His and Her What's for Dinner? Wednesday

This is our 400th post! That's a pretty cool milestone.

Source

Our dinners this week are all ones we have blogged about recently. Rather than repeat those same links, I thought I would go back through the blog archives and find a recipe that Sean shared that I love! 

When I know I am going to have a long day, full of meetings or stress, I always ask Sean to make his enchiladas. They are delicious and they hit the spot each and every time. Back in February, he shared the recipe and the how-tos of the dish. They are much easier than you would think.

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I am a huge fan of Mexican food (you can read about it and my other favourite foods here in America here). Although it may look difficult, Mexican food can be pretty easy to make from scratch. I used to buy the El Paso Chicken Enchilada Kit, but figured out it would be just as easy and a lot cheaper to make it from scratch. Here's how I make enchiladas:

   

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and cook about 1-2 minutes on each side until just brown. It's ok that the chicken will still be pink in the middle.

One of the times I made Enchiladas, I realized I forgot to buy the taco seasoning packet. Amanda found the recipe online (link below) and we have been using it ever since. I wrote it on the bag so I would always know where it is. You need 2-3 tbsp for this recipe.

Cook the chicken in the taco seasoning and a little water until the seasoning coats the chicken and you cook out a little of the water.

 Put a small amount of cheese on each of the tortillas.

Place about 4-6 pieces of chicken on each tortilla and then roll up.

Place the enchiladas into a pan. Drizzle the enchilada sauce on top and then sprinkle with cheese. Cover with aluminum foil. Place into a 425F / 220C oven for 24 minutes.

 After they cool a little bit, remove the aluminum foil and enjoy!

Here is the full recipe:

Ingredients:
1- 1 1/2 LBS / 450-700gm of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
1 packet or 2-3 TBSP Taco seasoning (or use this recipe to make your own)
6 flour tortillas
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese (I normally use a Mexican blend)
1/2 cup Enchilada sauce (or you can use the dry powder mix or make your own) 

To keep things simple you can use the taco seasoning packets and enchilada sauces from your local supermarket, but I recommend making your own. It's pretty easy and a lot cheaper (with a lot less sodium) than the supermarket brands. Plus you can adjust the spiciness of the seasoning and sauce to suit your taste. I have provided links to the recipes I use from Allrecipes.com, but you can use any recipe that appeals to you.

1: Preheat the oven to 425F / 220C.
2: Cut up the chicken into bite-sized pieces and place into a skillet. Cook the chicken, on each side, for just a minute or two until the outside is just white. This will keep the chicken nice and juicy. The insides of the chicken should still be pink.
3: Put the water into the skillet along with the taco seasoning. Mix until the seasoning is well mixed over the chicken and then remove from heat.
4: Place a small amount of cheese on each tortilla. 
5: Place about 4-6 pieces of chicken onto each tortilla and roll up. Place them in a greased 9x13 inch / 22x33cm pan, seam side down. Place any excess chicken on the side of the pan, next to the enchiladas. 
6: Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place into oven.
7: Bake for approx 24 minutes or until chicken is 165F / 74C

That's it for a delicious and easy chicken enchilada dinner. Ditch the kit and make your own chicken enchiladas tonight!
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See what I mean? Easy and delicious. Let me know if you try them, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Happy Eating,

His and Her What's for Dinner? Wednesday

This is Amanda's last full week of the 2013-2014 school year. When planning the menu for dinner this week, she asked for comfort food to help ease the long days and piles of paperwork. This is what we came up with...

20 Minute Skillet Pork Lo Mein

 

Chinese food is a staple in our house. We love it! Our fingers are crossed that this is as good as take-out.


One Pan Italian Pasta Bake

 

Amanda is loving the Six Sister's Stuff recipes. They are quick and easy, and all of them so far have been delicious. This one is a one-pot-wonder with chicken, pasta, and cheese...sounds right up our alley!


"Point-less" Meals - Lemon and Rosemary Chicken

 

Sean's favorite meals all include chicken. This one is easy and tasty. Two great things!!!


