Chicken Tamale Casserole

This was super easy and very good. Tamales are a lot of work but this is not. I changed the recipe a little from the original recipe from Food alla Puttanesca. This would make a great week night meal since I use a store bought rotisserie chicken.

Adapted from: Food ala Puttanesca

1 cup (4 ounces) pepper jack cheese (separated 1/4 cup and 3/4 cup)
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (I used Jiffy)
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
Cooking spray
1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 400°. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken and sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with sour cream.

Pizza Bake

Not another hot mess of cheese I promise! I found a recipe for a pizza bake online and made a few changes. This came out like deep dish pizza, which I love but only in Chicago. The best way to describe Chicago style pizza is it looks like a cheesecake at first. This was also awesome leftovers!

Pizza Bake
1 pound Italian sausage (I used half hot half mild)
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I used Hunt's because it is cheap and tasty)
1 small can slice olives
Mozzarella cheese, use as much or as little as you like
1 tube store bought pizza dough

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brown the sausage in a skillet. Drain if needed(mine needed it) Add the spaghetti sauce and olive and heat on low until everything is heated through. Spray a glass baking dish with non stick spray or grease with butter. Roll the pizza dough out and smoosh into the baking dish, mine cover the bottom and about half way up the sides, I think this is best. bake the pizza dough, without any toppings, for 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle cheese over dough. Add sausage mixture, spreading it out evenly. Top that with more cheese and bake for another 12 to 15 minutes or until the crust is brown enough for your taste. Let it cool a bit before you cut it so it doesn't run everywhere and enjoy!

Enchilada Pie

It may look like a hot mess of cheese but it taste just like an enchilada and it much easier to make. My dad made this first and I love it. It is basically layered enchiladas. Growing up we always had tri tip (beef) and enchiladas so that it was I made with it and it made me think of Sunday night dinner when I was a kid, yum!

Enchilada Pie
6 small corn tortillas
1 big can enchilada sauce (I used red)
sliced olives (I used the already sliced canned kind)
chopped onion
can of green chilies (this was my addition,I used canned here too)
Shredded cheddar cheese (or jack would be good too)

Spoon a layer of sauce in the bottom of your dish. Place corn tortilla on top. Layer in cheese, onions, chilies and olives. Repeat with the additional six corn tortillas, make sure you keep the layers thin so they all fit. Bake for 25- 30 minutes or until cheese is good and melted. Slice into portions and enjoy =]

Breakfast Casserole

I have wanted to make a breakfast casserole for a while and my office was having a birthday party breakfast so I thought it was the perfect time. This can be made is about a million different ways and all would be awesome. Basis: bread, meat, eggs, cheese. I made it as neutral as possible but if I was making it for myself I would have added a couple veggies like asparagus and onion.

4 store brought croissants (you can use biscuits, rolls or bread)
8 eggs
1/2 c milk
1/2 pound bacon, cooked and chopped (any breakfast meat would be good or none if you like that scene)
8 oz grated cheddar cheese (yes that is a lot of cheese=)
Salt and pepper

Butter the baking pan. Cut or pull the croissants into bit size pieces. Crack eggs in a bowl and salt and pepper as you like and whisk. Sprinkle chopped bacon over croissants. I also spread a little cheese over the croissants. Pour eggs over everything. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top. Cover with foil and back at 350 degrees for about 20 mins or until the eggs are set up and not running in the pan. I refrigerated and heated back up the next day in a toaster over for about 20 mins. There were no left overs at work.