Turkey Enchiladas

After the holidays, extra turkey leftovers can be an amazing and abundant thing. I usually use mine for turkey sandwiches, turkey pot pie...and the classic plain, cold turkey snack. Last year, my mom found this Good Housekeeping turkey enchilada recipe for our post Christmas turkey leftovers. A new tradition was created. It's worth it to have to buy a slightly larger turkey to make all of these amazing things. :) These are really easy to throw together, and if you don't have a post holiday turkey to use, you could also use precooked chicken or turkey breast.

Here's what you need:

12 oz (about 1.5-2 cups) roasted boneless turkey breast, chopped
1 can (8 3/4 oz) no-salt-added corn, drained
1 container (8 oz) reduced-fat sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat (2%) Mexican cheese blend
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
10 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
1 cup mild salsa

I didn't have cilantro this time around, so that's why it's omitted in the picture. I still thought they were good without it, but I'm from the prairie, so I wouldn't call myself an enchilada expert by any means. ;)

First, preheat your oven to 400*F, and spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray. I also lined mine with aluminum foil to make clean up easier. 

Next, grab a large bowl and mix together the turkey, sour cream, drained corn, half of the cheese, and half of the cilantro. 

In a smaller bowl, mix the can of enchilada sauce and one cup of salsa together. 

Heat the tortillas between two damp paper towels for 30 sec in a microwave, in batches of 4-5 tortillas. Scoop a few tablespoons of the turkey filling into a tortilla, roll, and place seam side down in your prepared baking pan. 

Repeat this for your remaining tortillas until you are out of filling. I didn't fill mine very full so that they were a little easier to keep rolled up in the pan, so I ended up with about 18 total. 

Spoon the enchilada/salsa mixture over the filled tortillas. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. 

Bake for 15-20 min until they are heated through and the cheese is melted. 

Once out of the oven, you can sprinkle the remaining cilantro over the top, and serve. Enjoy!

Text only version:

Turkey Enchiladas from Good Housekeeping

Ingredients:

12 oz (about 1.5-2 cups) roasted boneless turkey breast, chopped
1 can (8 3/4 oz) no-salt-added corn, drained
1 container (8 oz) reduced-fat sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat (2%) Mexican cheese blend
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
10 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
1 cup mild salsa

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400*F. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick spray.

In a large mixing bowl, mix turkey, drained corn, sour cream, half of cheese, and half of cilantro. 

In a smaller mixing bowl, combine the enchilada sauce with 1 cup of salsa, set aside. 

Heat tortillas, in batches of 4-5, for 30 sec in a microwave, between two damp paper towels. 

Fill each tortilla with a few tablespoons of the turkey mixture, and roll up. Place seam down in prepared baking dish. Repeat until you are out of turkey mixture.

Pour the enchilada/salsa sauce over the rolled tortillas to cover. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. 

Bake for 15-20 min or until the enchiladas are heated through and cheese is melted. 

Sprinkle with remaining cilantro and serve. 

Baked Salmon

Coming from the prairie, and now living in the desert, I'm not the biggest seafood fan. I used to refuse to eat fish unless it was breaded and deep fat fried (sounds really gross written out...but fish and chips!). I've gradually been coming around to seafood. Salmon...delicious. I went in search for a grilled salmon recipe one day, and by the power of google, I found an excellent recipe, but alas, the recipe called for lemon pepper, and I didn't have any. I modified the recipe to fit what I had in my kitchen, and I couldn't be more pleased. After cooking, the marinade becomes a glaze on the salmon, and it is amazing! I'm not an expert on seafood, but this is definitely one of my favorite dinner recipes now.

1 - 1 1/2 lbs Salmon Fillets
Applewood rub (optional)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
1/3 c. Soy Sauce
1/3 c. Brown Sugar
1/3 c. Water
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 clove minced garlic

In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, water, olive oil, and minced garlic together until the brown sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

Season the salmon with the applewood rub, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.

Carefully rub the seasoning in a little bit.

Place your salmon fillets into a zip lock bag. Give your marinade a quick stir again, and then pour it in. Put your salmon in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours. I like to flip mine over so that the skin side is up so that the meat gets more marinade.

**Baking Method**
Preheat oven to 375*. I used my toaster oven, and lined the baking pan with foil, and then sprayed the broil pan with non stick spray and put the salmon on the broil pan. I think it would work fine to just line a pan with foil, spray with non stick spray, and put the salmon on that. Discard the used marinade. Bake for 15-20 min or until the salmon can easily be flaked with a fork.

**Grilling Method**
Spray the grill grate with non stick spray. Preheat the grill on medium heat. Place salmon on the grill, and discard the used marinade. Grill salmon for 6-8 min on each side or until it will flake easily with a fork.

Hot off the grill...might be missing a few little pieces...it's just so good, who can wait for pictures???

Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

Need a quick snack or something simple to grab for breakfast? This recipe is for about six to eight muffins and can easily be doubled. I used to use the box mix, but I think this recipe (adapted from the Willams and Sonoma Muffins and Quick Breads cookbook) is almost as simple and exponentially better. I've tried it with half wheat flour/half all purpose flour before as well, and that works fine too if you're looking to add a little extra healthiness to it. :)

 1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 & 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

a few scrapes of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 extra large egg

2/3 cup fresh blueberries, washed and drained

Ingredients minus the nutmeg...

Preheat oven to 400* degrees. Line a standard-sized muffin pan with 6-8 paper liners.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until ingredients are combined well. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter and egg until combined. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, and stir until it is just combined and all of the dry ingredients are moistened. Don't over stir it. 

Gently fold in the blueberries. 

Spoon the batter into your prepared muffin liners, until about 3/4 full, since they don't rise as much as cupcakes typically do. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in muffin pan for 5-10 minutes before removing. Serve warm or cold. Store leftover muffins in the refrigerator.