Chicken Parmesan Bake

 

Amanda's favorite meal at Olive Garden is chicken Parmesan. What's not to love? This pasta bake, if it includes those same flavors, should be equally delish.


What recipes are you trying this week? Which one of these dishes sounds best to you?


Happy Cooking,

 

His and Her What's for Dinner Wednesday

Thanks to Pinterest, Facebook, and our blogging friends, finding new and delicious recipes for dinner is as easy as click-click-click. There just seems to be a plethora of amazing and creative ideas for meals out there right now.

Here's what's for dinner this week...

Country Breakfast Casserole - Six Sisters Stuff

We have started having breakfast for dinner at least once a week. This casserole looks ahhhh-mazing!

Homemade Fish Sticks - Brown Eyed Baker

We love the idea of homemade fish sticks. We can't wait to try this one!

Teriyaki Chicken Casserole - Oh, Sweet Basil

Teriyaki Chicken is a favorite of both of ours. This one should be good!

White Chicken Chili - Brown Eyed Baker

We have been on the hunt for a great White Chicken Chili recipe. We have tried a few and hated each one. Our fingers are crossed for this one to be delish!

Dreamy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge - Hungry Girl

On Friday night we eat dinner with our community/small group from church - pot luck style. Since Amanda loves to bake, she decided to bring dessert to the group this week. (She will probably bring dessert most weeks.)

What recipes are you loving this week?

Happy Eating,

His and Her Wonderful Wednesday - Chicken Schnitzel Wraps

Last year we discovered a great little place to eat near my sister's house in Australia. I was starving and we kept seeing these sign for a place called Mr. Schnitzel. My sister had not been there before but we decided to give it a try and I am so glad we did! They serve a variety of chicken schnitzel wraps which are now one of my favourite foods. We have been sad that we haven't been able to find anything similar back in the States so I set out to try and recreate it in my own kitchen and squash my Mr. Schnitzel craving once and for all. Read on to see if I was successful or whether I need to just book a ticket to Australia to get the perfect wrap.

All of the ingredients lined up and ready to go.

Thin sliced chicken is dipped in beaten eggs then breadcrumbs to create the breading.

Place chicken in a skillet on Med-Med high that has a generous amount of vegetable oil.

Cook until fully cooked and is golden brown on the outside. Remove from pan and cut each breast into about 4-5 pieces.

We made two different wraps. This is the Mexican wrap. Place cheese and about 4-5 pieces of chicken on the wrap.

Add any additional toppings that you desire. Options can include salsa, shredded carrots,  lettuce and sour cream. Then roll up the wrap and serve with your side dish of choice

For a Hawaiian wrap place a few slices of ham and cheese on the wrap.

Then add the chicken and pineapple. Add any additional toppings that you desire. Then roll up the wrap and serve with your side dish of choice

Completed Mexican wrap served with Fries

Completed Hawaiian wrap served with Fries

Making these wraps was really easy and is pretty close to the real thing. We chose not to deep fry the chicken to make it a little healthier and to save a few calories but you can if you want to. We chose to recreate our favourite wraps (Mexican for Amanda and Hawaiian for Sean) but you can easily customize it to include your favourite toppings. I have included the toppings for the Mexican and Hawaiian wraps to give you some ideas.

Ingredients. Makes about 4 wraps

 1.5 LB/600g Boneless chicken breasts sliced to about 0.25 inch/6mm (if you can find thin sliced chicken breast in the meat department that makes it easier)

Approx 1 cup of breadcrumbs.

2 eggs.

4 Burrito size flour tortillas.

2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil.

Toppings for Mexican Wrap. (per wrap)

1/8 cup shredded carrot

1/8 cup shredded lettuce

1/8 cup salsa of your choice

2 tablespoons sour cream

1/4 cup of shredded cheese

Toppings for Mexican Wrap. (per wrap)

4 slices of ham

1/4 cup of pineapple pieces.

