Mexican Goulash

1 lb ground turkey, chicken, or beef
1 can black beans w/ liquid
1 can corn w/liquid
Minute rice
Salsa
*green chilies (I think I will add a can of small green chilies the next time I make this)
*black olives sliced (I think I will add these next time)

Brown, drain, and salt your meat. Dump in your beans and corn with all of their liquids. Using either the bean or corn can, fill it up with minute rice and dump into the pot, then fill the can with salsa and add that to the pot. I added a little bit of water to the can (maybe 1/4 of the can), but you might not need this if you don't live in a higher altitude place like Utah. Stir all ingredients together & cover for 10 minutes, then serve.

I thought this was such a great recipe for days when you just don't know what to cook or don't have much time. It's really tasty and so simply to make. I served mine with corn bread.

Turkey Chili

Athena made this for me awhile back and I've been wanting it again since then. I really liked that it was a saucy chili but didn't have a strong tomato flavor. I like that it's healthy and super quick and easy to make.

Turkey Chili

1lb Ground Turkey
1 Green Pepper
1 small red onion (I used white cause it was all I had)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can diced tomoatoes (28oz) undrained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can Veggie broth (14.5 oz)
1 3/4 cups frozen corn
1 can (6oz) tomato paste
1 T chili powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

In a large skillet brown the turkey, garlic and onion, when it's nearly done, throw in the chopped bell pepper.

I cooked this in a pot on the stovetop, but it is originally a slow-cooker recipe. At this point if you are putting it into a crockpot transfer it now or leave it to cook on the stove.

I pretty much just dumped everything into the pot from here and cooked it to a boil for about 20 minutes stirring pretty much constantly.

Costco hasn't been selling the Marie Callendar's cornbread mix in a long time so I just made some biscuits to go with it.

I made two batches of this chili and it served four families with leftovers.

Taquitos

Thanks Jenn for taking pics of the food! My camera is broken and I haven't been able to take pictures of what I've been making lately. I found this recipe at Camille's Casa... ok, really I just followed her instructions on the assembly and I used the filling of the Honey-Lime recipe I posted. I like that recipe, but I'm not a huge sweet eater when it comes to dinner foods. I prefer savory, but paired with the Texas Caviar (I'll post next) it was really good. Jenn ate some, what do you think??



Ok, so here it is:

Taquitos

• 1 pkg corn tortilla's (Any amount you feel like getting, the more you have the more you can make to eat then or freeze later!)


• Cooked Shredded and Seasoned meat (Pretty much whatever you want. I did chicken)


• Hot frying pan with oil at about med-hi range
  


• On a large plate, line it with tortillas stacked and kinda fanned. Microwave for about 45 sec to a minute. (I didn't know exactly, so I just kept checking) They should be just steamy.
  


• Take a little shredded meat and place at the top of the tortilla; roll tightly. (If your tortilla keep breaking, it wasn't steamy enough. Put them back in the microwave for a few more seconds.)

• Hold the taquitos together with toothpicks. Fry until golden.
• Just a note: I also tried baking some in the oven at 425F for about 5-6 minutes, I sprayed mine first with a little cooking oil. They weren't as good as the fried, but definitely still tasty!

• Eat what you want and then freeze them in freezer bags for later!
  

White Chili

White Chili

1/4 cup butter (I used olive oil. It's just to saute' the onions and garlic)

1 large onion chopped

1 clove garlic finely chopped

4 cups cooked chicken, chopped

3 cups chicken broth

2T chopped fresh cilantro

1 T dried basil

2 tsp. ground red chillis or chilli powder

1/4 tsp ground cloves (It gives it a really nice spice flavor to it, but Charlie didn't like it so I reduced it to an 1/8 and it tasted better.)

2 cans great northern beans, don't drain.

Topping: 1 medium tomato chopped, more fresh cilantro (I love that stuff!), shredded cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips.

Directions:

Saute' the onion and garlic in a medium-large pot until tender. Stir in remaining ingredients except topping. Bring it to a boil and your done!

It's so good!!

Tamale Pie

This is still Tori. :) I got the original Tamale Pie recipe from Kati and I've just added 1 extra ingredient. This is probably my favorite recipe. I make this about once a week. :O) Kati thinks I'm silly, but seriously this is sooooooo freaking good! (****For the best result I like to use the Marie Calender corn bread mix for the cornmeal)

Tamale Pie:

-Preheat oven to 375*

Saute the following ingredients:
*1 1/2 lb ground beef
*large onion chopped
*1 clove garlic crushed (I use 2-3 cloves..and wait until beef is almost completely cooked before adding so it doesn't burn)
*1 large can of diced green chilies (this is the extra ingredient that I add)

Stir in the following ingredients and cook for 5 minutes:
*1 16 oz chopped tomatoes (I use the Italian chopped stewed tomatoes because I have a ton of them)
*1 can of corn or 1-2 c. frozen corn
*1 tsp salt
*6 tsp chili powder
*1/2 tsp pepper

Mix and stir into the above ingredients and cook for 10 minutes:
*1/2 c. cornmeal
*1 c. water
*1 c. sliced black olives (I use a whole can of olives that I slice)

-Pour into 9 x 13 baking dish.

