Chicken Enchilada Nachos

 Finally! I made a recipe for you. This recipe is originally from Campbell's Kitchen. We've been in our house for over a week now, and things are starting to come together. We still have a few boxes to unpack and things to organize, but we absolutely love being in OUR home, and have no complaints against it so far. (Ps. I'm not looking forward to the first thing going wrong in our house, at least the seller gave us a 2 year home warranty, right?)

This recipe is amazingly easy and fast, so when you don't have a lot of time (like our life for the past couple weeks, this is a good recipe to go to).

1 can (12.5) chicken breast, drained

1 can  (12.5oz) black beans, rinsed and drained 

1 can (12.5 oz) corn, drained

1 can(10.75 oz) cream of mushroom soup

1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles

1 TBS chili powder

tortilla chips

shredded cheese

1. Combine black beans, corn, cream of mushroom soup, green chiles, and chili powder in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat for a few minutes, until hot and bubbling.
2. Arrange chips on a large plate (or two).
3. Spread chicken mixture over chips.
4. Sprinkle cheese on top of chicken mixture and chips.
5. Microwave for about 1 minute, until cheese is melted.

6. Enjoy. **

**You could also top this olives, avocados, jalapeno, green onions, cilantro etc.

I actually halved this recipe because I knew it would be way too much for Nate and I alone, and we still had sauce leftover that Nate used as a chip dip last night. It is a little bit of an awkward recipe to halve though, just so you, we used half cans of everything (except the chicken was a smaller can, and I didn't halve the green chiles) -- anyway, if you have other recipes to use corn and black beans and things then you could totally halve this recipe, or if you're making it for more people just keep it as. 

It was delicious and SO simple. So make this and enjoy.

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Creamy Pulled Pork Taquitos

If you have a small family like ours, or even if you don't, you might have the same problem as we do. Leftovers. What do we do with all of our leftovers? As a family of two, it seems like no matter how much halving of a recipe I do, we still end up with leftovers. So, we've embraced it. We learned from experience and a lot of wasted food that we don't eat leftovers from the same week very often. So, with the help of our food saver we are able to pack up our leftovers nice and air tight and freeze them. And then on another day when we're feeling lazy and not wanting to cook or if we're in a hurry we can just through them in the microwave to thaw, and reheat them however we want. Its wonderful.

But, this recipe is also a wonderful way to use leftover meat. We enjoyed this recipe with leftover meat from our Mexican Pulled Pork tacos, but if you have leftover shredded beef or chicken I am betting this would taste amazing with those too. And once you already have the meat ready (whether you choose to use my pulled pork or not) this recipe is super easy. And extra delicious too. Win win.

Recipe slightly inspired from Our Best Bites

2 - 3 cups Mexican Pulled Pork
3 oz cream cheese
1/2 (12 oz) can green salsa (in the aisle with enchilada sauces)
juice from 1 lime
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
10 tortillas large tortillas (or more small tortillas)
salt

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Spray a baking sheet with non stick spray.
3. Microwave cream cheese for about 30 seconds until soft.
4. In a large bowl combine pork, cream cheese, green salsa, lime juice and cheese. Mix well.
5. Take one tortilla and place about 3 TBS of pork mixture on the lower half of the tortilla.
6. Roll the tortilla up as tight as you can.
7. Place taquitos on baking pan with the seam side down.
8. Lightly spray the tops of the taquitos with non stick spray and sprinkle with salt.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until they are crispy and the ends turn golden brown.
10. Enjoy dipped in some salsa, sour cream or guacamole. Yum!

Ps. We only ate 7 (of the 10) taquitos the first day, and put the rest in the fridge. They tasted great again the second day (as leftovers!) and next time we make these we'll probably make a lot more so we can freeze some and have them ready to go.

What do you do with your leftovers?

Mexican Pulled Pork

Remember here, where I talked about easy vs difficult crock pot recipes. This is one that would definitely fall in the very easy category. Throw everything in the crock pot, and just shred the meat when its done. Use this delicious meat for tacos, enchiladas, burritos, nachos, or however you'd like.

