Chicken Enchiladas

Credit: Jenn Eastman

Ingredients: 

1 T margarine
⅓ c finely chopped green onion
1 clove garlic, minced
½ c sliced olives
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies 
½ c sour cream
1 (10 oz) cream of chicken soup
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (you can use canned chicken, too)
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese (divided into 3/4 cup + 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup milk
1 package burrito sized flour tortillas (or 8-10 freshly cooked flour tortillas)

Directions:

Sauté margarine, green onion, and garlic in small pan. In a small bowl, stir together olives, green chilies, sour cream, and cream of chicken soup. Add sauteed mixture to sour cream mixture and set aside 3/4 cup sauce. Add chicken and 3/4 cup cheese to the remaining sauce. Fill tortillas with this chicken mixture. Roll and place in a Pam-sprayed 9x13 pan. Take the reserved sauce and stir in the milk. Spoon this over the tortillas and top with another 3/4 cup cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

Not Cafe Rio Pork... but very delicious!!

Credit: Lynn Muir

Ingredients:

• 1 pork roast, boneless, unseasoned
• 3 c salsa of choice (I've heard that mango salsa is great, but we just use Pace)
• 2 c brown sugar

Directions:

1. Place pork roast in the crockpot on LOW with the fatty side up.
2. Cover all of the meat with salsa and brown sugar. Note: This is not science, so go ahead and add more salsa or water if needed while cooking, and feel free to add more brown sugar toward the end to suit your taste buds. :) Place lid on crock pot. You will be cooking this for about 5-6 hours.
3. After 4 hours, flip the pork roast and spoon the salsa mixture back over the entire roast. Replace the lid.
4. When the pork is tender (another hour or two later), shred the pork with forks and stir it in with the juices. Let marinate in these juices for about 30 minutes before serving for maximum results.
5. Serve as burritos or salads Cafe Rio style! Yum!!

Perfect Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Credit: KevinandAmanda.com

Please allow yourselves ample time to prepare this meal. This is a wonderful dish for entertaining a very large crowd! Read the recipe thoroughly before deciding to make it. :)

Ingredients List 1: Dry Rub

1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 cup brown sugar

Ingredients List 2: Brine solution

1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 quarts cold water
2 bay leaves
3 tbsp dry rub mix

Other Ingredient:

1 whole Boston butt pork roast

Directions:

1. Mix together all DRY RUB INGREDIENTS and store in an airtight container.
2. For the brine solution, use ingredients from the BRINE SOLUTION INGREDIENTS list. Add salt to cold water and stir very well until all the salt is completely dissolved. Then add the brown sugar, dry rub, and bay leaves and stir well to combine.
3. Rinse the pork shoulder and place in a large container. Pour in the brine solution until the shoulder is completely covered. Cover the container and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
4. Remove pork shoulder from brine solution, pat dry with paper towels, and place in baking pan that is bigger than the shoulder by at least a inch in length and width and at least 3 inches deep. *Note: you can also use a crock pot to cook the pork roast. Cooking time will be more around 8-12 hours and you may want to cook it on high for one or two hours of the cooking time and use the low setting for the rest. Just use common sense to convert this recipe to a crock pot, substituting "crock pot" for "baking pan," etc.
5. Sprinkle dry rub onto the surface of the shoulder and massage in such that it adheres to the surface. Coat all sides. Make sure the fat layer on the shoulder is facing up before cooking! Place baking pan uncovered in a 225 degree oven on the middle rack. Insert a probe thermometer into the center or thickest part of the shoulder, but not touching the bone. Monitor the temperature throughout cooking (a digital thermometer with an alarm function is the easiest way to do this). Do not remove from the oven until the center of the shoulder reaches 200 degrees.
6. When the shoulder has reached 200 degrees, shut off the oven and let the roast cool for a couple of hours before removing from the oven. If the bottom of the pan is dry (or crusted with dried spices) then cover the pan with foil to retain internal moisture of the meat during the cooling period. When the temperature drops to 170 degrees or slightly lower, remove from oven.
7. Place on a large, clean work surface such as a cutting board, and remove the large sheet of crusted fat on the top. Pull apart with two forks, it will pull apart very easily. Serve with gourmet hamburger buns for a delicious and impressive meal to feed an army!

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies - Healthy, too!

Credit: Mariel Skinner

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup plain, unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Beat in the egg, followed by the applesauce and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture and oats until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Stir in the chocolate chips. Roll into balls. Bake for about 9-12 min. Cookies will be light brown at the edges when done. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Swiss Buttercream

Credit: Smitten Kitchen

For a wedding cake (or most of one, depending on the size)
2 cups of egg whites (approx. 12 large)
3 cups sugar
5 cups butter, softened (2 1/2 pounds, 10 sticks)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For a 9-inch cake (plus filling, or some to spare)
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
26 tablespoons butter, softened (3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the tiniest amount, if you’re just practicing (or enough to cover and fill the 4-inch cake pictured)
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg white
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk egg whites and sugar together in a big metal bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk occasionally until you can’t feel the sugar granules when you rub the mixture between your fingers.

Transfer mixture into the mixer and whip until it turns white and about doubles in size. (Here’s a tip: when you transfer to the mixer, make sure you wipe the condensation off the bottom of the bowl so that no water gets into the egg whites. This can keep them from whipping up properly.)

Add the vanilla.

Finally, add the butter a stick at a time and whip, whip, whip.

Deb note: Do not have a panic attack when this takes a while to come together (though I did every time). One super-large batch took 15 minutes, but it did and will come together. Patience, young Jedis.

*Note: I made this and LOVED how it turned out! It's a very friendly frosting. I gave it a try on some cupcakes and it did not turn out as well as my first attempt but here are some pictures anyway!

Breadmaker Cinnamon Rolls

Credit: allrecipes.com {Miss Alix; Cinnamon Rolls III}

Ingredients:

Dough -

• 1/4 c warm water
• 1/4 c butter, melted
• 1/2 of a 3.4 oz package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 c warm milk
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 T sugar
• 1/2 t salt
• 4 c bread flour
• 1 package active dry yeast

Filling -

• 1/4 c butter, softened
• 1 c brown sugar
• 4 t ground cinnamon
• 3/4 c chopped pecans {optional}

Icing -

• 1/2 of an 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 c butter, softened
• 1 c powdered sugar
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1 1/2 t milk

Directions:

1. In the pan of your bread machine, combine water, melted butter, vanilla pudding, warm milk, egg, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast. Set machine to Dough cycle; press Start.
2. When Dough cycle has finished, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 17x10 inch rectangle. Spread with softened butter. In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over dough.
3. Roll up dough, beginning with long side. Slice into 16 one inch slices and place in 9x13 buttered pan. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. While rolls bake, stir together cream cheese, softened butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and milk. Remove rolls from oven and top with frosting.

Sister K's Snickerdoodles

Credit: Sister K {Allen's mission president's wife}

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 1 c butter, slightly softened {or half butter, half margarine}
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• 3 c flour
• 2 t cream of tartar
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• cinnamon sugar mixture

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugar and butter. Make sure these have time to blend together well. Then add the eggs and vanilla.
2. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add this mixture to the creamed mixture. Mix until the dough is just right.
3. Put cinnamon sugar mixture in a pie tin or other container. Form the dough into balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture until they're nicely coated. Arrange on baking sheet and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes.