Easy Layered Bean Dip Recipe

Here's a quick, relatively low fat recipe for bean dip. It's also yummy so enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cans low fat refried beans

1 16 oz. tub of low fat sour cream

2 c. shredded cheese (I use regular cheese, but you can sub low fat cheese)

1 pkg taco seasoning (approximately 2 T.)

2 bunches green onions, diced

3-4 roma tomatoes, diced

2 avocados (optional)

juice from 2 limes (use with avocados)

1 can sliced olives (optional)

Directions:

Open your cans of refried beans and spread at the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan.

Cut open and mash the avocados. Mix with lime juice to prevent browning. Can add salt if you desire. Spread on top of the beans.

Mix the package of taco seasoning with the sour cream until completely blended. Spread on top of avocado mixture.

Dice tomatoes and put on top of sour cream mixture.

Dice green onions and put on top of tomatoes.

Put shredded cheese on top, making sure you get good coverage.

Put sliced olives on top of everything. (I can't eat olives so I put it on half and left the other half alone.)

Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. This tastes great with tortilla chips and feeds a ton of people. Enjoy!

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas (on the stovetop)

Here's a quick and easy meal that makes a ton of food. You get the flavor of green chile chicken enchiladas with half the work. You can serve it with Mexican rice, beans and tortilla chips.

Ingredients:

2 dozen corn tortillas, torn up

1 can green chile enchilada sauce

2 c. shredded cheese

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 c. water

1 1/2 - 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast

Directions:
Boil chicken in salted water about 20 minutes, or until cooked through. When chicken is done remove it from stove top and drain water. Let cool and then shred or cut up chicken.

Pour in green chile enchilada sauce, soup and tortillas. Stir until the tortillas are all covered. Add the chicken and cheese. Add enough water so that the tortillas will be able to soften up. Cook until cheese is melted and food is heated through, approximately 15 - 20 minutes.

Cinco de Mayo Recipes

We love Cinco de Mayo. It gives us an excuse to make a great Mexican meal.

The one thing my kids always request is my homemade salsa.

Homemade Salsa

Ingredients:

5-6 firm roma tomatoes, de-seeded

2-3 jalapenos

1/2 - 1 large white onion (can substitute 5-6 green onions)

1 t. salt

1 t. black pepper

1- 14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes

1/2 bunch cilantro, washed with stems removed

Wash all produce. Pick leaves off cilantro and place in food processor bowl. Cut up 1/2 - 1 large white onion, diced. Carefully cut and deseed the jalapenos, then dice and add to bowl. Deseed the tomatoes, dice and add to the bowl. Add the salt and pepper, then pour the canned tomatoes on top. Put on food processor and run until everything is well mixed.

Taste and make sure you like the flavor. Add more salt to taste if needed. (If you want it to be hotter add more jalapenos. Or add hotter peppers- habanero or serrano peppers will make it significantly hotter.) Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

To make guacamole- Add 2 c. of the salsa to 5 mashed avocados mixed with the juice from 2-3 limes. Refrigerate.

For dessert I made Mexican Wedding Cookies. These are quick and easy. They will disappear almost as fast as you can make them!

Mexican Wedding Cookies

(Makes about 48)
1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter, softened (Do not substitute margarine! It won't set up or taste as good.)

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup finely chopped almonds or pecans

1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if your butter is salted)

Bowl of powdered sugar

Pre-heat oven to 325 F. In a large bowl combine the powdered sugar, butter and vanilla. Blend well. Stir in flour, nuts and salt. Shape into 1-inch balls. (I used my small Pampered Chef scooper. It made them perfectly round and the perfect size.) Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes until set but not brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets. Cool for 2-3 minutes, then roll in powdered sugar. Cool completely and reroll in powdered sugar... if they last that long.

Here's the whole spread for our Cinco de Mayo dinner! Tortilla chips, watermelon, Spanish rice, refried beans with cheese, taco meat, homemade salsa, freshly made tortillas and the Mexican wedding cookies.

Cook Once, Eat Twice

I love the thought of only having to cook one night, but being able to feed my family two different meals on two different nights.

Recipe for Dinner One:

French Dip

Super easy crock-pot recipe!

1 beef roast of your preference (I usually get the biggest one I can find with the least amount of fat)

Water

Beef Bouillon

1 package Italian seasoning mix

Rolls (regular dinner or crusty rolls - whatever)

Basically you just cook the roast for 24 hours.

I sear my roast first in a very hot skillet, just a minute or so on each side.

Then put your roast in your slow cooker and measure in cups enough water to cover the roast. I find that almost always, no matter the size of the roast or the slow cooker 5 or 6 cups will do it. Then add a corresponding number of beef bouillon cubes of tablespoons of instant beef bouillon. Also add the package of Italian seasoning. Stir it all together, and then stir it again after an hour or so, after the bouillon has dissolved.

Here's a tip - sometimes you have to move the roast around too, if there is a lot of fat in the meat it might float a little and you want to be sure it all gets cooked evenly.

Oh and you should have your slow-cooker set to "low."

Another tip: If I forget to get my roast started a full 24 hours in advance, I will often set the slow-cooker to "high" for a few hours and then turn it down. IE: It's midnight on Saturday night and I just remembered I wanted to have a roast for Sunday dinner at 3 or 4 o'clock. Set the slow-cooker to "high" and then when you wake up in the morning, turn it down to low.

After 24 hours of cooking, take your roast out and shred it. You do this with a couple of forks. Just pick it apart.

Serve the meat on rolls with a bowl of the juice from the slow-cooker on the side. This is the best French dip you will ever have!!

Now, be sure to save all of your left over meat and at least 3-4 cups of the juice too for the next night's recipe.

Recipe for Dinner Two:

Green Chile Burros

A family favorite. This freezes really well too, so I make a TON of it and freeze it individual and family servings in Ziploc bags.

1 large onion diced

2 Tbsp oil

1-2 cups of left-over roast meat (we are of course using the beef roast from French dip, but you can also use left-over pork roast meat)

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 beef bouillon cube

1 can of diced green chiles (the little cans)

2 Tbls chili powder

1 can refried beans

Saute the onion in a little bit of oil (I use Canola). Add the meat and heat it through, but be sure not to saute or fry it. Add the tomatoes plus a little water (about 1/4 of the can to get all those good tomato juices), the bouillon, green chiles, chili powder, and refried beans. Stir it all together. You will most likely find that it needs a little more moisture. That's why you saved the juice from last night. Add the juice until you get a good consistency. If you don't have any juice you can add water and more bouillon cubes.

Serve in a flour tortilla, with a little more of the filling on top also. You can also add cheese or sour cream, although I like mine plain.

And get this, once upon a time I even figured out the calories for this dish. If you use about 14 oz of lean roast and non-fat beans, allowing two small burros per serving, then there are right around 4 servings at about 332 calories per serving. Not bad! (of course that doesn't include the tortilla or any other toppings)

Tip: Because I use the biggest roast I can find (and fit in my Crock pot) I usually end up doubling this recipe, and sometimes even tripling it. Then I am able to freeze enough for anywhere from 4-6 dinners for my family of 4 (only 3 of us are eating table food though).