Queso

For the past seven years I have been having a Halloween party for my co-workers. This year was the first year I didn't have it at my house. My co-worker Vicki has a beautiful basement and she offered to have the party at her house. I took her up on the offer. Just because the party wasn't at my house didn't mean I wasn't going to cook. I always get pizza as the main dish and then I like to make a couple of side dishes and usually dessert. This year I didn't make any dessert due to being sick a few days before and I just didn't have the energy. Everyone brings something with them so we always have plenty of food to choose from. This year I made queso and tortellini salad. I made the queso using Velveeta. It was really good.

Queso

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32oz. Velveeta (New Queso Blanco flavor)
1 can Rotel Mild Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies, drained
1 can Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Lime and Cilantro, drained.

Cut up the Velveeta and place it in a pot with the drained cans of Rotel. Place the pot over a medium low heat and stir frequently to melt. Once melted place in a crock pot on keep warm setting to keep warm or just place in a bowl and eat.

Or you can place the cut up Velveeta and Rotel right in the crock pot and place on low to melt before a party. Change to keep warm once melted.

Serve with chips.

Baked Chicken Chimichangas

So the week I made this dish was the week that Jessica and her family were coming into town and I think I was a little preoccupied. When I plated the finished product it was after I ate it that I realized I didn't take a picture. I made the plate look really pretty too. So the picture you see to the left is what I took to lunch. Also that week I made the Black Bean and Beef Chili and didn't get a picture of that either. That chili was awesome. So I'm wondering if I should post the recipe without the picture or if I should wait until I make it again. Because just thinking about it is making me want to make it.

I thought that these chimichangas were really good. Will didn't even have any. That night Will and I got into a fight over how he thinks all I make is Mexican food so he made himself a sandwich. I admit to making Mexican food at least once a week but it's not everyday like he claims. I also admit that this dish would have been way too spicy for him. So I was a little off my game at picture taking. The recipe calls for making your own tomatillo sauce using canned tomatillos but I couldn't find any so I used Salsa Verde and doctored it up. I thought it was fantastic, but spicy. So if you don't like spice you might want to steer clear.

Baked Chicken Chimichangas
from So Tasty, So Yummy

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2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can Rotel tomatoes with chilies
¼ cup water

4 burrito (large) size tortillas
1 cup shredded reduced fat Mexican cheese

Combine spices and cornstarch in a small bowl. Sprinkle the bottom of the crockpot with the spice mixture. Top with the chicken, Rotel and water. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. Shred the chicken with two forks and cook for 30 minutes more.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease a large cookie sheet. Combine the shredded chicken with the cheese. Lay out the tortillas and top each with ¼ of the chicken mixture. Roll up the tortillas burrito style, placing them seam side down on the cookie sheet. Spray the top of the Chimichangas with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve with queso or Deluxe Tomatillo sauce. Garnish with sour cream, tomato and cilantro.

Deluxe Tomatillo Sauce

1 can (28 ounces) tomatillos, drained (Or I used four 7 ounce cans of La Costena Salsa verde)
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ jalapeno, minced (I did not use)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon sugar
1 cup sour cream

In a saucepan, combine tomatillos, broth, cumin, lime juice, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, salt and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Puree until smooth with an immersion blender. You can skip the puree step if using salsa Verde. Return to heat, stir in the sour cream and cook 3 minutes more until heated through.

Southwestern Chicken Drumsticks

Do you ever start to make a recipe and realize you don't have everything you need? That's what happened when I went to make this. The recipe called for butter, lime juice, and various spices. The lime juice I had was over a year old. So I improvised and pretty much changed everything about the original recipe except the butter and the chicken. I think it turned out pretty good.






Southwestern Chicken Drumsticks

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6 servings, 3 WW points per drumstick

6 drumsticks, thawed and skin removed
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup salsa
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
salt
pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the drumsticks in a baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a bowl melt the butter. Mix in the salsa, garlic, cilantro, cumin, and chili powder. Pour over the chicken. Bake for 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. When you serve pour some sauce over the chicken.

