Spinach Enchilada Lasagna

I promised better pictures this year. It was a dirty lie. I'm sorry. This isn't, to be fair, an easy food to photograph, and my good camera is currently out of commission. But, well, I did my best. 

Don't be discouraged by ugly food. This is a creamy delicious simple meal that is great for a crowd. It's basically a vehicle for cheese. but, you know, there's a layer of spinach, so we tell ourselves it's dinner.

Spinach Enchilada Lasagna
adapted from allrecipes
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Cook time: 20-25 minutes
Cost: $5.50 (this is about $.45-.90/serving)
tortillas: 1.50, sour cream: .50, salsa: 1.00, cheese: 2.00, spinach: .50

Note: The original recipe called for corn tortillas and this is so delicious like that. But Kip prefers flour, and that's good too. I also like it with half corn and half flour. You get the flavor of the corn and the texture of the flour.

Note #2: You'll notice the cheese has a wide range for measurement. Kip loves this super cheesy. I feel when we use too much cheese, it takes over all the flavors, and it's like eating a pan of cheese (not that there's anything wrong with that...). So decide which way you want to go with this.

Note #3: I'd bet (though it is untested) that this would work just fine in a crock pot on low for 3-4 hours. 

1 C sour cream
1 C green salsa (green enchilada sauce works as well)
1 bunch fresh spinach
2-4 C Monterey Jack cheese
1 package corn or flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Stir together the sour cream and green salsa. Spread a bit on the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.

Layer tortillas, sour cream/salsa mixture, spinach, cheese. Repeat until sour cream/salsa mixture is gone (2-3 layers), then top with a layer or tortillas and cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Dumb Easy Dinner: Mexican Rice Skillet

Summer is nearly upon us. With it comes the pitter patter of little feet. Or rather the stomp stomp stomp of bigger feet, the sometimes pajama days, the summer reading program, the bike rides, the park visits, the pool visits. And then we must not forget the messes, the muddy shoes, the bitter arguments over which cartoon character you are and why your sister is not allowed to be the cartoon character she wants to be. Oh, yes, and the plaintive cries of "I'm hungry."

Sometimes in summer it's actually easier for me to cook. Things are a little more laid back. We have fewer places we have to be. But sometimes I just want to lounge around like a big pasty-skinned lizard and not spend all afternoon in the kitchen. And other times we get home famished and ready to eat one another. On those days, it's good to have a few dumb easy dinners in the back pocket, preferably ones that won't use a booty load of dishes or heat up the oven for hours. Here you go.

The fantastic, glorious thing about Mexican Rice Skillets is that you just need rice, broth, and tomatoes. After that you can kind of do what you want--add meat or beans or enchilada sauce or heat or cheese. Whatever. It's really a dump and eat kind of meal that can be adapted to whatever on earth happens to be in your fridge. If you already have rice leftover, you can even use that, though it's super flavorful to make the rice with all the seasonings simmering into it.

Mexican Rice Skillet
serves 6
adapted from Butter Yum
prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Cost: $7.50 ( $1.25/per serving)
bacon: .50, onion: .15, pepper: .75, beef: 3.00, rice: .15, canned tomatoes: .65, beef stock (from bullion cube): .15, other stuff: .15

a few strips bacon (optional)
1 bell pepper, chopped; I used red (also kind of optional, but veggies for heaven's sake)
1 medium onion, chopped (or finely grated if you have onion-texture haters among you)
1 clove garlic
1 pound ground beef (or cut this to 1/2 pound or use beans instead; seriously, this is that kind of whatever recipe)
1 C uncooked white rice
6 tomatoes, chopped (or a can of diced tomatoes with juices)
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 1/4 C beef stock (if you used the can of tomatoes, reduce this to 1 Cup)
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp black pepper.

Saute bacon if using. Add ground beef and cook (the original recipe just had the beef going raw into the rice and cooking, but I was afraid, so I cooked it first; you could potentially skip this step and you should know the beef doesn't have to be completely cooked through as it will cook longer).Add onions and peppers. Continue to saute until vegetables start to soften.  Add garlic and cook one more minute.

Add rice and cook for a minute. Then add the remaining ingredients.

Bring mixture to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low or medium low. Cook until all the juices are absorbed and the rice is tender. If you taste it and the rice is still a little too tough, add a bit more water (maybe 1/4 C) and cook until it's absorbed.

