Chimi Changas

Since I have been absolutely atrocious about taking pictures of my recipes recently, I decided to just post a recipe from last month's menu plan. I have made a ton of yummy things recently, and haven't even managed to take a picture of one, which annoys me immensely.  

That sounds like I'm teasing you, doesn't it? Sorry! Don't worry, most of the things that I have made recently are things I will be making again in the near future -as in, before the holidays I hope- so they will be posted soon enough.

To make up for the teasing, and because I want to ensure that my coworkers continue to love me and think I'm amazing, I will be posting a FANTASTIC brownie recipe tomorrow morning. Assuming it turns out tonight, of course, but I have no reason to think that it won't. (Knock on wood!)

So, without further ado, here's a wonderful idea for dinner!

When I am hunting around for things to add to my menu plan, I like to try things that are a new variation on an old favorite. I had thought about doing a variation of tacos in the oven before, but never got around to it. When I saw this recipes for chimi changas, I decided it was past time to try it!

We all loved these! A fun, different way to eat tacos, the tortillas were warm & crispy, and it was incredibly easy.  

My only complaint is how long it takes to bake. I'm used to having tacos on the table FAST. This? Not-so-fast. 30 minutes in the oven is 30 minutes that my stomach is saying "Wait, I thought we were having tacos? Do they normally take this long?" Even condsidering that, these are definitely something I will be making again! 

(See below the recipe for more comments.) 

Edited 8/16: these freeze great! The edges of the tortilla are a bit stiff, but I love to freeze a few and then have an easy lunch to take to work.

Chimi Changas

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese    
• 8 ounces colby jack or Mexican blend cheese, shredded
• 1 pound ground beef    
• 1 ½ tablespoons taco seasoning
• ¾ cup water    
• 12 flour tortillas (6”)
• Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)    
• sour cream (optional)
• lettuce (optional)    
• salsa (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a large pan over medium heat, brown beef. Add taco seasoning and water, cook until most of the water is gone.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together cream cheese and colby jack. Once meat is cooked, add to cheese mixture; stir to combine. 
4. Divide among tortillas. Tuck in sides (to make a square) and place seam-side down on a greased baking sheet. Spray tops of tortillas with cooking spray. 
5. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip, then bake an additional 15 minutes.
6. Serve with cheddar cheese, sour cream, salsa, or lettuce, as desired.

Yield/Time

12 servings

45 minutes

Nutrition Facts

273/tortilla (without additional toppings)

Source (for original): My Fridge Food

I cut the recipe in half for our family of 3, and we still had leftovers. 

The only thing I will do differently for next time is the number of tortillas: these things were stuffed. I would cut the recipe in half or thirds, and use a couple more tortillas than it calls for to make them slightly smaller. That's just personal preference, though.

Remember, comments are love! 

Cheesy Crock Pot Cowboy Casserole

I love potatoes, but I don't actually cook with them very often. That usually results in me letting 1/3 to 1/2 of a bag of potatoes get nasty, which always annoys me. I hate wasting food. So, when I've had the potatoes for awhile, I start looking for something yummy & new to hurry up and use those potatoes before they go bad. I had about 1 pound of the 5 pound back left when I stumbled across this recipe on Pinterest.

Side note: I seriously love Pinterest. I scoffed at everyone using Pinterest before -didn't see the point- until a friend had a Pinterest birthday party and I had to get on it. The food & drink section makes me happy. There are so many recipes! You just keep scanning pictures til you find something that looks yummy. 

Anyways, back to the recipe. If I don't find anything that looks amazing, I will go with potato soup to use up the potatoes, but I was so happy I found this. Cheese, potatoes, meat... Even some veggies so I can convince myself it's good for us!


The one thing that almost deterred me from making this is the kidney beans. I know, I know. "Serena, I thought you were trying to broaden your horizons, try new things," blah blah blah. I have added various beans to things in the last couple of years, and wound up picking them out while I was eating it. (Nothing quite like having to dissect each bite before eating it....) I think that, next time, I will add the kidney beans. However, the last two new recipes I've tried have failed, and I wanted this to be a definite "yes."