Angie's Taco Pie

I think I could eat Mexican type food everyday and be happy. Unfortunately Will is not the same way. So I try and limit my Mexican cravings. I found this recipe on the Gooseberry Patch website. I sorta followed it. Instead of just making regular boring taco meat I made my Rio Rancho taco meat and I thought this meal was really good. Will liked it too. It's a combination of sweet and savory with the cornbread and the taco meat and cheese. Just add your favorite taco toppings and you have a very yummy meal.



Angie's Taco Pie
adapted from Gooseberry Patch

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4 servings, 10 WW points per serving

1, 7oz package of Sweet Yellow Cornbread and Muffin Mix
1/2 lb. really lean ground beef
1/2 small onion, diced
1/6 cup or 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons of taco seasoning
1/2 cup salsa
2 0z of green chili's
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar Splenda or just brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1/2 cup water
sprinkle of red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare the cornbread according to the package directions. Spray a 8 inch square or round baking pan with cooking spray and pour in the cornbread batter. Set aside.

In a skillet brown the ground beef and onion. Drain. Place back in skillet and add the next eight ingredients. Let cook for 10 minutes or until some of the water has reduced. Spoon beef mixture over the cornbread batter and top with cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes or until the cornbread has set. The cornbread pretty much completely rises over the beef mixture and cheese. Feel free to use your favorite taco meat recipe. The original recipes just calls for beef mixed with taco seasoning then topped with salsa and cheese. Nothing wrong with that but I wanted to kick it up and notch and I have to hide salsa inside the meat or Will won't eat it.

Next time I think I might make these into individual muffins.

Rio Rancho Egg Bowl

When I asked Will if he wanted waffles, pancakes, or eggs for breakfast this morning he said eggs. I made cheesy eggs and added extra stuff to mine. I left his just cheesy. He's not as adventurous as me. I had left over Rio Rancho meat and knew it would taste fantastic with eggs, cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream. I was right. It was fantastic. You could make this with any left over taco meat.






Rio Rancho Egg Bowl

1 serving, 9 WW points

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2 whole eggs
3 egg whites
1/3 cup reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese
1/2 cup Rio Rancho taco meat or any taco meat
tomato, diced (optional)
reduced fat sour cream (optional)

In a bowl whisk together the 2 whole eggs and the 3 egg whites. In a skillet scramble the eggs over medium heat until soft but set. Add cheese and taco meat and heat through. Serve with tomato and sour cream if desired. You can cut down on points by using just egg whites or Egg Beaters.

Carnitas

I wish I would have taken a better picture because you can't see all the goodies in the pork, like cilantro, salsa, and green chilies. I think I have mentioned before loving Mexican food. I love it. I really like carnitas. This recipe was pretty good. I won't be making it a lot just because one taco is like 8 points. I can eat a lot of tacos. Next time I do make this though I would like to add the tequila it calls for. I didn't want to buy any so I just added more chicken broth. And next time I will make sure I actually buy cilantro instead of parsley so the cilantro can cook all day in the meat mixture. This was an easy meal that tasted great.



Slow Cooked Carnitas
from Taste of Home's April&May 2011 issue

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12 four ounce servings of pork, 6 WW points per serving
Flour tortilla points vary

1 boneless pork shoulder butt roast (3 pounds)
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or minced garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups minced fresh cilantro
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup tequila or additional chicken broth
1 7oz. can of chopped green chilies
flour tortillas
Optional toppings: fresh cilantro leaves, chopped avocado, tomato, onion, or cheese. I could eat cheese on everything.

Cut roast in half and place in slow cooker. Sprinkle with garlic, salt, and pepper. Add the onions, cilantro, salsa, broth, tequila, and chilies. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. Remove meat; cool slightly. Shred with two forks and return to the slow cooker; heat through. Spoon about 4 oz. of meat onto each tortilla and serve with toppings of choice.

