Southwest Chicken Taco's

 Last year I went to a ladies weekend getaway and the first night there the girls in charge of dinner served these chicken taco's.  They are delish.  I absolutely fell in love with them and knew I needed to make these for my family.   I was a bit nervous to ask my cute neighbor Nikki for the recipe because I thought it might just be really complicated.  Was I wrong!   It is the simplest recipe and it tastes amazing.  Plus, my entire family loves it.  My seven year old had two.  Even the picky eater ate hers all gone. 

 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can Mexican Style Stewed tomatoes
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Combine all the ingredients into the crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours.  After it is finished cooking shred the chicken with a fork.  It serves a family of 6. 

Seriously could this recipe be any easier.  We serve this taco style of course.  You can do any ingredients you want.  Here are some we do. 

cheddar cheese
pico
guacamole
lettuce
black beans
corn
Tortilla

Put it all together and Enjoy.

Cheesy Enchilada Stack: Pinterest Recipe (5 stars)

I have decided to start making things that I see on Pinterest.  This way I can know if the recipe is worth pinning or not.  I recently pinned this little dish and thought it looked great but wondered how it would taste and how the family would like it.  Turns out this one was a HUGE success.  It really is very tasty.  The site that I got this recipe from looks to have a lot of great recipes.  The site is Chef in Training.  If you are going to pin this please pin it from her site since it is her recipe. 

CHEESY ENCHILADA STACK 

1 lb. Lean ground beef

2 (10 oz) can Red Enchilada Sauce (Our favorite is the Old El Paso brand)

6 (8 inch) flour tortillas

1 (8 oz) bag Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 (16 oz) can refried beans 

2 (4 oz) cans diced green chilies

1 bunch green onions

Cook the beef in a skillet over MED-HIGH heat until well browned. Drain off fat.

Stir 1/2 cup enchilada sauce in the skillet with the beef.  Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

Place 1 tortilla onto the baking sheet.  Top with 1/3 of the beef mixture and 1/4 cup cheese.

Top with 1 tortilla, half the refried beans, 1/2 cup enchilada sauce, 1 can drained green chilies, and 1/4 cup cheese.

Repeat the layers one more time.

Top with 1 tortilla, remaining beef mixture and 1/4 cup cheese.

Top with remaining tortilla.  Cover the stack with aluminum foil.

Bake at 400 F for 40 minutes or until the filling is hot.  Uncover the stack and top with remaining enchilada sauce, cheese and green onion.

Bake 5 more minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Cut the stack into 6 wedges.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Enchilada's

My mom saw this recipe on KSL a few years back and she thought it looked pretty good.  We have fallen in love with this one and it is now a family favorite.  I love enchilada's but this one just taste unique to most that I have had.  It is a fairly easy recipe and I usually have most of the ingredients on hand.

2-3 chicken breasts diced
8 slices of bacon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 16 oz can black beans
1 red pepper
1 1/2 cup salsa
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
12 flour tortillas
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

In a large fry pan cook chicken and bacon, add the remaining ingredients except green onion, cheese, and tortillas.  Bring to a boil.  Remove from heat add in the green onion.  Fill the tortillas with the sauce amount to your liking, add cheese.  Roll.  Place in a 9X13 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min.  Use the remaining sauce on top.  Place this on after 15 minutes will just a little more cheese.  Cook on broil for about 3 minutes or until the tortillas start to brown.  Serve with lettuce, guacamole, and sour cream.Enjoy.

Spanish Rice

I don't have any cute stories to use with this recipe. My hubby walked into the kitchen and said "I want Spanish Rice with our Fajitas". His wish was my command. It turned out really good, but really SPICY. I will put optional on what made it spicy. It was yummy, but it was HOT!

1 cup long grain white rice
1 T vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1 cube chicken bouillon
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic, halved
1/2 tsp chili powder (optional)
1/2 tsp Cheyenne pepper (optional)

In a medium sauce pan, cook rice in oil over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Pour in chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Stir in onion, green pepper, jalapeno, and diced tomato. Season with bouillon cube, salt and pepper, cumin, cilantro, chili powder, Cheyenne pepper, and garlic. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes.

