Crispy Creamy Southwest Chicken Burrito

Makes 6-8 Burritos
Adapted from the Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps recipe on Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Ingredients
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 red pepper, diced
1/4 green pepper, diced
1 cup rice, cooked
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 cups cheddar cheese (Mexican would probably be good too!)
Burrito Size Tortillas
Sour Cream


Instructions
Mix the rice with the lime juice, chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, and onion powder in a large bowl.
Add all remaining ingredients except the sour cream and cheese.
Turn your panini press on medium high - high and spray with cooking spray.  If you dont have a panini press, use a skillet.
On each tortilla, spread about a tablespoon of sour cream, and cover with cheese.
Fill with the chicken mixture, and wrap up tightly.
Put on the panini press, or in the skillet flap side down first.  If on a skillet, press down with a spatula (and turn once golden brown).
Repeat with each burrito.

My review:  These were delicious and we have put it on our "rotation list" as one of our favorites.  I made the filling one night, and we had these at least 3 different nights, without getting tired of them!  They are delicious and creamy and crispy and wonderful.  Also a plus, they are HEALTHY!

Naughty Chicken

This chicken dish is getting straight up coal in its stocking this year, because it is deliciously naughty.  Serve it with some steamed broccoli, or a brisk 30 minute walk, because you're going to need it.  Joking aside, this chicken dish was to die for, and I couldn't wait to eat the leftovers!  I adapted the recipe from Mandy's Recipe Box, you can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients

• 1 pound bacon, diced into pieces (try not to get anything with a fancy flavor...)
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• 3 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup brown sugar
• up to 1 cup of water, as needed
• Cooked rice, for serving (the amount depends on what you like, I made 4 dry cups)

Directions

1. Fry the bacon in a large skillet, until it's almost done and crispy and delicious.
2. Remove all bacon grease but about 1/2 cup (you can leave more in if you like -- the original recipe didn't have you taking any out, but we found it to be a little too greasy -- we had really fatty bacon.  If your bacon is meatier, you probably wouldn't want to take any out).
3. Stir in the chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and chicken.
4. Cook until chicken is cooked through.
5. Add in the brown sugar, and continue to cook on medium high, until sugar is dissolved, and sauce begins to thicken.  If you notice your sauce getting too thick, add in some water.
6. Serve over rice and indulge.  Yum!

My review:  I loved this dish.  The bacon grease added a depth of flavor, and the spicy sweet flavors added later were very dynamic too.  We really enjoyed this dish.  I want to try it with some stir fry vegetables added into the sauce too.

Stuffed Pepper Mini Meatloaves

I love the filling in stuffed peppers, but I never eat the actual pepper.  This was my way of still having the stuffed pepper flavor, but not wasting the pepper.

Makes about 16 mini meatloaves.

Ingredients

• 2 green bell peppers, diced
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 2 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 package Zatarain's Dirty Rice (cooked acoording to package directions, without the ground beef)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Cook your rice the night before if possible -- it takes about 30 minutes, so it's nice to not have to do that the night that you plan to bake your mini meatloaves.
2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Throw the peppers, onion, tomatoes, ground beef, and rice in a large bowl and mix until well combined.
4. Spray a regular size muffin pan with cooking spray.
5. Fill each muffin hole with the beef mixture.  Pack it in - they will shrink as they cook.
6. Bake for 30 minutes.
7. Top each with some cheese.
8. Bake for 10 more minutes.
9. Serve with a big green salad  -- I even broke up the loaves and mixed them into my salad.

My review:  This was an idea I had when my peppers didn't look very pretty, and when I remembered that I don't even like the pepper part of stuffed peppers.  I loved this.  It was pretty spicy, and if your family doesn't like much spice, then you may want to just use 2 cups of regular white or brown rice.

Hamburger Stir-Fry

 

2 cups rice, cooked
1 pound ground beef
2 tbsp canola oil
4 oz. snap peas (about 30)
1/4 red onion, diced
10 oz. mushrooms, sliced
20 baby carrots, diced
1/2 large zucchini, sliced into half moons
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup stir fry sauce

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef on medium high heat.  Set aside in a bowl.
Return the skillet to the heat, and add the canola oil.  Heat until hot.
Add the peas, onion, mushrooms, carrots, zucchini, and garlic.
Stir frequently, until all the veggies are cooked, but still crisp, which will take about 5-7 minutes on medium high heat.
Add the ground beef back to the pan, and pour the stir fry sauce over top.
Stir to combine and heat for another minute.
Serve over top of brown or white rice.

My review:  I knew I had all these fresh vegetables and I wanted something good to do with all of them.  I also didn't have any steak or chicken, which are my first choices when making stir fry, so I used some hamburger.  This was great, I will definitely be making this again!  It would be great with broccoli, peppers, and mini corn cobs, too!  Also, it was on the table within about 20 minutes, which made it a great weeknight dinner.

Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Rice Dinner

Every time I get Kraft Food&Family in the mail, it's like my bible for cooking for the next few weeks. I usually cook about 75-80% of the recipes in it, because they are simple, and usually delicious. This was no exception...

1 pound chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
2 cups instant white rice, uncooked
1/2 pound Velveeta Cheese, cubed
1 (10 oz) package frozen broccoli, thawed

Cook chicken in a skillet for 5 minutes, or until cooked through.
Stir in the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
Add the rice, cheese, and broccoli. Cover and remove from heat.
Let sit for 10 minutes.
Stir until cheese is completely melted and the mixture is well blended.


My review: This was DELICIOUS! Definitely a keeper. It was so easy, and one of those meals that is just wonderful for a cold day. The website recommends that instead a broccoli, a frozen vegetable medley would also work.