Homemade Baked Taquitos

These are awesome, easy, and a great way to use left over meat. (Sorry no picture, we ate them all and I forgot to take one before we started eating)

You will need:

Shredded meat - We just use whatever leftover meat we have (chicken, pulled pork, a roast, etc)

Shredded cheese

Tortillas (corn or flour, doesn't matter)

Oil

Whatever you like to dip them in (salsa, sour cream, guacamole, etc)

1. Shred whatever meat you'd like to use.

2. If you think the meat needs more of a taco seasoning then just add your favorite taco spices. You can also just mix in salsa. We did that with pork and it turned out good.

3. Shred a bunch of cheddar cheese (or buy a bag of shredded cheese)

4. Warm a tortilla, add about 1/4 cup meat, and sprinkle cheese on the meat. Beware, too much filling will break the tortilla (duh, but I always do this).

5. Roll up tortilla and place on baking sheet seam side down

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you are out of meat or tortillas.

7. Brush oil onto each taquito.

8. Bake at 400 F for about 8 to 12 minutes (until they are as crispy as you want them).

Seriously, these are my new favorite food. You barely use any oil, they are super fast and easy to make, and they are delicious. I could seriously eat 100 if my stomach could fit them all. Lucy loves them, too, which is always good :)

The difference between flour and corn tortillas is just taste. If you warm them up well they both are soft and easy to roll. Flour ones tend to be bigger and taste like the outside shell of a crunch wrap supreme from taco bell if you've ever tried one of those (Ben and I love them I know for sure). The corn ones are smaller and taste more like a traditional taquito and are also really good. We usually make both kinds to use up leftover tortillas we have.

And if I spelled taquito wrong I am sorry. I'm too lazy to go look it up.

Mini Skillet Meatloaves

A really quick and easy way to make meatloaf.


Ingredients
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 large egg
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, grated or finely minced
1 1/2 pounds meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork and/or veal)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup ketchup
1 to 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Directions
Mix the breadcrumbs, milk, parsley, egg, Worcestershire sauce, onion, chili powder and garlic in a large bowl. Add the meat, season with salt and pepper and mix with your hands until combined. Shape into six 3-to-4-inch oval loaves.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the loaves and brown about 3 minutes per side.

Whisk the ketchup, sugar and vinegar in a bowl and brush a few tablespoonfuls over the meat. Add 1/2 cup water to the skillet, cover and simmer over low heat until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Transfer the loaves to a plate. Add the remaining ketchup mixture to the skillet and cook over high heat, stirring, until thick, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve meatloaves with the hot glaze.

Per serving: Calories 380; Fat 24 g (Saturated 8 g); Cholesterol 111 mg; Sodium 800 mg; Carbohydrate 16 g; Fiber 1 g; Protein 23 g

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

Per Meghan's request here is the Green Chile Chicken Enchilada recipe that John uses with a few tweaks. They are seriously awesome.

Ingredients


5-6 cups boneless chicken thighs
4 cups shredded cheese (jack, colby mix or just jack)
6-8 diced Hatch green chiles
24 yellow corn tortillas
1 cup sour cream
1 - 15oz can Hatch Green Chili enchilada sauce
10.75oz can condensed cream of chicken soup


How to make it


de-skin chicken, season and bake until done (375deg for approx 1hr). dice chicken.


chop green chilis.


mix chicken, 3cups cheese and green chilis together in a large bowl.


combine sour cream, enchilada sauce and cream of chicken soup.  heat on low until barely simmering.


heat tortillas by running through warm cooking oil until tortillas firm up.


roll each tortilla with chicken mixture.


arrange side by side in 9x13 baking dish 


leftover chicken mix can be used to make more enchiladas or spread over the top of the prepared enchiladas.


cover enchiladas with sauce and the remaining cheese.


cook uncovered at 350deg for 30min or until bubbly hot. 

So are the tweaks: 

We usually use a whole chicken either already cooked from the store or if we have a raw one we throw it in the crock pot with garlic, chicken broth and rosemary. Then you just shred it up. 

John heats the tortillas by running them through warm chicken broth instead of oil

We don't roll the tortillas. We just layer them and make a casserole. 

Ground Beef Mummy Bread

I made these yummy sandwiches that somewhat resemble a philly cheese steak, but are made with ground beef and a homemade creamy italian dressing.  Yum. Yum.

