Mexican Chilaquiles Verdes – 

Stephanie, Jorge & Memo in Vero Beach, FL
Christmas 1974

This typical Mexican dish is mostly served for breakfast! It is usually served along side some over easy eggs, refried beans and even rice. I remember one time early in our marriage Jorge and I went to a party. The following morning we were hurting!!! LOL My neighbor saw me and suggested that I make these with "a lot of kick" or actual chiles. She said the dish helped absorb the alcohol in our stomachs and sober us up without upsetting the stomach. It worked! 

Over the years, it became not only a go to dish for hangovers but a delicious dish for supper! During supper, I did make refried beans and rice to accompany this dish. 

Mexican Chilaquiles Verdes

Chicken breasts – 1 boned, skinned breast per 2 people (double recipe for more people etc.)

1 tsp salt

1 clove of garlic

1 small onion quartered

1 Medium onion diced

2 garlic cloves diced

1 large can of Green Chile Sauce

1 regular bag of unflavored corn chips, preferably the triangle ones

Spray oil or paper towel with olive oil to grease the casserole dish

4 cups of shredded Mexican Cheese Mix

Best dish – deep casserole dish or lasagna type dish

Olive Oil

Chicken Prep:                                                                                                                 

Take Chicken Breasts whole and place them in a pot, cover with water. Add salt, garlic and onion. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes. Remove chicken to cool off so it can be shredded. Save broth for soup or another dish. Or just add avocado and eat as a broth.

Chilaquilies Prep:  Oven to 350*    

In a large sauce pan, add oil and diced onion & garlic. Sauté on medium to low heat until the onions are transparent. Add the large can of green chile sauce and cook on low heat until flavorful and thick. Add the shredded chicken and fold. Remove the mixture from the stove.

Spray around the casserole dish and add a ladle full of chicken green chile sauce and spread over the bottom of the dish. Now add the bag of tortilla chips and then ladle the rest of the green chile sauce over the corn chips in the dish. Now sprinkle with the 4 cups of cheese. Cover with foil – TENT STYLE*. Cook the dish in a normal oven around 40 minutes (adjust for a convection oven) or until you see the green chile sauce bubbly.

*Tent Style – take a long piece of foil and fold in the middle and then loosely fit over the casserole dish to all the steam to release but no burn the cheese of tortillas.

Serve with sour cream, avocado chucks, refried beans.

Abuelita's Carrot Raisin Salad

Abuelita with Liz (5 months old)

Memo's 6th Birthday

Carmen Guzman de Jimenez was my mother in law. She taught me many things about family that I did not receive from my own family. She had a couple of sayings that I now live by:
"Tolerance is the pricing of having family!"
" Don't try to change someone, learn to gently mold!"
"Why get angry? Wait a few minutes and thinks will change!"

Seeing life through her eyes was a magical experience that I did not appreciate until about 10 years ago. I met Carmen when she was 60 years old, the age I will be in a couple of weeks! I look at her photos, remember her stories and only hope I can be to my kids and grandkids the wonderful role model she was. Up until the year she passed away at 94, she still asked about me. I miss her gentleness towards my children and myself.


Abuelita, as I too called her, was a terrific cook... on top of everything else. She taught me how to make food that was not frozen or out of a can!! She would invite Jorge, the kids and I over for dinner, which was always celebrated in the late afternoon around 4pm. One of her trademark salads was Carrot Raisin Salad.

Abuelita's Carrot Raisin Salad

Abuelita's birthday May 1981 with Memo, Liz and me
This was taken at our home in Monterry, Mexico

3 cups shredded carrots (shredding baby
peeled carrots make the recipe tender
and sweet)
1 cup raisins
1/2 mayonnaise
1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp grated ginger
Pinch of salt
Optional: 1/4 finely chopped pecans (this is something I have added)


The secret to this salad is the sauce. Combine the mayonnaise, honey and ginger (you can substitute powdered ginger spice but add only 1/8 tsp. Stir until well blended and then add the raisins.

Shred the carrots and gently fold into the mixture, cover and refrigerate until served. Allow at least 2 hours before serving.

