How to make Crunchy Chilaquiles

Chilaquiles, one of my absolute favorite Mexican dishes around. They are crunchy corn tortilla chips covered in a rich ancho chile sauce and cheese with some scrambled eggs mixed in. It is a wonderful breakfast dish, but since I love them so much, I will eat them on a plane, I will eat them on a train...Sayyy, I will eat them anywhere. I mean anytime!! I feel like I have read that somewhere before...hehehe. And I know, I know that I should be banning cheese from my diet...but I simply have not been able to go that far. This dish is almost gluten free! I came so close, but the Chicken Knorr is what keeps it from being completely gluten free, which I strive to be. So, if you are on a gluten free diet, simply use gluten free bouillon and it will be all good.

Chilaquiles

So above is what the dish looks like. The deep reddish brown sauce is so simple to make and can also be used as a sauce for enchiladas. The recipe I am showing you is how to make them from scratch. There is a quicker way, but I will save that for another day and share with you the most delicious way to make them first...you deserve that right? The best?

 

Okay, so, I am going to include a video tutorial, but it is a mess!!! Lol, I need to learn how to edit. Hey I am learning and I am bringing you poor souls along for the ride....I don't like to be alone!

 

What you are going to need to make this gorgeous and scrumptious dish is:

 

1 package of corn tortillas

2 generous handfuls of cheddar cheese

oil to fry tortillas into chips

 

Sauce:

1 package of ancho chiles

1/2 medium sized onion

2 tomatoes

3 table spoons of Chicken Knorr

1 garlic clove

water

 

Garnish:

Queso fresco

Mexican crema

Cilantro~ optional

avocado~ optional

 

Begin by making the sauce. What you want to do is put a 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a sauté pan and toast your tomatoes, onion, garlic and ancho chiles. You want to take the ancho chiles out of the pan once they become soft and pliable. Once they are soft, remove the stem. Now cut them down the middle and remove and seeds and the veins of the chile. This is where the heat resides, if you like things spicy, leave some of the chiles with the seeds and veins. Remove the onion, tomatoes and garlic when they are soft as well. No more than 5 minutes and be sure that your garlic doesn't burn, as it will become bitter if it does. Now get all the items for the sauce and place in a small stock pot, and add just enough water to cover the chiles, garlic, onion and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Once this is boiled, remove from heat and place the items you boiled into a blender, along with 2 ladles full of the water that you boiled the items in. This water contains all the flavor from the items you just boiled. Once items are in the blender, add 3 full tablespoons of chicken bouillon into the blender. Now blend until liquefied, but be very careful because everything is super hot!!! Your sauce is done.

 

Now you need gather the corn tortillas and cut them into chip sized pieces. Heat your oil and it will be ready when you put a piece of tortilla and it bubbles. When oil is ready, begin frying the chips in batches and place in a tray lined with paper bags or paper towels to absorb excess oils. Fry the entire package of tortillas.

 

Shred your cheddar cheese. I used 2 verrry generous handfuls...I guess that could be 2 cups. But, you can add more or less depending on what you like. Now scramble your eggs. I scrambled 6 eggs.

 

We are ready to mix everything together. In a stock pot, add 1/4 cup of oil and heat, add your sauce. Now once the sauce is boiling, quickly add chips and mix until well coated, add cheddar and the eggs that you scrambled. Add your garnishes and serve immediately. If you like them on the softer side, let them cook a little bit longer once they are coated in the sauce. Serve!

 

So that is my recipe for something I love....and I am sharing it with you. I hope you enjoy it! If you make it, please let me know how you like it!! Thank you for reading!

 

 

How to make Albondigas

 

ALBONDIGAS~ yummy! Yesterday afternoon, I was able to make some. I was so happy because last week when it was cold and rainy, I got a major craving for albondigas. I thought maybe the craving would pass, but then one of my friends posted that she was making some and my craving went into overdrive...lol. Yesterday I killed the craving! OMG, it was so delicious. Now I am thinking of chilaquiles next...so stay tuned!

 

Would you like to know how to make them? I am pretty certain your family will be a big fan! Get your tomatoes, garlic cloves, half an onion and 1~2 chiles (optional) and toast them in a skillet until the skins are brown and the onion looks a little caramelized. Place that in your blender, add 1 cup of water and blend. empty this "salsa" into a large stock pot. Add one 15 oz can of tomato sauce. Now here is where I don't have exact measurements. I think I have warned you about my weakness in this area before...lol. Okay so now you want to add water add as much as you would like there to be soup. Now it's time to season, add Caldo de Pollo (aka Chicken Knorr) to taste. Now the base of your soup is done. For the albondigas, get ground beef, (I used 80/20) add 1/4 of an onion finely diced, 1/3 cup of rice per LB of ground beef and 1 egg per LB of ground beef. Mix until well incorporated and form meatballs. To keep mine uniform in size, I used my ice cream scoop. Add those to your soup base. Now this is the fun part, add veggies that you love! You are the boss! I used cabbage, zucchini, corn, potatoes and some carrots. Now cook until meatballs are cooked through and veggies are nice and tender.

