An Unexpected Surprise

This recipe has been saved for quite a while in my "to try stash". So, the other day when I absolutely could not figure out what in the world to make for dinner, I pulled out my trusty stack of saved recipes.

Sure enough, this caught my eye again, so I decided to dive in and give it a shot. We were so excited that I did because they sure were good!!!! Not only were they good, but they were also extremely easy. We love Mexican food too, so that made them an even bigger hit.

These will be made again real soon around here. Hopefully you will enjoy them as much as we did. If you do, please come back and let me know.

Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas:

1 green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 minced garlic cloves
1 T olive oil
1, 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes and green chiles
1/4 cup salsa
1 T chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups cooked brown rice
8 flour tortillas
1 cup salsa
1 cup shredded cheese
3 T cilantro

In large non-stick skillet, saute onion, garlic and green pepper in oil until tender. Add beans, tomatoes, salsa, chili powder, cumin and red pepper flakes. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered until heated through and mixture thickens. Add cooked rice. Cook five minutes or heated through.

Spoon a rounded 1/2 cup down the center of each tortilla. Fold sides over the filling and roll up. Place in a 13x9 coated baking dish. Spoon remaining salsa over each tortilla. Cover and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with cheese and cilantro. Bake 2-3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

This recipe will be linked to Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen.

Fajita Fun

Oh my gosh!!!! You must RUN NOW to get the ingredients for these fajitas. They are sooooooo good!! Seriously, they are THAT good. You will not be disappointed if you make these. The only thing that disappoints me is that it had been so long since I had made them.

My parents originally gave me this recipe, but no one remembers where it came from. I assume I have had the recipe for at least 10 years. I had jotted it down on a piece of paper, only to forget about it for a very long time. Then, when I came across it again, I knew to transfer it to a recipe card and place it in my recipe box.

On Friday, we were looking to eat dinner at home, but wanted something different, something out of the ordinary. BINGO!!! These fajitas came right to mind. It also didn't hurt that my parents had recently mentioned having fajitas, albeit, they weren't THESE fajitas.

James loved, loved, loved them, and I could just kick myself for not having remembered them before now. Needless to say, we will be making up for lost time by having them again real, real soon.

Enjoy them as we did, and if you don't have the ingredients right now, then run, run run to get them. What are you waiting for? This should be your next meal. The picture likely doesn't do them justice, but trust me, and then come back to tell me you made them and let us know how you liked them.

Fabulous Fajitas:

1 lb. chicken strips-(pkg. will say "for fajitas")
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
2 cups onions
red bell pepper
green bell pepper
yellow bell pepper
1 tsp. oil
small tortillas

In a large resealable bag, place the chicken and lime juice. Close the bag, allowing air to escape, and squeeze the lime juice into the chicken. Open the bag and add the salt, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, and ground red pepper. Seal the bag again, allowing excess air to escape. Again, rub the spices into the chicken, tossing the closed bag until everything is nicely mixed together. Place the bag into the refrigerator to marinate.

Chop the onion and peppers to desired size of your liking. We prefer ours to be extra small and thin, so I chop the heck out of mine. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, adding the onion and peppers. Cook a few minutes until they begin to soften. Add the chicken to the skillet, discarding any remaining liquid from the marinade. Cook the chicken until it is done and the onion and peppers reach your desired tenderness. This took about ten minutes for ours.

Place tortillas flat on a plate. Scoop about 2-3 pieces of chicken per tortilla. Add a spoonful of peppers and onion to each tortilla. Top with your choice of cheese. Fold tortilla over almost halfway. Eat and enjoy!!

You can also top your fajitas with sour cream, but we opted not to do so.

I will be linking this post to Mommy's Kitchen for Potluck Sunday.

Gameday Grub

The other day, I raided the Sister's Cafe blog, and decided upon this yummy dish for Super Bowl Sunday. What an excellent choice it was!!!! If you have not visited their blog, you should because they have fabulous recipes. I adapted this to our liking, so if you want the original recipe, take a look at their site.


