Tod was really excited about this dinner and couldn't wait.

My empty nest still has a child in it :)

Chicken Enchiladas

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence of the Food Network with my Changes

• 2 - 13 oz. cans chicken or (1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast or rotisserie chicken)
• 1 teas. pepper
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Taco Seasoning
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 Tb. chopped garlic
• 1 sm. can corn drained (or 1 C)
• 2 cans chopped green chilies (4 oz.)
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 bell pepper diced
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 16-18 corn tortillas (one pkg.)
• 30 oz. (3 cans) enchilada sauce - heat level is your choice, I had two hot, one mild
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar and Jack cheeses
• Garnish: cilantro leaves, chopped green onion and sour cream

Directions

Drain one can of the chicken, then add the drained can and the entire second can into large fry pan. Add pepper, cumin, garlic powder, Taco Seasoning, onion, chopped, chopped garlic, corn, chilis, tomatoes, bell pepper. Stir well to combine. Dust the mixture with flour to help set.

Spray pan with oil.  I used a catering pan, but you could use two cake pans if needed.  Spoon in some enchilada sauce in bottom of pan.  Layer the tortillas in the pan. Spoon all chicken mixture onto the tortilla layer. Cover with the remainder of the tortillas. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven until cheese melts. Garnish with cilantro, green onion and sour cream before serving. Serve with Spanish rice and beans. I used a pizza cutter to cut the enchilada layers up to look like individual enchiladas. I tried to fold them, but it broke, therefore the layers were born. Serves 8...left overs needed another can of enchilada sauce as the tortillas seemed to dry up the sauce overnight....mmmmm it was very good.

Rhubarb Pie (or BlueBarb Pie)

425 degree oven, 40-50 minutes

Spray pie pan with Pam, line with a pie crust

¼ C water in sauce pan if using fresh rhubarb (if using frozen, add thawed out rhubarb here, it will have water in it)

1 2/3 C sugar (1 cup for tart)

1/4 C flour

½ teas cinnamon

Stir  until smooth (you can heat it up here if you need to get it smooth, but this is optional, if it gets all mixed up without heat)

Add 4 C diced fresh rhubarb

Stir until rhubarb is coated, if heating until bubbly, watch for scorching. Fold in a Cup of fresh blueberries for a variation.

Pour into Pillsbury crust, top with another crust, slit crust, wet top of crust with milk on top, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.

Bake 40-50 minutes, until brown and bubbly around the edges. Glass or ceramic pie pan works best for me.  *NOTE Strawberry Rhubarb takes less time than the plain rhubarb...look for the boil over levels or fork test doneness of the rhubarb.

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Optional Crumb topping instead of top crust:

1C flour

½ C firm butter or margarine

½ C brown sugar

Cut with pastry cutter until crumbly and put on top of pie

I always use Pillsbury pie crust, it is just easier. I probably would make one pie a year if I made the homemade crust.

Pulled BBQ Pork Sandwich

2-3 # Pork Loin

1 C. Chicken Broth

2 Tb. crushed garlic

1 teas. pepper

1/2 teas. salt

Place Pork Loin in baking dish, pour chicken broth over the meat, coat with garlic, then sprinkle with generous salt and pepper. Cover with tin foil and bake in 300 degree oven. Go shopping for five hours. Pull out roast place on cutting board, wipe away any fat from the outside of roast, discard. Shred the roast by pulling it apart with two forks, set aside in lg. pan.

Add 1/2 C. drippings from roast to pan with shredded pork. Add up to two bottles (15. oz.) of Sweet Baby Rays or your favorite BBQ sauce. It's ok to add water to the bottle, rinse it out by shaking and adding to mixture. It's what we do! Mix all together and serve on your favorite bun. Whoo, that was easy! My friend Diane let me in on this one!

Smoked Sausage GUMBO

1/2 c. olive oil optional
2 c. chopped onion
2 c. chopped green pepper
1 c. chopped celery
2 T chopped garlic
1 lb. smoked sausage, thinly sliced (I've used the Jeanie O smoked turkey sausage - less guilt and taste good)
1 small can corn
1 c. frozen okra or collard greens
2 cans chicken broth (4C)
1 qt. water

1/4 c. Quinoa (optional, but why not)

2 C. peeled, chopped tomato (or one can)

1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. catsup
3 bay leaves
1 tsp. hot sauce and/or ¼ teas red pepper (or more depends on how spicy you like)
1 tsp. dried whole thyme
1 tsp. dried whole oregano

8 Cups of hot cooked rice

Combine oil in a large pan with onion, green pepper, celery and garlic, continue cooking until vegetables are tender. Add sausage and all ingredients except rice; bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 2 hours. If you can wait that long.

You can also stir in shrimp, crabmeat, and cooked chicken if you wish and continue cooking 10 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves. Serve gumbo over rice, season to taste with salt & pepper. Yield 11 cups

Stuffed Cabbage

I have to give credit to Sherry Gray for helping me make these the first time. I know I have probably changed some things that she has done, but that's what will make it a "Tuttle" recipe to pass on.

