Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas

I love Mexican food. When looking online, I stumbled upon a similar recipe for spinach enchiladas but it was a bit too spicy and exotic for my kids. I tamed it down a bit and came up with this alternative. I was able to sneak in a variety of different vegetables into it as well. I am sure if you wanted to omit the chicken that this would be an excellent vegetarian dish. So, enjoy my Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas!

Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas

2 -3 chicken breast, cooked (with salt and pepper to taste)
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 small can chopped green chilies
1/3 C. mushrooms
1/4 C. onions, chopped
1/4 C. green peppers, chopped
1 pinch of garlic
1 T. vegetable oil
1 T. butter
2 Tb. lime juice
1/3 C. heavy cream
1/4 C. chicken stock
1 C. shredded cheddar
6 tortillas, warmed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a pan, melt butter and heat oil, sauté mushrooms, green peppers, garlic and onions until softened, about five minutes. In another bowl, add cream, chicken stock and lime juice. Take half of the sauce and mix with vegetables. Add cooked chicken, spinach, chilies, and cheese into pan until warmed. Roll mixture into tortillas, place seam-side down in a greased baking dish. Then top with the remaining cream sauce and a little extra cheese. Cover with foil and bake for about 15 minutes. Top with tomatoes.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars

Yum... I love the combination of bananas with chocolate. I do get bored of regular chocolate chip cookies, so I drummed up a mixture incorporating bananas into the recipe. It is a very subtle banana taste in the flavor of these cookies. So, enjoy my recipe for Banana Chocolate Chip Bars... Next time you want to make chocolate chip cookies, consider using bananas in your recipe.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars

3/4 C. butter, room temp.
2/3 C. brown sugar
2/3 C. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ripe bananas
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C. flour
1 pkg. of chocolate chips

First, cream the butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Add egg, vanilla and bananas. Mix well. Next, add baking powder, salt and flour, mix together until you get a creamy consistency. Then pour in bag of chocolate chips. Pour batter into buttered jelly roll pan, and bake at 350 for 20 - 25 minutes.

Baked Ziti with Chicken

Surprise... another pasta dish. Well, why not. Pasta is my family's go to meal. It is liked by all five of us, very filling and usually pretty inexpensive to make. I saw a recipe for a creamy chicken and pasta casserole. My mouth began to salivate. Is there anything more comforting and satisfying than a rich, thick creamy sauce blanketing a dish of warm pasta? So, I am a fan of cream sauces with pastas, but I know too well how unhealthy heavy cream sauces can be. I tried to think of an alternative - mix half of the original amount of the cream sauce with a tomato-based marinara sauce. Here is what I came up for my Baked Ziti with Chicken pasta.

Baked Ziti

1 box of ziti pasta
10 oz. alfredo sauce
15 oz. marinara sauce (I used the kind with basil already in it)
1/2 tsp. garlic
1 small yellow onion
1/2 C. mozzarella cheese
1/2 C. parmesan cheese
2-3 chicken breast
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Place chicken on baking sheet, sprinkling with Italian seasoning and salt or pepper to your liking. Bake chicken breast for about 30 minutes or until not pink. Next, boil water and cook pasta to the ingredients on package. Then, saute onions and garlic for about five minutes. When pasta is fully cooked, mix pasta with cooked chicken, onions, garlic, alfredo sauce, marinara sauce and both cheeses. Then place in oven for about 10 - 15 minutes until it becomes bubbly and beautiful.