Rejuvenation

April 14, 201341 Comments

Today’s post is going to be quick and easy. You see, you may notice a few changes on the blog today – a new look, new features and finally…index pages! As most bloggers know, changes like that are not so quick and easy. They take time…lots of time. But we had some this weekend and we figured it was time to liven things up a bit around here, make some improvements, get around to the things we’ve been procrastinating. Frankly, we were ready for a little rejuvenation. So was this recipe…

Seafood enchiladas have long been a favorite summertime dish for us. My grandpa passed along a recipe to me years ago after clipping it from a magazine in the lobby of the hospital where he volunteered. He saw it, knew my affection for seafood, and thought I would like it. He was right. (He found at least 50 recipes…perhaps he was trying to tell me something.) Well, my cooking skills have much improved since then and I opted to scrap the pre-mixed seasoning packet and put my own spin on these babies.

The original recipe calls for regular cream cheese, butter and a ranch dressing seasoning packet. I typically swap out the regular cream cheese for reduced fat cream cheese. I’ve even used the fat-free or a mixture of the two and the results don’t vary at all. I also usually switch out the butter for oil. Now this time, having worked my way around a kitchen a bit more these past few years, I decided to bag the ranch seasoning mix and all its sodium for my own mixture of spices. So in place of the ranch dressing mixture I combined parsley, dill, chives, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder and onion powder.

As for the recipe, it’s simple. Mix the cream cheese and spices with a bit of milk in a large bowl. Reserve about a 1/4 of the mixture in a small bowl to the side. Next saute the cayenne, onion and garlic in a skillet. Toss in the crab meat, sliced black olives and Salsa Verde. The original recipe called for green chilies, but we’re rejuvenating, remember. 🙂 (Next time, I’ll make my own salsa too….) Cook this mixture for a few minutes and then add it to the large bowl with the cream cheese and spices. Fold in some Colby Jack cheese and spread the mixture evenly in the center of about 8 to 12 tortilla shells.

Next roll the enchiladas, place them in a baking dish seam-side down and top with a bit more Salsa Verde, the small bowl of cream cheese mix and some more Colby Jack. Bake the enchiladas covered for 25 minutes at 350F. Finally, uncover and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes. And you’re done…see, quick and easy.

Mike and I have enjoyed these enchiladas numerous times over the years, but this was the kids’ first experience with them. I was a little skeptical. I knew they would enjoy the crab, but I wasn’t so sure about the salsa and dill flavor. Well, I should have remembered Mr. N’s affection for ranch dressing, he really liked the enchiladas and gave them 3 spoons. Miss A liked them too, but not as much as her brother. She rang in with 2 spoons. Mike and I both really enjoyed the freshened up version of the dish. I gave them 4 spoons and Mike a strong 3 spoon vote. Overall, a very successful meal. I bet Grandpa would have enjoyed them too – or at least the fact that I still make them!

Have a great week everyone. We’ll be back next week with our first recipe from our Thai cooking adventures. In the meantime, we hope you have as much fun checking out the indices as we had making them. We didn’t realize just how many states and countries we’ve visited – and just how much the kids have changed!

Print this recipe: Seafood Enchiladas

March Madness is upon us

March 24, 2013April 13, 201337 Comments

While the rest of the nation has been filling out their brackets with their favorite college basketball teams, we’ve been stuffing our brackets (and bellies) with French Toast. About this time last year, we announced our French Toast Challenge, and since then French Toasts from around the globe have been battling it out for French Toast supremacy. We made 13 in all, but only four can be selected for the big dance.

But before we get to the competitors, it wouldn’t be March Madness without some controversial snubs by the selection committee. Miss A and Mr. N did a fantastic job on the selections, but two French Toasts found themselves on the wrong side of the bubble despite having strong performances. Romanian French Toast, a savory style French Toast surprised everyone, but fell just short of making the cut. The most controversial decision, though, was the omission of Bananas Foster French Toast. A top pick in the preseason, they fell short as the committee decided that two banana recipes was too many. Fans of Bananas Foster complained of the committee’s hypocrisy and argued that if they were in the top four, they should have been given a bid. Mr. N and Miss A were having none of it, though.

But enough of the also-rans. Here are the brackets: Continue reading →

It’s Gunna be a Bright Bright Sun Shiny Day

March 17, 2013April 13, 201320 Comments

Somewhere in the world it will be bright and sunny. I don’t think that will be in our neck of the woods though. In fact the sun seems to be in hiding this month making for quite the dreary March. So we thought for our flashback this week, we’d bring you a little plate of sunshine. You know when life hands you lemons…well, we make lemon tarts! These particular lemon tarts were made in the summer of 2011 when we were cooking recipes from Ontario, Canada, and are easily another one of our favorites. For those of you that haven’t seen this one before, we hope you enjoy! Next week we will post a little bit about what we’ve been up to in our absence, and then we’ll be back, rested, and ready to go! “See” you all soon. Continue reading →

Thoughts of Summer

March 10, 2013April 13, 201320 Comments

I realize that most people are still thinking about spring. It’s so close after all. Even if there is still snow on the ground. Miss A, however, she’s our summer girl and keeps asking when it will be summer again. She has been this way from the time she was tiny. She loves it hot outside. She wants to live in sun dresses and never have to wear a coat (I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve found her without a coat this winter.). And can I just tell you how cute her curls are in the heat! So while we’re bringing back a few of our favorites from the past during this month-long hiatus, we thought we’d share with you one of our summertime favorites. This one is also from one of our state-side cooking adventures which we do in addition to cooking recipes from around the world.

I hope you’re all doing well. We’ve been keeping busy and we’ll have photos to share soon. Until then, we hope you enjoy this past recipe as much as we did! Continue reading →

Blast from the Past

March 4, 2013April 13, 201332 Comments

Hi all! While we’re on our little siesta, we thought we’d share a few of our older posts that some of you may not have seen or may have forgotten. I also thought it would be a good time to share with our new subscribers and readers what we’re all about here at Eat, Play, Love. Basically, our journey started out as a way to teach Mr. N and Miss A (our kiddos) about various cultures and traditions around the world while opening all of us up to new foods and cooking techniques. It’s always a whole family affair. We take turns picking a country our U.S. state and then we find traditional or popular local recipes to try. Often times the kids will be involved in the cooking which gives us a chance to share some facts about the particular country or culture, and have some fun along the way.

We don’t claim to be experts either in culture or in cooking, but we do put forth our best efforts to make the recipes authentic and to review them honestly. You can read more about our spoon rating system here. You’ll notice as we go along that Miss A’s spoon ratings tend to be the most subjective ranging from 0 to 514 at times. We really don’t mind as long as she’s giving the different foods a chance, which is something both kids have been amazing at doing. From time to time, we’ll also share special occasion recipes, travel adventures and random recipes we just happen to love, but the majority of what you’ll see here is all about cooking around the world.

So here’s an old post from back in May 2011, shortly after we started the blog. This recipe just happens to be one of our favorites and has been made more than once. Enjoy! Continue reading →

Just Desserts – The Dessert Basket

February 24, 2013April 13, 201320 Comments

Today is the last post from our Chopped Challenge 2013. And what better way to celebrate and spread some cheer than with desserts. I hope you’ve enjoyed following along as much as we enjoyed the event. I have to say this last round was just as delicious as the rest and was by far the kids’ favorite. Our ingredients for the dessert basket came to us from Dawn at First Look, Then Cook – Mangoes, Pretzels, Bacon and Agave Nectar. Continue reading →