Mexican Flautas de pollo

RECIPE:

2 fresh tomatoes chopped finely
2 jalapenos or chiles (seeds and seams removed-unless you prefer

spice)

OR 

EL Pato Salsa de Chile Fresco (yellow can) which can take the place of 

jalapenos /chiles and tomatoes

3 boneless Chicken breasts

1 cup chicken stock

1 bag of corn tortillas

1/2 cup of oil for pan frying (more if pan is large)

Cumin to taste

Garlic (I used garlic powder) to taste

Onion powder to taste

Fresh ground black pepper (to taste)

1 cup of at least 2% fat sour cream (fat free is too milky)
1 cup of mexican shredded cheese
Salt (to taste)
Red chili powder (to taste)

Place 3 chicken breasts into crock pot along with the chicken 

stock, 

Salsa (or tomatoes and jalapenos). Add cumin, garlic, onion 

powder, red chili powder, black pepper and salt (minimal salt, you 

can always add more later). Cook on high for 2 hours (if thawed or 

4+ hours if frozen) Pull out chicken to turn over and check to see if 

it is finished (crock pots can differ in time). After it is finished 

shred the chicken and set to the side along with a little bit of the 

salsa pieces to incorporate with the dish.

Put the oil in the pan and heat it up on medium high heat

Take your corn tortillas and follow the directions to steam them (I 

put them on a damp napkin and steamed each one in the 

microwave 

then filled it with chicken salsa and cheese (not a lot because it 

needs to be able to close easily)


 Close it and put it closed seam side down onto the pan with oil. It 

will pop so be careful. It must be closed seam side down into the 

pan or it will not stay together. Use tongs to check gently after 1-2 

minutes to see if it is ready to be turned (I messed one up because I 

checked too quickly and was not gentle). Continue to do this until 

they are done and place them on paper towels to get rid of 

remaining oil.

The Sour cream sauce is Sour cream, red chili powder and Lawry's 

garlic salt mixed together. (very addictive!)  
OH yeah the RED can of Pato Salsa de Chile Fresco is CRAZY hot

whereas the yellow can is medium and very flavorful

MS funnies -Ongoing post

Funny word mix ups when I am hitting the wall of fatigue:

N (Me to my DD) you have face on your milk!

S (Me to my DH) would you mind getting me a slice of my birthday cake cheese?

W (Me to my son) You are such a bug biddy! (Big Buddy)

S (my DH) Yeah, I think my eyes may be too big for my head.  DH Looking confused "Huh?" Me "Yeah, you will probably have to eat most of this, because my eyes are too big for my head....ohh ummm I mean My eyes are bigger than my stomach?" 




Funny things that happen at my expense from my family:

While at the doctors office paying for my next Tysabri infusion, I begin to walk back towards my previous chair not paying attention to very much around me. I was only attempting to place my debit card into my wallet in a place that I will remember.  I arrive at my chair and my mom said, "Amy you were just sniffed."  I said WHAT?  My mind and eyes immediately went to the middle aged gentleman that was near me when I checked out.  My mom burst out laughing and said, "NO, look to your left".  Funny enough there was a HUGE service dog sitting there that I had  just walked past. Evidently the Quiver lotion I had used before leaving home, gave him the desire to sniff me as I walked past.   It was enough to have me laughing hard as my nurse called my name.

Our ALDI shopping experience

<3 ALDI Shopping <3

Lots of yum and two mehs

The hubby and I went shopping after one of my dentist appointments since we have a new Aldi very close to us - we were eager to try it out.  <3 <3

We went to go and spend our returnable quarter, but someone stopped us and handed us a buggy (or shopping cart)...that was even better than a quarter angel it was a buggy angel ;-D 

We walked in and everyone was perusing slowly through the aisles.  I loved this, because it meant that I did not have to rush through either with my DH and 2 kids.

Our DD was in the seat of the buggy and as we walked through she added things that looked yummy to her.  The first aisle had snacks. Chips were her first snag, Clancy's Cheese puffs.  These are not my favorite but DD & DH like them and THAT is what matters.

Secondly thing I saw was Clancy sweet potato chips... and they are FANTASTIC!! If you keep up with my blog you know that I <3 sweet potatoes. I had to stop eating them because they were THAT good.  The aftertaste was ahh mazing!

We had learned through other bloggers and past experiences that their Haribo gummies were wonderful and wonderfully priced.  I have a gummy fetish but seriously they were for my DD  Hee hee :D

But the next thing we got was now my favorite item OMW i am in luv luv luv with this...

