Chicken Mole Enchiladas * and other recipies...

WOW March 11, was the last post... Man I know I have been cooking... I will give you a run down.
First the Chicken Mole enchiladas. I had no clue what Mole negro sauce was and it is described as " made up of 35 ingredients, including chilies, nuts, spice and chocolate." So after reading that I thought HEY! I like chilies, nuts, spices and chocolate!!!! Plus the picture in the book looks yummy (page 263 for those that have this book). It was suppose to be super easy. A rotisserie chicken, the mole sauce and tortillas. I am sad to say Mr. David Zinczenko and Mr. Matt Goulding, I did not like this at all!!! Neither did my kids. So as a disclaimer I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I had chicken breast I put in the crock pot and cooked with the mole sauce all day. Maybe that was the problem ..... nope I don't' think so. I think it was missing something. I still can't quite put my finger on it but there was something that I thought the dish needed. So I do not recommend this at all. Which is sad because maybe someone would really like it. Just not us.
My critics said.
Amanda - MOM THIS IS GROSE!
Emma- I don't like the meat
Keneson- Do I have to eat this?
Corrina - opted out of the meat ( she ate later than the rest of us.)
Tracy- thought it was okay but only had two tacos
Me- The first taco I ate was good and had a little spice to it. The second one... not good.

Hearty Lasagna ****
This is page 206 and you should run don't walk to use this recipe. Again I didn't follow it exactly only because it calls for precooked chicken sausage. I couldn't find any in any of the three stores we have in town. So we used hamburger. I am sure that changes the nutritional value but it was soo good..... Even left overs (which there was enough for two lunches for me ONLY) . I only had to run to the store one extra time. That was only because I already had the lasagna no cook noodles but when I looked closer to the box it expired March of 08... Yes 2008, So I bought new. This recipe does calls for Muir Glen Tomato sauce... I couldn't find the basil kind, and looking at it now it says pasta sauce not tomatoes. WOOPS... I did find that kind of tomato sauce and there was even a dollar off coupon on the back if you bought two. SCORE! it is super good tomato sauce! Everyone loved it.
My critics say
Amanda - Mom this is really good (with a great amount of surprise)
Emma- Oh I like this - do I have to eat my salad?
Corrina- it's good
Keneson- can we have this every night
Tracy- Oh I like this....
Me- yum.... I hope there is leftovers.

So see even though I have been MIA I am still cooking! YUMMY stuff!!!!! (well most of it has been)

3 2 1 .... Get COOKING...

Chicken Panini with Smashed Potatoes ***** (Erin)

YUM, YUM, YUM!!! Everyone loved this recipe...except Riley. :) I will forever make sandwiches differently thanks to this recipe.

If you don't have a George Foreman grill, go get one. They aren't terribly expensive, and they are SO SO versatile! I used mine as a panini press. I didn't use any non-stick spray, oil, or butter on my bread, and our sandwiches came out perfectly toasty on the outside and deliciously melty on the inside!

I had a hard time finding some of the ingredients for this recipe. I planned on making homemade pesto using the recipe on Page 303 of Cook This, Not That! However, Dillons only had one teeny, tiny package of basil. It was not going to be nearly enough. My second thought was to use store-bought pesto that I thought you could find in the deli area (near the specialty cheese). They had sun-dried tomato pesto (lots of calories in that) and artichoke pesto (Jase wouldn't touch that), but I couldn't find basil pesto there. I finally stumbled upon it with the spaghetti sauces of all places. I also struggled to find roasted red peppers. I thought surely they would be with the canned vegetables. I found all different typed of artichokes (sliced, whole, marinated), pimentos, sun-dried tomatoes, and hearts of palm...but NO roasted red peppers. Who organized this store? Where did I finally find the roasted red peppers you might be asking? Where else...near the salad dressing. Apparently the shelf designer didn't think they were vegetables. ;) Finally, I couldn't find baby Yukon gold potatoes. They only had the larger ones. I settled for baby white potatoes. They still worked for the smashed potato recipe, but I think the Yukons would have had a more buttery flavor. Try those instead if you can find them! I used whole grain honey wheat bread (just a plain 'ole loaf) and rotisserie chicken because I forgot to get chicken out of the freezer.

Overall this dish was delish. It will be one I duplicate again soon!!! YUM!

Madeline said with her mouth full: "I would give this recipe 5 stars!"

Jase didn't talk much...he was too busy eating. He loved this and wants me to make it again!

Riley ate a few bites of chicken and a bite or two of potato.

I LOVED it! It still doesn't beat the pot stickers as my favorite dish, but it comes close!

Rotisserie chicken - $4.99

Bread - $2.79

Roasted Red Peppers - $3.49 (have more than half the jar left)

Basil Pesto - $3.99 (only used 4-5 T.)

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese - $3.99 (still have half left)

Potatoes - $1.79

Garlic - had on hand

Olive Oil - had on hand

Rosemary - had on hand

Three, Two, One, "Start Cookin'!"

My chicken soup... by Teressa ****

I did not set off any fire alarms like Erin did. (sorry I am posting at work so no photos of my yummy soup.) It was super duper easy!!!! I, like Erin, love thick soups. This one is a little to brothy for me. I think next time I will add some tomato soup to it. We didn't use the 1TBS of chipotle I used about 1/2TBS. Not because we don't like the flavor but because most of the people in my house don't like hot stuff.

