Quick Chicken Enchiladas

Serves 10
Prep Time 10 Mins
Cook Time 15 Mins

2 cups shredded chicken (canned is fine)
10 large flour tortillas
1 block of velveeta cheese, cubed
2 cups of shredded cheese, I use Mexican blend
1 can Red Enchilada Sauce
1 can Green Chile Sauce

Preheat oven to 350.

Layer each tortilla with chicken, 4-5 cubes of velveeta, 2 tbsps of green chile sauce and 2 tbsps of red enchilada sauce. Roll up and lay in glass baking dish. Continue until all tortillas are filled. Tortillas should be lined snugly in pan. Brush remaining red enchilada sauce over the top of each tortilla, making sure all enchiladas are covered with sauce. Top with shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Easy Roasted Potatoes

 

8-10 red potatoes, cut in small cubes
3 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp Cavendar's  Greek Seasoning

Preheat oven to 450.

Put potatoes, olive oil & seasoning into a freezer size zip lock bag. Shake well making sure all potatoes are coated. Pour into a glass baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Cheeseburger Casserole

 

2 lbs ground beef, cooked and seasoned to your taste
 Sautéed onion & garlic if you'd like.
 8 pieces of toast
 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Layer 4 pieces of toast in 9 x 13 baking dish. Evenly spoon half of beef mixture onto toast. Top with cheese. Repeat layer. Top with cheese. Bake 15 minutes  until cheese is bubbly.

Chicken Salad

My Recipe. (Ex co-workers are still asking me to drop some by, I sometimes feel guilty that it's so easy to prepare.)
Feel free to omit or add any ingredients that you prefer.

1 fully cooked rotisserie chicken (found in the deli at your local supermarket)
1 cup of Blue Plate Mayonnaise
1 cup of dried cherries or dried cranberries
1/2 cup of scallions (chopped)
1 cup of chopped celery

Pull chicken off bone.  Shred into tiny pieces.  Combine all ingredients.  Mix well.  Serve on a croissant or your favorite
bread.  The mayonnaise in this recipe makes all the difference.  Preparing your own chicken is optional.  I'm all about
saving time so I buy the pre-cooked bird, but the decision is totally yours. 

Broccoli Cheese Soup

This recipe is originally my sister's (Why LaPerriere), however I make my own version because I can never exactly remember hers, LoL. 
I have to admit however, her's is much better.


3-4 Heads of Broccoli (I advise against using frozen)
1 quart of Whipping Cream
2 blocks of cream cheese, softened at room temp, cubed
1 Stick of Butter
1 Whole Onion, Chopped
2-3 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper
2 blocks of Kraft Cheddar Cheese, cubed (looks like the large bricks of velveeta - the consistency is less sticky than Velveeta and since this is soup,
try to use the Kraft)

Chop up broccoli, using florets only, no stems.  Rinse broccoli.  Boil broccoli in about 4-5 cups of water until nice and tender.  Tender enough to mash with a fork. 
Drain & set aside.

Melt stick of butter over medium high heat.  Add onions & garlic.  Saute.  Set aside.
In a large pot, add entire quart of whipping cream.  Cook over medium heat.  Never increase temp to avoid sorching.  Add both blocks of cream cheese & cheddar cheese.

Add sauteed onions & garlic.  Add salt & pepper.  Stir occasionally until all cheese has melted down.  Once the cheese has melted into the whipping cream, add broccoli. 
Stir broccoli into soup.  Continue cooking over medium heat for 15-20 minutes.  Serve.

**Note** Once refrigerated, the soup will have the appearance of left over queso.  Simply add a tablespoon of milk and reheat in the microwave to return to soup
consistency.

Easy Lasagna

                     

This is an easy, cheat way to make a lasagna. I've been making it for years.

2 boxes of lasagna noodles (oven ready)

I large jar of spaghetti sauce, any brand, any flavor (with meat, with veggies, whatever)

1 jar of garlic parmesan Alfredo Sauce (found right next to the spaghetti sauce)

Can of sliced black olives

Can of sliced mushrooms

1 diced onion, sautéed 

3 cloves of minced garlic, sautéed 

1-2 lbs ground beef, cooked & drained

1 container of ricotta cheese

2-3 cups of Italian cheese blend (mozzarella, Parmesan, etc. Your choice)

Combine ground beef, garlic, onions, mushrooms & black olives.

Layer a 9 x 13 baking dish with lasagna noodles. I usually line vertically, making 3 rows.  Spread spaghetti sauce onto noodles. Just enough to cover noodle layer completely. Add a layer of ricotta cheese. Add a layer of the ground beef mixture. Then add a layer of the Alfredo sauce. Add a layer of the cheese. Repeat process 3 more times or until out of ingredients. Top final layer with remaining cheese. 

Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until noodles are tender.

Messed Up Chicken

*Recipe From My Mom, My Version

Fully cooked rotisserie chicken (found in the deli at your local supermarket)
Bag of Cheese Doritos
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can of rotel (mild, med. or hot)
1 can sliced black olives
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 diced onion
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

 

Preheat oven to 350.  Layer whole bag of chips in a 9 x 13 baking dish.  Pull chicken off bone.  Use as much chicken as you'd like.  Saute onions & garlic in butter.  Boil soup and rotel until soup like consistency.  Add chicken (as much as you'd like)  onions, garlic, salt, pepper & black olives to soup mixture.  Pour over chips.  Top with shredded cheese.  Bake about 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.  Serve with sour cream and/or salsa.

