Cheesy Potato Casserole

This cheesy potato casserole is, in my opinion, a versatile recipe.  It makes a great side dish for brunch, a holiday meal, or your average weak night dinner.  It goes especially well with BBQ.  I always love having leftovers to eat for days after!

Cheesy Potato Casserole

2 12-ounce packages hash browns, defrosted
1 pint sour cream
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 can cream of celery (or chicken) soup
1/2 c. chopped onion

For the Topping:
1/2 c. butter, melted
2 c. crushed cornflakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Mix all ingredients (except topping ingredients) and spread in 9x13 pan.  Combine melted butter and cornflakes in a bowl.  Then, spread carefully over the top of the potato mixture.  Bake for 45 minutes.

Creamy Chicken and Chile Enchiladas

I cannot tell a lie.  This recipe is straight off the Old El Paso can of mild green enchilada sauce.   My husband and I have been making these enchiladas for years.  They are super creamy, super yummy, and super easy!

I made these babies for a neighbor once, after the birth of her second child.  About a week later, she came by to get the recipe.  She raved about how good they were.  I had to laugh.  I told her our secret, and she couldn't believe it was the recipe straight off the can.  Not too long after that, those neighbors moved far away to South Carolina.  Well... fast forward several years, and we now live just under an hour away from them.  We got together recently for dinner, and she confessed that they were still making these enchiladas, and every time they do, they think of us.  Awww.  Thank you Old El Paso for helping us to make quite an impression!

Creamy Chicken and Chicken Enchiladas
 From Old El Paso

1 pound uncooked chicken breasts, cubed
1 package(8 ounces) cream cheese
1 can (4.5 ounces) Old El Paso chopped green chiles
1 package Old El Paso flour tortillas , soft taco size (10-12 count)
2 cans (10 ounces each) Old El Paso green chile enchilada sauce (mild)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cook the chicken in a pan over medium-high heat until cooked through.

Cut the cream cheese into chunks and add to the chicken, along with the green chiles.  Reduce the heat to medium, and stir until the cream cheese is melted and everything is blended.

Spoon chicken filling onto tortillas; roll up and place seam side down in a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish.  Pour the 2 cans of enchilada sauce over the top, and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake 15 -20 minutes or until hot and cheese is melted.

 We usually make these with whole wheat tortillas.  My husband would rather have them with regular flour tortillas, but they are still excellent with the whole wheat tortillas.  I like to add a small amount of taco seasoning to the chicken when it is cooking.  We also use a Mexican blend of shredded cheese, instead of just cheddar...and if I must admit, it is probably more than 3/4 cup!

French Toast

It's raining outside, and from the looks of it, it may be raining all day.  What to do?  I know...make a yummy breakfast of French toast.  The great thing about French toast is that it makes for a special breakfast without a lot of prep time or clean-up, unless you want to get fancy and make some sort of fruit stuffed French toast.  But that is for another day... 

Now I realize that the recipe for French toast is pretty basic, but I will admit that I have made some French toast in the past that really didn't qualify as anything special.  In fact, it wasn't very good at all. But this morning was different...and I even used plain old whole wheat bread!  I'm sure the French toast would have been a bit more scrumptious with some thick French bread or Challah bread, but I didn't have any...remember, it was a rain emergency!  Besides, I'd like to think my whole wheat bread brought this breakfast one step closer to qualifying as health food.  Right?   Anyway... I think the key to making really good French toast involves several steps, besides using a really good bread.  First, the outcome is better if the bread is a bit dry or stale.  Second, the egg mixture must be mixed really well, so you don't end up with egg-y bread.  Finally, let the bread really soak up the egg mixture--for at least 15 seconds per side.  It results in a softer, fluffier French toast.  Yum!

French Toast

4 eggs
1 c. milk
1 T. sugar
2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. salt
8 slices bread, preferably stale

In a shallow bowl, beat eggs well; add milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt .  Soak the bread for 15-30 seconds on each side.  Cook on a hot, greased griddle until golden brown on both sides and cooked through.  Serving suggestions: powdered sugar, cinnamon-sugar, or butter and syrup.  Enjoy!