2 (8 oz) cans of tomato sauce
1 TBS chili powder
1 TBS cumin
2 TBS brown sugar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 TBS minced garlic
1 1/2 lbs pork loin
1 cup of corn (optional)

1. Put tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, cayenne, salt and garlic in your crock pot. Stir well.
2. Add your pork into the crock pot and cover with sauce.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 5.
4. Shred pork using 2 forks.
5. Drain pork juice through a collander.
6. Enjoy in whatever Mexican food you'd like. We had ours in tacos. Yum!

Guacamole

 

 When I was 14 years old my parents moved from Taylorsville, UT to Fallbrook, CA. I, like most of you, had never heard of Fallbrook. But I quickly learned that it was about 30 minutes from the beach, and from my cousins house (two of the most important things for me at the time). 

Fallbrook is located just off of the 15 freeway on your way to Mexico, in north county San Diego. Fallbrook is a small town, with only about 40,000 people making it sometimes called "The Friendly Village".

Another fun thing about Fallbrook is that my paternal grandmother actually grew up in Fallbrook. Back in the day when Fallbrook was even smaller than it is now, my grandmother's family lived on a farm. There is even a street in Fallbrook named after my great grandfather.

And lastly, Fallbrook is known for its avocados. Fallbrook claims to be the "Avocado Capital of the World" and even has a yearly avocado festival. 

Before I lived in Fallbrook, I don't think I had much experience with avocados. I didn't dislike them, but I don't think I really liked them either. But of course since I lived in the avocado capital of the world, I at least had to give them a chance right? Well now I love them. I love guacamole. I love turkey, bacon avocado sandwiches. I think I could almost eat a piece of an avocado by itself, or at least with a little salt on it. 

So finally this last week, I made homemade guacamole. Maybe for the first time. And it was SO delicious. And Nate even loved it too. He says he'd never had fresh guacamole before, so he never really liked it. But this stuff may have converted him.

 

4 avocados

1 tomato

1/2 onion

1 tsp salt

1/2 lime

1. Cut avocados in half, remove seed and scoop out avocado with a spoon.

2. Dice tomato and onion.

3. Puree 3 of your tomatoes with a blender.

3. Put your last avocado, tomato, and onion in a food processor.

4. Pulse until they are desired size.

5. Put pureed avocado and pulsed vegetables, salt and the juice of your lime.

6. Combine with a fork.

7. Enjoy with some tortilla chips or on top of some yummy mexican food.

 

What is your city famous for?

Slow Cooker Pork Enchiladas

Have I told you yet how much I love Mexican food? Especially enchiladas. Probably 95% of the time that I go to a Mexican restaurant I order chicken enchiladas. ** 

But these pork enchiladas did not disappoint. I know on multiple accounts I've shared my love for cooking food in the crock pot. And coming home from church to this pork cooking was as good as anything. We all loved the taste of this pork, and I love the texture that it gets from cooking in the crock pot. Also, I have developed a deep love for cumin. The smell, the taste, its just perfect.

So, please enjoy this delicious recipe for me. I know you won't be dissapointed. 

 

 

Slow Cooker Pork Enchiladas

2 lb pork roast

14 oz chicken broth

1/2 onion, chopped

2 TBS chopped garlic

1 TBS cumin

1 TBS chili powder

1 tsp salt

28 oz red enchilada sauce

4 oz green chiles, diced

10 medium sized tortillas 

8 oz Mexican blend cheese

1. Combine pork, chicken broth, onion, and spices in a slow cooker.

2. Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 7-8 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

4. Remove pork from crock pot and shred using 2 forks.

5. In a large bowl, combine pork, 3/4 cup enchilada sauce and 1/4 cup liquid (from the crock pot).

6. In another bowl combine remaining enchilada sauce, 1/2 cup liquid and green chiles.

7. Spread 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce mixture on the bottom of a 3 quart baking dish.

8. Divide pork mixture and half of cheese between the tortillas.

9. Roll tortillas and place them in the baking dish, seam side down.

10. Cover tortillas with the remaining enchilada sauce mixture.

11. Cover pan with foil.

12. Bake for 25 minutes.

13. Remove foil and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

14. Bake for another 5 minutes, until cheese is thoroughly melted.

15. Enjoy topped with your favorite salsa, cilantro and sour cream.

 