Skillet Nachos:

1 lb ground beef
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 can chili beans, undrained
1 cup thick-and-chunky salsa
Tortilla chips (the salted kind, of course!)
1 ½ c. shredded Monterrey Jack cheese


Brown and drain ground beef and chopped bell pepper. Stir in chili beans and salsa. Simmer until heated through. Line tortilla chips on a broiler safe pan. Spoon the mixture over the chips. Sprinkle with cheese. Put under broiler until cheese is melted. This mix made two batches of nachos for me.

South of the Border

During a recent excursion to Florida, I found this recipe in a local newspaper. It's truly a delicious dish!

Enchilada Casserole:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cups salsa
15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup reduced fat Italian salad dressing
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
6, 8-inch flour tortillas
3/4 cup sour cream
4 ounces shredded Mexican cheese blend


Heat oven to 400. Coat a three-quart baking dish with cooking spray. In large skillet over medium heat, saute beef and onion until meat is no longer pink. Drain meat, then stir in salsa, beans, salad dressing, taco seasoning and cumin. Arrange three tortillas in prepared baking dish. Spread half of meat mixture over tortillas, then top with half each of sour cream and cheese. Top with remaining tortillas, then repeat layering with remaining meat, sour cream and cheese. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until heated through.

Bread En Espanol

This recipe comes via a close friend of mine. We are making chili again tomorrow night. This is a perfect companion to the chili. There are so many varieties of this bread, but we like this one quite well.

Mexican Cornbread:

2 jalapenos, chopped finely (can use diced ones from the jar)
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup milk
1 can cream style corn
2 eggs
1 cup finely grated cheddar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, with the oil and eggs. Stir in the milk and corn until well blended. Add the salt and the baking soda, combining well. Fold in the cheddar and jalapenos. Bake in a greased square baking dish for 40 minutes.

Mexican Meal

Does anyone else dread Sunday night and Monday morning as much as I do? I have panc attacks just thinking that Sunday night is nearing. My sweet husband has worked diligently to try and make today different from the usual Sunday in every possible way. One thing we decided to do was "throw together" a Mexican meal. We eat Mexican food quite a bit. So, this is what we ended up with.

Mexican Casserole:

2 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 pkgs. taco seasoning
1 cup water
2 10oz. cans enchilada sauce
1 pkg. Mexican blend shredded cheese
1 pkg. flour tortillas
1 bag Doritos

Brown and drain the ground beef with the onion. Warm the enchilada sauce in a skillet. Lightly grease a 13x9 baking dish. Return drained meat to the dutch oven. Sprinkle in the taco seasoning and combine with water. Lightly dredge the tortillas in the enchilada sauce. Overlap 2 tortillas in botom of casserole dish. Top with meat. Add cheese. Repeat layers 3 times. Lightly spread remaining enchilada sauce on top layer. Top with crushed chips. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Be carefuil not to burn the chips.

Easy Enchiladas

Occasionally, James and I will cook meals on the weekend that we save and eat during the week. It makes life so much easier because we do not have to come home and decide what to cook after we have worked all day. We found a recipe this weekend for enchiladas. Given the fact that we eat Mexican food at least once a week, we decided to try them. They were so easy and really good.

Easy Enchiladas

1 rotisserie chicken, meat shredded
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 packet taco seasoning, divided use
8 oz. tomato sauce
2 cups Mexican Blend shredded cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can tomato soup
1 package small tortillas

Soften the onion in a drizzle of oil over medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, shred the chicken. Once onion is softened, add the chicken to the pan. Stir in 1/2 of the taco seasoning. Add the cream of chicken soup and tomato soup to the chicken mixture. Simmer over medium heat 15-20 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine tomato sauce with remaining taco seasoning. Whisk together until thoroughly combined. Coat one side of the tortillas with tomato sauce. Spoon 1-2 tbsp. of chicken mixture down the middle of each tortilla. Top with a sprinkle of shredded cheese. Roll, jellyroll style, and place in greased 13x9 greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle shredded cheese over all of the tortillas. Return to the oven for 15 minuted for cheese to melt.