Smothered Beef Burritos

I found this recipe on Pinterest and it's quickly becoming a favorite in my house!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds stew meat or other beef cubed (top sirloin is great)
• 1 large can mild enchilada sauce* (at least 19 oz.)
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1/2 can refried beans (optional)
• 5-7 burrito size flour tortillas
• 1 cup or so of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Put beef, bouillon, and enchilada sauce into a crock pot and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or until meat is very tender. (Can also cook on high for maybe 3-4 hours.) 

When beef is done (very tender and flakes off when stirred), taste and add more salt, if desired. Heat up refried beans in the microwave (covered and in a microwave-proof dish, of course)and put your oven on broil. On an oven-proof plate, or cookie sheet even, lay out a tortilla.  Place on tortilla about 1/2 cup of the meat, drained by using a slotted spoon, and a spoonful or two of beans. Roll into a burrito (hopefully you know how to roll these). Pour some of the remaining enchilada sauce from the crock pot over the burrito to cover it. Sprinkle with some cheddar cheese. Broil until cheese is bubbly, about 2-4 minutes.

Serve.
Makes 5-7 burritos, depending on how full you make them.

Notes from Kitchen of Reality:
-We hate beans so I omit this part.
-I use a slotted spoon and remove all of my beef from the crock pot and put it in a large bowl where I shred it with two forks.  Then we found the broth to be too thin to get a nice coating on your rolled burritos, so this time, I did a corn starch/water mixture to thicken it.  I did maybe a Tbsp of corn starch in a little bowl with cold water.  Mix well and then I added it to the cooking liquid left in the crock pot.  I turned the crock pot to high while I shredded the beef.  It made it more gravyish in consistency and really did a great job of staying on the burritos after I rolled them. 
-block cheese melts WAY better than preshredded stuff.  Buy the block and shred yourself, you will be happy you did.

We eat this with Spanish rice and the Chili's copy cat salsa recipe right below this one.  DELICIOUS!  And beyond easy with basically ingredients I always have! 

Chili’s Copy Cat Salsa

I had lots of garden tomatoes and peppers to use, so I was looking for a great salsa recipe. Olivia, who posts on here quite often, recommended this one and it is AWESOME!! Especially since I’ve always been a huge fan of Chili’s salsa… not so much the rest of their menu.

Super easy and makes a ton… so stock up on your favorite chips and make it a Mexican week for your menu so you don’t have to throw any away!

Enjoy!

 

Ingredients:

2 cans (14.5 oz each) whole tomatoes, drained

3-4 canned, whole jalapenos

1 yellow onion, quartered

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons lime juice

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients together into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Serve with tortilla chips.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:

- I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned. Threw a close guess for the amount it called for in cans into the blender because I was too lazy to chop and go for an exact measurement. Turned out fine.

- While I know that Chili’s salsa is chopped very fine… I tend to like a little chunk to mine, so be careful in your blending.

- Also, not all peppers are alike. So add them one at a time and taste between. I like spicy so I used 6 or 7.

 

***Original recipe from http://www.sixsistersstuff.com***

Roasted Corn Salsa

My friend Jenny made this recipe for us last year and I loved it. Never got around to making it last summer but have made it twice in the last few weeks! YUM!! Great reason to hit up the local Farmers Martket! Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 3 ears corn, shucked
• 4 medium tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lb.), chopped
• 2 onions, diced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• salt and black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (or to taste)
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Grill corn, turning often, until kernels have softened and are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Let cool, then cut off kernels from each ear (you'll have about 3 cups).
2. In a large bowl, combine corn kernels, tomatoes, onions, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce. Add parsley and stir well. Chill until ready to serve.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality

- The last time I made this I actually used frozen corn. Cooked it in the microwave according to directions, drained it to remove as much water as possible and then threw it in a hot frying pan with a little bit of oil until it browned up. Not as good as fresh corn on the grill, but still really good, and a great time saver.

**Original recipe from www.myrecipes.com**

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

Since it is Cinco de Mayo—I tried out a new recipe for the occasion. YUM! Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 green onion, finely sliced
1/2 red or green pepper, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups shredded cheese
Sour cream (optional)

6 burrito-sized flour tortillas

Directions:
Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin, and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla. (Optional: on some of the wraps, I dotted the cheese with about 1-2 tablespoons of reduced fat sour cream before arranging chicken and rice mixture down the center.) Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open. Spray the tortillas all over with cooking spray.

Heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for 1 minute. Arrange 2 wraps, seam-side down, in pan and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining wraps. Serve.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:

- As always I left out the onions and cilantro. Feel free to swap out ingredients that you like.

- I didn’t have any sour cream so I used Ranch Dressing instead. It was delicious!

