Taco stuffed Bell Peppers

This recipe was really good. I was a little worried that my family wouldn't like it but they all did! It's fairly healthy (besides the fact that I add tons of cheese to it) and relatively easy and quick to make.

Ingredients:

*Olive oil for sauteing and coating peppers for baking
*1/2 lb ground turkey (mine was closer to 3/4 lb because that's what I had)
*1/2 white onion, diced
*1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
*1 cup frozen sweet corn
*1 T taco seasoning (you can make your own to make this lower sodium) I also added garlic powder.
*3 large bell peppers, halved, de-seeded (I did 1 red, 1 yellow and 1 orange)
*1 cup (...or 10 pounds) of shredded cheese (mexican blend or monterrey jack is good)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375. On a large baking sheet, place pepper halves upright and drizzle olive oil all over them. Bake them 15-20 mins or until peppers are blistering and getting slightly translucent around edges. Set aside.

2. While peppers are in the oven- In large skillet, saute onions in 1-2 T olive oil until soft. Then add in ground turkey. Cook till turkey is done and drain liquids. Add in taco seasonings. Stir to combine well. Add in beans and corn.

3. Cook meat mixture for about 5 minutes longer and then remove from heat.

4. Take the (somewhat cooled) halves of peppers and place them in a small casserole dish. Use a spoon and scoop filling inside the peppers. Overstuffing is a good thing!

5. Sprinkle a good amount of cheese on top... don't be shy, enough to cover it all. Place under broiler on high till cheese is melted and bubbly.

6. Serve immediately.

Peppers rubbed down with oil and put on baking sheet and in oven

Ground turkey with taco seasonings, onion, corn and black beans. 

Put baked peppers into casserole dish

Stuff peppers

add cheese and put under broiler till bubbly

ENJOY!

Recipe by Table for Two www.tablefortwoblog.com/stuffed-peppers/

Southwest Green Chili Shredded Pork

This is one of the simplest and best meals I made while on our 24 Advocare Challenge (diet). This makes a ton so it's best if you are making for a crowd or plan this meal as is for day one and use the left overs on top of nacho's, in a quesadilla or on top a loaded southwest sweet potato!

You will need a crockpot and the following ingredients:

*3-4lb Pork shoulder, trimmed of fat
*2 T Extra virgin Olive Oil
*small sweet onion, cut into half rings
*1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, no salt added
*1 4 oz can diced green cili's
*1 can of your favorite flavor Rotel (I use the green chili and tomato)
*1-2 whole anaheim green chilies, sliced into strips (Or another large can of green chilies-drained)
*2 tsp ground cumin
*salt and pepper

Optional ingredients for making into tacos:
*Corn tortillas
*Salsa verde
*sliced avocado
*Low fat sour cream

Optional toppings if making a carb free meal as I did in these pictures
*lime slices
*salsa of any kind
*sliced avocado
*cilantro

Directions:
1. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and season with salt and pepper. Cook on all sides till browned (about 8-10 mins total)
2. Place pork in slow cooker. Add onion, tomatoes, green chilies, rotel and cumin. Add 1/2 cup- 1 cup water (I didn't do this, but I added the tomatoes and rotel with the juices)
3. Cook on low for 8-10 hours until fork tender. You can use two forks to shred pork right in the crock pot and mix will all the sauteed onions and peppers. YUM.

Serve either as is, in tacos, as quesadilla, nachos, or on a potato! Enjoy and invite some friends over to share! :) Sorry, no pictures below of this served in taco's... they were eaten WAY too quickly to snap a photo!

On top of fully loaded nachos! 

On a loaded sweet potato! HUGE hit in my house!

Crock Pot Beef Burritos

School is about to start and my days are getting busier.  I like anything that make my weekday meals a little more simple, but still tasty! I found this blog on Pinterest that shows you how to spend 1-2 hours in the kitchen one day and make 5 different meals to freeze and just throw in the crock pot when ready to make it. It really is a great idea and I love the days I can just wake up and turn my crock pot on and dinner is ready at night! Here is the recipe for the first one I made. Check out Saving You Dinero's Blog for tips on 5-1 Freezer meals! (Make sure it freezes in a size/shape that will fit in your crock pot!)

I really liked these burrito's. We used the meat to make Chipotle style burrito's. I made a side of cilantro lime rice and heated up a can of pinto beans. We all liked this a lot and will definitely make it again!!

Here are all the ingredients that went into this bag. On the bag itself I write:
1. What the meal is called
2. The date I assembled
3. Cooking Directions
4. What to do (if anything) after it's done cooking to prepare the dinner
5. I also list any other ingredients I need during the day I will be serving (ex: tortillas and cheese for burritos)

Ingredients:

• 1 London Broil or top round roast (about 2 lbs)
• 1 diced onion
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce – Use just 1 pepper!! (It’s in a can.)
• 1 ½ teaspoon chili powder (you can adjust this according to your taste)

Ingredients to use on the day you make this- Large Flour Tortillas, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, pico or diced tomato, and cilantro lime rice (white sticky rice mixed with cilantro, lime juice and a little salt). Also, warm up a can of pinto or black beans.

