Birthdays

Today is R's birthday! Can you guess how old he is? By all his greys I'd say about 52. ;) He's scowling at me, but it's all in good fun. His beard makes him look older as well, especially now since it's sprinkled with the grey that has fallen from his head. In honor of his birthday, I made his requested favorite meal. This post is taking a little different direction than my previous posts because I'd like to share this meal with you.

A friend in college gave R this recipe for chicken enchiladas and I've made some simple and healthy K twists to it.

Recipe For: Chicken Enchiladas                                                  From the Kitchen Of: K

*3-5 chicken breasts (depending on size, to yield about 3 cups cooked chicken), frozen or thawed 

*1 Tbsp. olive oil 

*1 onion, chopped         

*2 cloves garlic, minced                          

*4 mushrooms, chopped

*1 bell pepper, chopped              

*4 oz. can chopped green chilies           

*14 oz. can (or 2 10 oz. cans) enchilada sauce

*Several leaves kale (or about 1/2 cup loose leaf spinach), de-stalked, chopped                   

*handful brown sugar or several squirts Agave nectar 

*Seasonings (cayenne pepper, salt, “Master C’s,” cilantro, pepper, etc.)

*2 cups grated pepper jack cheese (Cheddar or Colby Jack work great as well) 

*8-10 flour tortillas

-Thaw chicken if frozen. Cook in skillet with olive oil and chop into small pieces or shred. (Can also buy rotisserie chicken and shred). Mix in onion, garlic, mushrooms, and bell pepper with the chicken and olive oil. Add green chilies and enchilada sauce. Bring to boil. Add kale/spinach and mix until combined and wilted. Add seasonings and brown sugar/Agave and adjust to taste (this dish should be spicy). Stir in 1 cup cheese. Microwave tortillas in damp paper towel for 15 seconds. Fill tortillas with 1/3 cup chicken mix, roll up, and put in slightly greased 9 x 13 pan. Pour any remaining chicken mix over tortillas. Sprinkle rest of cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 

(May add/subtract certain ingredients to fit tastes).

 <Chicken mix ready to put in tortillas>

 <Place about 1/3 cup in each, I eyeball this>

 <All lined up and ready for baking!>

 <Final touches>

 <Finished product>

 <Be jealous of my fancy traveling dinnerware (everyone will want green plastic plates and aluminum foil baking dishes!>

When we were dating, I got to experience R's Grandma's famous apple pie. For years she just baked it without using a recipe, but her children chastised her enough to formalize a recipe so they could continue her tradition and bake it themselves. She passed this special recipe on to me and it's R's favorite dessert.

Recipe For: Apple Pie                                                                     From the Kitchen Of: Grandma B

*pie crust (can be store bought or homemade)-when you're traveling storebought is preferable due to lack of counter space and ingredients for pie crust :)

*6 cups apples, any variety, sliced (can be peeled or not)         

*1/4 cup brown sugar    

*1 ¼ cup white sugar     

*1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

* ¾ cup flour      

* ¼ cup whipping cream                              

*2 Tbsp. butter                

CRUMB TOPPING:           

* ½ cup butter (softened)                  

* ½ cup brown sugar      

*1 cup flour       

* ½ cup oatmeal

*1 tsp. cinnamon

-Place pie crust in 9-10 inch pie pan. Dust with flour to soak excess moisture. Mix all inside ingredients and place in pie crust. Place pats of the 2 Tbsp. butter on top. For the crumb topping, cut half of butter into flour using pastry blender. Mix remaining ingredients (it will be a chunky consistency). Sprinkle on top after blended. (Mixture may peak and seem as though it will be too much, it will cook down slightly, just press gently into apple mixture). Bake at 360 degrees for 1 hour. May spill over.

Using a variety of kinds (Jonagold, Gala, Braeburn, Macintosh) is best. Serves well warm with vanilla ice cream.

 <Ingredients-please don't judge me for the amount of Walmart products shown here, we have very unfortunate limited options-also notice "pats" of butter on top>

 <Finished product with more fancy bakeware!>

 <Unhealthy portion sizes>

<Yum>

I hope if you try these recipes, you let me know how it went! I will continue to share stories, adventures, and now recipes with you in the future! Tonight we're heading to Denver Oktoberfest for some fun German dining and drinking and tomorrow to Fall Family Days for some pumpkin picking, hayrides, and probably more pie eating. Enjoy what the Lord has given you!

With much love,

K

Unfortunately, I'm unable to attach the files from my recipe cards directly to this. If you'd like them they're on 5x8 index cards that can be placed in a binder. Please leave a comment here or on facebook or email me if you'd like to make a copy. Otherwise, I'm sorry, but you'll have to do it the old fashioned way and handwrite them. :) If that's too hard, just copy and paste the directions to a Word document and print that way.