My days in seminary were days that were hard pressed for cash. I was very thankful for work, scholarships, and help from the parents, but still, I didn’t eat out that often, especially the first couple semesters. But, when I did, I would venture around the corner to my favorite Mexican place, Las Margaritas. It was a small chain, but I liked this location the best. And then I tried their spinach and mushroom quesadillas. I fell in love. Gooey, cheesy, healthy (?), and warm, especially good for cold, NC winters.
And this is how life is funny: one of the friends I went to this restaurant with back then, is now my neighbor. She got me started on making my own enchiladas with this recipe. And tonight, she is getting these for dinner as she babysits my boys so my mister and I can go to a concert. Life is grand.
And that taste, is what I’ve recreated in this enchilada recipe. I’ve fallen in love with enchiladas. I love making them. By far, my favorite homemade mexican food to make. So, I always try to come up with different ones. So, today, I used what was in my fridge.
Fresh spinach. Lean Turkey. Cheese.
Creamy Turkey and Spinach Enchiladas
Recipe Type: Main Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Author: kd316
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8
Creamy and warm enchiladas packed with vegetables.
Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pkg ground turkey
evoo
1 6 oz bag fresh baby spinach leaves
1 can cream of chicken and mushroom soup
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
8 soft tacos (or 10 depending on the size of your pan, and how much filling you put in each one)
1 can mild green enchilada sauce
1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
Instructions
Saute onion in evoo. Add ground turkey and cook until almost done.
Add garlic and cook until turkey is no longer pink.
Drain.
Cook spinach in same pan.
Add back in the turkey mixture.
Cook until all spinach is wilted and incorporated into turkey mixture.
Add soup, cheese, and spices.
Fill each tortilla and roll.
Put seam side down in a 9×13 pan.
Pour enchilada sauce over the enchiladas.
Top with cheese.
Bake uncovered for 25 minutes at 375.
Enjoy with sour cream, cilantro, and black beans on the side.
Now that Halloween is over and a new month is upon us, must of us are gearing up for the other two big holidays – Thanksgiving and Christmas. Let the baking season begin (or, um, continue).
Some people wonder what inspires me to cook what I do. One of the ways is by following great foodie people on Instagram. That’s how these came about. One of the best places in Savannah is Back in the Day Bakery. Cheryl Day, co-owner and baker, featured a chocolate covered rice krispy treat yesterday in her feed.
Well, I thought I would just run to target with my littles and get the ingredients. Little did I know that it would be the worst Target run ever. In front of our local Target store, the city has been demolishing a building. The backhoes and front loaders and bulldozers are in full force. Yes, I’m a mom to two little toddler boys! My older one is mesmerized by their action. So, cue drama and meltdown as I pushed the boy-filled cart toward the Target entrance, away from the construction site. Then, I get in there and finally am able to calm him down, when my younger one who is usually happy as a clam in a store, completely screams his head off for 20 minutes while I’m in the store. He was teething. But, I couldn’t find the marshmallows. I had everything else. Finally just put everything back on the shelves and walked out. Forget making dessert.
Well, later that afternoon I decided I still wanted to make them and we tried again. This time at our local Publix. No construction site. Employees with candy and balloons. They were happy. Momma was happy.
Thankfully, these were made. I’m not usually a fan of milk chocolate anything, but I’m glad I went with the milk chocolate frosting as it was just perfect paired with the peanut butter in the rice krispy treat.
This is a perfect way to use up all of your leftover Halloween candy – or give you a perfect excuse to go buy more!
Halloween Trash Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats
Recipe Type: Dessert
Cuisine: Sweets
Author: kd316
Prep time:
Cook time:
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Serves: 12
Perfect use for all of your leftover Halloween candy
Ingredients
1 T unsalted butter
3 T creamy peanut butter
1 pinch kosher salt
1 bag mini marshmallows
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 cups crisped rice cereal
1 container milk chocolate with chocolate chips frosting
leftover halloween candy
Instructions
Grease a 9×13 pan
In large pot, melt together the butter and peanut butter.