**My favorite enchiladas are from the restaurant Rosa's in Fallbrook, CA (where I'm from). Although I get enchiladas almost every time I eat at a Mexican restaurant I still haven't found anything to surpass my love for Rosa's chicken enchiladas. And although I loved the recipe I used here, they still weren't as good as Rosas. And I'm still on the quest to find the best enchilada sauce recipe. So if you have one that is THE BEST, please share it with me. As I am desperate out of lack of ability to travel to Rosa's anytime I'd like. Please and Thank You.

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Homemade Tortillas

If you want the complete recipe that I followed see here, but I (approx.) halved the recipe because we would never use 32 tortillas in one sitting, no matter how small they end up being. And whats the point in storing fresh tortillas, because then they are no longer fresh.

 

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup shortening

3/4 cup warm water

1. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl.

2. Add shortening to mixture and cut in with a fork or pastry cutter.

3. Add warm water.

4. Knead using dough hooks until the mixture becomes a ball.

5. Divide the dough into smallish balls, until you get about 14-16 balls.

6.On a plate covered in flour, flatten the balls and flour both sides.

7. Preheat a skillet over medium heat.

8A. If you are using a pasta roller, on number 2 feed the dough through, stretching as it goes. Rotate 90 degrees and feed through again. Feed through once on 4 or 5.

8B. If using a roller, roll until the balls are as thin as you can, about 1/8 inch.

 9. Cook tortillas about 10 seconds on each side, until they get brown spots throughout**

10. Top tortillas with your favorite taco meats, cheese, or just vegetables.

and ENJOY!

**Don't leave the tortillas on for too long, even if they are not getting spots, because the tortillas will become hard quickly (as we experienced this with about half of our tortillas due to our skillet not holding a hot temperature)

You can read here about how much I LOVE using uncooked tortillas. So you should trust me when I say that fresh tortillas are even better. Plus they really aren't that hard to make either. Next time you make Mexican food, please try making your own tortillas, and let me know how it goes in a comment. If you post about it in your blog, I'll feature your food in an upcoming post!

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Baked Southwestern Rolls

Do any of you use pinterest? Do you remember when I wrote here about the lists of recipes I want to some day try. Well nowadays I'm not as much adding recipes to my list as I am adding them to my pinboard. (If you want an invite let me know, I'll hook you up) I love being able to store these amazing looking recipes, and being able to see their pictures quickly too (totally my favorite part). Also, I love being able to see the recipes that look good to my family and friends too. So, one day I saw this recipe on somebody's board, and it looked delicious and I wanted to make it. So this is my version with a few alterations.

 

Baked Southwestern Rolls

2 chicken breasts

1 (10 oz) can corn, drained

1 (10 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup spinach, chopped

 1 (7oz) can diced green chilies 

4 green onions, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1 TBS cumin

1/2 TBS chili powder

1 TBS salt

1/2 TBS pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 package egg rolls

1. Boil chicken until thoroughly cooked

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

3. Shred chicken with 2 forks

4. Combine everything in a large mixing bowl.

5. Mix well.

6. Lay an egg roll wrapper out with a corner facing you.

7. Place about 1/4 cup of the filling in the middle lower half.

8. Fold the 2 outward points and fold them in.

9. Take the tip closest to you and roll over the mixture until mixture is covered.

10. Dip your finger in water (or beaten egg) and wipe over the free corner of the egg roll.

11. Press to seal closed.

12. Repeat with the remaining egg rolls.

13. Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray.

14. Place the egg rolls on the pan seam side down.

15. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through baking.

16. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

This meal was a little time consuming, only because we had to thaw the chicken, boil water, and cook the chicken before we could really get started. But you could totally use leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken to make this a little easier. Although the chicken took a little while to cook, this meal was totally worth it. It was absolutely delicious and really healthy too!

We actually chose to only cook up about 10 rolls, and we decided to freeze the rest of the mixture, but I'm way excited to come upon it in the near future and use it for this same recipe, taco salad, quesadillas or something else yummy.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

Do you use pinterest? 

