Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

I made this recipe and then we ate it for dinner on Friday and lunch on Sunday, and I never took a picture! I can't believe I did that! It turned out pretty good, but I've already decided the next time I make it I will use a seasoning on the chicken. It was great, just a little under-flavored (if that is a word!)

Ingredients:
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 Tbs. diced green chilis
1 cup sour cream
3/4 lb. cheddar cheese
3 boneless chicken breast, cut up and cooked
12 small flour tortillas

Directions:
Combine soup, chilis, sour cream, chicken and most of the cheese.
Fill each tortilla with mixture and roll up.
Place filled tortillas in greased pan.
Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
Cover and refridgerate overnight.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Goodbye Shannon & Kari

Shannon and Kari are not actually military wives, but they have been here for 6 weeks visiting Betsy, so they have become a part of our little group. They are great ladies and a lot of fun to hang out with. They will be missed!

We had a big farewell day, starting otu with bowling!
Then we went to dinner at BEFed, then gathered at Katie's house for wine and desserts. Here's the whole crew.

My favorite Italian wine...so far.

We will miss you, Shannon and Kari!

Jake's Favorite Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I sent these cookies to Jake while he was in Iraq and recieved rave reviews. I decided to dig out the recipe again to take to a going away on Saturday. What I love about this recipe is that you mix everything in only one bowl, so less dishes!

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

3 cups oatmeal

2 cups choc. chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together until creamy.

Mix in eggs and vanilla.

Mix in flour, salt, and baking soda.

Mix in oatmeal and chocolate chips.

Bake 10-15 minutes.

I'm excited to get back to the states, where ovens can heat baked goods more evenly. Even by rotating the pan during cooking, a few do get a little burnt.

Apple Crisp

I remember how good the crumbly crust was when I made the blackberry cobbler, so I decided to try that same recipe with apples. I sliced up alot of apples, so I ended up doubling the topping recipe to cover it better.

Ingredients:
Topping:
1 cup Bisquick
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup oats
1/2 cup butter
Filling:
4 apples (peeled and thinly sliced)
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Toss apples in sugar, flour, salt, and cinnamon.
Pour the filling directly into the pan.
Mix Bisquick, brown sugar, and oats.
Cut in butter until crumbly.
Top filling with crumbles.
Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Grandma Owen's Caramel Apple Pie

As I stated in a previous post, Jake recently bought 5 kilos of apples. I found this recipe that my Grandma sent me for my bridal shower. We still have 25 apples left though, so I'll still take recipes!

Ingredients:

2 refridgerated pie crusts

6-8 apples (peeled and sliced thinly)

2/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp butter (melted)

1 bottle caramel ice cream topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Toss apples and all dry ingredients together.

Lay one crust in the pan.

Pour in filling.

Drizzle with melted butter.

Drizzle with caramel topping.

Top with other crust and press together edges of crusts.

Cook for about 30 minutes.

Jake wanted to get in on the work, so I had him slice the apples.

Jake LOVED it! We sliced too many apples, so I'm planning to make another pie tomorrow once I get another crust, so next time I might add some cinnamon. Jake told me I'm crazy and that it is perfect just the way we made it tonight!

We made a run to the gelateria down the road to get some vanilla gelato, and drizzled on some extra caramel.

Green Beans and Mushrooms

I bought green beans at the market, and I bought them right before the stand was about to close, so they gave me a huge bag full. I'm taking this opportunity to try some different ways to prepare green beans. Here is my first experiment.

Ingredients:
5 mushrooms (sliced)

two handfuls of green beans

a few tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Toss the mushrooms and green beans in the oil.

Heat in a skillet until mushrooms are brown.

I seasoned with minced onions, pepper, and salt.

The mushrooms were VERY good, but the beans were a little under cooked. Next time I'll probably cook the green beans on their own for a while before adding the mushrooms.

Apple Recipes Needed

One of the Italians that Jake works with owns an orchard, so Jake bought 8 kilos of apples for 4 euros.

Please send me your favorite recipes involving fresh apples!

Tamale Pie

I got this recipe from the internet. I can't remember what website.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground beef

2 packets taco seasoning

1 small can olives

1 small can green chilis

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 small boxes corn muffin mix (milk and eggs also needed as directed on the box)

Directions:

Brown and drain the ground beef.

