Stuffed Mexican Chicken Shells

These were super yummy and were introduced to me by my sister-in-law, Tamara Greenwood, from the six sisters blog. She made them for us after Thomas was born while we, crazy as we are, decided to move to our new house when he was a month old. Pretty awesome sister-in-law!! Anyway, they were super yummy. We liked them with a scoop of guacamole on top. Freezable!

 

4 cups chicken breast, cooked and diced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
6 green onions, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
3 (8 oz.) blocks cream cheese, softened (not melted)
2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes with chiles, undrained (Rotel or store brand)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups salsa
40 large pasta shells

Cook pasta shells in well salted, boiling water until al dente (still have a little bite to them- if you cook them too long, they will be difficult to stuff). Drain the pasta and set aside while you make the filling.
For the filling, add diced chicken, drained black beans, green onions, diced peppers, and cumin into a  large mixing bowl. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese, chicken broth and undrained tomatoes with chiles. When thoroughly combined, pour it over the chicken mixture and mix well (if you have trouble incorporating the cream cheese and tomatoes, you can heat it slightly in the microwave).
You will need either 2 13x9" baking pans OR one large baking sheet. Spread 3/4 cup salsa in the bottom of each 13x9" baking pan.
Using a spoon, fill each of your cooked pasta shells with chicken mixture, setting them into the salsa-covered pan. Continue until all shells are filled and arranged in the pans.
When the pans are full, drizzle the shells with the remaining 1/2 cup of salsa (1/4 cup per pan) and then sprinkle with the shredded cheddar cheese.
Cover the baking pan tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

*I did have about 1 1/2 cups of the chicken mixture leftover- we just wrapped it up in flour tortillas for lunch the next day and it was delicious!
(I put one pan in the oven to bake for dinner and then wrapped the other uncooked pan with foil and threw it in the freezer for another night. When you are ready to eat it, pull it out of the freezer 24 hours in advance and let it thaw in the fridge. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes)

Cuban Ropa Vieja

For the main course of our Florida meal, Allie made Cuban Ropa Vieja which she served with rice and as tacos... it was delicious!!!

Cuban Ropa Vieja

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 pounds beef flank steak

1 cup beef broth
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 small onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar

1.Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the flank steak on each side, about 4 minutes per side.
2.Transfer beef to a slow cooker. Pour in the beef broth and tomato sauce, then add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, cumin, cilantro, olive oil and vinegar. Stir until well blended. Cover, and cook on High for 4 hours, or on Low for up to 10 hours. When ready to serve, shred meat and serve with tortillas or rice. Enjoy!!!

***A little tip... to shred meat quickly throw it into a mixer- in large chunks- you will end up with perfectly shredded meat:)

Layered Three Cheese Nachos

These are awesome!!! Allie made them for an appetizer when we finished studying Arizona and I have a feeling they will be getting made a lot around here:)

1 large bag of tortilla chips
2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded hot pepper jack cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 cup diced onions
1 cup of yellow canned corn (drained)
1/2 cup of diced jalapenos
1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put half the corn chips on an ovenproof platter and sprinkle half of each cheese on them, followed by a portion of the remaining ingredients. Top with the remaining chips and toppings, ending with a layer of the remaining cheeses. Bake until the cheeses have melted. Serve with sour cream.

***We have some that are not crazy about beans, onions or jalapenos so we left one side without these ingredients for them... sort of like a make your own nachos:)

Fajitas

This is a really awesome fajita marinade that actually came to me through a MOPS cookbook for a steak marinade. We tried it for the steak and thought it would make super fajitas and now that's what we use it for.

Fajita Marinade:

1 1/2 pounds Steak (I use half sirloin and half top loin)
2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon onion flakes
1 tablespoon lemon juice

First, trim your steaks, getting as much fat off as possible. Next, slice lengthwise into strips and then half lengthwise again, depending on the size of your steak. Prepare your marinade and then place your strips in, making sure to stir to coat and cover the strips with the marinade. Chill this in the fridge for at least six hours, but overnight is best.

You will cook the strips over medium heat until done and then to low to keep them warm, tossing occasionally.

We like peppers and onions with ours, which you can cook with the meat, but I find the veggies cook much better (don't turn to sludge) if you cook them separately in olive oil.

Serve with tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, tomatoes and salsa.

Note: You can make this ahead and freeze your marinade covered raw beef strips in a Ziploc to use later.

Beef Enchiladas

1 28 oz can enchilada sauce
1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1 medium onion browned with the ground beef
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
6-8 flour tortillas (depending on how big you fill them) fajita size

Optional: Some people like to add a can of corn and green chilies to their enchiladas, but I don't really like to have that much spice inside because of the girls. We'll add more spice to the outside. I also see a lot of recipes that add a cup of sour cream to the inside. I don't do this and am not sure how well that'd freeze.

Serve with your typical sides: Lettuce, sour cream, refried beans, salsa, guacamole...

Pour 1/3 of your enchilada sauce into the bottom of your pan. Mix another third with your ground beef and Monterey Jack cheese. Fill your tortillas, about 1/3-1/2 cup each and roll up. I place them in the pan seam side down, which is not the traditional way, but what I do. Top with the remaining 1/3 can of enchilada sauce and your cheddar cheese. Spray a piece of foil and place sprayed side down over your enchiladas.

Bake at 350 degrees from fresh for about 45 minutes to an hour until warmed through and bubbly. From frozen, either thaw and bake the same way or give it an extra hour from frozen.

Brown Bag Burritos

This is another one of those recipes that I am not sure where it came from but boy, am I glad that we found it... almost all of my family likes these:) They are delicious and the best part is we can just microwave them!!!

Brown Bag Burritos
2 lb. ground beef
2, 31 oz cans refried beans
1 1/3 c. enchilada sauce (We like El Paso)
1/2 c. water
1/3 c. minced onion
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
3 c. shredded cheese (cheddar, Mexican blend, whatever)
20 flour tortillas (burrito-size, not thin)

~Brown ground beef; drain. Add remaining ingredients (except tortillas). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
~Heat 3-4 tortillas at a time (you can put a wet paper towel on the top and the bottom of a stack of 10 and microwave for 10 seconds and it does the same thing). Spoon 1/4 c. beef mixture down the side of each tortilla (a cookie/ice cream scoop keeps the mess to a minimum:)
~Roll up. Wrap each burrito in a paper towel.
~Refrigerate or freeze. You can pack them back in the tortilla ziplock bag... usually you can fit 10 in a bag:)
~When ready to eat, remove foil and microwave for about a minute. The paper towel keeps the burritos moist. You can also stick them in the oven to reheat them:)