Tag Archives: Mexican themed veggie pack

Sausage and Chayote Stew

2 Mar

In last week’s Bountiful Baskets Mexican themed veggie pack, there was a chayote:

Chayote

 

I had gotten these before in another Mexican themed pack a while back, but this pack only had one.  However, there was zucchini as well, and since chayote is also a member of the gourd family, they both go well in this stew.  Normally, I would put tomatoes in as well, but my husband requested no tomatoes, so I left them out.  This is also similar to the Sausage, Zucchini, and Tomatoes over Rice, but adds a few more ingredients.  I would also suggest serving this over Cilantro Lime Rice, which I didn’t get a chance to make because we had to get to a meeting this week.

Sausage & Chayote Stew

 

 

Sausage and Chayote Stew

What you need:

1 pound Italian sausage
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 chayote squashes, seeded and chopped (I used 1 chayote and 1 zucchini)
3 green chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, and diced
3-4 tomatoes, cores and seeds removed, diced (about 2 cups diced tomatoes)
1 can black beans, drained
1 cup frozen corn
Salt and pepper to taste

How to make it:

Place a large pot over medium-high heat.  Remove casings from sausage, crumble, and cook in the skillet until browned.  Add the onion and garlic to the skillet.  Cook and stir until the onions are translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chayote squash and green chiles.  Cook and stir until the squash begins to soften, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, black beans, and corn.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until completely heated through, about 10 minutes more.  Remove from heat and serve over rice.

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Basket Breakdown 12/1/2012

4 Dec

I haven’t done this in a while!  I actually have a basket picture!  This week, I got the conventional basket, the Mexican themed veggie pack, and the cherry pecan granola.

Here is what we got in the conventional basket:

Conventional Basket 12/1/2012

We got Romaine lettuce, papaya, broccoli, Roma tomatoes, watermelon, rainbow carrots, Hachiya persimmons, fuji apples, mushrooms, cantaloupe, and bananas.  I’ve already peeled and pureed the persimmons, and will be making Persimmon-Cranberry cookies.  Still working on what to do with the papaya.

Mexican themed veggie pack and cherry pecan granola

The Mexican themed veggie pack had tomatillos, dried chipotle peppers, yellow onion, garlic, Mexican grey squash, key limes, avocados, and jalapenos.

The cherry pecan granola is delicious!  The ingredient list is rolled oats, honey, coconut oil, cherries, pecans, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, vanilla, and salt

 

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how case ends are distributed once everything is distributed evenly. I also volunteered and got an extra item for volunteering.

 

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Basket Breakdown – 6/23/2012

25 Jun

This week, I got a conventional basket for $15, a Mexican themed veggie pack for $8.50, and a DIY cookie pack for $10.

This week, I got cherries, bananas, lettuce, cantaloupe, mangoes, nectarines, onions, celery, potatoes, and tomatoes.

For the cherries, I was excited that our Target carries a cherry pitter that I saw Lori at My Kinda Rain do a review on.  It works great!  I feel so much better handing a bowl of cherries to my kids without having to worry about the pits.  This tool can be used on olives too, which I’m happy about since I like to get kalamata olives, which I usually can only find with the pits.  It really takes very little effort, both my kids (ages 3 and 5) were able to use it easily with my supervision.

We are working our way through the rest of the fruits and veggies, not sure what I will make with it all yet.  I have PLENTY of potatoes that I’m trying to come up with good ways to use them before they go bad.

The Mexican themed veggie pack had cilantro, avocados, garlic, green onions, yellow onions, tomatillos, jalapeno peppers, Mexican grey squash, green chiles, and limes.  I will probably make my usual Salsa Verde and Guacamole or Fish Tacos.  I may roast the green chiles to chop up and put in some breakfast burritos.

And, last but not least, the DIY cookie pack.  This time it was themed for the 4th of July.  A few of our cookies were a little broken, but that didn’t make much difference to us!  My girls and I still had a great time decorating and eating them.

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how case ends are distributed once everything is distributed evenly. I also volunteered and got an extra item for volunteering.

