Chicken Ranchiladas

The Recipe: Swiped from here. We changed the name and I added a few ingredients.

What You Need:
4 large chicken breasts
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 packet ranch mix
4 10-inch tortillas
1 can black beans
1 can whole kernel sweet corn
about 2 C shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
about 1 C ranch dressing

Your Turn:
Place chicken in crockpot. Dump in taco mix and ranch mix on top of chicken. Cook on low 8 hours or more.

Shred chicken with two forks, and remove from crock pot.

Drain and rinse black beans and corn. 

In the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish, place two tortillas.

Top with half of the shredded chicken.

Top with 1 C shredded cheese, about 1/2 C ranch dressing, and the beans and corn.

Add another layer of tortillas.

For both the first layer, and the second layer, I like to tear them in half and lay them like this. You get better coverage.

Top with remaining chicken, followed by another 1/2 C ranch dressing, and the remaining 1 C shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Serve with Mexican Rice!

Fajita Pizza

The Recipe: From Betty Crocker's Quick & Easy cookbook, but I made some changes

What You Need:
1 storebought pizza crust
5 slices provolone cheese
olive oil
1 chicken breast
chili or fajita seasoning
1 green (or red) bell pepper
1 small onion
1/2 C salsa
3-4 scallions
1/2 C black olives

Your Turn:
Slice the bell pepper and onion into narrow strips.

Slice the chicken breast into strips.

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet.

Add chicken to skillet. Sprinkle with chili or fajita seasoning. I use a homemade blend I found here. I probably used 3 tsp total.

When chicken is mostly cooked, add peppers and onions. Add more seasoning. Stir the whole thing occasionally.

While this is sauteing, slice the white parts and the pale green parts of the scallions and the black olives.

Place the pizza crust on a round baking sheet. Sprinkle a bit of olive oil over it. Tear three slices of provolone cheese in half and spread them evenly across the crust.

When the chicken and veggie mixture is done, stir in 1/2 C salsa. Spread the whole mixture evenly across the cheese on the pizza crust. Sprinkle scallions and olives across the top, then tear up the last two pieces of cheese and scatter them across.

Bake at 420 for about 15 minutes until sizzling and bubbly.

Enjoy hot with a dollop of sour cream.

Taco Casserole

The Occasion: Satisfying that taco craving, but with a new twist.

The Recipe: From Pillsbury's Annual Recipes 2009 cookbook.

How it Went: This seemed like an easy thing to make, but you can never be sure with something this straightforward. Sometimes the easy things are actually too easy for their own good and end up tasting totally blah. Also, Husband is never too thrilled when I set out to try something new, and I know he was nervous about this one. However, when I brought it piping hot to the table, and the taco-y aroma wafted through the room, I had a feeling it was all going to be OK. We both loved it.

What You Need:
1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
1 can refried beans
1 jar medium salsa
1 package taco seasoning mix
tortilla chips
1/2 green bell pepper
4 scallions
1-2 tomatoes, depending on your tomato preference
1 C shredded cheese (cheddar or colby jack or something similar)
1/4 C sliced black olives
shredded lettuce
sour cream

Your Turn:
Chop 1/2 green bell pepper. Slice 4 scallions from the white end about halfway up the green part. Dice up 1 or 2 tomatoes. I used just one, but if you like tomatoes more than me, use two. Set this mixture aside.

Cook 1 lb ground beef or turkey in a large skillet until brown. Drain fat.

Reduce heat to medium, then stir in 1 can refried beans, 1 jar medium salsa, and 1 package taco seasoning mix.

Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally.

In the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish, crumble about 2 C tortilla chips. You basically want to cover the bottom of the dish completely. Top this with the meat and bean mixture from the skillet.

Over this, scatter your vegetable mixture.

Sprinkle 1 C shredded cheese, and 1/4 C chopped black olives on top of this.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 20-30 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Serve with shredded lettuce, sour cream, and additional tortilla chips.

Mexican Rice

The Recipe: Paula Deen recipe from foodnetwork.com.

What You Need:

2 T butter

1&1/2 C rice

1/2 C chopped onion

1/2 C chopped green bell pepper

2 C water

1 can Mexican diced tomatoes (with green chiles)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese

Your Turn:
In a large saucepan, melt 2 T butter over medium heat.

Add

· 1 & 1/2 C rice

· 1/2 C chopped onion

· 1/2 C chopped green pepper

Cook until rice is browned and vegetables are tender.

Stir in

· 2 C water

· 1 can tomatoes with green chiles

· 1 tsp salt

· 1 tsp chili powder (Don't skimp on this. I did that the first time, and it did not have enough flavor.)

Bring to a boil. Then, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until rice is tender, about 15-17 minutes.

Stir in 1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese. (Feel free to add a little more. Original recipe called for 1 C, but I thought that was too much)

Serve hot with quesadillas or tortilla soup.

Cilantro-Lime Pork Enchiladas

The Date: 18 February 2012

The Occasion: Saturday night dinner

The Recipe: From Pillsbury 2009 Annual Recipes cookbook

How it went: I did this differently from the recipe’s instructions. I’ve never had luck with cooking pork in a skillet, which is what this recipe suggests. So I slow-cooked this in the crock pot all day. It was only supposed to be marinated for 1/2 - 2 hours, but I cooked it for probably 9 or 10 hours. I think this made the pork really tender and good. I've written the recipe below the way I did it, but the original recipe can be found here.

