Patriotic Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

I haven't been feeling 100% for the past few days which has kept me from doing much cooking (hence an entire week without a recipe and nary a post, for which I apologize).  We did make the copycat recipe of Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwiches for dinner Friday night, and I will be sharing the recipe and results hopefully tomorrow.  I had plans for a few different Fourth of July-inspired foods to make over the weekend, and due to whatever bug I picked up, I just couldn't talk myself into it.  I did want to do something, however.  I ran across this idea for Red, White & Blue Strawberries over at Oopsey Daisy.  They're really easy and very cute!

I poured some "4th of July Blue" colored sugar (picked up in the Dollar Spot at Target) in a small bowl, and then inserted toothpicks into the cap-end of about 1 pint of fresh, clean strawberries.  Then I melted half a bag of Ghirardelli white chocolate chips and 1/2 T. of shortening in the microwave, stirring at 30 second intervals.  I dipped the strawberries 2/3-3/4 of the way in the melted chocolate, and then set them on waxed paper to set.  Once set, I used the back of a small spoon to smooth a very thin coat of chocolate on the bottom 1/4-1/3 of the strawberries, and then dipped that in the colored sugar.  Originally, I dipped straight from the chocolate to the sugar, but it was causing a little "bubble" or roll around the middle where the sugar stopped.  This worked out a lot better asthetically.  Taste-wise - run wild however you want!

Cinco de Mayo fun!

I never need an excuse to cook, but sometimes I like one!  So when Cinco de Mayo rolled around a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to whip up something more authentic to Mexican cuisine than a taco.  After doing a little research, I decided to go with some chicken enchiladas (a recipe adapted from one I found on allrecipes.com), rice and refried beans for sides, and churros for dessert (the churros mainly as a nod to the yummy churros and great memories of visiting the Mexican pavilion at Epcot at Walt Disney World).

Here is the recipe for the Chicken Enchiladas:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 1/4 C sour cream

1/4 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 T butter

1 bunch scallions, chopped and divided

1 (4 oz) can chopped green chilies, drained

1 (1.25 oz) pkg. medium taco seasoning mix

1 C water

1 tsp. lime juice

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

5 flour tortillas

2 C shredded mild cheddar cheese

2 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 (10 oz) can enchilada sauce

1) Place the chicken in a stock pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and cover; simmer until chicken is no longer pink (about 15 minutes).  Remove chicken from pot and shred; set aside.

2) Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine the soup, sour cream, chili powder and cumin in a small saucepan.  Over low heat, bring mix to a simmer, stirring occasionally.  Once simmering, turn off heat, cover, and set aside.

3) Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the chicken, green chilies, taco seasoning, water, and about half the chopped scallions (the rest will be for garnish on top).  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Stir in the lime juice and onion and garlic powders; simmer for another 10 minutes, then remove from heat.

4) Stir one cup of the soup mix into the chicken mix in the skillet.  Spread the remaining soup mixture across the bottom of a 9x13" baking or casserole dish.

5) Fill a tortilla with the chicken mix and sprinkle with a mix of both mild and sharp cheddar cheese.

Fold the edges of the tortillas over the mixture in the middle, and then place seam-side down in the prepared pan, on top of the soup mix.  Repeat with remaining tortillas to make five total.

6) Pour enchilada sauce over the enchiladas.  Cover with the remaining cheddar cheeses (should have about 1.5-2 remaining cups).  Sprinkle with remaining scallions and bake in the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 25-30 minutes.

I apologize for the messy, half-eaten finished product picture, but that just proves how good they were!  I didn't even have time to take a picture before they were snapped up.

As I said, I served the enchiladas with Mexican rice and refried beans on the side.  It was a very filling and very tasty meal!

Read more »