Turkey Tostadas

I seem to be on a roll lately with making tostadas. But in my defense I get a package with at least thirty corn tostadas at Aldis and I can't let them go to waste. What I like about tostadas is you can make various kinds, chicken, beef, turkey, veggie, or plain cheese. If you aren't a fan of turkey feel free to use lean ground beef. To me turkey has more flavor than lean ground beef but that could just be me. I thought these turned out really good and they are only 5 WW points apiece. Can't beat that.




Turkey Tostadas
a Lacey creation

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5 WW points per tostada

1 package ground white turkey meat
1 package taco seasoning
1 can fat free refried beans
12 corn tostadas
2 cups reduced fat Mexican cheese


Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees

In a skillet cook the ground turkey until no longer pink. Drain if there is any fat. Sometimes there isn't. Place turkey back in skillet and add the taco seasoning with 3/4 cup water. Leave on heat until heated through. Place the corn tostadas on a baking sheet. Heat the refried beans in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave for about 1 minute. This makes it easier to spread. Evenly distribute the beans onto the tostadas. Place 1/4 cup of the turkey mixture onto each tostada. Use 1/2 cup cheese for every three tostadas. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve with lettuce, tomato, salsa, or sour cream if desired. If you don't want to make up 12 at a time then don't. You can save the meat and beans for leftovers or freeze the meat for another time.

Chicken Tostadas

These tostadas are so easy to make and quite tasty. This is a 15 minute meal. Five minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook. Or a little longer depending on how brown you like your melted cheese. Great supper for a busy weeknight. It's not bad on points either.

Chicken Tostadas
a Lacey creation

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6 WW points per tostada

2 cans chunk chicken, drained
1 small can green enchilada sauce
6 corn tostadas
1 1/2 cups reduced fat Mexican cheese
lettuce, salsa, and sour cream for toppings

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl mix together the chunk chicken and the enchilada sauce. Place the corn tostadas on a baking sheet. Evenly distribute the chicken mixture onto the tostadas. Place 1/4 cup cheese on each tostada and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve with lettuce, salsa, and sour cream if desired.

Mexican Beef Stew

I got this really yummy recipe from my friend and co-worker Laurie. Thank you Laurie because I really enjoyed this stew. Unfortunately my hubby thought it was to spicy. I didn't think it was spicy at all so I'm a little confused by that but I did eat it with cheese, sour cream and crackers. If it was spicy maybe all my extras cooled it off. But even if it had been spicy I still would have loved it. This recipe is so easy and cooks in your crock pot which I love. Crock pots are your friends. At least I think so anyway.




Laurie's Mexican Beef Stew

8 one cup servings, 4 WW points per serving

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1-2 cups cubed leftover beef or pork
1 (14 oz) can pinto beans rinsed and drained, I used kidney beans
1 (14 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 little can mild chopped green chiles
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
1 cup chunky salsa
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin

I added a can of diced tomatoes.

Put all in your crock pot, stir to blend. Cook on low 4 to 8 hours. Serve with crackers, crushed tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream if desired.

The Best Chicken Tortilla Soup I Have Ever Made

Okay, okay I realize the title is really long and yes I just posted a chicken tortilla soup recipe last month but I can't keep quiet about, The Best Chicken Tortilla Soup I Have Ever Made. I loved it this much! Just envision me with my arms spread wide open. You can't, well it doesn't matter I think you get my point. I have been craving this soup lately and before you ask no I'm not pregnant. I'm just having a craving so I indulged myself and this soup doesn't cost me a lot of WW points. This recipe isn't to different than what I posted last month but I modified it some and it turned out so good. This will be how I make chicken tortilla soup from this day forward. Did I mention how easy it is since you cook everything in your crock pot? I didn't, shame on me. So easy and so yummy. I think the only thing missing is a little heat but if you don't like any level of spicy than this is for you. My hubby and his boys even liked it.