Follow me here and if you do, let me know in a comment so I can follow you back!

Salsa #2

Can you believe that until this week I had actually never made my own salsa. Shocking right? I love chips and salsa for a snack, or for a side to any good Mexican meal.  But I have always just bought salsa at the store. One of our favorites is Chachie's mango peach salsa, which has just the right amount of sweetness. I also really love Pace's medium salsa with just the right amount of kick. And although this salsa recipe is not really like either of those recipes, I'm not too picky. Plus this tastes a little more authentic to me, like something you would find at a yummy Mexican restaurant. 

Inspired from this recipe, this salsa was so easy to make, and with all fresh vegetables its really good for you too. I will definitely be making this recipe again and again, and now that I know how easy salsa is I may even be brave enough to try additional recipes.

2 large tomatoes

1/3 yellow sweet onion

1/2 red pepper

1 jalapeno

1 tsp chopped garlic

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/3 cup cilantro **

1 lime

**I love cilantro and would have added more if the hubby loved it as much as I do. This was still a decent enough amount that I could taste it almost as much as I liked.

1. Chop up tomatoes, onion, pepper, and jalapeno into small (maybe dime sized) pieces.

2. Put tomatoes and onion into the food processor. 

3. Pule about 15 times. Set aside. *

4. Juice lime and add to mixture.

5. Put red pepper, jalapeno and seasonings into food processor.

6. Pulse about 15 times. Combine with tomatoes and onions in bowl. 

7. Stir together. 

8. Put mixture back into food processor (I did this in 2 sets)

9. Pulse until it has the desired consistency.

10. Pour into a bowl and stir everything together.

11. Enjoy on top of some tasty Mexican food or with chips and salsa.

* If you have a large food processor you could probably do steps 3-9 together, mine didn't fit everything at once so I had to do it in sets.

 

This was so good we ate all the salsa within 2 days. A few of the bites were a little spicy, so you could probably choose to use less of the jalapeno if you want.

What is your favorite salsa recipe?

Fresh Salsa and Chips

You have to love tomatoes, to enjoy this salsa.  It is best within 1/2 hour after making. 

1/4 sweet yellow onion - chopped into little pieces
2 large (homegrown - if possible) tomatoes - chopped into little pieces
1/2 sweet yellow pepper -chopped into little pieces
1 garlic clove - minced
4 tiny dashes sriracha chili sauce
1 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. chili powder or to taste
cilantro - torn into small pieces (to taste - I but in 3 stalks)
salt and pepper to taste

Put everything together in a bowl, stir together gently. 
Eat with Kirtland Tortilla Chips

I love to eat this, but I really love fresh tomatoes .

Sorry, we already ate most of it before thinking to take a picture.  I told you it was good.

Ground Beef Nachos

This was a very spontaneous meal one evening when we got "late night munchies". Nate said he wanted nachos, and I wondered how we could make our own nacho cheese (I LOVE the nacho cheese you buy in jars). We found this recipe and tweaked it a little for our liking. We made some ground beef to go with it. And wah-la (how would you spell that?) it was delicious.

Nate said this nacho cheese was perfect, though I think it still could use a little more flavor. With the flavored beef and the salsa it all came together to be very tasty though.

Nacho Cheese
2 TBS butter
2 TBS flour
1 cup milk
8 oz shredded cheese (we used cheddar)
1/2 tsp salt
1 small can of diced green chiles

1. In a sauce pan melt butter over medium heat.
2. Stir in flour.
3. Stir in milk until the mixture thickens
4. Mix in cheese and salt, stirring constantly
5. Once cheese is melted thoroughly add chiles.

Beef
1/2 lb ground beef
2 TBS taco seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder

1. Cook ground beef in a large pan over medium heat.
2. Add seasoning to ground beef (add more or less to taste)

tortilla chips
salsa
sour cream

Nachos
1. Layer chips to cover a plate.
2. Top chips with about half of ground beef
3. Top ground beef with more more chips.
4. Cover chips with the rest of the beef.
5. Cover chips and meat with cheese.
6. Top cheese with a little salsa.
7. And a little sour cream**
8. Microwave for 30 seconds to warm in all up.