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Basket Breakdown – 4/28/2012

29 Apr

Oh, what a morning it was for Bountiful Baskets!  The truck was very late, to the tune of 2 hours late, but people were very patient and a lot of volunteers stepped up to get the distribution done.  It turned out awesome in the end!

This week, I got the conventional basket for $15, the Mexican themed veggie pack for $8.50, and 8 lbs of strawberries for $11.

This week’s conventional basket had a mango, bananas, apples, pineapple, watermelon (not shown, mine wandered off before I took the picture), green beans, broccoli, broccoflower (green colored cauliflower), potatoes, and tomatoes (1 or 2 not shown because my husband ate some right when I brought it all home).

Here are a few ideas for this week:

Mango: Mango Banana Smoothies

Broccoli: Shrimp & Broccoli Alfredo, Garlic Herb Chicken with Broccoli and Cauliflower, Corn & Broccoli Casserole, Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Soup, Sesame Chicken & Broccoli, Roasted Broccoli, Broccoli Cheese Cornbread

Potato: Potatoes Au Gratin (just use 2 lbs of potatoes and omit Jerusalem artichokes), Oven Baked Potato Chips, Sausage &  Potato Pie, Slow Cooker Potato Soup, Steak, Egg, & Potato Burritos (also use roasted Poblano peppers or green chiles from the Mexican pack to spice it up a bit)

This week’s Mexican themed veggie pack had cilantro, Poblano peppers, key limes, tomatillos, green chiles, green onion, avocados, jalapeno peppers, yellow onion, and garlic.  I’ll be using these ingredients to make Breakfast Burritos, Salsa Verde to mix with chicken for Chicken Taquitos, and my very favorite, Roasted Corn Salsa.

Finally, the strawberries!  I froze 6 pounds, leaving 2 pounds plus the 1 pound in my conventional basket fresh for us to eat.  They don’t last long in my house!  The frozen ones will be used throughout the winter, when berries are more expensive to buy, to make smoothies.  Yum!  I will hopefully have a post up soon on how to freeze berries.

 

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how the ends of produce cases are distributed after everything has been distributed evenly.  I also volunteered this week and got 1 extra item for volunteering.

 

This post is participating in a Bountiful Baskets Menu Plan Link-Up with Healthy Mom’s Kitchen to share recipes and menu plans using Bountiful Baskets items.

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Basket Breakdown – 3/17/2012

19 Mar

This week, I went a little crazy!  I got the conventional basket for $15, the Mexican themed veggie pack for $8.50, 2 tortilla packs for $10.50 each, and the organic 9 grain bread for $12, for a total of $58 after the $1.50 handling fee.

Here is what was in the conventional basket:

Russet potatoes, carrots, pineapple, Pink Lady apples, bananas, tomatoes, Bok choy, Romaine lettuce, green onions, salad savoy, and cucumbers.  There was also cantaloupe, but we were short on it, so my basket did not have it.

The Mexican themed veggie pack had yellow onion, green onion, garlic, tomatillos, avocados, key limes, Poblano peppers, jalapeno peppers, green chiles, and cilantro.  I want to make Salsa Roja, Salsa Verde, breakfast burritos with the Poblano peppers, and enchiladas with the green chiles.

The 2 tortilla packs each had 3 dozen large flour tortillas, 2 dozen small flour tortillas, and 2 dozen small corn tortillas.  These are very good!  They are par cooked, so they have to be refrigerated or frozen, then cooked when you use them.  I use them for all kinds of things.

Not sure if I’ve shown a pictures of it before, but here is how the bread comes.  This 9 grain, the multi grain and the honey whole wheat all come pre-sliced, the other breads do not.  Makes excellent toast and sandwiches, my favorite was using it for Bread & Celery Dressing for Thanksgiving.

I’m excited because this coming weekend (3/24), the new site I have been helping to get open will finally open!  I hope that it all goes well!

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how the ends of produce cases are distributed after everything has been distributed evenly.  I also volunteered this week and got 1 extra item for volunteering.