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium green bell pepper, julienned and then halved
1 medium red bell pepper, julienned and then halved
1 small onion, cut into thin wedges
1/2 cup creamy italian dressing
4 kaiser rolls, or whatever hard roll you like
4 slices thinly sliced provolone cheese

Creamy Italian Dressing:
1 Tbs fat-free mayonnaise
2 tsp skim milk
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp parmesean cheese
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp basil
1/8 tsp italian seasoning
1 clove (1/2 tsp) minced garlic
1 tsp olive oil

Note: When I made this I didn't know how much it would make because it wasn't part of the original recipe for the sandwiches.  This recipe makes a little less than 1/4 cup dressing so I just put what I had in the beef mixture and wasn't able to put any extra on the bread.  Next time I would double it, put 1/4 cup in the beef mixture and use the rest to spread lightly on the bread before broiling.


1. Set oven control to broil. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook beef, bell peppers, and onion over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until beef is thoroughly cooked, drain.  Stir in 1/4 cup of the dressing.

2. Spread remaning 1/4 cup dressing on cut rolls.  Place all halves of cut rolls on ungreased large cookie sheet.  Broil with tops 4 to 6 inches from heat 2 to 4 minutes or until lightly toasted.  Remove bread from broiler.  Spread beef mixture over the 4 sandwiches.  Top with cheese.

3. Return halves with beef mixture and cheese to broiler.  Broil 4 to 6 inches from heat 2 to 3 minues or until cheese is melted.  Remove from broiler and place top halves of rolls on sandwiches.

Note: The original recipe uses a loaf of french bread cut in half and makes open faced sandwiches (2 per half). I just went to the day old bread section and got what looked good.  Also, I used one large green bell pepper and half a large onion because that is what we had (plus Brad doesn't like red, yellow, or orange bell peppers).

I will put the nutrition for the beef mixture as I made it yesterday.  I only had low fat mayonnaise and 1 % milk, but that amount is so little I don't think it makes much difference.  Calories for cheese and bread will depend on what you pick.  I used the kaiser rolls (200-250 calories) and sargento ultra thin provolone (40 calories).


Nutrition (Beef mixture only made the way I said I did with 91% lean ground beef)::
Calories: 220
Total Fat: 12.1 g
Saturated Fat: 4.6 g
Sodium: 114.7 g
Total Carbs: 4.5 g
Fiber: 0.8 g
Sugars: 2.3 g
Protein: 23.7 g

The beef alone had 180 calories so between the veggies and the sauce it only had 40.  I'm pretty sure it's like 25 calories for the dressing as the recipe is stated so if you double it you won't be adding to much calories, but it will have a little more flavor in case you choose a large roll like I did.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I made this soup in the crockpot, but I will post the alternative way to make it as well.

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp olive oil (alternative cooking method only)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 T lemon juice
1 cup chunky salsa
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)

Toppings:
corn tortilla chip
shredded cheese

Directions:
1. Put all ingredients in a crock pot. You can even throw the chicken in frozen.  Cook on high for 3 hours.  Pull chicken out, shred it, and put in back in the crock pot.  Cook for 30 more minutes.
2. Put tortilla chips on the bottom of your bowl.  Pour soup over chips.  Garnish with shredded cheese.  Mix it all up together if you like.  (That's what I do!)

Alternative Method:
1. In a large pot over medium heat, cook and stir chicken (cubed) in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin and mix well. Then add the broth, corn, onion, chili powder, lemon juice, and salsa. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Same as above.

Nutrition (1/4 of pot with only 9.4 ounces chicken):
Calories: 230
Fat: 1 g
Carbs: 30.9 g
Fiber: 2.7 g
Sugars: 7.2 g
Protein: 21.4 g

The nutrition does not include the chips or cheese.  I didn't list sodium because it will depend on a lot of the ingredients.  Also, I only had one large chicken breast so that is why I only had 9.4 ounces chicken.  I would reccommend using two chicken breasts (closer to about a pound).

Pepperoni Bread

This is a really yummy pepperoni bread recipe.  We let our dough sit out the full 7 hours since we were out and about. YUM!

Ingredients:
1 (1 pound) frozen bread dough, (thawed)
1 egg, beaten
4 ounces turkey pepperoni
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesean cheese (not the powder in a bottle)
italian seasoning (to taste)
garlic powder (to taste)

Directions:
1. Thaw bread dough and let rise according to package.
2. Roll bread dough into rectangle.  Mix garlic powder (to taste) with beaten egg in small bowl.  Brush dough with slightly more than 3/4 of the egg mixture.  Arrange pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, and parmesean cheese over the dough.  Sprinkle italian seasoning on (to taste).  Roll up dough like a jelly roll and pinch seam to seal; place seam side down on slightly greased baking sheet.
3. Brush remaining egg mixture onto outisde of roll.  Sprinkle additional italian seasoning onto outside of roll (to taste).
3. Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until golden.  Bake time will depend on how thin you roll out your dough.
4. Serve with pizza sauce for dipping.

