Shirley J's Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Enchilada's are a favorite of my family.  I've been making a scratch version for years.  My recipe in fact for those makes 6 pans at a time.  So I was not sure how I would like the Shirley J version using the Universal Sauce.  I was overwhelmed with the goodness.  My son asked me why I would mess with something I had perfected over the years.  He too was amazed at how good they tasted.  Plus he didn't know how much time I had saved.  These enchiladas are easy, quick and delicious.

Shirley J Chicken Enchiladas

1 cup Shirley J's Universal sauce mix
4 cups water
1 7 oz can chopped green chilies
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chicken bouillon
2  12 oz cans chicken, drained
3 cups grated cheese, mozzarella or monterey jack work well
8-10 tortillas

Mix water and universal sauce together in a saucepan.  Mix together and bring to a slow boil.  Add green chilies, cumin and bouillon.  Stir and remove from heat.  Set aside.  In small bowl, break up chicken and add 11/2 cups of the cheese and 1 1/2 cups of the sauce.  Mix together. Place 2-3 T. of chicken mixture in center of tortilla and roll up. Place rolled up tortillas in 9x13 pan. Continue until all chicken mixture is used. Pour remaining sauce over tortillas. Sprinkle the top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Cupcake Conference 2010 Summer Social

I went to the Cupcake Conference Summer Social a week ago.  It was soo much fun!

I went with these cute girls; Kelli,  Dee-Dee and Brittany.  The Social was held at The Grand America Hotel in one of the suites on the 23rd floor. 

It was beautiful. 

So were the views. 

We spent some time in the pastry kitchen with the executive pastry chef, Fernanda Dutra.

Then we had a little cupcake decorating contest.

We spent the remainder of the evening back in the suite.  We had more cupcakes, met new friends and won a bunch of prizes.  I won some beautiful earrings and an amazing cupcake stand.

Brittany may have won a cupcake bedazzled snuggie. 

Who am I kidding? 

Of course she did!

It was a wonderful, sugar-high, cupcake loving, gift winning, new friend making, swag bag receiving, lots of laughing night!

Thanks to these cute girls for all the planning!

 I can't wait to see what else is in store with the Cupcake Conference!

Busy July

I can't believe I haven't posted a thing this month.  It's been a busy one.  But relaxing too.  Isn't that what summer's all about?

But I'm headed to the Cupcake Conference Summer Social in about an hour.  I'm excited about it too.  I'll take pictures and report back on Monday.  Cupcakes.  Grand America Hotel.  Socializing.  Can it get any better? 

Check out the Cupcake Conference  I'll give you my take on it on Monday.

Whole Wheat Bread

I've finally found a whole wheat bread recipe that my family loves!  Not just to eat while it's warm, but for toast and sandwiches too.  It's soft yet doesn't fall apart.  It's absolutely delicious. 

I grind my own flour but you can just buy yours.  Or talk your friend with a wheat grinder into grinding some for you.  I started using hard white wheat to fool my kids that it was only half wheat flour.  But they like it so much that I've been using half hard red and half hard white wheat.

I found this recipe over at The Sisters Cafe.  I changed it a little bit to suit my needs.

Whole Wheat Bread

makes 5 loaves

3 1/2 cups hot tap water

1 12 oz can evaporated milk

3 T. instant yeast

2/3 cup oil

1 cup honey

1 cup white flour (I guess that doesn't make it "whole wheat" bread)

3 T vital wheat gluten

12 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 T salt

If grinding your own wheat, grind all of the wheat before you start.  Approximately 8 cups of wheat is equal to 12 cups flour. 

Using a heavy duty mixer, (I use a Bosch) combine ingredients in the order given, mixing well after half of the flour.  Then add the other half of flour and salt.  If dough is too sticky, add a little bit extra white flour.  Knead in mixer for 8 minutes.  Dump dough onto counter and form into a log.  Divide into 5 equal parts.  Put each part into a greased medium loaf pan.  Push down the sides to fill the bottom of the pan, leaving the top round and smooth.  Don't worry too much about it looking perfect here. 

Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until desired size. 

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.  Remove from oven and brush tops with melted butter, if desired. 

Let cool ten minutes before removing from pans.  Cool completely before slicing.  Although we never wait for that.

Shirley J Giveaway

Dee-Dee over at whateverdeedeewants.com is having a Shirley J giveaway.  She's giving away 1 bottle BBQ sauce mix, 1 bottle pizza and pasta seasoning mix and 1 bottle of onion seasoning.  I've tried them all and they are very good.  And easy to use. 

Get yourself over there and enter for the giveaway.  Hurry it ends Wednesday, June 23rd at midnight. 

Good luck! 

Requested Recipe - Caramels

I've had a few requests for my caramel recipe.  Caramels are just about my favorite food.  Can you consider caramels food?  If not, they are my favorite treat.  They are definately a treat.  I've tried several recipes, but this one is my favorite.  It is a recipe from my husbands Aunt Marie.  She introduced me to these little goodies more than 25 years ago and it's the recipe I keep coming back to.  I've adjusted the recipe a little, but it's nearly the same. 

Aunt Marie's Caramels

2 cups sugar

1 cup white karo syrup

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup butter

2 tsp vanilla

Mix together sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 of the cream in a heavy saucepan.  Cover and bring to a boil at medium heat.  Remove lid. Add remaining cream gradually, slow enough that it never stops boiling.  Allow it to thicken after each addition.  When all of the cream has been added, use a candy thermometer and cook to 234 degrees. Aunt Marie says you must continuelly stir during this stage but I have found that occasionally stirring works just fine.  Just don't scrape the edges of the pan while stirring.  Once it reaches 234 degrees add butter and vanilla.  Stir quickly to melt butter and bring back to 234 degrees.  Immediately pour into a buttered 9x9 inch pan without scraping the cooking pan.

Cool completely and cut into 1 inch squares.  Wrap and enjoy!  Yum!

Shirley J Universal Sauce

I am loving Shirley J's Universal Sauce! 

This product has been around for over 30 years.  But until recently it has been only used in commercial kitchens.  The company is now bringing their products to the home.  Shirley J has many products but the company's flagship product is called Universal Sauce.  It has so many uses.  It can take the place of any type of white or cream sauce.  It makes wonderful soups, sauces, casseroles and much more. The possibilites are endless.  

The universal sauce is a mix with water product.  It is foolproof.  It is easy.  It is economical.  Not to mention it's about 1/4 of the calories of a regular white sauce.  I could go on and on. 

So far I have made macaroni and cheese (about 5 times), fettucine alfredo, creamy tomato basil pasta, chicken enchiladas, baked potato cheese soup and chicken alfredo pizza.  All that starting with Shirley J's Universal Sauce.

I will be trying out and posting a new Shirley J's recipe each week.  If you are interested in finding out more about ShirleyJ, email me or check out the Shirely J website.