-Cornmeal topping: ( normally I double this...because I love the topping. When I do that I reserve some of the beef mixture and put it in an 8 x 8 pan so that I can freeze a small pan)
-In a medium sized sauce pan scald *1 1/2 c. milk
*1/2 tsp salt
*2 Tbsp butter
*gradually add 1/2 c cornmeal. Stir in until it thickens.
*stir in 1 c. of shredded cheddar cheese.
*stir in 2 beaten eggs
-Pour on top of casserole and bake for 40-50 minutes.

Mexican Chicken Bake

So, I have been getting WIC checks and didn't realize that I could be getting corn tortillas and finally went and picked some up last week. Then I also realized that I don't know any recipes that include them and I'm not a huge fan of eating them (unless they are fried). Anyway, so I browsed through some of my recipes and found another from my dear old friend, Paula, who I know can cook really well and I always loved her food. I can't seem to help myself when it comes to cooking and I end up adding a little of this or that or changing one thing or another, so once again it is a little more "my way."

Mexican Chicken Bake:

1 can cream of mushroom (I only had cream of mushroom...so I did two cans)
1 can cream of chicken
2 3/4 cups milk
1 chicken cooked and shredded (I did 3 split breast...well, I was going to only do 2 but I left Charles in charge and he put in all 3)

1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup salsa (I put in about 1/2 cup)
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 Lrg. onion finely chopped
(I also added pepper and onion powder)

1 pkg. about 18 small corn tortilla shells cut into quarters (like chips)

*Combine soups and milk; stir well. Add in everything else except tortillas pieces.
**Lightly grease a casserole pan and layer the chicken mixture and alternate with the tortillas. Make sure that you end with the tortillas because it makes a crispy topping.
Sprinkle with cheese and bake until hot and bubbling at 350 degrees.

*** This was the first time I've made this and I felt it needed something like corn thrown in there. Also, I found a similar recipe in another book and it said to lightly fry the corn tortilla's.
I may try it that way next time, but not frying them was really good, too.

Honey-Lime Chicken Chimichangas

I found this recipe on some old friends' website who do recipes together ( I would say "as well", but no one in my group has posted anything and I'm not even sure you all even check out the page!!! Hint!) and I tried it as enchilada style as they posted it and it was good. But I'm just not a big enchilada person. I'll eat them and even enjoy it, but what is really delicious is a crispy chimichanga.

Every now and then you can find some meat deals at the grocery store and I happened to go a little crazy on split chicken breasts when they were 99cents a lb. I froze and wrapped them individually and now whenever I need some shredded chicken I cook up a few and freeze or plan to use the chicken in some kind of a meal that week. It makes it really nice when I'm having a busy day and have to come up with something fast. Anyway, so that's how we ended up with Chimichangas this week. I had the chicken in the fridge and was way out of time to actually cook them as enchiladas.

Honey-Lime Chicken Chimichangas:

1.5 lbs (approx.) chicken, cooked and shredded - You could use pork, Athena!
1/3c. honey - I went a little heavy on that and it tasted really good.
1/4c lime juice concentrate
1T chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

*Mix it all together with the cooked chicken. The first time I made these I let it marinade for about 30 minutes and it was ok. This last time it sat all day marinating in the fridge and it was really good!

If you like enchilada's better, use 2 cans of green enchilada sauce, otherwise just one is fine.

**To make the enchilada's: wrap up the meat, place in a greased pan cover with green sauce and lots of colby cheese. Bake @ 350 about 30 minutes.

For Chimichanga's: get the pan nice and hot and add a few dollops of Crisco. Yes, Crisco.
Ok, fine, use whatever oil you want. :)

Since I had the chicken in the fridge, I went ahead and warmed it in the microwave before frying, just to be sure it was all going to be hot at once.

I used regular sized taco shells, filled them and then with a spoon dripped the green sauce onto the filling, wrapped them tightly and laid them gently in the hot oil. They don't take very long to brown, so watch them closely.

I also had the oven on a low heat to keep them warm after frying so I could finish up getting everything else done for dinner and not worry about them getting cold.

Serve them hot with whatever toppings you like.

I love loading them up with beans, leafy lettuce, tomatoes, salsa...you know.

By the way, you probably already know this, but just in case you don't, adding a little milk to your canned refried beans makes them taste whipped and light. Put some cheese on that and it's awesome!