Homemade Enchiladas & Sauce

I have been couponing for a year and I haven't seen enchilada sauce go on sale nor have I seen a coupon for it. To be honest I haven't been searching too hard for it either. I have been craving some enchiladas lately, since they are so easy to make and freeze great. Instead of buying enchilada sauce for $2.00 a can, I even saw one for $4.00 and it was not organic, my frugalness came out, I researched how to make it. I knew I had a ton of tomatoes that had to be the main ingredient. 

I had some smoked chicken in the freezer I needed to use. Traditionally chicken enchiladas are made with a white sauce, but I decided to be different and wanted red sauce for these. This is also a great Stockpile Recipe.

The original recipe was found on All Recipes app on my phone however I adapted to what I thought would be a better sauce. If you haven't figured out by now. I rarely use a recipe I find exactly. It is modified to what I have on hand.

~   ~   ~

Red Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients:
1 Tbl Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic
1 tsp. Onion - I added a little more
1/2 tsp. Oregano
2 1/2 tsp. Chili Powder
1/2 tsp. Basil
1/4 tsp. Cumin
1/4 cup Salsa
1 14.5 can Diced Tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste


1. Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onions and saute until the onions become translucent. Add Chili powder, Oregano, Basil, Cumin, Salsa, Tomato Sauce and salt and pepper to taste. 


2. Mix together. Bring to a boil. Then with an immersion blender, blend all ingredients in sauce pan. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 min. 

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1/2 Chicken
Enchilada Sauce from above
14 or so corn tortillas
Cheese


1. Make the enchilada sauce above.

2. Pull chicken off bone and shred with two forks. Place in a bowl.

3. Take a skillet and heat on med high heat. Place corn tortilla on skillet for 1 minute and flip for 1 minute. Remove from skillet. This makes the tortillas easier to roll.

4. Place two tablespoons of shredded chicken in the center of tortilla and roll. This should be easier, since the tortilla is warmed. 

5. Spray a 9X13 baking dish. Place enchilada seem side down in dish.

6. Repeat steps 3 -5 until baking dish is full or chicken is all used. 

7. Pour enchilada sauce over the top of all enchiladas.

8. Top off with cheese and bake at 350 for 30 min.

~   ~   ~

This becomes a dance to warm the tortillas in the skillet and keep the assembly line going with chicken. Sometimes I talk to myself to remind me to put the tortilla on the skillet while I am making the other one. It makes the build process easier if you have an assembly line going. 


Let me know if you try this awesome dish. I loved the flavor and freshness of these. I served it with some re-fried beans and Spanish rice. Have you ever made enchiladas?


Find more great savings deals and steals join Pounds4Pennies on: 

BlogFrog community - FREE COUPONS                   Facebook                                                             Google+   

Whatever Wednesday - Amy's Awesome Sausage Casserole

I wanted to share with you my family’s favorite casserole. This breakfast sausage casserole also happens to be a great meal you can cook from your stockpile. There are not really any special ingredients for this dish. I am one of those cooks who can look in the cupboard or refrigerator and whip something up that tastes pretty good on a whim. I get this from my dad and watching a lot of Rachel Ray. It is about finding flavor profiles of dishes and sticking to that. 


One day I was watching a food network show about casserole winners. I watch a lot of Food Network. I saw a lady prepare a casserole and she said the basics are just a few ingredients Cream of Chicken or Mushroom Soup, pasta, a meat and cheese. I said I can do that. So I ran to my pantry and refrigerator to see what I had along those lines. This is the recipe I came up with. I typically measure with my hands for this recipe, so I had to throw the ingredients into a container to see how much it came out to be. Feel free to make adjustments as you think your family will like it.

Amy’s Awesome Breakfast Sausage Casserole

Ingredients:

1lb Breakfast sausage

1 lg onion (optional) this is my secret veggie I add to the dish

1 package bow tie pasta (you can use any pasta, I used bow tie because it looks fancy)

1 can cream of mushroom

1 can cream of chicken

½ can of milk

8oz cheese

2.8 oz Fried onions or small can of fried onions

Preheat your oven to 350.

First put your pot on to boil for the pasta. Once it is boiling pour in the pasta to cook.

Be sure to get a large frying pan or start this in a big pot. You need to fit all the ingredients listed above in one pot. You can use several, but I don’t like cleaning more than I have to.

If using onion, fry onion in a little butter or oil until translucent. 

Then add breakfast sausage and brown the meat and drain.

Open the Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Chicken soup and put them in the pot. Pour milk into one of the cans about half way and add that to the pot. You can get a measuring cup and add about half a cup. But again I don’t like to dirty something I am going to have to clean. Stir this until it looks smooth and starts to simmer. Add ½ the package of cheese and ½ the container of French fried Onions.

Test the pasta for aldente, it is ok if it is a little under cooked it will cook more in the oven. Drain the pasta and add that to your big pot. Stir all the ingredients together.

Spray a 9X13 in pan with cooking spray. Pour all of the ingredients in your casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese and fried onions on top. This makes the top crunchy. I think this is why everyone in my family loves this recipe. Place in the oven for 30 minutes. It should be bubbling around the edges when you take it out. As my two year old would say yuuuummmmy!

~   ~   ~

It is a little difficult for me to write this recipe for Breakfast Sausage Casserole, since I just use a couple of handfuls of this and a couple of handful of that. So if you use the exact recipe and want more or less please do so. That is how to become a better cook, by making small adjustments to your tastes.

I would love to know if you try this recipe. I haven’t really shared it with anyone and would love to know if your family enjoys this Breakfast Sausage Casserole recipe. I know my family loves it!

Stay connected with Pounds4Pennies on Facebook or join my Pounds4Pennies on BlogFrog community for more savings.

Recipe - Tequila Chicken

Last night I was trying to figure out what we were going to have for dinner. I wanted something Mexican, but I didn’t want tortillas. Since I didn’t have any. I was planning on going to the store Thursday, today. So I remembered I made Tequila Chicken. This is also a very healthy meal. If you don’t drink or opposed to alcohol you do not need the tequila for this dish. We didn’t have any last night and it was delicious.

Tequila Chicken

I forgot to take pictures so here is the recipe:

1lb Chicken (I use the breast)

1 tblsp cooking oil

1 12oz of chunky salsa

3 tblsp fresh cilantro

1 tblsp tequila

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 teaspoon lime zest (zest of one lime)

1 teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon red pepper

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

2 cups cooked rice

Cut chicken into ½ inch strips.

In a skillet brown chicken in oil until a light brown, drain cooking liquid from skillet.

In a bowl combine the salsa, cilantro, tequila, lime juice, lime peel, sugar, cinnamon, red pepper, and garlic powder. Pour over chicken in skillet. Bring back to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 min until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Serve over hot cooked rice.

This is the actual recipe, but if you don’t have some of the ingredients that’s ok too. I didn’t have cilantro last night and I wasn’t going to run to the store just for cilantro, but it still tasted great. If you don’t have a lime you can always substitute a lemon. I never actually measure spices I just eyeball them. A dash here a palm full there. It tastes great. I usually use fresh garlic too when I can. For this recipe I used one clove and cooked it with the chicken. I also added one medium onion for extra flavor and an extra veggie when I cooked the chicken.

I had a nine year old girl, 19 month old son and a husband at home last night and they all loved Tequila Chicken. It has a classic salsa taste, but the cinnamon really makes it. I just love the flavor of this dish. Try it out sometime and let me know how it turns out or if you do anything different to the recipe and it tastes great.

I would love to hear from you.