This Weeks Bounty

This was a very good week to get a Bountiful Basket!  Just check out all of that yummy goodness!

1 bag golden potatoes

1 coconut

2 cantaloup

2 container strawberries

1 bunch asparagus

5 bananas

6 roma tomatoes

1 bunch asparagus

1 bunch broccoli

2 mangoes

1 head green leaf lettuce

Chicken Enchiladas

These are one of my family’s favorite meals.  My kids have been asking for these for about week before I finally got around to making them.  Sorry for the poor picture, I’ll get better at taking pictures of food, I’m sure.

 

• 2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped into bite size pieces
• 1  16 oz container sour cream
• grated cheese (any kind will work, I like Monterey Jack)
• 1 big can green enchilada sauce
• flour tortillas

Directions:  Mix a small amount of the enchilada sauce in with the sour cream.  Add chicken and cheese to the sour cream mixture.

Heat tortillas for a few seconds in the microwave to soften them.  Put some of the chicken mixture in the middle of each tortilla and roll up.  Place in a casserole dish.  Continue to put tortilla rolls in the dish until you fill the dish.  Pour enchilada sauce over the tortilla rolls and sprinkle with extra cheese.

Cook in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and heated through.

Verdict:  My kids love these.  I’ve done a few different things with them to spice them up occasionally.  I’ve added a can of green chilies to the chicken mixture, or green salsa to the chicken mixture.  I’ve also used black olives in the enchiladas and on top of the enchiladas.  Also, my kids don’t always  like things too spicy, so I only use about half a can of enchilada sauce and then freeze the other half for the next time I make enchiladas.

Stuffed Mushrooms

This is actually my husband's recipe.  He makes some really yummy Stuffed Mushrooms.  He made these for us for Valentines Day and he took the pictures.  He took them on his phone and they didn't turn out the greatest, but you can get the general idea.  Also, all measurements are estimates only, my sweetheart doesn't really measure when he cooks.

1-8 ounce pkg of softened cream cheese
2-3 ounces of sharp cheddar
2-3 ounces of pepper jack
Some feta
Some parmesan
2-3 ounces of Italian sausage (we have a local grocer who mixes his own and it is the best, I think)
1 pkg mushrooms with stems removed

Mix cheeses and cooked sausage together and place in the mushrooms
Grease pan with olive oil and bake at 400 until the mushrooms are soft-usually around 20 minutes.
This also works great for a stuffing for jalapeno peppers.

 Verdict-  I love it when my husband makes these.  My sister loves them, too, only too bad she moved away.  This typically makes a lot of filling and so we will usually stuff a couple of halved and seeded jalapenos and it is really good that way, too.

Jerusalem Artichokes?

I didn't get a picture of this weeks Bountiful Basket because Saturday was kinda crazy and I had my kids with me and they were hungry, so not all the produce made it home, even.  We did get something new in our basket this week though, that I am anxious to try out, Jerusalem Artichokes.  I've heard you can dice/slice them up and add them raw to a salad, or saute them in olive oil with some garlic.  I read that they go well in soups.  With so many possibilities how can a person choose?

Trout

Okay, I don't really like fish, but my husband and daughter #2 do so when a friend called me up and asked if I wanted some I said sure thinking I would surprise my husband.  Surprise him (and the kids) I did.  I didn't know how to cook the fish, so this is what she told me to do.

Trout (these were gutted and everything for me, so make sure they are open on the bottom)
Lemon cut into wedges
Onion sliced

1.  Line baking sheet with foil and preheat oven to 350
2. Stuff trout with lemon wedges and onion.  You can also sprinkle some garlic salt inside if you don't mind touching the fish.
3. Bake at 350 until skin peels easily away and the flesh is flaky.  These were fairly large fish so I cooked them for about 30 minutes.

Verdict:  My daughter was so thrilled that I cooked fish and she ate quite a bit.  My youngest put it in her mouth and then spit it back out.  I did eat some and decided that it wasn't that bad, but still not a texture I really cared for.  My husband liked it, though and he was very glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone to fix something for him that he knew I wouldn't normally fix for myself.

This Weeks Bounty

 I have two pictures to show you this week.  The first is a volunteers conventional basket.  The second is an Organic Basket.  Every other week Bountiful Baskets offers an Organic Basket for $25 instead of the $15 of the conventional basket.  Everything in there is certified organic.

Conventional Basket

2 heads Lettuce

1 Bunch Spinach

1 bag +3 Carrots

1 Cantaloup

3 Minneola Tangelos

4 Lemons

6 Orange Bell Peppers

6 Bananas

2 pkg Mushrooms

1 pkg Strawberries

4 Fuji Apples

Organic Basket

5 lbs Russet Potatoes

1 Bunch Broccoli

3 small Zucchini

6 Jonagold Apples

3 lbs Yellow Onions

5 Limes

3 Tomatoes

1 pkg Blueberries

1 pkg Mushrooms

1 Butternut Squash

1 bunch Bananas

Green Beans

Stir-Fry

 I really like Stir-Fry and I think it is a great meal to use up a little of a lot of vegetables.  Here's what I did this time, it most likely will be different next time :)

I forgot the onion and celery in the picture, sorry.