My Stuffed Peppers

Memo, Jenna, Liz & Brett - 11/1982

It is funny how you learn a recipe that ends up defining a time in your life or a place where you lived. Stuffed Peppers is just one of those recipes! As many of you know, I lived in Mexico for 10 years. Upon our return, Jorge, Memo and Liz along with our dogs Yako and Tana, lived in North Tonawanda, NY. We settled into our rented home in the fall of 1982. North Tonawanda was a depressed town during those years. The steel mills that had kept that area of the country employed, closed up and moved to the southern US States. Many families were moving, while others unable to do so, struggled to make ends meet.

Liz helping Nana cook Thanksgiving Dinner - 1982

We lived next to a family of 6 and the woman worked while her husband took on the responsibilities around the house and job searched. I remember her complaining that they were going to have "stuffed peppers" AGAIN, for dinner. She told me that it was easy for her husband to make, the kids liked it and it was inexpensive to make! She shared her recipe with me! I think I have changed it up some since then...but it still reminds me of North Tonawanda!

Memo's 9th Birthday Party - ET Party Theme!

The funny thing about this recipe, is that it has become a favorite also for both of my kids. I have made it for Dave as well, he loves it but only if I don't use green peppers!!!

My Stuffed Peppers

6 plump peppers - green, red, orange or yellow will work
1 lb. ground beef, turkey or chicken 
Rice - 3 cups cooked - instant rice, reg rice or brown rice will work
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion - finely diced
1 can of diced/stewed tomates
Worcestershire Sauce
Pepper to taste
3 cans of Tomato Soup
2 cups cheddar cheese (or any other melting cheese you prefer)

While you are preparing the peppers, put some salted water in a large pot to boil. One of the most important things about making stuffed peppers is to make the peppers "standable"! They need to stand up in the casserole dish and not fall over. At the top of the pepper, slice off the top and clean out the seeds, dissgard. Now stand up the pepper. If it wobbles, slice a little off the bottom WITHOUT cutting any holes into the bottom of the pepper. (We don't want it leaking the goodness out!)
Once you have done that with all the peppers, place them into the boiling water for about 5 minutes. We want them tender but not wilted! After 5 minutes of a hard boil, removed open side down to drain out any water.

In a deep frying pan or pot, add the olive oil and onion to medium heat. Once the onions become transparent, add the meat. Saute until brown. Add the can of diced/stewed tomatoes, Worcestershire Sauce and pepper to taste. When well combined and seasoned, add one can of the tomato soup stir, 1 cup of shredded cheese and then add your rice. Be gentle and fold in the rice so it does not mush!

Arrange the peppers in a deep casserole dish. Then scoop your rice and meat mixture into each pepper. I like using an ice cream scoop with the release button. It allows me to add about the same amount of mixture to each pepper.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1-2 cans of tomato soup with 1/4 water. Once the peppers are filled to the top, filled the pepper with a handful of shredded cheese. Now pour the remaining tomato soup mixture aroung the bottoms of the peppers in the casserole dish. Cover with foil for 45 minutes then uncover. If you "tent-up" the foil a little, the cheese will not stick to the foil.

Bake 350* for 1 hour. Less time with convection oven.

Leighton's Sausage Gumbo



 Bernie (left)with George & friend
in 1920.

Bernadine Wilklow with son, George Wilklow in 1927.

My dad, Leighton Bernard Wilklow, the second son of Bernadine and George Wilklow, was born six years after his older brother, George Jr. Leighton has big shoes to fill as his brother had been the apple of his mother's eye! They had actually wanted a little girl but got my dad! How lucky were we!!!

Leighton's Sausage Gumbo:

1/4 cup olive oil
1tsp minced garlic
1 medium onion - diced
1lb pork sausage (I have actually used breakfast sausage or hot Italian or even sweet)
1/2 red, yellow, orange and green peppers - seeded and diced
1 tbsp. ground red pepper
1 tbsp. kosher salt
3 bay leaves
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 cups instant rice - white or brown

Heat a large soup pot or sauté pan add olive oil, add diced onion and diced peppers. Sauté until onions and peppers are soft. Remove from heat and add to large crockpot or remove while cooking the sausage so the vegetables do not overcook.

Brown the sausage until cooked completely add 2 tbsp floor. Then add to crockpot or leave in soup pot.

