Baked Chicken Chimichanga

The chimichanga by definition is a deep-fried burrito.  Since I’ve been trying to feed my family healthier foods, I’ve never dared tried making a chimichange myself.  But, when I came across this recipe for a baked chimi, I had to try it!  I completely did not miss the deep frying part.

Start with mixing together cream cheese and taco seasoning.

Stir in the Mexican four cheese blend.

Here is my secret weapon for the quick weeknight meal………..store-bought rotissiere chicken!  Finally, the secret’s out!

Thank you to the genius who knows that moms can use some help every now and again and invented the precooked rotissiere chicken.

Shred up the two breasts.

Spread a generous layer of the cheese blend onto a flour tortilla.

Layer on some chicken.

Tuck and fold tightly so nothing leaks out.

What a cute little bundle of joy…………I mean, deliciousness!

Lay the eight chimis seam side down on a baking dish.

Then spray them with some vegetable oil spray.  I love my Misto, I can put any kind of oil in there and just pump and spray away!  It’s a very handy kitchen gadget and one of my favorites.

I love that the chimichanga does get a nice brown crunchy texture on the outside.  Then when you bite into it, you get the creamy chicken with all that savory taco seasoning, delectable I tell ya’!!

I topped my chimi with sour cream, homemade salsa, shredded cheese and some green onions.  Here’s the recipe for the amazing restaurant style homemade salsa.

I know it’s good when my hubby keeps saying how good it is after each bite.  He did that about 4 times tonight.  This recipe is a keeper!

Baked Chicken Chimichanga

From Menu Managed

8 oz. package cream cheese
1 cup Mexican Blend cheese, shredded
1 taco seasoning packet
1 lb. store-bought  rotissiere chicken, shredded
8 flour tortillas
cooking spray
shredded cheese
green onions, for garnish
sour cream
salsa

Stir together cream cheese, Mexican blend cheese and taco seasoning.  Spread cheese mixture on a flour tortilla, then lay some shredded chicken on top.

Tuck in sides, and roll up each tortilla.  Lay seam side down on a baking pan lined with foil.
Spray tops of tortillas with cooking spray.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Turn chimichangas over, and bake an additional 15 minutes.

Serve with cheddar cheese, green onions, sour cream, and salsa.

Green Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

These chicken enchiladas were a hit with my kids because they are simple, yet flavorful.  As most moms know, kids like simple flavors with not too much going on.  And as most moms know, we don’t like to spend a ton of time in the kitchen, so this recipe satisfies both kids and moms!

My favorite new tip is shredding chicken in your stand mixer.  It’s genius people, just genius I tell you!

Warm up some corn tortillas then slap on some canned refried beans and chicken on top.

Enchiladas are not enchiladas without cheese, so don’t be stingy with the cheese.  I used monterey jack here.  You can use anything you have on hand.

Place all the enchiladas, snuggly into a 9×13 pan and bake until bubbly and all the cheese is melted.  Serve to your family while hot and await the praise they will bestow upon you.

Green Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

15 corn tortillas

3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 can refried beans

¼ cup milk

1 (28 oz) green chile enchilada sauce

½ cup sour cream

1 pound shredded Monterey jack cheese

Stir to combine refried beans and milk in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 3 minutes.  Prepare 9×13 pan by pouring some enchilada sauce, just to cover the bottom of the pan.  Take the remaining sauce and mix in the sour cream.  Warm the tortillas and spoon on beans, chicken then cheese.  Roll each enchilada and place seam side down in pan.  Pour sour cream enchilada sauce on top and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly and hot.

Homemade Salsa

According to an old Seinfeld episode, salsa ranks #1 in America as the top condiment of choice, over ketchup.  I did not know this.  But, after tasting this homemade salsa, I can see why!

On this particular day that I made this refreshing salsa, I didn’t know that I was going to also be giving my kitchen counter tops a thorough cleaning.

Read on to find out how it all came about.

In your trusty food processor, add in chopped onions and fresh garlic.

Next pour in the cans of tomatoes.

Of course, salsa would not be salsa without jalapeno and lime.

Here’s where it got interesting.  Let’s play a game of I Spy.  Can you spot something wrong with this picture?

Have you found the lovely stream of pink fluid exiting my food processor?  If you’ve ever overfilled your food processor before, enough to fill your counter with a puddle of about 2 feet in diameter, please raise your hand.

Yeah, me too!

Picture me finally noticing the liquid all over the counters and scrambling around the kitchen to find a bowl big enough to dump the tomatoes into.  I lost about half of the tomato juice.

But, my kitchen counter tops got a really good cleaning that day!

Learn from my mistake and make sure you don’t overfill past the lovely line that the good people at Cuisinart put on the bowl.

Even with the little mishap with the food processor, the salsa came out amazingly!  The cold sweet tomatoes coupled with the spicy jalapeno and sour lime gave my tongue a lot to think about, in a good way.  Dipping a salty tortilla chip into the bowl and taking a bite transported me to my favorite Mexican Restaurant instantly.

I made enough to fill about 2 of these containers.

You will love the fresh taste of making your own salsa.  It definitely beats the stuff in the jar.  And using the salsa in the jar won’t help you clean your counter tops either! LOL

Restaurant Style Salsa

From The Pioneer Woman

 

1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice

2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)

1/4 cup Chopped Onion

1 clove Garlic, Minced

1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin

1/4 teaspoon Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin

1/2 cup Cilantro (more To Taste!)