Chicken Quesadillas

I love quesadillas. I get them when we go out to Americanized restaurants. I started making them a few years back after my friend had me over for lunch and she just whipped some up for me. I realized just how easy they were and love the new option. I discovered that one of the reasons I love Cafe Rio is because they brown their tortillas. I figured out that I can just use my stove top without a pan. On medium low heat it has worked perfectly for me. It has opened up a whole new world. The best part is my stove is usually very clean thanks to my awesome hubby. I love not having an extra dish to do.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts diced
1 large sweet onion, coarsely diced
5-10 T olive oil, divided
Fajita seasoning to taste
2 bell peppers, any color, coarsely chopped.
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced (optional)

Inside the tortilla:

Jalapeno 's (Optional)
Colby Jack Cheese or Cheddar
Ranch dressing(Optional)

In a fry pan, fry chicken and onion in 1-2 T oil. Add fajita seasoning to taste until chicken is cooked and onions are tender. In a separate pan, fry peppers in 1-2 T oil, until crisp-tender, adding the mushrooms to the peppers during the last 4-5 minutes of frying. Combine all together.

Brown the tortilla on the stove top(only flat surface), at medium low heat, for 1-2 minutes. Flip and repeat on this side only add the cheese, Jalapeno's, and chicken mixture to 1/2 of the tortilla. Once the cheese has melted remove from heat and spread a thin layer of ranch dressing. Fold and dip in all the other ingredients. Enjoy.

Topping:

Salsa
Lettuce
Guacamole
Black Beans

Guacamole

I love guacamole. I have it on Fajitas, Tacos, burritos, etc. I like having all fresh veggies so this is one thing that is definitely fresh. JJ was cute and told me it is the best he has ever had. The rest of the family agreed. It is always nice to get praise rather than complaints from ALL my family. Usually there is at least one that isn't pleased with a meal choice. I will have to say I think it is rather great myself.

3 RIPE avocados
1/2 a lime
1 tomato
1 medium onion
Cilantro about 15 strands(optional)
salt to taste

Put the avocados in a mixing bowl. I use a potato masher, you can use a blender. Mash up the avocado. Squeeze the lime juice in from the half slice of lime. Dice up tomatoes, onion, and cilantro very fine. Stir it all together and serve. Enjoy!

Steak Fajitas

Jeron is convinced that I have a little Latino in me. I love Mexican food. Granted this is my Americanized version of Fajitas. I use to make these when I lived in my first apartment. They were easy and not to expensive for a yummy meal.

I remember when I lived with my grandma I made these one night for her. She kept yelling into the kitchen saying "What is that smell? I don't think I will eat dinner tonight." I just laughed and kept making my yummy dinner. When I brought it out to her she very hesitantly ate a bite. She then said "Who knew you could cook!" It made me laugh. She loved to tease me and this is a fond memory I have of the days I lived with her.

1 pound Top Sirloin strips
1 large green pepper sliced
1 large red pepper sliced
1 medium onion sliced
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp chili pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp crushed oregano
1/4 cup water (dry climates only)
2 tsp. lime juice (optional)

Toppings:
Tortillas
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Salsa or diced tomatoes
Colby Jack cheese

In a fry pan heat oil. Cook peppers, and onion on medium high heat until tender. Stirring constantly. Set aside on a plate. In the same fry pan cook the beef. I cook it on medium heat until it is cooked through. Then add black pepper, chili pepper, cumin, garlic powder, crushed oregano, water, and lime juice. Simmer this all together with the meat. Then turn up your heat and sear the meat on one side. This will give it a smoked taste. Mmmmm Return veggies to the skillet and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes.

Place in a tortilla and top with your favorite toppings. Wrap up. Enjoy! Serve with Spanish rice, beans, lettuce.