Take it up a notch!

So we've all done a "Taco Night", this is not a new idea, am I right? I mean of course it's a great meal plan, Tacos are so easy and everyone loves them. The Mexican food theme is awesome, however there are lots of ways to do this and it doesn't have to always be Tacos! Why not try to branch out a bit and try something a little different... like Enchiladas!! These are super easy to make and are just as much of a crowd pleaser as Tacos.

I found a great recipe for Fajita Enchiladas in my Pillsbury "Budget Chicken Recipes" cooklet (Cooklet is my word for a cookbook-booklet, the kind you can buy in the check out line). I love these cooklets, they are a cookbook addicts cheapie fix because they are only a couple dollars, and they don't take up a lot of space, so it's a lot easier to justify buying them then a huge $30 cookbook.

Back to the Enchiladas: These are so easy. You are basically stir frying chicken, peppers and onion in a skillet, mix in canned chiles, some shredded cheese, enchilada sauce, and wrap the mixture up in 6-inch tortillas. You line them all up in a 9x11 or a lasagna pan, pour more enchilada sauce on top, and bake it. Put more cheese on the Enchiladas 5 minutes before it's done and wooo - Enchiladas! See how easy? They come out tasting really authentically Mexican, and are a lot more impressive than plain old Tacos. You can garnish it as you like, add chopped tomatoes, add cilantro, add sour cream, serve it with Spanish rice, or cornbread with chiles. Mmmm. I actually made this without the chiles and the onions for the immature palates of my children, and they still tasted awesome.

You can find easy Enchilada recipes on the Pillsbury website or check around some of the other cooking websites like allrecipes.com or tasteofhome.com. If you are looking for more Mexican theme meal ideas Better Homes and Gardens recently came out with a special interest magazine of all Mexican recipes. This will only be displayed until April 21 if you want to find it at your bookstore.

So think about taking your Taco Night up a notch next time and try making some Enchiladas!

Cookbook Review - Trisha Yearwood

Trisha Yearwood - Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen

I received this cookbook as a Christmas gift from my hubby. I was pretty excited to get this book, I thumbed through it quickly in the bookstore and it seemed like the kind of family-appealing cookbook that I am always looking for.

There is lots to choose form in this cookbook, a nice assortment of soups, salads, main courses, sides, breads and muffins, and of course, desserts. The cookbook showcases family photos of Trisha's extended family, plus anecdotes from Trish, her sister, and her mother. It definitely feels like these are authentic "Mom's recipes" that we all remember having as kids. There are a lot of basics like fried chicken and meatloaf, perfect family crowd-pleasing meals. Also included are some southern specialties like fried okra, hush puppies, and sweet pickles.

Some of my favorites from this cookbook so far include the chicken pie and the brownies. The chicken pie is just delicious, tons of chicken and a buttermilk biscuit-like topping, no veggies. Yum. The brownies came out perfect, the recipe calls for nuts but I made them without and they were still fantastic. I also liked the spaghetti sauce (from a southern cookbook - go figure!). There are still lots more recipes in this book I am looking forward to trying.

My only complaint about this cookbook is it is in a book bound format, and I prefer a spiral for cookbooks, so they can lie flat. But overall I love it, this cookbook is definitely an asset to my collection!

Addicted to cookbooks

So... I confess, I am addicted to cookbooks.

Every time I go to the bookstore, I can't stop myself from buying another one. I like to buy cooking magazines and the little booklets in the supermarket checkout counter, and on occassion I have been known to buy "vintage" cookbooks at yardsales and antique shops. It all started with an idea of building myself a cookbook library. My dream was to have the ultimate cookbook collection, all of the basics of course, Joy of Cooking, Betty Crocker, Better Homes & Gardens. The classics, Joy Of Cooking, Fanny Farmer. And names, the popular cooks of the day, Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray, Paula Deen. I imagined having this impressive arsenal of all the very best recipes, I would have a perfect recipe for everything under the sun I could ever need to cook or bake.

But there are only 365 days in a year, and with so many cookbooks, probably a few hundred recipes in each one... ummm... I may never need to buy another one again! I could probably cook a different recipe every day for the rest of my life and still never get through them all.

But the collection must go on! While I have definitely slowed down on amassing my library (there are many key titles that I still do not own!), I do still have a near-compulsive need to buy more cookbooks every now and then. I just can't stop myself, and I wouldn't want to!

I write little notes on the pages, commenting on if I liked the recipe or not, if I did anything to modify it. Many of the pages have the corners turned over, many recipes have food splashes and oil marks stained onto the page. I am not trying to preserve them in an immaculate state. Someday they will be passed down to my daughters and I hope they will enjoy reading my notes and remember having their favorite dishes cooked by mom.