Quick Shrimp Enchilada Bake

I found this at Recipe.com. This was easy and yummy! My kind of cooking! The guys both loved this as well, so win - win in my book. Here's the recipe:

1 lb peeled, cooked shrimp with tails removed
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 7 oz can green chiles, undrained
1 12 oz can green enchilada sauce + enough Salsa to make two cups
12 corn tortillas
1 15 oz fat free refried beans
1 cup reduced fat shredded cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime cut into wedges, optional

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 9x13 glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium, microwave safe bowl combine shrimp, corn, chiles and 1/2 cup enchilada sauce. Cover and microwave on high heat for about 2 1/2 minutes or until heated through. Meanwhile smear 1/4 cup enchilada sauce in bottom of baking dish.

Top with six of the tortillas, they will be overlapping. Spread refried beans over the tortillas.

By now your shrimp mixture should be heated through, pour over the refried beans. Top with the remaining six tortillas.

Pour the remaining sauce over the tortillas. Cover dish with foil. Bake for about 20 minutes or until it begins to bubble on the sides.

Remove foil, sprinkle with the cheese, return to oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about five more minutes. Top with cilantro.

Serve with lime wedges and enjoy!

Abuelo's - The Flavor of Mexico

This is an amazing restaurant we discovered in Abilene a little over two months ago. Since we have eaten at three different Abuelo's locations (Abilene, Austin and Arlington) a total of five times. We absolutely love this place! They have locations in 15 different states so if you are lucky enough to be close to one I HIGHLY recommend! Here is what we had on our first visit:

An appetizer of Queso Diablo with their wonderful salsa assortment - chipotle, 

tropical and regular (my names for these). With such wonderful salsas

we've decided the appetizer is unnecessary, but still oh so good!

 This was my enchilada plate. They have regular enchilada plates or you can

create your own. You can choose two to four enchiladas, each can be a different kind with

a different sauce. Above is two chicken enchiladas with fire-roasted queso sauce.

 John had the fajita chimichanga. One thing we love about this place is you can

get papas (potatoes) instead of rice. Neither of us are huge fans of rice, so having

a choice other than double beans is great! 

Yes, we even had dessert! Tres leches cake - yummo!

Other things we have tried - Firecracker shrimp tacos, fajitas, durango burrito, an enchilada plate with a spinach enchilada with cream sauce - avocado enchilada with ranchero sauce - chicken enchilada with green chile sauce. I'm sure I'm missing some things but it's all good!

Easy, Very Spicy Salsa/Dressing

I pinned this recipe for salsa TWO YEARS ago from This Chick Cooks. What finally made me decide to make it is my hubby. He has been trying, successfully, to lose weight but wanted to make some more changes to his diet. This included eliminating the Ranch/French dressing combo he likes on his salad. Since he is not a fan of vinaigrette dressings, he thought he would try salsa. The ones you buy in the store contain processed sugars, which he is reducing, so I headed to pinterest for a salsa recipe. This fit the bill and I must say it has been a huge hit! I have made this twice in less than two weeks, the second time adding the garlic.

8 oz fresh tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped onion, I used yellow
1 habanero pepper (leave this out if you want a less spicy salsa, more spicy use two)
2 large jalapeno peppers
juice of one lime, about 3 Tbsp
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp fresh cilantro or 1 tsp dried cilantro
drizzle of raw local honey
1 clove garlic (I would only add this if doing option 3)

Now you can make this three ways. I did option 3, since this is good both as a salsa or a salad dressing. 1) if you want your salsa more like a pico just chop the tomato, peppers and onion; combine in bowl; mix together salt, vinegar and lime juice; add to tomato mix; toss in the cilantro, drizzle with the honey, mix and your done. 2) for a chunky salsa follow the instructions for the pico but then take half the mix, place in blender and pulse a few times, then mix back together. 3) for a very smooth salsa, skip the mixing bowl,

add all ingredients to blender and 

blend until smooth.

Shared with:

El Chico's Abilene, TX

While we were staying at the Abilene State Park, we drove into Abilene for Date Night. We went to El Chicos in the mall. The food was good, the service not so much.

