Betty gets all the credit for these fajitas.

(but I did change a few things...of course.)

This was the second real meal I made for my husband after we were married. 2 1/2 years after we were married. I've come a long way.

I doubled the marinade. I used 2.5 lbs of chicken instead of beef. I cut the chicken into strips before marinating for 3 hours. I replaced the onion with an orange pepper. I sauteed the peppers for 3 minutes in my huge skillet, then added the chicken and marinade and cooked it in the skillet it with the peppers for 7 minutes. I just warm my tortillas in the microwave. And I forgot the sour cream, which is sad because these taste so good with sour cream. Oh, wow. Maybe I should've rewritten the recipe... If I get a comment saying this is too tricky to follow, I will.

Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup

This is another recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking. I'm now 2-for-2 with their recipes, and I'm excited to try more.

In a crock pot, add:
1 pound chicken (I used frozen chicken breasts)
1 large can black beans (is that the 28 oz can? I can't remember)
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups frozen corn
1 (16oz) jar salsa
1 1/2 tsp cumin

Cook on high for 4-5 hours.

At the very end of cooking, I shredded the chicken and stirred in the 3/4 can of fat free refried black beans that I had taking up space in my fridge. The recipe doesn't call for them, but I couldn't think of another way to use them.....they ended up thickening the soup nicely, so I think I'll add them next time as well.

Serve with:
shredded cheese
avocado
sour cream
chopped cilantro

Sooooooooooooo delicious. (And also with minimal effort. Which, for me, is a necessary bonus).

Guacamole Salad

(by Ina Mae Garten)

Ingredients

* 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
* 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and 1/2-inch diced
* 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
* 1/2 cup small diced red onion
* 2 tablespoons minced jalapeno peppers, seeded (2 peppers)
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
* 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
* 1/4 cup good olive oil
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
* 2 ripe Hass avocados, seeded, peeled, and 1/2-inch diced

Directions

Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, red onion, jalapeno peppers, and lime zest in a large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables. Toss well.

Just before you're ready to serve the salad, fold the avocados into the salad. Check the seasoning and serve at room temperature.

(Note: This is an amazing side dish, but it would also be really yummy served over romaine as a main dish salad. I usually leave out the onions, jalapenos and cayenne because I don't like things too spicy.)

Mexican Style Corn

I got this recipe (is it a recipe?! there are only four ingredients!) off of petitelefant.blogspot.com


MEXICAN STYLE CORN

*Prepare corn on the cob as usual.
*Spread sour cream on the corn.
*Sprinkle with paprika.
*Roll in grated asiago cheese.
*Enjoy

I didn't have any asiago, so I sprinkled grated Parmesan (you know the stuff) and it turned out great. Really delicious. Really easy. Oh, and we had the corn on a stick because it was fun.

Cheese Enchilada Chowder

Did I already post this? I thought I had, but I couldn't find it using the search feature. Apologies if it is a duplicate. 

Cheese Enchilada Chowder 

(recipe from B-to-the-Weed)

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can diced tomatoes

10 oz. frozen corn (or more if you like)

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/2 c. chopped bell pepper (whichever color you like...I have used fresh or frozen)

1 large can enchilada sauce

1 can cream of chicken

2 c. milk

cheese

Combine all ingredients in crock pot, except for cheese. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 3-4. Add cheese to individual servings. Also, I like a dollop of sour cream. 

Serve with chips & guacamole, cornbread, whatever.

The last time I made this I added a can of chickpeas, too. Really good. 

cafe rio-ish chicken salad and burrito

Ingredients:
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 can coke
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 small cans of diced green chiles
- 1 8oz can of tomato sauce
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp cumin

Put everything in crock-pot. Cook on high for 2 hours, and then cook on low for 2 hours. I usually turn off the crock pot and let it sit for 2 hours, and then shred the chicken. My crock pot cooks things fast, so you might need to adjust cooking time.

Burritos:

Ingredients:
- burrito size tortillas
- black beans
- cheddar cheese
- green chile enchilada sauce (if you want it “enchilada style”)
- tomatoes diced
- avocado

Heat the black beans. Put the chicken, black beans, and cheese in the tortilla. Roll it up and heat for 30 seconds in microwave. Top with enchilada sauce, more cheese, avocado, and tomato.