The Best Chicken Tortilla Soup I Have Every Made
12 to 15 one cup servings, 2 WW points per serving w/o extra tortilla chips or cheese

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2 frozen chicken breasts
2 containers chicken broth
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, cut into big pieces
1 Tb. minced garlic
1/2 cup cilantro
1 ts. sugar
2-3 carrots
2-3 stalks of celery
11 tortilla chips crushed

Slice up the carrots and celery into medium size pieces, set aside. In a food processor or blender, blend together the tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, and sugar until almost smooth. You want to leave it a little chunky. Place the carrots, celery, tomato mixture, chicken breasts, and chicken broth into a large crock pot. Cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken is cooked through. Mine cooked for about 8 hours while I was at work. Take out the chicken and chop it up or shred it. Put the chicken back in the crock pot and add crushed chips. Cook for another 1/2 hour. Serve with more tortillas chips and shredded cheese. I think the cheese is a must but that could just be me. If you want your soup spicy blend as many chipotle peppers that you want to the tomato mixture. I think I would add one chipotle pepper without the seeds to this soup next time. With a little heat I think this would be the perfect chicken tortilla soup.

Chicken Fiesta Bake

When I was making my freezer meals last year one recipe I made was called Chicken Rice Wraps. I really enjoyed them and ate them for lunch until they were gone. I don't even think my hubby got any I liked them that much. I've been having a craving for them and decided to make something that was similar. What's nice is that you could add anything you wanted to and I think it would taste great. I think this would be great as a dip if you added cream cheese to it.



Chicken Fiesta Bake
5 one cup servings, 8 WW point per serving

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2 chicken breasts cooked and cut up
2 cups cooked brown rice
1/2 package taco seasoning
2 cups salsa
1 jar white queso dip

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl mix together all the ingredients but the cheese. Place mixture into a greased 9X13 pan. Spread the cheese over the mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve with Doritos or tortillas and sour cream if desired.

Salsa Verde Enchiladas

A few weeks ago I went with some friends to Ikea for the first time. I was in heaven in the kitchen accessories section. They had some really neat things for reasonable prices. I tried to control myself. The rooms they have set up to give you ideas are awesome. One room had book shelves all the way up to the ceiling. You needed a ladder to get to the top. The librarian in me was in heaven. I would love to have that in my house one day. The foodie in me was drooling over the kitchens. If I had an extra $10,000 to spare I would so do a kitchen makeover. Not in the home I live in now because I plan on moving in the near future but my future home. Unless I'm lucky to buy a house with my dream kitchen in it. Then that would be great.

Anyway after shopping we stopped at Hoolihan's to eat. I have never been to a Hoolihan's and I really enjoyed the food there. I will definitely go back. They had a three course special going on so we each ended up doing that. The first course you got to choose salad or soup. The second choice was an entree and the price varied depending on what entree you chose. The third course was dessert. I got the Chicken Tortilla Soup to start, Smoked Chipotle Chicken Enchiladas for my entree, and the Chocolate Cappuccino Cake for dessert. Everything was really good and I wanted to try and recreate the enchiladas. The menu's description of the enchiladas is Enchiladas filled with tomatillo-marinated chicken, onions, garlic and queso fresco atop a spicy, chipotle-smoked mozzarella sauce. Served with pico rice, black beans and sweet chipotle slaw. I have no idea how to make chipotle-smoked mozzarella sauce. I searched the internet with no luck. Since I couldn't make the sauce I improvised. The enchiladas I came up with are not the same but I thought they turned out quite tasty. A little too spicy for my hubby but I didn't find them to be too spicy for me.