 

Sorry for not having measurements and all. I will come back and update this the next time I make it, with more precise measurements. Maybe I will do a YouTube video as well.

 

Have a fabulous day and enjoy your soup. Please feel free to tell me how you make them! I know everyone does different variations. I know some people fry them before they put them in the soup...I love to hear new methods!!

 

 

 

 

Everybody in the blender.

Eggs, rice, onion and a little bit of caldo de pollo into the albondigas.

Albondigas the size of an ice cream scoop.

It all adds up to a delicious soup that warms the belly and soul!!!

CheesyTater tot casserole

Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole

Who doesn't like tater tots? Who doesn't like cheese? Well, I like both of these items....really, I love them. I loose control when they are both around. So, remember that show 19 kids and counting with the Duggars? Well, I was fascinated by that show, all those kids behaved so well! They run that ship so smoothly. A feat I have yet to master with my 4! Anyways, one night many years ago when the show had just started, they shared the recipe for their favorite dish, Tater Tot Casserole. I made it for my family and they enjoyed it. Their recipe is different than mine, just because I as always was using what I have. Here is the Duggars Recipe Everything I used is listed below. Can I get a whoop whoop for store brands baybee!!! I have a friend that worked in a juice factory for a while, that is where he told me that the juices were all the same except one can went and got a name brand label and the other can went down the line and got the store brand label. I was like whatttt? I felt so duped. That was like 15 yrs ago. Anyways, after that, I try to buy store brand if it is cheaper. However there are items that are NOT the same....like, you won't find generic Mayo or Ritz crackers...there are no comparisons for the real deal.

Bag of tater puffs(lol), cream of chicken soup, cheddar cheese, ground beef, I added peas to get a veggie in there and 1 cup of milk and 1/2 an onion diced.

My new unnecessary kitchen gadget that dices the onion in a perfect dice.

Push down this white lid and......

voila, perfect dice, no tears.

Brown ground beef and then drain excess oil.

Add onions and cook till translucent.

Toss in can of cream of mushroom, peas and milk.

Should look like this.

Place the ground beef mixture into a casserole dish and line tater puffs on top.

Place in a 350 degree preheated oven until the Tater Puffs are golden brown.

Take out of oven and cover generously with cheese and place back into oven until the cheese is all melted.

I covered with foil so it wouldn't burn.

See, cheesy goodness!

Served alongside some broccoli....dinner is served. Yum!

I am broken!

So, it turns out that I am broken. Yup, B*R*O*K*E*N*!!!!! I went to the doctors recently and my thyroid levels are on their way up, iron levels up, energy level up....sounds good....right? Well, I learned from my Dr. that I shouldn't expect to feel normal again. I will always have to be taking this synthetic thyroid hormone and sometimes it will be enough for my body and sometimes it won't and then my medication will have to be readjusted. Turns out this little cute butterfly shaped thingy in your neck area controls everything. That might sound insane, right??? We always think about the major organs controlling primary functions and having "absolute power" (Said in my Yoda voice). Yeah, so that big brain you have floating in those brain juices....yeah, that big guy answers to the delicate butterfly shaped mechanism, those miles of intestines, emotions, weight, sensitivity to cold, the list is endless. My brain is like this....see below....


Yes, unless, I set an alarm on my phone....it ain't happening. One time I forgot my older son at school....whew was he mad. I can think about sayyyyy something I want to Google....I open my laptop and then blank.....the slate has been erased. I try and try and try and sit there and think, I was here to look something up....what was it....it's TERRIBLE! I feel like Dory from Finding Nemo. I get embarrassed and angry. Sometimes I feel like my kids and hubby are all in on a joke when they all tell me, we told you Mommy and I am like, UM, NOOO YA DIDN'T! I would remember THAT!!! I am beginning to accept this, at the same time I do feel that my medication is beginning to help my brain to work again. My hips and shoulders still hurt, stomach issues have calmed. I still have days when I can't eat much. I am still gluten free 95% of the time. I swear, for a period of time I went to Zumba 3-5 times a week (sometimes more) I was trying to eat healthy and I dropped NOT ONE POUND!!! I didn't care because I love Zumba sooooo much. I have this goofy grin on my face the whole time I am trying to groove while tripping over my own two feet. Yeah, I am pretty awesome....hahaha....joking!!! Fact is, I don't care what I look like! The fact that I have went to Zumba and made it through the class is enough to lift my spirits. Before I started treatment, I was no longer able to make it though a class without feeling like passing out or major stomach pains. I am still trying to do research on Hypothyroidism, before treatment my brain couldn't fully assimilate the info. After I read it....gone....ugh!!! This sucks! I am hoping things sink in a little more real soon!

