Crock Pot Fajitas

You could do this with chicken as well.

Mix and place in crock pot:

2 lbs sliced steak
1 can green chilies
1/4 cup water
1 packet fajita mix (McCormick)

Add:

1 onion, sliced
4 peppers, sliced (red, green, yellow, orange)
1, 1/2 cup water mixed with
1 more packet fajita mix

Cook on low for 6-8 hours

last hour add 1 can black beans, drained.

Serve with sour cream and chopped tomatoes

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Morning sickness is weaning. I hope I'm through with frozen meals and ready for some good home cooking! I can't look at another frozen Marie Callenders.

This meal is fast, easy, and yummy!

In your soup pot sauté for 5 minutes:

2 T olive oil
1 medium onion

Then add:

2 cups chicken (I use the rotisserie chicken from the deli)
2 cans Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen corn
4 oz can green chiles
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
3 cups chicken broth

Bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer for 20 minutes. The last 5 minutes add:

1 cup half and half
chopped cilantro
juice of 1 lime (or more!)

Serve with a slice of avocado, tortilla chips, shredded cheese and sour cream!

You could also dump this all into the crockpot and cook on low!

Southwest Chicken Salad

This has become my favorite meal by far!

Place about 5-6 chicken breasts in:

3 T lime juice
3 T oil
1 T cumin
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper

After letting the chicken sit for a few minutes, grill!

For the salad you will need:

lettuce
chicken, cut up
olives
cheddar cheese
tomato
avocado
fresh lime wedges
south west salad dressing
chips (I like Fritos)

Lentils and Rice Casserole

I found this recipe from my good friend Erin. Her blog bakingforboys has some wonderful meal ideas! I have made this twice this month because it is so healthy, filling and cheap to make!  Oh, and EASY!

Combine and place in 9x13 baking dish:


3 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup lentils
1/2 cup brown rice, uncooked
3/4 cup onion chopped (I used 1 T minced onion)
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Cover and bake at 300 for 1 1/2 hours.

Serve with cheese, cilantro, and Frito chips!

Black beans and rice

I have really been into the Mexican flavors lately, especially corn tortillas! This meal is so quick and easy, and CHEAP!

Place 6 corn tortillas on a cookie sheet and warm in the oven at about 200 degrees. While that warms you can be working on the rest of the meal.

Cook about 1 cup rice according to directions.

Saute for 5 minutes in 2 T oil:

1 celery stalk

1 pepper

2 garlic clove, chopped

1/4 cup onion

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

dash of chili pepper

dash of cumin

Then add and heat through:

1 can black beans, drained

Serve over hot rice

Top with chopped cilantro

Huevos Rancheros

This is my new favorite way to eat eggs. The kids love it, too!

In a skillet heat 1 T oil and Heat a corn tortilla for a few seconds on each side. Then place tortillas in oven on 200 degrees to keep warm.

In the same skillet add a little more oil and crack 6-8 eggs. I like to take the skillet off the heat when I add the eggs so I don't get oil on me. Then turn the heat down to low and put a lid on top for even cooking. It only takes a couple minutes.

Serve your egg over the toasted corn tortilla with hot salsa and feta cheese. Top with cilantro!

Green Enchilada Sauce

My sister, Bonnie, canned this last year and I LOVE it! I like it on eggs, enchiladas, burritos, EVERYTHING! She got the recipe from Our Best Bites. It is a winner!

Saute for 2-3 minutes:

3 T olive oil
1 large onion
6 cloves garlic

In a blender process until smooth (you may need to do this in batches):

2 green peppers, chopped
1-2 jalapenos (I left out the seeds)
1, 1/2 lb tomatillos (I used 7)
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 cup chicken broth

Add pepper mixture to the onions and add:
 
1, 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1, 1/2 tsp cumin

Now add:

3 cups chicken broth
2 T sugar

Simmer until it is thick. Stir occasionally. I simmered mine for about 2 hours.

Toquitos

This is a good meal if you are cooking for a vegetarian. It's a good way to use up your beans. If you have a little left over rice you could also throw that into this mix. The toquitos are a lot better than they look in the picture. Super crunchy on the outside and creamy mexican taste on the inside. You could also substitute left over chicken for the black beans.