Nutritional Information (1/4 roll):
Calories: 480
Total Fat: 15.7 g
Saturated Fat: 5.9 g
Cholesterol:108.2 mg
Sodium: 1419.5 mg
Carbs: 54.4 g
Sugars: 4.1 g
Protein: 25.8 g

Note: Some people have used a Pillsbury thin crust pizza or french loaf to make it quicker and probably less calories.  You just need to adjust your bake time accordingly.  However, Rhodes bread makes me think of eating mom's stromboli as a kid so I think it's worth it!

Barbeque Chicken Pizza

This is something I found/adjusted from the dinner spinner app.  We used mom's recipe for dough and just multiplied everything by 1/3 to only make one pizza.

Mom's Dough Recipe:

2 Tbs. yeast
7 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups warm water

Mix yeast, 1/2 flour, salt and water at low speed for 1 minute. Then high speed for 3 minutes. Add rest of flour. Let rise 1 hour. Punch down. Makes 3 pizzas. I usually only add 3 cups of flour after mixning. You have to use a mixer with a dough hook. Make sure the water isn't too hot. It will kill the yeast.

After rolling out the dough onto a pizza stone, I prebaked it at 450 degrees for 5 minutes.  Then I added the toppings.

1/2 cup kraft light bbq sauce
2 cups shredded chicken (I used an 11 oz frozen chicken breast and it was a good amount shredded.)
1/2 yellow onion, juliened
1 green bell pepper, juliened
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups reduced fat mozerella cheese

Spread bbq sauce on the prebaked crust.  Then lay shredded chicken, then onion and bell pepper, then cheese.  Bake at 450 degrees for 13-14 minutes. (Everyone's oven will be a little different/preference on cheese color/dough crispiness, etc.)

I like the crust crispy so that is how I cooked mine.  It has a crispy crust and a nice light, fresh flavor.  Brad likes more sauce so he just dipped his pizza in bbq sauce, but you could add more to your pizza if you like it that way.  Nothing too novel, but very yummy and pretty healthy.  Plus, we needed mom's dough recipe on here anyway. :)

Nutritional Info (1/4 of the pizza):
Calories: 435
Fat: 7.3 g
Saturated Fat: 3.2 g
Cholesterol: 53.5 mg
Sodium: 941 mg
Carbs: 57.4 g
Fiber: 2.6 g
Sugars: 6.9 g
Protein: 35.1 g

Buffalo Sloppy Joes

We love this recipe. Way lighter and better tasting than normal sloppy joes, especially from the kind with the sauce from a can. It's also spicy, too, which we love. You can make it as mild or spicy as you like, very easy to adjust. It's also a great way to use ground turkey or chicken, which I also love.  Hope you like it!

*We cut the recipe in half. Jared's cousin shared it with us and she has 5 kids so she cooks bigger batches than we need.*

Buffalo Sloppy Sliders
2 T. olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 lbs. lean ground turkey or ground chicken (I used 1 lb. of each)
Dice the celery, onions and green bell pepper into small pieces. Place vegetables in a large saute pan with the olive oil and cook until the vegetables are slightly tender. Add to the vegetables the ground turkey or chicken and brown the meat until it is broken up and browned. Once the meat is cooked, drain the excess juices from the pan. Add the following ingredients to the meat and vegetable mixture:
1 c. Franks Hot Sauce (if you don't like your sliders so spicy, use more tomato sauce and less hot sauce)
1/2 c. tomato sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 T. ketchup
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder (or 2 cloves freshly minced garlic)
Simmer meat mixture until the flavors have combined and you are ready to serve the sliders.

If you half the recipe and use ground turkey and garlic powder (not minced garlic) you get:

752 calories total

assuming you get 6 servings (I think you get at least 6, maybe even 8) that makes:
125 calories per serving (not including hamburger buns, which we eat it with)

Chili (normal)

Veggie Chili - South Beach Diet
*mom sometimes leaves out the soy meat, we sometimes add ground beef


Ingredients
2 bell peppers (red, yellow, or green), diced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
12 ounces soy/meat alternative crumbles
1 tablespoon chili powder (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 4-ounce can chopped green chilies, drained
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
Instructions
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the peppers, onion, and garlic and heat until they soften. Add remaining ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Makes 8 (1-cup) servings

209 calories per serving using ground soy meat
327 calories per serving using ground beef