Add 4 cups of chicken broth then add bay leaves and can of diced tomatoes. Keep on medium high heat until the gumbo begins to bubble. Lower heat to simmer and cook for at least 3-4 hours. Add rice and keep cooking at low heat for another hour. If gumbo gets too thick, add another can of chicken broth.

Serve with baguette bread.

Mexican Tamales - savory and sweet

Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs, Colorado
December 2011

Mexican Tamales - savory and sweet

Most people just order tamales in a restaurant, buy them off the street from local vendors, or buy them at the store frozen but some us LOVE the freshness of homemade tamales. It is tedious to make and there are several steps but for a Posada, birthday party, holiday or just something different, you'll enjoy making these. I always call my nieces, Delaney and Morgan or my friend Connie when I make them. We make enough for them to take some home. So don't be afraid - just do it!

Westcliffe, CO - Christmas 2011

Corn mush is the base of tamales but the flavor comes from the additional ingredients like green pork chili, chicken with enchilada sauce, shredded beef in red sauce, refried black beans with cheese, rajas and cheese or sweet tamales with sugar, raisins, coconut etc. All of these are then rolled inside corn husks and steamed for about 15-20 minutes until light, fluffy and delicious!!!





Tamale Mix:
6 cups of corn masa
1 tbs salt
warm water
Dried corn husks

Savory Mexican Tamales:
Red Enchilada Sauce or Green Enchilada Sauce (Prepare or buy enchilada sauce both red or green.)
Chicken, pork or beef - shredded
Meatless can be filled with refried black beans and Monterrey Jack Cheese
Prepare My Easy Carnitas recipe from this BLOG dated 3/12/2011 with any of the meats for a savory flavor.

Sweet Mexican Tamales:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup hot water
1 cup raisins (dark and golden for color) OR 1 package of dried chopped fruit

Choose to make either sweet or savory filling. The savory filling requires preparing the meat and mixing it up with the green or red enchilada sauce. Or preparing the refried beans and slicing up the cheese. If you choose to make only sweet tamales; bring the 1/4 cup of hot water to a boil, add the brown sugar and raisins OR the hot water, brown sugar and the chopped dried fruit.

The Cates Christmas Tree 2011

Now make the tamale mix. In a large pot, add 4 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and add the dried corn husks and boil them until they become ply able. Keep them in the pot until usage. Take out a husk, wipe it dry - it will be hot. Now place 2 tbsp of tamale mix into the middle of the husk. With a small teaspoon make a hole and fill with either savory mixture or sweet mixture. Cover with a little more tamale mix. Form about a 3" oval ball within the husk. The bottom of the husk is the smaller end of the husk. Fold up the bottom first, then roll the sides in around the mixture. Leave the top open and stand with the open end upwards in a steam or vapor pot.

Steam or Vapor pot - a large stock pot with a colander inserted or something that will hold up the tamales within the pot. Add about 2 " of water and bring to a boil. The tamales will steam for about 10 -15 mins and be cooked.

Tamales can be cooked days in advance and actually frozen. But they taste best when they are cooked and served within 24 hours of making. So after making, wrap the different types in plastic wrap. When ready to serve place into glass dish with a glass lid and a couple of tbsp water and reheat for about 5 minutes or until steaming. (Cheese tamales need about 7 minutes to melt the cheese again.)

Savory tamales can also be served with green or red enchilada sauce drizzled over them. Remember to celebrate the season, enjoy the family and friends and accept the Lord's Blessings.

Merry Christmas!

Stephanie's Pigs in a blanket casserole

Going back in time, October 2012 was quite busy! I was preparing for Liz and Dave's Wedding by creating her baby book and their romance book. Which I gave them as wedding gifts. I am honored to say I also made Liz's wedding bouquet and veil. Both took so much time along with a lot of love. I am so proud of my baby girl and the woman she has become!



Ti & Fuzzy visiting Colorado Springs 2012

During October 2012, Dave and I were blessed with reuniting with one of my closest high school friends and her husband. Ti and Fuzzy came to Colorado Springs to say "hi" and spend some time with  my sister Terri and her husband, Steve. Steve and I sat together in homeroom in high school! I introduced them to each other 42 years ago!!! Ti and Terri became fast friends as well and Ti is Jenna's Godmother!