Mix taco seasoning with beef as directed on the packets.

Allow water to boil out.

Meanwhile, mix corn bread as directed on the boxes.

Add olives and chilis to the beef.

Pour meat mixture into a casserole.

Cover with shredded cheese.

Cover with corn muffin mix.

Cook at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until corn bread is done.

Jake really liked this dish. He said he liked that it is hot and then you get a nice taste of sweet with the corn bread. I think it ended up VERY hot! I used the hottest taco seasoning packet, olives in jalapeno juice, and mexican velveeta. I may have overdone it on the spicy-ness!

We are silly!

Today, we bought a body pillow at the BX. Of course we had to play with the big bag it came in!

Jake calls this Mags in a Bags

Carrot Cake Bites

I got a new mini muffin pan and tart shaper from Pampered Chef, so I decided to try it out by making carrot cake bites. No recipe here, I just used Betty Crocker Carrot Cake Mix and Betty Crocker Cream Cheese Icing, Jake's favorite.

They were so cute and very yummy!

Oktoberfest

On Saturday, we went to Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest. It was a great time!
Waiting for the bus at 2:00am!

Our first stop, the Paulaner tent.

View from inside the tent.

The best chicken I have ever tasted!

Jake's first beer for the day.

It was my birthday, so I got a birthday cookie!

A huge statue! Seriously the biggest I've ever seen!

A pretty good view to show how BIG Oktoberfest is, and this was only one of the lanes!

We did get away from Oktoberfest for a while to explore Munich.

Waiting for the bus at 10:00 pm.

It was a LONG day...but we took it slow and survived. We both said we would probably never feel the need to go again, but it is nice to say we have.

Fall Decor

I love fall. It is finally starting to feel like fall in Italy. I could easily still run around in shorts during the sunny part of the day, but the mornings and evenings are starting to feel very chilly. I love it! I'm excited to see the leaves start to change color. I might have to get Jake to take me on some roadtrips in the next few weeks to get some pictures.

To get me in the fall mood, I made a small arrangement for our coffee table. As soon as Jake got home the day I bought the stuff, he said "What's the crap?" Guys just don't understand the importance of having pretty decorations!

He does admit he thought it was a waste of money because he thought it was only for Halloween, but after I convinced him that it is BROWN and orange, not black and orange, and that we could use it through Thanksgiving, AND that I can reuse it year after year, he seems to like it more now!

Loaded Baked Potato Chowder

I got this recipe from Pampered Chef.

3 large baking potatoes (or I just used a bag of Ore Ida Steam & Mash)
3 cups milk
4 oz cream cheese
2 tbsp butter
3 green onions (sliced)
4 oz cheddar cheese (grated)
salt & pepper to taste
4 strips bacon (cooked and chopped)
1 steam bag of broccoli

The recipe says to microwave potatoes, then chop. I just used the steam and mash and microwaved then poured the potato cubes into the soup mixture. The only down side to using the steam and mash was that I put them in while the mixture was cooking and they were stirred to much and mashed a little too much. Next time I will wait and put them in at the last minute so they will stay cubed.

Whisk cream cheese, milk, and butter.
Cook in a pan until warm.

Meanwhile, steam broccoli in the microwave and fry the bacon.
Add in cheese, onions, bacon, and broccoli.

Add in potato cubes.

We enjoyed our soup with grilled cheese.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

My mom used to make chicken salad alot when I was still living at home, so I asked Jake if he would like for me to make some. He claims that he doesn't ever remember trying any, so of course I had to make it!

Mom never used a recipe or any set measurements, so I didn't really keep track of how much of each ingredient I put in. As she said though, you can't really mess it up!

4 chicken breast (boiled and cubed)
2 spatula scoops of miracle whip
2 spatula scoops of sour cream
a few teaspoons of cumin **correction...it was actually curry powder that I used** (they both start with a C, I get confused by spice names)
about 20 grapes (quartered and "de-seeded")
2 stalks of celery (cut)
a handful of pecans

Mix it all together and serve on bread or croissants or in wraps.