Recipe Review: White Chicken Enchiladas

White chicken enchiladas.
YUM.
Even the idea of them sound good to me. :)

However, this is not my recipe.  I don't even really adapt this recipe.  We just eat this recipe.
A lot.
One of the things that can stink about the internet is the sheer number of recipes to sift through.  Once you choose one, gather your ingredients and God willing, find time to cook....well, finding out you picked a 'dud' is just about the worst thing ever.
I hate that.
So recipe review was born.  We see it, we try it....we tell you what the real result is. Makes your life easier, doesn't it?

I'm starting easy, because honestly....this recipe is delicious.  Isn't everything she makes?

White chicken enchiladas.  They are definitely not your health food fix, but they are great comfort food. You can find Pioneer Woman's recipe HERE.

First impression:
She takes beautiful pictures of food.  Usually I'm frantically trying to scroll PAST the pictures to get to the real recipe, though, because it looks so good I'm salivating and enough with the eye candy already I need to make this NOW.  Ahem.

Here's what I did differently:
Not much.  I've made this several times now, and usually I use homemade broth instead of the reserved liquid.  When I used the reserved liquid, I thought the taste was a little bit blander.  I didn't rinse my chicken (I'm a rebel).  I also used half/half or milk instead of heavy cream (by the way, a little bit of milk works fine in a pinch).   I  have used both flour tortillas and corn tortillas that haven't been crisped in oil first.  Both were totally fine, although we like flour better.  The corn we use because it makes the recipe gluten-free, and I think next time I will try to crisp them first just to see if it makes a difference for us.

Verdict:
This is a perfect 'guests are coming' or 'bringing a meal to a new mom' recipe.  It's relatively painless to make (once the chicken is shredded), and usually I double it and freeze one. It freezes well (BONUS!).  It's the perfect hit-the-spot cheesy recipe.  We like to eat it with mexican rice and a salad or vegetable (review on the mexican rice another time).

Yes.  If you like cheese, or enchiladas, or chicken, or anything in this recipe, it's a definite win.  It's quickly becoming one of our favorites for a special splurge meal.  This recipe gets a big YES from my entire family, kids included!

Have a recipe you wish we'd review?  Send it to us at dandelionsprouts@gmail.com, and we'll see what we can do! :)

Yummiest Pretzel Bites {Gluten free baking}

Well, hail the conquering hero!  I FINALLY mastered a gluten free pretzel bites recipe.  Woot!
For those just joining us, I became inspired by this recipe.  Since we have a child with celiac's disease in our family, I knew the regular recipe wasn't going to work for us, so I set out to make the recipe gluten free....I blogged about my fails HERE.
And now, onto the success!

This is a recipe I would use sometime when the kids and I are looking to make something together and we just want something a little fun.  That doesn't happen every week, but the kids had a good time with cutting out their shapes, and I had a good time knowing there really isn't much to dislike about this recipe. I used whole-grain flours, there is no oil, there is very little sugar....it's a great little snack, and easily dip-able, too!

YUMMIEST (GF) PRETZEL BITES

makes about 2 full sheets of pretzel bites

1 cup warm water

1 T. sugar

1 1/4 tsp. yeast

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cups millet flour

3/4 cups GF oat flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

2/3 cup almond flour (I've also used sweet sorghum)

2 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum (or whatever 'binder' you use)

2 T. baking soda

2 cups hot water

coarse sea salt

*I mix my own flours as I go...use your own mixture if you have other favorite flours, but do NOT omit the starch or it will affect the rising!
*For GF baking by weight, consider 1 cup=140g.
*Don't want this gluten free?  Just leave out the xanthan gum and use the same amount of flour!


In a large measuring cup (I use my 4 cup glass measuring cup), add 1 cup very warm (not hot!) water and sugar.  Stir well to dissolve the sugar.  Add yeast and stir.  Cover with a tea towel and allow to begin rising (about 10-15 minutes).

