Enchilada Bake

Recently some friends of ours purchased a new house! They were so excited about it and so were we, but there was a lot of work to be done. They had spent a few nights painting and doing lots of cleaning and work there. One night Dave and I decided to go check out the new place so I offered to bring them dinner.

I had all the ingredients on hand to toss this together and it was so good! Super simple, and very quick to make. Add to it some Mexican Rice and a salad and it's a great dinner!

Enchilada Bake

1 lb hamburger, browned
1 can of red enchilada sauce
1 can of refried beans
1 1/2 of shredded cheese
4 medium sized tortilla

1. Mix together the hamburger with the enchilada sauce.

2. In a 8" cake pan, place a tortilla inside it.

3. Top tortilla with a few Tbsp of refried beans, and 1/3 of the meat mixture.

4. Top with another tortilla, and sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese.

5. Repeat layers using all your ingredients.

6. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and gooey.

7. Let set a few minutes, and then slice like a pie and serve! I like to eat it with lettuce, sour cream, and your typical Mexican fixings.

Quick and Easy Baked Ziti

Quick and Easy Baked Ziti

1 jar of Spaghetti Sauce
1/2 lb of hamburger, browned
1/4 lb of sausage, browned and drained
3 cups mozzarella cheese
1 box (12oz) ziti, cooked as directed

1. Mix together sauce, hamburger, and suasage.

2. In a large baking dish spoon 1/4 cup of sauce onto bottom of dish.

3. Top with 1/2 the noodles.

4. Add 1/2 the sauce.

5. Sprinkle with 1/2 the cheese.

6. Repeat layers.

7. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until cheese is melted and gooey.

Chicken Potpie Crumble

I am obsessed with comfort food. It's just sooooooo gooood. Really. I love chicken potpie, chicken and dumplings, mac and cheese, all sorts of delicious tasty things that are not at all good for you. But I have to say, that chicken potpie just may be my favorite.

I love the potpies with the flaky pie crust, but I kid you not, with this crumble, you won't think twice about the pie crust. It's amazing. Warm, cozy, buttery, delicousness. I dare you try it.

Chicken Potpie Crumble

POTPIE FILLING:
1 bag of cooked shredded carrots
3 potatoes, diced and cooked
1 bag frozen sweet peas
2 cups cooked, diced chicken
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
5 cups milk
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Franks Red Hot (Yes, we really do put that "stuff" on everything.)


1. Mix together the carrots, potatoes, peas, corn, and chicken. Set aside.

2. In a saucepan, melt the butter.

3. Stir in flour.

4. Slowly stir in the milk.

5. Cook over medium heat until boiling. Boil, while stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.

6. Pour veggie and chicken mixture into the sauce. (It will look like a lot of sauce, but it get soaked up and thickens a bit during baking.)

7. Pour Potpie Filling into two large pie dishes, or one 9 x 13 pan.

8. Top with Crumble.

9. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

10. Let set for about 15 minutes before serving. Filling is HOT HOT HOT!
CRUMBLE TOPPING:
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1 stick butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper.

2. Cut in butter until it's thick and crumbly.

3. Stir in heavy cream.

4. Take dough, and using your hands, crumble it onto a large baking sheet.

5. Bake at 450 for about 10 minutes.

6. Take crumble and evenly cover your potpie filling.

Taco Tot Casserole

Taco Tot Casserole

1 lb ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 can Super Sweet Green Giant Corn
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 bag of Tator Tots
salt and pepper
additional cheese

1. Brown ground beef in a skillet. Add in taco seasoning with 1/2 cup water. Mix until combined.

2. Pour beef mixture into the bottom of a 9" pie plate.
3. Top with corn.
4. Spread sour cream over corn.
5. Sprinkle with cheese.
6. Arrange tator tots over the top of the cheese.
7. Bake at 350 until tots are browned. ( I acually didn't bake too long, maybe 25 minutes, then I tossed it under the broiler to finish off the tots. Only took a minute or two.)