Meatloaf

This is an easy recipe to throw together and one of my family's favorites. Actually, most people who have tried this recipe assume I've spent hours laboring over it when in truth it takes me about 10 minutes to throw together.

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef, defrosted
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 4 oz can of tomato sauce
1 2 oz can of tomato paste
McCormick Meatloaf Seasoning packet
4 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce
1 egg
10-12 crackers, crushed (ritz, saltines or whatever you have on hand)

Preheat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients, with the exception of the tomato paste which you'll save for later. I typically mix by hand. Add mixture to a 9 x 9 square pan or separate into 2 loaf pans. Bake for 50 minutes. Remove meatloaf from oven. Spread tomato paste evenly over the top. Continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Voila. Meatloaf is served.

Grilled BBQ Chicken Salad

Recipe Submitted By Christina Esselman

Prep Time:10 min
Total Time:25 min

Makes:4 servings, about 2-1/2 cups each

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 lb.)
1/2 cup KRAFT Barbecue Sauce, any flavor
1 squash, diced
2 red, yellow or green peppers, diced
1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
1 bag (10 oz.) salad greens (about 7 cups) - I use fresh lettuce
1/3 cup KRAFT Ranch Dressing

PREHEAT grill to medium heat. Place chicken on greased grill. Brush with barbecue sauce. Grill, covered, 4 minutes.
I dice up my squash and bell peppers and sautee them in Italian dressing. Until they are soft.Continue grilling chicken 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until chicken is cooked through frequently brushing chicken with barbecue sauce. Slice chicken.
TOSS chicken, vegetables and greens. Serve with Ranch dressing. Sprinkle with KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese, if desired.

What Is This All About?

So....I've decided to write a blog.  Yes, I'll agree it's pretty cliche and I probably should have gotten on the blog bandwagon years ago.  However, I've thought for a few years about creating a blog and decided it was time to arise to the challenge.  I have lots of idle time on my hands (literally) so I've run out of excuses as to why I haven't written before now.  I love to write.  I love to expel my thoughts, good or bad. (My friends and family can surely attest to this little fact).

You're probably asking yourself "What's this all about?  The Real Deal? Huh?."  It's simple really.  I didn't always have idle time on my hands.  In fact, since I became an adult I've always worked very hard.  Sometimes holding down two jobs at a time just to make ends meet.  I've been the typical working mom, shuffling my time between work, my son's extracurricular activities, managing a household and meal preparation.  It's gratifying really.  Being the pivotal point in a household has it's turbulence.  There are never enough hours in the day, but somehow you drudge through and your determination is very rewarding.  Nothing can take away that sense of accomplishment when you see that your family is taken care of.

For the last 30 days I've been gainfully unemployed, a decision made by my boyfriend and I.  I am now a stay at home mom, which in hindsight has the familarity of a working mom except without the pay.  Daily routine of house cleaning, laundry, homeschooling & meal preparation.  It's not as easy as you think, but still as rewarding.  Being on both sides of the spectrum, a working mom and now a stay at home mom I can easily relate to either.  Which really, brings me to the reason I created this blog.  I love to cook.  I love watching cooking shows.  They inspire to me some degree.  I love looking online for a devine culinary creation.  I love browsing magazines and pondering if I could actually make a recipe they've stuffed in the pages.  What can I say?  I've many times imagined I was Paula Deen in my kitchen, short of the lack of culinary experience, the fact that she's famous, owns several restaurants and has a cooking show, I could totally be her.  Right? 

Wrong!  That's just it.  I will never be a Paula Deen.  I do not have culinary training.  I do not have access to all these top shelf wonderful ingredients she uses.  I don't know what half of the ingredients are and if I did, I have no idea where to purchase them.  Furthermore, I do not have a hefty bank balance that affords me the luxury of buying endless high-end ingredients.  I am you.  The small town American woman.  A mom.  The pivotal fixture in the household.  The superwoman who can work and run a household.  The great stay at home mom who can rear her children all day and run a household.  I am normal.  That's the real deal.

In lieu of my normalcy (pun intended), I've created this blog to share with you - my reader - the realistic recipe guide.  Things I've prepared at home throughout the years.  Family recipes.  Friend's Recipes.  Simple Recipes. With easily attainable ingredients at ANY local supermarket, affordable ingredients and no brainer instructions, these meals can be made by anyone.  Most have a prep time of an hour or less, ensure leftovers so you can actually take an hour or so to relax the next evening after a long hard day and are sure to please the mouths you feed.  No, these are not extradordinary culinary creations.  I am not Paula Deen and you are not Paula Deen.  These are simple recipes created by the working moms and delivered by the moms. 

Hopefully a recipe on my blog will make your life just a little bit easier.  Maybe it will cut down meal prep time in the evening.  Maybe you'll be able to pat yourself on the back when a moment of "I can really do this" imposes.  Or maybe you will just find relief knowing you can relate to the majority of women in America who are not culinary artists, who do not have an overflowing bank account to buy never heard of ingredients, and who do not have countless hours of the day to waste standing in the kitchen. 

I'm going to be adding recipes.  Feel free to try and post your comments, but most of all, please share your recipes and I'll add them to my blog.  Any recipe will do. 

                This is the real deal. Real women. Real food we serve. Real Families.