Salsa Verde Enchiladas
11 Servings, 4 WW points per enchilada

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2 lbs. chicken breast
1 jar salsa verde
1 small onion, chopped
1 ts. minced garlic

11-15 corn tortillas
1 can mild enchilada sauce, red
1 cup reduced fat Mexican shredded cheese

In a crock pot place the chicken, salsa, onion, and garlic. Cook on high for 1 hour and turn down to low. Cook 2 hours more or until chicken is done. Take the chicken out and cut in up into chunks. Place back in the crock pot and turn down to keep warm. If your chicken breasts are frozen the cook time will be longer.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat up the tortillas before trying to roll them. This is an important step because trying to roll cold tortillas ends up in disaster. They just break apart. You can heat them in a dry skillet on medium high heat or place damp paper towels between them and heat them up in the microwave for about a minute.

In a 9X13 pan pour half of the can of mild enchilada sauce on the bottom. Take a heated tortilla and fill it with 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture. Roll it up and place face down in the pan. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas. I was able to fit 11 in my pan. I might have been able to squish more but I wanted to be able to get them out of the pan hopefully intact. I should have squished them because they didn't stay intact very well. I had about a 1/4 of the filling leftover since I could only made 11. Pour the remaining mild enchilada sauce on top and top with the cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

Serve with sour cream and salsa if desired.

Cookies, Cookies, and Cookies

While I was enjoying the warm weather in Arizona I also did a lot of baking. Along with making the pumpkin roll cookies I made butterscotch chocolate chip cookies, cream cheese spritz cookies, and Mexican wedding cookies or I know them as Snowballs. Mexican wedding cookies are Jessica's favorite. She also loves butterscotch.

I remember one time in high school we had a blizzard that knocked out some houses power. Jessica's house was one of them so her dad brought her over to stay with my mom and I. We decided to make cookies and was out of butter so we trekked across the street in knee high snow to my neighbors to get some. Crazy I know but nothing stands in our way when it comes to cookies. I believe we made butterscotch chocolate chip cookies with walnuts.


I found the recipe for the cream cheese spritz cookies in the Woman's World magazine I purchased to take on the plane. This cookie is Paula Deen's recipe. I didn't exactly follow the recipe. You are supposed to pipe the dough onto a cookie sheet using a pastry bag with a star tip. I didn't have a pastry bag so I used a cookie scoop. I thought these cookies were very tasty and they ended up really soft. I love soft cookies. I will defiantly try these next time following the recipe better because they are really pretty in the magazine and she dipped hers in white chocolate and I think that would be really yummy.

Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies
adapted from Paula Deen

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2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract

I didn't use this when I made them:

1/8 tsp no-taste red concentrated food coloring
1/8 tsp Kelly green concentrated food coloring
1 cup white chocolate chips melted, cooled
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips melted, cooled
red, green and white jimmies or sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking powder and salt, reserve. On medium high speed, beat butter, and cream cheese until light and fluffy, 2 minutes. On low, beat in sugar, 30 minutes. Add egg and almond extract, beat 30 seconds. Gradually beat in flour mixture until dough forms.

2. Fit medium star tip into large pastry bag. Using small brush, starting at tip of bag, paint one line of each food coloring inside along opposite sides of the bag, ending 1 inch from top edge. Fill bag with dough. I didn't do this step I just used a cookie scoop and scooped them onto the cookie sheet.

3. On baking sheets, pipe dough into round and or S-shaped cookies. Bake 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on pan on racks 5 minutes. Transfer to racks, cool completely.

4. Line cook baking sheets with wax paper. Dip ends of the cookies into melted chocolates, shaking off excess, transfer to wax paper. Sprinkles with jimmies. Let stand until set, 1 hour.

Mexican Wedding Cookies
as seen in Taste of Home Cookies cookbook submitted by Sarita Johnson

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2 cups butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup finely chopped pecans
Additional powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar. Gradually add flour, mix well. Beat in vanilla. Stir in pecans.

2. Place dough in fridge to chill for about 15 minutes. Pinch off pieces of the dough and roll into balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Roll warm cookies in the powdered sugar, cool on wire racks. Makes about 6 dozen.