Enjoy.


** Nate made the sour cream look fancy on the nachos by using a syringe type thing, like this

These were delicious and could be doubled or so to make a delicious side dish to take to a BBQ. Perfect for summer.

Red Sauce Chicken Enchiladas

2 TBS oil
2 TBS flour
1/4 cup chili powder
1 TBS cumin
2 cup beef broth
2. cup tomato sauce
1 small can diced green chiles
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 TBS chopped garlic
salt, to taste
8 raw flour tortillas (pre-cooked tortillas are okay too)
3 chicken breasts
1 can refried beans
white rice (we probably used 2 cups raw)
canned white corn, drained and rinsed
shredded cheddar cheese

Cook rice according to directions on package.
Preheat oven to 325
Boil water and cook chicken breasts in hot water.
Meanwhile mix oil, flour, chili powder and cumin in a large pan.
Heat on low until bubbly.
Add beef broth, tomato sauce, chiles oregano, garlic and a pinch of salt to chili powder mixture.
Simmer on low for about 15 minutes.
Once chicken is cooked thoroughly (the chicken is cooked if the temp is 165 or if it is white throughout) put chicken in a bowl and shred with two forks.
Cook tortillas on a griddle (or a large pan) until they have small brown dots on each side.
Stir 1 cup of sauce in with shredded chicken.
Take a tortilla and layer it with beans, corn, rice and chicken.
Roll up tortilla and place in 9x13 inch pan (make sure pan is sprayed with a non-stick spray such as Pam)
Repeat with remaining 7 tortillas. (You may be able fit 10 tortillas in the pan if you stuff each of them a little less)
Top rolled tortillas with enchilada sauce.
Sprinkle cheese over top of enchiladas.
Bake for about 45 - 60 minutes. 

This was really good. And even tasted a little more authentic "mexican" than using a can of enchilada sauce. And was especially more authentic than the mormon mom cream enchiladas (Don't get me wrong, those are delicious too). Anyway, you should try these. They tasted superb.

Dutch Oven Enchilada Casserole

 We've become pretty good cooks because we are trying one to two to three new meals every week. I think cooking well, just depends on knowing how to mix ingredients together, and maybe adding a thing or two, to make something taste the way you like it. 

One of our favorite TV shows is Chopped and maybe that's helped us a little to be creative. Of course we're not pro dicers, or slicers or anything. But we enjoy it. And that's what matters.

This meal turned out delicious. I had a meal similar to this at a Relief Society activity, where they taught us about dutch ovens. Ever since then I've wanted a dutch oven, and like I said before, we just got one. I do have to say, our enchiladas tasted much better than the ones I had at the RS activity. I think because they had more meat and less sauce. Anyway, we'll definitely be making this one again.

 

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1 tsp. Salt

1 TBS chopped garlic

1 can (10 oz.) tomato soup

2 cans (10 oz. each) red enchilada mild sauce

1 can water (10 oz.)

6 large tortillas

2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

 

1. Brown the ground beef with salt and garlic in a pan(You could also add onion, if you like)

2. Add tomato soup, enchilada sauce and water.

3. Simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Pour 1/4 of mixture into dutch oven.

5. Tear tortillas into pieces, and place 2 tortillas on top of the mixture.

6. Pour another 1/4 of mixture on top of tortillas.

7. Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese.

8. Add another layer of 2 tortillas.

9. Pour another 1/4 of mixture on top.

10. Add another layer of 2 tortillas.

11. Pour the rest of the meat mixture on top.

12. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of cheese over mixture.

13. Cover with the lid and briquettes.

14. Cook for 15-20 minutes. 

Beef Fajitas

We had these on the menu, and bought the beef for them (We used the same beef as we used for the gyros, and it worked perfectly for both). I didn't really know how to season the beef, because I usually make chicken fajitas instead of beef. I just threw a few spices on, and it turned out great.