That's it, and there's dinner. We served it with some grated cheese and sour cream. Also, avocado would have been amazing.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Secret Recipe Club: Taco Roll

It's been a while since I've been with The Secret Recipe Club and it's nice to be back. This month I had 2 Cookin' Mamas--a mother/daughter team who cooks. Sweet and awesome. Once on their site, it took me, like, 12 seconds to find the recipe I wanted to make (which isn't to say that I didn't have plenty of fun wandering around their blog). I'd been wanting to to make something along this line for a while and there it was just staring at me, looking delicious. 2 Cookin' Mamas put guacamole in the center of theirs and I just loved that you could put that or salsa or cream cheese or whatever right in the middle of this. It looks beautiful and is functional too. I'd fully intended to do this, but when the time came, I was racing dinner onto the table and just happy to get a few pictures.

I called it a Taco Roll like they did, but I'd almost say it was a Taco Flower, wouldn't you?

This has a fairly simple ingredient list, but you'll need to plan time for a bit of assembly--not a ton, mind you, but know that you'll be rolling little taco balls and then stacking them up like monkey bread--taco-y monkey bread. It was seriously so so good.

Taco Roll
from 2 Cookin Mamas
serves 6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes, plus 10 for the beef plus another 5 or so to cool--plan for an hour of cooking time, though only a portion of that will be hands-on
Cost: $8.00 or $1.30/serving
crescent dough: 2.00, beef: 3.00, beans: .50, cheese: 2.00, salsa: .50

2 packages of refrigerated crescent dough
1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
2/3 can refried beans
12 oz Mexican blend cheese, grated (or a nice, sharp cheddar, which is what I used)
8 oz salsa

Preheat oven at 375. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray.

First off, cook your hamburger with some salt and pepper. Or maybe some taco seasoning if that's your thing. (I just went with S and P)

As it's cooking, roll out your crescent triangles and get your other ingredients ready. Pour your salsa into a wide-mouthed bowl. Put your grated cheese on a plate.

When the beef is cooked and cooled somewhat (you don't want it smoking hot, but it doesn't have to be completely cool either), put a small amount of refried beans on your crescent triangle, then add 1-2 tablespoons of beef on top of that. Fold/roll it up so that the filling is all neatly tucked into your ball. Perfection is not necessary--you don't have to get everything perfectly sealed, but you don't want a crazy mess either.

Now drop this little folded ball into your salsa to coat and then roll it in the cheese. It's messy, but fun. Continue until all your balls are rolled and layered. I ended up with two layers. They didn't look big enough for my bundt pan, but after cooked, it was perfect. Sprinkle your leftover cheese and salsa on top.

Bake for 45 minutes, checking partway through to be sure it's not getting too brown (mine was fine). Remove and let it sit for several minutes. Then loosen up those edges and turn it out. It will be a pretty little flower of amazingness. If you wish, put something delicious in the center and serve.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

An InLinkz Link-up

Pizzadillas--An Easy Summer Meal

You ready for another super quick meal? Here you go.

The other night when I was making plain old boring quesadillas (which I, for the record, really like), I realized we had a little leftover pepperoni and a little leftover mozzarella. An idea was born. It was a good one. My girls went absolutely NUTS over this. And it was simple and super super fast. To make several takes only 10-15 minutes and dinner is served. And as for price, it's hard to beat. Tortillas are $.99/10, cheese is about $1.00/shredded cup, and just a bit of pepperoni is necessary--50 pepperonis is going to cost about 1.00. That's about $3.00 to serve 5 people. Add some spaghetti sauce to dip it in and some olives or a simple salad and it'll come up to $5.00 or 6.00 to serve 5 people. Not bad. (Note: These are Aldi prices.)

You can serve a salad on the side or olives. And we dipped our pizzadillas in spaghetti sauce. Actually we had a sort of quesadilla bar with different types of quesadillas.

Dipping + choices = big hit.

Easy Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce

So so easy. So so yummy. Which is pretty much the theme of my summer meals.

Also this costs at least half the price of canned enchilada sauce.

Easy Homemade Red Enchilada Sauce
makes about 4 C (this is easily enough for two pans of enchiladas--we used less than half of it)
prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Cost: $1.00
beef broth (I used bullion): .35, tomato sauce: 1.30, chili powder: .25, other stuff: .10

Note: This can be made whenever and frozen. If made for tonight's dinner, let it simmer while you brown the beef and grate the cheese and it'll be good to go when you're ready for it.

Note: Tomato puree is just that--tomatoes that have been pureed and cooked into a sauce. Tomato sauce usually has a bit of salt, onion powder, garlic powder added into the sauce. You can use either in this recipe, but I used sauce. Know that if you use puree, you'll need to add significantly more salt to the final product since it contains none.

3 Tbs oil
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 C chili powder (yes, that much--trust me; it won't be too spicy; we're not spicy folks)
1 Tbsp cumin (also correct)
2 C beef broth
2 C tomato sauce or puree (if using puree will need more salt)
1/2 tsp dry oregano
1 clove minced garlic
salt to taste

In a sauce pan, heat oil. Add flour, chili powder, and cumin and whisk so that it forms a red pasty blob. Yum.