Wrote this a couple of days ago and then WHAMMO! 2 Day migraine coupled with what almost ended in a hospital visit because of horrific stomach pains. Ultrasound next week...wondering if my gallbladder decided to join in on this attack since all my other body parts have been on the attack and it might be considered way too UNCOOL NOT to jump on the bandwagon. Who knows what the heck is happening here! I know WHAT ISN'T HAPPENING!!!! Stuff I like....like cooking and going places with the kids. I have been glued to my laptop, trying to learn more about this crazy disease.

May you all have a wonderful evening! :)

World's Best Jello Recipe

Worlds best Jello Recipe

I can honestly say that I have yet to meet a kid that doesn't have nothing but love for Jello. I think the color hypnotizes them. I recently came across this recipe that is so cool! When you look at it, you turn your head to the side like a confused and intrigued adorable little puppy. You wonder, how is there this light color on top? Did you go through all the trouble of layering Jello.....wellno...(hahaha) Well no, in fact I didn't! All I did was add some heavy cream to the mix and what came out was this awesome concoction that showed a creamy looking layer and then the regular looking Jello settled at the bottom. So what you do is get one of the small boxes of Jello, add to one cup of just boiled water and mix until very well dissolved, next add 1 tsp of unflavored gelatin (this will keep it from getting all watery and help maintain its firmness) and mix until well dissolved. Last, add 3 tbsp of heavy cream. Now here is where you may be like WHATTTT? You may think you totally messed up, when in fact...you are right on track! See, what happens is the mixture starts to look almost flaky. Yes, it looks like it has flakes of white milk in it. Don't worry, it will turn out A~okay!!!

See the gorgeous transparency and creamy looking top layer?

Now imagine making them in like 6 or more colors!

Wow, that would be a TOTAL SHOW STOPPER!

Here is a demonstration.

Potatoes O' Brien

                                                               Potatoes O'Brien

I remember being a kid and my mom making this in a big iron skillet on Saturday mornings. My Mom is the BEST cook. At ANY given moment, a crowd could go to her house and she could whip up a totally delish meal in NO time! I am sooo jelly! I hope that I inherit her skills! Hear that Mommy??? I want you to leave those skills to me in your will, I called them FIRST!!!  I could go into further detail regarding her culinary expertise, but lets focus on this one for now, since I recently made it.

I like this meal because I almost always have these simple ingredients on hand, and if you want to add a little unique twist, add some chorizo and top with avocado and a drizzle of crema and this is even MORE AWESOME!!!!

The trick is to make sure that you cut all the ingredients the same size.

Season the ingredients well, with salt and pepper to taste. When the potatoes are about halfway cooked, add the other ingredients and when the potatoes are cooked through, this is ready to devour. I like to make the potatoes real crispy....YUM!!

So, yeah......maybe I should have placed them next to some sunny side up eggs, but I don't remember what happened that day. THIS is what I ended up with....lol. Oh well, it tasted GRRRRRRRREAT!!!

Tomato Basil Squares

Have you ever had Tomato and Basil ANYTHING? If you have, well, then you are completely aware of this pairings EPIC deliciousness! Yessss, they belong together, for eternity......eeeeeternahteeey! You know like from the Richie Valens song....like that! Anyways, I have this recipe that is from the Pampered Chef, which is one of my favorite places to get cooking gadgets.

Look at me being a total nerd, posing so proudly with my gorgeous creation.

Here is whatcha need people, a 10 oz refrigerated pizza crust, 2 cups of shredded mozzarella, 1/4 cup of grated FRESH Parmesan Cheese, 2/3 Cup of Mayo, 2 tblsp FRESH Basil leaves snipped, 1 clove of garlic pressed (crushed) and 4 plum tomatoes, sliced.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, roll out your pizza crust and place on a pizza stone or PC rectangle baker. Place your sliced tomatoes onto the rolled out crust. Combine mozzarella, fresh parmesan, fresh basil, garlic and mayo. If you like a kick of spiciness add 1/2- 1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes. Once all these ingredients are combined, spread the mixture carefully over the tomatoes you have lined the crust with. Make sure you have the whole crust covered.

Here is what it should look like. Now place in your  preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Now if you like a crunchier crust, as I do, you should bake the crust for a bit before you place the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients,

Ready for a taste test!!!!

Here is a demonstration!