Cinco de Mayo

Looking for a great menu for Cinco de Mayo.  Try these!

APPETIZERS

 Pioneer Woman's Guacamole

Pioneer Woman's Pico de Gallo

SOUP

Taco Soup

 

MAIN COURSE

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Angela's Awesome Enchiladas

Biscuit Tostadas

Taco Twist Soup

Taco Twist Soup adapted from Everyday Light Meals
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cups reduced-sodium beef broth or
  vegetable broth
1 can (15oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups picante sauce
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 cup uncooked spiral pasta
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
3 Tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream

Directions: In a large saucepan, saute onion and garlic in oil until tender.  Add the broth, beans, tomatoes, picante sauce, pasta, green pepper and seasonings.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally.  Serve with cheese and sour cream.

Nutrition Facts:
Cal 216
Fat 5g (2g sat fat)
Cholesterol 12mg
Sodium 1,052mg
Carb 33g
Fiber 6g
Progtein 10g

Diabetic Exchanges:   2 vegetables, 1 1/2 starch, 1 lean meat, 1/2 fat

Modifications:
-I added 1lb 93/7 ground beef (nutrition facts do not depict the ground beef)

Brown the ground beef.

Saute the onion, pepper, and garlic.

Add the beef broth.

Add the diced tomatoes and black beans.

Add the picante sauce, pasta, and seasonings.

Add the ground beef.  Simmer until the pasta is tender.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:
My sister got me the cookbook, Everyday Light Meals, from Taste of Home for Christmas.  I couldn't wait to start cooking some of the recipes in there.

This soup had a good flavor to it.  It is a fantastic meal for when you don't have a lot of time.  This recipe is also very versatile.  You could add diced chilies, chicken instead of ground beef, jalapenos, corn, tortilla chips, etc.  Literally, the possibilities are endless.

We all really liked this dish.

Hope you enjoy!

April

Easy Chicken Enchilada

Easy Chicken Enchilada adapted from Taste of Home
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp oil
3 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts
1 can (14.5oz) no-salt-added diced tomatoes, drained
1 tub (10 oz) Philadlphia Santa Fe Blend Cooking creme, divided
1/2 cup Mexican-style shredded four cheese
8 flour tortillas

Directions:  Heat oven to 350 degrees. 

Cook and stir onions in hot oil in a large skillet on medium heat 4 to 5 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Stir in chicken, tomatoes, 3/4 cup cooking creme and shredded cheese.

Spoon about 1/3 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla; roll up.  Place, seam-sides don, in 13x9 inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with remaining cooking creme.  Cover.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until heatd through.

Here's what you'll need:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

I put the chicken breasts into some water to cook.

Just thought that I would show a picture of the Philadelphia Santa Fe creme cheese blend.  I think it is a fairly new product and it is yummy!

While the chicken is cooking, chop up an onion.

Saute the onion in some olive oil for about 5-6 minutes.

Shred the chicken.

Put the chicken in with the onions.

Add a can of drained diced tomatoes.

Add 3/4 cup of the Santa Fe creme.

Add 1/2 cup of Mexican-style cheese and mix.

Put some of the chicken mixture in a tortilla and roll it up.

Put the tortillas in a greased 13x9 baking dish, seam side down.

Cover with more of the Santa Fe creme.

Add some more cheese.

Pop into the oven for about 20-25 minutes.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

I really thought the Philadelphia Santa Fe creme cheese was interesting and actually really good.  I think you could almost just use it as a veggie dip on its own. 

The Santa Fe dip and the cheese definitely made this dish creamy.  It is definitely not the best enchilada I have ever have but it was easy and tasted pretty good.

If you wanted to make it spicier, you could always add a can of green chilies or even Mexican-style diced tomatoes that have the jalapeno, onion, garlic already added in.

Hope you enjoy!

April

Slow Cooker Bean and Cheese Burrito

Slow Cooker Bean and Cheese Burrito adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking
1 small onion, peeled and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (4-ounce) can roasted green chiles, undrained
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
8 flour or brown rice tortillas (brown rice tortillas are GF; read packing carefully)
4 cups cooked pinto beans (three 15-ounce cans, drained)
4 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
optional garnishes: sour cream, sliced avocado, etc.