Super Simple Peach Cobbler

I usually make a dessert on Sunday nights.  My kids don't let me forget...ever!  I wasn't planning on making a dessert this Sunday, however, as we had so many treats over the holiday weekend.  But, as I was making my shopping list for the week and perusing some of my favorite food blogs for inspiration, I stumbled across this recipe over at The Girl Who Ate Everything.  I had all of the ingredients on hand, including 4 ripe peaches that were close to being thrown out (we are so bad about eating peaches quickly enough).  So, of course I had to make it.

I'm not a huge fan of cobblers, meaning if I were ordering dessert while eating out, a cobbler would probably be my last choice.  It's something about the fruit.  I can't decide if eating dessert with fruit in it makes it healthier, or ruins the naughtiness of splurging on dessert.   How good for you can fruit really be when it is covered in sugar and butter??   So I usually go for something oozing in chocolate.  That doesn't mean that I don't like a good cobbler, though, and one always needs to be prepared with a good recipe.  The best part about this recipe is that not only was the cobbler really good, but it was also really easy.  You can't beat that.

As I said before, I used ripe peaches to make this dessert, but the original recipe actually calls for a 28 ounce can of peaches in syrup, syrup included.  That means this dessert can be made in the dead of winter when good, fresh peaches are unheard of!   It is also a great dessert in the summer when juicy peaches are at their best. 

Super Simple Peach Cobbler
adapted slightly from The Girl Who Ate Everything, originally posted by Just a Pinch

1 cup self-rising flour (see notes from original recipes for substitution)
3/4 cup sugar (I used a combination of white sugar and brown sugar)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, divided and melted
4 medium peaches, skinned and sliced
1/2 cup sugar (for creating peach syrup/juice)

Sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar over the sliced peaches and refrigerate for 2-3 hours (to create syrup). Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, loosely combine the flour, 1/4 cup melted butter,  and all but two tablespoons of the sugar.  Pour about 1/3 of the flour mixture on the bottom of an 8x8 pan.

Then add the peaches and their juice over the flour mixture.  Pour the rest of the flour mixture over the peaches.

Sprinkle the top with the remaining two tablespoons of sugar.  Drizzle with the remaining 1/4 cup melted butter.  Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.  Let the cobbler sit for 5 minutes before serving.  Best served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.   

I used a combination of white sugar and brown sugar simply because I ran out of white sugar.  I haven't tried this cobbler with all white sugar, but the combination of sugars was goo-oood!  It was quite sweet.  I may even make it again with a bit less sugar next time.  The original recipe called for an additional two tablespoons of sugar to sprinkle (instead of just reserving two tablespoons, like I did).  It was still plenty sweet.  My cobbler wasn't as juicy as I think it should have been.  However, I know this is due to the fact that I didn't allow enough time (the required 2-3 hours) for the peaches to make a good amount of juice.  Still, it was a very enjoyable dessert that I would make again!

Strawberry Shortcake Trifle

     I've made this dessert several times in the past few months, and it is always a hit.  I figured it was the perfect dessert to take to a block party over the 4th of July holiday weekend.  Of course, it would have been even better with the addition of blueberries to be more festive, but the grocery store was out of them.  Can you believe it?  I'm sure they were being consumed in red, white and blue desserts all over town!  I didn't have time to go looking for blueberries at another grocery store, so I did without.

    Anyway, this trifle is quick and easy to put together, with just a few simple ingredients.  I just love the look of it in the trifle bowl--so fancy!  More importantly, however, it is really light and yummy.

Strawberry Shortcake Trifle

1 9-inch angel food cake, cut into cubes
2 16 oz. containers of strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 5 oz. package instant vanilla pudding
3 c. cold milk
1 container cool whip

Combine the pudding mix and milk and mix thoroughly.  Then set aside for a few minutes to allow it to set up.  When the pudding is set, gently fold the thawed cool whip into the pudding.

To assemble the trifle, begin by placing a layer of angel food cake pieces on the bottom.  Carefully place a pudding layer next.  Then add a layer of strawberries.  Repeat this 1-2 more times, making sure to end with strawberries on the top!  For best results, allow the trifle to chill for several hours in the refrigerator before serving.  Enjoy!