While the yeast is rising, add flours and xanthan gum together in a large mixing bowl and whisk well (this is because I am a little lazy, and I don't sift my flours together.  Whisking them well works for me, and it saves the hassle.  If you sift, sift them now.)  Pour the yeast into the mixture and using a dough hook, allow the mixer to mix the dough.  NOTE:  you can't overmix GF dough the way you can with regular dough, so let that mixer MIX!  Give it a good couple of minutes before you mess with it (although you can scrape the sides here and there if you need to).  I have been guilty of under-mixing in the past (force of habit), and I was surprised the first time I really mixed it that it became much more smooth and behaved better.  The things you learn... ;)
When the dough is very well mixed, it should be soft/slightly sticky.  If it's seems too sticky, just flour your hands well and generously sprinkle it with flour as much as needed.  It may feel softer than gluten dough, and that's ok!  If it's well mixed it should behave similarly to gluten dough, although GF dough is always a little different.
Roll out on a well-floured surface (I did mine oh, about 1/4 thick, maybe a little thicker) and cut dough into desired shapes or roll and twist for pretzels.  Place on baking mats or parchment-lined cookie sheets.  Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise in a warm place (I turned my empty oven on to 200, placed a pot of water in there and allowed it to preheat.  I then turned it off and let my dough rise in there.  Hey, however you let dough rise, it's fine with me ;) )  It takes time, but it does rise.  I gave mine about an hour (and good news!  If it doesn't rise as much as you want, they still taste great!)

Once they have risen, dip them into a baking soda solution of 2 cups warm water and 2 T. baking soda. Sprinkle with sea salt (we tried them both ways and you'll definitely want the salt sprinkles). Place bites back on the baking sheets and bake at 425 for 7-8 minutes, or until they are lightly browned.  They go fast, so keep an eye on them :) Eat warm!

These stayed good for about 2 days for us before they do what all soft pretzels do and got kind of dry.  Lucky for us, there weren't really any left :)

And there you have it!  A perfectly yummy, soft pretzel snack that everyone can enjoy!  Try them, and let me know what you think.  I'm always open for suggestions, and I'd love to hear about your results!  Who says GF can't be delicious?

The pretzel bite war {Gluten free baking}

Can we just talk for a second?
Thanks.
I'd love to talk about how sometimes, cooking GF can feel a little bit...well, tough.
Not usually.  Usually it feels normal at our house, and we don't think about it much anymore.  But sometimes.....well, sometimes, you see an amazing recipe for soft pretzel bites and think, 'that's the perfect recipe to do with the kids one day while we're home and looking for something to do!'  This would be quickly followed by 'I'm sure I can make that gluten free'.
Those, my friends, are the famous last words.
These word are once again quickly followed by 2 days in the kitchen.  The first attempt was not a complete fail, judging by how many my children ate.  But they really didn't rise much, and I couldn't get over that perfect picture on the first recipe (by the way, if you're looking for perfect pictures.....you at the WRONG place.  I normally snap photos on my phone in the 2 seconds between children screaming for dinner and totally forgetting to snap photos....that's just where I live, ya'll.)
So the next day, I tried again.  I had done a little research and tweaked a few things about my recipe.
Still yummy.  Still didn't rise well.
Now this meant war.  Not because I just had to have pretzels now.  No, this went way deeper.  NOW this was about our ability to ever be able to enjoy our favorite yeast-y recipes as a family again!  I've dabbled with a few other yeast recipes with decent success (pizza being one of them), but I just don't usually go for things with a full rise cycle.  It's not my speed.  But now?  Oh, it's on.
War, I tell you.  (Also I warned you that I'm not a professional.  I'm just demonstrating that for you in this post.  You're welcome).
I tried again during naptime, and tweaked a few more things.....better, but still NOT totally risen.
Lucky for me, this recipe was super easy and relatively quick, or else I'd be toast.
I now have my FOURTH batch of GF and yummy soft pretzel bites in to rise.  I'm not giving up, ya'll.  I'm going to GET this.
And then I'll come share it with all of you, because that's just the kind of gal I am.
I will soldier on!

(to be continued..........)