Enchilada Casserole

• Adapted from this recipe (I have yet to find a recipe by Kittencal that we didn't like!)
  1 lb ground beef
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped (opt, I didn't use)
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt ( or to taste or use white salt)1 teaspoon chili powder
• black pepper
• 1 (4 ounce) can green chilies, diced1 (15 oz) can black beans
• 12-15 (6 inch) corn tortillas ( cut into about 1-1/2-inch pieces)
• 1 3/4 cups red enchilada sauce ( I use my own recipe for this)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 cups cheddar cheese ( or use a Mexi-blend cheese)
• 
  Brown beef with onion, garlic, and pepper. Stir in spices, chilies, and beans. Pour meat mixture into a large bowl and mix with tortilla strips, enchilada sauce, sour cream, and 1 cup cheese. Dump into a greased 9x13 pan and bake, covered, 30 minutes. Uncover and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly. Garnish with chopped tomatoes, cilantro, and green onions, as desired. Serve with sour cream and chopped lettuce.
  This was delicious!

Red Enchilada Sauce

Adapted from RecipeGirl 
This smelled sooo good while it was cooking, I just wanted to drink it up!

2 T oil
2 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons chili powder, divided
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 chicken bouillon cubes


Heat oil in a large skillet to medium heat. Whisk in flour and 1 T chili powder. Reduce heat to medium and continue to whisk for about a minute, or until it starts to bubble. Gradually whisk in tomato sauce, chicken broth, 1 T chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion salt and salt. Stir until smooth, and continue simmering over medium heat about 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened. 

Onion Soup Mix

There are many variations, but this is the one I make:

3/4 cup dried minced onion

1/3 cup beef bouillon (16 cubes, crushed)

4 tsp onion powder

1 tsp celery seed

1/4 tsp sugar

Mix and store in sealed container. 4-5 T equals one package (I don't usually measure how much I use, though).

Spaghetti Sauce

Everyone needs an easy, go-to spaghetti sauce recipe! It's so easy and so much cheaper than buying it. I got this recipe from my friend Andrea and have been using it for years. It's pretty flexible, I don't measure precisely anymore and it's always good!

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, diced

Montreal Steak Seasoning (we like the Aldi brand. Or just use salt and pepper)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes

3 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce

2 T sugar

1-2 bay leaves 

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp Italian Seasoning

Fry ground beef and onions. Sprinkle with Montreal Steak Seasoning. Drain fat, then add garlic and fry for about 30 seconds. Add diced tomatoes and if you have time, let fry for awhile to reduce the liquid (if not, drain the diced tomatoes first). Add tomato sauce, sugar, and spices. Simmer for as long as you have until dinner, or at least 20 minutes. Serve over cooked spaghetti noodles. Delicious with Pat in Pan Breadsticks!

Pat in Pan Breadsticks

We love these quick and easy breadsticks. One reason is that since there isn't oil in the dough, I don't feel guilty drenching them in butter! :)

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 T yeast
3 T brown sugar
1 t salt
3 1/2-4 cups flour

1/4 cup butter, melted
Desired topping (Cinnamon sugar or Parmesan cheese & garlic salt)

Mix water, yeast, brown sugar, and salt. Stir in and then knead in the flour, one cup at  a time. Let dough rest for 5 minutes. Pour and spread half of the butter in a jelly roll pan (large cookie sheet). Place dough in the centre of the pan. Let rest for about 5 minutes, then spread the dough flat to cover the whole sheet (using your hands instead of a rolling pin. Just gently push with your fingers and fist. If it won't stay when you push it, let it rest a couple minutes more).

Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 3 strips lengthwise and about 12 strips the other way. Spread remaining butter on top of the breadsticks. Sprinkle with desired toppings. Place pan in 170 degree oven for about 7-10 minutes to let them rise, then increase heat to 350 and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden.

(Picture from and method based on this recipe. She has great pictures if my instructions don't make sense! I accidentally cut my dough before adding toppings the last time I made them and liked how I didn't have to re-cut the sticks after baking, since the butter that dripped down made them not stick to each other as much. You can do it either way.)

Thai Turkey

We have a lot of turkey leftover to use up from Thanksgiving (Canadian), and we LOVED this. Restaurant taste, and it only took about 30 minutes to make (and that was with two crying children pulling at my legs and trying to push me away from the stove, and begging to be picked up, and me giving in once in awhile)! You could easily make it with chicken and whatever vegetables you like in your stir fry. It's the sauce that shines. I'm even going to try it as the sauce for fried rice. Go try it right now--it's that good!
(Adapted from this recipe. Photo is also from that recipe) 

• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoon honey (I may try subbing brown sugar)
• 2-3 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 teaspoons olive oil (or sesame)
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (opt--I left it out but Andy would have liked it)
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon salad oil
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 2 medium bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 2-3 cups leftover turkey, coarsely shredded

Mix first 9 ingredients in small bowl and set aside. Heat oil in skillet over high heat. Saute onions and peppers until tender and golden. Add turkey and pour in sauce. Heat through and serve over rice.

Artisan-style Pizza Crust

This is really good, tastes-like-it's-from-a-restaurant pizza. Mmm! We don't have a stone, so we pre-bake the crust for 7-9 min prior to adding the toppings.

Recipe straight from my friend Rachael's blog

(makes 4 12-inch pizzas)
2 1/4 t. active dry yeast
2 c. warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
5 to 5 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. fine sea salt
Extra-virgin olive oil, for greasing bowl

Dissolve yeast in warm water, let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in 3 c. flour and the salt, stirring until smooth. Stir in additional 2 c. flour, adding flour (up to 1/2 c.) 1 T. at a time, stirring until dough comes away from bowl but is still sticky (I use my KitchenAid stand mixer for all this).

Turn dough out of bowl and onto a lightly floured surface, kneading with floured hands. Fold the dough back over itself, repeating until it's easily to handle and less sticky, about ten times. Knead normally until dough is smooth, elastic, and soft, but still a little tacky, about 10 minutes.

Shape dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl; turn to coat. Cover with plastic, let rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume (2-3 hours; when pressed with finger the indent should remain).

Place pizza stone in oven and preheat to 500 for an hour. Scrape dough out of bowl onto floured surface, cut into 4 pieces, and shape into balls. Dust with flour, and cover with plastic. Let rest 20-30 minutes until dough relaxes and almost doubles. Turn over a baking sheet (we like jelly roll pans) and cover it liberally with cornmeal.

Holding top edge of 1 dough ball in both hands, let bottom edge touch work surface. Carefully move hands around edge to form a circle, as if turning a wheel. Hold dough on back of your hand, letting its weight stretch into a 12-inch round (Neil likes to toss it at this point, but I always ruin it, so if he's not home I just stretch it).

Transfer dough to inverted baking sheet (on cornmeal side). Arrange toppings, then carefully slide the dough off the baking sheet and onto the hot stone. We find that this generally requires two people with metal spatulas (see picture). Bake pizza for 12 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden brown; remove from oven with peel and serve hot!