What You Need:

Vegetable broth or bouillon 

One lime

Cilantro

Garlic clove

Crushed red pepper flakes

1 lb boneless pork loin chops

2 small onions

1 can refried beans

Flour tortillas (about 6)

Shredded cheese (Mexican flavor, or Monterey Jack is good)

Salsa

Sour cream

Your Turn:

In a crock pot, place 1 lb boneless pork loin chops.

Add

· 2 C vegetable broth (I use 2 C boiling water over 2 vegetable bouillon cubes)

· The grated peel of the lime

· As much lime juice as you can squeeze from one half of the lime

· The other half of the lime, with the skin cut off

· 1 minced garlic clove

· 1 T fresh cilantro, finely chopped (more, if you love cilantro like we do)

· 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Let cook 7 or more hours on low.

When you’re ready to assemble the enchiladas, you can drain the pork and discard the marinade (or I guess you could save it for something else, if you wish). Chop 2 small onions and sauté in oil or butter until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Open a can of refried beans, empty them into a bowl and zap for 1 minute or so in the microwave until warm. Prepared some shredded cheese, Mexican blend or another type of your choice.

Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray. 

Assemble enchiladas as follows:

On a tortilla, spoon a few tablespoons of refried beans down the center. Top with some pork, onions, and shredded cheese. Roll up and place, seam side down, in the casserole dish. (I bet this would also be great with some rice in each enchilada!) I only made 5 enchiladas, but how many you can make depends how full you stuff them. Sprinkle additional cheese, and any onions you have left, over the top of the enchiladas. Bake 18-24 minutes at 375, until edges are golden brown. Serve with salsa and sour cream. 

Tortilla Soup

The Date: 4 January 2012

The Occasion: Love this super-easy soup for a cold night. I had only made it once, and I wanted to do it again.

The Recipe: From Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade 20-Minute Meals cookbook.

How it Went:
This soup is so easy to make and Husband and I love it so much that he suggested I keep the ingredients for it on hand at all times. It's great with grilled cheese, although this time I added chicken to the soup, so that made it hearty enough to stand alone. It's great for when you have a cold - clears those nasal passages right out - and I think it'd be as excellent in the summer as it is in the winter. A soup for all seasons. Mmm.

What You Need:
olive oil
onion
minced, dried garlic
chicken broth
tomato soup
milk
salsa
diced tomatoes with green chiles
frozen corn
tortilla chips
fresh cilantro
cheese (pepper jack is best, but extra sharp white cheddar works too)
cooked, shredded chicken (optional)

Your Turn:
In your soup pot, saute 1 C finely chopped red or yellow onion in 1 T olive oil. Add a few shakes of minced garlic.

Cook about 5 minutes until onion is soft.

Add

• 4 C (32 oz) chicken broth
• 1 can tomato soup
• 1 T milk
• 2 T salsa
• 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1 C frozen, whole-kernel corn
• 1/2 C tortilla chips, crushed
• cooked, shredded chicken (optional)

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve each bowlful with chopped fresh cilantro, shredded or crumbled pepper jack cheese (extra sharp white cheddar works too), and additional crushed tortilla chips. These toppings are essential to this soup. Don't get lazy and omit them, or you will not be doing justice to this fabulous soup.

TIP: Unless you grow your own, you will probably buy an entire bunch of cilantro. But you'll only need to chop up a few stalks for this soup. The rest will keep for a while in your fridge if you store it properly. First, pull out any stalks with withered or soft leaves. Do not rinse the entire bunch. Then, prop up the bunch in a cup of water. (I usually use a glass jar so I can see when the water gets cloudy, but I didn't have one that would accommodate this large bunch of cilantro.) Then loosely cover the top of the bunch with a plastic bag. When you see the water getting cloudy, just dump it out and refill the cup or jar. When you're ready to use cilantro, just pull out a few stalks, rinse, chop, and eat! You can use the cilantro for well over a week when you store it this way.

Quesadillas

The Date: 31 August 2011

The Occasion: I had a little leftover cooked ground turkey and a little leftover cooked shredded chicken from two other recent dishes. I thought quesadillas might be a fun way to use up the meat.

The Recipe: SimplyRecipes.com

How it went:
The recipe looked easy enough. Heat a tortilla in the skillet. Sprinkle with cheese, meat, and veggies. Steam 'til it melts. Fold in half. Eat. And it really was just that easy. It was easy, though, because I had the meat already cooked, just waiting to be used. It would be a pain to have to cook that first. We loved these. Next time, I'd definitely make it for guests. Quesadillas are fun and this was so simple and low-stress that it would be a perfect party meal. I made way too many this time, but they actually did really well as leftovers. I wrapped each one in aluminum foil and refrigerated them. The next day, I took one to work, unwrapped it, put it on a plate, covered it with a paper towel, and stuck it in the microwave and it was delicious. Don't forget a little container of sour cream!

Your turn:
Heat frying pan (I used 10-inch because I was using the smaller sized tortillas). Melt a little butter (slice off about half a centimeter from the stick) in the bottom of the pan.
Place a tortilla in the pan and flip every 10 seconds until it starts to bubble with air pockets.
Sprinkle with shredded Mexican cheese and any of the following:

• chopped bell peppers
• quartered olives
• black beans
• slivered red or yellow onions
• corn (steam frozen corn for a few minutes)
• tomatoes or salsa
• mushrooms
• fresh cilantro
• shredded chicken
• ground beef or turkey

Reduce heat and cover until the cheese melts (1-2 minutes).
Flip one side over on the other, forming a half circle.
If browned sufficiently (if not, wait until it is, then), remove from heat and transfer to cookie sheet in cool (250ish) oven to keep warm until all quesadillas are done and ready to serve.
Cut into wedges and serve with sour cream.