Cooking for Kids: Creamy Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

This should probably be labeled "Cooking for Katie" because the kids had nothing to do with this meal. They were fast asleep while we were enjoying this cheesy goodness. They might get a few nibbles of the leftovers. I haven't decided yet.

Creamy Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
(This recipe is adapted from Buns In My Oven -- love that name!)

5 oz cream cheese softened
1/4 cup sour cream
2 10 oz. cans enchilada sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar (divided)
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (divided)
2 cups cooked chicken - cubed or shredded
7 oz can of green chiles
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
pinch of salt
dash of pepper
3 scallions sliced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
12 - 14 small corn tortillas (flour tortillas will work also, but I prefer corn tortillas in this recipe)

Cook the chicken and shred it or dice it. I either cook frozen chicken breasts in the oven at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes or use the slow cooker in the morning so it's ready to put together in the afternoon. I also like to shake a little chili powder or homemade taco seasoning on the chicken before cooking it.

Combine the softened cream cheese, sour cream and 1/2 a can of enchilada sauce in a large bowl. You can use an electric mixer to really mix it up well. But I'm super lazy and don't want an extra thing to clean so I just mix it up with a spoon. I figure I'll just get a few extra yummy bites with chunks of cream cheese. Yum!

In a second bowl toss the chicken, green chiles, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, scallions and cilantro together. Then add it to the cheese mixture and combine.

Spread the second half of the can of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.

Warm the tortillas in the microwave so they are soft enough to roll. Add a dollop of the mixture down the middle of the tortilla and roll it up. Place it in the baking dish with the seam side down. Fill, roll, repeat until you've run out of baking dish. (You might have a bit of the mixture leftover along with a tortilla or two. These two things make a darn good quesadilla the next day.)

Open the other can of enchilada sauce and pour another good helping on top of the tortillas. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Go back a step or two and preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Sorry I forgot about that. Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.

Top with some sour cream, cilantro, scallions or jalepenos. And enjoy!

Cooking for Kids: Banana Peanut Butter Popovers

I make pancakes or waffles for the kids at least once a week. But I'm getting a little tired of the same old thing. I found this recipe for Peanut Butter and Banana Popovers (shockingly not on Pinterest) and decided to try them out.

I've made popovers before (if you're British like my husband and have no idea what I'm talking about, they're very similar to Yorkshire Pudding). They were good, but didn't have a whole lot of flavor. I love these ones because of the extra flavor from the peanut butter and the banana. And what kid is going to say no to peanut butter and bananas?

Banana Peanut Butter Popovers (adapted from DoughMessTic)

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup milk
• a pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• spray oil
• 2 small or medium bananas sliced

Preheat the oven to 375. Spray a popover pan with oil. Ummmm... do you have a popover pan? Or even know what one is? Yeah, me neither. Use a cupcake tin and you'll do just fine.

Whisk the eggs, vanilla, sugar, milk, salt and peanut butter together. Add the flour and mix it all together.

Evenly distribute the mix between the cups. Add a few slices of banana to each cup. I only added two slices to each one. Next time I'll add a few more. You can never have too many bananas.

Put the pan in the 375 degree oven. Bake for 5 minutes at 375 then turn it down to 350 and bake for 20 more minutes.

Gently pull them out of the pan and dress them up with whatever sounds good. I was up extra early this morning so I drizzled mine with some maple syrup. And I knew it was going to be an extra long day with two sick kids so I added some chopped walnuts. And just because I'm the mom and I can do what I want, I added some powdered sugar, too.

I'm going to try these again with some different mix-ins. I'd like to try some sort of savory combination next. Maybe some bacon and cheese? Yes, please!

Want some more ideas for Cooking for Kids? Check out these other ideas.

Cooking for Kids: Mac and Cheese

Two thumbs (and a tongue) up

Are your kids mac lovers like mine? I'm pretty sure my daughter would eat mac and cheese all day, every day if we let her. And my son, well, he pretty much eats anything we put in front of him.

I've made homemade mac and cheese a few times using a recipe from the Betty Crocker Bridal Cookbook. It's great, but there are a lot of steps involved. I don't know about you, but I usually don't have time for a lot of steps. I've also made the kids Annie's Mac & Cheese quite a bit. It's organic so it's good for them, right?

Then a friend of mine told me about some one pot mac and cheese recipes that are made by cooking the noodles in milk. It seemed very similar to Pasta Roni Shells and White Cheddar, which I'm a little embarrassed to admit, I totally love. No wonder my kids love mac and cheese. Their addiction probably started in the womb.

I tried out two of these one pot mac and cheese recipes in the last two days. One is from White On Rice Couple and another one is from Macaroni and Cheesecake. They were both pretty similar. The White On Rice recipe cooked the noodles in butter, milk, mustard powder and salt. The Macaroni and Cheesecake recipe cooked the noodles in milk alone and added the salt and dijon mustard at the end. Both were super delicious. I think I preferred White on Rice Couple (probably because I love butter) but my kids did not have a preference. They loved them both.

Real men wear pink bibs

This little boy loved it so much he decided to style his hair with it. Totally put a kink in my bathe-the-kids-every-three-nights schedule.

If you're going to do a boxed mac and cheese night to save a bit of time, these one pot recipes will be just as fast. And even more delicious!

After a few tries, here's the recipe I like best.

Ingredients

• 2 cups noodles
• 2 cups milk (I used full fat since that's what my kids still drink, low-fat is fine, too)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 cup grated cheese

Directions

1. Combine milk, salt, mustard powder, butter and noodles in a sauce pan.
2. Over medium heat bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. (If you leave the room this WILL boil over and make a huge mess, if you stay in the room it won't. It's some strange law that noodles always follow.)
3. Once the mixture comes to a simmer, turn down the heat and let the noodles cook at a very low simmer.
4. Stir the mixture frequently. The cooking time varies based on the noodles you use. Just keep an eye on it and cook until the noodles are done and most of the milk is absorbed. You can always add a bit more milk and cook for longer if you need to.
5. Stir in cheese.
6. Remove from heat.
7. Take a little taste because you can't stand to wait.
8. Add a lid and wait impatiently for 5 minutes.
9. Stir and enjoy!