Ingredients

2 heads cabbage (three make it easier to find nice leaves, but you have leftovers)

FILLING

2 cups uncooked long grain rice, scalded

3 lbs lean ground beef

1 lb lean pork sausage (I prefer "Old Folks Sausage-Medium")

1 pound ground Veal

1 C onions, minced

1 C bell pepper minced

1 C celery minced

4 eggs, beaten -

1 cup water

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

1 garlic clove, minced (1 Tb minced)

STEWING SAUCE

2 (28 ounce) cans canned diced tomatoes

2 (28 ounce) cans canned crushed tomatoes

4 cups tomato juice or V8

1 C minced onions

1 C minced bell pepper

1 C minced celery

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 lb bacon, cooked (I bake this in the oven on a cookie sheet till crispy, drain on a paper towel then crumble up)

2 lbs sausage, smoked

Directions

Core cabbage, heat in salt water in a large soup pot till leaves separate.

Remove each leaf and drain in colander or on a towel.

FILLING--(2nd ingredient group):

To scald rice: Heat a generous amount of water in a heavy pan that will hold the heat. Make sure that the water will be more than enough to cover the rice. Make sure the water is at a rolling boil, if rice is not scalded enough it will be crunchy! Add the 2 C of rice to boiling water, pull off the heat. Let stand for at least 5 minutes. Rinse with cold water, draining with sieve. Add rice to the rest of the filling ingredients in a very large bowl and mix well.

Now fill the cabbage leaves with filling mixture; folding leaves like a burrito. I'm a sissy and used an ice cream scoop, but the piggys were a bit too fat.

While husband is rolling pigs (ha), start cooking the stewing sauce in another pot.

STEWING SAUCE--(3rd ingredient group):

Mix group together, bring to a boil, then simmer 5 to 10 minutes.

TO ASSEMBLE:.

Line the roaster with: layer of pigs, sauce, sprinkle with left over cabbage cut up into chunks, sauce, layer of pigs, layer of sauce, cabbage, smoked sausage chunks and the rest of the sauce.

Set oven at 350°F.

Cover roaster, and once all comes to a kind of a boil-probably about an hour, reduce temperature to about 300°F so it doesn't boil over.

Cook about 2 more hours. It's actually taste better on the second day, so I make it ahead of time. The recipe is so large, I usually end up with zip lock bags full of piggys for a lazy day to put in the freezer.

Chicken Marsala

A dinner this good probably should have been served at a table. Sadly, we don't always use the table as you can see this plate presented on Tod's lap...He was impressed anyway and said "you need to take a picture"

Chicken Marsala and Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients
8 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless - Cut across so you have thin pieces
1 cup flour
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 teas Dried oregano
8 Tbsp oil
8 Tbsp butter or margarine
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cups Marsala wine

Procedures

1. POUND chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap until about 1/4" thickness.
2. COMBINE flour, salt, pepper and oregano in a mixing bowl. Dredge chicken pieces in the flour, shaking off any excess.
3. HEAT 2 Tb oil and 2 Tb butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken breasts on medium heat for about 2 minutes on the first side, until lightly browned. Turn breasts over to cook other side. Set the chicken aside and continue to sear the outside of the remainder of chicken, adding oil and butter as needed. When all the chicken has been seared (or browned) then add mushrooms. Add Marsala wine around chicken pieces. If you want a stronger Marsala taste - which Tod does - I'll reduce 4C of Marsala to two cups before adding to chicken by simmering in a pot first.
4. COVER and simmer for about 15 minutes or until chicken reads 180 degrees or higher.
5. TRANSFER to serving plate.

To complete this "Olive Garden" style dinner, I would add the Roasted Potatoes. I put 6-8 potatoes (punctured) in the microwave, covered and hit the baked potato button. This quickly pre-cooks them. I then slice up the hot potatoes into chunks, place in a large zip-lock bag with a package of French onion soup mix, 1/4 C olive oil, 1 teaspoon rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and some chunky veggies like onions and bell peppers. Shake it all up, place on a cookie sheet and brown the potatoes and veggies in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

Grilled Salmon with Zucchini Relish

Relish Ingredients:

1		cup chopped zucchini
1/2		cup chopped onion- red was best
1		tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves or rosemary
4 1		tablespoons chopped bell pepper small tomato diced
2		tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 1/8		crushed garlic clove -or a teaspoon crushed garlic teaspoon salt
1/4		teaspoon pepper

Sauce Ingredients:

3		tablespoons light butter, melted
2		tablespoons chopped fresh basil or rosemary leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1		tablespoon lemon juice

Salmon Ingredients:

4

(6 ounces each) salmon filets

Combine all relish ingredients in medium bowl; mix well. Cover; refrigerate until serving time.

Make aluminum foil pan.

Stir together all sauce ingredients in small bowl. Brush both sides of salmon with sauce.

Place fish on grill in pan. Cover; grill, turning and brushing with sauce once, until fish flakes with fork (10 to 12 minutes). Serve with relish.

A version of this recipe was found on LandOLakes.com. This is with my changes and my picture. Very healthy and it was very tasty on a February day reminding me of a summer meal.