Salad:
- burrito size tortillas
- black beans
- frozen corn or canned corn
- lettuce
- bell pepper (red or green)
- tomatoes
- avocado
- salsa
- cheddar cheese
- sour cream
- ranch dressing or Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Dressing*

Preheat oven to 425°F. Crumple four large sheets of foil to make four 3-inch balls; place on baking sheet. Place 1 tortilla on top of each ball; spray tortilla with cooking spray. Bake 6 min. or until tortillas are golden brown. (Tortillas will drape over balls as they bake.) If you have tortilla molds you can use them instead of the foil balls (duh).

Heat black beans and corn.

Create your salad: I usually put the hot stuff on bottom (chicken, beans, corn), and then all the veggies topped with the salsa, cheese, sour cream, and dressing.

*Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Dressing (one of the many recipes circulating):
- 1 c mayo (full fat not light)
- 1 c cilantro
- 1/2 t cayenne pepper
- 1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch Buttermilk Recipe Dressing Mix
- 1/2 c buttermilk
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 3 tomatillos (quartered)

Mix all ingredients in blender until well blended. Chill before serving.

Lentil Tacos

I was totally a non-believer, but I made these tonight, and they are actually pretty darn good.

Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup salsa
12 taco shells
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup chopped fresh tomato
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
6 tablespoons sour cream

Directions:

In a large nonstick skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Uncover; cook for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Mash lentils slightly.
Stir in salsa. Spoon about 1/4 cup lentil mixture into each taco shell. Top with lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream.

White Chicken Chili

I worked for the Marriott School at BYU for a couple of years and they had all of the faculty and staff submit recipes for a cookbook...I found this one this week, and it was FANTASTIC.

This recipe came from Linda Rich...I can't remember what department she worked in, but let's give credit where credit is due.

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless/skinless chicken (cut in cubes or shredded)*
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 t. garlic powder
1 T vegetable oil
3 (15oz) cans white cannellini beans
1 (14 1/2 oz) can chicken broth
1 (4oz) can chopped green chilies
1 t salt
1 t ground cumin
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t cayenne powder (optional)
1 c sour cream
1/2 c whipping cream OR evaporated milk

1. In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onion, and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink.

2. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to boil.

3. Reduce heat and summer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

4. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and whipping cream or evaporated milk. Serve immediately.

*I took two chicken breasts and cooked them in the crockpot overnight...then I took them out and shredded them...eliminating step 1 above. I just threw all of the ingredients into the crock pot, cooked on low all day, and skipped to step 4 when it was time to serve.

Fiesta Taco Pie

This came from a recipe card my mom got in the mail.  It is really easy, and really good.

4 cups white corn tortilla chips

1 egg white, beaten

1 pound lean ground beef

3/4 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans, drained

1/2 cup tomato salsa

1-2 tsp chili powder

3/4 tsp salt

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 medium tomato, diced

sour cream (optional)

guacamole (optional)

Preheat oven to 400.  Coat a 10-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray.  Crush tortilla chips into small pieces.

Mix tortilla chips with egg white and press evenly into pie plate to form a crust.  Bake until crisp, about 15 min.

Brown the beef, onion and garlic in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Mix in the kidney beans, salsa, chili powder and salt.  Simmer 10 minutes.

Stir 1/2 cup shredded cheese into the beef mixture; pour the mixture into the baked crust.  Top with the remaining cheese, lettuce and tomato.  Serve with sour cream and guacamole, if desired.

Albacore Enchiladas

Again, a Johnson favorite. So good. Don't fear the tuna... even those who don't like tuna like these.

Ingredients:
2 7oz. cans albacore
3/4 lb. shredded jack cheese
1 4oz. can diced green chiles
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
8 oz. plain yogurt
1 pint sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup
10-12 tortillas, depending on size

Directions:
Mix together albacore, 1/2 pound cheese, chiles, most of the green onion, 1/2 the yogurt and 1/2 the sour cream for the filling. In a separate bowl, mix the other half of the yogurt and sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, and 1/2 cup water for the topping. Put the filling (first bowl) in the tortillas, wrap and place seam-down in a jelly roll pan (or 13x9 pan). Spread the topping over the enchiladas, and sprinkle with the remaining cheese and green onions. Bake at 325F for 20-30 minutes.