The Spicy Guac is something I could eat a half pouch for lunch and walk away VERY happy and full with some low calorie chips.  

Later in the day I wanted to try out the Artichoke & Cheese Strudel. This was something that was the MEH for everyone.  The strudel crust was good but the artichoke and cheese filling was disgusting especially for $4. We had baked 1/4 of it and maybe we just got the wrong end? It was wonderful to return it without incident. 

The other MEH item was the Mama Cozzi's Pepperoni Pizza.  I think it is because we are picky about pizza crusts.  The Cheese was fine, the sauce was fine and the pepperoni was great but the crust was just gross to both me and my hubby :(   We will not purchase this again unless it is for a kids party since kids wouldn't be as weird as DH and I are, about crusts :D

For 2 days I thought this Guac was my best buy, but last night I cooked the Cattlemen's Ranch Bacon wrapped Beef Filet.  CAHHHH  DH was amazed by the cost and how great they were. Two of them for $6.  I sprinkled a small amount of garlic salt and black pepper and seared both sides of the filets and then turned it down and cooked them for 15 minutes (for mine) and 20 minutes for DH turning occasionally.  Using a toothpick to keep the bacon on was helpful.  

While this was going on I had boiled some corn (from Aldi) so I halved a few pieces buttered  salt and peppered them. $2.27 for 4 large cobbs.  Then we had pieces of cake for dessert $3.  Since we ate half of the corn and less than half of the cake our dinner was a total of $8-9..WOW!

I told DH that is was our anniversary dinner. I probably would not have said that if it hadn't had been great.  :-D

Last night while I cooked I  asked DH to take DD and pick up a few things some of our friends had mentioned were worth buying. The first was The Little Salad Bar chicken salad WOW yes I had this for breakfast this morning and I may have more for lunch so yummy!!  

The second was the creamer since we were out of it, we bought hazelnut and vanilla caramel.  Both are do-able especially for how large they are for 2.29!

 The third was cookies that looked good to me - for my morning coffee or tea- Doppel Keks.  The Cookies aren't sweet themselves but the filling is a decent chocolate.  

Well, this being said. I am off to eat lunch - chicken salad anyone? :-q Num num!!

Garlic Cheese Butter Smashed Sweet Potatoes

OH ME OH MY OH

My family is in LURRVE with this dish.  I thought they loved Mashed potatoes but this dish has surpassed one of our faves. 

Ingredients:

1. 3-4 large Sweet potatoes
2. Chicken stock
3. 1/4 cup of Milk
4. 4 Cloves of garlic
5. 1 stick of butter
6. 2 tbs of sour cream
7.  1 8 oz package of shredded cheese
8. Salt and pepper (as much as desired)

Directions:

Wash Sweet potatoes and peel them, then puncture them, rinse again and cover them with a damp paper towel and place in a microwave safe bowl or plate into the microwave on high for 5 min.

This will make the Sweet potatoes easier to dice when they have been slightly cooked. 

In the meantime began to boil the chicken stock

Dice the potatoes finely  and place them into the chicken stock that has begun to boil.  You will probably need to boil the sweet potatoes for 10-15 min then take it down to a medium and they will need to continue cooking for 25-35 min.

Check after this time frame to see if the diced sweet potatoes are soft.  If they are ready,  drain the chicken stock (or reserve the stock) and put them in a large bowl (Or mixing bowl).  Put milk in, butter, garlic, and cheese and whip them or use a mixer to get them into consistency desired. If they do not feel creamy enough add more milk -or reserved stock to get to the preferred consistency.

Enjoy!!  We did and will not go back to plain old white potatoes!!

Cucumber, Tomato, Onion Salad

This makes me feel healthy and internally clean.

I have no clue why I feel great after eating this BUT I do.  Possibly my body craves these vegetables?  My husband says that it has to do with the red wine vinegar - but I'm not so sure, because eating raw tomato and cucumber makes me feel good, as well - maybe not as good but noticeable. 

What do you think? 

This is a super easy side dish to make.

You will need the following:

2 Large cucumbers

3 Large Tomatoes

1 Medium Onion

1/8-1/4 cup of Red Wine Vinegar (you can use less but I LOVE the tang)

3 - 4 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Ground Black Pepper (As desired)

Lawry's Garlic Salt (YES I have had a love affair with this seasoning, since childhood) (As desired)

Directions:

Wash your veggies!  Peel the Cucumbers (I leave small strips on the cucumber because it makes the cucumbers pretty after they are sliced).