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Copycat Fiesta Lime Chicken

9 Jan

Fiesta Lime Chicken at Applebee’s is my favorite dish to order there.  A while back when I had gotten a bunch of limes from Bountiful Baskets, I decided I would look up how to make this dish online, and found this recipe.  It really tastes very similar, and with a few tweaks to that recipe, it’s fairly easy to make.   The original recipe uses tequila and liquid smoke, but I omit those 2 ingredients.  Tequila isn’t something I have on hand, and I’m not going to get it just for this recipe.  I grill the chicken, so the liquid smoke isn’t necessary.  If you broil the chicken, you may want to add the liquid smoke to get more of a grilled flavor.  Also, the original recipe makes the Mexi-Ranch sauce from scratch, but I cheat and just mix salsa and ranch dressing together to get the same result.  The first time I made this, I used fresh salsa that I had made, but this time used a jar of salsa from the store.  I did find the multi-colored tortilla strips at the grocery store, but I’m too cheap to buy a small bag of them for $2.99, so I just crumbled regular tortilla chips.  Not as pretty as the restaurant version, but tastes just the same!  Tonight, I served it with Spanish rice and black beans.  Some day I’ll get around to making Spanish rice instead of from a package.

Copycat Fiesta Lime Chicken
Serves 4

What you need:

1 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon tequila, optional
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
Crumbled tortilla chips

How to make it:

In a small bowl, combine chicken broth, teriyaki sauce, lime juice, garlic, salt, ginger, and tequila.  Place chicken in a gallon size zipper bag or large baking dish and pour the marinade over chicken.  Fully coat the chicken in the marinade, seal bag or cover the baking dish, and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Remove chicken from marinade, and discard any remaining marinade.  Grill chicken until cooked through juices run clear.  Place cooked chicken in a broiler-safe 9×13 baking dish.

Combine ranch dressing and salsa.  Spoon the ranch/salsa mixture over each piece of chicken.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup shredded cheese on each piece of chicken.

Broil on low heat setting for 2 to 3 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

To serve, spread crumbled tortilla chips on each plate, then place a chicken breast onto the chips.

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Chicken Enchiladas

16 Dec

This is my go-to enchilada recipe.  I love that the sauce is made from scratch, not from a jar or a can.  If you don’t want to make the sauce, you could use a jar or can of sauce, but I really like the way this is made.  It’s a creamy red sauce, and it’s delicious.  This was also a nice way to use up some of the Hatch green chiles I had in the freezer.

Chicken Enchiladas

What you need:

1 Tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded (I use a rotisserie chicken from the store)
4 oz can diced green chiles, or 1 cup diced fresh roasted, peeled green chiles
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 T chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided
12 small corn tortillas

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Grease a 9×13 pan.

In a medium skillet, melt the 1 Tbsp butter and cook onions until softened.  Remove to a bowl.  Stir in chicken and green chiles.

Meanwhile, melt the 1/4 cup butter.  Blend in flour and seasonings, and cook for 3-5 minutes.  Whisk in chicken broth and tomato sauce, making sure there are no lumps.  Cook, stirring until sauce boils thickens.  Remove from heat.  Stir in sour cream and ½ cup cheese.  Stir ½ cup of the sauce into the chicken mixture.

Heat a small skillet over medium low heat.  Place a tortilla in skillet and heat on each side for a few seconds to make tortilla easier to roll.  Spoon about 2 Tbsp of the chicken and sauce mixture onto one end of the tortilla and roll up.  Place in 9×13 pan.  Repeat for remaining tortillas.  Pour remaining sauce over the rolled tortillas, and sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of cheese.

Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.  Allow to cool and serve.

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Chicken Taquitos

16 Dec

Oh, these are yummy!  They are pretty easy to put together, just takes some time to get them all fried.  I considered baking them this time instead of frying them, but my oven already had enchiladas cooking, so I decided to stick with frying them.   Maybe next time I will bake them.