Servings: 8-12

Chicken Enchiladas

This is a variation of a recipe my Grandma uses... and I have two different ways that I make them... the less-Mexican way, and the much-less-Mexican way. :)

Ingredients:
1 cooked chicken (or 8-10 cooked chicken tenders), shredded
4 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, coarsely diced
2 4oz. cans diced green chiles (you can substitute one can of diced jalapeños if you like things muy picante, like me)
2 8oz. packages cream cheese
12-18 tortillas, depending on size (I usually use the medium size, and end up using about 14 tortillas... 8 if you're using the variety that Costco sells)
8 oz. shredded cheese (white for version #1, orange and white for version #2)
1/4 cup milk (for version #1 only)
1 can enchilada sauce (for version #2 only)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While preheating, stick in a 13x9 pan with 2 tablespoons butter in it to melt. Remove the pan when the butter is almost completely melted, set aside.
Saute the onions in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until about half-soft.
Add the green chiles, saute until the onions are soft.
Add the cream cheese (both packages) to the onion/chiles mix. Stir on low heat until well mixed.
Add the shredded chicken, remove from heat.
Assemble - put chicken mix in the tortillas, place in buttery pan with the seam of the tortilla down. Repeat until your pan is full or you're out of stuff. Sometimes it takes two pans (sorry, guys).

VERSION #1 - Sprinkle shredded white cheese (I usually use mozzarella or monterey jack) on top of the enchiladas. Pour 1/4 cup milk on top of the enchiladas. Cook for 20 minutes.
OR
VERSION #2 - Pour enchilada sauce over the enchiladas. Top with shredded cheese (I use the Mexican blend from Costco that I drive 3 hours to get). Cook for 20 minutes.

Enjoy. I often top with sour cream, lettuce, and possibly salsa.

Tortilla Soup

(It's my rip-off of California Pizza Kitchen's recipe)

Ingredients
2 cans of corn
2 cans of cream soup (I use mushroom, but any is fine)
2 cans of chilies (not jalapenos)
tortilla chips, crunched into medium chunks (stale ones are fine)
blender

Put one can of corn in the blender and blend until smooth. Put the blended corn, the unblended, undrained corn, cream soup, and chilies all in a pot and heat up. Add a little water if it's too thick. Serve hot with crushed tortilla chips on top. Soo easy, and a good recipe to use if you have unexpected company because it's super fast.
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Pulled Roast with Cilantro Sauce

My first recipe!!

For the crock pot roast: I pick up a huge pork butt (ha ha) or rump roast. Both are awesome - the beef tends to be much cheaper. Put in the crock pot. Pour over it a mixture of 1 1/2 c. salsa and 1/3 c. brown sugar. Cook all day on low (turn it on high for the last hour or so, I think it makes the meat easier to shred)

For the Cilantro Sauce (see how I'm capitalizing it because it's so tasty??)

in blender blend up until very smooth:
3 tomatillos, husked, washed and quartered
1 pkg buttermilk ranch salad dressing packet (the powdery stuff)
1/3 c. - 1/2 c. buttermilk (always just do the vinegar and milk trick and that works great)
1 c. FRESH cilantro
1 c. mayonnaise
1 clove garlic

When I eat this, I put a bunch of the Cilantro Sauce on a tortilla, then put on the meat, then put on cheese, black beans, rice etc. I usually use half the sauce to start with and freeze the second half to use later (it makes a bunch). The leftovers are FABULOUS!!

Queso

Got this from Pioneer Woman's website... but I made it today, and I will never buy queso again.

Ingredients:
2 lb package Velveeta Cheese
1 lb package Hot Breakfast Sausage (Jimmy Dean, Potter’s, etc.)
½ large onion
1 regular can Rotel (either Regular or Extra Hot, according to preference)
1 7-oz can diced green chilies
1 to 3 finely diced jalapeno peppers, according to preference. (If you like things more spicy, leave the seeds and white membranes.)

Directions:
Chop the onion and brown with the breakfast sausage. Drain excess fat so you won’t have a coronary. Cut Velveeta into cubes and add to warm skillet. Add Rotel and green chilies, and stir together over low heat until mixture is melted. Add finely diced jalapenos, stir together, and serve warm with tortilla chips.
Queso can be frozen flat in Ziploc bags and reheated.

Fast Food Nation

Liz changed her password on her regular blog, so I'm stuck making posts here. I guess it kind of relates anyway.

