More Mexican?

This has been one of those "life gets in the way" weeks... we postponed Yummy Mondays until Thursday.  But it turned out my parents couldn't make it on Thursday either!  We made dinner anyway, and took some of it over to my parents.  See what good kids we are?

Of course, I realize now that I still need to pack my whole family for our weekend "beat the winter blues" trip (have I mentioned that winter here kind of stinks?)

And so, I hope you will forgive me if I, without further ado, deliver the recipes and kudos.  (Nothing fun happened while I was making it anyway.)

We made Chimichangas - submitted to the cookbook by Lynne.  Amazing.  I did make one change.  The recipe calls for you to fry the tortillas and then wrap them around the chicken mixture.  I found this a little difficult though, because the tortilla kept crumbling.  So I wrapped and then put the whole thing in the oil, turning it every few minutes.  They turned out beautifully.

Here's the recipe:

Chimichangas

Cut up cooked chicken

3 chopped green onions

garlic salt

3/4 of a jar of green taco sauce

about 1 C of shredded monterrey jack and cheddar cheeses

small can of diced green chilies

1 package of large tortillas

veggie oil

Sour Cream

Shredded lettuce

Mix the first 6 ingredients together - using only half of the cheese.  Set the other 1/2 C aside for later.  In a skillet, heat about 1/2 inch of oil.  Dip the tortilla in hot oil and then set on a piece of wax paper.  Spoon some of the chicken mixture into the middle and then wrap up.  Bake at 350 on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes.  For the last 5 minutes, sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.  Garnish with shredded lettuce and sour cream.

As I said, I rolled the tortillas up first, then fried.  I tucked in the top and bottom to the middle, then rolled from right to left.  (I'm sure you've done this method before.)

Our side was from Marsha and Kevin (we've heard about them before.  They gave us the awesome enchilada casserole!)  It's called Quinoa Salad.  I couldn't find Quinoa, though (I know, right?  What's wrong with this grocery store?) so I used Orzo.  I really don't know what kind of difference that made... but it seemed delicious, anyway!  I think the next time I make it I may be more generous with some of the seasoning, though.  That's all personal preference though.  I'm withholding this one, guys.  Sorry.  But you can always get the cookbook if you want!

And dessert was Cherry Bars, submitted by Joe.  Seriously tasty.  They weren't super rich, they weren't overly sweet... they were, in short, a nice change from almost everything I make.  I did encounter a slight issue when making these though; when I went to preheat the oven, I couldn't find any baking directions.  No temperature or time... or how to actually put the different components of the bars together.  So I winged it based on what was there.  The recipe provided here is the version I made, since I don't really know how to bake the original!  In any case, it tasted wonderful.

Cherry Bars

1 C butter or margarine

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. almond extract

2 C sugar

3 C flour

1 can cherry pie filling

1 can of frosting - your choice of flavor

Mix all the ingredients except the cherry pie filling.  Spread 3/4 of the dough in a greased 9x13 pan.  Spread the cherries on top.  Add the remaining dough on top of that and spread it out, kind of mixing it with the cherries.  Bake at 350 for about 1 hour.  Drizzle the top with the frosting of your choice.  I used cream cheese frosting (which was delicious).  Heat the frosting in the microwave first, and you can pour it all over the top.  


It's phenomenal warm, but good cold too.

Just a side note, I kind of thought there weren't enough cherries - but that's because I'm a huge cherry fan.  I think I'd use two cans - or at least 1 and 1/2 - next time.

Phew!  And that's a wrap!  Hope your weekend is yummy and as chillaxin' as mine's gonna be!

*Be sure to check below for all the fun parties I link to!