Burritos!!!

The older the baby gets, the easier it is to entertain her. All i had to do is clean the kitchen floor so it was safe, then give her some plastic ring links and set her on it. She can sit there for quite awhile banging the rings on the linoleum floor.

Anyway, I thought burritos would be fun to make, and after seeing some amazing ones at a restaurant on the Travel channel I tried to make some hearty stuffed ones of my own. This is a pretty cheap meal; for about $10 or so you can feed at least 5-6 people.

Ingredients:

about 1 lb lean ground beef (or you can use any ground meat)
1 can black beans
Medium salsa
1 packet McCormick Burrito Seasoning (not necessary, but it does add a nice flavor to the meat)
1 cup brown rice
1 large ripe avocado
1/4 tsp garlic salt
light sour cream
shredded cheddar cheese
large flour tortillas

Prepare the rice as directed (usually 1 cup rice to 1 3/4 cups water, boil, then simmer at least 30 minutes on low). About halfway through the rice cooking, start browning the meat in a large frying pan.
While that cooks, cut the avocado in half and pit it, then peel it and chop the avocado. Mash in a bowl with the garlic salt. This is your guacamole.

Once meat is mostly done browning, add the can of beans, 3/4 cup of water, and the seasoning packet (cut out the water if you're not using the seasoning packet). Mix all together well and cook on low until the rice is done.

Heat a tortilla on a plate in the microwave for about 12 seconds. Top with meat/bean mix, then some rice, then salsa, guacamole, cheese and sour cream. Try not to fill it too much or the tortilla won't close. Wrap it up as tightly as you can and eat! Very tasty.

Spicy Crock Pot Chili

I've made this before and it turns out differently every time, depending on how many shakes of spices I decide to use. I estimated measurements on the spices for you, though, and put the baby in her high chair beside me in the kitchen to watch me prepare. She loved watching the beef brown in the frying pan!
You can turn this into a vegetarian chili quite easily by simply replacing the pound or so of ground beef with a large eggplant all chopped up. My dad always said eggplant was the meat of the vegetable world.
By the way, last night we just had a lamb steak with some packaged veggies, and I prepared the lamb the same way I prepared the rack of it in that earlier post.

Ingredients:

1-1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small red jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 whole sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
1 14-15 oz. can red kidney beans, rinsed
1 14-15 oz. can black beans, rinsed
2 14-15 oz. cans diced stewed tomatoes (I use the can with the zesty chili spices)
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
dash of garlic pepper, if you have some
dash of cumin seed
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp parsley flakes
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp Tabasco sauce

Brown the ground beef in a frying pan (at least most of the way), breaking up into small chunks as it cooks. Or alternatively, peel and chop the eggplant into 1-inch cubes and add to pot. Drain before adding it to the Crock Pot. Drain the cans of beans and put into the pot, and throw in entire contents of the two tomato cans. Chop veggies while meat is browning and throw all into the pot, followed by the spices (adding a little more cayenne pepper if you like your chili super spicy). Stir well with a long wooden spoon and then cook on low for at least 6 hours stirring once in the middle of cook time, or high for at least 4 hours.

I made mine while the baby was awake and fascinated by either me cooking or the magnets on the refrigerator around 9:30am, so it's going to cook at least until 5pm. This chili is best served with either corn bread or Pillsbury crescent rolls.

As a bonus today for missing yesterday's post, I give you a link to my eHow article on my Amazingly Tasty Hamburgers recipe.