Enchilada Bake

Mom here. Another great recipe from Shelly. Thanks, Shelly! Can’t wait to try it. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup salsa verde*
• 1 cup guacamole salsa* 
• 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts 
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 medium yellow or white onion, thinly sliced into half moons
• 2 medium bell peppers, cored and sliced into strips
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 to 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or sharp cheddar cheese, or a combo
• Fresh, chopped cilantro

Seasoning Mix:

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt, I use coarse, kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Extra toppings

avocados, fresh lime wedges, sour cream, additional cheese, tomatoes, etc

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch (or similar sized) baking dish. Spread one cup of guacamole salsa in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine all the seasoning mix ingredients. Pat the chicken dry. If using chicken breasts, cut them into thinner strips (similar to chicken tenderloin size or slightly larger). Sprinkle the seasoning mix evenly over the chicken (both sides). Set aside.
• In a 12-inch skillet or saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and peppers. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Saute until the onions and peppers start to soften, 3-4 minutes (they’ll cook a bit more in the oven). Spread the onions and peppers over the salsa in the pan.
• Return the skillet to medium heat and add a drizzle of oil if the pan is dry. Add the chicken in a single layer (may need to do this in two batches) and cook for 30 – 60 seconds per side for some quick browning action – don’t overcook (the chicken will cook longer in the oven). Remove the chicken from the pan and place in a single layer over the vegetables.
• Sprinkle the black beans over the chicken. Pour one cup salsa verde over the beans. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes (bake for 35 minutes in this step if using chicken thighs).
• Uncover, sprinkle with cheese, and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Add time, as needed, for the chicken to fully cook through.
• Remove from the oven, sprinkle with fresh cilantro, and let rest for 10-15 minutes. The sauce will thicken as the casserole rests. Serve over rice, quinoa, cauliflower rice, etc OR serve in tortillas (or roll up in burritos or enchiladas). Serve with additional toppings/garnishes as desired: avocados, fresh lime wedges, sour cream, additional cheese, tomatoes, etc.
• *If you don't want to buy 2 separate salsas you can buy one 16oz of either salsa verde or guacamole salsa and pour 1 cup on bottom and 1 cup over the top.

Slow Cooker Steak Fajitas

Someone brought this to Shelly after she had Hannah. I got the recipe and finally got around to making for the family. I love that it's slow cooker.  I doubled the cooking time and cooked it on low.

• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 3 hrs 15 mins
• Servings: 6-8                                                                                                                     

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless sirloin, cut into thin strips
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 -2 garlic clove, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 6 -8 flour tortillas                                                                                                                                                                                                           

shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

salsa (optional)

guacamole (optional)

sour cream (optional)

shredded lettuce (optional)

chopped tomato (optional)

chopped onion (optional)

Directions

1. Brown the steak in oil.
2. Place the steak and drippings into the crock pot.
3. Add lemon juice, garlic, cumin, salt, and chili powder.
4. Mix well.
5. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until meat is tender.
6. Add green pepper and onion; cover and cook for 1 hour more.

Directions

7. Warm the tortillas.
8. Spoon beef and veggies down the center of the tortillas.
9. Top each with cheese, salsa, sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes if desired.
10. Fold in the sides of the tortillas and serve immediately.

Slow Cooker Chicken Taquitos

This is a recipe I had at Jessica's. She pre-made them and froze them.  

They are delicious and the sort of thing your kids will love.

Ingredients;

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 (1 oz) taco seasoning packet

6 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

12 (6 inch) flour tortillas

1 Tablespoon butter, melted

salsa for dipping

Place chicken breasts in a slow cooker and cover with taco seasoning. Add cream cheese and water. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or 6-8 hours on low.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Shred chicken in your slow cooker with two forks, then add cheddar cheese. Stir to combine.

Place small amount of chicken mixture on tortilla, roll up, and place seam down on baking sheet.

Brush with melted butter, then cook for 8-12 minutes,until edges turn golden.

Serve with salsa.

Quinoa Enchilada Casserole

Kind of reminds me of the one pot Mexican quinoa that we have on the blog but a enchilada version. I'll add a picture next time I make it.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 (10-ounce) can mild enchilada sauce
• 1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles drained
• 1/2 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
• 1/2 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
• 1 Roma tomato, 

  DIRECTIONS:

  
  

  1. In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook quinoa according to package instructions; set aside.
  2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8×8 or 2 quart baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
  3. In a large bowl, combine quinoa, enchilada sauce, green chiles, corn, black beans, cilantro, cumin and chili powder; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.
  4. Spread quinoa mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining cheeses. Place into oven and bake until bubbly and cheeses have melted, about 15 minutes.
  5. Serve immediately, garnished with avocado and tomato, if desired.

