Oven Baked Chimichangas

**This recipe calls for precooked rice and meat, so plan accordingly.

¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
¼ cup yellow onion, chopped fine
16 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1½ cups cooked rice
2-3 cups shredded or diced cooked pork, chicken, or beef (use your bottled meat here!)
1 cup shredded cheese
1-2 tsp. minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, (use the lesser amount for less heat)
chopped fresh cilantro, to your taste
salt and pepper
6 large burrito-size flour tortillas

Place a rimmed baking sheet in the oven and heat the oven to 450°. While the oven is heating, in a large skillet, heat 2 T of the oil over medium heat until the oil is shimmering. Cook the onion until it is just softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the beans, rice, meat, and chipotle. Cook until the mixture is heated through, about 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the cheese and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper, about ¼ tsp. each.

Stack the tortillas on a plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave the tortillas until they are warm and pliable, about 1 minute. Top each warm tortilla with some of the meat mixture, leaving about a 2” border at the bottom of the tortillas. Fold in the sides and roll up the tortilla tightly. Brush the wrapped tortillas with the remaining oil and arrange them seam side down on the hot baking sheet that has been preheating in the oven. Bake until the chimis are golden brown and crisp, about 8 to 10 minutes. Garnish with enchilada sauce, lettuce, cheese, tomato, guacamole, sour cream, etc. YUMMY!

Tex-Mex Turkey Casserole

1 lb lean ground turkey

1 med green pepper, chopped
1 med onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced (I'm not allowed to add this)
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 jar (16 oz) salsa
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14 - 1/2 oz) Mexican stewed tomatoes
1 tsp each onion powder, garlic powder and ground cumin
12 corn tortillas (6 inches)
2 cups (8 oz) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese, divide

1. In a large nonstick saucepan coated with cooking spray, cook the turkey, green pepper, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Stir in the beans, salsa, tomato sauce, tomatoes, onion powder, garlic powder and cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

2. Spread 1 cup meat sauce into a 13 in x 9 in x 2 in baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with six tortillas. Spread with half of the remaining meat sauce; sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Layer with remaining tortillas and meat sauce.

3. Cover and bake at 350* for 20 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Barbecued Chicken Tenders

1 cup oil
1 cup soy sauce
1 Lt sprite
a little garlic powder
Chicken tenders

Add all ingredients in a large bowl and marinate over night. Cook on barbecue yum yum.

They are good warm or cold.

Taco Pita's

Hamburger
Onion
Tomato's
Taco seasoning
Ranch dressing
Lettuce
Pita's
Cheese

Cook hamburger with onion and drain well, add taco seasoning and let cool. Just before your ready to serve it, add lettuce, tomato's, cheese and very last ranch dressing. Scoop into pita and yum.

*I only use about 3/4 of the taco seasoning.

This is easy to take camping. I cook the meat with taco seasoning ahead of time and just add the remainder of the ingredients just before serving.

For those of you with food allergies if you use the McCormick taco seasoning, light house ranch and your own bread, you should be good to go.

Beef and Broccoli

1 lb. top round beef steak

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 T. sugar

1/4 cup white grape juice or apple juice (I use apple)

2 T. cornstarch

1 cup water

2 cups fresh broccoli florets (remove stems), cut bite-sized

4 T. vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. sesame oil (I omit this one!)

Cut round steak into thin 2-inch long strips; set aside. Combine soy sauce, sugar, juice, cornstarch, and water in a small bowl; set aside. In a large skillet, stir-fry broccoli in 2 T. oil for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Do not overcook. Place broccoli in another dish. Pour remaining oil in the same skillet and heat on medium-high heat. Add steak and cook until well-browned on all sides; about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, not more than 1 minute. Pour soy sauce mixture over meat and cook until slightly thickened. Stir in sesame oil. Remove from heat. Stir in cooked broccoli. Serve over hot steamed rice. Makes 8 servings.

Yummy Enchiladas

1 lb. ground beef
onion (diced)
2 cans tomato soup
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can chopped olives(drained
3-4 cups shredded cheese
24-30 corn tortillas(lightly browned in oil)

Brown ground beef with onion. Add soups, enchilada sauce and olives. Cook until warmed through. Layer sauce/meat mixture, tortillas, then cheese - about 4 times in a 13x9 inch dish, ending with sauce then cheese. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.