1/2 whole Lime Juice

 

Note: this is a very large batch.

Recommend using a 12-cup food processor, or you can process the ingredients in batches and then mix everything together in a large mixing bowl.

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like—I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.

Beef and Bean Burritos

Have I mentioned that my daughter (who is half Chinese) does NOT like Chinese food?!  Nooooo, her favorite food is Mexican.  I guess that goes well with her spicy personality.  This was a definite treat for her and she loved every bite.

What’s not to love?  Creamy refried beans and seasoned ground beef all wrapped up in a flour tortilla, dripping with enchilada sauce and melted cheese.  THIS Chinese girl likes Mexican too!

I added a side salad of iceberg lettuce and tomatoes to cool down the palate.  A dollop of sour cream would have been even better, but we ran out of it, so there you go!

Start with browning your ground beef with minced onions.  Add seasonings too.

Microwave one can of refried beans with some cheese and smear it on a warmed flour tortilla.

Spoon over the lovely meat mixture.

And fold in the sides.

But you should definitely use two hands, unless you’re bored and want to give yourself a challenge.  My other hand was holding the camera (of course).

Then up like this.

And lay it fold-side down.

Get them all into a 9×13 pan and pour on the enchilada sauce.

Let the cheese rain down!

Put it under the broiler for a few minutes for the cheese to melt and call your family to the table for this easy and tasty meal.

This would be a simple make ahead meal too.  Just leave the cheese off and store in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it up.  When everything is warmed through, toss on the cheese and broil it up.

Beef and Bean Burritos

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

 

2 pounds Ground Beef

1/2 whole Medium Onion

1 can (28 oz) Enchilada Sauce

Salt And Pepper, to taste

Cumin, Oregano, Chili Powder, Garlic To Taste

1 can (28 Ounce) Refried Beans

3/4 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese

12 whole Flour Tortillas

Extra Grated Cheese, For Sprinkling

Extra Sauce, For Drizzling

Cilantro Leaves, Optional

Optional Filling Ingredients: Mexican Rice, Sour Cream, Guacamole, Green Chilies, Pico De Gallo

 

Brown ground beef with onion and season to taste. Pour in sauce and simmer over low heat. Add water if mixture gets too dry.

Heat refried beans in a microwave. Add cheese and stir in till melted. Keep warm.

Heat tortillas in microwave for one minute.

Spread a small amount of beans on each tortilla. Add meat. Fold over ends, then roll up. Place the burritos in a 9×13 pan. Pour red sauce over the top and sprinkle with more grated cheddar.  Broil in oven until cheese is melted and burritos are hot. Serve immediately.

Corn and Black Bean Guacamole

This guacamole is an amazing way to stretch your avocado budget.  I can’t believe I bought them for $2 a piece!!  Fortunately,  I have an avocado tree in my backyard now.  Unfortunately, they’re only the size of golf balls right now.  I’ll have to wait for them to ripen so my avocado budget can balance out a bit.

I could seriously have eaten the whole bowl of this guacamole.  The flavors of sweet corn, tangy lime and fresh tomato and cilantro are a reminder of why I love summer recipes. YUM!

Corn and Black Bean Guacamole

2 avocados

1 ear of corn, boiled and cut off the cob

½ can (8 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 tomato, diced

2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

1 lime

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

2 tsp hot sauce

Put avocado in a bowl and smash with a fork.  Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl.  Cover and chill for one hour for flavors to marry.  Enjoy with tortilla chips.

Layered Chicken Enchilada

 

I love Mexican food and one of my favorite items is the enchilada.  Until I tried to make them myself, I didn’t realize that each one of those tasty rolled-up tortillas was dipped into hot oil so they don’t crack when being rolled.  Wow, talk about unnecessary calories!

This is why I decided to lay the tortillas flat and remove oil from the list of ingredients altogether. This layered style is just as tasty and you really get the same flavors and I bet you won’t miss the oil one bit.  Over time, I decided to add the beans and corn for some more color and texture.

My kids love enchilada night, except their plates are dotted with the  beans and corn when they’re done eating.  That’s what I get, trying to hide something nutritious in their food!

 

Layered Chicken Enchilada

1 package white corn tortillas

3 chicken breasts, shredded

1 large can (28 oz) green enchilada sauce

1 small can (4 oz) diced green chiles

1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn, drained

1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained

shredded cheddar cheese

 

Toppings

shredded lettuce

chopped tomatoes

sour cream

salsa

 

Bake chicken breasts in the oven at 350F for about 30 minutes or until cooked through.  Allow to cool, then shred and add to a bowl with 1 cup of enchilada sauce, salt and pepper.

Pour enough enchilada sauce into a 9×13 glass baking dish to coat the bottom.  Pour half the can of sauce into a bowl and dip each tortilla into the sauce to coat.  Layer the bottom of the dish.  Next, add some green chiles, chicken, corn, beans and then cheese.  Repeat the layers until the dish is full or you run out of ingredients.  Finish the last layer with tortillas and the remaining enchilada sauce and cover the top with cheese.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, or until bubbly and warmed through.

Let sit for about 10 minutes.  Plate with your choice of lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and salsa.