Tuna Noodle Casserole

Always a favorite of mine growing up, this is my mom's recipe and I haven't changed a thing!

Ingredients:

• 2 small cans of albacore tuna
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1/2 - 3/4 bag of egg noodles
• 3/4 - 1 cup miracle whip
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

Saute vegetables in butter or olive oil until starting to soften and onions turning translucent.  

Cook egg noodles according to package, then drain,  Heat soup and milk in medium sauce pan then add in the miracle whip and shredded cheddar until cheese is melted.  Take off the heat and stir in tuna.  

Mix everything together and pour into casserole dish.  Top with more cheese if desired.  

Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly and edges get golden brown.

Crock Pot Apricot Pineapple Stuffing and Chicken

Easy crock pot meal for the family...  Serves 4, or double it to serve 8 like I did when the whole family was on vacation together!

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter, divided in halves
• 1 box of cornbread stuffing mix
• 4 boneless, skinless ckicken breasts
• 6-8 oz. jar of apricot pineapple preserves (I usually find these at Walmart, Great Value brand. Otherwise just apricot is fine)
• 8 oz can of pineapple tidbits, drained

In a mixing bowl, make stuffing with 1/2 stick of the butter and the amount of water called for on box. Place chicken on bottom of slow cooker.  Spoon stuffing over top of chicken.  Melt remaining 1/2 stick of butter with the preserves in microwave or on stove top and stir, then stir in pineapples.  Pour over chicken and stuffing.
Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or low for 31/2 hours.

Hazelnut Brown Butter Sauce

One of our favorite things from Trader Joe's is the Honey Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli.  I literally stocked up an entire shelf of my freezer at the end of fall last year because I didn't want to be without them all year!  The first few times we ate them we had an alfredo sauce with them, which was good, but then I discovered this Hazelnut Brown Butter Sauce recipe and we absolutely LOVE it.  It's such a wonderful and different combination of flavors!  I want to try this with other pastas as well, I'm sure it would work well with butternut squash ravioli or even cheese ravioli/ tortellini.

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin Ravioli or any kind of pasta you want
• 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
• 2 1/2 TBS light butter spread
• salt & pepper
• 1 1/2 TBS good quality balsamic vinegar
• Freshly grated parmesan reggiano or another cheese you like

Heat oven to 350.
Spread hazelnuts on baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes.  Give them a shake or stir every few minutes to prevent burning.

Melt butter in a pan over medium heat, then add hazelnuts and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Watch for the butter to turn a golden brown, but don't let it burn.  Once this happens take pan off heat and salt & pepper to taste.  Set aside.

Make pasta according to package directions.

Stir cooked pasta in with butter sauce...

Glaze with balsamic vinegar....

Top with cheese to serve.

Cheddar Potato Soup

Creamy, cheesy deliciousness for any time of year!
Thanks to my friend Yvonne for the recipe (I changed a few little things, but the basic recipe came from her!).

Ingredients:

• 1.5 TBS butter or light butter spread
• 1 onion, diced
• 7-8 potatoes, cubed (skin on or off, your preference)
• 4 carrots, sliced or diced
• 1 pkg light cream cheese
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
• 4 slices turkey bacon
• 1 cup milk
• 2 TBS cornstarch
• 1 can of corn, optional

In a skillet saute the diced onion with the butter until onion is translucent.  Put that mixture, the potatoes, carrots, cream cheese, sour cream, shredded cheddar, and salt, pepper, garlic powder into crock pot and add 3 cups water on top.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

About a half hour before you want to eat the soup, cook your bacon until crispy and let cool.  Mix cornstarch into 1 cup of milk until dissolved, then pour into soup to thicken.  Add more salt, pepper, garlic powder if needed.  Allow to cook an additional 20-30 minutes.  

Crumble bacon into bits with your hands (or at least this is the easiest method I found!).  Use a potato masher to mash some of the potatoes up in the soup.

Add corn in for the last 5 minutes if desired.  My hubby didn't want corn in his so I just added it to my bowl when I served it.

Don't forget the bacon on top!

Now you may be wondering why halfway through my pictures, my soup is suddenly in a dutch oven instead of my crock pot.  Well I underestimated the amount of time the soup would need to cook in the crock pot to begin with, and thought I could just let it cook on high a few hours and it would be perfect.  Not so much.  After about 4 hours on high the potatoes were still hard and the cheese wasn't even melting completely.  So I transferred to my dutch oven for an hour on medium high heat, then added the milk and cornstarch, and cooked about a 1/2 hour more.  If you have time to babysit your dutch oven for a few hours you could definitely skip the crock pot method.  Otherwise plan on letting it cook for the entire day!

Sam's Chicken Enchiladas

My friend Samantha gets requests for these from all her friends who have tasted them before, they are SO GOOD!  I had to have the recipe to make them myself!  I personally like these because unlike the ones you get at a Mexican restaurant, they only have a white creamy sauce on them, not the red enchilada sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups light sour cream
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 small can of diced green chilies, drained
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 can black beans (drained), or refried or pinto if you prefer
• 2 cups cheddar or taco cheese
• 2-3 good sized boneless chicken breasts or 6-7 boneless tenderloins
• 7-8 large flour tortillas, or any tortillas you prefer

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and put chicken in to cook for 20 minutes.  When cooked, use a fork to shred the chicken.

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, mix together the cream soup and 1 cup sour cream.  Spread a few spoonfuls of that mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 dish as your base.  

Into your bowl of the sour cream and soup mixture, pour your chilies, diced onion, black beans, shredded chicken and 1 cup of the cheese.

Mix all together.

Start filling tortillas with the mixture, rolling each up and placing seam side down in dish. 

 Top the enchiladas with remaining mixture (plus leftover 1/2 cup sour cream) and bake for 30 minutes.  

Top with the remaining 1 cup cheese and put back in oven for 5 minutes to melt.

Variations:  You can add corn, diced tomatoes, or avocado to the mixture.  Another thing I want to try next time is the kraft queso shredded cheese in these, I think that would be the ultimate cheesiness!

The Hub gets super duper excited when I make these!!! 

Zesty Quinoa Salad

Guest blogger day!  My friend Rita made this delicious quinoa salad and sent me the recipe and photos for the blog.  Thanks Rita!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 limes, juiced (microwave 20 sec to get extra juicy before cutting)
• 2 TBS ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 c halved cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (I use low sodium)
• 5 green onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 chopped fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste

Bring quinoa and water to a boil in saucepan.  Reduce to medium low and cover.  Simmer until quinoa is tender and water has absorbed, 10-15 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Whisk olive oil, lime juice, cumin, salt and red pepper flakes together.  

Combine quinoa, black beans, tomatoes, and green onions together in a bowl.  Pour dressing mixture over and toss to coat.  Stir in cilantro, season with salt and pepper if desired.

For best taste chill in refrigerator for a few hours or overnight to let flavors marry.  Great with tacos! Very filling as a side dish as well.  Enjoy!

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