Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Brown Bag Burritos

I recently bought a bag of pre-marinated chicken fajita meat on sale at Kroger, and decided to make it for dinner on Monday night.  However, it made a TON.  I think I could have easily fed 6-8 people with the amount of meat in that package!  So, instead of having fajitas for 3 nights in a row, I decided to get creative and make some changes to this brown bag burrito recipe.  Oh. My. Goodness.  They were delicious!! 

Here is what I used:

Left over chicken fajita meat (~1 lb)
Left over sauted onions (~1/4 cup)
1 can fat free refried beans
1 can enchilada sauce
1/4 cup dried minced onions
1/4 cup water
1/2 Tbl chili powder
1/2 Tbl garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregeno
salt to taste
1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
10-20 tortillas (depending on size of tortilla)

1.Chop the chicken and sauted onions into small pieces and mixed them with the remaining ingredients.
2. Let the mixture simmer for about 20 minutes until thickened. 
3. Put the mixture into tortillas (I used fresh whole wheat tortillas from Kroger...not burrito size, but they still work).  I used a small scooper (the scooper I use for cookies) to place mix into the tortillas.
4. Roll tortilla into burrito.
5. Cover the burrito with a paper towel, then with foil (unless you are going to immediately serve).

These can be frozen, then taken out when you want to eat them.  When ready to eat, remove foil and microwave for about a minute. The paper towel keeps the burritos moist. If you don’t use a microwave, skip the paper towel and just wrap in foil. Then heat burritos in the oven with foil. For a sit down meal they are nice topped with lettuce, cheese, salsa, and sour cream. If you’re eating on the run, though, just grab and go!

These are SOOO yummy!!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Spruced up Chicken Salad

I have started buying whole chickens at the grocery store (actually CostCo... they come in packs of two for about $8) and using the meat for casseroles, soups, etc and making my own chicken stock.  When I was pregnant, my midwife said that homemade chicken broth is one of the best sources of calcium you can get (over milk, even), and I really enjoy using it to cook rice, pasta, etc... gives it extra flavor.  I've really enjoyed having pre-cooked, chopped up chicken in the fridge that I can use for dinners throughout the week as well.  I had some chicken that I needed to use up, so I searched for a chicken salad recipe, and then made some changes and ended up with what I thought was a tasty, tasty chicken salad.  Here's what I did...

3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast

handful of bacon bits (could easily use 4-5 pieces freshly cooked bacon)
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 chopped fresh tomato
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp parsley
2 Tbsp chopped green onion
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs finely chopped roasted red pepper
2 Tbs grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Combine mayo, lemon juice, Worcesterchire and parm cheese in small bowl. Set aside.

Combine all other ingredients and mix.  Slowly add dressing to coat.  Best if allowed to cool for about an hour before serving.

We just ate ours on fresh bread, but this would be really tasty on a tortilla wrap, in a lettuce wrap, or served in an avocado!