We started with Spinach Queso for our appetizer. 

Then John had a fried Burrito with Queso, Rice and Beans. 

I had the Burrito Bowl with Chicken.

Simple Slow Cooked Taco Soup

I pinned this recipe over a year ago from A Year of Slow Cooking. It makes quite a bit, so I had put off making it when we were just two. It was sooo yummy and simple! Ready for another pot!

2 16 oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 15 oz cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 14.75 oz can cream style corn, no salt added, undrained
1 15.25 oz can whole kernel corn, no salt added, undrained
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 10 oz can tomatoes and green chilies, mild, undrained
1 1.5 oz packet taco seasoning, low sodium
1 .4 oz packet ranch dressing mix
1 lb lean ground beef or turkey
shredded cheese and avocado slices for topping

Gather ingredients.

Brown meat and drain off fat. Place in slow cooker. Top with both seasoning packets. Pour in beans, corn and tomatoes.

Stir. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours (high 4 to 5 hours). Serve topped with cheese and avocado.

Enjoy!

El Nuevo Mexico

This past Saturday we went to Bastrop to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. We stayed the night (actually in Austin, the Bastrop Hampton Inn had no rooms) and then met up with my mom, pops, younger sis and her hubby and their baby girl for lunch. Mom was in the mood for Mexican food and directed us to her favorite spot in the area: El Nuevo Mexico.

I've been here once before with mom. It's very yummy and I can easily see why mom loves it!

 John and I were not very hungry so we each had and appetizer of shrimp stuffed with jalapeno and cheese then wrapped with bacon and fried crisp.

 Pops and my brother-in-law Billy had the Chimichanga.

 Mom had the stuffed poblano pepper.

Sister Shanna had the cheesy enchiladas with chili sauce.

We all enjoyed our food and had a great time visiting some more. With so many people at mom's on Saturday, I felt as though we had hardly talked. We made up for that Sunday at lunch. Always nice to visit with the fam!

Mexican Breakfast Casserole

Pinned this recipe for Mexican Breakfast Casserole 10 to 11 months ago at My Turn For Us. I finally decided to make it and it was sooo yummy! I made a few changes to match the ingredients I had. It turned out to be a hit! Yummmy!!  I don't think I will get by with waiting anther 10 to 11 months to make this again.

1 14 oz can refried beans
4 corn tortillas, quartered
1 4 oz can green chilies
3 Tbsp wickles hoagie and sub relish*
6 strips of maple turkey bacon, cooked and cut into small pieces
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 avocado, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Spread half of the refried beans into bottom of pan. Top with corn tortillas, spread second half of refried beans on top of tortillas.  In bowl scramble eggs, add a dash of salt and black pepper. Pour over tortillas and refried beans.

In small bowl mix together green chilies and wickles*. Spread over eggs and top with bacon pieces.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 10 minutes. Top with cheese and return to oven for five minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with avocado, tomato and sour cream if desired.

Serve and enjoy!

*wickles hoagie and sub relish is a yummy spicy jalapeno relish. Good on or in just about any dish. I love it in soup!

Easy, Mild Verde Chicken Enchiladas

This is the first of the Kraft Recipe Makers that I have tried. It was very good and mild enough for everyone in the house. If you don't do mild you can always add peppers or your favorite hot sauce. I'm looking forward to try the other Recipe Makers by Kraft. The ease of preparation, and the fact that everyone liked it makes it a winner!

1 Kraft Recipe Makers for verde chicken enchiladas
4 cups shredded cooked chicken, about 1 1/2 lbs chicken
12 corn tortillas
shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 inch casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. In large bowl combine chicken with the creamy ranchero filling sauce.

Set aside. To heat the tortillas wrap in damp paper towel and heat in microwave for 30 to 60 seconds. I found it was easiest to do half at a time for 30 seconds. Pour half the tomatillo finishing sauce into the bottom of the casserole dish.

It is easy to determine how much is half since it comes in two pouches! Spoon about 1/4 cup of chicken mixture into each tortilla and roll up. Place in dish, seam side down. Top with remaining tomatillo sauce and desired amount of shredded cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until heated through.