Add salt and stir.
Add marshmallows and stir until melted.
Add in vanilla.
Set pot off the heat.
Stir in cereal.
Press into 9×13 pan by using a piece of parchment paper so the mixture won’t stick to your hands.
Let cool.
Frost with frosting.
Immediately top with leftover crushed Halloween candy.
Here are two disclaimers for this recipe post about a delicious cookie:
1. I am a purist when it comes to Oreo Cookies. None of these fancy seasonal flavors or even the double stuff or reduced-fat. No, give me the original!
2. I wouldn’t say that peanut butter cookies are my favorite. There are plenty in front of it.
So, when I passed by the Peanut Butter Oreos in the Wal-Mart aisle today, it could only be my creative streak and giving into my son when he said “cookie” that made me want to whip up a batch of these.
But how would Oreos and Reece’s Pieces (E. T. Phone Home – my husband’s favorite childhood flick) go together. I guess there was only one way to find out!
Bake!
These cookies were like pillow-soft. I loved that about them. Perfect texture. I loved the chewiness with the texture from the Oreo pieces and candy coating from the Reece’s. My husband said he wouldn’t change a thing. I’m glad. I adore these cookies.
And the colors work perfectly for the Fall.
Soft and Chunky Oreo Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe Type: cookies
Cuisine: dessert
Author: kd316
Prep time:
Cook time:
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Serves: 18-24
Soft, chewy, chunky, peanut butter cookies – easy to munch on all night!
Ingredients
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup regular sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup crushed Oreos (but not too fine)
1 cup mini Reece’s Pieces
Instructions
Cream butter and sugars for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add peanut butter, egg, and vanilla – mix for another 5.
Add in dry ingredients
Fold in Oreos and Reece’s.
Spray 3 cookies sheets with cooking spray.
Preheat oven to 350
Spoon out onto sheet pans and bake for 10-12 minutes or until set – but don’t overcook.
We are finally out of celebration mode – and I’m happy to say I didn’t gain any, but actually lost some in the last month even with the celebrations. Thankful for exercise and grace! I definitely ate too much – but new mercies are every day!
This week I’m cooking high protein and low carb, to jump start my weight loss again – and also using Pinterest. One other thing I hope to start doing is going back through my old food blog and recreating those recipes and taking better pictures and making improvements. I’ve hopefully improved some in both photography and cooking in 9 years!
If there ever a Southern food besides collards, cornbread, and fried chicken – it would be pimiento cheese.
I think you could really leave the pimiento’s out and it would still be good – but they offer tang which is needed.
Why not eat cheese and mayonnaise? What could be better for you?
Pimiento Cheese may not be good for your waistline (though this one is slightly better) but it is definitely good for your food-loving soul.
I definitely recall not liking this sandwich growing up. I would always opt for the chicken salad to eat at parties and leave the pimiento cheese for the other people. But, somehow, as I’ve refined my Southern palette, I’ve come to really like grilled cheese. I even chose to make this over chicken salad for a church gathering we were having. Who am I?
Anyway, this pimiento cheese is great by itself, on crackers, on white bread, grilled on Mountain bread to make a tasty grilled cheese and you might just want to add bacon – you know, if you are looking to make it healthier! 🙂
Pimiento Cheese for a Crowd
Recipe Type: Spread
Cuisine: Appetizer/Sandwich
Author: kd316
Prep time:
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Serves: 4 loaves
Sharp cheddar really makes this sandwich filling a stand out!
Ingredients
3 cups thick grated sharp cheddar cheese (or extra sharp)
Another week is here. This one is a big and busy one for us.
We celebrate our little turning ONE! I can’t believe it! I feel like a lifetime has passed in the last year with so much happening in the life of our family.
And the littles and I are heading to Little Rock to follow-up with a nutrition study we were doing and see lots of friends and celebrate his birthday up there. We can’t wait.
