tex-mex beef enchiladas

Serves 4 | Prep time: 1 hour| Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes

This recipe is easily doubled; you can bake one batch tonight and freeze another for a no-fuss weeknight meal.

2 T. olive oil
1/4 cup flour (spooned and leveled)
1 can chicken broth (14.5 ounce)
1 1/2 T. chili powder
1 small canned chipotle chile in adobo, minced, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce from can
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 pound lean ground beef
salt & pepper
8 corn tortillas, 6 inch (I used whole wheat)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (need on serving day)

Make sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat 1 ½ tablespoons oil over medium. Add flour and cook, whisking occasionally, 1 minute. Add broth, chili powder, chipotle and adobo sauce, and ¾ cup water; bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat, and simmer until lightly thickened, about 10 minutes.

Make filling: In a 10-inch nonstick skillet, heat remaining ½ tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add onion, garlic, and beef; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until cooked through, about 8 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°. (If freezing, don’t place any sauce in baking dish; see To Freeze, below left.) Spoon ¼ cup sauce in bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish. Set aside. Make enchiladas: Stack tortillas; wrap in foil, and warm in oven, 10 minutes. Fill each with a heaping ¼ cup beef mixture and 2 tablespoons cheese; tightly roll up.

Raise oven heat to 450°. Arrange enchiladas, seam side down, in baking dish. Top with remaining sauce; sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, until hot and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving. Serve garnished with cilantro and, if desired, a green salad.

Note: To freeze: Make sauce and enchiladas; arrange enchiladas in baking dish without sauce (so tortillas don’t become soggy). Place sauce in an airtight container. Cover dish with plastic wrap and foil. Label, date, and freeze enchiladas and sauce. Use within 2 months; bake without thawing (see opposite page).

To bake from frozen: Thaw sauce in refrigerator overnight. Preheat oven to 450°. Remove foil and plastic wrap from baking dish. Pour sauce over top, and sprinkle with cheese; cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover; bake until lightly browned and bubbly, about

15 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes; serve.

If baking right away: Spoon ¼ cup sauce in the bottom of baking dish; pour the rest over the enchiladas.

source: http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood/recipes/Tex-Mex_Beef_Enchiladas.html

 

Notes: I doubled the recipe except the sauce because it makes 3 cups of sauce! With larger whole wheat tortillas, I came out with 10 tortillas for each entree. This sauce tastes very authentic like what you would get in a restaurant. Not really like the canned enchilada sauce from the store.

Sausage and Rice

1 6 1/4 ounce box fast-cooking long grain and wild rice (Uncle Ben’s is the kind I used)
1 pound bulk Italian or turkey sausage
1 1/4 cups finely chopped onions
1 8-ounce can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 cup chopped, green bell pepper
1 cup chopped celery
1 4-ounce can mushrooms stems and pieces
1 10 3/4-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 tsp. salt

Cook rice according to package directions. Brown sausage; drain. Sauté onions. Combine rice, onions, sausage and remaining ingredients; put in a 1-gallon bag and freeze. (I used a foil dish and mixed it all up in the dish.)

Serving day: thaw casserole. Bake uncovered in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes. (I cooked this one from frozen for a little over 1 hour. Turned out great!!!)

Makes 6 servings.

From Wilson & Lagerborg’s Once-A-Month Cooking

French Toast Casserole

1 loaf Italian bread
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 C sugar, divided
1/2 t vanilla (or almond) extract
1/2 C pecans, optiona
4 eggs
2 C milk
1 t cinnamon (or more!)
2 T melted butter

Cut bread into 1 inch cubes. Place half of the bread cubes in agreased 9 x 13 baking pan. Melt cream cheese (carefully!) in the microwave. Stir several times. This takes about 2 minutes. Stir half the sugar and all of the extract into the cream cheese. Pour the cream cheese mixture over thebread cubes. It will not completely cover them. Sprinkle nuts over the cream cheese layer. (I will be giving the nuts on the side for you to sprinkle on top). Top with remaining bread cubes. Beat together theremaining sugar, eggs, milk, cinnamon, and melted butter. Pour the egg and milkmixture over the bread cubes. Refrigerate overnight to bake the next morning OR slide the pan into a two-gallon freezer bag and freeze. Thaw completely to cook. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until browned. Let sit at room temp for 5 minutes before cutting. Top with syrup or fruit toppings.

Reuben Casserole

2 cups nonfat Thousand Island dressing
∏ cup nonfat sour cream
12 slices rye bread, sliced into 1-in strips
3 cups sliced pastrami in 1/2 –in strips
3 cups sauerkraut, drained
2 cups shredded Swiss Cheese

Spray 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a bowl, combine the dressing & sour cream and mix until well blended. Set aside. Layer one-third of the bread strips on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Layer one-third of the pastrami over the bread, then layer one-third of the sauerkraut over the pastrami, followed by one-third of the sour cream mixture and one-third of the cheese. Repeat the layers two more times ending with a layer of cheese.

Cooking instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove foil and bake for 30 minutes, until the casserole is browned and bubbly and the layers are heated through.

