Chicken Enchiladas and Enchilada Sauce Recipe

It used to be that I stocked cans of tomato sauce in my cupboard for making pizza sauce and enchilada sauce.  But then I bought Thrive Tomato Powder.  It only takes a moment to turn the powder into sauce.  I've tried several different recipes but this week's trial seems to be a winner.  I used this recipe from Healthy Family Cookin to get started.

I grabbed my Thrive Tomato Powder and got to work.

 Adapting the original recipe just a bit, I added salt, Thrive dehydrated onions, and garlic powder to my tomato powder. 

After boiling the water, I added it to my tomato powder mixture.  Next up, convert this tomato sauce to enchilada sauce.

For that I turned to this enchilada sauce recipe I've used for years but I changed it up some (replaced the salt and garlic with garlic salt, and reduced the chili powder to 1 T per my child's complaint that it's been too spicy).

Now let's turn it into enchiladas.  I've used this recipe for years. I'm often asked "what should I buy?" by those just getting started.  My favorite advice is to pick a family favorite recipe and convert it to Thrive ingredients, then purchase those items.  This is one of those recipes for me.  And I have purchased the ingredients - I just didn't use them this time. 

This day, I chopped up leftover chicken breast, added 1 recipe of cream of chicken soup substitute (made from white bean flour), a can of Rotel and regular cheddar cheese.  Next, I poured in 1/2 of my enchilada sauce.  To convert, simply use rehydrated Thrive Freeze Dried chopped chicken and rehydrated Thrive Freeze Dried Cheddar Cheese (or go crazy and use both the cheddar and Thrive Freeze Dried Monterey Jack!).

 Spoon into flour tortillas, roll them up and lay down in a sprayed 9x13 pan.

Once you've used up all the "enchilada goop" (we use fancy words like that at our house), cover the enchiladas with the remaining enchilada sauce and as much cheese as you like (we like a lot).  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Here are the recipes for you:

Tomato Sauce

(original recipe from Healthy Family Cookin')

¼ Cup + 2 Tbsp. Thrive Tomato Powder

1/8 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. Thrive Chopped Onions

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¾ Cup + 2 Tbsp. water, boiling

In a small bowl combine the tomato powder, salt, onions and garlic powder. Pour hot water over powder mixture and stir until thoroughly dissolved. Makes the equivalent of 8 oz of tomato sauce.

Enchilada Sauce 

2 T vegetable oil
2 T flour

1 T chili powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1 recipe tomato sauce (above)
2 c water
1 t garlic salt

Heat oil in 2 qt saucepan; stir in flour and chili powder.  Cook for 1 minute.
Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 min. 

 (converted and changed from recipe I found here years ago)

 Chicken Enchiladas

1 pkg flour tortillas (soft taco or burrito size - your preference or what's on sale)
1 can cream of chicken soup or 1 recipe of substitute
8 oz shredded cheddar or mexican blend cheese (Thrive Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese)
1 can Ro-Tel (original works but the Mexican version with cilantro and lime is best)
2 cups leftover chicken or rehydrated Thrive Chopped Chicken
 Enchilada Sauce (recipe above)
 

Combine chicken, soup, Ro-Tel, 3/4 of the cheese and 1/4-1/2 of the enchilada sauce.

Spray bottom of 9x13 pan.

Put 2-3 large spoonfuls  into each tortilla.  Wrap tortilla around filling and place seam side down in 9x13 pan.  Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas and cover with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Anniversary Giveaway - Updated with Winner

3/27/13 - Congratulations to Stephanie K for winning my 1st Anniversary Giveaway!

This month is my 1 year anniversary of becoming a Shelf Reliance Independent Consultant.  It has been a great experience for me and my family.  My home store (aka food storage) has grown and I've learned a LOT.  Sadly, the learning a lot part means I am better aware of how much I don't know AND my To Do list for preparedness keeps growing, faster than I can keep up.  I am very grateful to all my customers, especially my first two (you know who you are)!

I continue to look to grow my business and my team - if you'd like to join my team, or get more information about becoming a consultant, check out the Join page here.  To sign up, you'll need my consultant ID (5892) and my email address (imthriving@gmail.com).  I'm so glad I didn't wait any longer to start my business.  A year from now, will you be wishing you had signed up now?  Are you looking to build up your home store for your family?  Becoming a consultant may be the answer as you can earn free and half-price products on your orders (outside of your Q) helping you to build up that home store faster.

To celebrate my anniversary, I want to share some of my favorite products with you.  And when I say share, I mean one of you will be getting 1 Pantry Can each of 3 of my favorite products...