1/2 lb sliced beef
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/2 yellow pepper, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 TBS cumin
1/2 TBS chili powder
2 TBS salsa
salt (to taste)
1 1/2 TBS chopped garlic
2 TBS lemon juice

**uncooked tortillas.

1. Mix together cumin, chili powder, salsa, salt, garlic and lemon juice
2. Put mix and meat in a pan. Cook a few minutes until meat has almost no red.
3. Add vegetables and cook for a couple minutes until meat and vegetables are tender.

4. Meanwhile, cook tortillas on a griddle, till they have a few brown spots on each side.
5. Top tortillas with some delicious beef, vegetables and your favorite toppings of cheese, sour cream or salsa.

Enjoy.

** We tried uncooked tortillas a few months ago, and we haven't been able to go back to regular tortillas ever since. They taste so much better, so fresh and warm. Yum!

Shredded Beef Chimichangas

I got this recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs, For the Love of Cooking. And I seriously feel like this is one of the best meals I have ever made! This beef shredded so perfectly after being in the crock pot all day, and tasted so delicious. I will definitely be making this again (and maybe soon).

Do you know the difference of a burrito and a chimichanga? A chimichanga is basically a burrito that is deep fried. Except we baked them, to avoid the excess fat. But we got the same results, a delicious crispy tortilla with some delicious moist meat inside.

These can be topped with any of your favorite things, we used sour cream and salsa, but lettuce, cilantro, pico de gallo, etc. would also be delicious.


1 1/2 lbs round roast (I'm not sure what kind of roast I used, it was just what we had in the freezer -- also, I probably only used 1 lb)
7 oz can of whole green chiles
1 TBS chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
2-3 cloves of chopped garlic
1-2 cups beef broth
1 sweet yellow onion, sliced (the one who got was huge, so I only used about 1/2)
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
flour tortillas
shredded cheddar cheese (we used a combination of cheddar and mozarella, cause its what we had)

1. Put roast, chiles, chili powder, salt, pepper, cumin, , oregano, garlic, and beef broth in crock pot.
2. Cook on low for at least 6 hours (I left it in for probably 8 or 9 hours with no problems)
3. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
4. Cook onions in saute pan with olive oil and a little salt and pepper, about 15 minutes, until soft.
5. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray.
6. Lay one tortilla on a plate.
7. Add a layer of cheese, then a spoonful or beef (with liquid drained), then a spoonful of onions.

8. Fold the end in and roll it up.
**9. Bake on sheet for 7- 10 minutes on each side.

** We pressed them in our panini press for a couple minutes first, so that they would hold their shape. And only baked them bout 5 minutes on each side.

Veggie Quesadillas

1/4 of a large onion - diced

1/4 of a green pepper - diced

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 c. frozen corn

1 Tbs. diced chilies

1 can black beans - drained and rinsed

1/2 bunch cilantro - chopped

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 - 2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

2 c. Monterrey Jack cheese - shredded

6 wheat tortillas

butter - spread this lightly on the outside of the tortillas before adding to the frying pan



In a medium sauce pan, heat the olive oil. Add the green peppers and onions and saute for a few minutes. Add the corn, beans, chilies, cilantro and spices. Heat.



Heat a larger pan for cooking the quesadillas in. Lay 1 tortilla in the pan, add 1/6 of the cheese add 1/3 of the veggie mixture, add another 1/6 of the cheese and lay another tortilla on top. Cook until tortilla is browned and cheese is melting - flip and cook the other tortilla until cheese is completely melted and tortilla is browned.



Repeat for the other 2 servings.



If easier cook quesadillas by doing only half a side and fold over. It is easier to flip this way.



Serve warm and with your favorite condiments - salsa, sour cream or guacamole.

We really thought these were very yummy. We like quesadillas as leftovers for lunch and these worked really well for that.

