Cowboy Cheesy Chicken

This is by far our favorite chicken recipe. Brady says it's as good as a restraunt's. I don't make it that often because it's not exactly low fat- but it's worth all the flavor sometimes. We had downed most of the pan before I got my camera. I love to make this when company comes and Jessica and Cameron were visiting us so it was a must make recipe. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do. It's great with the pillaf recipe that can be found in the main dish section under Apricot chicken. The sauce in the bottom of the pan is great on the rice.

Marinade:

1/2 cup dijon mustard

1/2 cup honey

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp lemon juice

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 8oz pkg fresh mushrooms

2 cups shredded colby jack cheese

1/2 pkg bacon cooked (not to crispy because you bake it in the oven too) (cut the pkg in half so the bacon stips are half length and use that half of the pkg)
parsley

Combine marinade and put 1/2 cup marinade in a plastic bag with the chicken. Save the rest of the marinade. Refridgerate the chicken for 2 hours (sometimes I don't get it in the fridge that long and it still tastes great). Drain and discard the marinade from the chicken. Brown chicken chicken in a little bit of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in a 9x13 baking dish. Cover with remaining marinade. Place mushrooms in pan that you browed chicken in and cook until tender. Sprinkle over chicken. Spinkle cheese over chicken and place bacon pieces over chicken. Spinkle with parsley and cook at 375 for 20-25 min. Server with lemon rice pillaf. SO YUMMY!!

Cheesy Beef and Spinach Enchiladas

Sorry this isn't the best picture of this dish. It doesn't do it justice. I didn't get a good picture of it until we had almost eaten most of the pan. It is really good though. Even Savannah liked it, which is saying a lot when it comes to enchiladas.

Enchiladas:
1 lb. ground beef
2 gloves garlic
1 1/2 cups frozen cut leaf spinach
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp cumin
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chiles
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or the colby jack preshredded kind- easier to find)
1 pkg (8 or 10) 8 inch flour tortillas (I try and find a 10 pack because I usually have one that is messed up- breaks- and I like to have a few back ups- then I have an extra tortilla to give Alyssa since I don't think she'd eat these)
1 can (19oz) Old El Paso Red Enchilada sauce (you can use mild or medium depending on you taste. I use mild to make it more kid friendly, but Brady would prefer the medium)

Toppings if desired:
Sour Cream, Salsa, Fresh Cilantro

Cook ground beef and garlic in a skillet until browned. Drain or pat with a paper towel to get off extra grease. Add spinach and cook until it is thawed. Stir in cream cheese, cumin, chiles and 1 1/2 cups cheese and cook until all combined. Spoon about 1/3 cup beef mixture into each tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down in a greased glass baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over rolled tortillas sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-25 min. I cover them for the first 15 min and remove for the last 5-10 min. Put your favorite topping on. This is great with rice or the Texas Caviar recipe that is under appetizers.

Easy to Freeze:
Make and put in a throw away aluminum pan. Cover with foil and the plastic lid and freeze. Note: Let it cool before you freeze or it will sweat.

Easy Orange Carrot Cake

If you like carrot cake this is a very easy recipe that I found in a magazine. I love it because it has a touch of orange flavor and because it uses a cake mix as a base so it is really easy.

Cake:

1 pkg yellow cake mix

1 pkg instant vanilla pudding mix

2 tsp cinnamon

4 eggs

2/3 cup orange juice

1/2 cup oil

3 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup raisins (optional)- I don't put these in because I don't like raisins in cake

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1-2 TBSP orange juice

1 TBSP grated orange peel (the zest from about 1 med. orange)

Combine cake mix, pudding mix and cinnamon. Whisk the eggs, orange juice and oil: add to dry ingredients. Beat until well blended. Stir in the carrots, raisins and nuts.

Pour batter into 2 greased 9 in round pans and bake at 350 for 30-35 min. Let cool before frosting. Store the cake in the fridge.