Baked Chicken and Spinach Burritos/Flautas

I found a recipe on good ol' pinterest, yes this is becoming a trend...but a trend that I LOVE.  These turned out amazing and I will keep this recipe around and continue to tweak it depending on my mood and ingredients on hand.  Believe it or not, I did not have the 16oz. beer it called for to boil the chicken in,  so right from the get go I knew this was going to be my version of the recipe I had found on the "Healthy-Delicious" site.

While getting sushi with some coworkers the other night one mentioned her love for the seasoning Sazon. I had never heard of this and the way she described it, I felt it was something I must try immediately!  She said she uses it on everything, so it instantly reminded me of my go to spice TONY CHACHERE'S.  I know nothing can replace my Tony's, but having a back up could really open doors for me.  So the next day I picked up this SAZON. I accidentally got a bottle of the "tropical Sazon" but let me tell you it was amazing.

So to the point, I started by boiling the chicken in just enough water to cover the chicken and a generous amount of Sazon and a few shakes of Tony's (I know I can't let go).  I boiled this for about 10-15 minutes.  In the meantime, I added the spices to a separate bowl and chopped my spinach, jalapeno's, green chili's and cilantro.  (The original recipe didn't have cilantro but I feel like any Mexican dish I make can only get better with it's addition, same goes for the green chili).  Once the chicken is cooked, take it out of the water and shred.  Save about 1/4 cup of the water in your pot. Mix the shredded chicken with the spices and add back to the pot with 1/4 cup of the saved water. Add the chopped veggies and cook for about 2-3 min or until spinach is wilted.  Roll and bake.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breast
~2 cups water
~3Tbsp Sazon
~1/2 Tbsp Tony's
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp red pepper
1 jalapeno, minced
3 cups or 1 bag baby spinach
2-3 green chilis or 1 can minced (optional)
3 Tbsp cilantro, minced
6 flour tortillas (I used wheat)
cooking spray
1-2 cups mexican cheese (sharp and Monetery jack)
sour cream and salsa optoinal

 

1. Preheat over to 450 degrees F.
2. Put the chicken and water in a pot (fill water to just cover the chicken) add sazon and tonys, or spices of your choice. Cook 10-15 minutes.
3. Pour out all but 1/4 of the cooking liquid. Take chicken out and shred.  Mix chicken with seasonings.  Put back in pot with water and add spinach, jalapeno, cilantro, and green chili. Cook for about 2-3 minutes or until the spinach is wilted.
4. For flautas cut the tortilla in half, add sour cream and cheese then chicken mixture.  Roll up startingi with the straight edge, place seam side down on a oiled baking sheet.  Or you can use a whole tortilla and make buritto style.
5. Spray the burritos/flautas with cooking spray bake for ~10 minutes or until lightly browned.

6. Can serve with sour cream or salsa, or just eat plain, they are great!

Red Velvet Cake balls aka AMAZEBALLS

These must be the definition of amazeballs! They are truly amazing balls and sooooo easy. I can't wait till I need to make a dessert again because this is a recipe I will continue to go back to. I found them on the cooking site "Bakerella" but I had to make some changes because the store I went to did not have red velvet cake mix. see below...

Ingredients: 
1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake) OR

If you can not find it, which I couldn't, use german chocolate cake mix and add 1 cup buttermilk, 1/2 cup vegtable oil, 3 eggs, 1 bottle of 1oz red food coloring, 2 Tbs. unsweetened baking cocoa powder

1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)

1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate, you may want to buy 2 just in case)

wax paper

        

                                                                                            

   

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting, easiest to use your hands
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet
4. Chill for several hours
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

I also only melt a few pieces of chocolate bark at a time because it starts to cool and thicken. It’s easier to work with when it’s hot.

Maw Maw Josie’s Christmas Spaghetti and Meatballs!!

Please excuse the pictures in this post, they are not the best.  I was probably rushing because I knew I had 3-4 hours of cooking ahead of me. Then once it was done, I was ready to eat and totally forgot an after picture.  This is a family recipe and it's pretty much the only spaghetti I like. We have it every year for Christmas and I always look forward to it.  The meatballs are so tasty the could be served as a meal in itself. 

