Banana Nut Crunch Muffins

First let me say Happy Father's Day to my Dad and my Grandfather!  And Happy Father's Day to all the other Dads out there!

Muffins are such a great food.  They're a portable breakfast-in-your-hand that require no utensils, and sometimes double as a late-night snack.  What I didn't realize until I baked these particular muffins, is that muffins can also fill your kitchen full of a scent so wonderful that you temporarily forget that other foods exist and declare that you want to smell this coming from the kitchen every morning for the rest of your life.

I first made these muffins a couple of weeks ago, and they quickly jumped to the list of "you must make these every week.  Every day is also acceptable".  But I didn't actually get a chance to make another batch until Friday night (I get the urge to bake at what some may consider to be very random times of night).  I had a few bananas left over from the frozen chocolate-covered bananas (a nod to snacking at Walt Disney World) I'd thrown together a couple of nights previous, and I couldn't just let them go to waste.

In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt

In a second bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, brown sugar, egg, canola oil, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla

Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until combined

In a third, smaller bowl, make the crumb topping by combining brown sugar, flour and cinnamon and whisk together.  Add in butter with your fingers until mix resembles cornmeal

Grease jumbo-cup muffin pan(s) and fill about 1/3 of the way full of batter.  Sprinkle some of the crumb topping over the batter, then sprinkle with a few chopped walnuts

Top with batter until cups are about 2/3rds full.  Finish by generously sprinkling (there will be plenty) with more of the crumb topping and additional chopped walnuts

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out cleanly.  Let cool briefly in pan(s) before removing to a rack to cool

Here's the recipe (adapted from one for Banana Crumb Muffins on Allrecipes.com)
Muffins:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Topping:
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2T flour
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1T butter
 1/4 cup chopped walnuts


1) Preheat oven to 375.  Grease jumbo-cup muffin tin(s).
2) In large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In a second bowl, beat together the bananas, sugar, brown sugar, oil, egg, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon.  Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until just combined.
3) Prepare the crumb topping: whisk together the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon.  With your fingers, work in the butter until mix resembles cornmeal.
4) Fill muffin cups 1/3 full of batter (I used a cookie scoop to obtain a relatively consistent size); sprinkle with the crumb topping mix, then sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
5) Finish filling muffin cups to about 2/3rds full.  Generously sprinkle the tops with more crumb topping mixture and then more chopped walnuts.
6) Bake for 18-20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean (you may see a little bit of banana, just use your judgment).  Cool briefly in pan(s), then remove to wire rack to cool.


Makes 8-12 muffins, depending on how full you fill your cups and how big your muffin tins are.


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Bananas

Peanut Butter Cookies Two Ways

"Are you in the mood to bake?" was the question posed to me last night after dinner.  Well, duh.  The reason for the question?  A request for peanut butter cookies, a staple around here.

Peanut butter cookies are especially great in the fact that they bake up fast, so the wait time for something sweet is fairly minimal.  They also fairly fast to pull together, and the ingredients are always on hand.

So I started mixing up the cookies (I got the recipe awhile back from my Mom - I'm starting to see a trend this week), first putting the sugar, brown sugar, flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl

then whisked them together

from there, I beat in the eggs, peanut butter, milk and shortening

I rolled the dough out into balls and used a fork to press them down slightly (some of them got a crisscross pattern, some didn't) and put them on my extremely well-loved, well-seasoned Pampered Chef stone.  Then I sprinkled them with some sugar

I baked them for 12 minutes, let them cool slightly, the moved them to a rack to finish cooling.

By the time I got to the end of the dough, I didn't have a "full" batch left to put in the oven.  I also was thinking "hmm, what goes well with peanut butter".  Well, pretty much everything.  But chocolate especially.  So for the last few cookies, I chopped up a Heath bar, and added them to the cookies.  I did this two ways.  For half of them, I pressed the chopped toffee onto the top of the cookie.  For the other half, I mixed the candy bar pieces into the dough, then proceeded as with the first batches of cookies.  They turned out like this

Not quite as strong of flavor as I would have hoped for, but they were tasty!

Peanut Butter Cookie recipe:

1 cup shortening

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

1 T milk

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1) Preheat oven to 350.

2) Whisk together the flour, both sugars, salt and baking soda.

3) Beat in the eggs, milk, peanut butter and shortening until dough pulls together.