- I am a very bad burrito wrapper, so instead of rolling these, I sandwiched the filling between two tortillas… so ours were technically quesadillas.

-These were cheap, easy and delicious. They will be made again!

 

** Original recipe from: www.melskitchencafe.com/ **

Cheesy Enchilada Casserole

Can you tell that we have had a week of new recipes!?  While sometimes it might get boring with the same type of food throughout the week, I’ve found that it works better with my budget to make things with similar ingredients. So 3 of the last 7 days—we’ve had Mexican food.

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 1/2 cups salsa
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup Italian salad dressing
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
6 small flour tortillas
1 small can of drained corn
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Directions
1. In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
2. Stir in the salsa, beans, dressing, sour cream, corn, taco seasoning and cumin.
3. Spoon a generous layer of meat mixture on bottom of baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
4. Place a flour or corn tortilla on top of meat mixture. Layer with half of the meat mixture, and cheese. Repeat as many layers as you like.
5. The last & final layer should be grated cheese.
6. Cover with foil that has been sprayed and bake at 400° for 25 minutes, or until hot & bubbly.
7. Let stand for 5 minutes before topping with lettuce, tomato and cilantro.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:

- I made mine in a 9 x 13 pan. Made two stacks of three tortillas each and was able to just cut it out in squares to serve.

- Of course I left out the onion and cilantro and I used the random mix of cheese I had in the fridge—but it still was delicious. Nothing new and exciting, just rearranged a little.

(Recipe from Just Get Off Your Butt and Bake)

Taco Pasta

So my my husband asked me while eating dinner, “Is this just a glorified hamburger helper recipe?” Good question… I’ve never eaten hamburger helper, so perhaps it is. He quickly tried to make up for the fact that it wasn’t from a box by saying “It tastes much better than that, you can tell it has fresh ingredients.” Yea, yea. Too late for that now Mister! It was a great change up from our normal Mexican meals, definitely kid friendly, hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients

- 1 pound ground beef or turkey
- 8-12 ounces medium pasta shells
- 1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, drained (if making this for kids you might want to use just plain diced tomatoes)
- 1 packet (4 tablespoons) taco seasoning
- 3 ounces cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet, cook the ground meat over medium-high heat until no longer pink. A few minutes before the meat is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet. Once the meat is cooked through, mix in the garlic, taco seasoning, and diced tomatoes. Let simmer over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes.

3. Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit if it is still too thin.

4. Toss in the cilantro right before serving for some fresh color and flavor. Serve with a green salad.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:

- I left out the onion and cilantro. Not big fans of either. Since I was hoping the kids would eat it, and one of the two did, I didn’t get the tomatoes with chilies.

- Didn’t think it was going to thicken up, but it did. Just be patient.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Got this recipe from Real Mom Kitchen blog, but of course I altered the recipe. :)
It's perfect soup weather!!

Ingredients:
1 small can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 small can diced tomatoes
1 10-ounce package frozen whole kernel corn
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped yellow, green, or red bell pepper
1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup shredded Pepper jack cheese
2 chicken breasts (cooked and cubed) or 1 large can of chicken

Directions:
In crock pot, combine all ingredients and cook for 3 to 4 hours on low. Top with pepper jack cheese and serve. Can also be topped with avocado, sour cream, or crushed tortilla chips.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:
- I left out the onion, used canned chicken, and HOT enchilada sauce.
- Great EASY recipe... ENJOY!

Black bean, corn and zucchini enchiladas

Drew and I really enjoy this recipe. The homemade sauce is delicious and this combination of veggies is just great. I'm sure you could substitutue other veggies if you prefer. It takes a little while to cook but is very easy and makes a lot! The only change I make is using chicken broth instead of veggie broth since I always have it on hand and am not a vegetarian. Once again, a Cooking Light recipe!

Black Bean, Corn and Zucchini Enchiladas

1 tsp canola oil
2 c diced zucchini
1 (10-ounce) package frozen whole-kernel corn
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups enchilada sauce (see below)
cooking spray
8 (8-inch) tortillas
2 c (8 ounces) shredded chedder cheese, divided

Heat oil in large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and corn; saute for 5 minutes or until veggies are tender. Remove from heat, stir in beans.

Spread 1 cup of Enchilada Sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon about 1/2 cup of veggies onto tortilla and sprinkle with 2 tbsp. of cheese, roll up, place seam-side down in baking dish. Repeat and make 7 more tortillas. Pour the rest of the sauce over the enchiladas.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover, top with remaining 1 cup or cheese and bake for 10 more minutes or until the cheese melts.

Sauce

1 tsp. canola oil
1/2 diced onion
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 veggie/chicken broth
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, undrained

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in broth and remaining ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.