Serve and enjoy!

Shared with:

See Ya In The Gumbo - Ms EnPlace

Abilene Part 3

On the way home from Abilene we decided to detour through Ballinger. There is a Mexican food place here that we used to LOVE!

Alejandras!! We would ride the motorcycle over just to eat here (and of course to enjoy the ride). We started with the Queso. Then I had the enchiladas and John had the chimichanga. The food was good. If we lived closer, we would eat here occassionally but it is no longer so good that it is worth the drive. The service was adequate but very unfriendly. They made it quite obvious that since we were not from there we were not welcome! Overall we were extremely disappointed and won't be going out of our way to dine here again!

Beef and Bean Taco Casserole

I pinned this recipe a few months ago from Recipe.com and finally made it about one month ago. It is very tasty, simple and easily adjusted to suit your family's taste.

1 lb lean ground beef
16 oz can refried beans
16 oz jar salsa
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt
dash of black pepper
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 cups coarsely broken tortilla chips
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 1/2 cups chopped tomato
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
cilantro
chopped pepper, either serrano or jalapeno

Brown ground beef in skillet, draining grease if necessary. Stir in garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper and water. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Simmer beef mixture for about five minutes.

Add the beans and salsa and mix well. Remove from heat. In casserole dish that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray layer two cups of the tortilla chips, beef mixture. chopped pepper, one cup of the chopped tomato, green onions, cheese and cilantro.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Top with remaining tortilla chips and tomato as well as whatever other taco toppings you like. Serve and enjoy!

Chicken Fajitas

I have fallen way behind on my posts. I have about four recipes, counting this one, that I need to get posted. I also need to get to work on our menu plan for next week. Our RV is ready but John has some work to do in this area on Monday, so we will leave here on Tuesday and head back to San Antonio to pick up our RV. I'm enjoying visiting with the in-laws but it'll be nice to get back home. Now back to the recipe, fajitas my way:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 pkg low sodium fajita seasoned chicken breast, about two pounds
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 small onion, cut into wedges
2 jalapeno peppers, cut into strips lengthwise
tortillas

Cut chicken breasts into strips. Heat oil in large skillet.

Add chicken and cook until done.

Add the cumin, coriander, onion and jalapeno and cook for an additional two to three minutes.

Serve with tortillas, flour or corn. Enjoy!

Shared with:

Love Bakes Good Cakes - All My Bloggy Friends
My Turn For Us - Freedom Fridays

Beef Tacos

We love Mexican food and tacos are always an easy, fast choice. I believe this is my favorite recipe for beef tacos so far. Inspired by the wonderful flavor of these Tex-Mex Sloppy Joes, I used the same seasonings to make my tacos. They turned out great!

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 jalapenos, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp sea salt
dash of red pepper
dash of black pepper
1/4 cup water
taco shells
suggested toppings: avocado slices, pico de gallo, sour cream, shredded cheese

In large skillet brown ground beef, onion, jalapenos and garlic.

When ground beef is done stir in seasonings and water.

Simmer for five to seven minutes. Serve on taco shells and top with your favorite toppings.

Enjoy!

Crispy Mahi Fish Tacos

I have been seeing this fish on sale at my local HEB for quite some time but have been reluctant to give it a try. I finally gave in and bought some. The fact that it came with free corn tortillas, cilantro cotija sauce and slaw mix helped convince me. I love free stuff! The fish was wonderful, we loved the tacos!

On Corn Tortillas

1 lb mahi
1 cup southwestern cheese and breadcrumb mixture
2 cups slaw mix
3 oz cilantro cotija sauce
avocado slices
pico de gallo
corn or flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, 325 for RV ovens, Spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Coat fish with cheese/breadcrumb mix. Place fish on baking sheet in single layer. Bake in oven for 10 to 14 minutes or until fish is flaky and opaque in color.

While fish is baking mix together the slaw mix and cotija sauce, set aside. Warm your tortillas. When fish is done place the fish on the warmed tortillas.

On Flour Tortillas

Top with slaw, avocado slices and pico. Serve and enjoy!