Directions:  Use a 4-quart slow cooker. If you only have a large one, that's okay--but reduce cooking time a few hours.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, chiles, and spices.
(hey steph, can I just use Rotel instead of the tomatoes and chiles? Yup. The volume will be slightly different, but I really don't think that this will be a big deal while it's cooking.)

Put a layer of tortillas into the bottom of your cooker---you may need to tear them a bit to get good coverage. Add a scoop of the onion/tomato mixture and layer on a healthy spoonful of beans and then a layer of cheese. Repeat layers until you've run out of ingredients. Top with a healthy dose of cheese.

Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours (if using a 6-quart, do 3 to 4 hours on low, then let it click over to warm--there's nothing really to cook--you're just heating thoroughly and getting the cheese to get that yummy crust).

Top with desired toppings.

Here's what you'll need:

Chop up a green pepper.

Chop up an onion.

Add the diced tomatoes and herbs.

Add the diced green chilies and mix.

Drain the beans.

Lay a tortilla on the bottom of a crockpot.  You may need to tear a second one in two to cover the bottom.

Scoop some of the tomato mixture onto the tortilla.

Add beans.

Cover with cheese.  Repeat until crockpot is full or you run out of ingredients.

Cook for 5-6 hours.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

Scott and I really liked this dish.  Beans and cheese are two of my favorite things and this dish didn't disappoint. 

I was a little worried about putting the tortilla in and cooking them with the rest of the stuff because I didn't want them to be overly soggy.  While they were wet and moisty, they weren't so soggy that the texture distracted from the great flavor of the dish. 

You could always serve this with some tortilla chips if you wanted an extra crunch.

Hope you enjoy!

April



Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos adapted from Sister's Cafe
1/3 cup (3 oz.) cream cheese
1/4 cup green salsa
1 Tb fresh lime juice (1/2 lime)
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
3 Tb chopped cilantro
2 Tb sliced green onions

2 cups shredded chicken
1 cup grated pepperjack cheese

fajita size flour tortillas (or small corn tortillas)
cooking spray
kosher salt

Directions:  Soften cream cheese in microwave for 20-30 seconds. Stir in green salsa, lime juice and spices until well mixed then add cilantro and green onions. Stir in shredded chicken and pepperjack cheese and combine well. **this can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line cookie sheet with Silpat (or tin foil, lightly sprayed with cooking oil).

Working with 3-4 tortillas at a time, briefly heat in microwave so they are more malleable and easier to work with. (Any time you want to heat up flour tortillas, it's a good idea to place a damp paper towel draped over a small stack of them in the microwave. If I have more than 5, I will place a damp paper towel in the middle of the stack as well.) Spoon 2-3 Tb of mixture in a row across the bottom third of tortilla, keeping 1/2 inch away from edge. This makes it possible to roll it up very tightly. Place taquitos seam side down on cookie sheet, making sure they are not touching. Lightly spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and edges start to turn golden brown.

Serve with your favorite salsa, guacamole, and sour cream.

Modficiations:
-For some reason my produce was left off of my shopping list so I did not have cilantro or green onions.

Here's what you'll need:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Since I used frozen chicken breasts, I thawed them and then boiled the chicken.

Put some sour cream in a bowl and pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Add the green salsa, herbs and cheese to the cream cheese and mix.

Pull the chicken out of the pot and shred it.  Add it to the cheese mixture.

Put 3-4 tortillas on a plate and cover with a damp paper towel.  Warm up for about 15 seconds.

Spoon out the chicken and cheese mixture onto the tortilla and roll tightly.

Place on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil.  Spray the tin foil with cooking spray so that the taquitos won't stick.

Lightly spray the taquitos with cooking spray and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Pop into the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

These taquitos were so good.  I was really surprised at how much flavor they actually had.  They were creamy with plenty of chicken and just a hint of spice but not too much for little kids.

You could easily make this spicier by adding green chilies or a hotter salsa verde. 

I used frozen chicken breasts but this dish would be even easier by using a pre-cooked rotisierrie chicken.

We loved this!

Hope you enjoy!

April