Cilantro Lime Rice in a rice cooker

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups rice, rinsed and drained
3 cups chicken broth
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
3 Tbsp mild diced green chiles (canned)
1 jalapeno, chopped and seeded
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp onion powder

Once rice cooker is done add:
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro

Directions:
Add rice, chicken broth, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1 seeded chopped jalapeno, black beans, 3 Tbsp mild diced green chiles.  Set rice cooker to white or brown rice cook setting on rice cooker.  Once rice is cooked, season with salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in 2 Tbsp of lime juice and 1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro, chopped.

Baked Chicken Taquitos

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (4oz) cream cheese
1/3 cup green salsa (optional)
1 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2  tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 cup chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp sliced green onions
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I like chicken cooked in the crock pot with salsa and taco seasoning)
1 cup grated cheese
about 20 flour 6 inch tortillas

Directions:
Heat oven to 425 degrees.   Lightly coat baking sheet with cooking spray.
Heat cream cheese in microwave for 20 seconds.  Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder.  Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions.  Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

Place 2-3 Tbsp of chicken mixture on tortilla.  Roll it up as tight as you can.  Place seam side down on baking sheet.  Lay all the filled tortillas on a baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other.  Spray tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle some salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

Sweet Potato Burritos

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Ingredients
•1 tablespoon vegetable oil
•1 onion, chopped
•4 cloves garlic, minced
•6 cups canned kidney beans, drained
•2 cups water
•2.5(ish) tablespoons chili powder
•2 teaspoons ground cumin
•4 teaspoons prepared mustard
•1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste
•3 tablespoons soy sauce
•4 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
•12 (10 inch) flour tortillas, warmed
•8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in beans, and mash. Gradually stir in water, and heat until warm (it's going to seem really watery). Remove from heat, and stir in the chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper and soy sauce. Mix in mashed sweet potatoes.
3.Divide bean and sweet potato mixture evenly between the warm flour tortillas. Top with cheese. Fold up tortillas burrito style, and place on a baking sheet.
4.Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven, and serve.

Mexican Chicken with Jalapeno popper sauce

This recipe came along just in time for my bumper crop of jalapenos. I found it on On my menu, where I find all kinds of great recipes. I was excited to try this one out and it lived up to all my expectations. Shane told me he wanted me to make it again. The next day I had more sauce and no more chicken but I was craving the sauce. So for breakfast I made myself an open faced scrambled egg sandwich with the sauce on top. It was soo good. I still have some sauce left and I can't wait to have the same breakfast tomorrow.

Ingredients:
3 Chicken Breasts
A Sprinkle of Cumin per Breast
A Sprinkle of Chili Powder per Breast
A Sprinkle of Salt per Breast
2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
3 Jalapenos, Seeded and Chopped
8 Oz. of Cream Cheese
2 Cups of Chicken Broth
3 Slices of Bacon
3/4 Cup of Shredded Cheddar or Colby Jack
1 Tbsp of Fresh Cilantro, chopped + more for garnish

Directions:
Fry bacon until crisp. Remove to paper towel-lined plate.
Sprinkle chicken with seasonings (I mixed 1 tsp of the cumin, chili, and salt together and then sprinkled that on the chicken) while the bacon crisps. Add the chicken to the hot bacon fat in the skillet. Cook chicken, turning every few minutes, until juices run clear and no longer pink. Remove from skillet and keep warm.
Add chopped jalapenos to the skillet and cook for a couple of minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds to a minute more, until fragrant.
Add chicken broth, deglazing pan. Bring to a boil.
Add cream cheese and stir until melted and smooth. Add in shredded cheese and bacon, stirring until the cheese in melted. Turn off heat and stir in cilantro.
Serve chicken on a bed of Mexican or Taco rice (I made cilantro lime rice) and topped with sauce. Garnish with additional cilantro if desired.

Sour Cream Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (you could use chicken too)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 small can chopped green chiles

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 pint sour cream

shredded cheese

corn tortillas

1 T oil

Directions:

Brown ground beef. I cooked my onions with the beef but I think my mother in law just uses raw onion. Place chicken soup, chopped chiles, and sour cream in a saucepan and heat to boiling point. Meanwhile, place tortilla one at a time in hot oil, let fry just until hot, place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. On tortilla add sauce, cheese, onions, and meat. Roll tortillas and place in 9x13 baking pan. Pour leftover sauce over rolled tortillas, sprinkle with cheese. Place in 350 oven to heat through and cheese to melt.

Easy Taco Soup

Ingredients:
1lb hamburger (or shredded chicken)
1 small onion, chopped
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
4 cups water
4 cups spaghetti sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp salt
shredded cheese
sour cream
tortilla chips

Directions:
Brown the hamburger. Place hamburger in crock pot. Add onion, water, spaghetti sauce, taco seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir. Cook on ow 3-4 hours. Serve in individual bowls, top with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream. This could also easily just be made on the stovetop and let it simmer for a little while with all the ingredients.