And Dice your tomatoes. Mom taught me years ago how to dice a tomato and I found this youtube video that might help you - Be careful of your fingers!! I want this guys knife!!!

Ny The Cook how to Dice tomatoes

Chop your onion finely. Unless you like big bites of onion - but big bites can be somewhat overpowering. 

Place all the veggies in  a pretty dish add vinegar, olive oil, black pepper and garlic salt into the dish and mix.

Place the dish into the refrigerator for 30 min to an hour prior to eating it.  O.K. I am craving more of this right now and I am about to make more - what a great side!!

  

  

Slow cooker "Sunday" roast

What I used to look forward to, after church on Sunday.

Sunday Roast with garlic mashed sweet potatoes and cucumber, tomato salad

I woke up this morning with a runny nose and sore throat - but I knew that If i made something home cooked I would probably feel better - and it worked!!  I need to feel good prior to my next Tysabri injection Friday.  

Yesterday Winn-Dixie had their BOGO roast sell and it was ON!  So of course I got two chuck roasts for less than $13.  This is a rarity, but it makes me very happy.  I <3 a good roast!

I got, Sweet potatoes, Carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers along side the roast I got and yes, that is what was cooked today. (See upcoming posts for Cucumber, tomato salad and Garlic smashed sweet potatoes.)

 I <3 sweet potatoes - I would eat them over white potatoes, ANY day.  I found out yesterday that Yams and sweet potatoes were not the same http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/sweetpotato.html 

What a Southerner I am!! lol

Roast Recipe:

1 2-3 lb Roast

1 Large sweet potato cleaned and diced

1 Medium Onion diced

1/2 bag of carrots washed

2 Large Tbs of Organic Better than Beef bouillon

1 cup of water

2 Tbs of garlic

2 Tbs of bacon lard

4 Tbs of cooking sherry

1  can Cream of mushroom soup (see recipe below for less to no preservatives)

^ Roast after cream of mushroom addition

Seasonings for roast:

1 Tsp dried rosemary

Garlic Salt (as desired) 

Black pepper (as desired)

Cream of Mushroom Soup without preservatives recipe:

2 Tbs of Butter

2 Tbs of white cooking wine

2 4 oz. cans of mushrooms

3/4 cup of full fat sour cream

1/4 cup of milk

1 Tbs garlic

All of this should be cooked together (microwaved or on the stove) and added 30 min after the roast ingredients have been put together.  Cooking this and adding it later while warm, to the cooking roast, the cream of mushroom soup will not curdle.

Directions:

• Spray the inside of the slow cooker with cooking spray.
• Wash the roast down  - but also make sure you clean out your sink to avoid foodborne illness soon after.
• Sear roast in a pan (if desired) with bacon lard, garlic, onions.
• Place roast, onion and garlic into the slow cooker
•  Deglaze pan afterwards with the wine and to slow cooker
•  2 Tbs of Better than Beef Bullion with 1 cup of water and mix together
• Add to slow cooker
• Add sweet potatoes
• Add carrots
• Add seasonings  
• Cook for 30 min
• Add cream of mushroom soup
• Mix together and cook for 2 hours on high then 2-3 more house on medium to create an eat with a spoon roast.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Biscuits

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs of frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts

Use 2 cans of Cream of Chicken (*see the Southernfood link for real cream of chicken not canned)
1/2 Stick of butter
Half of a bag of frozen peas and carrots
Half cup of minced onion
1+ cup of Chicken Stock
12 Onion Cheese Biscuits (**See link for my recipe)

Spray down Slow cooker with Cooking spray.  Put onions and butter in the bottom of the cooker then place chicken on top of that then add the vegetables  Add Cream of chicken (see recipe I used for not canned cream of chicken). Add chicken stock.  Turn Crock pot on High.  2 hours later check the chicken to see if it can be chopped if it can be - chop then place back into the crock pot.

Make the Onion Cheese Biscuits (see link below photo)

This is how it will end up..YUM - Hubby said it was better than Cheesecake Factory Chicken and Biscuits...hmm I'll take it ;-D

**My previous recipe for Onion Cheese Biscuits
http://sahm-y.blogspot.com/2013/07/muffin-tin-onion-cheese-biscuits.html

* Recipe for Cream of Chicken Soup not canned
http://southernfood.about.com/od/ingredientsubstitutions/r/bl90911a4.htm