Baked Chimichangas

Tonight ended up being one of those meals that were made on a whim.  I had originally planned to make Mexican Cornbread but we had regular cornbread with our dinner last night.  So of course I began the look on pinterest and trying to decide what I wanted to do with the ground beef I had thawed out.  I decided to try some baked chimichangas and in the midst of looking at different recipes I decided I'm just going to do my own thing because I didn't have all the ingredients to follow any of the recipes I looked at.  I really liked how these tasted fresh with the tomato, avocado, and spinach in them.  Not too much work and they turned out good!

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning (I use 3 Tbsp of homemade to 2/3 cup water)
3/4 cup sour creme
1 can Jalapeno refried beans
1 large avocado chopped
3 Roma tomatoes chopped
1 cup baby spinach chopped
2 cups fresh grated Monterrey Jack
2 cups fresh grated Pepperjack
12 medium size tortillas (not the small size ones)
Olive Oil

Preheat oven 450 degrees
1)  Line baking pan with foil and spread olive oil over it.
2)  Cook ground beef and mix taco seasoning according to directions.
3)  Mix in refried beans, sour creme, avocados, tomatoes, and spinach.
4)  Spoon meat mixture into center of tortilla and place some of both cheeses on top.  Fold ends of tortilla towards inside and other two edges over middle, and place seem side down on baking pan.  You want to be sure it is closed up with no gaps left open.  Do this until all tortillas or mixture has been used.
5)  Brush olive oil on top of all the chimichangas.
6)  Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven, flip chimichangas over, brush with a little olive oil if needed, and place back in oven and bake 10 more minutes.
7)  Remove from oven and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving as they are extremely hot inside.

Love fresh tomato and avocado!

Baked Chicken Spinach Flautas

These Baked Chicken Spinach Flautas from Healthy-Delicious are really good!  I made some without the spinach for the kids and they were good too.  I used two jalapenos and shredded Monterrey Jack and Pepper Jack cheese when making mine.  I have this other Baked Chicken Flautas here on my blog, but this spinach recipe is much easier and less work to make.  Flautas have always been a favorite of mine!

Ingredients

10-12 frozen chicken tenders

chicken bullion
2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1 teaspoon Chili Powder

Paula Dean Seasoning
2 Jalapeno chopped
3 cups Baby Spinach, chopped

Reserved chicken broth from boiling chicken
12-15 small tortillias
Shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Shredded Pepper Jack cheese
Olive Oil

Butter 

Cooking Spray

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Put the chicken tenders in a pot with water, chicken bullion and seasonings.  Boil tenders until cooked through.  Remove the chicken from the liquid and shred it.
Pour off top of broth leaving about 1/2 cup with settled seasonings in pot.  Place shredded chicken back in pot with broth and seasonings and mix all together.  Let set while following next steps.
Place 1-2 Tbsp butter in skillet and melt.  Add chopped spinach and jalapeno to skillet and saute until spinach begins to wilt and remove from heat.
Line baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
Spoon chicken, cheese, spinach, and jalapeno onto tortilla and roll up tightly.
Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in small bowl and mix in 4 Tbsp. olive oil.  Brush the top of flautas with oil butter mixture.  Bake for 10 minutes, then turn them over brush top side with oil butter mixture, bake 10 minutes or until crispy.

Pumpkin Pancakes

I've been wanting to try Pumpkin Pancakes and finally made some!  It's one of those things I knew I would like thinking the kids wouldn't care for them, but turns out even the kids thought they were yummy.  I used a recipe from Brown Eyed Baker and only changed the amount of milk I used.  At first they were too thick and I like it when my pancake batter slowly pours into pan to make a more consistent circle shape.  These will be made again in this house!

Ingredients
1¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
1 1 /2 to 1 3/4 cup milk (whole or 2%)
½ cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat a griddle to medium heat.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, pumpkin, egg, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture and whisk gently until completely combined. Set aside for 5 minutes.
4. Once the griddle comes to temperature, drizzle with vegetable oil and wipe off excess with a paper towel.
5. Ladle ⅓-cup of the batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the edges are set and the bubbles around the edges are open and set. Flip and cook on the second side for an additional 2 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve immediately. Leftover pancakes can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Sausage Balls

These are a popular recipe that everyone seems to make.  I actually recently just made these myself for the first time a few weeks ago.  I've been wanting some more of these and wanted to use spicy sausage.  I made some this morning to go with our breakfast and they are just so yummy!  I think next time I make them I will add some chopped jalapeno and more cheese.

Ingredients
1 lb spicy sausage
1 pkg. cream cheese
1 1/4 cup Bisquick
4 oz. fresh grated sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together and roll into balls.  I use Kitchen Aid mixer with dough hook for mixing.  Cover baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick spray.  Line balls on pan and bake 20-22 minutes.

