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Tired of tacos, nachos or enchiladas in your house?  I know I was last night.  I just really didn't feel like the same old same old.  I had leftover slow cooked roast and a desire for something new.  After doing a quick google for recipes I figured out that I would have to go out on a limb and make something on the fly.  Chimichangas to the rescue!

I have created a recipe that is going to be made a lot in my house!  Yay for something that the whole family agrees on!

The recipe can be found here on my Favorite Main Dishes Recipes page That's right - new page here on the site.   I felt that as much as I like my desserts I really needed to separate the main dish recipes from the others - not to mention the ones I have posted there are my own concoctions....

Anyhooo... I do hope that you guys like my baked chimichangas recipe as much as we did here.  It was a huge hi
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I have made a few new things this past week.. and some have had good results and others not so good.

We all know that I love a good dessert - however the one pictured here isn't one of those.. It is the Ultimate Turtle Cookie Bar.  It just didn't do it for me.  I thought the cookie part was kind of dry and far too sweet.  It was packed with pecans and the pecans I think pushed it over the edge for me.  I will say that had it been made in a 9x13 pan instead of a 8x8 pan as directed it probably would have been loads better.  I think the cookie part was just too thick.  It wasn't bad but I think it could have been better.  It got rave reviews on the Betty Crocker Website but I'd only give it 3 out of 5 stars - maybe 4 if it were made a bit differently.

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Next up in the oven?  The Cake Mix Doctor's Sweet Potato cake.  I can't find the recipe online sorry guys.  It is out of the first book. 

I have mixed feelings on this cake as well.  I will start off by saying that I decided to use a can of fluffy white icing which I love instead of the cream cheese frosting that I thought would be too rich.  I don't think that affected the outcome at all - if anything it probably toned it down a bit...  The first couple of bites I thought it reminded me of pumpkin pie which is a good thing.  The next couple of bites were pretty good, even enjoyable... but after eating it I felt like I had an aftertaste from it.  I'll have to give it another chance this afternoon and see if I like it any  better...

Next up... a success!!
Oh yummmm!!  We all know that I love my crock pot and I have been using it a lot lately ever since buying a new one from Target when it was on sale last week... It's the Crock Pot brand Oval 4 Qt.  Let's see how long that link lasts.. but it's a great crock pot.  I love it and give it a good two thumbs up.

I came upon recipes for making a whole chicken in the crock pot so figured I needed to give it a go.  Yesterday I made the Garlic Roasted Chicken recipe from southernfood.about.com.  I have to say yuuummm!!!  I normally do not like to cook things on a bone often but I do believe that I will be making more full chickens in the crock pot.  We have enough left over for two more meals.. part of that would have been taken up by home made chicken soup had the crock pot been plugged in last night.  I was going to cook the bones overnight so that I could make the soup this morning.. but noooOOOoooooo I woke up and the crock pot was off.  I really thought I had plugged it in last night.  Hubby swears up and down that he didn't unplug it but well, I am doubtful.  I think he was trying to help by unplugging it and didn't realize that I was actually using it.  It is what it is.  I'll freeze the tiny tidbits or turn it in to open faced chicken and gravy sandwiches - my favorite in the turkey version so I'm sure it will be good for chicken too...
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My family loves Mexican - even my pickiest of eaters.  Quite frankly, I am really tired of nachos, tacos and burritos.  I have had an Ortega cookbook booklet - you know, one of the ones you can get at the grocery check out lanes - for a long time.  I finally tried this one.  It was called Mexican Linguini.  Of course, you know I have to change it up a bit.... I added a can of rinsed black beans and changed the linguini to shells.  I also didn't have the *right* Ortega salsa so I improvised with Walmart's Great Value black bean and corn salsa since it isn't too hot.  I served it up with some barbque bread turned in to garlic bread and viola! A meal that even my picky eater was happy with.


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I'm still plugging away at my 50 new recipes in 2011.  This past week I tried a few new recipes...

Yesterday for lunch I made a recipe that was in a calendar that  Betty Crocker so nicely sent me this year.  Wild West Sizzlin' Chicken Tacos
I will say that they were tasty.  I did change a bit though - I didn't have the kind of beans it called for so I used black beans. We always have a few cans of those on the shelves.  I'm not sure if it made THAT big of a difference.  I don't normally make bacon so of course that morning we had bacon and eggs for breakfast...
I will make these again but will need to add A LOT more spices to them.  They were not nearly flavorful enough if you ask me.


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This morning I made Blueberry Banana Mini Breads... and a boring banana bread with pecans for hubby.  He didn't like the idea of anything but pecans in his beloved banana bread.
Both of my boys opted for blueberries.  This was a first for me.  I'm not sure if it technically counts as a new recipe since I only added a new ingredient to a recipe I use a lot - but man it tasted like a brand new thing!

