A Much Needed Post (includes recipes for Stroganoff and Enchilada Chicken)

I have officially been slacking on the blog front; I have made a few recipes, accomplished the Iron Girl (yay!) and other than that just have been enjoying my family's company (who are currently wrestling on the living room floor on top of all the couch cushions).  Since I am no longer training for anything, and won't be for a long while; I have decided to start working on my art again.  It has been pushed to the side for a long time, only occasionally do I actually make it into my studio or take out my sketchbook.  I do, however take much joy in painting with my son and making and trying different things with him. 

www.genaw.com

Anyway, some of the food I have made this month are; salsa, of course such a summer staple; beef/mushroom stroganoff; and slow cooker enchilada chicken.  I have been sucked in to Pinterest just like most of the world and I love it!  So the chicken and the stroganoff were make, freeze then just throw in the slow cooker meals, so many people have posting about making many meals in one day then freezing so you can either just throw in your slow cooker or in the oven.  I personally LOVE make ahead meals. 

So the chicken dish was actually taken based on inspired from Pinterest, my friend actually reposted it and it looked really good, the recipe originally said to bake in the oven.  I put it all in the slow cooker, but I think it would have been much better baked in the oven or maybe for less time in the slow cooker. My chicken dried out a little bit, but it was still delicious! (The recipe reflects the lower cook time in the slow cooker.)

Enchilada Chicken

1 pound chicken breasts (I used chicken tenders)

1 15-oz can enchilada sauce

3 tbsp taco seasoning

1 cup shredded cheese, more or less depending on how much you like cheese

6-8 flour or corn tortillas OR 1 cup rice 

your favorite taco toppings; onions, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, cilantro, etc.

Place the chicken in the slow cooker, or baking dish, sprinkle chicken with taco seasoning then cover with the enchilada sauce. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or on low for 4-6 hours.  Serve with tortillas or over rice and top with your favorite toppings.  

Tenders ended up being the perfect size for wrapping in a tortilla, I would highly recommend using them.  You could also omit the cheese when cooking or as a topping, but we like cheese in our house so we used on both. Next time I make this I plan on putting everything in a baking dish, you can place chicken, seasoning and sauce in a freezer bag; freeze, just thaw overnight when ready to bake.

Beef/Mushroom Stroganoff

(This can easily become a vegetarian dish, just add more mushrooms and omit the beef)

1 pound round steak, cut into strips (or a pound of stew meat)

1 pound mushrooms, sliced, use the ones you like or a variety (I used crimini)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 beef bouillon cube, or a mushroom base such as Better than Bouillon 

1 cup warm water

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 cup sour cream

Place the beef, mushrooms, onions and garlic in a large freezer bag. In a small bowl mix the warm water, bouillon and soy sauce; stir just until the bouillon breaks down. Pour into the bag. Add the salt and pepper.  Seal the bag and carefully massage the ingredients together. At this point you can freeze until you are ready to use, or you can dump the mix into a slow cooker.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours, in the last 30 minutes add the sour cream, stir to combine.  You may need to turn the slow cooker to high for a few minutes to heat the sour cream.  Serve over egg noodles, GF noodles or even rice.

The flavor in this was really good, the only comment I received was that my husband would have liked it a little thicker.  I was looking around to see what I could use to thicken it up a bit and a lot of recipes call for cream of mushroom soup, I would rather find something different so more will come on this. (And yes, I know I can just add cornstarch or flour)

Now, for the last little bit...

The Salsa

 I don't really have a recipe. I did have some help!  I cut up tomatoes (I used Mr Stripey's because that is what I have in my garden), two jalapenos, an onion, a clove or two of garlic into large chunks and put into a large container.  I took some of the chunks and cut into smaller pieces and set aside (this was just in case my helper went over board with the food processor.)  I let my helper process the large chunks, we then added cilantro and salt.  As a side note, he did process just a little too much.  But it was yummy!