Quick Pick: Mexican Chili

This is a quick to make, and easy to cook, slow-cooker recipe.  Put your ingredients together and let it cook all day while you are at work.

Ingredients
1 lb. of lean ground beef
1 can (10 oz.) of red enchilada sauce
1/2 cup of salsa
1/4 cup of chopped yellow onion
1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 cup of corn
1 package of taco seasoning
Salt and pepper

In your slow-cooker add in your beef first.  Throw in your enchilada sauce, salsa, yellow onion, black beans, corn (you can use frozen or canned), and taco seasoning.  Top it off with a little salt and pepper.  

Let it cook during the day 6-8 hours on low.  Place in bowls and top to your liking with cheese, sour cream, cilantro, and/or corn chips.

Loaded Potato Bites

To make the bites, I started with my loaded smashed potato recipe, but you can use any mashed potato recipe of your choosing.  This recipe works best with leftover, cold mashed potatoes.  If you choose to make your own potato starter make sure you add in cheddar cheese (about a cup), scallions (3) or chives, and some pre-cooked chopped up bacon (4 slices) to the potato base before making them into your bites.  

Ingredients for the crust:

1 cup of traditional bread crumbs

2 eggs

1 T of salt

1 t of pepper

Vegetable oil 

Create a dredging station.  Use a whisk to break up the two eggs and leave in a small ramekin.  Place the bread crumbs, salt, and pepper in a separate ramekin, and stir until the ingredients are all incorporated.  

Place a pan on the stove top on medium heat.  Pour enough vegetable oil in the pan to coat the entire bottom.  While it's heating, get your potatoes ready.

Get a large sheet pan and cover with a paper towel (to absorb the extra oil).  Using a melon baller, small scoop, or a spoon, start scooping up your potatoes.  Roll in between your hands to make sure you have a well-formed, even bite. Once you have formed your bites, dredge in the egg, then the bread crumbs, before dropping into your oil.  

Fabulicious Tip:  Only cook about 5-8 bites at a time.  This way you can maintain a consistent heat throughout the cooking process.

Cook for a minute or so on each side, until brown.  Once done, return them to your lined cookie sheet till they cool.  

For a dipping, you can use either ranch dressing or sour cream.  If you want something fun, combine 1/2 cup of sour cream with 2 teaspoons of ranch :)

Loaded Smashed Potatoes

Ingredients

5lbs. of peeled russet potatoes

2 32oz. cans of chicken stock

3 green onions

4 piece of turkey bacon

1/2 C of cheddar cheese

1/2 C of sour cream

1/4 C of milk

4 T of butter

Salt and pepper

I like to cook my potatoes in chicken stock.  I feel like it makes them more flavorful and moist, but you can obviously cook them in water as well.

Pour the chicken stock into a large pot and set over high heat.  Make sure to peel and quarter your potatoes so they cook faster.  Add them to your chicken stock.  Let the potatoes boil.  They are done when you can insert a fork into a potato and they are tender.

Meanwhile, chop up the 3 scallions.  Cook the bacon in the microwave according to the instructions on the package and then chop into small pieces. 

Once potatoes are tender, dump them into a colander to drain.  Add the drained potatoes back into the pot and add the green onions, bacon, cheese, sour cream, milk, and butter.  Begin to mash.  Add enough salt and pepper to taste (about 2 t of salt and 1/4 t of pepper should do). 

These make good leftovers and are also good for twice baked potatoes.