To make these mini loaves...
I used the Better Homes and Gardens banana bread recipe.. of course I'm not finding the exact recipe I used online right this moment and I don't think it is proper for me to post it since it is out of a book... but let's just say, make your favorite banana bread recipe and toss in about 3/4  1 cup of blueberries.  I used frozen ones... If you use frozen ones, run them under some warm water if there is any ice formed on them just long enough for the ice to melt away then shake them up a bit to get rid of any extra water... then fold them in to the batter.  You will probably have to cook them a little bit longer because of the added moisture but man, those were some seriously yummy mini loaves!

I usually bake my mini loaves for 25 minutes - the blueberry ones took about 5 minutes longer.   I can get 4 mini loaves from one loaf pan recipe  :) 

I don't make big loaf breads anymore.  The kids and husband all like being able to pick if they want raisins or pecans in them - and now I suspect they will ask for blueberries in them quite often now!

I know there was something else that I tried that was new this past week but for the life of me I can't remember what it was!


Future planned recipes to try......
This coming week I am planning on making fresh tortillas!  I have never made them before but I want to.  I sure do wish I still had that tortilla press I used to have hanging in my old house, before I got married.  It didn't make it this past move.  Who knew that I'd want to finally make tortillas - 20 years after having it enter my life.  I never used it so it was left behind.

I'm also planning on making a new dessert of some sort.  I don't know what yet.  I'll figure that one out tomorrow though!

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Some of you might know that I have begun to try a new recipe a week or 50 new recipes for the year.  I'm leaving a few weeks off there for vacation time ;)

The first recipe of the new year is out of the Cake Mix Doctor's first book. 
I have to say that I was skeptical.  I think that pretty much all cakes with a few exceptions - my  mother in law's pound cake for one - really  need some sort of icing even if it is just a drizzle of some delicious sugary goo or a sifting of powdered sugar - but this one doesn't need anything at all.  I put a dollop of lite non dairy topping (aka store brand Cool Whip) on top and it probably didn't even need that but it certainly didn't hurt!

This is officially my favorite chocolate cake recipe - ever.


On a side note... I also added a recipe to the favorite recipes section - Dreamy Coconut Cake
It is the best coconut cake recipe I have ever tried.  One of the women at the school made this, scribbled down the recipe and we have loved it ever since. 

I'm also working on a chili recipe. Once I have it perfected, I'll share that.  I am trying to make the perfect for my family chili.  I know there are tons and tons of recipes out there.  I was close yesterday.  I forgot to add the cocoa and I had one too many dried New Mexico peppers in it.  I'm hoping for perfection with the next batch  :)
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Rarely am I inspired by a movie.  I have to tell you what though, I watched Julie & Julia and loved it - and thought to myself - how cool is that?  Work your way through a recipe book?!  Having said that.. I am not a terribly picky eater although I live with a few of them.  My oldest son tolerates some foods but prefers to live off of macaroni with butter on it, macaroni & cheese, ham sandwiches, pizza and chicken nuggets - oh and corndogs.  My husband doesn't like to eat vegetables.  He thinks the kids do not notice, but they do and wonder why THEY have to eat their veggies if daddy doesn't... My youngest son will eat just about anything.  He would be one of those people who could go on Fear Factor and eat whatever nasty thing they put in front of him.  That child loves squid and even fried frog legs.  I cringe when we take him to the Chinese buffet.  I am always worried about what he might put on that plate of his.  He didn't like sushi though.  That's about the only thing he hasn't liked yet!

So my oldest son likes enchiladas.  He likes them with shredded beef inside which is funny since this is a kid that despises beef.  He won't eat a hamburger or a steak.  He won't touch pot roast or anything with a sauce on it.  Last spring, we went to a Mexican restaurant and he apparently had food envy and asked to have a bite of my shredded beef enchiladas... He proceeded to eat almost my entire plate of them! 

He asked me to make him enchiladas for dinner on Monday.  It was too late to slow roast beef so I promised I would do it on Tuesday.  Sadly, I didn't have a crucial ingredient - enchilada sauce.  I decided to make my own... Once again, I was missing a crucial ingredient - plain tomato sauce... so the slow roasted beef went in to the fridge and I was off to the store today.

I found the recipe I would try - and tweaked it and tweaked it, added ingredients, changed measurements of the rest and I created something of my own more or less.... You can check it out on my recipe page.  It's the Super Extra Yummy Mole Enchilada Sauce Recipe. 

My oldest son did not look impressed when I served it up.  He asked why it was brown.  Then my youngest son began to question it as well.  I walked away from the table to finish dishing it all out.  By the time I returned to the table, they and picky eater husband all were sold on it and digging in.  I am proud to say that my family (minus daddy since he didn't finish his vegetables of course) are all members of the Clean Plate Club. 

Man those were some seriously tasty enchiladas!!

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