Chicken & Avocado Enchiladas

Welcome to another Monday. :D Did you have a good weekend? Did you try anything new?

I'll get to today's share quickly; with the open house less than three weeks away, time is PRECIOUS, people!! :D It's for Chicken & Avocado Enchiladas from Gimme Some Oven.

First, let me say that I find the name a little misleading. The avocados are in the SAUCE; even though there's a bit of sauce in the enchiladas, I think these are more chicken and pepper enchiladas with avocado and cilantro sauce.

With that being said, these got a YES, PLEASE! from Kenn and me. My mom despises cilantro, so she didn't like them at all. I was happily surprised at how little HEAT the peppers brought, and how much flavor. If you like heat, keep some of the ribs and seeds from the jalapenos in. Not for US, however. :D

I cooked the chicken the day before; when I poach chicken, I always try to give it extra flavor. I used dried minced onion, a bit of onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. It gave it a nice flavor without being too cumin-y. :D The recipe made a LOT of sauce. I doubled the whole recipe, because I took some to a friend's family who just had a baby. I gave them a jar of sauce AND had two more jars. I've got a full jar in my fridge; what to do with it?!? :D

OK, I'm outta here! Have a WONDERFUL day!!!! Be BLESSED!!!

Apple Pudding Cake with Cinnamon Caramel Sauce

It's FRIDAY!!! :D Are you thrilled? Or are you BUSY? (Both works... :) )

Today's recipe is for Apple Pudding Cake with Cinnamon Caramel Sauce from Betty Crocker's website.

I made this dessert for my 2013 Hostess Appreciation Luncheon for my Stampin' Up! hostesses; it's a perk for ONLY my hostesses from the past year. We all get together, I make a homemade-everything lunch, and we do projects that I won't ever teach anywhere else. There are door prizes, and lots of fun, but it's USUALLY the food that wins the day. :D

This year wasn't any exception. This cake. OH, THIS CAKE. It's DEFINITELY a YES, PLEASE! It's easy, SUPER moist, decadent, and did I mention how GOOD it is? :D

Honestly, the cake was good on its own. The caramel sauce put it completely over the top; I felt guilty for even LOOKING at it. :D I did double the recipe and put it into a 13x9 pan. That's the only thing I did differently.

OK, I'm outta here, friends. Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Be BLESSED!

Spanish Rice

Happy Wednesday! Are you having a good week? Sorry about missing Monday; I am still fighting this cold, and I couldn't get enthused about talking about food. :D

So, today I'm sharing this Spanish Rice recipe from About.com.

It is an easy recipe; I'm not a HUGE Spanish rice fan, period - unless it's got lots of cheese sauce poured over it, and then it's something else entirely. :D BUT this is a good, simple recipe. I've ALWAYS had to cook it longer than it says, and it's still a bit crunchy, even then. It carries easily, so it's gone to two different homes as a side to Mexican dishes. It can warm in the oven with the entree and refried beans, so that works well. :)

Overall, it's a good recipe to have - so I am gonna call it a YES, PLEASE! :)

OK, I'm outta here! Have a wonderful day, my friends. Be BLESSED!!!

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Acorns

Happy Friday! :) Where did the week go? Wow, the YEAR is almost gone!

Today's share is more of a how-to, to make these adorable little acorns, from Six in the Suburbs.

Yes. They are cute. :D They are a bit of a pain to assemble - the kiss kept wanting to stay in the melted chips. AND, if I were to do this again, I'd use melted MILK chocolate chips - I thought the semi-sweet was a bit bitter. However, my mom LOVED them - I ate one of them to say I tried it, and she ate the rest that I made. :D

I didn't make a huge amount, which was fun - a hanging packet of Kisses and a to-go cup of the Nutter Butters was all. In the blog post, they say, "If your child has a peanut allergy, substitute the NutterButter for a Ritz Bitz!" I could be wrong - I mean, I don't eat a lot of prepared snacks! - but I thought Ritz Bitz had peanut butter in the center...?? Oh, well, I don't have to worry about it. :D I don't have kids!

So, they're a YES, PLEASE, especially if you're having a get-together during the fall. These would be a great table favor for Thanksgiving!

OK, I'm outta here. :) Have a wonderful weekend! Try something new! :) BE BLESSED!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Icing

Welcome back - it's Wednesday! Are you trying anything new in your menus this week? Gotta tell you, there are SO many recipes out there, I could make something new every meal and not run out of ones I really want to try. :D

Today's recipe is from The Girl Who Ate Everything, for Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Icing.

First, I hate to tell you, but I didn't do the caramel icing. Sorry. It was one more step in a too-busy day, so I used some regular buttercream I had left from some cookies. :) It LOOKED good, the icing recipe, but I was DONE. LOL! I made these for a hostess stamping club brunch get-together.

Everyone seemed to LOVE them! :)There was a taste I couldn't identify that I would work on discovering and "fixing" if I make these again - but they were VERY tender, and you could tell they were pumpkin - the dough was soft and pumpkin-colored. :D The recipe made EXACTLY a dozen rolls.

I think I'll give them a YES, PLEASE! With that being said, I'm not sure I'll make this particular recipe again. Maybe. Again, there are SO many recipes for pumpkin cinnamon rolls...!

OK, I'm outta here! :D Have a wonderful day! Be BLESSED!!!

Caprese Salad: re-designed

Happy Monday! Sorry, no Manicure Monday this week; my nails are always weak, and I went too long without polish on them last week, so they mostly broke. So, I've got polish on them now, hoping to grow them out again quickly. :D They're fun to play with!

I did this Caprese Salad: re-designed from The Party Dress for my hostess appreciation luncheon in October.

Caprese salad is one of my all-time favorite dishes. I love the fresh tastes, with the balsamic vinegar topping it all off. So when I saw this salad presentation, I knew I wanted to try it.

For presentation, this is DEFINITELY a YES, PLEASE. I wish there was a way to be able to keep the dressing more with the other ingredients, but the only way I can think that that would be possible is if they were served on individual plates.

I used a steak knife to cut the tomatoes; I like to cut them with a serrated blade of some type, so the skin doesn't cause an issue with tearing. The steak knife made it possible to control the depth of the cut pretty easily; cutting almost all the way through is not my easiest task! :D

I do recommend you try this. It was absolutely beautiful!

OK, I'm outta here. I'm trying to recover from a cold that's settling into my chest. UGH. Prayers appreciated! Have a wonderful day! be BLESSED!!!

Fluffy Ricota Pancakes

Happy Friday! How are you today? I've picked up a head cold somewhere that wants to stay - but it needs to LEAVE! Oh, well. It's a beautiful day, with sunshine after the storms all day long yesterday.

Today's review is these Fluffy Ricotta Pancakes from The Kitchn.

These were a YES, PLEASE. Since one batch made less than ten pancakes, I had some and put some in the freezer. I've already eaten the ones that were in the freezer; they froze beautifully! They are fluffy, and tasty. They were also pretty easy, thanks to my Kitchen Aid to beat the whites for me. :D

OK, I'm outta here. I hope you have a wonderful first weekend of November! Be BLESSED!