Meatballs

2 lbs. ground beef 80/20

1 lb. ground pork

½ onion

½ bell pepper

1 rib celery

½ cup bread crumbs

salt and pepper

1 bunch green onions

3 pods garlic

1 Tbs. parsley

3 eggs

¼ cup milk

Chop veggies very fine and mix all ingredients

Form into balls

Bake at 350 until browned, turn once

Sauce

Pork

3 lg cans tomato paste or 6 small cans

1 onion

½ bell pepper

1 rib celery

3 pods garlic

1. Brown in olive oil 2-3 pork chops or pork tenderloin

2. Remove from pan and add 3 lg cans Tomato paste, or 6 small cans. You may have to add a lil more olive oil so it doesn’t burn.

3. Cook on med to med-low heat.

4. Add chopped onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic.

5. Cook about 15 minutes, don’t burn.

6. Put meatballs, pork and tomato mixture in big pot.

7. Add water to desired thickness (do not add to much or gravey will be thin)

Add Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

8. Cook at least 2-4 hours

9. Can add chopped green onion tops and parsley before serving.

Great with garlic bread!

Hot Corn Dip

Pinterest is changing people's lives. I know my sister has become a craft and organizing maniac since she has started "pinning." I have to admit my recipe collection has been growing faster then I can keep up with! This recipe was the first thing I made from the site and it was pretty good. I brought it to my first Hanukkah party, where I got to light my very first menorah! everyone seemed to enjoy this dip and I will keep it as an option when I need a dip recipe, but it was not my absolute favorite. But definitely worth sharing!

• 2 cups shredded chedder cheese
• 1 cup shredded Montery Jack
• 2 tbs chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced small
• 1 small can (4oz) diced green chilies, undrained
• 1/2 cup Mayo
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 11oz can of corn, drained
• 1 small tomato
• 2 tbs cilantro, chopped
• 2 tbs green onions, sliced thin

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the cheeses, chiptole and green peppers, mayo, garlic powder and corn together. Pour into an oven safe dish.
3. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly
4. Top with diced tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro. Serve immediately with tortilla chips or fritos.

Recipe from Gina Marie's Kitchen

Greek Meat

Keeping with the "Claire" theme I wanted to post the best Greek meat I have ever tasted. This is probably the easiest, most flavorful recipe I have ever made. When I told my brother the ingredients he didn't believe me and insisted on adding to it, which he later admitted was a waste of time!:)

Ingredients:

1 pot roast (beef shoulder or something similar, you do not need to buy an expensive one)

2 cans rotel (I use original) with juice

1-2 jars of pepperchinis (1 big or 2 medium size jars) with juice

cream cheese

bread

1. Cut stems off the pepperchini's Put all ingredients in a slow-cooker aka crockpot.

2. Cook on low for ~ 6 hours. If it does not seem ready you can always cook another hour on high, but 6 hours usually does the trick.

3. Shred the meat with a knife and fork.

4. Cook another ~30min.

5. Serve with bread/rolls smeared with cream cheese! (this is seriously amazing)

**I try to make it a little healthy sometimes and eat without the bread like a soup. I add a little big of cream cheese dabs. However, the other day I didn't have cream cheese and only had cottage cheese and it was sooooo good. I think it will be my new addition.

Corn Side Dish

Another great recipe from Claire! This was one of my favorties sides she used to make at the many dinner parties she threw. She mentioned that her husband likes to eat it as a dip with chips, but I love it as a side.

I made this for a work pot luck and people were calling it corn pudding...that name kinda grossed me out but whatever you call it or however you eat it, it's Great!!!!

Ingredients:

2 cans shoepeg corn, drained

1 can of chopped green chillies, drained

2 Tbsp. of chopped japs more if you want it spicer!.

1 block of cream cheese, I usually do 1/3 reduced fat

1/2 to 1 stick of butter/margarine

Directions:

Melt butter and cream cheese. Mix in corn, green chillies, and japs. Place all in a glass baking dish (8x8), and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Can serve with chips or as a side dish!

Turkey Meatloaf #2 (with spinach)

I saw meatloaf in the harvard cafeteria that is next door to where I work and it made me crave another batch of meatloaf. I wanted to try something new so I combined two recipes to make a very flavorful meatloaf! And with the added spinach, a great way to have your veggies and meat all in one:)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

1/3 cup parsley, flat leaf, diced

3 sun-dried tomatos in oil (optional), diced

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

2 eggs

1/4 cup feta cheese

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 lb ground turkey

2-3 cups fresh spinach chopped

1. Mix all the ingredients together.

2. Put in 10inch loaf pan

3. Spread ketchup and BBQ sauce on top ~2-3 Tbl. each.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 min or until food thermometer reads 165 degrees F.