Dinner

I love it when dinner is a success! It doesnt happen all the time. For example.. the other day I made a lemon pasta. I found it on not one but TWO recipe blogs and both RAVED about how delicious and light it was. The perfect summertime meal. Well... that was not the case. It ended up being a complete fail and I took it straight out of the recipe binder and into the trash.. as well as all the leftovers..
Last night though was a good cooking night! I decided to make chicken enchiladas and mexican rice and then make monkey bread for dessert/breakfast. All three turned out great, I would only make a couple of changes to the monkey bread.

I wish I had taken my own pictures but I didnt so I used some from other sites.

Here's the recipes:

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

*Photo via Kevin & Amanda*

3 oz cream cheese
1 can green chile enchilada sauce
1 tbs lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion salt
1 cup shredded cheese (I used the mexican mix you buy at Costco)
1/2 cup shredded cheese
2 cups chicken broth
4-6 chicken tenders (about 3 large chicken breasts)

tortillas (I used the large flour tortillas and cut them in half)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and grease 8 X 8 pan with cooking spray.

Boil chicken in chicken broth until fully cooked throughout. Drain chicken broth and shred Chicken using forks or your fingers or your teeth... j/k! Once shredded, add the can of green chile enchilada sauce, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion salt, and cream cheese. Turn heat on low until cream cheese has melted, then stir in the 1 cup of shredded cheese.

Place 2-3 tbs in each tortilla, roll tightly, and place in pan seam down. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese on top and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and cheese has melted.

You can serve with salsa, sour cream, or guacamole, but ours were flavorful enough without!

Mexican Rice

1 cup long grain rice
2 tbs olive oil
1 small can tomato juice*
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cumin

Heat oil in skillet and saute rice until a light tan color. Add cumin garlic, tomato juice and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce hear, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes.

*I could not find a can of just tomato juice so i opted for a can of diced tomatoes and drained the juice into the rice mixture instead. I can use the tomatoes for something else.


Monkey Bread *from Pioneer Women Cooks*

*photo via Pioneer Women*

3 can buttermilk buscuits ( non flaky )
1 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 sticks butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

preaheat oven to 350 degrees and grease bundt pan

open up all three cans biscuits and cut each biscuit into quarters
combine white sugar and cinnamon into 1 gallon ziploc and shake to mix evenly
put all the biscuit quarters into the sugar mix, seal it, and shake until all quarters are covered in mixture.
drop all biscuit quarters into the bundt pan and arrange evenly*
melt two sticks of butter over low heat and mix in brown sugar until the two become one color. Pour over biscuits.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until dark brown on top. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes or so before turning it over on a plate!

Eat and enjoy!

*not all of my biscuit quarters got the buttery goodness so instead of dumping all the biscuit quarter I would do half, pour half the butter mix over, and then put in the rest of the biscuits and mixture.


So, that was my succesful cooking night, as you can tell, I was/am quite proud that ALL of the recipes turned out great! Until next time...