Tortellini Taco Bake

He wanted taco's, I wanted Pasta...  A marriage is about meeting halfway, so behold the Tortellini Taco Bake! 

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 package of cream cheese, softened

2 cups of taco cheese

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 lb ground beef

12oz (ish) of cheese tortellini

Directions

Brown your beef in a frying pan. When complete add taco seasoning (follow direction on back of taco seasoning)

Add your tortellini to a large pot of boiling water. Cook until your tortellini's starts to float, then drain water. 

In a large mixing bowl add your cream cheese and 1 cup of your taco cheese. Mix together.

Once you meat is finished add to the bowl of cheese. Mix together well. The heat of the meat will start to melt the cheese.

After your meat and cheese is mixed together, add your tortellini and slowly fold into the mixture. The tortellini  might be a little fragile so fold carefully. 

Once everything is mixed together, pour into a baking dish and add the remaining 1 cup of taco cheese to the top. 

Cover with foil and cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, remove foil and put back in oven for an additional 5-10 minutes until your cheese started to brown.

Chicken Enchilada Soup!

On a cold fall night there is nothing more I want than soup. I was getting tired of the same old stuff, so back to my family roots I went and pulled out a recipe for Chicken Enchilada Soup. The picture above is the basic things you need. You can add whatever seasonings you want to make it spicier.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
2 cans of black beans
2 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes (I blend them because I don't like chunky tomatoes) 
29 oz of Enchilada sauce
26 oz of Cream of chicken condensed soup
1 can of corn
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
(I added 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper for a little more spice) 


Directions
Place your 4 chicken breast in a pot of water. Boil approx 30 minutes until chicken is completely cooked. 
While chicken is cooking place all your beans, corn, and tomatoes in a crock pot or a large pot on the stove. Make sure to drain the bean and corn juices. 
In a separate bowl mix together your cream of chicken and enchilada sauce. Once completely mixed together add to your other ingredients.
Once chicken is done cooking, shred and add to pot of all the other ingredients. 
Cook for approx 1 hour so that the soup will thicken and all the flavors blend together. 
Serve with any of your favorite toppings. I used grated cheese, crushed tortilla chips and sour cream!!


:-( Sorry I don't have a finished picture, the soup got eaten so fast I didn't have time to take one.

Orange Chicken

We got this incredible Wok as a wedding present and I have been dying to use it. My all time favorite Chinese meal is Orange Chicken. Time to put that Wok to good use!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 diced up boneless skinless chicken breast

3 eggs

Chili Powder 

Garlic Powder

Flour

Vegtable Oil

Salt & Pepper

Package of Orange seasoning (I got this in the international section at my super market)

Brown Rice


Directions
Cook the brown rice according to the package directions. scramble 1 egg and add to rise. Set aside


In a small bowl mix together 2 eggs, salt, pepper, garlic & chili powder (you can use as much or little seasoning as you like) In another bowl add approx 1 cup of flour


Take your diced chicken pieces and coat in egg mixture then toss in flour mixture. Once all chicken is coated place in a hot pan with oil, or a wok :-)


Toss around until chicken is completely cooked. 


Toss in orange seasoning mix, let sit for a few minutes to catch onto all the chicken, serve over your rice and Enjoy!! 


*** Check orange seasoning mix, you might need to mix it with oil/water before throwing it in with the chicken***

Paquete

Ok! Here is a challenge for everyone!! This was extremely cheap and VERY delicious. But I could not come up with a name for it!! So we are going to have a little fun.

The challenge is for you to make this recipe and come up with a name for it! I will leave this challenge open until September 23rd at 3:00pm est. I will pick the best name that I get and for all your hard work I will send the winner a $20 gift card to their local grocery store!!   

ENJOY!! I can't wait to see what you come up with!! I would love to see pictures!! Email your entry to mannacrouch@yahoo.com

** The lucky winner came from Reddit.com. Paquete means bundle in Spanish! I thought it was a great fit

Thank you everyone who emailed me!!** 

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 package of crescent rolls

1 can of re-fried beans

1 lb hamburger meat

1 package of taco seasoning

4 cups of whatever cheese you want. I used Pepper jack and cheddar

Bag of tortilla chips

Directions:

Brown hamburger meat in a skillet. 

Add taco seasoning to browned hamburger meat (follow instructions on the package) let simmer

Break up croissants into 4 squares.

Add re-fried beans, then taco meat, then cheese and crushed up tortilla chips

Fold all sides and corners in. 

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until brown.

Italian bread Pizza

Movie/Dinner night with my husband. He picks the movie, I make dinner. Pizza always ends up being our dinner/movie night choice. But to make it a little different, I decided to make a French bread pizza. When I was at the grocery store they didn't have any French bread, so I grabbed a loaf of Italian bread. 

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 Loaf of Italian bread

4 cups of mozzarella cheese (I love cheese)

1 package of sliced pepperoni

1 jar of pizza sauce

Directions

Slice bread in half 

Place a thin layer of cheese on the bread

Spoon your pizza sauce over the top of your cheese, as much as you would like.

Add more cheese on top of your sauce

Add pepperoni on top of you cheese 

and more cheese on top of your pepperoni.

You can add as much cheese and pepperoni as you would like.

Bake in the over at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until all cheese is melted. It was so cheesy and very crunchy!! 

Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Enchiladas is probably the first thing I ever learned to make. I was raised in a multicultural home and Mexican food was on the dinner table at least 4 days a week. My mom has been teaching me to make Mexican food since I was old enough to stand on a chair next to her in the kitchen. My love for the flavors  and ingredients have grown over the years and I truly respect the Mexican culture. 

This recipe is very simple, but a little messy. 

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

4 Chicken breast

1 small onion

4 cups of "Mexican cheese" 

28 oz of Enchilada Sauce (you will have extra)

12 medium tortillas

1 can of chopped olives

Directions

Add water to a large pot, add your chicken breast and boil approx 30 minutes or until your chicken is done. 

Remove chicken from pot and shred.

Add approx 16 oz of enchilada sauce to frying pan. Cook on low heat approx 20 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken up a little bit.

Add 1 tortilla to sauce, coat both sides in sauce. 

Place tortilla on plate and fill with chicken, cheese, olives, onions. (You can fill with whatever ingredients you want)

Roll tortilla and place seam side down in baking dish

Place some additional sauce & cheese on top of enchiladas

Cover baking dish with foil

Bake at 350 degrees for approx 20 minutes. 

Served with Sour Cream & Guacamole. 

Ricotta Gnocchi

 I was trying to impress my husband with something delicious for dinner. So I went out on a huge limb in an attempt to make gnocchi. The second he saw what I was making he chuckled and I cringed. Was this going to be the first recipe I completely ruined?! It was not! To my surprise as well as my husbands, it was delicious!  I made way to much and was able to freeze the leftovers for next time!! 

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
15oz Ricotta Cheese
1 Egg
1 tsp Olive Oil
2 cups Flour
Salt & Pepper


Directions
In a medium bowl whisk together the ricotta cheese, oil, egg, salt and pepper.


Add the flour approx 1/2 a cup at a time.


Knead the dough on a floured surface until the dough is soft.


Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope, cut the rope into approx 1/2 inch sections.


Boil a large pot of water. Add Gnocchi to boiling water. When Gnocchi float they are finished. Drain and serve with your favorite sauce. I used Mom's Alfredo Sauce!