Sunday, September 28, 2008

Chicken Enchiladas

I made these Chicken Enchiladas tonight for dinner. As usual...fiasco, but the results were phenomenal! These are better than any enchilada I have ever had in any restaurant. Be warned this recipe is HUGE (two 9 x 13 pans full of really zippy enchiladas), but I can see that the leftovers will not hang around. Mr. Smith declared that he would eat these every day. He looked a little scared when I told him he might have to.

The fiasco part of the story involves the shopping trips (yes, trips) that Mr. Smith and I both had to make. He to go on the bigger shopping trip, since coordinating the naps around here is impossible. He did not feel confident purchasing chicken and could not find chipotle at the store.

After he got home, I was tied up feeding Pinkie (seeing as how she eats almost constantly). By the time that was done, Hamster was up from his nap (Mama talk to me on the walkie talkie), having his snack. Finally I was able to get out of the house, with the promise that I would not return without a new car for Hamster (this has become a real problem around here. Hamster feels that there should be a new car on his high chair tray after each of his naps).

Pinkie and I went to the store largely without incident. Got home pretty quickly, and was so glad to be pulling into the garage WITHOUT THE PROMISED CAR!!!! Quickly called Mr. Smith, and rushed to Target to buy the stinking car. Pinkie was not the least bit happy to be making yet another stop, but we were able to find a car that The Hamster does not have yet (not easy at this point, he has almost the entire Matchbox/Hot Wheels aisle).

Luckily Mr. Smith was kind enough the keep The Hamster outside long enough for me to get dinner ready. This was no small feat as The Hamster has discovered running in and out of the house...maddening to say the very least!

Anyway, Hamster says it is too spicy for him, but Mr. Smith LOVED it. Add it the repertoire and call it a day.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Peanut Butter Bars


I found this recipe today on this gal's blog.

These are kind of a cross between candy and a bar cookie. They are rich, but not over powering. Mr. Smith maintains that there is too much peanut butter and not enough chocolate. I, of course, feel that there is no such thing as too much peanut butter. What an insane notion! Obviously, this is a dispute that will NEVER be settled. Two oldest children duking it out over something so trivial. Perhaps this dispute will supplant the Abraham Lincoln argument (was he, or was he not a good president, I say yes, Mr. Smith, not so much...go ahead talk amongst yourselves)

Anyway, I am always looking for new ways to increase the amount of peanut butter in my diet, these fit the bill perfectly.

1 cup butter

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 cups confectioner sugar

1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

4 Tablespoons peanut butter

Melt the butter and peanut butter together. Stir in graham cracker crumbs and sugar until well blended. Spread peanut butter mixture in 9 x 13" pan. Melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter together and stir until well blended. Spread chocolate mixture on top of peanut butter mixture. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Mexican Lasagna

I made this Mexican Lasagna for dinner last night. We are trying to incorporate some new recipes into our repertoire. Things have been getting a little stale lately, so this was the plan. I am also trying to cut down on grocery shopping trips (pricey and time consuming, not to mention, not easy with 2 1/2 year old and a 4 month old). Anyway, we watch The Food Network around here and Robin Miller made this one the other day. Mr. Smith thought it looked good, so we decided to give it a shot.

Well, this recipe is an absolute killer. You can make it as healthy as you would like and as spicy or non-spicy as you would like. I used the marinade that she recommends from the same show to roast the chicken, but it would be just as easy to pick up a rotisserie chicken when you are shopping and use that.

The awesome thing about Robin Miller is that she figures out a couple of recipes to use the same basic ingredients, so if you plan things a little bit, you get a couple meals out of each cooking session. Works for me!!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robin-miller/mexican-lasagna-recipe/index.html