Stuffed Cheesy Enchilada Shells

 Sooo, what do you think of the 4 little Ferguson’s blog NEW look?

  I am loving how fresh and clean it looks.  🙂  Plus, I never did understand why my bright red background turned pink, as well as the pink outline on some of the photos.  NO thanks!

  I am proud to tell you, I figured out how to do it all by my self, AND created my own header last night!!!! {I had to have a friend make the old header because I had NO CLUE what I was doing 2 years ago, still don’t on some things!!!!}  

  Now, I may or may not have had to stay up until midnight to get all the kinks worked out, but whatev.  

Details, people, minor details.

{yawn}

  So in today’s recipe, jumbo shells say good-bye to marinara sauce, because tonight we go SOUTH of the border! Ole’!

  My favorite sisters at Crumbs and Chaos shared this recipe by a guest blogger, and I printed it off immediately to try.  They never disappoint me with their creative dishes!

from Crumbs and Chaos

Ingredients

• 16 ounces, weight Box Of Jumbo Shells
• 20 ounces, fluid Green Chile Enchilada Sauce
• 4 ounces, weight Canned Chopped Green Chilies
• 16 ounces, weight Refried Beans
• 1 pound Ground Beef
• 16 ounces, weight Shredded Mexican Cheese
• 1 dash Red Pepper Flakes
• Salt, Pepper And Garlic To Taste
• Frank’s Hot Sauce (Optional, But OH SO Good!)

Pre-heat oven to 375°.
Brown the ground beef and drain. Add half your can of the enchilada sauce and the can of green chiles, red pepper flakes, and garlic, pepper & salt to taste.
While the ground beef is browning, cook the noodles until al dente. Carefully drain the noodles and rinse in cool water.
Transfer your ground beef mixture to a bowl. Add a handful of the shredded cheese and mix well.
Warm up the refried beans, and start stuffing your shells!
Set up an assembly line of sorts. Pour just enough of your remaining enchilada sauce to cover the bottom of your 9×13 baking dish. Set aside, you’ll use the rest of that can later.
Use a small spoon to fill your shells. Smear a little bit of refried beans inside each shell, and then finish off with the meat mixture, dividing it up evenly between shells. Place them in your baking dish as you go.
After you have filled all of your shells, top with remaining green chile enchilada sauce and a generous amount of cheese. Shake dots of Franks® Hot Sauce all over the top. Bake for 30 minutes.

Serve over your favorite Spanish rice. 

Check out my easy Baked Brown Spanish Rice recipe, here!

~T

Homemade Beef & Cheese Enchiladas

I know everyone knows how to make Beef and Cheese Enchiladas, but I had to share this recipe, because this is by FAR my favorite enchilada sauce recipe! 

Forget buying Enchilada sauce, after you taste homemade and see how easy it is to make, there will be no reason to buy that metallic-tasting canned stuff EVER AGAIN!!!

{click title to print}

Ingredients

• FOR THE FILLING:
• 2 pounds Beef
• 2 whole Medium Onions, Finely Chopped
• 1 teaspoon Each, Salt And Pepper
• 2 bags Mexican Cheese Shreds, 6 Cups Total
• FOR THE SAUCE:
• 2 cans (15 Ounces Each) Tomato Sauce
• 2 cans (14 Oz Each) Chicken Broth
• ¾ cups Oil
• 6 Tablespoons Flour
• 6 Tablespoons Chili Powder
• 1-½ teaspoon Cumin
• 1-½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1-½ teaspoon Onion Salt
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 24 whole Tortillas (white Or Wheat Depending On Your Preference)

Brown 2 pounds of hamburger with chopped onions, salt and pepper. Drain and set aside. In a LARGE family skillet or nice sized stock pot, heat oil to medium heat, then whisk in flour and chili powder. Continue to whisk until lightly browned. Add tomato sauce, chicken broth and all remaining seasonings. Stir until smooth, continuing to stir until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
Spray 2 – 9×13 pyrex baking dishes and set up assembly line style: Tortillas, sauce, beef and cheese. Dip a tortilla in the enchilada sauce, allowing excess to drip off back into the skillet. Lay on a plate for filling with 3 or so tablespoons of meat and a small handful of cheese. Roll tight and lay in baking dish. Repeat until all 24 tortillas have been filled. Scrape remaining sauce over both pans of enchiladas and top with remaining shredded cheese.
Bake at 350* for 30 minutes each, or freeze the second pan for another day.

*This recipe makes 24 enchiladas and about 8 cups of enchilada sauce.

We served ours with:

Baked Brown Spanish Rice

AND

7 Layer Tostada Dip

Ole’!

~T

Smothered Mexican Chicken Roll ups, Baked Brown Spanish Rice & Butterfinger Cake

  It’s not very often I try to tackle 3 new recipes all in one meal, and it’s REALLY rare for us to love all 3 of them!!!!  But it happened!

  So, without further ado, I give you the Mexican supper of your dreams……Ole’!  And yum!  🙂

Smothered Mexican Chicken Roll Ups

• 12 Chicken strips, pounded thin
• 4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
• 16 oz. Salsa Verde (Green salsa made with tomatillas), divided
• 1/2 bunch Cilantro, snipped
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
• 3 ounces Fresh Spinach
• 3 ounces Pepper Jack Cheese, Shredded
• 6 ounces shredded Mexican cheese
• 6 ounces Tortilla Chips, Crushed

Flatten out the chicken to about 1/4″ thickness.

Blend together the cream cheese, half the salsa, cilantro, cumin and garlic powder to form a sauce.

Spread sauce across each breast.

Top with both cheeses and a single layer of spinach.

Roll closed and place in a 9×13 baking dish, seam side down.  Repeat until all 12 chicken roll ups are in place.  Pour remaining half jar of Salsa verde over the chicken and cover in crushed tortilla chips.

Bake at 350ºF covered for 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through.

  YUM!

Baked Brown Spanish Rice

2 1/4 cups brown basamati rice

2 cans chicken broth

1 can rotel tomatoes with chilies, drained (you decide how hot you want, we did original)

1 tsp. chili powder (less if you don’t like heat)

1 tsp. cumin

Preheat oven to 350*.  Combine all ingredients in a 2 Qt. oven safe baking dish.  Stir well.  Cover with foil and bake for 80 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.  Let sit for 10 minutes out of the oven.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Fluff with a fork and serve with Smothered Chicken Roll Ups.

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Time for dessert!  You have probably heard of Health Bar Cake that uses German chocolate cake mix, gooey stuff and of course, crushed Heath bars.  Mmmm, one of our favorites!  This is the Butterfinger version, just as yummy and so easy too!

Butterfinger Cake

Yellow, white or french vanilla cake mix

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 jar caramel topping

4 whole Butterfinger candy bars

Small cool whip

Bake the cake mix according to the package direction.  While hot, poke holes all over the cake.  Pour can of sweetened condensed milk and caramel over hot cake.  Crush up 3 Butterfingers and spread on top of gooey layer.  Allow to cool and refrigerate.  Once cooled completely, top with cool whip and last Butterfinger, crushed.  Serve cold. 

Eat within 3 days as it gets soggy otherwise!

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  I still can’t believe we were 3 for 3 with new recipe “Keepers”! My odds aren’t usually that good.

Try ‘em and let me know what your family thinks……..

Happy Cooking & Baking!

~T