A Mardi Gras Sunday

Hello bloggers! Happy Fat Tuesday :) As a celebration, I've been cooking up storm lately, so expect an influx of delicious recipes! School has been pretty relaxed the past week or so, so I've been filling my time with checking out new recipes and drooling over other blogs. However, this usually results in some pretty happy bellies.

This Sunday, I woke up and decided to make cinnamon roll pancakes. Even though these were probably the best pancakes I've ever had, you should eat them once-a-never since they are soooo bad for you.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

What ya need:

FOR THE PANCAKES:


1 cup all-purpose flour


2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk


1 Tablespoon canola oil


1 large egg, lightly beaten

FOR THE CINNAMON FILLING:


1/2 cup butter

melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed


1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

FOR THE CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:


4 Tablespoons butter


2 ounces cream cheese


3/4 cup powdered sugar


1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

What ya do:

1. Prepare pancake batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in milk, oil and egg, just until batter is moistened (a few small lumps are fine, and make the pancakes even better in my opinion).

2. In a medium bowl, mix butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a small zip baggie and set aside.

3. In a medium, microwave-safe bowl- heat butter and cream cheese until melted. Whisk together until smooth; whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Be careful with the cream cheese and make sure it's thoroughly melted...me and cream cheese have had some beef in the past...and by beef I mean I don't let it melt and it gets chunky. Gross.

4. Heat large skillet over medium-low heat. Spray with nonstick spray. Scoop about 3/4 cup batter onto the skillet. Snip the corner of your baggie of filling and squeeze a spiral of the filling onto the top of the pancake. Be careful to make sure that the cinnamon filling is mixed well, and only cut a very small hole in the bag. The first batch I made, the hole was very big and it got messy!When bubbles begin to appear on the surface, flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a baking sheet or platter and keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.

5. When ready to serve, spoon warmed glaze onto the top of each pancake.

Since it was Mardi Gras, I decided to keep the food celebrations going (and immediately start a diet the next day) and make chicken pumpkin enchiladas! I know it sounds kind of crazy...I was concerned that they wouldn't be very good, considering you don't hear about people making pumpkin enchiladas everyday.

Chicken Pumpkin Enchiladas

What ya need:

1 sweet onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons butter


1 1/2 cup chicken, cooked and diced


1/2 cup pumpkin


1/2 cup heavy cream


1/2 cup chicken broth


1/4 tsp. cinnamon


1/4 tsp. nutmeg


1/4 tsp. cumin


Dash of salt & pepper


8 corn tortillas
(if you wanted to use flour, it wouldn't be a crime..I could only find small corn tortillas, and they broke pretty easily)

1 cup Queso Fresco, crumbled


1/4 cup. diced scallions

What ya do:

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, then add the onion slices.

Saute until brown and caramelized, about 5 minutes.

Add the chicken to the pan, stirring it to mix with the caramelized onions, then remove from the heat (Side note: I cooked the chicken beforehand, just with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. I think it's best to do this, even though it takes a little extra time...I've tried using ground chicken in the past and it's just too dry).

In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, cream, broth, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, salt and pepper.

Spoon chicken mixture into the tortilla's, rolling them tightly and placing in a medium-sized baking dish.

Once all enchiladas have been rolled, spread the pumpkin cream sauce over the top. Sprinkle generously with Queso Fresco, then bake in an oven preheated to 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or just until the tips of the cheese begins to brown. Garnish with diced scallions before serving.

I don't want to overload you with foodie love, so I'll save my blueberry stuffed french toast and spinach orzo tomato soup for another night this week! Happy eating :)