Southwestern Shepherd's Pie

I haven't used ground beef in a long time but I had some in my freezer that needed to be eaten so we made this yesterday and it was sooo yummy! Ya gotta give it a try.

2 T olive oil
1 med onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 T garlic, minced
1T jalapeno, minced
1 lb ground beef
1 T tomato paste
1 T chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 c. tomatoes, chopped (I used canned)
1/2 c corn
1/2 c black beans (I used a whole can)
1/4 c cilantro
1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes*, peeled and cut into chunks
2 T butter
1/2 c milk
Salt & pepper, to taste

Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring for 10 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeno; cook for minutes. Raise heat to medium high; add beef and brown for 5 minutes.

Add tomato paste & spices. Cook 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, corn, beans, and half of the cilantro. Spoon into a 9x13 baking dish.

Place sweet potatoes in a saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain, mash with butter and milk. Spread potatoes over meat mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until brown. Garnish with additional cilantro.

*My husband has a real aversion to sweet potoates so I made a corner for him with Yukon Gold and while still good, the sweet potatoes were sooooo much better.

Italian Sausage Soup

My friend, Lisa, brought this over tonight for us to eat for dinner! It was seriously sooo good! She served it will peppered jelly and breadsticks! YUMMY! I'm so excited to take this to some holiday parties over the next few months!

1 lb Italian or turkey Italian sausage
2-3 c broccoli
1 c uncooked mostaccioi pasta
2 ½ c water
½ tsp dried basil leaves
¼ tsp pepper
1- 28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
2- 10 oz cans Campbell’s French Onion soup

Brown sausage and put in pot. Throw in remaining ingredients, and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to med-low cover and cook about 15 min or until pasta is done.

Stove Top one-dish chicken skillet

I also made this dish this week. It was one that I will do every once in a while. It was super easy and I usually have all of the ingredients on hand!

1 1/2 cups hot water
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 pkg (6 oz) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken6 small bonesless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/2 lb.)
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/3 cup sour cream

Mix hot water, butter, and stuff mix as directed on the box. Set aside.

Cook chicken in nonstick skillet on medium-high heat for approx 5 min on each side of until browned on both sides.

Mix soup and sour cream; pour over chicken. Top with stuff; cover. Cook on low eat for 10 minutes or until chicken is all the way done.

You could also opt out to use the oven. Heat oven to 375. Prepare stuffing as direction. Place chicken in 9x13 inch baking dish. Mix soup and sour cream; pour over chicken. Top with stuffing. Bake for 35 minutes.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

I got this recipe off my friend, Brenda's, cooking blog and it was FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC! The chicken had such a great taste!! I have amended a few things to clarify and to add one little step! ENJOY!

6 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons lime juice (1 large lime)
1 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (I use 2-3 chicken breasts)
8-10 flour tortillas
1 pound monterey jack and Colby Jack cheese, mixed and shredded
1 1/2 - 16 ounces cans green enchilada sauce
1 1/4 cup heavy cream

Mix the first four ingredients and toss with shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least 1/2 hour (I tossed mine together in a Ziploc bag in the morning and let it sit in the refrigerator all night). Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce with 1/4 cup heavy cream on the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese and drip about 1 tablespoon of the mixed sauce (green enchilada sauce and heavy cream) and roll. Fill pan with rolled enchiladas. Save about 1-2 cups of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the remaining cream. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with leftover cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Pasta Salad

This salad is full of veggies. With a little pepperoni and ham kick mixed in. And when you are in the mood for savory...this hits the spot, with little guilt thanks to all our garden friends. Just don't think about the dressing. Wink.

Pasta Salad
1-2 boxes of corkscrew pasta (Sometimes I will mix different shapes for fun)
1 bottle of Kraft Tuscan House Italian, or your fav Italian dressing
1 package thinly sliced ham cut into small strips
handful of pepperoni cut into small strips
1 cucumber cubed
carrots
head of broccoli
1/2 head of cauliflower
red pepper
can of medium black olives
1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Cook and cool pasta, add a small tidge of olive oil to prevent from sticking while cooling.
Cut all veggies into uniform bite size pieces and add to pasta. Add olives, parmesan cheese,ham, pepperoni and the bottle of dressing.
Salt and pepper and mix and chill.
You can add whatever else you'd like, i.e. cherry tomatoes, red onion, pine nuts and so on.

Bowtie Chicken Caesar Salad

This is my go to salad when I'm feeling salady. Its a combo of my favorite salads and dressings. You can make it your own and add what you want. But don't skimp on the dressings. I'm telling you, home made is best.

Bow tie Chicken Caesar Salad
2 head romaine lettuce chopped
2 chicken breasts grilled and sliced
1 box of bow tie pasta cooked and cooled
sliced carrots
cucumber cubed
cherry tomatoes
sliced avocado
1 can drained and sliced hearts of palm, (can be found in specialty aisle and so delicious)
yellow peppers
Parmesan cheese

**anything else that sounds good**

Toss all together and serve with creamy Caesar and balsamic vinaigrette. And of course fresh bread. Tonight's case was buttermilk biscuits and strawberry jam.

Balsamic Dressing
1 c. olive oil
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
tad of oregano or basil
Blend at full speed in blender or food processor

Creamy Caesar
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 pressed or minced garlic cloves
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1-2 tsp sugar
1-2 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
Blend at full speed in blender or food processor

Chicken Pecan

Stuffing my face with oatmeal pecan chocolate chip cookies this afternoon, I noticed this recipe on the back of the pecan package. Maybe it was my must eat salty after sweet thing but holy moly, it spoke to me. I had every ingredient except the poultry seasoning and made it there and then. Delicious, and different. 2 thumbs up. (plus it reminded me of eating open face sandwiches on English muffins at Grams in younger years :)

Chicken Pecan
recipe courtesy Fishers Nuts

3 cups cooked chicken breasts cut into julienne strips (a leftover rotisserie chicken did the job)
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp. chicken bouillon
1/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
2 cups milk
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Toasted English muffins

In saucepan melt butter. Add bouillon. Blend in flour and seasoning. Gradually add milk and lemon juice; stir constantly until thickened. Stir in celery, red pepper, chicken and pecans. Cook until heated through.
Spoon over toasted English muffins. Garnish with pecan halves.