Chorizo Stuffed Chicken and Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 link of chorizo
• 5-6 button mushrooms
• 2 c spinach (I used roughly 1-2 large handfuls)
• 2 c cheese
• 5 chicken breasts (either pounded flat to roll up or with a pocket cut in the for stuffing)
• salt
• pepper
• smoked paprika

• 1 c brown rice cooked according to directions in water with 2 cubes chicken bullion and 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes, (medium, hot or whatever you prefer)
• 1 can green chiles
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

1. Cook chorizo, draining excess grease, remove from pan
2. Saute mushrooms in same pan, adding spinach at the end with enough time to just wilt it a bit
3. Mix mushrooms and Spinach with chorizo
4. Stuff mixture into chicken and seal with toothpicks
5. Bake at 325 for 50-70 minutes, covered in a glass pan
6. While chorizo is baking prepare rice adding bullion and olive oil
7. Once rice is about 90% done, add chiles, cumin, and garlic powder and tomatoes
8. During last 10 minutes of baking, top chicken with cheese

If you have any leftover chorizo mixture, save it and make a dip layered with cream cheese, with shredded cheese on top. You can either microwave it or bake it until the cheese bubbles, serve with tortilla chips or on small flour tortillas for a snack or a light lunch.

Easy Salsa Dip

This salsa dip is just cream cheese spread on the bottom of the bowl, covered with salsa and cheese on top. It is one of my favorite quick snacks.

Tex-Mex Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1-1/4 lbs ground beef
• Taco seasoning:
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp chili powder
• dash of cayenne or chipotle powder optional
• sea salt, according to preference
• pepper, according to preference
• 1 small can tomato sauce or tomato juice
• 1/2 green pepper chopped
• 1/2 red pepper chopped
• 1 can of black beans
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 2-3 cups Mexican cheese
• 1 lb (1box) of pasta, like penne or farfalle

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef with onions, peppers, taco seasoning, (drain beef if necessary) adding tomato juice after beef is nearly done browning.
2. boil pasta to al dente, and strain
3. combine beef mixture, beans and corn with pasta in a big bowl or pot that you boiled pasta in
4. layer pasta mixture with cheese
5. bake at 300 for 1 hour or 325 for 40 minutes or until cheese bubbles.

Ranch Taco Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1- 1 1/4 lb ground beef, sirloin if you want to spend the extra money
• 1/2 c. frozen corn
• 1 carrot, shaved with a vegetable peeler
• 2-3 cups of your favorite shredded cheese, I like Kirlkand Mexican Blend
• 1 small can tomato sauce or 1 small can tomato juice
• Your favorite tortilla chips, I like Garden of Eatin Blues
• Ranch Dressing
• Hot sauce, optional
• Taco seasoning, you can use a packet or make your own:
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp chili powder
• dash of cayenne or chipotle powder optional
• sea salt, according to preference
• pepper, according to preference

Directions

1. Brown beef with carrots and add taco seasonings, drain fat if necessary or desired
2. Add can of tomato juice or sauce
3. Add corn and simmer
4. Assemble your salad, crumbling tortilla chips on top

Save money on this meal:

• buy beef and cheese in bulk and freeze in appropriate proportions for your family size
• keep a good stock of seasonings on hand to avoid convenience foods, which are almost always more expensive in the long run
• add pinto beans or black beans (at the end) with less meat or the same amount to stretch it out
• eat leftovers in a tortilla for lunch

Splurge:

• use ground sirloin (it is a lot more flavorful that regular old ground beef)
• use a specialty cheese (like chipotle cheddar and grate it yourself)
• use 2-3 cloves of minced garlic in place of real garlic
• serve with cornbread on the side