Southwest Pasta Bake

From Light & Tasty

INGREDIENTS
8 ounces uncooked penne pasta
1 package (8 ounces) fat-free cream cheese, cubed
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pound lean ground beef
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jar (16 ounces) picante sauce
1 can (8 ounces) no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 can (6 ounces) no-salt-added tomato paste
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
1 can (2-1/4 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained
1/4 cup sliced green onions

DIRECTIONS
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in milk. Stir in spinach and oregano; set aside. In a nonstick skillet, cook beef and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the picante sauce, tomato sauce, tomato paste, chili powder and cumin; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Drain pasta; stir into meat mixture. In a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray, layer half of the meat mixture and all of the spinach mixture. Top with remaining meat mixture. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with cheese. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with olives and onions. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts: Nutritional Analysis: 1 serving equals 333 calories, 10 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 41 mg cholesterol, 996 mg sodium, 38 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 26 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 3 vegetable, 1-1/2 starch

Magnificent Casserole Recipe

Ingredients
2 pounds Lean Ground Beef
8 ounces Cream Cheese
1 tablespoon Green Pepper -- minced
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1/2 cup Swiss Cheese -- grated
8 ounces Egg Noodles -- (package)
1 pound Cottage Cheese
1/3 cup Green Onion -- chopped
2 cups Tomato Sauce

Directions
1.In a large pan, cook noodles in boiling, salted water until tender. Drain & set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese, cottage cheese and sour cream. Add onion and peppers. Set aside.
3. Brown ground beef & drain any fat. Add tomato sauce to ground beef.
4. Grease 9 x 13 inch cake pan or casserole dish, and arrange the following layers: Noodles, cheese mixture, meat mixture - then repeat. Top with grated Swiss cheese.
5. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Note: If you will be freezing this casserole for later use, you may want to reduce or omit the amount of green pepper and onion which are used, as they have a tendency to get stronger over a long period of time.

Recipe from Group Recipes.

Grandma's Secret

This recipe is known in the freezer world as the ''Crowd Pleaser Casserole" or "Feed the Crowd Casserole" but as you know us - we've changed the name and kicked it up a notch!

The name was changed in honor of Janet's grandmother who introduced her to freezer cooking at a young age. Grandma always had this casserole ready to go for when someone came over. After Janet was married, she asked her Grandma about it and learned the art of the freezer!

Here is her scrapbook page capturing this memory:


Click the image to read the story in her own words.

On to the recipe:
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 c chopped onions
12 oz frozen corn
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
2 c macaroni noodles
1 c cheddar cheese

Cook noodles only 3 minutes, drain and immediately run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Noodles will freeze well and not turn to mush if done this way. Brown beef with onions set aside. In 9x13 aluminum freezer pan, mix ingredients except cheese. Season casserole with parsley, celery salt, season all and pepper to taste. Sprinkle cheese on top. Cover with foil and freeze!

To cook: Thaw and cook covered until bubbly at 350.

Creamy Burrito Casserole

This one is a freezer cook's classic. It is a standby in our group. But we don't follow the instructions. We like the flexibility of just having the burritios without the creamy! So, we just freeze the burritos and add the sauce only if we want to before cooking.

Creamy Burrito Casserole

2 Lb ground beef
1 cup onion
1 packet taco season (or more if you want it)
1/2 cup water
16 ounces refried beans
10-12 burrito sized flour tortillas
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 ounces sour cream
Optional garnishes: chopped green onions, sour cream, chopped tomatoes,olives, salsa, guacamole

Directions:Preheat oven to 350*. Spray 9x13 casserole dish w/cooking spray. Cook ground beef, onions and peppers until done; drain Add water and refried beans Mix soup with sour cream in a separate bowl. Put meat/bean mixture into tortillas, top with a little cheese (you need to save some cheese for the top.) Wrap like a burrito, and place seam side down in casserole dish. Put the remaining sour cream mixture on top of the burritos. Sprinkle cheese over top and bake, uncovered, at 350* for 20-30 minutes After cooking, garnish with optional toppings as desired NOTE: This casserole is delicious and freezes well. If you want to freeze, freeze before baking.

Tator Tot Casserole

a classic. :)

Tator Tot Casserole
Serves/Yields: 6-8 Prep.

1 lb. gound beef
small onion, chopped
1 can Cream Mushroom Soup
1/4 cup milk
1 cup sour cream
16 oz. pkg frozen mixed vegetables
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (medium or sharp)
Tator Tots

Brown gound beef and drain. Sautee onion until translucent. Mix. In bowl mix soup, milk, sour cream. Stir until well blended. In 9'x13' freezer/oven pan layer ingredients evenly as follows:
1. Ground beef/onion mixture.
2. Frozen Vegetables (break up any clumps of vegetables)
3. Soup/milk/sour cream mixture.
4. Cheddar cheese.
Top with layer of tater tots.

Cover with plastic wrap and then pan lid or aluminum foil and freeze. Freezes about 6 months.

To heat: Preheat oven to 350'. Bake UNCOVERED 35-45 minutes until tater tots are brown and casserole is bubbly.

Source: SNRPMom from organizedhome.com

Farmer's Casserole

3 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes (24 oz bag)
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (3-4 oz)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (3-4 oz)
1 cup diced ham or Canadian-style bacon
(5 oz)1 4.5 oz can mild green chiles (optional)
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
4 beaten eggs (or 1 cup frozen egg product)
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1/4 t pepper
1/8 t salt

Cooking day instructions:

Grease a 2 quart square baking dish. Arrange potatoes evenly in bottom of dish. Sprinkle with cheeses, ham, green chiles, and green onions. In medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, pepper and salt. Pour egg mixture over potato mixture in dish. (If not freezing, cover and chill several house or overnight, then follow serving day suggestions.) Freeze.

Serving day instructions:

Thaw completely. Bake uncovered in a 350-degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until center appears set. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. If you prefer extra shredded cheese can be sprinkled on top during the last 15 minutes of baking.

Recipe from Don't Panic-Dinner's in the Freezer by Martinez, Howell & Gracia.