Creamy Cilantro Sauce

Thanks to Lori for our first contribution!  I agree this would be great heated up as a sauce or chilled as a dip.  Enjoy!

Creamy Cilantro Sauce
1 pint of sour cream
1 bunch of cilantro
2 jalapenos, 1 seeded and 1 whole

Throw all in a blender until smooth!

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

I thought I would start with a family favorite.  These are easy peasy enchiladas that everyone in the family loves.  It's a recipe that evolved over the years and you can really vary it anyway you want.  So versatile, so easy, and creates plenty of servings.  And let me add that when I took these pictures, I wasn't thinking of starting a recipe blog so it's not how it will be in future posts.  (Hopefully) future posts will be a little more organized :) But for this recipe you'll just need:

• chopped cooked chicken (about a pound -  I usually bake the tenders in the oven with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder for about 15 minutes at 350, this time I also added chili powder - I will have to do a whole other post on chicken)
• 2 - 14 oz. cans green chile enchilada sauce
• 1 can diced green chiles
• cream cheese (about 4 oz, more if you like it extra creamy)
• 2 cups shredded cheese (I use a Mexican blend of three cheeses)
• 10-12 tortillas

**Before starting, make sure you spray 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray - I like to use olive oil spray, but regular cooking spray would work - either way, you just don't want your enchiladas to stick!

They are best with fresh tortillas (we sometimes pick them up from Rosa's and that makes it easy), but if you don't have fresh, these will do just fine...

And I actually will use this brand again because it was the perfect amount for my 9x13 baking dish!  No leftover tortillas and all were filled evenly!  Aaahh, the things that make me happy - I must have a sickness...

I like the Hatch brand enchilada sauce, but any will do.  You may want to get mild, though, as some can be pretty spicy.  Spicy with my family is no bueno - ha.

I set up my enchilada prep stations.  Tortillas, filling, cheese, and pan.

Simply combine chicken, green chiles, and about 1/3 of  a can of the enchilada sauce and heat through.  Once heated through, remove from heat, add cream cheese and mix to melt.  I usually get the mini tubs of Philly cream cheese so I can add as much or as little as I feel.  This time I only had one, so it was a little light on the cream cheese.

This looks gross, but it's so handy.  Pour a little sauce in a pie plate, 

drop in your tortilla, flip on both sides, then scrape off the excess sauce with your hands.  It's a little messy, but so easy, and eliminates having to presoak your tortillas before filling them with the chicken mixture and cheese.

Simply fill with chicken and cheese then place open side down in the baking dish.  Pour remainder of the first can of enchilada sauce over the filled tortillas.  If baking immediately, pour the other can of enchilada sauce over the filled tortillas (this picture is with the remainder sauce, before I poured the second can), cover with foil, and bake in oven at 350 for about 20 minutes or until bubbly on sides.

This dish can be made the night before - just wait until ready to cook to pour second can of sauce over enchiladas, cover, and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, or until bubbly on sides.

Wish I had a picture of the final product, but this is the first post - I'll get it together eventually!  I usually serve this with sour cream, Mexicorn, black beans and chips - yum!

What kind of enchiladas do y'all make?  What do you serve it with?

Welcome to my new blog!

I thought I would start another blog just for fun recipes and ideas for family dinners.  I love cooking for my family and I'm so glad we have a family of boys with big appetites!  I'm not Martha Stewart and I don't always get it right, but that's all part of the fun, right?  I hope you'll be inspired to try some of these recipes and share some recipes, too!!  Happy Eating!