So, we watched Fast Food Nation. It was labeled as a comedy. False advertising. Admittedly, there were a couple of mildly funny parts, but I don't think that qualifies as comedy. It felt much more like a documentary on how screwed up the meat packing industry is.

On a related note, since when is Avril Lavigne an actress? To be fair, her performance can only loosely be described as acting, but still.

My recommendation: if you're looking for a movie to convince you to not eat fast food watch Super Size Me.

Chicken ranch enchiladas

This isn't as healthy as all those tofu recipes (you're welcome, Chris) but it's very yummy. One of my husband's favorites...and super-easy.

1/2 pkg. grated cheese
1 dry ranch mix
1 pint sour cream
4 cooked, shredded chicken breasts
Tortillas

Place the chicken, sour cream, ranch mix, and most of the cheese into a bowl. Mix well. Place the mixture into tortillas; roll them up and put them in a baking pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Tofu 102: Casserole Filling

To make a simple and versatile casserole component, simply do this:

Crumble pre-frozen tofu with your fingers, pressing the water out as you crumble it.
Add 2 cups of cottage cheese and mix well.

There! Now you can use this to make recipes like these--I don't have exact measurements for them because I have the recipes in my head. But they're not the kinds of recipes where it matters if you're exact

1) TOFU TORTILLA CASSEROLE.

1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
diced onion
12-18 corn tortillas
grated cheese
olive oil
1 chicken bullion cube
1 package taco seasoning (or other seasonings--I use adobo, cilantro and cumin)

Put some olive oil in a saucepan until hot. Add the diced onion and bullion cube; cook until the onion is golden. Add the can of tomatoes and taco seasoning (or your preferred blend of seasoning) and mix well. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the tofu/cottage cheese mixture, can of black beans and can of corn. Add the cooked tomatoes and onion. Mix well.

In a glass baking dish, place a layer of the mixture on the bottom, followed by a layer of cheese. Place a layer of corn tortillas above, then a layer of mixture, then cheese, then tortillas...as many layers as you have mixture. Bake at 350 until everything is heated through--I don't know how long that takes. 30-45 minutes?

2) TOFU LASAGNA

Since someone posted a lasagna recipe below, I'm not going to rehash it because that recipe looks delicious...but you can use the tofu/cottage cheese mixture instead of the meat.

Green Enchiladas of another sort

Green Enchiladas
(from BWeed's kitchen, too)

1 c sour cream
1 jar green salsa (sometimes I use green enchilada sauce)
10 flour tortillas
1 can refried beans
1 c. white cheese (Monterey Jack is my favorite in this recipe)

Mix sour cream and green salsa. Dip each tortillas into sauce mixture to coat both sides. Spoon some beans and some cheese into each tortilla. Roll and place seam down into a 13x9. Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve with sour cream.
**I, sometimes, add 1 can shredded chicken (is that what this is called? You know the stuff, it is in a tuna-esque can). I just drain it and add it to the refried beans.**

Mexican Salad

Great way to dress up boring lettuce and ranch dressing. Always a hit!

Add chopped lettuce to a large bowl...probably one head or one bag's worth.
Add the following and toss:

one can black beans, drained
crushed corn chips
mozzarella cheese, grated
enough ranch to coat the lettuce

Tostada Pizza

I made this the other day from Better Homes and Gardens. Sooooo tasty!

1 pound lean ground beef
1 4-oz. can diced green chile peppers, drained
2 T. taco seasoning (1/2 pkg.)
1 tsp. chili powder
1 T. cornmeal
1 10-oz. pkg refrigerated pizza dough (fresh homemade works just fine)
1 15-oz can pinto beans with jalapeno peppers, rinsed and drained
1 c. shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/2 c. thinly cliced green onions (4-ish)

1. In a large skillet, cook meat until brown. Drain off fat. Stir in 3/4c. water, chile peppers, taco seasoning mix, and chili powder. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simer, uncovered, 15-20 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone.

2. Meanwhile grease a baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. Pat pizza dough into a 12x8-inch rectangle on the baking sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes.

3. In a bowl, mash beans with a fork; spread over partially baked dough to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Spoon meat mixture over beans. Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes more or until crust is just golden. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 1-2 minutes more or until cheese melts. Top with lettuce, tomato, and onions. If desired, serve with taco sauce.