Annie's Enchiladas

Annie is always great for recipes and inspiration. I decided to make these enchiladas after seeing the amazing pictures and having a craving for Mexican food. As usual these were amazing. I made a few changes which I have reflected below but the majority of this recipe and write up are directly from Annie.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped fine
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped fine - I omitted these
  
• 1 tsp. canola oil - no oil for me
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp. chili powder
• 2 tsp. cumin - I love cumin and added a tablespoon
  
• 1 tbsp. sugar - I left out the sugar
  
• 1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese, divided - 1-2 ounces
  
• 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese, divided - 1-2 ounces
  
• ½ cup minced fresh cilantro
• 12 (6-inch) soft corn tortillas - I used four because that is what I had on hand
  
• Cooking spray
• ZUCCHINI - I added shredded zucchini to up the veggies
  

Directions:
Combine the onion, jalapeno and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the onions and peppers have softened, 8-10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin and sugar, and cook just until fragrant, less than 30 seconds. Mix in the tomato sauce, water, and chopped tomato. Bring the sauce to a simmer, lower the heat and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

Nestle the chicken into the sauce. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the chicken is completely cooked through (160˚ F on an instant-read thermometer), about 12-20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside to cool.

Strain the sauce through a large mesh strainer into a medium bowl, pressing down on the onions and tomatoes to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer the reserved solids to a large bowl and set aside. Season the sauce with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Shred the chicken into bite size pieces and add to the bowl with the onion mixture. Add in ¼ cup of the enchilada sauce, ½ cup of each of the shredded cheeses, and the cilantro. Stir to combine.

Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Oil a 9 x 13″ baking dish with cooking spray. Stack the tortillas on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave for 40-60 seconds, until warm and pliable. Spoon 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture evenly down the center of a tortilla. Add shredded zucchini. Roll up the tortilla around the filling tightly, and place in the prepared baking dish, seam-side down. Repeat with the remaining filling and tortillas.

Lightly spray the tops of the enchiladas with cooking spray. Place in the oven, uncovered, for 7 minutes or until the tortillas start to brown slightly.

Reduce the oven temperature to 400˚ F. Remove the enchiladas from the oven and pour the sauce oven the top. Sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheese. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the foil and bake for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is browned. Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Mexican Lasagna

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!!!

Students left at noon but the kitchen made enchiladas for lunch anyway. Apparently they are making lunch all of teacher week but last year this was not the case. As this was totally unexpected the teachers had already ordered pizza. Not to let food go to waste I swiped some of the enchiladas for dinner.

Now these enchiladas didn't hold up to well and in my opinion could be part of a better meal if taken apart. So I took out the filling and made this mexican lasagna for dinner instead.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1/2 onion diced
• 1/2 bell pepper diced
• 2 oz cheese
• 3 tortilla (I use la tortilla factory)
• Spinach
• enchilada filling (I used beef from school)
• 1/2 cup corn

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put down a layer of beef as thin as possible. Top with tomatoes. Then place a tortilla on top. Layer with tomatoes and spinach and corn.
3. Place another tortilla on top. Now add a layer of beef then onions and peppers. Top with another tortilla.
4. Sprinkle cheese on top of the last tortilla. Cook for 15-20 min or until hot and cheese is melted.

Serves 3: Calories per serving 420 when low calorie options are used.

Cilantro Lime Rice

I made this rice to go with the Chicken Ropa Vieja but now it is my go to rice recipe. I find that rice can be kind of boring but this rice is far from that. Gina, you are my new favorite blogger. I cut this recipe down so I only used 1/3 cup of rice because that was more than enough for the two of us for a side dish.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup extra long grain rice or basmati rice
• 1 tsp lime, juice of
• 2/3 cups chicken broth
  
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.

Makes 2 servings: calories per serving 110

Chicken Tacos

I wanted to try out the homemade tortillas again because after watching a short youtube video I picked up some tricks I thought would make them better. I didn't change the recipe but I added all of the water this time where as last time I left some of the water out as I didn't think I wanted the tortilla dough to be sticky. I was wrong.

These tacos used TJ chicken that was already seasoned. Other ingredients are listed below.

Ingredients:

• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Onion
• Sour cream
• Avocado
• Tortillas
• Chicken
• Cheese
• Red Pepper

Directions:

1. Make tortillas from the link above - or purchase from a store
2. Grill and shred chicken
3. Grill onions and pepper
4. Slice, chop, to your liking, lettuce, tomato, and avocado
5. Assemble

Chicken Flautas

Easter Sunday just screams Mexican food doesn't it :). We were telling Elliott about our recent vacation to Cancun and it came up that I have flautas for the first time while were were there. About 6 months ago Elliott said that she would make us flautas but it never happened. So, I decided to try making them myself. I made the filling, the tortillas, everything.

To be honest I didn't roll out the tortillas enough so they were a little thick but they were still yummy. The flautas needed something. I am still not sure what but they were a little bland. I think next time I will use some taco seasoning so spice them up a little. All in all it was a good dinner but not great. Definitely something I will try again with some modifications.

Tortillas Ingredients: Allrecipes

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
  
• 3/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Mix in the oil with your fingers until the flour resembles cornmeal. Add the water and mix until the dough comes together; place on a lightly floured surface and knead a few minutes until smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
2. Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Use a well-floured rolling pin to roll a dough ball into a thin, round tortilla. Place into the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly and golden; flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side. Place the cooked tortilla in a tortilla warmer; continue rolling and cooking the remaining dough.

Makes 12 small tortillas - calories per tortilla - 80

Ingredients for Flautas - allrecipes

• 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cooked and shredded
• 1/4 (8 ounce) jar picante sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 8 (6 inch) corn tortillas
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• cooking spray
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl combine the shredded chicken, picante sauce and ground cumin. Mix together.
3. Spray warm tortillas with cooking spray. Put 1 tablespoon of the chicken mixture in the center of a tortilla and sprinkle some cheese on top. Roll up tortilla and place on a seam side down. Repeat with all of the tortillas until chicken mixture is gone. If there is any cheese left over, sprinkle it over the rolled tortillas.
4. Lightly brush oil over the rolled tortillas. Spray with cooking spray.
   
5. Bake tortillas in the preheated oven for 15 to 25 minutes or until tortillas are a little crispy and golden brown. Check halfway to make sure they tortillas are not drying out too much. If needed add more oil or cooking spray.
   

Makes enough filling for about 8 flautas - calories in filling total - 37s
Calories per flauta with homemade tortillas - 125