Chicken Tacos and Homemade Taco Seasoning

I recently made these two delicious partner recipes and didn't have time for photos. Since I'll definitely be making it again, I'll take photos next time :) The blogger on whose blog I found the taco seasoning recipe (sorry, can't find it now!) added that she makes it in bulk, puts it into small mason jars, and gives it as Christmas gifts. In case you'd like to do that, I've included conversions at the end of this post.

Crockpot Chicken Taco Meat
1 bag of frozen chicken breasts (4-5 breasts)
1 pkg taco seasoning (see recipe below if you want to make it from scratch)
1 jar of your favorite salsa
black beans, corn, and creamed cheese are optional (I didn't use them this round, and it was delicious. You can also add some cooked rice at the end.) I double this recipe, because I have a big crockpot, and it freezes very well. It also makes for a great camping meal; I cooked it at home and brought all the fixins for chicken tacos for lunch the next day. It was a big hit!

Directions
Mix the taco seasoning. Sprinkle over frozen chicken breasts in crockpot. Add the other ingredients and cook four hours on high or until the chicken is done.

YUMYUMYUMYUMYUMYUMYUMYUM!

Taco Seasoning
1 1/2 tsp chili powder (I cut this in half, as more than a few reviewers said it was a little hot.)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground pepper

Add to one pound of your favorite meat. Or....


Conversions for making gift-sized containers (You're welcome! :)

64 times bigger recipe (makes about 9 cups):
2 cups chili powder
1/3 cup garlic powder
1/3 cup onion powder
1/3 cup crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 cup dried oregano
2/3 cup paprika
2 cups ground cumin
1 1/3 cups sea salt
1 1/3 ground pepper

128 times bigger recipe (makes about 18 cups):
4 cups chili powder
2/3 cup garlic powder
2/3 cup onion powder
2/3 cup crushed red pepper flakes
2/3 cup dried oregano
1 1/3 cups paprika
4 cups ground cumin
2 2/3 cups sea salt
2 2/3 cups ground pepper

Mexican Lasagna

This recipe puts a delicious spin on traditional lasagna, using ground turkey, as well as tortillas in place of pasta. I found it on Pinterest, and Mr.4444 has declared it a "definite keeper."
I followed the directions given by Sugar & Spice by Celeste, here.
To read this recipe without photos, click here.

Before I start, I want to give props to our little puppy, Milo, who isn't allowed in past the refrigerator in the kitchen and without whose good behavior I would not have been able to make this delicious dinner! Thanks, Milo :)

Sauce Ingredients:

1 tbls garlic-flavored oil

1 lb. ground turkey

1 onion, chopped (I used Vidalia.)

1 red pepper, seeded and chopped

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes (ignore the three cans in this photo!)

3 tablespoons of chopped green chilies (I used canned.)

1 tbls ketchup

 1 tsp Kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp table salt)

fresh cilantro (much less than pictured)

(Celeste's version called for 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro "stalks", 

but I'd never heard of using the stalks instead of the leaves; 

I finely-chopped the leaves, instead. 

Filling Ingredients:

I used five ears of locally grown corn. 

Celeste's version called for about 1 1/2 cans of corn, or 3 1/4 cups. 

As you'll note later, I had too much corn!

1 large can of black beans, drained and rinsed

2 1/2 cups of your favorite cheddar cheese (I used another 1/2 cup for the top.)

6-8 round tortillas (I used 6.)

Guacamole Ingredients:

At this point, I also want to grudgingly give props to my husband, 

who's always trying to tell me to do all of my prepping before I start cooking. 

I rarely follow his advice in this regard, and I wished I had this time, 

as I forgot to saute the onion with the turkey, red peppers, and chilies until they were already cooked. Maybe I've learned my lesson. (Maybe)

Since I did not have olive-flavored oil, I made my own, making sure to heat the oil to at least 200 degrees before sauteing the garlic in it. [Through a little research, I learned that you can actually die from the most obvious way of flavoring oil with garlic (throwing raw garlic into a bottle of oil).]

Here we go!

Cook the ground turkey, peppers, onions, and chilies 

(unless you use canned, like I did) in the olive oil.

 Then add the diced tomatoes, along with a can full of water and the ketchup.

I want to note that in my ingredient photo, I had three cans of tomatoes; 

I figured that error out before I started cooking, you only need one 28-oz can.

When everything is cooked through, add the salt, and cook a little longer (5 minutes).

Bring the heat up until it's hot and bubbly. Add the cilantro and let the sauce simmer on Low. 

Rather than pour the juice off later (as suggested by Celeste)

 I chose to simmer the sauce for about 45 minutes, with the cover off, cooking it down.

As the sauce is simmering, drain and rinse the beans.

Boil and cut the corn off the cob (Mr.4444 says the locally-grown sweetcorn was one of the best parts of this dish!) or just use canned corn.

Mix the beans, corn, and shredded cheese together and set aside until the sauce is ready.

Mmmmmm.....

Get ready for assembly!

Spoon some of the sauce into the bottom of your pan. 

Because I didn't have a round pan tall enough for this recipe, 

I used a square pan and cut my tortillas to fit the entire pan.

(I later noticed that Celeste may have used a 10" oven-proof skillet.)

Place two tortillas atop the sauce in the pan, patching the corners like so.

Spoon 1/3 of the sauce atop the tortillas.

Top that with a layer of the bean/corn/cheese mixture.

Top that with two more tortillas (and patches) and repeat with another layer of sauce and filling, saving a little of each for the top. Top that with two more tortillas and the rest of the sauce and filling. For some reason, I had a ton of filling left! (I look forward to having it for lunch tomorrow!)

