Life and Times

Fresh Flowers!

Beautiful Flower!

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~'Purity' climbing rose

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Nella Panebianco

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Colorado Columbine

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Coquita

Chicken, Mushroom, and Spinach Enchiladas

Ingredients
Filling:

1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb mushrooms, chopped coarsely
¼ cup chicken broth
9 ounces fresh spinach, washed, drained and coarsely chopped
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed

Sauce:

3 tablespoons lime juice
¾ cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 cup sour cream
½ cup cilantro, chopped

Other:

8 flour tortillas
1½ cups Monterey jack cheese, shredded

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish.
For the filling: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and saute onions, garlic and mushrooms until soft and liquid has evaporated, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Remove half of the mushroom mixture and set aside for the sauce.
Add the chicken broth and cook for 2 more minutes.
Add the spinach and cook until spinach has wilted and cooked down. Stir in the cream cheese until melted. Season with salt as needed. Stir in the chicken.
For the Sauce: In a small sauce pan combine lime juice, chicken broth, and garlic powder. Add the reserved mushroom mixture, sour cream and cilantro. Reduce heat to simmer until sauce just begins to thicken. Add salt to taste.
Divide filling evenly among the 8 tortillas, fill and roll and place them seam side down in the prepared pan.
Pour sauce over enchiladas, top with shredded cheese and bake 10-15 minutes or until it's nice and bubbly.

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Honey Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes

INGREDIENTS:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the honey, olive oil, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Add the sweet potatoes and toss to coat.
Dump potatoes onto a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 25-30 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.

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Easy Mini Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

For the pumpkin cinnamon rolls:

1 can Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations refrigerated seamless dough sheet
1/4 cup pumpkin butter (I use Trader Joe's brand)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cream cheese frosting:

3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk (more if you like a thin frosting)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Unroll sheet dough into one large rectangle. Spread pumpkin butter evenly over the dough. Evenly sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over the pumpkin butter.
Starting with short side of the rectangle, roll up into a log. Using string, dental floss, or a serrated knife, cut the roll into 10 slices. Place slices, cut side down, in a greased 8 x 8 baking dish.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cinnamon rolls cool in pan for 5 minutes.
While the cinnamon rolls are cooling, make the cream cheese frosting. In a medium bowl, stir together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Whisk in the confectioner's sugar, vanilla, and milk. If the frosting is still too thick, add a little more milk and whisk until smooth.
Spread frosting over cinnamon rolls and serve! I always have leftover frosting, but use as much as you like:)

Note-if you can't find the Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations refrigerated seamless dough sheet you can use regular Pillsbury crescent rolls. Just press the dough together to form a large rectangular sheet. I use Trader Joe's pumpkin butter, but you can use any brand or make your own.

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Cheater Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients:

a rotisserie chicken. Almost every grocery store has them hot nowadays... just waiting for you
a box of low-sodium chicken broth
2/3 - 1 cup evaporated milk in the can
3 Tbsp butter
a can of biscuits - doesn't matter what kind
salt, pepper, poultry seasoning
flour
a few sprigs of thyme for garnish (optional)

Method:

When you get home, strip the meat from the carcass of the rotisserie chicken. Cover the meat in a bowl, and throw the carcass into a pot covered with the chicken broth and water to cover the chicken. Season the water with salt, pepper, and a little poultry seasoning. Get that on first and let your broth "build" flavor while you go about your afternoon business - putting up groceries, checking homework, getting hugs and kisses, etc.
I let it boil for about an hour and a half to extract the flavor out of the bones, skin, etc. Using the parts that you would have thrown away (skin, bones) to make the broth really stretches the buck out of that $5/6 dollar chicken!! If you want, you can add a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Just throw them in whole. The little tender leaves will separate from the stems, which you can fish out later. (You could also do this part ahead of time and have the broth ready in the fridge when you get home.)
For the dumplings, liberally sprinkle your work surface with all purpose flour. Arrange the biscuits on the flour. Sprinkle the biscuits with a mixture of salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. It may seem odd to you that I season the dough, but this ensures that I have seasoning at every level of the dish.
Roll them dumplings out very thin (larger than my hand) and make easy work of cutting them by rolling over them with a pizza wheel. I often let the kids help me roll out and cut the dumplings. Don't worry if they aren't all the same. Again - who cares? You are spending time together and they are learning skills and having fun. Period. Keep it all in perspective. Gather up the dumpling pieces with the flour and set them to rest in a plate. The more flour you pick up with them, the thicker your final broth, so adjust according to the preferences of your family/guests. (You could also make these dumplings ahead of time and put them in the fridge.)
After the broth has "developed," remove all pieces and parts of the carcass with a spider or by using a strainer.
Bring the broth to a boil and add the dumplings. At first, they will puff up and get super fluffy. Don't worry. They won't stay that way. Add the butter and evaporated milk and give them a good few stirs. Let them cook on about a medium to medium high boil for about 15 minutes. The dumplings will thin out and drop down, and the broth will thicken. It's like magic.
Now, you can turn off the heat (or turn to low heat) and add in the cooked, rotisserie chicken. At this point, we have done very little real "work" and have thick creamy broth and tender dumplings. Adding the chicken back at the end ensures that it won't be overcooked and dry.. and also that it won't break up into sheds (we prefer nice healthy hunks of chicken).
Serve to some people you love.. and stay dry and cozy. Enjoy family time.

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