Toastachos

I pretty much feel like these are beef tostadas, but I got them from Rachel Ray's website and she called them toastachos, so that's what I am going with.

These are quick to make but have a lot of little steps. I suggest having everything pre-measured and ready to go before starting. I suppose that is probably a good idea for any recipe haha but I usually do my chopping and such while doing other things like browning the meat.

Matt called his the "man-nacho" because of how much he piled on it :) 

Mine, minus the sour cream. I totally forgot about it until after I took the picture.

INGREDIENTS:
Corn or vegetable oil, for frying
6 (6 inch) corn tortillas
Salt and pepper
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped, divided
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely chopped, divided
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup beef stock
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups mexi-blend cheese (plus more for topping if desired)
Pickled jalapeño slices
Sour cream, if desired

DIRECTIONS:
Fry the tortillas one at a time in oil over medium-high heat until golden and crisp. Season with salt.
In a skillet, heat a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat. Add the beef and brown for about 5 minutes. Add half  of the onion and half of the jalapeño peppers. Add the garlic, chili powder, and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute. Add the beef stock and lower the heat to a simmer.
In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes with the remaining onion and jalapeño. Season the salsa with salt.
Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and cook to thicken, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cheese to melt.
Cover each tortilla with the meat and cheese sauce, then top with salsa, pickled jalapeños, sour cream, and shredded cheese. 

Jalapeno Cream Cheese Burgers

I am not normally a huge fan of burgers, but this one is delicious! It makes 6-8 burgers, depending on the size you want them.

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs ground beef
8oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup finely diced jalapeno peppers
burger buns

DIRECTIONS:
Mix the cream cheese and jalapenos together until well-blended.
Divide the burger into 6-8 sections. Divide each section evenly and make patties (so you will have 12-16 patties).
Spread the jalapeno cream cheese on half of the patties in the center, leaving a border around the edge. Top with another patty. Make sure to press edges together to seal the cheese inside the patty.

Cook in skillet sprayed with cooking spray over medium heat til done, flipping once. Don't push down on the burger or filling will ooze. Flip carefully or the 2 patties with separate.

Spread extra jalapeno cream cheese on bun, if desired. Enjoy!


NOTES:
This could be cooked on a grill, but make sure it is well oiled. If burgers stick, the patties will most likely separate.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

When I saw this recipe, I knew we would love it! I made a few small changes to suit our tastes. It is definitely going to be a common meal in our house! Makes excellent leftovers as well. I made how many we would eat for supper, then saved the rest of the mixture to make more for lunch the next day.

The jalapeno cream cheese we used is just a block of regular cream cheese, with jarred jalapenos chopped and mixed in by hand. Since the boys usually don't like spicy foods, I didn't put the cream cheese on theirs. Instead, I used sour cream. They both really liked it. Matt tried one with just sour cream and he said it was really good too...I will continue to stick to my cream cheese though!

The tortillas we used were on the smaller side (they say burrito sized, but I have seen bigger burrito sized ones), so we were able to make about 9 wraps (I put less in the kids, more in matts, so it all just depends).

The filling:

 The Jalapeno cream cheese:

Ready to roll:

 All rolled up:

Ready to eat:

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cup cooked brown rice, warm or at room temperature
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 green onions, finely sliced (white and green parts)
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic salt
shredded cheese (at least 2 cups)
flour tortillas
jalapeno cream cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Add chicken, beans, green onions, and green pepper. Spread desired amount of cream cheese over tortillas. Top with cheese, leaving small border around edges. Spoon chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll stuffed tortillas, folding in edges like a burrito. Spray top and bottom with cooking spray.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Put 2 wraps at a time, seam-side down, in pan and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 3-4 minutes per side. Enjoy!