Skinny Baked Burritos

So, these are awesome. I mean, LOOK AT THAT! Now, you may be saying to yourself, how is that pocket of cheesy meaty goodness covered in sauce a skinny recipe? Well, the burrito above is not. As always, something went wrong...but in this case, I'd say my accident was a win win. 

I found the recipe on Skinny Mom and in my attempts to duplicate it, I screwed up. I bought the wrong size tortillas.  The recipe is supposed to make 8 burritos. My version only makes 4 burritos. So our serving size was essentially double the skinny recipe. However, I am not sorry because these were delicious and AWESOME and I will gladly take on the extra calories to eat this delicious pocket...and I can't promise that when I make these again, I won't make the same "mistake."  I modified the original recipe a bit just by adding black beans & onions to the inside of the burrito. 

Skinny Baked Burritos

Serves: 8 (or 4 depending on tortilla size)

Cook time according to Skinny Mom: 25 mins (she crazy)

Cook time according to Rachel? 1 hour (yes 1 hour)

How difficult was this for Rachel? Easy!

Ingredients:
8 medium tortillas (or 4 large)
1 lb ground turkey
1 packet low sodium taco seasoning
1/2 cup light sour cream
5 oz taco sauce (little over half the jar)
1/2 cup reduced fat 4 cheese Mexican shredded cheese
1 cup black beans
1 cup chopped onion
1 can fat free cream of mushroom soup (sounds weird & not pictured...but trust me)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet, brown the meat. Once brown, remove from heat & drain excess liquid.

Return to low heat & add in taco seasoning & onion. Mix thoroughly & let simmer for 5 mins.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together taco sauce, sour cream & soup. 

Once meat is ready, spread out 1/8 (or 1/4 depending on tortilla size) of the meat & onion mix on the tortilla. Add 1 tbsp (or more if desired) of black beans. 

You can add a little cheese into each if you desire. I didn't and just added it all on top.

Repeat for all tortillas.

Once burritos are ready, place 1/3 of sauce mix in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

Add the burritos in seam down. Mine did spill a little, but no big deal.

Pour the rest of the sauce mix over the top of the burritos & spread evenly.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake for 25 mins until cheese is completely melted.

Enchilada Pasta Bake

I mean...Mexican & Italian combined?!?! HOW COULD YOU GO WRONG? This dish was awesome.  I was a bit weary at first about combining the flavors in traditional Mexican with noodles...but it was absolutely delicious! 

My dish came out a bit more pink than it should have, but that's because I forgot the chili powder...I forgot something...what else is new?! Anyways, compliments to Table For Two for the recipe! I will definitely make this again!

Enchilada Pasta Bake

Serves: 6

Cook time acc to Table for Two: 30 mins

Cook time acc to Rachel: 35 mins

How difficult was this for Rachel? Not too bad!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
5 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 can (10 oz) red enchilada sauce
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup monterey jack cheese, divided
1 cup corn kernels
1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles
12 ounces egg noodles
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cook noodles according to directions

While the noodles cook, in a large skillet brown the ground turkey.

While the meat is browning & noodles are cooking, in a large bowl combine sour cream, enchilada sauce, half the cheddar cheese, half the monterey jack cheese, corn & green chiles. Combine.

Do not mix in the lid to the can as shown above.

Once cooked thoroughly, drain. Add the chili powder, cumin & cayenne pepper. 

Return to medium heat & add in cream cheese.  Stir until melted & combined.

Pour the mixture into the meat & let simmer for 2-3 mins.

Once the noodles are ready, drain and return to the pot. Pour meat mixture into the noodles pot & mix thoroughly.

In a greased 9x13 baking dish, pour meat & noodle mix. 

Top with remaining cheese. 

Bake for 20 mins or until cheese has completely melted.

Where's The Food?

Since the season wrapped 3 weeks ago, life has been CRAZY! I do have a few recipes I've been meaning to post, but for today I thought I'd share a few photos from what's been keeping me so busy! 

First stop...48 hours in Chicago!

After being on hiatus for 2 days, I planned a surprise trip to Chicago for my friends baby shower. This was possibly the hardest secret I've ever kept.  When I got to town on Sat night, I headed straight to my fav pizza place. It wouldn't be a trip to Chicago w/o some deep dish!

Before pulling off the greatest surprise ever, I met up for brunch with some old Chicago friends that happened to be in town. Look at those pancakes!

The mom-to-be looked beautiful & was quite surprised when I just walked into her shower!

I was also able to surprise the amazing hosts!

Up next...back to LA to prep for Visitor #1

This lovely lady & I have been trying to plan her first visit to LA for so long...I almost couldn't believe she was here! We did tons of stuff around LA, but my absolute favorite part included my first trip to Malibu Wines!

This place was AMAZING & a great place to spend the afternoon. The wine was delicious, the scenery was beautiful & I couldn't beat the company!

The trip came to an end with an unlimited Champaign Brunch at The Four Seasons in Santa Barbara.

This was just plate #1 of 3!

No time for rest... Visitor #2 was coming in less than 4 days!

This decision to come visit was quite spontaneous, but I was SO happy to have yet another one of my closest friends come visit for the first time!

We managed to squeeze in a hike, a trip to the beach, Grauman's Chinese Theater, Santa Monica, Malibu, The Hollywood sign, some of my fav restaurants & celebrate Cinco de Mayo.  It was a whirlwind but awesome few days!

So that's what I've been up to. I have another big trip coming up in less than a week, but I WILL be posting some recipes soon!