Mix in bowl:

1/3 cup cream cheese (3 oz)
1/4 cup green salsa
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 garlic, pressed
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T green onions
2 cups black beans or red beans
1 cup cheddar cheese

Spread about 3 T of filling onto a flour tortilla. Roll the tortilla up tight and place seam side down on a greased cookie sheet. I got about 11 tortillas filled.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes uncovered.

Dip in sour cream!

Ravioli

This was a bit spicy for my kids, but I liked it! This is where Italian meets Mexican. Be sure and use a large enough pot for the ravioli. I forgot that it would double and tripple in size and I ended up with a mess on my stove. Next time I will use a 5 quart pot.

Use a very large pot to boil:

20 oz package ravioli (follow package instructions)

In a medium pot heat on low while the ravioli is cooking:

1 cup salsa
1, 1/2 cup enchilada sauce

Add the drained ravioli to the sauce.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese, chopped green onions, and sour cream.

Just noticed I water marked my picture with the wrong logo...oh well.

Empinadas

I tried empinadas for the first time at a festival in the park over the summer. I played improve in the kitchen last night and came up with this fantastic recipe! This filling makes a lot! I only used half of it. I put the rest in a freezer bag and threw in the freezer. You could choose to double the dough recipe if you want to make a lot more! Using this dough recipe, as is, I was able to make 24 empinadas.

Filling

Brown the following together. Then drain:

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped

In a mixing bowl dump:

cooked meat mixture
1 small can chopped olives
3 T Cilantro, chopped
1, 1/2 cups cheddar cheese
1 packet taco season

Dough

Cut shortening into flour until crumbly:

2 cups flour (I used 1 T wheat and 1 T oat flour)
1 cup shortening

slowly add water while fluffing with a fork:

1/2 cup water

Roll dough out until really thin. Cut circles out with buiscut cutter or ring off a quart jar. Spoon a tablespoon of filling onto the circle.

Fold the circle in half and pinch the top. Then pinch the sides together. It took a couple of these to figure how not to lose my filling. :)

Place the crescent moon shaped empinadas onto a cookie sheet and brush with a mixture of:

1 egg yolk
1 T milk

Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

Serve with cilantro lime rice and refried beans.

Chicken Enchiladas

Fall is here and I have less natural light flowing into my kitchen. I'm afraid my pictures are getting a bit darker. If only I had a professional camera...'sigh'...oh well. We will manage!

Ok, here is a great recipe for fall. I like to be real organized with this recipe so it runs like an assembly line. Have all your cheese grated, chicken cooked and cut up, sour cream measured and ready to go and lots of room to work with.

Butter 10 tortillas with refried beans.
Dip each buttered tortilla into a pie dish filled with a large can of enchilada sauce.
Fill the wet tortilla with a hand full of cooked shredded chicken and cheddar cheese.
Roll up the tortilla and place seem side down into greased 9x13 pan.

When you are done assembling your tortillas you will have leftover sauce in your pie dish. whisk 1/2 cup sour cream into the pie dish with the sauce. Then drizzle this over the enchiladas. Top with cheddar cheese.

Cover with foil and bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Remove the tin foil and cook for another 5 minutes.

Pulled Pork Fajitas

I always have tons of left over pulled pork in the summertime. I cooked this pork shoulder for the 4th and seasoned it with coke, enchilada sauce, salt, and garlic. But a girl can only eat so many sandwiches. I through the leftovers into my skillet with my home-grown peppers, some onions and tomatoes. Yum! Then I added a fajita season packet. Nothin home cooked about that!

Cilantro Lime Rice

Melt 2 T butter in skillet.

Add 1, 1/4 cup long grained rice (not minute rice)

brown this for a couple minutes stirring. Then dump in:

2, 1/4 cup chicken broth

3/4 t salt

1 T lime juice

1/4 t cumin

put the lid on the rice and cook on lowest setting for 20 minutes. Then add chopped fresh cilantro.