4) Roll into small balls and place on baking sheet.  Press down slightly with tines of a fork.  Sprinkle with sugar if desired (you can also roll the balls in sugar prior to placing them on the baking sheet).

5) Bake for 12-14 minutes until cookies start to brown.  Be careful not to over-bake; cookies will continue to cook a little while cooking.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Tomato Tortellini Soup

I've been wanting to try this particular soup recipe for awhile.  I found it in the Taste of Home magazine, and since the day I tore it out, I've said "Oh, I'll have to make that this week".  Well, last night finally became "this week", and I decided to try it as something different for dinner.  It's very easy to put together, so if you need to make dinner at the last minute, or you're just a little worn out from a long day, this is a good one to turn to.

Start by cooking your cheese tortellini (I used wheat; we love wheat pasta and that also happened to be all they had at the store) 

according to the package directions (or if you are the Super Woman that I dream to be someday, cook your freshly-made cheese tortellini until ready)

and then drain the pasta

While the pasta is cooking, you can start on the rest of the soup.  In a dutch oven or soup pot, mix together low-sodium tomato soup, 2% milk, half and half, vegetable broth, chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, onion powder, garlic powder, dried basil, and kosher salt

and heat over medium-low.  Once the pasta has cooked and drained, add it to the soup mixture, along with some shredded Parmesan cheese.  Once it's heated through, serve!

I garnished with a little fresh black pepper, some fresh basil from my container garden, and some grated (since I was out of shredded) Parmesan.

Here's the recipe:

1 (9oz) pkg. refrigerated cheese tortellini

2 cans low-sodium tomato soup

2 cups vegetable broth

2 cups 2% milk

2 cups half and half

1/2 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan, plus more for garnish

1) Cook tortellini according to package directions.  Drain.

2) In soup pot, combine everything but the shredded Parmesan cheese and tortellini.  Heat through.

3) Add cooked tortellini.  Stir in the cheese.  Sprinkle each serving with additional Parmesan cheese.  Garnish with fresh basil leaves, if desired.

My suggestion for you - double the tortellini.  It was good the way it was, but would be even better with more of the pasta.  Also, next time I might try replacing some of the 2% milk with whole milk, or some of the half and half with some cream, to make it even creamier.

Makin' Whoopie... Whoopie Pies, that is!

I have been craving whoopie pies for a few weeks now.  And every time I would mention them, I'd get a few strange looks and the inevitable question - "What's a whoopie pie?".  When you grow up with something, it's easy to forget that there are parts of the country that don't have the same things you do.  And whoopie pies is one of those things.  They're traditional to New England and I grew up in Maine.

So I decided to make some.  And while there are plenty of recipes floating around out there, I wanted my Mom's.  I'm nostalgic like that.  So I called her and asked her to have my dad email me the recipe, which he did.  I thought.  Now, I love my Mom; I truly do.  But sometimes, she makes me want to pull my hair out.  Just a little.  I had mixed up and started baking the "cake" part of the whoopie pies.  While the 2nd batch were in the oven, I started mixing up the filling.  But it didn't look right; not even close.  Actually, it didn't look close to anything other than gross.  I had been a little skeptical when I didn't see confectioners sugar anywhere on the list.  So, I called my Mom to find out if perhaps Dad had skipped a line when typing it up for me.  Nope, that was the full list.  I said, Okay, so what did I do wrong?  She didn't know.  You know why?  Because she'd never made that filling before.  I put my head down on the counter.  Mom, I asked for your Whoopie Pie recipe, why would you send me a filling you hadn't used?  Well, she thought because it called for egg whites, I wouldn't want to make it since "people are scared about that kind of thing these days".  First, I'm not scared of egg whites (maybe I should be, but hey, I'm not).  Second, though, I have meringue powder that I could substitute.  Sigh.  So she gave me her own filling recipe, which sounded much more like what I remembered (confectioners sugar - check!).  Then she asked how "that" whoopie recipe turned out since "it sounded like a lot".  Again, head on the counter.  Mom, was this not your whoopie pie recipe?  Turns out - no.  Why?  Because it "went with the filling"; apparently, her recipe called for 2 egg yolks, and the 2 whites went into the filling.  Double sigh.

So you can see how while my mother is wonderful, she also causes me some consternation on occasion.  I still love her, though.