Recipe adapted from Favorite Family Recipes

Shredded Beef Enchiladas

 Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs of round roast (I only used about 1 lb)
1 pasilla pepper, seeded and diced
1 red jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (I couldn't find a red jalapeno, so I used green)
1 7 oz can of whole green chiles
2 TBS olive oil
Chili powder, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
Cumin, to taste
Paprika, to taste
Oregano, to taste
Salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 cups of beef broth
8-10 tortillas (its typically to use corn, but Nate doesn't like them, so I used flour)
1 large red onion, sliced (I used about half)
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14 oz cans of red enchilada sauce
1 3 oz can of black olive slices
1 cup of shredded cheese (I used colby jack, you could use monterey jack, mozzarella, cheddar)


 Directions
1. Sprinkle seasonings, to taste, all over the meat.
2. Sear the meat in 1 TBS olive oil, on all sides.
3. Add the pasilla and jalapeno pepper, giving them a quick saute (1-2 minutes)
4. Add beef broth, green chiles, garlic, peppers and meat to crock pot.
5. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5, until meat shreds easily.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Add 1 TBS olive oil and red onions to skillet.
8. Saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown (15-20 minutes)
9. Season onions with a little salt and set aside.
10. If tortillas are not pliable, place them within wet dishcloth or paper towels and microwave 1-1.5 minutes until soft and pliable.
11. Pour enchilada sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish. (I used medium size, it fit 6 enchiladas perfectly)
12. Fill tortilla with shredded beef, onions and beans.

13. Roll tortilla and place in dish.
14. Repeat until finished.
15. Add the rest of the enchilada sauce to the top.
16. Cover with cheese and olives.

My beef didn't shred as well as I would have liked. I think a more expensive roast would have shredded better, or maybe I could have cooked it longer. It was still yummy though. I also only put onions in half of the enchiladas, cause I wasn't sure if I would like it. It was good, though I think I like it better without (but I'm not a huge onion person). This is definitely a recipe I'll make again.

Spicy Avocado and Black Bean Salad

I found this recipe at Real Simple. I was looking for a different kind of salad that also passed for a side dish. I really enjoyed the vinaigrette and thought the salad was even better on the 2nd day after marinating together overnight.

Spicy Avocado and Black Bean Salad

1 15.5 ounce can black beans, rinsed
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and sliced (I only had a red so it was not as sweet but still good)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced (I had a homegrown mild jalapeno pepper, be careful seeding this and cutting it, any of the juices burn)
2 T fresh lime juice
2 T olive oil
3/4 tsp ground cumin
kosher salt
black pepper
1 avocado, sliced
1/2 C chopped cilantro leaves

1. In a medium bowl, combine the lime juice, oil, cumin, 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper.
2. Add the beans, bell pepper, and jalapeno.
3. Fold in the avocado and cilantro.
4. Serve

Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Enchiladas:

Makes about 6 servings

flour tortillas

one can cream of chicken soup

one can canned chicken (drained)

1/4 can minced jalapenos (drained)

1 cup grated cheese

1/2 cup salsa

1/2 cup sour cream

salt (to taste)

extra grated cheese

1. Mix together all ingredients but tortillas, and extra cheese

2. Lay out tortilla and fill with desired amount of mix.

3. Roll up.

4. Repeat until casserole dish is full. 

5. Spread additional sauce on top of tortillas.

6. Sprinkle with cheese.

7. Microwave for 7 minutes or cook in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes (until warm throughout)

This is another of my favorite family recipes. And I love how easy it is. I don't eat it as often anymore because Nate and I like to branch out and try new things, but this will always be a regular.

Cafe Rio Pork

Cafe Rio Pork:
2 pounds pork
3 cans coke
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
a dash of garlic salt
1/4 cup water
1 can sliced green chiles
3/4 can enchilada sauce

1.Marinade pork in 1 1/2 can of coke and 1/4 cup brown sugar for a few hours (or overnight)
2.Drain marinade.
3. Put pork, 1/2 can coke, water and garlic salt in the crock pot. On high for 3-4 hours, on low for 6-8.
4. Remove pork and drain liquid.
5. Shred pork.
6. Blend 1/2 can coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and brown sugar.
7. Put pork and sauce in crock pot on low for 2 hours.

Nate and I made this for dinner a while back. It was so good, the meat tasted almost identical to Cafe Rio. The only problem was we had too much. We each probably ate 4 or 5 burritos from this meal throughout the week, so by the end of the week we were pretty sick of it.