Side note on the failed recipes: one was a cookie bar, and I thought the taste & texture were meh. Nate said they were good so I did wind up giving some to my big brother, Jonah, as part of his belated birthday gift, but it wasn't something I would make again. The second were soft honey spice cookies, were the taste turned out great but they did NOT look anything like the picture, and the texture wasn't what it should have been. Jonah got a lot of those for his birthday too; at least they tasted good. 


See below the recipe for more comments on it....

Cheesy Crock Pot Cowboy Casserole

Ingredients

• ½ medium onion, diced
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon Mrs. Dash
• 1 pound small red potatoes, sliced thin
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• 1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced (if subbing canned tomatoes, do not drain)
• 1 cup canned or frozen corn
• 1 can dark red kidney beans
• ¼ cup water (skip if adding canned tomatoes)
• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

• Place  all of the ingredients except the cheese in a 4 - 6 quart crockpot and stir well.
• Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7 - 8  hours. Uncover crock pot and sprinkle shredded cheese over top. Recover and let cook an additional 30 minutes.

Yield/Time

6 servings

8 hours

Nutrition Facts

265 calories per cup, using ½ cup beef (324 if using a full pound of beef)

Source (for original): Family Fresh Meals 

I thought I had about 3/4 pound of cooked venison in the fridge (from when I made taco helper), but apparently I had only saved 1/2 pound. Oh well. Still meaty, but I would try to add the full pound or so next time.

Taco Helper....and my lack of love for pre-packaged meals

As a general rule, I don't like to buy pre-packaged meals for us. They 1) are expensive, and 2) have a ridiculously high salt content. Tuna helper is something I buy on occasion for Nate, but I won't eat most of those things. (OK, I will confess to buying pasta roni when it's on sale sometimes. Hush, it's a comfort food when I am hungry, I'm the only one eating, and I don't want to mess with making a real meal.) However, I like the idea of most of them. Creamy pasta/rice & meat, lots of flavors, only one or two dishes.... sounds good. 

I like to do pasta with a cream-of soup (speaking of ridiculously high salt contents....), ground beef, and some cheese & seasonings, but I was intrigued when I saw a recipe for homemade taco helper on one of the blogs I read regularly. At Lynn's Kitchen Adventures, she has a lot of down-to-earth recipes--and, if you are gluten-free, she has a lot of that too! I've never made the boxed kind, but I love tacos, so I thought it was worth a shot!  

(See below recipe for comments on the recipe itself...)

(Yes, my camera was still MIA when I made this. However, this was a few days ago, and YAY! I found my camera! It was hiding....)

 

Taco Helper

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• ¾ - 1 ½ cups water
• 1 ¾ cup milk
• 8 ounces tomato sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons taco seasoning (or one packet of the storebought kind)
• 3 cups uncooked penne or macaroni noodles
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. In a large sauce pan, brown the ground beef. Drain any fat from the meat. Add ¾ cup water, milk, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning to the meat and bring to a boil. Add the pasta.
2. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 17-20 minutes. Test at 17 minutes to see if the pasta is done. If pasta is not done, cook a few minutes longer.
3. During cooking, if liquid simmers too low add up to another 3/4 cup water.
4. When the pasta is tender and done, stir in shredded cheese and sour cream.
5. Let sit 5- 10 minutes before serving and it will thicken more.

Yield/Time

30 minutes

Source (for original): Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures 

I think I would add more sour cream next time, because it wasn't quite a creamy as I was anticipating. It was great, the flavor was awesome, but I was expecting more creaminess.

Also, as I am posting this, I realize that I have yet to post my recipe for taco seasoning. (Does it count as a recipe if you are just mixing a bunch of spices together?) Stay tuned, I think that will have to be next....