Chicken Taquitos
Makes 18-24 taquitos 

What you need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups Salsa Verde
1 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese
2 dozen 6 inch corn tortillas
Oil for frying

How to make it:

Place chicken in slow cooker and pour salsa verde over chicken.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4.  If you don’t have a slow cooker, cook chicken by your preferred method and mix with salsa verde.  You could even buy a rotisserie chicken at the store and shred it.  Next, mix cheese in with the chicken and salsa mixture.

Heat oil in deep fryer or a large, heavy pot.  Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

Heat a small skillet over medium low heat.  Place a tortilla in the skillet and heat for a few seconds on each side to make it easier to roll. Put about 2 Tbsp of filling at one end of the tortilla and roll tightly.  Use a toothpick in the center to keep them rolled.  Repeat for remaining tortillas.

Place 5-6 in oil at a time.  Cook for a few minutes, or until golden brown.  I don’t have a deep fryer, so I fry mine in a large pot.  And, of course, I didn’t have enough oil on hand to fully cover the taquitos, so I had to flip them halfway through cooking.

Once they have cooked, remove taquitos from oil and onto the paper towel lined baking sheet.  Allow to cool, then serve.

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Bountiful Baskets – 12/3/2011

3 Dec

This week I got the conventional basket, the Mexican veggie pack, and the tortilla pack.

The conventional basket had butter lettuce, broccoli, radishes, tomatoes, yellow onion, green peppers, kiwi, oranges, pears, blackberries, apples, and a pineapple.

The Mexican veggie pack had cilantro, green onions, Mexican squash, green chiles, tomatillos, limes, jalapenos, avocados, yellow onion, and garlic.

The tortilla pack had 2 dozen small corn, 2 dozen small flour, and 3 dozen large flour tortillas.

I am going to make Broccoli Cheese soup with the broccoli today.  I will most likely make enchiladas, possibly 2 kinds, one with red sauce and one with green sauce.  With the avocados, I will probably make Fish Tacos with Avocado Cream Sauce and Guacamole.  I still actually have some green chiles in the freezer, so I might thaw and use those, then the ones I got today I will roast in the broiler, dice, and freeze.  I may make some Salsa Roja as well.  Can’t wait to cook and eat it all!

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how the ends of produce cases are distributed after everything has been distributed evenly.

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Salsa Verde and Baked Tortilla Chips

25 Oct

After making Salsa Roja a couple nights ago, I had the ingredients to make Salsa Verde, but was out of tortilla chips.  I was going to head to the store because I needed a few things anyway, but decided since I had some corn tortillas still, I would bake tortilla chips with them.  Super easy, fairly fast to do.  Here is how to make both.

Salsa Verde

What you need:

1 lb tomatillos, husks removed (if you aren’t familiar with tomatillos, you can see them in this post, second picture, bottom left)
4 jalapenos, more or less depending on the level of hot you want
1 yellow onion, cut in half
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup cilantro
juice of 1 lime

How you make it:

You can roast the ingredients 2 ways.  One way is to roast them in the oven, like I did the ingredients for Salsa Roja.  The other way is to roast them on the grill, like I did last night.  Place a piece of aluminum foil on your grill and heat up your grill. Place tomatillos, jalapenos, onion, and garlic on the foil.  Flip the veggies as they start to blacken.  Continue to cook until onions are translucent, and everything has started to blacken.  Remove from grill and allow to cool.  Then, add all of that plus the cilantro and lime juice to your food processor or blender and blend well.  Serve as desired.

Last night we had this with chips, but a lot of times I will put it over chicken in the slow cooker, then shred the cooked chicken for enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos, burritos, etc.

Baked Tortilla Chips

What you need:

Small corn tortillas
Vegetable or olive oil
Sea salt

How you make them:

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Cut tortillas into 6 pieces using a pizza cutter.  Spray or brush the foil with the oil.  Lay chips out in a single layer on the pan.  Spray or brush the tops of the chips with oil.  Sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes.  If you bake 2 pans at a time, rotate the pans in the oven halfway through.  Allow to cool and serve.

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