Twitchell Family Black Bean Burritos

Black Bean Burritos

¾ lbs skinless, boneless chicken breast

3 slices bacon

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ cups pace

1 can (16 oz) black beans, undrained

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup sliced green onions

12 flour tortillas (6 to 7 inch)

1 ½ cups shredded Monterey jack cheese

Toppings: chopped tomato, sour cream, scallions, avocado slices

Cut chicken into short, thin strips. Cook bacon in 10 inch skillet until crisp. Remove to paper towel: crumble. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons drippings. Cook and stir chicken in garlic and drippings until chicken no long is pink. Stir in ½ cup of the Pace, beans, red pepper, cumin and salt. Simmer until thickened, 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in green onions and reserved bacon. Spoon heaping ¼ cup bean mixture down center of each tortilla; top with 1 tablespoon cheese. Roll up; place seam side down in lightly greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Spoon remaining 1 cup Pace evenly over enchiladas. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Top with remaining cheese, return to oven about 3 minutes. Top as desired and serve with additional Pace.

Easy Angel Hair and Artichoke Pasta

Don't pay attention to the sloppiness of my picture taking, but I just wanted to show all the incredible flavors that you get out of this dish. (Olives,artichoke, tomatoes, capers, garlic... you can see it all!) 

I had this pasta at Johnny Carino's Intalian Restaurant two weeks ago and it was so amazing that I have not been able to stop thinking about it. Adam and I studied the dish that I was eating at Johnny Carino's and figured out that it shouldn't be that difficult to recreate. (And there was a leaf next to this dish on their menu meaning it's a low calorie dish which is always a plus!) My gift to myself for my birthday yesterday and my treat for being alone on my birthday was to try and make this dish. It took me around 10 minutes to cook it up and it probably would have taken less time if I wasn't watching Minute to Win it at the same time and was distracted. Hence the sloppiness looking of the dish and there was no one to impress so I just slapped in on a plate. But that's what I love about pasta dishes too- they don't have to be pretty because their taste makes up for it and they are supposed to get everywhere. Oh, and I have discovered that my new favorite flavor comes from a little thing called capers. Sooooo good!!

Angel Hair and Artichoke Pasta

Servings: 3-4

4 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves fresh garlic, finely diced

1 cup diced tomatoes

1/2 cup finely chopped black olives

1/4 cup capers (or more if you love them as much as I do)

1 small jar of Artichoke hearts

Angel hair pasta 

Start boiling water to cook the pasta in. The sauteing part of everything else is really quick so you need to make sure your noodles don't put you behind.

Saute garlic in olive oil until done.

Add tomatoes, olives, capers, and artichoke hearts. Saute

Place cooked pasta in the pan with your sauce and mix it around. (I hear that's how the professionals do it)

Your done! Place on a plate and enjoy!!

The sauce. I cooked mine a little longer than I would have liked and the tomatoes began to get a little soggy, so beware of over sauteing.

Place pasta in the sauce and mix it around till it looks like......

......this! I'm sure yours will turn out prettier than mine. But it still looks yummy!!

Olive Garden's Salad and Dressing

Olive Garden's Salad and Dressing

Salad

1 bag American Blend Dole Salad

4-5 slices Red Onion

4-6 Black Olives

2-4 Pepperochini if you like a sweet pepper you could use a Banana Pepper

1/2 C. Croutons

1 small Tomato Quartered

Parmesan Cheese

Chill one salad bowl in freezer for at least 30 minutes. Place bag of salad in bowl. Place on top of lettuce but red onion, black olives, banana peppers, tomatoes, and croutons. Add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you like, and add plenty of Olive Garden Salad Dressing on top.

Dressing

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

3 tablespoons Miracle Whip

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

Put everything in a blender with 1-2 tablespoons of water and blend together. 

Eat with:

Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana Soup

Olive Garden's Bread Sticks

Makes a great soup and salad mix with bread sticks!

Award Winning White Chicken Chili

The 24 other chilis that we were up against. Ours is in the red crock pot.

 Adam holding our prize!
The Most Original Chili

Adam and I got this recipe originally from my sister Amber. (Thanks Amber for sharing!!) It's been one of our favorites and Adam expands on it each time we make it. Our ward was having a talent show/chili cook off last night and there were 24 people who brought their chili. Adam and I brought this White Chicken Chili and there were about 3 other people who brought white chili as well. There were five awards that they were giving out: the spiciest, the most appealing looking, the chunkiest, the most original, and the best overall. We were awarded the most original, and all the five that they picked had to taste really good too for them to be awarded the prizes. Each chili was given a number so that it could be anonymous and we heard several people comment on how good our white chili was. We even heard the judges talk about it, so this is seriously a keeper recipe!

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used one chicken breast and it was plenty)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small white onion, diced
6 to 8 small garlic cloves, minced
1 (7-ounce) can diced green chiles, drained
2 (15-ounce) cans white beans,undrained
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup sour cream, plus additional for topping
2 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Chopped fresh cilantro
Chopped tomatoes


Our additions:
1-2 Potatoes cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2-3 big carrots chopped
Extra cayenne pepper
Corn
1/2 package of Bacon
We used Rotisserie Chicken rather than Chicken breasts... yum!
Just make sure these are all cooked and added to the pot!

1. Cook the chicken by the desired method. Cool and tear into pieces.
Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic,
and cook and stir until the onion is translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add
the chicken, chiles, beans, broth, chicken bouillon, cumin, oregano, and
cayenne. Simmer 30 to 45 minutes. Chili can be made ahead to this point
and refrigerated or frozen for serving later.

3. Add the 1 cup sour cream and cheese, and continue cooking until the
cheese is melted. Keep warm until serving.

4. Serve in bowls and pass cilantro, tomatoes, and additional sour cream.
-thefoodnanny.com

THANKS AMBER FOR SHARING YOUR RECIPE!!

Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup

I've never actually had the real soup from Chili's but this recipe was excellent. It was fun to make and it was a surprise in the end since I didn't know what to expect. We halfed the recipe and it fed us for 3 days. It does make a lot. I have been craving it since we made it. For the pico de gallo, Adam added some pepper and some lime juice. It's worth a try!

Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup

Servings: 12

Ingredients:
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 lb chicken breast fillet
1/2 cup diced onion
1 garlic clove, pressed, to taste
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup masa harina
3 cups water
1 cup enchilada sauce (We used the red enchilada sauce)
16 ounces Velveeta cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin

Garnish:
shredded cheddar cheese
crumbled corn tortilla chips

Pico de Gallo:
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup diced Spanish onion
2 tsp chopped fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and de-ribbed
2 tsp finely minced fresh cilantro
1 pinch salt

1. Add 1 tbs of oil to a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add chicken breasts to pot and brown for 4-5 minutes per side.
3. Set chicken aside.
4. Add onions and garlic to pot and saute over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until onions begin to become translucent.
5. Add chicken broth.
6. Combine masa harina with 2 cups of water in a medium bowl and whisk until blended.
7. Add masa mixture to pot with onions, garlic and broth.
8. Add remaining water, enchilada sauce, cheese and spices to pot and bring mixture to a boil.
9. Shred the chicken into small, bite-size pieces and add it to the pot.
10. Reduce heat and simmer soup for 30-40 minutes or until thick.
11. Serve soup in cups or bowls, and garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled corn tortilla chips, and pico de gallo.

I got the recipe from Top Secret Restaurant Recipes. Excellent!