1. Add all the above ingredients into a freezer bag. Put in freezer till ready to make. 
2. When you are ready to cook the meal, dump the contents of the bag into the crock pot and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-7 hours.
3. When the meat is cooked, you will need to strain the juices and add the juice back to the slow cooker. (You want to remove the peppercorns and onions.) Shred the meat and add back to the juice in the slow cooker for about 30 minutes.  Add the meat, some of the rice and come of the beans and toppings of your choice into the tortilla and roll into a burrito. Enjoy!! I always serve with a variety of hot sauces too!! This is one of our favorite recipes. My kids eat it as long as we have leftovers.

Gallon size freezer bag... write on it before you fill it

Once everything is in bag, seal and freeze. (Make sure it doesn't freeze in a shape that is too big to fit in your crock pot)

Half way done

Remove all juices. Take meat and shred back in crock pot

Strain juices removing the whole peppercorns and onions, just letting the juices back in with the meat.

Place all your ingredients in middle of large tortilla

Roll

Enjoy!

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Crock Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos

This is a super easy recipe. Only 3 ingredients go in to the crock pot and then add any fixing you wish. My favorite part about this recipe is you can do SO much with it! We made it tonight and made tacos and quesadillas with the chicken. With the left overs, I am going to make Chicken Tortilla Soup and Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada's with Green Chilies (using this chicken as the filling and not adding extra rotel or onions). I would love to hear any additional recipes you may come up with using this chicken! It makes a ton. I'm sure you could freeze for future use as well!

I have another recipe on this blog that is extremely similar. It's the same 3 ingredients but you also add black beans and corn to the crock pot. We like that a lot too, this is just simplified and I feel can be used in more recipes with the leftovers since I necessarily wouldn't want corn in my enchiladas.

Ingredients:

*4-5 skinless boneless chicken breasts
*1 packet of taco seasoning
*1 lg jar of salsa (I like using a chuncky salsa. Aprox 25-30 oz)
*Any additional toppings (toppings we used included: Tortillas, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, cilantro, sour cream, hot sauce, jalapenos, avocado, pico and lime slices!)

Cook in crock pot on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Once done, shred chicken with two forks right in crock pot mixing with all the juices from the salsa.

YUM!

Shred chicken in Crock Pot 

The chicken is very tender and flavorful!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chilies

These were so dang good! I brought them over to a friends house for dinner and we practically all licked our plates clean! I found two different similar recipes on pinterest that originated from two different blogs... both recipes were rated very well. A friend also made similar ones not long ago that we loved. So after reading reviews of the other blogs and tweaking both to make it fit my family's liking, here is the recipe I made and came up with. I will definitely be making these at least twice a month. I'm even thinking about making a double batch next time and freezing them. I served them with a side of Rice-A-Roni Mexican Style rice. Any type of bean would be great too!

With this recipe, don't be afraid to make it your own... use what spices you have on hand... don't buy anything new as far as seasonings go. Rotel is optional, but I really thought it gave it great flavor and a little extra kick. If your family loves beans, add a can of pinto beans to the chicken mixture. Go crazy! :)

Ingredients:

*1 lb cooked shredded chicken (I recommend buying a rotisserie chicken and shredding it, or boiling 2 chicken breasts in seasoned water and then shredding)
*6-8 8-inch tortillas (we used flour) (I used 7... I felt it filled them enough to my liking)
*1 1/2-2 cups of shredded Mexican cheese (I really like cheese so we used the whole 2 cups of a colby-jack blend)
*1 can original rotel (the hot would be good too if not making for kids)
*1 medium onion- chopped
*1 4-ounce can of green chilies
*1 cup Sour Cream (I used fat free)
*1 14.5 oz can reduced sodium chicken broth
*4 T butter
*1/4 cup flour
*1 T oil (I used olive oil, vegetable oil works too)
*Pepper/Salt- to taste
*1-2 tsp taco seasonings (or you could use some cumin, garlic... whatever you have on hand)
*dash of garlic powder

Optional Toppings (pick and choose as many or as little as you wish... we used all!)
*Fresh cilantro
*Lime slices
*Avocado slices
*Freshly sliced jalapeno
*Salsa
*Hot Sauce

Preheat oven to 400

1. In frypan saute the onion in oil until done. Add your cooked shredded chicken, and all your seasoning. Cook another few minutes. Add can of Rotel and heat up another few minutes.

2. Divide the chicken mixture between your 8 tortillas. Top each with some of the cheese. Roll and place in 9x13 pan, seam side down.

3. In a medium sauce pan, melt your butter. Whisk in flour to make a roux. Stir and cook until bubbly.

4. Slowly stir in chicken broth whisking the whole time to incorporate. (I stirred in 1/4 can at a time until it was smooth... then stir in another 1/4 can... stir... repeat till full can is used and mixture is smooth) Bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently and cook about 2 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and green chiles.

6. Pour sauce evenly over the enchiladas and top with the rest of the cheese.  I covered and baked for 15 minutes and then cooked uncovered for another 5-7 minutes until cheese is melted and it's bubbly.

saute onion 

Shred Chicken

Add chicken to onions in pan. Add seasoning.

Add can of Rotel and heat up.

Divide mixture on tortilla's

Top with cheese and roll up

Place enchiladas, seam side down in pan (there are more than 8 here because I made a few extra  with just cheese and chicken (no rotel) for the kids

Make a roux with your melted butter and flour

Slowly add in chicken broth

Mix in broth till smooth

Add in sour cream

Add in your green chilies

Top enchiladas with the cream sauce

Top with remaining cheese (I also added more black pepper)

Bake 

YUM

Serve with favorite toppings

ENJOY!! And try not to pick up your plate and lick it clean!!!