Enchilada Pizza

What a crazy-wonderful-busy-fun summer I've been having! Lots of cake baking, party planning... more cake baking, traveling, beach fires, camp fires, BBQs and relaxation with friends and family. All the things that make summers so much fun! Now... in the midst of all that, I'm just a litttttle bit guilty of neglecting all of you - it's been over a month since my last post :O But have no fear, with summer winding down, and a back-log of posts ready to write and share, that stops now! Starting with this yum-tastic recipe, Enchilada Pizza!


This recipe is a result of 3 things:
#1. Realizing beans aren't so bad after all (especially when re-fried)
#2. Going through a brief Mexican food obsession
#3. Having pizza dough on hand but not wanting my usual goat cheese/sundried tomato/bacon/balsamic glaze version (which is pretty awesome too... just saying).

Anywho, after adjusting the amounts of certain ingredients, and giving it several taste tests, I can proudly post this to my blog. I love it and so does the hubby! I think I surprised him with this one, so yummy and so filling!

Italian Chicken Casserole

First of all, let me give props to Aaron & Jill of 'Our Story' blog for conceiving this deliciousness! I first came across this recipe on Pinterest and couldn't wait to try it. Sure I've had artichoke before... mushed together with spinach in hot-dip form, but I had never purchased or cooked with it! And, I must admit, I enjoy a recipe that forces me to cook with new ingredients!

This recipe was super tasty, and considering I ate it 3 days in a row as leftovers, (when I'm not a big fan of leftovers) is a testament to how good it is. I've made a few small adjustments to the original recipe, turning it into more of a chicken casserole vs. a chicken bake. But, it's delicious either way! 

Stewed Chicken with Dumplings

Today, I bring to you another golden recipe from my mom's cookbook, Stewed Chicken with Dumplings! I love this recipe for a lot of reasons... okay, mainly for the dumplings and gravy - I am a dumpling fiend - but aside from that, it's actually pretty simple to make. Everything is cooked in the one pot which means minimal dishes to wash when you're done. That's a selling point if I've ever heard one! Last week alone, I cooked Eggs Benedict (for the 2nd time ever) and in the process dirt 2 pots, a frying pan, several ramekins, a whisk, a bowl, measuring spoons, multiple other utensils and then the plates we ate it on. Maybe this isn't as big a selling point to those of you with dishwashers, but that stuff counts to us dishwasherless folk. But I digress.

This recipe is truly yummy and about the hardest part of making it is peeling and chopping all those veggies. Methinks I'll be making this again very soon!

Fun Fact: When I was younger, I would eat around the vegetables and essentially consume dumplings and chicken! Mmmm... dumplings!

Fall Squash Salad

I've never been big on salads. Sure, I enjoy the odd Caesar, and I do love Wendy's apple chicken pecan salad too, but I've never been the type to crave salads (unless we're talking cold plates here, but that's a whole different ballgame altogether!)

Either way, my opinion on salads changed yesterday when I cooked up a warm squash salad, something I literally dreamed up a few nights before. If you're anything like me and you don't enjoy cold salads on a cold day, this is the perfect salad for those cooler Autumn days. It actually felt like comfort food - a salad?! Yeah, I know right?! Weird! Needless to say, I will be making this over and over this Fall.

Pumpkin Curry Chicken

I'm sure I'm not the only one who plays 'clean the fridge' while cooking. You know the game, you have a bunch of veggies left in your fridge you'd like to get rid of, so they magically appear in whatever you're cooking! Sometimes it works marvelously, other times, not so much... last night I played, and last night, my friends, I won! I introduce to you a delicious, creamy, pumpkin-ee concoction with tender chicken and veg!

Man Pleasing Chicken

So what is this man pleasing chicken you speak of? Will my 'Man' love it? Will it please him so? Well, I can't answer that for you, as every man is different, but I will say that my 'Man' thoroughly enjoyed this chicken and scarfed it down between phrases like 'yup that's some good', 'man-pleasing is right', 'what's in this again?', 'we should definitely have this again soon!'

I stumbled across this recipe on Pinterest, like many of my recipes these days. The original post came from Witty in the City, but I've also seen it referenced as 'World's best chicken' by Rachel Schultz. Either way you make it, it will be delish I'm sure, because it's the flavour combo that makes this taste so good.