THRIVE Tomato Powder

This product is so versatile! I primarily use it to make Tomato Basil Bread, in soups (like this Minestrone soup), and when I am just a little short on spaghetti sauce (just mix up a little and add it to a partial jar from the fridge instead of opening a whole new jar). I could also use it to make enchilada sauce, or anything else you'd make from tomato sauce or tomato paste. Many people use it to make spaghetti sauce.

 THRIVE Freeze Dried Raspberries

When I first tried the raspberries straight from the can, I was not thrilled.  But I'm not a tart fruit fan.  So why are they among my favorite products?  Because I throw them into almost any bread recipe and it makes it amazing.  Check out the Banana Chocolate Chip Raspberry Bread or the Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe (note a trend).  I've also made Lemon Raspberry Scones that were awesome - and I need to finally share that recipe with you.

THRIVE Whole Egg Powder

I have fallen in love with using THRIVE Whole Egg Powder in my recipes.  With the rising prices at the grocery store, especially on fresh eggs, these are cheaper than using fresh eggs.  So I use them a LOT.  You can mix them up to make scrambled eggs for breakfast, or simply use them as a substitute for eggs in a recipe.

To enter my anniversary giveaway, complete the rafflecopter entries below.  The giveaway is open through March 26th (ends at midnight on March 27th).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  This post is being shared on The Busy Bee's Link Party - go check out all the other great posts being shared.

Tomato Basil Bread

Back in June 2012, I shared a family favorite bread recipe, Tomato Basil Bread, with instructions on making it in the bread machine.  The original recipe came from here at Stolen Moments Cooking.  With THRIVE Tomato Powder on special this month (February 2013), I made the bread by hand this weekend and did a little tweaking to the instructions.  Since it's a little more work making it by hand, I'll probably make it more often in the bread machine so I'm also including tweaked bread machine instructions here too.

My biggest tweak was to not use tomato paste, nor did I make tomato paste from my THRIVE Tomato Powder.  Instead, I increased the water amount and simply added in the THRIVE Tomato Powder dry.  This worked wonderfully.  It was a lot less work as I didn't have to make the paste first, but also because I didn't have to clean the bowl that I would have made the paste in.  The other tweak that I made (and I make this to most recipes) is that I try to use a mix of whole wheat flour, oats and white flour whenever I make a bread recipe (bread, muffins, pizza dough, etc.).  It adds more flavor and more nutrition.

To conserve energy and keep my utility bills lower, I keep my thermostat set to a cool temperature in the winter.  This is great for my finances but not so great for trying to get bread to rise.  One tip I've learned over the years to counter this is to turn my oven on to about 180° and then turn it off.  I then place my dough in the oven to rise.  It works great; but be careful to not get the oven so warm that the dough actually starts baking.

Tomato Basil Bread (by hand)

• 1 pkg active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp yeast)
• 3/4 cup + 1/3 cup warm water
• 2 t dried basil
• 1/4 c grate parmessan cheese
• 2 1/2 t  THRIVE Tomato Powder
• 1 T Sugar
• 1 T Olive Oil
• 1 t salt
• 1/8 - 1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 1/4 – 2 1/2 c. flour (I use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup old fashioned oats, and the rest white flour)

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast with water.  Stir in basil, Parmesan, tomato powder, sugar, oil, salt, pepper flakes and 2 c. flour.  Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough.  Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place (like my oven - see tip above) until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; knead for 1 minute.  Shape into a round loaf.  Place on a greased baking sheet (I used a round stone).  Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.  With a sharp knife, cut a large X in top of loaf.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.

Original Recipe and instructions at Stolen Moments Cooking

Tomato Basil Bread for Bread Machine

• 3/4 c. + 1/3 cup warm water
•  1 T. olive oil
• 2 1/4 – 2 1/2 c. flour (I use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup old fashioned oats, and the rest white flour)
• 2 t. dried basil, oregano, or Italian seasoning
• 2 1/2 t THRIVE Tomato Powder
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 T. sugar
• 1 t. salt
• 1/8 – 1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 pkg. active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 t. yeast)

Add liquid ingredients to bread machine pan.  Add flour, herbs, THRIVE Tomato Powder, parmesan, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes on top.  Create a well in dry ingredients and add yeast.  Use 1 lb loaf setting for bread machine.


For both of these recipes, if you want to make this while you are waiting for your THRIVE Tomato Powder order to arrive, you can use 2 T tomato paste.  A small can of tomato paste generally contains 10 T of tomato paste.

