Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

We really enjoy a good chicken enchilada in our household.  These definitely fit in the category of DELICIOUS enchiladas.  It is a fabulous twist on the chicken enchilada.  The honey and lime balances out perfectly and the green enchilada sauce mixed with cream (oh my!) is fabulous.  I dare say this is my new favorite enchilada.  These enchiladas will thrill your guests and are easy to make, which leaves the cook very happy! 

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas


Ingredients:
6 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons lime juice (1 large lime)
1 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (I used 3 small chicken breasts)
8-10 flour tortillas
1 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded
16 ounces green enchilada sauce
1 cup heavy cream (to lighten them up, I have substituted sour cream with good results)

Directions:
Mix the first four ingredients and toss with shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least 1/2 hour or longer. Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover marinade. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top.

Recipe Source:  Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Cafe Rio's Sweet Pork

Dear Sweet Pork, oh how I love you. I loved you enough to eat you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the same day. Should I be admitting that? I had a salad with it, and I made a burrito with it. Then I made the same meal again the next week which we never do in our foodie home. That's how much I liked it. The second time I made it using homemade enchilada sauce which made it even more fabulous! I really adore Cafe Rio, but I don't live close enough to get any. Now I feel like I can bring Cafe Rio home anytime I want, and I have. : )

Cafe Rio's Sweet Pork

Ingredients:
2 pounds pork (boneless pork rib meat works great)
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can diced green chilies
3/4 (10oz) can red enchilada sauce (or use homemade - half the recipe of the Quick Enchilada Sauce for the Sweet Pork)
1 c. brown sugar

Directions:
1. Put the pork in a heavy duty ziploc bag to marinate. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinate for a few hours or overnight.

2. Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry) or on low for 8 hours. Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

3. In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.

4. Put shredded pork and sauce in crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

Recipe Source: Favorite Family Recipes

This is how we like to eat our Cafe Rio Sweet Pork:

In the tortilla:
Sweet Pork
Mexican Mix Cheese
Black Beans
Cilantro Rice

To the side:
Pico de Gallo
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Lettuce

Linked to:  Hunk of Meat Mondays, Potluck Sunday

BBQ Chicken Enchiladas

I am a total sucker for all things with BBQ in the title. This recipe had me from those 3 blessed letters.  Then you add chicken...and enchiladas???  Yep, I'm sold.  Well, do I even need to proceed and tell you how I much we enjoyed these?  They were fabulous and a good change from all our standard enchiladas we make around here.  I thought the addition of the BBQ sauce to the red enchilada sauce made the sauce way, WAY better than it is alone.  Made it...loved it...blogged it!

Quick Enchilada Sauce

When I decided to make this for dinner on a whim, I was so glad this recipe included a homemade enchilada sauce to go with it so I didn't have to run to the store to buy anything. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 16 oz. can tomato sauce

2 cups water or chicken broth

1 teaspoon ground cumin (I love cumin!  Anyone else feel the love?)

3-4 cloves garlic, freshly pressed

1 teaspoon onion powder or flakes

salt to taste

Directions:

1.  Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to medium and stir in the flour and chili powder. Cook until lightly browned, stirring constantly to prevent burning. 

2.  Gradually add the rest of the ingredients, continuing to stir to prevent the sauce from sticking and burning.  Cook for approximately 10 minutes, or until sauce begins to thicken. 

BBQ Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

Enchilada Sauce, above (or a 28-ounce can of commercial sauce)

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

2 cans (14 ounces each) of shredded chicken or 1.5 pounds of boneless chicken, cooked and shredded

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

1 tablespoon BBQ seasoning

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)

6 ounces of shredded cheese (I used cheddar, but feel free to mix it up a bit.)

10 tortillas

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 375.

2.  Whisk the BBQ sauce into the enchilada sauce you just prepared or in a bowl with the canned sauce. 

3.  In a large skillet, saute the onion for 7 to 10 minutes or until it is soft.  Add the shredded chicken and spices to the onion.  Mix well.  Add 1/2 of the enchilada sauce and 1/2 of the shredded cheese to the chicken mixture and stir. 

4.  Coat the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish with some enchilada sauce. 

5.  Fill each tortilla with about 1/3 cup of chicken mixture, roll it up, and place it seam side down in the baking dish.  Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the rolled up enchiladas, and top with the rest of the cheese. 

6.  Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until the cheese and sauce are bubbly. 

Recipe Source: http://www.feelslikehomeblog.com/2011/03/bbq-chicken-enchiladas/?pfstyle=wp

Linked to:  Tuesday Night Supper Club

Mexican Lasagna

This is another tried and true delicious meal that my kids always love.  This delicious plate was posted a long time ago and the photo, my oh my, did it need a make over.  I've determined that I have a love/hate relationship with lasagna.  I love the taste, but hate the hassle. Fortunately for me, this lasagna is not only tastalicious, but easy to make.  So it's the perfect meal!  Seriously, look at the cheese all hot and melty running over the edges of the filling and tortillas.  Mmmmmmm....so good.   

Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 lb. hamburger
1 green pepper, diced
½ cup onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced (or ¼ tsp garlic powder)
1 (16 oz) can refried beans
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup salsa
1 tsp cumin powder
½ tsp salt
10-12 small tortillas (corn or flour)  *For gluten free, use corn tortillas. 
2 cups shredded cheese (Mexican mix)

Optional Toppings:
Lettuce
Tomato
Cilantro
Green Onion
Sour Cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Cook hamburger with green pepper, onion and garlic; drain. Add refried beans, tomato sauce, salsa, cumin and salt; simmer 15 minutes. Spoon small amount of meat mixture into 9x13 pan and spread to coat bottom of pan. Top with six tortillas or however many tortillas it takes to make a 1 layer covering over the meat. Top with half of meat mixture; sprinkle with one cups of cheese. Cover with remaining tortillas and meat mixture. Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Remove foil; top with remaining cheese and bake for 5 more minutes. Serve with lettuce, tomato, cilantro, green onion, and/or sour cream.

Recipe Source:  My SIL Nicole Courtright

Linked to:  Full Plate Thursday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Saturday Swap, This Week's Cravings

Chili's Southwest Chicken Eggrolls

So I have always wanted to make this recipe because it sounded so good, but I was always turned off by the ginormous list of ingredients. The list was soooo long, so I figured this must be really time consuming. Thus, months and months went by, and I still hadn't made this recipe. I finally put on my big girl panties and decided to take the plunge into this recipe. I am SO glad I did. We loved these, and they were A LOT easier than I had assumed. I doubled the recipe and was glad I did to use more of the ingredients that I had already opened for the single recipe. Plus, we loved them and wanted more. Don't be afraid, just take the plunge and make these. Your boca will thank you. I did make a couple of adjustments to this so I will include those. Oh, I should mention I have never actually eaten these at Chili's so I have nothing to compare them too, but I hear they are very similar to the restaurant version. These would definitely make a great appetizer for New Years festivities.

Chili's Southwest Chicken Egg rolls

Ingredients:
Egg roll
1 chicken breast fillet
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced red bell peppers
2 tablespoons minced green onions
1/3 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 tablespoons diced canned jalapeno peppers
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 dash cayenne pepper
3/4 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
5 seven inch flour tortillas

Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup smashed fresh avocados(about half of an avocado)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon dried parsley
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1 dash dried dill weed
1 dash garlic powder
1 dash pepper Garnish
2 tablespoons chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped onions

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cook the chicken breast either on the grill, in a pan, in the oven, use a rotisserie, or boil it. I boiled mine because it was the quickest way for me to cook it. If I am just going to shred the chicken and put it in something, I usually just boil it until it's done.
3. Preheat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Add the red pepper and onion to the pan and sauté for a couple minutes until tender.
5. Dice the cooked chicken into small cubes and add it to the pan. Add the corn, black beans, spinach, jalapeno peppers, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper to the pan. Cook for another 4 minutes.
Stir well so that the spinach separates and is incorporated into the mixture.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted.
7. Wrap the tortillas in a moist cloth and microwave on high temperature for 30 seconds or until hot.
8. Spoon approximately one-fifth of the mixture into the center of a tortilla. Fold in the ends and then roll the tortilla over the mixture.
Roll the tortilla very tight, then pierce with a toothpick to hold together.
9. Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have five egg rolls.
10. Lay the egg rolls out on a baking sheet. Brushed them with a little bit of oil, and bake them at 350 for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
11. While the egg rolls cook, prepare the avocado-ranch dipping sauce by combining all of the ingredients in a small bowl.
12. When egg rolls are done, slice each egg roll diagonally lengthwise and arrange on a plate around a small bowl of the dipping sauce.
13. Garnish the dipping sauce with the chopped tomato and onion.

Adapted from: http://www.food.com/recipe/chilis-southwest-egg-rolls-18319

Layered Taco Dip Halloween Style

This is a fun and tasty dip for Halloween. It's easy to make, tastes good, and always get gobbled up at a party. All this picture is missing is a spider. I should have created an olive spider or something. Or even just put a plastic spider on it. Anywho...it tasted delish. :)

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 package taco seasoning

1 can (16 oz.) refried beans

1 pound ripe tomatoes, chopped

6 green onions, trimmed and chopped (about 3/4 cup)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 package (8 oz.) cheese (choose your fav)

1/2 -1 cup sour cream

Tortilla chips for dipping

Directions:

1. Cook ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat, until beef is browned. Stir in 3/4 cup water and taco seasoning. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in refried beans until well combined and heated throught. Set aside.