The main question - after all those tribulations, how did they turn out?  Answer - not bad.  Not exactly how I remembered them, which wasn't surprising, considering I'd probably never eaten those before.  But they did taste like Whoopie Pies, which is what I wanted.  And there definitely are dozens of recipes and variations out there, so it wasn't like they were going to be a disaster, just because they weren't hers.  (Still.  The next time I ask for one of your recipes, how about sending me yours.  Pretty please?)

I started by adding the dry ingredients (cocoa powder, sugar, flour, salt and baking soda) to one bowl

and then whisked them to combine

I then whisked in the vanilla, milk and eggs

then beat in the shortening until combined

I lined baking sheets with parchment paper and started dolloping out the batter to make the cakes.  Because they will become "sandwiches", it's nice to have them uniform, so I was using a scoop.  The first batch, I used heaping scoops because if you're going to have Whoopie Pies, they might as wellbe big ones.

They turned out a little flat, though, when I baked them.  I guess they were a little too big and spread some.  (This is also where I started to question the recipe even before I had called my mother, since hers were always puffier)

So the next batch, I made a little smaller by scrapping the scoop up the side of the bowl to make a level scoop-full

These did round up better, so I finished out the batter using this method.  Then I made the filling.  Which I threw out.  And then re-made using the new (correct) recipe.  I don't have pictures of this part, and I apologize.  Between the call and the head on the counter and the sighs, I forgot about the camera.  But after mixing up the new filling, I laid out the cookie/cakes, flat side-up

and spread one side with the filling

and then topped it with one of the other cookie/cakes to make a sandwich

For the second one, I tried just putting a big scoop of the filling on one half, topping with another half, and smooshing it around a little until the filling spread to the edges.  Worked just as well and was much faster.

Here are the recipes I ended up using:

Whoopie Pies

For the cakes:

2 cups sugar

4 cups flour

1 cup cocoa

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 cups milk

2/3 cup shortening

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

For the filling:

2 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1 tsp. vanilla (more or less to taste)

1) Preheat oven to 350.  Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Whisk to combine.

2) Whisk in the milk and vanilla, then whisk in the eggs, one at a time.  Beat in the shortening until combined.

3) Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Using a scoop, portion out by even scoop-fulls.

4) Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Let cool for a couple of minutes on the sheets before transferring to a cooling rack.

5) Make the filling: Beat the shortening and vanilla into the confectioners sugar until smooth.  Depending on the amount of filling you like, you may want to double this; I ended up doing so.

6) Spoon some filling between two cakes and squeeze gently until the filling spreads to the edges.

Recipe makes about 24 whoopie pies.

One of these days, I will make another batch with both halves of my Mom's recipe and see what the results are.  And a red velvet whoopie pie is on my list, too.  But these are okay until then :)

Individual Homemade Pizzas

Last night I was kind of wiped out from a long day, and just didn't feel like pulling too much together in terms of dinner.  I decided to make some individual homemade pizzas.  They're quick and easy, and when you make individual ones, everyone gets to customize them to their own taste, so they're a crowd-pleaser.

I started with some dough from a batch I had previously mixed up (a very basic flour, water and yeast recipe).  After I let it proof a little, I rolled out the individual crusts and pre-baked them in a 475 degree oven for 4 minutes each.

From there, I loaded up with sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, and some fresh oregano and fresh basil from my container garden.  Threw them back in the oven, with the temperature nudged back down to 450, for about 7-8 minutes each.

Sadly, there is no "baked" picture to share with you; the batteries in my digital camera died just as I was trying to take the final picture, and I just didn't feel like waiting for them to charge before I could eat!

Again, very simple meal, but good for those nights that you just don't have the time (or energy) to get to fancy or creative.

This weekend I plan to create a small baking storm; keep an eye out for the results :)

Quick and easy (tasty, too!) brownies

Last night there was a craving for something sweet in the air, and considering that I'm always in a baking mood, I decided to whip up some brownies to satisfy that craving (hey, can't let a sweet tooth go untreated, right?).  I had also been wanting to try something new, so after reading through multiple brownie recipes, I settled on a slightly modified version of Brooke's Best Brownies from allrecipes.com.  The best part was all the ingredients were already in the pantry, so no need for a quick run to the store.

They turned out to be quite tasty - nice and fudgy with a slightly-crackle top.

I started out melting the butter in my Classic Batter Bowl (I am a Pampered Chef junkie from way back) to minimize the dishes.

 Then I added in the sugar and vanilla and mixed (by hand) until combined.

