Overloaded Enchiladas

It's been awhile since I made Mexican food so I did it up good today - combining all my favorites into enchiladas - Mexican rice, refried (sort of beans) and taco meat with an enchilada sauce and cheese.  I'm going to post all the recipes for the different parts so you don't have to search in the older recipes.

Overloaded Enchiladas


Taco Meat ~

1# ground beef
1/4 cup onions, minced
2 tbsp taco seasoning
1/4 cup water

Cook beef and add onions just a couple minutes before it's fully cooked.  Add water and taco seasoning.

6 room temperature flour tortillas

Smear a 1" line of refried beans down the center of each tortilla.  Top with 1/4 cup of Mexican rice following the same line.  Top with taco meat.  Roll up and place seam down in a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Top with 1 cup enchilada sauce making sure the flour tortillas have each been covered with the sauce so they don't dry out will baking.  Bake for 30 minutes at 350°.  Remove from oven and top with 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese.  Return to oven until melted.  
Any leftovers from the prep mix are freezable and a simple thaw will make an easy weeknight dinner in the future.


Taco Seasoning ~

1 tbsp chili powderp
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp  oregano
1 tsp pepper, freshly ground
1/2 tsp salt

Place in a sealable plastic bag or container that's airtight and mix well.

Mexican Rice ~

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup white rice

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp olive oil

2 tbsp onions, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tbsp parsley

salt to taste

In a medium sized pot, place chicken broth, rice and butter. Bring to a boil, stir one time, cover and turn the heat down to simmer and leave for 20 minutes. Remove from heat after 20 minutes and keep covered for another 10 minutes. While you're waiting, in a small pan heat the olive oil and cook the onions until translucent. Add in the garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in tomato paste, cumin and parsley. Mix into cooked rice and add salt if necessary.

Enchilada Sauce ~

2 cups chicken broth
4 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
1 pinch cinnamon
1/4 tsp sugar

Mix all the ingredients together and simmer until almost to a boil.

Yield: 2 cups

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Sometimes I go back and revamp my recipes and I was very happy with the taste of this recipe but I wasn't happy with the height that it rose to so I tweaked the recipe and ended up very happy with the results.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

                        

 1 1/2 cups zucchini, shredded and drained
 1/4 cup canola oil
 6 ounces plain yogurt
 1 1/2 cups flour
 1 tsp baking powder
 1/2 tsp baking soda
 1/2 tsp salt
 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
 1/4 cup dark cocoa
 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

In a large bowl, put drained zucchini, oil and Greek yogurt and mix well.
Add in dry ingredients.  Pour into a greased 4 x 9 bread pan.  Bake for 50 minutes at 350°.

Roasted Romano Cauliflower

Ah cauliflower...finally a really good vegetable from my CSA which has had a few disappointments this year.  I do like the sweet bursts of flavor when you bite into it so I looked in my refrigerator for a cheese to pair with it and chose Romano.  

Roasted Romano Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup Romano cheese, grated

Place cauliflower florets in a bowl.  Pour lemon juice and olive oil on top and toss lightly so the florets are evenly covered.  Place on a non-stick baking sheet, season with salt and pepper and bake for 40 minutes at 350°.  Remove from oven and evenly cover with Romano cheese.  

Cinnamon Waffles

Nothing like a little Sunday morning pampering with waffles for breakfast.  The aroma of the cinnamon when the maple syrup hits it is just heavenly.  

Cinnamon Waffles

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup milk
2 tbsp canola oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

Sift all dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until light and fluffy. Gradually mix milk, egg yolks, oil and beaten egg whites into dry ingredients.

Bake per your waffle makers instructions.

Makes 6 waffles.

Sloppy Joe Bake

This recipe has been in my family for as long as I can remember.  It's so easy to make and perfect for after a long work day.  I've got my recipe below for my sloppy joe mix but substitute in your families favorite if you'd prefer,

Sloppy Joe Bake

2 cans buttermilk biscuits (not the jumbo size)

1# ground beef

1/4 cup onions, diced

1 small pepper, diced

1 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp Heinz 57 sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup barbecue sauce

salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

5 slices Cheddar Jack cheese (or you can use American cheese)

Press out buttermilk biscuits onto a greased pizza pan or baking sheet.  Top with sloppy joe mixture leaving a 1/2" space around the edges.  Bake at 350° for 20 minutes - the outside biscuits should be turning a golden brown.  Top with cheese slices and return to oven for a couple minutes until they are melted.  Allow to cool a few minutes before cutting into.

Sweet Potato Chips

I had the leftover cinnamon sugar from the Peach Monkey Bread so I decided to attempt making these chips again.  I tried last weekend and they weren't quite ready and walked away for three minutes.  Well...that three minutes were critical so this time I stood by and waited until the right moment to remove them from the oven.  This does require that you have a mandoline so all of your slices are uniform or some chips will get done before the others.  

A cooking tip: have an extra set of salt and pepper shakers on hand.  Whether you pick them up at Target or a rummage sale...they come in handy.  I always keep cinnamon sugar in one for easy dispensing.

Sweet Potato Chips

1 sweet potato
extra virgin olive oil
cinnamon sugar

Peel the sweet potato skin.  Set your mandoline to 1/16th and slice the sweet potato.  Place slices in a bowl and drizzle extra virgin olive oil over.  You want to make sure each slice gets some.  Since each sweet potato is a different size, I can't give you an exact measurement.  Lay out chips on non-stick baking pans.  Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on each chip.

Bake for approximately 22 minutes at 300°.  Start carefully watching at 15 minutes in case your oven temperature reading is different than mine.

Peach Monkey Bread

I love peach season and trying new ways to use my favorite fruit.  Today I made monkey bread for the first time and added peaches in the middle.  Of course there has to be a creamy icing to go with it...right?

Peach Monkey Bread

1 can Grands Buttermilk Biscuits
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup peach preserves
1 cup peaches, diced

Icing

1/4 cup butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar

In a zippered plastic bag, add in cinnamon and sugar and shake until well mixed.  Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces.  Add to plastic bag 4 at a time and shake so each piece is completely covered.  Place 4 cut up biscuits into a greased bread pan evenly.  Mix together peach preserves and peaches in a bowl and spread over the bottom half of the monkey bread.

Top with the remaining 4 biscuits with cinnamon sugar coating.  Bake for 30 minutes at 350°.  While still slightly warm, turn out onto a plate and top with icing.