Terri Lynn Wilklow Wiebke
1975

When I was a child, one of  my favorite meals was Pigs In a Blanket. It is actually ground meat with rice and seasoning rolled in cabbage leaves. Closed with tooth picks and then cooked in tomato sauce. YUMMY! I love the flavors but I have a dickens with finding the time to make it. I then found out that my husband, Dave, also loved cabbage rolls. So I came up with this recipe which combines all the flavors of the original pigs in a blanket but without all the work!


Pigs in a Blanket Casserole:

1 medium head of cabbage - core and thickly sliced
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lg onion - diced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups of cooked rice - season heavy
2 eggs
1 cup shredded carrots
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
3 cans tomato soup
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
2 tbsp ketchup

Slice up cabbage in thick slices. Blanch cabbage in salted boiling water for about 3-5 minutes. Remove and set aside. Combine meat, eggs, rice, shredded carrots, salt, pepper together in a bowl. Form into oval balls and set aside. Mix together soup, worchestershire sauce, and ketchup. Pour 1/2 the mixture into a casserole dish. Place a layer of cabbage slices on top. Now add the oval formed meat shapes on top. Place the remaining cabbage slices between and on top of the meat and then cover with the remaining soup. Cover with foil (always with the shinny part down) on top of the casserole dish or cover with glass lid. Bake at 350* for 1 hr. You might need to place a catch baking sheet underneath as it might bubble and spill into the over. If you prefer, remove lid or foil about baking for 40 minutes.

Scoop our cabbage leaves and a meat form together then drizzle with sauce.

Butternut Squash with Chicken and Herbs

Mr. & Mrs. Robinson

This past year has been very hectic and I have totally ignored this blog. I am attempting to add at least 25 new recipes, photos and stories by the end of December 2012. Or less ...if the world ends on 12/21/12! So going backwards, on November 23, 2012, our family celebrated the marriage of our daughter, Liz to her wonderful husband, Dave Robinson on the rooftop of their apartment in Arlington, VA.

My daughter, Liz, loves butternut squash. I make butternut squash soup, I mash butternut squash in into mashed potatoes, but I really don't use it as a side or compliment to meats. Chicken, turkey and fish make a great compliment to squash. So here is a one-dish recipe.

The newlyweds on their "mini moon" visiting
the Aztec ruins outside Mexico City.

Butternut Squash with Chicken and Herbs:

2 skinless chicken breasts - boned and split in half
1 small/medium butternut squash - seeded and chopped into cubes
4 shallots - cubed
1 small bag of baby carrots
4 stalks of celery chopped in large cubes
1/4 Olive Oil & 2 tbsp
2 tsp balsamic vinegar drip over all and then gently stir to be completely covered
1 tblsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 clove chopped
2 tbsp chopped rosemary
2 tbsp honey mustard
1/2 cup water with 1 tbsp flour or corn starch mixed.


Prepare boneless skinless chicken or buy pre-cut and split. Add 2 tbsp olive oil to dutch oven, pressure cooker or pan that can be used on top of the stove and in the oven.  Brown the chicken on all sides about 2 mins on each side. Turn off heat. Let set while you add cubed butternut squash, shallots, celery, and carrots. In a small bowl combine the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, chopped clove, honey mustard; stir well. Pour this over the chicken and vegetables. Stir gently so that everything is covered. Now add salt, pepper and chopped rosemary, again stir gently. Place dutch oven or pan covered into 350* for 20 minutes, take out and turn chicken and gently stir the vegetables. Recover and place back into the over for another 20 minutes. Remove foil, turn off oven and let stand in oven for another 10 minutes. Vegetables should be soft but not mushy. Remove vegetables and chicken onto a platter cover immediately. Place pan on stove and turn to high heat. Add water with flour mixture and create a roux. Scrapping the bottom and sides of the pan. Remove from heat when thickens. Strain if you wish or just drizzle over the platter and serve. Can be served with rice if desired.

If you are looking to make this healthier, substitute cooking oil spray for the olive oil. Also you only need to add some water to loosen the flavors in the pan and drizzle over the chicken and vegetables.