Then, using a whisk, I incorporated the eggs one at a time

until well blended.  Next, I whisked together the flour, cocoa powder and salt in a large bowl

I then slowly poured the sugar mixture into the flour mixture, stirring with a spatula, until all ingredients were combined (but not over-mixed)

From there, I poured the batter into a lightly greased 9x13" pan, spread to the edges

 and baked.  Fortunately they don't take too long to bake, because that scent wafting through the place was almost too much to bear!  The finished product was worth it, though

 The original recipe I used as the basis for this were called "Best", and I don't know that these are the best brownies I've ever tasted in my life; they're a fairly basic recipe.  But what they definitely WERE, were fudgy, yummy, chocolaty, mouthfuls of goodness.  And they definitely hit the spot.

Here's my tweak on the recipe:

1 cup butter, melted

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 T vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups AP flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. salt

1) Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray a 9x13" pan with cooking spray.

2) Combine the melted butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl.  Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, until well-blended.

3) Whisk together the flour, cocoa and salt in separate large bowl.  Slowly pour the sugar mixture into the flour mixture, stirring well to fully incorporate the ingredients, without over-beating.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.

4) Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Let cool before cutting (if you can wait that long, and let's be honest - who can?)

Again, these are fairly basic brownies, but that's kind of what is so great about them.  In about 40 minutes from start to finish, you'll have tasty homemade brownies to share with your family.  Or not to share; don't worry, I won't tell if you don't!

Is there anything better than fresh bread?

I love bread.  I seriously could probably live on bread alone (though with the existence of cupcakes, who really wants to live on just bread?).  My grandmother is an amazing bread maker.  I grew up spending weekends in her kitchen learning how to make bread from scratch.  She would make her bread and rolls - enough to feed a small large enormous army it always seemed - in her "big people" pans, and I would get to make my bread and rolls in little kid-size pans.  We made everything from white bread to oatmeal bread to dinner rolls to orange-glazed goodness.  It would take the better part of a Saturday, even though we started at the crack of dawn (pre-dawn, when she was baking without me underfoot; I don't think my grandmother has slept much past 5 a.m. ever in her life).  But the payout was always worth it - the scent of bread baking is a gift from heaven.  We'd chat and bake and when they were all done, we would of course enjoy a slice or roll, fresh and hot - so hot they'd be dripping from the pat of butter that instantly evaporated on contact.  Once everything was cooled, she would portion every thing up, and then make her deliveries.  Family, friends, neighbors - everyone was a beneficiary of my grandmother's kitchen.  They still are to this day.

So you can see where my love of bread was born.  Sadly, with college and then jobs, I got too busy to dedicate a day to baking bread.  Fortunately, my gram always kept (and keeps) my mailbox full of the good stuff a few times a year.  But the "domestic goddess" bug had been nipping at my heels for the past few years; I was itching to get back into the kitchen and start cooking, baking and creating.  I realized that it's important to make time for the things you really love doing.  So I started reading food blogs, magazines (Food Network Magazine and Taste of Home are two of my favorites), gathering recipes from friends and family and looking for new things to try.  You've been able to see a few of my creations here on my blog (more are coming, I promise; if anyone knows how to cram an extra hour or three into a day, that would be great, thanks).

With some of this newly-rediscovered culinary confidence and courage, I decided to try my hand at a few loaves.  I would love to have had a chance to do a few practice runs first with my gram in her kitchen, but logistics (Kentucky to Maine = a long trip for bread) nixed that idea.  So, after some reading and research, I just jumped in with some Artisan loaves; French Boule, to be exact.  And that jump was met by a hard, crunchy outer-layer landing, followed by a light-as-air secondary landing; in other words, yummy goodness.

Here are some pictures of some of my loaves, both white and wheat:

I have a few more I plan on trying over the next few weeks, including using some of these doughs for homemade pizzas, some quick breads, cinnamon rolls, and much more.  I'll continue to share them as I try them :)

Hope you enjoyed!

McCormick Recipe Inspirations!

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to do some testing for the new McCormick Recipe Inspirations that you can now find in your local grocery store.  Thanks to Gather.com and McCormick, I was provided with four packets of Recipe Inspirations and was asked to prepare the recipes and share my results.  The four Recipe Inspirations I tried and reviewed were:

Garlic & Lime Chicken Fajitas

Apple & Sage Pork Chops

Rosemary Roasted Chicken & Potatoes

Shrimp & Pasta Primavera

Here is a picture of the chicken & potatoes to whet your appetite while you read them:

Let me know if any of you try them (they have other Recipe Inspirations, as well) and what you think!

