Monte Cristo Sandwiches and Potato Pancakes

The Monte Cristo Sandwiches are a classic repeat for this house! Sweet but with a wonderful complement of meats and cheeses, they are DELICIOUS! The Potato Pancakes were a new recipe I found on "Recipes of a Cheapskate." We have TONS of leftover mashed potatoes from our good old chicken fried chicken with gravy, corn and mashed potatoes dinner yesterday... so I decided to use some of them up. Yes, I said mashed potatoes. I was skeptical too but they turned out DELICIOUS! Put a little bit of salsa on top and I liked them even better than the Monte Cristos! SUPER easy to make too! The pictures are not mine. I give full credit to "Recipes of a Cheapskate!"

MONTE CRISTO SANDWICHES

2 eggs
1/4 c. maple syrup
4 slices of bread
cream cheese
2-3 slices deli black forest ham
2-3 slices deli turkey
2 slices Swiss cheese
powdered sugar
Raspberry Jam (or any jam you like)

Mix eggs and maple syrup together with a fork and pour in a shallow dish. Dip the bread in the egg (make sure the bread is well-covered with the egg mixture) and cook on a griddle or in a frying pan (as if you were making French toast). Spread a good amount of cream cheese on half of the toasts. On the same toasts, add half of the ham and turkey and a slice of Swiss cheese. Top each sandwich with the remaining toasts. Turn the griddle to a low heat and add the sandwiches. Warm each sandwich until cheese is melted. Remove from heat and sprinkle each sandwich with powdered sugar. Cut into halves or fourths and serve with raspberry jam.

POTATO PANCAKES
From Recipes of a Cheapskate

• 1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup flour
• chopped, cooked bacon
• seasonings of choice (salt, pepper, seasoned salt, garlic, etc.)
• onion (optional, I use onion powder)

Mix together the eggs, flour, seasonings, and bacon. Add the potatoes and mix well. Make your patties and cook in a little bit of the bacon grease, or oil, until crisp on each side. Drain on a paper towel.

Classic Repeat: Mom's Chicken Sour Cream Enchiladas

We love enchiladas and this one is definitely a keeper! I also tried the Spanish rice again and it turned out MUCH better once I remembered not to add the powders too early.... This is a relatively easy meal with relatively basic ingredients! Try it!!!

http://shaylaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/12/moms-chicken-sour-cream-enchiladas.html

http://shaylaskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/01/oven-fried-chicken-chimichangas-spanish.html

Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo

Okay, so I said last night that we were definitely Mexican people. Well, I am back to say that we are definitely Italian people! This dish is so quick and easy that I got off work at 7:00 pm and we were FINISHED eating just after 8:00 pm. Very basic ingredients and VERY tasty! Try it and LOVE it!

CHICKEN & BROCCOLI ALFREDO

8 oz. uncooked linguine or spaghetti
1 c fresh or frozen broccoli florets
2 T butter or margarine
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/2 c milk
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 t pepper
½ t salt
½ t garlic powder

Prepare linguine according to package directions. Add broccoli for last four minutes of cooking time; drain. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink, stirring often. Add soup, milk, cheese, pepper, salt, garlic powder and linguine mixture; heat through, stirring occasionally. Serve with additional cheese. Salt and Pepper to taste.

*NOTE: I added the salt and garlic powder to the recipe. If you want to eliminate it, go for it. We have also had this with all sorts of noodles. Tonight we had it with penne and we loved it!

Oven-Fried Chicken Chimichangas & Spanish Rice

We are Mexican people. That is all there is to it. We love Mexican food and I have a whole arsenal of recipes. This was a new one that I got from Campbell's Kitchen. They send me recipes daily. They turned out FANTASTIC and were so easy to make. I really liked the Spanish rice although Jake wasn't a big fan. I think I will try it again to see if I can improve it. I really liked it though - it was fast and easy and a great compliment to the chimichangas.

OVEN-FRIED CHICKEN CHIMICHANGAS

Ingredients:

2/3 cup Pace® Picante Sauce
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves, crushed
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
4 oz. shredded Cheddar cheese (about 1 cup)
2 green onions, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
6 (8-inch) flour tortillas
2 tbsp. butter, melted
fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:

Stir the picante sauce, cumin, oregano, chicken, cheese and onions in a medium bowl.

Place about 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla. Fold the opposite sides over the filling. Roll up from the bottom and place seam-side down on a baking sheet. Brush with butter.

Bake at 400°F. for 25 minutes or until they're golden brown. Serve with additional picante sauce. Garnish with cilantro.

Tip: For 1 1/2 cups chopped chicken, in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, in 4 cups boiling water, cook 3/4 pound boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cubed, for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Drain and chop the chicken. Serves 6.

EASY SPANISH RICE

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup plain tomato sauce*
3 cloves finely chopped garlic *
1/4 of a medium onion*
2 tablespoons oil
4 heaping tablespoons of finely chopped parsley (optional)

Preparation:

In a medium sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add in the fresh garlic and onion. Saute for 1-2 minutes until softened. Add in dry rice. Stir for about 5 minutes until rice becomes a golden brown color.

Add in broth and tomato sauce (Slowly into rice, not directly onto hot pan!) Add in the parsley if you're using it. Stir it up and bring to a boil. Once it starts boiling, turn the heat to low and cover. Let it simmer for 20 minutes and fluff with a fork.

*If you don't have fresh garlic or onions on hand you can use the equivalent in powder form. Do not saute the powder, just skip that step and add the garlic powder and/or onion powder when you add the liquids. If you don't have tomato sauce you can use unseasoned stewed tomatoes, or canned diced tomatoes with their liquid.

The Best Meatballs with a Tomato-Basil Cream Sauce

I got this recipe from my friend, Amy. (Posted on Facebook). We love pasta and so I wanted to give this one a try. I thought the meatballs were good, but what really made the dish was the sauce. SOOOOOOOOOOOO good! Jake absolutely went crazy about it and told me to DEFINITELY keep this recipe. Quick, easy, and easily adaptable to ingredients you have on hand.

The Best Meatballs

2 lbs. ground beef
1 pkg. (6 oz.) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken (or Turkey!)
1- 1/4 cups water
2 eggs salt and pepper

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil. Spray with cooking spray. Mix ingredients until blended; shape into balls. Each meatball= 1 heaping tablespoon of mixture.
2. Place meatballs on each prepared pan. Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until done.
3. Freeze half or more of meatballs for later. Combine 16 meatballs with Tomato-Basil Cream sauce.

Tomato-Basil Cream Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced (or 4 tsps. Minced garlic)
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced (or leave them out if you don't like mushrooms)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
salt and sugar to taste
4 oz. cream cheese, cubed
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

Heat oil in a skillet. Saute garlic and mushrooms until mushrooms are tender. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Heat through. Salt and sugar to taste. Stir in cream cheese and basil until cheese is melted and heated through. Add in meatballs. Cover and cook until heated through. Serve over hot pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.