2. In a medium-size bowl, mix together tomatoes, 3/4 cup green onions, the sugar, garlic salt, and black pepper.

3. In a shallow serving bowl, spread out the beef mixture. Then put sour cream in a ziploc bag, cut off the corner and squeeze out into a web design. Put the tomato mixture around the edges. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the tomato mixture. (If you want to make this normally, you can layer the ingredients.) Serve at room temperature.

Recipe Source: Family Circle Magazine - Sept. 2009

Shrimp Tacos

This recipe is really yummy! I rarely cook seafood in my house because I don't like fish. I do love shrimp but have very little recipes I cook with that use shrimp. This, however, is quite delightful and easy. We will definitely be eating this again.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. shrimp (any size, I used 71-90)

1 medium red bell pepper cut into thick slices

1 red onion cut in thick slices for grilling

3 Tbsp. olive oil

3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

bamboo skewers (for grilling shrimp on grill)

Flour tortillas or crisp taco shells (whichever you prefer)

Taco garnishes:

lettuce

avocado

salsa

cheese

sour cream

cilantro sprigs

Directions:

1. Marinate shrimp, peppers, and onion with olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Marinate for at least 1 hour. (I marinated mine overnight.)

2. Spray grill with non stick spray or olive oil. Prep at high temperature. Arrange shrimp on bamboo skewers. Grill for 2 1/2 -3 minutes on each side. Grill the peppers and onion. You can just set them on the grill or use skewers. Peppers and onions should be grilled until nicely caramelized and tender. (So, we have to buy a new part for our grill so I used our George Foreman. It worked out great!)

3. Fill each tortilla or taco shell with some shrimp, peppers, and onions. Add a little lettuce, salsa, avocado, sour cream, cheese and cilantro. (Add or leave out any of the garnishes.) With these tacos, less is definitely more because you want the delicious flavor of the shrimp, peppers, and onions to come out.

Servings: 2-4

Adapted from: Simple, Seafood Summers Recipe Booklet

Chicken Enchiladas

Here's another of our all time favs that I can't believe hasn't been put on the blog yet. We always come back to this dish because it is easy to make and really good. I got this recipe from my sister-in-law Shalae.

1-2 cups cooked chicken shredded (I like to put in all 2 cups.)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 small can green chiles diced

1/4 cup onion chopped

1 cup sour cream

10 flour tortillas

Grated Cheddar Cheese (or cheese of your choice)

Mix all ingredients except tortillas and cheese. Put small amount of mixture in flour torilla and roll. Place in greased 9x13 pan. Fill rest of tortillas, and save some of the filling to put on top of the tortillas in the pan. On top of the filling, top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Mexican Fiesta

This a super delicious dish!

1 16 ounce bow tie pasta
1 ½ pounds ground beef
1 medium onion chopped
1 medium green pepper chopped
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 16 ounce container sour cream
1 1/3 cup salsa (more or less according to your taste)
1 large can pitted olives sliced
2 large or 4 smaller fresh tomatoes chopped


Prepare pasta as directed on package, cooking only 7 minutes. Drain.
Meanwhile, brown beef in skillet. Add onion and green pepper. Cook and stir until onions are tender, but not browned. Stir in tomato sauce, chili powder, and salt. Toss with pasta and spoon in to a 13x9 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle on cheese. Spoon a layer of sour cream over the cheese. Add a layer of salsa, then the olives, and then a layer of tomatoes. Now eat it!

Fajitas with Homemade Tortillas

6-8 boneless chicken breast cut into strips
1 package fajita seasoning

1 cup water

Mix the fajita mix with the water. marinate the chicken strips for a couple of hours or overnight. Stir fry the chicken pieces in a frying pan until done. Set aside. In a separate pan stir fry the following:

1-2 large onion cut into wedges

1 large green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

1 tablespoon oil

You can use any combination of peppers and onions and as little or as much as you like. Stir fry until softened and cooked to you liking. Serve fajitas with guacamole, sour cream, salsa, vegetables, and chicken in warm homemade tortillas. So delicious!!

Homemade Flour Tortillas

These taste so delicious with chicken fajitas. Mmmmm!!!

4 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 Tablespoons oil

1 3/4 cup lukewarm water

Mix all dry ingredients. Add oil and lukewarm water. Mix dough with hands until dough forms into a soft ball. After dough is finished, let it set in bowl with a towel or cloth over the top for about 10 minutes. Form dough into 10-12 small balls. Spray working area with a small amount of cooking spray. Roll balls into very thin circles. Peel away from counter or working area and carefully place in a preheated pan over medium-high heat. Cook 30 seconds to 2 minutes per side depending on heat. When the dough starts to bubble, the tortilla needs to be turned. It will be browned on the bubbles. Be careful not to burn them as they cook quickly.

Rolling out the dough

Cooking the tortilla

Tortilla Stack

Chicken Fajitas with Homemade Tortillas