1/4 cup of shredded cheese

1: Slice the chicken so it is 0.25 inch/6mm thick (if you can buy the chicken sliced thin at your grocery store this will make things a lot easier).

2: Place the breadcrumbs into a bowl and the beaten eggs into another bowl. Dunk the chicken in the eggs, then into the breadcrumbs. Make sure that the chicken is well coated with breadcrumbs.

3: Place chicken into a large skillet that has a generous coating of vegetable oil and cook until the chicken is fully cooked and has a golden brown exterior.

4: Remove chicken from heat and cut each breast into 4-5 pieces.

5: Place the toppings of your choice on the tortilla. 

For the Mexican wrap.

Place cheese on tortilla, then chicken, salsa, carrots, lettuce and sour cream.

For the Hawaiian wrap. 

Place 4 slices of ham on the tortilla, then cheese, chicken and pineapple.

6: Roll up the tortilla and place on a baking pan and place into a 350F/176C oven for 2-3 minutes to melt the cheese and warm the tortillas.

7: Remove from oven and serve with fries or your favourite side dish.

It's not quite the same as the real thing, but it is pretty close and a lot cheaper than a trip to Australia just for a chicken wrap. Try this recipe out for yourself and experiment with your own toppings if Mexican or Hawaiian is not your thing. 

Let us know what toppings you would use if you made this recipe. If you try these wraps, we would love to hear what you thought of them.

Happy eating!

 

His and Her Wonderful Wednesday - Chicken Enchiladas from Scratch

I am a huge fan of Mexican food (you can read about it and my other favourite foods here in America here). Although it may look difficult to make, Mexican food can be pretty easy to make from scratch. I used to buy the El Paso Chicken Enchilada Kit, but I figured out it would be just as easy and a lot cheaper to make it from scratch myself. Check it out for yourself to see just how easy it is.

   

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and cook about 1-2 minutes on each side until just brown. It's ok that the chicken is still pink in the middle.

One of the times I made Enchiladas, I realized I forgot to buy the taco seasoning packet. Amanda found the recipe online (link below) and we have been using it ever since. I wrote it on the bag so I would always know where it is. You need 2-3 tbsp for the recipe.

Cook the chicken in the taco seasoning and a little water until the seasoning coats the chicken and you cook out a little of the water.

 Put a small amount of cheese on each of the tortillas.

Place about 4-6 pieces of chicken on each tortilla and then roll up.

Place the enchiladas into a pan. Drizzle the enchilada sauce on top and then sprinkle with cheese. Cover with aluminium foil. Place into a 425F / 220C oven for 24 minutes.

 After they cool a little bit, remove the aluminum foil and enjoy!

Here is the full recipe:

Ingredients:
1- 1 1/2 LBS / 450-700gm of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
1 packet or 2-3 TBSP Taco seasoning (or use this recipe to make your own)
6 flour tortillas
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese (I normally use a Mexican blend)
1/2 cup Enchilada sauce (or you can use the dry powder mix or make your own) 

To keep things simple you can use the taco seasoning packets and enchilada sauces from your local supermarket but I recommend making your own. It's pretty easy and a lot cheaper (with a lot less sodium) than the supermarket brands. Plus you can adjust the spiciness of the seasoning and sauce to suit your taste. I have provided links to the recipes I use from Allrecipes.com, but you can use any recipe that appeals to you.

1: Preheat the oven to 425F / 220C.
2: Cut up the chicken into bite-sized pieces and place into a skillet. Cook the chicken, on each side, for just a minute or two until the outside is just white. This will keep the chicken nice and juicy. The insides of the chicken should still be pink.
3: Put the water into the skillet along with the taco seasoning. Mix until the seasoning is well mixed over the chicken and then remove from heat.
4: Place a small amount of cheese on each tortilla. 
5: Place about 4-6 pieces of chicken onto each tortilla and roll up. Place them in a greased 9x13 inch / 22x33cm pan, seam side down. Place any excess chicken on the side of the pan, next to the enchiladas. 
6: Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place into oven.
7: Bake for approx 24 minutes or until chicken is 165F / 74C

That's it for a delicious and easy chicken enchilada dinner. Ditch the kit and make your own chicken enchiladas tonight!

