novathrifty

I stocked up on Mexican food this week at all of the great Cinco de Mayo sales (plus some of the recent coupons on Ortega products) and used some of the stuff to make my mother-in-law’s famous Chicken Enchiladas.  They were delicious!

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1 medium onion
2 T butter or margerine
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1 16-oz jar picante sauce, divided
3 oz cream cheese, cubed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided (I used the Mexican mix that includes pepper jack)
6-8 flour tortillas (6 inch)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook and stir onion in butter in a skillet until tender.  Stir in chicken, 1/4 cup picante sauce, cream cheese, and cumin; cook until thoroughly heated.  Stir in 1 cup shredded cheese.

Spoon about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture into the center of each tortilla; roll up.  Place seam side down in an 11 x 7 inch baking dish.  Top with the remaining picante sauce and cheese.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes.  Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Harris Teeter has a sale on EZ Peel Shrimp this week ($5.99/lb), so I decided to try this Shrimp and Grits Casserole (my husband’s favorite) from Cooking Light.  I thought it turned out well.  I served it with Frank’s Hot Sauce (33¢ at Harris Teeter), which added a nice kick.  I would definitely make it again.

Shrimp and Grits Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 cup uncooked quick-cooking grits
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 (2 oz) shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1 (3 oz) package 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
3 T chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon dried chives
1 T lemon juice
2 large egg whites
1 lb pealed and deveined medium shrimp, coarsely chopped

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine milk and broth in a medium heavy saucepan; bring to a boil.  Gradually add grits and salt to pan, stirring constantly with a whisk.  Cook 5 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Stir in Parmesan, butter, and cream cheese.  Stir in parsley and next 4 ingredients (through shrimp).  Spoon mixture into a 11 x 7 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until set.

I decided to take advantage of the fact that avocados are on sale most everywhere this week (around $1 each) and make some homemade guacamole.  I tried this (very) easy recipe from Real Simple:

Guacamole

2 ripe Hass avocados
3 scallions, finely chopped
1 jalepeno, minced but not seeded
1 tomato, chopped
2 T lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Scoop the avocado pulp into a medium bowl.  Add the other ingredients and mash with a fork until combined but still chunky.

Actually, it’s a very busy week for me so I’m not cooking much at all.  But I’m sharing the recipe for mini cinnamon rolls that I made for a church brunch last week.  You can get the Pillsbury crescent rolls for $1.50 this week at Safeway.  I had all the rest of the ingredients on hand.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

1 8-oz can refrigerated crescent rolls
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup powdered sugar 
1 teaspoon milk
1 drop vanilla extract

Preparation

Use crescent roll dough and separate into four rectangles; pinch seams to seal.  Stir together sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over rectangles.

Roll up, jellyroll fashion, starting with a long side; press edges to seal.  Cut each log into 5 slices, and place in a lightly greased 8-inch round cakepan.

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla, stirring until smooth; drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls.

A bunch of the ingredients for this lasagna are on sale this week at Harris Teeter:  ground turkey ($2.14/lb), cottage cheese ($2.67/24 oz), Barilla lasagne noodles ($2.00) and Sargento shredded mozzarella and Parmesan 8 oz ($1.94).  It makes a big pan—I made a bunch yesterday and we’ll be eating it for several days!

Turkey Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey breast
1 1/2 c water
1 26-oz bottle pasta sauce
3 c shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
2 c 1% low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 c grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/4 c fresh chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
9 uncooked pasta noodles (I like the Barilla lasagne noodles)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Brown the turkey in a large saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium heat, stirring to crumble.  Add water and pasta sauce.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Combine 2 cups mozzarella, cottage cheese, and next 4 ingredients in a bowl.

Spread 1 cup turkey mixture in bottom of a 13X9 inch baking dish.  Arrange 3 noodles over turkey mixture, then top with 1 1/2 cups turkey mixture.  Spread half of cheese mixture over turkey mixture.  Repeat layers, ending with the remaining turkey mixture.*

Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour.  Sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella cheese and bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes.  Let lasagna stand for 10 minutes before serving.

*Just so we’re clear, it goes: turkey–>noodles–>turkey–>cheese–>turkey–>noodles–>turkey–>cheese–>turkey—>noodles–>turkey

My household really likes this crock pot chicken recipe from All You, which comes out tender and a little sweet.  Harris Teeter has chicken thighs for $.99/lb until 3/31, and you can get dried apricots 2 for $3 this week at CVS.

Super-Easy Apricot Chicken

Ingredients

12 dried apricots

8 medium chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 lbs)

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 onion, sliced

1 cup chicken broth

Preparation

Rinse apricots and scatter them in a slow cooker.  Pat chicken dry; season with salt and pepper.  Melt butter in oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook thighs until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes per side.  (Brown in batches to avoid crowding skillet). Arrange over apricots.

Pour off all but 1 Tbsp. fat in skillet.  Add onion and cook until just soft, 2 to 4 minutes.

Add broth to skillet; turn heat to high.  Bring to a boil, loosening brown bits.

Pour contents of skillet over apricots and chicken.  Cover and cook on low heat for 4 hours.

Carefully transfer thighs to a serving dish; cover with foil to keep warm.  Pour remaining contents into saucepan.  Boil, stirring often, until reduced and thickened, about 10 minutes.  Pour over chicken.