Happy Belated Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Belated Cinco de Mayo!!! I meant to post this yesterday, but the day just kinda gotta away from me! It was a quiet one here...no baseball games, no baseball practice, no scouts...Very Quiet! But it did give me a chance to do some cooking. I made 2 dishes: beef enchilada casserole (which I invented one of those times I was throwing things in a pot and hoping they would be edible) and Southwestern Egg Rolls (which was invented by Jackie on http://www.allrecipes.com/, my all time favorite recipe site!).

My Beef Enchilada Casserole:

1 1/2 lb. hamburger, browned
1/2 c. onion, chopped
2 packets taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
1 box Rice-a-roni cheesy rice mix
1 can enchilada sauce
1 pkg. corn tortillas
2 c. monterey-jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Brown hamburger and onion in lg. skillet. Drain grease and add taco seasoning, 1/2 c. water, and refried beans. Mix and put aside.

In a pot, prepare rice mix according to directions. (I like the cheesy rice mix, but almost any type of boxed rice will work. The cheesy just makes it more Mexican to me)

Take a 9 x 11 glass casserole dish and pour a little of the enchilada sauce on the bottom until it covers (or you can spray with Oil). Tear 3-4 corn tortillas into bite size pieces and layer on bottom. On top of tortillas, spread rice mix out evenly. The hamburger/bean mixture is layered on top of that and then another layer of torn tortillas. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on top of the tortillas (you can put several layers of tortillas down, just make sure you pour enchilada sauce over each layer). Top with cheese.

Bake 30-35 minutes in 350 degree oven. Serve.

Southwestern Egg Rolls


2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 skinless, boneless chicken breast or 1 can diced chicken, drained
2 tbsp. minced green onion or shallot
2 tbsp. red bell pepper
1/3 c. frozen corn kernels
1/2 c. black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 tbsp. dice jalapeno peppers
1/2 tbsp. minced fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/3 tsp. salt
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
3/4 c. shredded Monterey jack cheese
5 flour tortillas (or about 15 egg roll wrappers)
1 qt. oil for deep frying

• Cook chicken in oil, remove from heat and set aside (or I used 1 can already cooked chicken from Walmart and skipped this part)
• Heat oil. Saute onion and bell pepper about 5 min. Add diced chicken (or canned from the grocery store), mix in corn, black beans, spinach (I skipped the spinach and jalapeno peppers), jalapeno pepper, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Cook another 5 minutes until blended together and veggies are tender. Remove from heat and add cheese.
• Option 1: Wrap tortillas with a clean, lightly moist cloth and microwave for 1 minute until hot and pliable. Spoon even amounts of mixture in tortillas, roll tightly, and secure with toothpick. Fry in heated oil about 10 minutes each or until golden brown or you can bake in a 450 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.
• Option 2: Wrap egg rolls according to the directions on the egg roll wrapper and set aside until oil is heated. Fry egg rolls the same way as option 1. Drain on paper towel before serving.

• Spicy Sour Cream Sauce: Mix 1 c. light sour cream with 1/4 to 1/2 c. hot sauce of choice. Great for dipping egg rolls in or on top of enchilada casserole.

We really enjoy our Tex-Mex food in this house and I had enough left that we can have left-overs on Friday (T-ball game night), which I will probably serve with a salad. Yumm-O (to quote Rachel Ray).