Coming up later today - my new bread obsession.  Stay tuned!

EatingWell Cookie Contest - you could win Cooking.com gift certificates

Do you have a favorite holiday cookie recipe?  Give it a healthy make-over and submit it to EatingWell for their 6th Annual Holiday Cookie Contest.  Here are the guidelines:

1. Replace as much of the all-purpose flour as possible with other whole grains, such as whole-wheat flour, white whole-wheat flour or oats.
2. EatingWell recipes do not use margarine or other partially hydrogenated oils.
3. We recommend limiting butter to about 1/2 teaspoon per cookie. You can reduce the amount of saturated fat in the recipe by substituting canola or nut oils for some of the butter in the original recipe.
4. Limit salt in recipes to 1/2 teaspoon or less per batch.
5. Use all sweeteners (white and brown sugar, honey, etc.) judiciously; less is better.
6. Steer away from ingredients containing artificial color or flavor. (Use natural versions whenever possible.)

The grand-prize for the contest is a $2000 shopping spree from cooking.com plus a year's worth of dairy products from Organic Valley (over $700 value).  Five runners up each will receive a $200 gift certificate from cooking.com.

You only have until June 4th to submit, so if you're interested, submit your entry here.  You can also read all the additional details and fine print here.  Good luck!

Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese - yes, please!

Is there anyone who doesn't love mac & cheese?  It's a great comfort food, all warm and creamy and cheesy.  When I ran across this recipe in a magazine that crossed mac & cheese with the classic flavors of buffalo chicken wings - I knew I had to try it.  So glad I did!  This was scooped up quick, with just a little taste left for lunch the next day.  Check out the recipe and my notes below.

Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese

7 T butter

1 lb. macaroni

1 sm. onion, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

3 C shredded chicken

2 gloves garlic, minced

3/4 C hot sauce

2 T flour

2 tsp. dry mustard

2 1/2 C half & half

1 lb. yellow sharp cheddar, cut into 1" cubes

8 oz. shredded pepper jack cheese

2/3 C sour cream

1 C panko

2 T chopped fresh parsley

1) Preheat oven to 350; butter a 9x13" baking dish.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add pasta and cook for about 7 minutes.  Drain.

2) Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the chicken and garlic and cook 2 more minutes, then add 1/2 cup hot sauce and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

3) Melt 2 tablespoons butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in the flour and mustard with a wooden spoon until smooth.  Whisk in the half & half, the add the remaining 1/4 cup of hot sauce and stir until thick, about 2 minutes.  Whisk in the cheddar and pepper jack cheeses; whisk in the sour cream until thick, around another 2 minutes.

4) Spread 1/2 of the cooked macaroni in the buttered dish; top with chicken and then the rest of the macaroni.  Pour the sauce over the entire thing.

5) Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small skillet and mix in the panko and parsley.  Sprinkle over the sauce.  Bake until bubbly, 30-40 minutes.

A few things about this recipe.  First, as you can probably tell, it's not health food.  So you're not going to serve it every night.  But everyone needs something creamy and cheesy now and then; this will be it, I promise.  Second, when I hit the grocery store to pick up the few ingredients for this I didn't already have on hand, there was no Pepper Jack cheese in the store.  At all.  I honestly didn't think that was possible, but apparently, it is.  So I used Monterey Jack cheese and it tasted fine.  Pepper Jack will definitely give it an extra kick, though, and the next time I make it, I will be sure to have Pepper Jack first.  Also, use whatever chicken you have or want.  I used a rotisserie chicken because that's what the original recipe called for, but next time, I will just boil some chicken breasts and then shred them.  It's a little more work but worth it.  Also, be sure to use real panko versus breadcrumbs.  It gives a nice crunch and adds texture.  And last, about the hot sauce - 3/4 cup sounds like a LOT of hot sauce and I was a little scared.  But it really didn't end up being overpowering at all.  And I actually used a blend of two different hot sauces.  I had been to a home show awhile back, and they gave out free bottles of Texas Pete's hot sauce; I had both Original Hot Sauce and the Garlic Hot Sauce.  They have a great flavor, so if you're looking for some, you can check out their website and keep an eye out in the store for them.  Or even order from them online.

Let me know if you loved this as much as we did!

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!

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