Sharing this at Finding the Pretty and Delicious at Your Home Based Mom,  The Busy Bee's Thursday Blog Hop, and Strut Your Stuff Saturday at Six Sisters Stuff.  Go check out all the other great ideas and recipes!

Product Feature: Tomato Powder and Tomato Basil Bread Recipe

Today, I'm highlighting another THRIVE Food from the June Specials.... THRIVE Tomato Powder.

THRIVE Tomato Powder has an Opened Shelf Life of 18 months and has ONE ingredient - tomatoes!  The Unopened Shelf Life is 8 years.

Using the instructions from the can, to make 6 oz Tomato Paste, mix 1/4 c of THRIVE Tomato Powder wtih 1/2 c water.  Heather Lorimor of Cooking With My Food Storage recommends a 1 to 1 ratio of tomato powder to water to make tomato paste, and 1 to 2 for tomato sauce. Heather also recommends adding 2 T of sugar to sweeten it up a bit.  You can check out her recommendations on her Cupboard Door Food Storage Reference Chart.

In addition to using it as a powder (like when adding it to water or bouillon to create a soup base), you can turn the tomato powder into a basic tomato sauce or tomato paste.  From there, you can make your favorite pizza sauce recipe, enchilada sauce or homemade spaghetti sauce.  Here's a recipe for Taco Soup from Shelf Reliance, using THRIVE Tomato Powder.  And I found this recipe for homemade ketchup that I'd like to try using the Tomato Powder.

Tomato Powder was one of my very first Shelf Reliance orders for two reasons.  First, my upline sponsor had made a Beef Vegetable Soup with the THRIVE Tomato Powder at the first Shelf Reliance Tasting Party I attended and it was amazing.  Princess Naked Toes went to the party with me and she still talks about that soup almost a year later.  But that Consultant, my upline, did NOT use a recipe!  I'm still trying to duplicate her soup and have it taste as good as she made.  When I do, or she finally writes down what she does (hint hint), I will share with you!

The second reason is this Tomato Basil Bread recipe from Stolen Moments Cooking.  The recipe calls for 2 T of tomato paste.  Even the small can of tomato paste has quite a few more Tablespoons than 2.  So I either make several loaves or I end up throwing away the rest of the can.  Using the Tomato Powder, I use 2 1/2 t tomato powder and 5 t water to make 2 T tomato paste for this delicious bread recipe!

Let's compare the numbers.  A small 6 oz can of tomato paste has 10 Tablespoons in it.  The pantry can contains 56 T.  For the Tomato Basil Bread recipe, I use 2 1/2 teaspoons.  I can make 67 loaves from one pantry can.  Therefore at the consultant website price of  $12.79, it costs me 19¢ in tomato powder per loaf.  That's significantly less than buying a can of tomato paste.  If I buy my tomato powder in the #10 can, the price of the tomato powder is even less per serving or per loaf.  And as a Q customer, the price is even better.

Currently Hy-Vee shows the price of Hunt's Tomato Paste 6 oz can as 68¢, which is 6.8¢ per Tablespoon, so cheaper per Tablespoon.  BUT when you add in that I end up throwing away the rest of the can because I don't use it and it goes bad, it costs me 68¢ in tomato paste per loaf, I'm saving 49¢ per loaf of bread.  Even if I buy the store brand at 29¢, I'm saving 10¢ per loaf.

I LOVE being able to use just what I need, instead of buying extra of something and wasting it.  I also love knowing that I always have the items I need in my home store.

For the month of June 2012, THRIVE Tomato Powder is on special.  A #10 can is $28.19 to Q Customers and $29.39 on I'm THRIVing!'s website.  Contact me to find out how you can become a Q Customer or to get the monthly special prices on the other sizes available (Pouch, Pantry Can, Case of #10s, or Pantry-10 Pack).   So continuing our comparison, buying the #10 can on the June special, it will cost 14¢ in tomato powder to make the tomato basil bread.

Here's my bread machine adaptation of the recipe from Stolen Moments Cooking:

Tomato Basil Bread for Bread Machine

• 3/4 c. warm water
•  1 T. olive oil
• 2 T. tomato paste (2 1/2 t THRIVE Tomato Powder, plus 5 t water)
• 2 1/4 – 2 1/2 c. flour (I use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup old fashioned oats, and the rest white flour)
• 2 t. dried basil, oregano, or Italian seasoning
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 T. sugar
• 1 t. salt
• 1/8 – 1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 pkg. active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 t. yeast)

Add liquid ingredients to bread machine pan.  Add flour, herbs, parmesan, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes on top.  Create a well in dry ingredients and add yeast.  Use 1 lb loaf setting for bread machine.