Add some more cheese to the top.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to set at least 15 minutes before serving.
(This recipe was enough for five adults to have dinner and three to have delicious leftovers for lunch the next day.)

Serve with lettuce, sour cream, and guacamole made with your preferred amounts of the ingredients shown earlier.

Celeste's recipe has helpful details about freezing/preparing it a day ahead/leftovers/etc.  

The leftovers were wonderful, so I'm sure it freezes well, too.

We will definitely be making this again!

*I also want to point out that it's important to have a deep pan for this recipe. I didn't have the 10-inch wide, 2 1/4" tall pan called for, but I did have a square one, so I used that. 

*You could make this recipe for a crowd if you increased the sauce ingredients.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

[By the way, the original title of this recipe is Creamy Green Chicken Enchiladas, but since they're not actually green, I figured I'd remove the word green before it scared someone off.]

I don't post recipes for dishes that we don't find delicious, but this one? It's fantastic. I first tasted these enchiladas at a Cinco de Mayo party at a neighbor's house. I'd never thought that much of enchiladas before, but these made me say, "Wow. I want to have these again!"  Fortunately, Caron was kind enough to share the recipe with me. (Thanks, Caron!)

Warning: They don't call these Creamy Chicken Enchiladas If you are lactose intolerant, be sure to refresh your stock of digestive enzyme tablets before eating this very-dairy dish!

Ingredients:

8-oz pack cream cheese, softened
16-oz jar of green tomatillo salsa (or make your own--Caron's recipe is at the end)
(For you gringos like me who haven't a clue what green tomatillo salsa is, try "Salsa Verde".)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsps cumin (I like mine freshly-ground, hence the grinder in the photo.)
Big pinch of salt
Freshly-ground, black pepper (as much as you like)

5 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used all the meat from a rotisserie chicken.)
1 can cream-of-chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
3 cups Mexican cheese
1 small bunch of cilantro, chopped
*1 can black beans w jalapenos in lime juice (see note below)
15-20 small corn or flour tortillas (I bought a ten-pack and ended up using 12 (grabbing a few more from another tortillas stash that I have.)

Serve with taco sauce.

In a large pan, over medium heat, mix salsa, cream cheese, and spices (the first group of ingredients above.)

When smooth, remove from heat and add chicken, soup, sour cream, cilantro, and 1 cup of the cheese.

Mix well.

If it's too stiff, you can add milk, chicken stock, or more salsa so it's easier to spoon.

Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray 9 x 13 pan with oil.

Warm tortillas and add a couple of heaping tablespoonsfull of the chicken mixture across the bottom third of a tortilla (I was generous.)

and roll it up, placing it seam-down in the pan. I fit nine small tortillas in my 9 x 13 pan, and this is how much chicken mixture I had left!

Spread extra chicken mixture over the tops of the enchiladas in the pan.

Again, I was generous, and I still had this much left!

*If you're like me and at this point you realize that you never put the beans in, do what I did and add some to the mixture you have left.

I used that to put three more enchiladas in an oval, 2-quart dish that we have, using the single tortilla I had left, plus two more from my stock. A perfect lunch for Mr.4444 some day when he's home alone!

Top with the rest of the cheese.

Spray a piece of foil with oil (or use non-stick foil) and cover the dish. Bake 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Remember those beans I'd forgotten? I topped my serving with some beans and a little taco sauce. The red sauce really topped these off nicely, and they were absolutely delicious. This is definitely my new favorite recipe.

You can also make your own green salsa "very easily":
about 20 tomatillos, de-husked and washed
2 jalapenos
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
Mix the above with one tablespoon of olive oil and roast in 350-degree oven 30 minutes, until tomatillos are soft and onions have golden-brown edges. Allow to cool slightly and then blitz in food processor. (Caron is from England; don't you just love that "blitz" term?!) If you don't like it as hot you can remove seeds from the jalapenos first, or just use one.  You can also just add green chillies and make without the beans, but the extra fiber and protein are good for you! Caron is sure this recipe couldn't be lightened up quite easily, and the chicken soup could be replaced by chicken stock.

Taco Pie

Ever since she had Taco Pie at a friend's house, Kendall has been asking me to make if for supper. I'm very glad she kept badgering me, because it was delicious and easy. If you've ever made tacos, you can easily make Taco Pie. (Seriously, a monkey could do it.) Here's how....

Ingredients:1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup water
1 pkg. taco seasoning (we like Ortega)
1 pkg. Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
1 1/2 cup Fritos Corn Chips, broken up
8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
8 oz. sour cream
Lettuce and tomatoes for serving

First, prepare the meat per package directions (that's what the water is for).

While the meet is cooking, open the crescent rolls and arrange them like this in a pie pan...
Use your fingers to spread the pieces until you have formed a hole-free crust.
Next, take a tomato and place it in the middle of the crust.
Only kidding! (I was in a silly mood.) Take 3/4 of the Fritos and sprinkle them over the crust.
Top with the taco meat...
Then, the sour cream...
And the cheese....
Finally, top with the remaining Fritos...
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. (I baked mine an extra five because you have to add time when baking with stoneware.)

Meanwhile, prepare the sides (the sour cream turned out to be unnecessary, but it's in the pic, so you'll just have to suck it up, sorry.)
Forgot to take pics of the finished product until it was half gone!
Voila!
Sorry about some of the blurry photos; I don't know what I did wrong. Fortunately, I did everything else right; this was a big hit!