Chili's Salsa

Recently I tried this recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff and will probably make it again.  I really do not have a good salsa recipe as it is something I've just never made.  I will be trying other recipes I'm sure of it eventually!  For now I like this one and it's super easy to make in my individual Ninja blender cup.  Next time I make this I will not use so much onion as it was too strong in the salsa.  I probably picked up a medium size to small onion and would at least half that.  Six Sisters' Stuff is a neat blog with some good foods on it!

Ingredients
2 14.5oz cans whole tomatoes, drained
1 whole jalapeno, with end chopped off
1/2 yellow onion
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. lime juice

Place all ingredients together into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  Store in air tight container and refrigerate.

Ingredients:

2 cans (14.5 oz each) whole tomatoes, drained

3-4 canned, whole jalapenos (not pickled)
1 yellow onion, quartered
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons lime juiceDirections:
Place all of the ingredients together into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Serve with tortilla chips.

Read more at http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/11/chilis-copycat-salsa-recipe.html#isglcp01C2IWl0im.99

Pumpkin Pie

This is another pie I made during Thanksgiving.  I usually make a pumpkin pie using the recipe from the canned pumpkin which is pretty good in my opinion.  This year I wanted to try another recipe and this Perfect Pumpkin Pie was better than the one I have made.  I followed her recipe exactly as is and want to be sure I have it on hand at all times for future Pumpkin Pies!

Ingredients
1 unbaked pie crust
2 cups pumpkin puree, fresh or canned
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
1/2 cup evaporated cane juice or sweetener of choice (this is a bag of granulated cane juice)




Preheat oven to 425 degrees
1) Roll out your pie crust and place it in a 9-inch pie pan. Crimp the edges or decorate as desired. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

2) Place all of the filling ingredients in a large bowl and whisk until nice and smooth. Pour into the prepared pie crust and slip into your preheated oven.

3) Bake for 15 minutes at 425, then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 C). Bake for an additional 40-50 minutes, or until the filling isn't wet, but still moves a bit in the middle when jiggled. If the crust is getting too brown for your liking you can always cover it with tin foil or a crust shield. 

4) Cool the pie and serve cold or at room temperature, whichever you prefer. Whipped cream is a MUST. 

Chocolate Pecan Pie

I have been wanting to make this pie since last Thanksgiving after picking up a cooking magazine that featured this recipe on the front page.  So this was one of the pies I made this year.  I actually messed up on baking it, not realizing I was suppose to cover with foil half way through.  I ended up taking it out about 10 minutes sooner because the top was getting so dark, and in doing this it caused the inside of pie to be kinda runny.  It was still pretty good!  I definitely will be making this again and look forward to it tasting better when I follow the instructions correctly.

Ingredients
1 refrigerated pie crust
2 4oz. bars bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups chopped pecans

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2)  Lightly flour both sides of pie crust and place in pie dish.  Crimp edges if desired.  Line crust with parchment or wax paper and cover bottom with pie weights (I used rice).  Bake for 8 minutes.  Remove paper and weights.
3)  In a small saucepan, combine chocolate and cream.  Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth.  Pour into prepared pie crust and chill for 30 minutes.
4)  In a medium bowl, combine corn syrup, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and butter mixing until smooth.  Stir in pecans.  Spoon batter over chocolate layer in pie crust.
5)  Bake for 30 minutes.  Cover top with foil to prevent excess burning, and continue baking another 30 minutes.  Cool completely before serving.
 

Striped Delight

This is another all time favorite in our house!  I got this recipe from my mother as this is something she always made around Thanksgiving and Christmas and everyone loved it.  We were able to spend Thanksgiving with our friends this year and only needed to bring a dessert, and one that wasn't a pie as they already had those taken care of.  I chose this dessert because it is so easy and fast to make.  I think everyone loved it especially the kids!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
1 pkg 8oz. cream cheese softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
2 8oz. cool whip
2 pkg instant chocolate pudding
3 1/2 cup milk

Spray 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Combine graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 sugar and butter for crust, and press into baking dish.  Beat cream cheese, 2 Tbsp milk, and 1/4 cup sugar until smooth.  Fold in on 8oz. tub of cool whip and spread over crust.  Mix milk and pudding together and pour over cream cheese layer.  Refrigerate for two hours.  Spread 8oz. cool whip over top of pudding layer and top with nuts or chocolate shavings if desired.  Serve cold.

Sweet Potato Pecan Casserole

I have always loved Sweet Potato Casserole since I was a little girl!  My husband on the other hand had not cared for it much until I started making this recipe.  He loves the pecan topping on this one!  I don't remember where I got this recipe from but have been making it for about five years.  It doesn't matter if we stay home for Thanksgiving or travel back to our parents I usually end up making this every year.  This year we stayed home and I only cooked a few things with this being one of them! 

Filling
4 lg. sweet potatoes
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into slightly big chunks.  Place in pot and boil until fork inserts smoothly, making some chunks fall apart.  Drain off water and add remaining ingredients mixing together well.  Pour into a casserole dish.

Topping
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup flour
1 to 2 cups pecans, chopped

Mix all ingredients together well and place on top of sweet potatoes filling.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.