His and Her Wonderful Wednesday - Banana Bread Taste Test

We love making new recipes for dinner, trying new baked good items, knitting and sewing fun projects, and testing out new decorating ideas at home. With all of that going on, we decided to join in the fun over at Kristen's blog -  Wonderful at Home. She hosts a link-up each week where we can showcase some of the fun new things we are trying around here.

Here's the story of how and why we ended up baking four loaves of banana bread in one week - three on the same day!
When we went down to South Carolina over Christmas break, my sister had a banana bread recipe she wanted to make. I offered to make it because I like to bake and Jenn, my sister, had to work. The recipe was super easy and amazingly delicious. Now, I don't like banana bread usually, but this one made me a believer. While home on a snow day last week, I tried the recipe again, because we had bananas going bad and I didn't want to throw them away. Again, the recipe turned out perfectly. 

But --- maybe it was because of the boring, cabin fever inducing snow outside or maybe I was channeling my inner Martha Stewart - I decided to see if I could find variations of banana bread that would make that base recipe even more tasty. I found three that I liked the sound of, but I couldn't choose between them. Sean agreed that they all sounded good, so we decided to make them all.

Once that was decided and we realized that meant we would have three loaves of bread at the end of a day, we thought about who we could share them with. That quickly turned into the idea of a taste test. We would give some friends a slice of each and ask them to choose the one they liked the best. 

Here are the recipes and results!

This is the base recipe for the banana bread - also known as the best banana bread we have ever tasted. 

 

I couldn't resist taking a bite as soon as I cut it!

Click here for the recipe from Simply Recipes. 

For all the variations, we used the same Simply Recipes Banana Bread base and only added walnuts to that batter or toppings to that batter. We did not use the base batters included in this links.

Variation #1: We added 3/4 of a cup of walnuts to the batter and a flour/sugar/butter topping.

For the purposes of our taste tests, this was known as "Bread A".

Click here for the recipe for this topping.  

Variation #2: We added 3/4 of a cup of walnuts to the batter and a cinnamon/sugar topping.

For the purposes of our taste tests, this was known as "Bread B".

Click here for the recipe for this topping. 

Variation #3: We added a brown sugar/spices/butter topping.

For the purposes of our taste tests, this was known as "Bread C".

Click here for the recipe for this topping.

This is what each person who agreed to be our guinea pigs and taste testers was given (it is very obvious that we both are Type-A with OCD tendencies??? haha)...

...and here are the results:
Sean - I preferred Bread "B" because I like the sweet, cinnamon topping. I definitely prefer the bread to have walnuts.

Amanda - I preferred Bread "B" also. I am a sucker for cinnamon and loved the crunch the sugar and cinnamon added to the top. I also think the bread must always be made with walnuts from now on.

Jill (friend/coworker) - I preferred Bread "B" because of the cinnamon topping, and think the walnuts are a must. If Bread "C" had walnuts, I would have chosen that one.

Emily (Jill's 6 year old daughter) - Emily tried only one of the breads because she was full from dinner. :) She picked Bread "B" because her first cousin's name starts with that letter. How cute is she?!? She liked what she tried, so we are counting that as a vote for Bread "B".

Alisha (friend/coworker) - I preferred Bread "B" because it was a sweeter topping. I can go either way with the walnuts.

Jesse (husband of Alisha/friend)  - I preferred Bread "B". (A man of few words. haha)

So, according to our very informal and not-so-scientific taste test, the preferred topping was "B" - the cinnamon and sugar topping. It also seems to be fairly universal that walnuts are a necessity for the batter.

This was really fun! We had a good time scoping out different recipes and seeing all the variations out there. We also have fun quizzing our friends on their favorites and what they liked/disliked. We think we should do this again. What recipe do you think should we taste test? Brownies? Cookies? Share your suggestions and maybe you can be one of our next taste testers.

Happy Baking,