Shredded Beef Tacos

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Ingredients:
1 beef roast
1 small onion, diced
1 cup salsa
1 pkg taco seasoning

Directions:
Place roast in crock pot. Top it with salsa and taco seasoning. Let cook on low for 6-8 hrs or until it shreds easily. Shred the meat and then serve with all the taco fixings.

Tamale Bake

This recipe comes from my mom. This was a regular item on our menu when I was a kid. It was also one of my favorite meals. My family can't eat an entire recipe of this and since they don't eat leftovers I make two smaller ones in 8x8 square pans and freeze one for a future meal. I love having an extra casserole in my freezer for those days I don't feel like cooking and this is a painless way to make that happen.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 cup onions, chopped
1/4 tsp powdered garlic (or a clove of fresh garlic)
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cup tomatoes (1 can diced tomatoes)
1 can whole kernel corn
1 tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup corn meal
1 cup water
1 can pitted ripe olives, drained
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp salt
2 T butter
1/2 cup corn meal
1 cup cheese, grated
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:
Brown ground beef; add onions, garlic, and green peppers; cook stirring until onions are golden. Stir in tomatoes, corn, 1 tsp salt, chili powder and pepper; simmer 5 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup corn meal mixed with water, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add olives; turn into 3 qt casserole (or 2 8x8 pans)
Meanwhile, heat milk with 1 tsp salt and butter; slowly stir in 1/2 cup corn meal; cook stirring until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in cheese and eggs; pour over meat mixture. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes.

Chicken Soft Tacos

This is so easy and so good I can't believe I didn't know about this recipe before. It's another great one from my niece, Lia. She posted it on her food blog, Lia's Cookbook

Ingredients:
1-11/2 lbs frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
14.5 oz can low sodium diced tomatoes with green chile's
1 envelope low sodium taco seasoning
tortillas
toppings of choice: guacomole, salsa, cheese, sour cream, lettuce etc.

Directions:
Place chicken breasts in slow cooker. Mix tomatoes and taco seasoning. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve in soft tortillas with toppings of choice.

Spanish Rice

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 cup uncooked rice
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cups water
1 10 oz can diced tomatoes and green chile's
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt

Directions:
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Saute rice, onion, and bell pepper until rice is browned and onions are tender. Stir in water and tomatoes. Season with chili powder, cumin, and salt. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.

Fiesta Corn

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups frozen kernel corn
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup chopped zucchini
2 green onions, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
salt and pepper

Directions:
In large skillet, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the corn, bell pepper, zucchini, green onions and jalapeno pepper. Saute until vegetables are tender--about 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Southwestern Chicken Lasagna

I get daily emails from Allrecipes.com with new recipes. Most of the time they aren't recipes that interest me but this one looked really good and I had a jar of spaghetti sauce already opened in my fridge that I needed to use up. Shane and I both really liked it. As I was eating it I kept thinking this has a familiar flavor--then I realized it was the spaghetti sauce. It really is a combination of lasagna and enchiladas. I kept thinking it should taste like enchiladas but it really had a lot of lasagna-ness about it--which I guess is how it should be since it's a variety of lasagna!

Ingredients:
3 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat (I used canned chicken)
2 Tbsp butter
2 large onions
1 jalapeno, chopped
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cups spaghetti sauce
2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 cup fresh salsa
16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
16 oz shredded cheddar cheese
15 (6inch) corn tortillas

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In large skillet brown chicken in butter. Add onions, jalapeno, garlic, basil, and oregano. Then add the spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce and salsa. Stir all together. Cover skillet and simmer for 10 minutes over low heat.
In lightly greased 9x13 pan, place a layer of tortillas, then a layer of the chicken/sauce mixture, then a layer of mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers twice, then top casserole with cheddar cheese and sliced olives. Bake in oven for 35 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.

Speedy Salsa

Ingredients:

1 (14.5 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
In a food processor, combine all ingredients; cover and process until chunky. Transfer to a small bowl

Mexican Corn

Ingredients:
1 8oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 16oz package frozen corn
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 fresh jalapeno peppers diced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the cream cheese and butter, and mix with the milk until smooth and bubbly. In a medium casserole dish, mix the frozen corn, red bell pepper, and jalapeno peppers. Pour in the cream cheese mixture, and toss to coat. Bake 35-45 minutes in preheated oven, until bubbly and light brown.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

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Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T olive oil

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 10.5oz can chicken broth

1 1/4 cup water

1 can (or 1 cup frozen) corn kernals

1 can white hominy

1 4oz can chopped green chile peppers

1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite sized pieces

Optional toppings: tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, green onions, sour cream.

Directions:

In medium stockpot heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth and water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Stir in corn, hominy, chilies, beans, cilantro and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle soup into individual serving bowls and top with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, monterey jack cheese and chopped green onions.