Broccoli and Cauliflower broken into bite size pieces
1 Carrot, julienned
1 small Yellow Squash, julienned
1 Red Bell Pepper, sliced
1 pkg sliced Mushrooms
1 Rib Celery, sliced
1 Onion, chopped
Leaves of Salad Savoy
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

Directions:
1.  Marinate the chicken.  I used a Lawry's Sesame and Ginger Marinade that I needed to use up out of the refrigerator. 
2.  Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a skillet (I don't have a wok, so I use a skillet) plus about a tsp or sesame oil.  Add chicken, reserving the marinade.  Cook chicken until done, about 5 minutes depending on the size of your pieces.
3.  Remove chicken from oil and set aside.  Begin adding vegetables to the oil.  Start with veggies that need the longest cooking time, like the savoy and cauliflower, or that will flavor the rest of the veggies, like the onions.  Cook for about 3-4 minutes, then add the rest of your vegetables, like your squash and celery.  Add the reserved marinade and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until your vegetables are tender-crisp.  Serve over rice.

Verdict:  I loved it, but of course, I love my vegetables.  I love that you can throw in whatever for stir-fry and it tastes yummy.  Each of my kids got some, and then they could pick out the vegetables that they did and did not like.  All of them ate their broccoli, but only some of them ate their mushrooms.  I only did a little bit of chicken for the whole family, and it would be really easy to make this a meat-free meal by leaving it out all together.

This Weeks Bounty

 I Love this weeks basket!  I should probably put in here, though, that by volunteering you do get to pick one or two extra things to put in your basket.  This week, I got an extra strawberry.

1 Bunch Celery
2 Tomatoes
1 Bunch Broccoli
2 Heads Cauliflower
2 Bunches Spinach
3 Red Bell Peppers
1 Bag + 2 Clementines
1 Bag +1 Bosch Pear
8 Apples
2 Containers Strawberries
1 Cantaloupe

We will definitely be doing some more roasted Cauliflower this week.  I did share my Cantaloupe with my brother since most of my family are not big fans, but I have some yummy plans for some of the rest of our basket.  None of it involves the Super Bowl, though since we don't have any kind of cable or satelite her and we don't watch much t.v. 

Chicken, Broccoli and Rice

 I had some chicken left over from Sunday dinner and decided to try and make up my own recipe.  Chicken, Broccoli and Rice go well together, right?  I took a couple of different recipes and combined them all.

Chicken, Broccoli & Rice Dish

• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cup rice
• 1 can Cream of Chicken soup
• 1 Tbsp Chicken bullion stuff
• 1 head broccoli
• 1 onion minced (I used dry onion)
• 2 cups diced Chicken

1.  Add all ingredients to a crock pot in order listed.  Cook on high for 3 hours-ish

Our dinner lacked some color, but I used much of what we already had.  I also served this with roasted Cauliflower which I tossed with Olive Oil and sprinkled with salt before roasting in a 400 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes.

Verdict:  One child picked out all the chicken, one picked out all the broccoli and one ate all of it.  I thought it was okay, but seemed to lack in flavor.  I used the leftovers to make a casserole with, topping with cheese.  It was okay, too, but again, needed move flavor.  The roasted Cauliflower was my favorite part.  Why did I never eat roasted vegetable growing up?  I LOVE them!  I have one child who can be quite picky about vegetables, and she ate thirds of the cauliflower.  I know that part of dinner we will definitely do again.

Bean Taquitoes & Refried Beans

We (I) love Mexican food and this has got to be one of my favorites.  I got the recipe out of a Rachel Ray Magazine but it is also on her website, here.  The first time I made this we gobbled them all up, so I had to do them again.

 

The recipe calls for a can of refried beans, but I just make my own.  I have a friend who's mother-in-law is Mexican and she told me how she was taught to make them.  I LOVE them this way.  

• Soak beans (I like to soak them overnight, but you can quick soak them)
• Drain water, and put beans in a crockpot and add more water.  About 3-4 cups water/cup of beans
• Add Garlic, salt, and onions to taste
• After cooking all day, heat some oil (bacon grease also works well) in a skillet and ladle beans into oil

•  This is the "refried" part.  You will also want to include some of the bean juice and milk.  Add enough to get a creamy consistancy.
• Mash beans with a potato masher

So, onto the recipe.  Here is what I did...

Bean Taquitoes

Refried Beans
Shredded cheese (I used Colby Jack, but any will work)
Corn Tortillas
Oil

Directions:
1.  Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Soften tortillas in skillet for a few seconds on each side. (Or skip this step and soften in the microwave like I did.  I had to, my tortillas were frozen, oops.)
2.  Spoon some refried beans onto softened tortilla.  Top with cheese and roll up into cigar shapes.
3.  Heat oil up in skillet and working in batches, fry taquitoes until crispy, turning to get all sides.

We served this with a salad and sour cream and salsa.  I'm the only one who had salsa with mine.

Verdict:  Another huge hit, but I knew they would be, that's why I made them again.  I love the recipe for homemade beans, and even made some extra so that I can dip tortilla chips in them later.  My kids all love them and they are super quick to make.  So, even though they are fried, they are full of good, healthy beans, right?  Plus they were really filling and 2 was good for everyone except the baby, who only had one.