Cafe Rio Pork Salad

This is definitely one of our favorite meals! We even like it more than the "real" Cafe Rio Salad because we can add/take away anything we want to.

Submitted by: Jessica

5 stars

Meat:

• 3 lb pork roast or 1/2 pork loin
• 1 cup water

Cook in a crock pot on low overnight until tender. (I cooked mine for about 7 hours on low) Shred meat.

Mix and add to pork:

• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup sugar

Cilantro Dressing:

• 2/3 cup salsa verde
• 1 1/2 Tbl sugar
• 2/3 cup mayo
• 2 Tbl lime juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Put in blender on high and slowly add:

• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1 cup vegetable oil

Other Toppings:

• Tortillas-unbaked
• Black beans
• Cheese-mozzarella or yellow
• Lettuce-spring mix
• Spanish rice or white rice
• Olives
• Guacamole
• Tin bowls

This is a bad picture. I will post a better one next time I make it. We usually makes ours in those tin bowls but I didn't have any on hand!

Mini Taco Pizzas

I love tacos so I knew I would like this recipe. It was easy and so tasty. I love to have Krew help me out with dinner as much a possible and this was perfect for that because he could add any of the toppings he wanted!

Submitted by : Jessica

4 stars

Ingredients

• 1 lb of pizza dough. I used the Walmart brand of pizza dough. It's in a little white bag.
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 package of taco seasoning
• 1 can refried beans
• 2 cups cheddar cheese
• shredded lettuce, for topping
• salsa or pico de gallo, for topping 
• guacamole, for topping
• sour cream, for topping

1. Preheat oven to 450 F
2. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add the ground beef.  Cook until almost no pink remains, then add taco seasoning. Continue to cook until the beef is cooked through/
3. Put the refried beans in a small pot over medium heat until warmed through.
4. Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each out into an individual pizza. Top each with 1/4 cup of the refried beans, 1/4 of the beef mixture, then top with 1/4 of the cheddar cheese.
5. Cook in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or according to the pizza dough directions.
6. After it's done cooking, top with lettuce, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream.

We served ours with chips and salsa! Delicious!

Taco Pasta Bake

Submitted by: Jessica

4 stars

• 1/2 – 3/4 of a bag of large noodle pasta like zitiapprox. 
• 1lb of ground beef
• 1 pkg/envelope of taco seasoning
• 1C water
• 1/2 pkg of cream cheese
• 1 1/2C shredded cheese 

Directions

1. boil pasta until just cooked, drain, run cold water over it

2. brown ground beef

3. mix together taco season and 1C of water, pour over cooked beef and let simmer for about five minutes until the liquid has reduced

4. add the 1/2 pkg of cream cheese to the beef mixture, stir until melted and combined, remove from heat

5. put pasta in your casserole dish or pot, mix in 1C of the shredded cheese

6. top pasta and cheese with beef mixture, gently mix until the pasta is coated

7. top with remaining 1/2C of shredded cheese

8. bake at 350 uncovered for approx 30 minutes

White Chicken Enchiladas

 We love enchiladas at our house, but it seemed like every recipe I tried made the tortillas soggy. Well I finally found a recipe that doesn't! This was really easy but just know the sauce made for this does not freeze well. If you want to make it as a freezer meal, make the enchilada part (stuff the tortillas) and make the sauce the day of.

submitted by Jessica
5 stars

• 10 soft taco shells (I used 8 burrito size)
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken. I used a rotisserie chicken-it made it easy and the flavor was great!
• 3 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 8x11pan (or a 9x13 if you are making 10)
2. Mix chicken and 1 1/2 cup cheese. Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.
3. In a medium saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add broth and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.
4. Stir in sour cream and chillies. Do not bring to a boil. You don't want curdled sour cream.
5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.
6. Bake 22 minutes and then under high broil for 3 minutes to brown the cheese.

Great served with rice and beans! We also topped ours with sour cream and salsa.

Chicken Taco with Black Bean Salsa

This was really good, and really fast since everything can be done in advance.

submitted by Chris

5 stars



hard tacos shells
avocado
sour cream
make ahead chicken (see next recipe)

Salsa:
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
4 radishes, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and black pepper to taste
Combine; store in fridge for up to a week.