To make my corn strips I cut a stack of them with the pizza cutter and then tossed them with some olive oil. (which is not called for on the recipe.) The recipe just says to cut them in to strips and toast in oven. I also didn't like the soggy-ness of the strips after they set in the soup. So next time I think I will put them on the side. ( I am a "on the side kind of girl anyway")

Also I added avocado to the top of mine. I love guacamole but not to wild about avocados. They got warm in the soup and made it really creamy... then the lime juice on top ..... WOW! Again the only one who used the avocados.

Here is what my critics said...
Tracy- WOW this is really good.....
Amanda- this is good.
Emma- this is good but do I have to eat this stuff? (everything but the chicken)
Keneson. Didn't like it at all. He decided to not eat
Corrina - its okay
ME- Wow you guys should really try it with the avocados... it makes it yummy and I want more of the strips..... it is really good....

Chicken Tortilla Soup (Erin) ***

Teressa and I are both making this soup today. My post will be first because we are home with a snow day (YAY!), so I made dinner while she was still at work. (sorry, T!) This soup wasn't difficult, but I did manage to set off the smoke alarm while making it. Oops!



This soup was tasty, and it filled me up. But, it didn't have much to it. I love soup, but I tend to like creamy, thick soups. This was thin and brothy. I like a good broth every now and again, though, so this wasn't terrible.



The soup has a little spice to it because there is 1 T of chipotle. It wasn't so spicy that Madeline wouldn't eat it, though. I liked the tortilla strips at first, but they got really soggy. They started out really, really crispy. (The second batch did...the first batch started out burnt...hence the smoke alarm) I'm not a huge fan of corn tortillas, so that might have been why they weren't my favorite. The recipe calls for the juice of 2 limes to be added at the end. I couldn't taste any lime, so I cut up another and added some to our bowls. I really liked the extra bit of lime...it added a yummy brightness to the broth.




Riley didn't have soup tonight, so she has nothing to add to the critique of the meal.
Madeline - "Five stars."
Jase - "I thought it was good. I wish there was something else in it."
Erin - It wasn't bad...not my favorite but tasty overall.

Chicken - $2.99
Tortillas - $1.14 (counting the ones I burned, I only used 5 from a package that seems like it has 100 in it)
Chipotle - $1.28 (again, used very little)
Tomatoes - $1.64 (used half the can)
Olive oil - on hand
Onion - $1.02
Garlic - on hand
Limes - $3.00 (only used 3 of a package of 7)
Chicken Stock - $4.00



I think you should try this. The recipe shows all kinds of fixin's for the top...avacados, radishes, onion, jalapenos, cilantro...so, you could add more to it.



Three, Two, One, "Start Cookin'!"

Herb Roasted Chicken with Root Vegetables (Erin) ****

The whole family agreed on 4 starts out of 5 for tonight. This is a must-make, easy meal that will give you a lot of comfort!!

I have to admit that my roasted chicken doesn't look nearly as pretty as the one in the cookbook, but it sure was tasty!

This took me about 30 minutes to prepare (cutting up the veggies, mincing garlic and stuff to put on and inside the chicken, etc.). After I put it in the oven, all I had to do was wait. I added a bit more olive oil to the veggies...it called for half a tablespoon. I probably doubled that. I also made 2 potatoes instead of 1 and only used 1 onion instead of 2. Jason wanted me to make carrots than I did. I will next time. The meat came out super flavorful and moist. The combination of lemon zest, garlic, and rosemary was a yummy mix!!

Now for the nitty gritty:

Madeline - "I don't like the carrots, but the rest is really good."

Jason - "The chicken is the best part. This is good."

Riley - She ate a bit but not much.

Erin - Yum! I felt like a professional cook making a golden, roasted chicken.

Potatoes - $1.49

Onion - $.72

Garlic - had on hand

Carrots - $.78 (used have the bunch)

Rosemary - $2.50

Chicken - $4.19

Olive Oil - had on hand

Lemon - $.33

Only $2.50 a serving!!!

I almost forgot to tell you that this is on Page 248 of Cook This, Not That!

Three, Two, One, Start Cookin'!!

Tonight is Chicken Parmesan- Teressa

Where to start? Chicken Parmesan page 276. This was the first meal I have fixed that was eaten in complete silence. There was NOT one "I am NOT eating this!" or "What smells?" NOT ONE!!!! I was half way through my meal when Tracy said... "Man its quiet!"

Before I get to my critics voices, here are somethings I would do different. I would use a different skillet with a little more oil. The breading got a little burned. I used my huge cast iron. The pan didn't heat very even, which is why the breading burned. Having said that I then used it to put the chunky tomatoes and tomato sauce in and stuck the whole thing under the broiler. Which worked out GREAT! And the recipe suggests garlic sauteed spinach instead of spaghetti. I made whole wheat spaghetti (shhh don't tell the kids. they loved it, and never said a word about it.) I would also use seasoned tomatoes, the recipie doesn't call for it but I would use some with basil and garlic next time.

So the critis had this to say...

Tracy- I love it!

Amanda- IT is the best... this is why it is my fav meal!

Corrina - Its good

Emma- I like it alot.

Keneson- I don't like the chicken it has to much stuff on it.

Me- I am totally making this again. It was super good and very filling.

Huddle up..... STTAAARRRT COOKIN'!!!!!