I have made these cookies quite a few times over the years and I don't remember the powdered sugar melting on the warm cookies. I would cool them a little bit next time before rolling them in the sugar. They tasted good anyway.

Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies

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2 sticks butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. In a mixing bowl mix together butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Once incorporated mix in the chocolate chips.

2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Place rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 1o minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies onto wire rack to cool.

These turned out pretty thin. I'm not sure why because I followed the recipe. They still were addictive.

Wet Burritos

I enjoy cooking, especially for other people. While I was in Arizona my friend wanted me to make a recipe called Wet Burritos. The name is a little strange but that's what it was called. What makes these burritos "wet" is a mixture of sour cream and cream of mushroom soup. Let me give you some background on this yummy recipe. I don't actually know where the recipe came from. I think my mom might have found it in the newspaper or it could have been passed down from a friend. I can't remember and she is no longer with us for me to ask. My mom would make these a lot when we went camping on the weekends. They became a camping staple.

My mom and I along with my Godparents enjoyed camping each year for two weeks in Michigan. When the campground we went to didn't except dogs anymore we found a campground closer to home that we could frequent more often. We did not do that tent camping thing. I actually had never been tent camping until two years ago. We camped in campers. Our camper was a very small box. When you entered the only door you could stand in the entryway and touch the table on the right hand side, the bed on the left hand side, and the sink in front of you. It was small but cozy. And it's hard to believe that my parents and my Godparents used to sleep in that thing with two basset hounds and me in a cradle. But we had some really good times and I was sad to see it go when we upgraded to a bigger camper and then upgraded again to an even bigger camper.

The even bigger camper had an oven and that was when my mom started making these burritos for our weekend camping trips. Jessica, my friend in Arizona, would come with us often on our camping trips and that is where she was introduced to these yummy burritos. And they became known as our camping burritos. When we stopped camping we would still make them at home. It had been a really long time since I had made them and they were just as yummy as I remembered. I will be making them more often.

Wet Burritos
original recipe origin unknown, made by my mom

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1lb ground beef, browned
1 medium onion, diced
1 package taco seasoning
3/4 cup water
1 can re fried beans
1 large container sour cream
2 10oz cans of cream of mushroom soup
2 cups Mexican shredded cheese
8 to 10 flour tortillas

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

In a skillet brown the ground beef and onion until on longer pink. Drain the beef and put back in the pan. Add the taco seasoning and the water. Mix well until taco seasoning is incorporated. Mix in can of re fried beans. Mix well and let the beans warm through. Once heated take off the heat. While beef is cooking in a bowl mix together the sour cream and the cream of mushroom soup.

In a 9X13 pan spread half the sour cream mixture on the bottom. Take a tortilla and fill with the beef mixture and a sprinkling of cheese. Roll and place seam side down in the sour cream mixture. Repeat with the remaining tortillas until the pan is filled. Take the remaining sour cream mixture and pour over the filled tortillas. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.

Rio Rancho Taco Meat

One of the freezer meals I prepared was taco meat. I love tacos and this meat was soooo good. I'll never make plain old beef with taco seasoning again. That's the basis of this dish but so much more. I got this recipe out of the book Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer by Susie Martinez.




Rio Rancho Taco Meat
4 to 6 servings

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1 medium onion, diced
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 cup mild salsa
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 1/2 t. brown sugar
1-4 oz can diced green chile's
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
3/4 cup water

Cooking Day Instructions

Brown onion and ground beef until no longer pink. Drain any excess grease. Add salsa, taco seasoning, brown sugar, green chile's, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir until well mixed. Add the water and simmer on low for 30-45 minutes until it has thickened. If it gets to thick add more water and adjust seasonings. Cool and freeze in meal size portions, using freezer bags.

Serving Day Instructions

Thaw meat in the fridge overnight or defrost in the microwave. I heated my in a skillet on the stove but you could probably microwave it. Serve with soft or hard tortilla shells and your favorite fixings. I love cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and sour cream. Salsa is good too.