Then whisk in the beef broth until you've got a nice smooth sauce. Add tomato sauce (or puree), oregano, and garlic.

Simmer for 15 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally.

Let it cool a bit before dipping your enchiladas in it, so you don't burn your fingers.

P.S.
To make very simple enchiladas:
Cook 1/2-1 pound ground beef. Season with salt and pepper.
Grate 2 C cheese.
Dip tortillas in sauce, then add beef and cheese and roll up. Place these in a pan. Pour enchilada sauce over them when you're done, then add another sprinkling of cheese to the top. Bake at 350-375 for about 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is melty and stuff is bubbling.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Taco Pie--a Template

Cheap Eat Challenge, Part 2: Watch as our family of 6 eats on less than $10/day.

I threw this together one night when I was going to serve leftovers, but then realized that if I added some ground beef and taco seasoning, our leftovers could equal a taco pie. 

Which is one of the great things about a taco pie. In fact, the night I made this I had this Brilliant Idea to make a cookbook in which I took, say, 5 ingredients and some different seasonings/condiments and arranged them into 5 different meals. Brilliant Idea, right? Except that then I couldn't think of anything to make with these 5 ingredients except for taco pie. Although now that I'm sitting here without the pressure, I'm thinking that you could also make some kind of taco hamburger and taco pizzas and maybe a taco soup. So...hmmm. Perhaps it wasn't such a bust of a Brilliant Idea after all. But that's not what this post is about. 

This post is about taco pie as a leftover meal. Like so many of it's savory pie brothers, it's a pie that is about combining odds and ends that you have and making something that is often purely sublime. 

I had in my refrigerator 2 tortilla shells, various bottles of partially used salsa, some freshly made green tomato relish, the end of a block of cheese that was getting old, and some sour cream. I had nearly a pound of hamburger in the freezer and some slightly stale remnants of a bag or tortilla chips. And so I made a taco pie. 

But you could also do it if you had some pie crust dough in your freezer (or the ingredients for some dough in your pantry). You could do it with canned biscuits or canned croissants. You could do it with beef or chicken or possibly even beans. You could do it with a variety of cheeses (we sometimes end up with leftover bits in bags). You could do it with sour cream or yogurt or possibly even a bit of ranch dressing. And when it is all over, you can doll it up however you want--with sour cream or avocado or tomatoes or green onions. 

What leftovers/foods you need: 

-meat or beans or a combination

-some kind of cheese (sorry vegans, but you do)

-taco seasoning

-something to hold it in: burrito shells, crushed tortillas (stale is fine for this), a pie crust, biscuit dough, or some type of canned refrigerated dough

-taco seasoning or at least some chili powder and salt and pepper

What's nice to have around: 

-salsa or tomatoes (I almost put this in the need list because I like it so much). Green or red tomatoes are both fine for this

-sour cream or something else creamy

-corn

-veggies for topping

Taco Pie Template

something to hold it in (burrito shells, tortilla or corn chips of some sort, pie crust, or refrigerated dough of some kind)

1/2-1 lb beef, chicken, or beans (or a combination thereof)

2 Tbsp taco seasoning

6 Tbsp salsa or relish 

1/4-1/2 C sour cream, yogurt, or creamy stuff

2 C grated cheese (you're safe with cheddar, jack, mozzarella, or a cheese along that line)

Grease a 9-inch pan. Add your crust of choice or crumble a good layer of tortilla chips in the bottom (or do both).

Cook your meat/beans. Add taco seasoning to meat. Add salsa to meat. If you've got some corn, heck mix that in too. 

Layer meat/beans, then sour cream, then cheese. You can do one layer or you can do it in 2 groups--as in 1/2 of the meat/beans, 1/2 of the sour cream, 1/2 of the cheese, and then repeat (this is my preference).

Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is starting to color a bit. 

Garnish with vegetables if desired. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

How I did mine (and it was now that I think of it a little bit of a taco lasagna):

1/2-1 lb beef, browned

1-2 Tbsp taco seasoning

1/4-1/2 C sour cream

2 C grated sharp cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp green tomato relish

4 Tbsp salsa

2 burrito shells (10 inch)

Brown your beef. After it's browned, add taco seasoning. Then add relish and salsa

Grease a pie pan. Put one burrito shell in. Add 1/2 the meat, 1/2 the sour cream, 1/2 half the cheese. Add the second burrito shell and repeat layers, topping with some crumbled tortilla chips. 

Bake at 375 until the cheese on top is just getting some color, about 20-25 minutes.