8. Serve with salsa, lettuce, additional sour cream and cheese.

Creamy Chicken and Stuffing Bake

This is what we here call "winter food." Temps drop into the single digits, and it's time for some good old Minnesota "hot dishes." Got this recipe right off the back of the Stove Top Stuffing box! This meal was quickly tossed together when my cupboards were just shy of bare. I had to come up with something for dinner, and happened to have a few things on hand. Turned out great. The whole family loved it. I now always keep an extra box of stuffing in my cupboard just in case!

Creamy Chicken and Stuffing Bake

3 cups of chopped, cooked chicken
1 bag of mixed veggies, cooked (or whatever veggies you have on hand.)
1 can fat free cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Box of Stovetop Stuffing, prepared as directed on box

1. Mix together chicken, veggies, soup, sour cream, salt, and pepper.

2. Put mixture into a greased 9 x 9 inch pan or baking dish.

3. Top with prepared stuffing.

4. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Bruschetta Chicken Stuffing Bake

This recipe came straight from the back of the Stovetop Stuffing box! It's really good too! I mean seriously, can you go wrong with stuffing? I'm a HUGE fan of easy, one dish meals, and this is a keeper. The chicken always cooks up very tender and juicy, and you get just the right amount of crunch on top with the stuffing. I love the fresh taste the tomatoes give it, and calorie wise, you're not adding butter to the stuffing, so it's a pretty healthy meal! I usually like to give you a picture once we've dug in so you can see the layers of goodness. . .but we ate fast tonight! Trust me, there is chicken under there.

Bruschetta Chicken Stuffing Bake
4 Weight Watchers Points per 1 Cup

1 can (14 1/2 oz) of diced tomatoes, undrained
1 6oz pkg. Stovetop Stuffing Mix
1/2 cup water
3 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
Dried Basil
Shredded Parmesan Cheese

1. Place chicken evenly in the bottom of a small casserole. (I used a 9" square stoneware dish.)

2. Mix together tomatoes, water, garlic, and stuffing.

3. Spoon stuffing over chicken.

4. Sprinkle with basil and cheese.

5. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Sausage and Pierogi Skillet

I actually found this recipe on the back of a package of pierogis. I don't remember what brand they were, but I found it years ago. If you've never had pierogis, this is a must try. The best way I can describe it is that it's a cross between pasta, and mashed potatoes. Simply said, very tasty! Made it once, and we all really liked it. It's pretty healthy and the pierogis make it very hearty as well. I always use the reduced fat Kielbasa, or Turkey Kielbasa to cut out a few more calories. And believe it or not, my kids LOVE the cabbage in this!

Sausage and Pierogi Skillet
5 Weight Watchers Points for 1 cup cabbage/Sausage mix and 3 Pierogies.

1 round of Kielbasa sausage, sliced and quartered
1 bag of coleslaw
1 chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
Pierogis

1. In a large pan, saute sausage until browned and heated through. Set aside and keep warm.
2. In that same pan, mix together coleslaw, onion, and garlic. Saute until cabbage is tender.

3. Add in chicken broth and cook for just a few minutes until slightly reduced.

4. Mix sausage back in with cabbage/coleslaw mixture. Keep warm.

5. In another pan, cook Pierogis as directed on package. You can boil, or saute them in butter. To cut calories I boiled mine, and saute'd them in a little bit of non stick cooking spray to get them slightly browned. (I made enough for each of us to have three.)

6. Heap the cabbage and sausage mixture onto your plate, and top with Pierogis.

Creamy Chicken Cracker Bake

This is homey comfort food. Warm, creamy, crunchy, goodness. Extremely easy to make with ingredients that everyone has on hand.

Creamy Chicken Cracker Bake
3 cups cooked, diced, chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 sleeve crushed Ritz or Club crackers
1/4 cup melted butter

1. Mix together soup, sour cream, poppy seeds, salt, and pepper.

2. Stir in corn and chicken.

3. Spread in a baking dish.

4. Top with crushed crackers.

5. Pour melted butter over the top of the crackers.

6. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.