Chicken Chimichangas

My son requested chimichangas a couple years back for dinner, and I wanted a healthier alternative to the normally fried dish.   Feel free to substitute turkey.  These are easy to make, especially when you are pressed for time.

Ingredients:
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
2 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
4 10-inch flour tortillas
1/2 cup salsa

Preheat oven to 450.  Combine chicken, chili powder, cumin, salt, cheese and sour cream.  Stack tortillas and wrap in paper towels.  Microwave for 10 to 15 seconds until heated through (this makes them easier to fold).

To assemble each chimichanga, place filling on a warm tortilla, just below center.  Fold bottom edge up and over filling just until mixture is covered.  Fold in sides; toll up tortilla (you can secure with toothpick if necessary).   Spray a glass baking dish with non stick cooking spray before placing chimichangas in dish.   Coat tops with non stick cooking spray and sprinkle with cheddar cheese.  Bake for 7 to 10 minutes until tortillas are slightly brown and crisp.

To serve, top with salsa.  Garnish with favorite topppings: sour cream, guacamole, onions, etc.

Oriental Noodle Salad

I love the crunch of the Ramen noodles.   This is an easy salad to make for parties and always goes fast!

Ingredients:
1 pkgs. beef flavored Ramen soup mix
1 lb. pkg. pre-chopped cabbage cole slaw mix
1 C sunflower seeds
1 C toasted slivered almonds
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 C sugar
1/3 C white vinegar
1 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Break uncooked noodles into a large bowl (set aside seasoning packets for dressing).   Toss with cabbage cole slaw mix, sunflower seeds and almonds.  

For dressing: mix vegetable oil, sugar vinegar, onion powder, Ramen seasoning packets, and salt and pepper.  Shake or stir until sugar and seasoning mix dissolve.

At least one hour prior to serving, pour dressing over noodles, mixing well.  This gives the noodles time to absorb the dressing.   Refrigerate.

Crockpot Cabbage Rolls

Pigs in the Blanket are one of my husband's favorites, which I love to make for him, even if the smell of cooked cabbage does linger.  My dad used to tell me that my cabbage rolls were better than my grandma's, which was the ultimate compliment.  This used to be a dish only made on the weekend, because it normally needs to cook on low for about 2 hours, but I have discovered that it works perfectly to put in the crockpot on low and cook all day.   Boil the cabbage and assemble the night before, pop in the crockpot before you leave in the morning, and will be delicious by dinner time.   This recipe also freezes well for future meals.

Ingredients:
2 lb. cabbage head
1/2 C rice - your preference, I use brown
1 lb ground pork
2 small onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 egg
1/2 C water
salt
pepper
paprika
48 oz. can tomato juice
8 oz. can tomato sauce

Remove core from cabbage head and boil for 5 minutes, enough to make the leaves pliable to roll.  Drain, and cool. 

For filling, in large bowl, mix ground pork, rice, water, 1 small chopped onion, crushed garlic, egg, 1 T paprika, salt and pepper to taste.

Spray your crockpot with non stick cooking spray.

Peel the cabbage leaves, take care when you do this to keep the leaves intact.   Add 1 T of the filling mixture to the center of each leaf.  Roll tightly and tuck the ends in to the center to secure.   Layer in the crockpot.   Chop the excess cabbage into small, bite size pieces.

Sprinkle 1 T paprika over filled cabbage rolls.  Add chopped cabbage, the other chopped onion, and salt and pepper to taste.   Pour tomato sauce and tomato juice over all, adding enough water to cover by about 1".    Cook on low for at least 7-8 hours.

Pizza and Breadsticks

When the kids were little, Friday nights would be family night, pizza and a movie.  We all looked forward to decompressing for the week.   One of our favorites is homemade pizza and breadsticks.   This was also my special childhood meal when I would get to spend the night at grandma's house.    The recipe that I use was inspired by hers.   We love thin crust, so once I roll it out, I cut off the extra and make breadsticks with the dough.

Ingredients:

• 3 C flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 package yeast
• 1 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 C hot water
• 8 oz. pizza sauce
• 2 C mozzarella cheese
• Pizza toppings of choice - pepperoni, italian sausage, mushrooms, red onion, etc.
• yellow corn meal
• 2 T melted butter
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 T parmesan cheese

Mix flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl.  Add oil and water.  Mix and then knead until smooth (put a little oil on your hands so the dough does not stick).  Place back into bowl, punch down, cover and let rise about 15 mintues.

Preheat oven to 400.  

Sprinkle cornmeal over baking stone to cover.  Roll out pizza crust onto pan.  I either use my round or rectangular stone.  Since we prefer thin, I roll to edges and trip the excess dough.  Save this for breadsticks.   Spread pizza sauce over crust. Add cheese and your toppings of choice.  Bake for 15 minutes.

While the pizza is baking, sprinkle cornmeal over a baking sheet.  Roll out remaining dough into breadsticks.

When the original 15 mintues of baking time is complete, add the breadsticks and cook for 5 additional minutes, or until cheese is golden brown.

When breadsticks are done, spread with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic salt and parmesan cheese before serving.

Mini Meat Loaf Cups

My family loves meatloaf, but I generally do not have the hour it takes to bake a traditional loaf.   A quick alternative is to divide the meat loaf mixture into muffin cups for individual servings.   This cuts the baking time in half, and the muffin cups tend to absorb any excess grease.  The recipe yields 24, so I will generally make 12 and freeze the other half for another meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1 lb. lean ground chuck
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 C milk
• 1/4 C ketchup
• 1/2 C crushed cornflakes
• 2T dried minced onion
• 1 tsp dried prepared mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• Muffin cups

Preheat oven to 350.   Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.  Fill each muffin cup about 1/2 - 2/3 full.   Bake for 25 minutes or until meat is no longer pink.   Some of my family members like to drizzle a little extra ketchup on the top.

Orange Drink

This is a favorite drink for our Sunday morning breakfasts.   It reminds me of the orange julius drinks that I used to get at the mall.   Feel free to experiment and substitute another type of frozen juice.

Ingredients:

• 1 can (6 oz) frozen orange juice, slightly defrosted
• 1 C water
• 1 C milk
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 - 12 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender.  Cover and process until drink is thick and slushy.

Egg White Scrambled Eggs

One of my favorite family traditions is Sunday morning breakfast.  Regardless of our schedules, we try to sit down for breakfast every Sunday morning.    Waffles and pancakes top the kid's favorites, but my husband prefers eggs.  Since he has cholesterol issues, I switched to only using egg whites for scrambled eggs and omelets, and initially found it to be not as flavorful.  After a little experimentation, I found that adding feta cheese was delicious.   As a side note, I give our dog 1 -2 of the beaten egg yolks to help his coat.

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp onion salt
1/4 tsp Mrs. Dash original (optional)
1/4 C 1% or skim milk
1 T feta cheese

Whisk the egg whites, pepper, salt, Mrs. Dash and milk.  Spray a pan with non-stick cooking spray and heat to medium.  Add egg mixture and whisk in pan.  When eggs are about half way done cooking, add the feta cheese.  Continue to whisk until the eggs are cooked and fluffy.