana's Recipe

5 chicken breasts cut up
Marinate in garlic salt

Sauce

1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup vinegar
3 T ketchup
2 T soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup chicken broth

mix together

roll chicken in corn starch then egg deep fry. Set on paper towel. Dip in sauce place on cookie sheet. Pour remaining sauce over chicken. Bake at 350 30-40- min.

I hope you enjoy these to wonderful dishes.

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Easy peasy Spaghetti Sauce

I have been making this sauce since we first got married. I really do love it. It is simple, SIMPLE! There are fantastic spaghetti recipes out and this is definitely "Americanized", but it is yummy. I just love that it tastes great and is so easy. Everyone in my family likes it. Well except for Boo but she hates dinner. Who hates dinner? Weird child. My other child actually has this for her birthday dinner.

1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion or 2-3 T minced onion
1 16 ounce can tomato sauce
1 16 ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
pepper to taste

Brown the ground beef on medium heat add onion and mix together. Once the meat is all brown and the onion softened drain any excess grease. Add the sauce and diced tomatoes. Add all the spices (make sure to crush them in your fingers as you add them. This brings out the flavor) and bring to a boil. Place a lid on top and let simmer 30 minutes on medium low. Stirring occasionally. Enjoy!

Parmesan Cheese Green Beans

I love when I give my kids veggies and they LOVE them.  This happens almost never, unless I am serving these yummy little pieces of delicious heavenly goodness.  This is such a simple recipe and one that we make in our home about 2 times a week.  I hope your family enjoys them as much as mine does. 

2-3 cups frozen green beans
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp fresh basil minced
Garlic powder sprinkled over (2 shakes)
Pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese to garnish
In a medium fry pan pour olive oil in the pan.  Add green beans.  Cook on medium heat  until they start to soften (about 3-4 min) Once they have started to defrost add basil, garlic, and pepper.  Heat through.  Stirring often.  They cook in about 7 minutes.  Add Parmesan cheese once you remove from the pan.  Enjoy.9896

Spaghetti Pie

One of my most favorite dinners of all time is spaghetti.  When our family was just starting out we would make spaghetti and have so much left over.  I was so glad I had this back up option for the leftovers.  Now that our family has grown, we make it as the main meal because we no longer have left over spaghetti.  I have made this for a ton of people and they always say they LOVE it.  It is one of those dinner that seems impressive but is simple to make.  Get ready to please your taste buds with this one.

 I usually make this in a pie dish but now that I make a double recipe I use a 9X13

6 ounces cooked spaghetti
4 T butter
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
4 eggs
1 medium sized back Mozzarella cheese

Cook spaghetti according to package directions.  While this is cooking in a mixing bowl add butter, Parmesan cheese, and eggs.  Mix.  Grease a pie pan and add a layer of half the cooked spaghetti, then half the Parmesan cheese mixture, then half of the Mozzarella cheese. Repeat.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the eggs are cooked through.  Serves 6  If you make this in a 9X13 double the recipe.  Top with your favorite spaghetti sauce.  Enjoy.

Grandma's Sugar Cookies

This is an old post but I just had to share again this close to Valentines. There is nothing better than sugar cookies on Valentines to tell the ones you love that you love them. About 4 years ago we got a cute arrangement of cookies from one of our friends. I had to re-create it because it is pretty fantastic. I loved making this.  It didn't turn out as cute as hers but it will have to do.  It tastes FABULOUS though:)

These cookies bring back so many fond memories from my childhood. I remember my mom making them on Valentines and secretly placing them on my pillow. I remember on Christmas my cousins and me all gathered around the kitchen table taking a peek at the green and red cookies that temped us all so. The taste is like no other cookie I have ever had. They tickle my palate. Yummy does not do them justice.

Sugar cookies and Frosting.

1 lb butter
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 t. vanilla
2 t. lemon extract
6 cups flour
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt

Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs and beat. Add flour and other dry ingredients. Chill and thinly roll out on a sugared surface or put on wax paper and roll to 1/4 inch. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

I WANT YOU!!!

I am kind of in a slump.  I was hoping my cute followers would help me out.  How would you like to put one of your recipes on here.  I think it would be so much fun to get to know each other and share something of yours.  Here are the requirements.

You have to tell me why you love the recipe.

Take a picture of the finished product.

Give me the recipe.

Email me at megardoodle@gmail.com with all the info.

Leave a comment telling me which recipes you have tried on here and either loved or hated.

Send a picture of the cute chef with it. (optional)

Isn't that simple.  If you are worried about the picture part I can make the recipe and take my own picture.  I would love to hear from you and share the magic that goes on in your kitchen. 

Caramel Popcorn

My hubby loves carmel popcorn. I myself prefer boring old regular popcorn. The other day my cute neighbor made some and brought it over. My hubby LOVED it. He asked her for the recipe. He got all excited when she text it to me. It is fairly easy but I will say it did make me extra nervous to pour it over the popcorn.

2 cups butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 can sweetended condensed milk
1 cup Karo syrup
5 bags of popcorn or if you air pop about 1 1/2 cups of kernels.  Pop it first:)
Boil to a soft ball stage. (235 degrees)  It is easiest to use a candy thermometer but if you don't have one click on the link. Once it has come to a soft ball stage remove from heat and let it cool a bit.  About 5-10 minutes.  You can check by placing a piece of popcorn in the caramel.  If it shrinks down it is still to hot.  If not proceed.  I poured little amounts, about a cup at a time, stirred, and poured again.  Do this until it is only poured over the top.  Enjoy.

*REMOVE ANY UNPOPPED KERNELS BEFORE YOU POUR ON THE CARAMEL

Soft Ball Stage

Making candy is fun but some of the terms are a bit unnerving.  Soft ball stage is 235-240 degrees.  If you don't have a candy thermometer you can just get a bowl of ice cold water and place a drop in it.  take that out and see if it will roll in your fingers without sticking to your fingers and form a ball that is squishy.  It takes about 5 minutes of boiling to reach this stage. 

Spanish Rice

I don't have any cute stories to use with this recipe. My hubby walked into the kitchen and said "I want Spanish Rice with our Fajitas". His wish was my command. It turned out really good, but really SPICY. I will put optional on what made it spicy. It was yummy, but it was HOT!

1 cup long grain white rice
1 T vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1 cube chicken bouillon
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic, halved
1/2 tsp chili powder (optional)
1/2 tsp Cheyenne pepper (optional)

In a medium sauce pan, cook rice in oil over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Pour in chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Stir in onion, green pepper, jalapeno, and diced tomato. Season with bouillon cube, salt and pepper, cumin, cilantro, chili powder, Cheyenne pepper, and garlic. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes.