Sweet Potato Burritos with Chili-Lime Cream Sauce

I got this burrito recipe from my friend Christina who got it from Allrecipes. Got that?? I, of course, added my own touches and spices like most cooks do. This is written how I made it. You can also do a search at Allrecipes for Sweet Potato Burritos. The recipe there is a bit different. I think part of the fun of cooking is taking recipes and making them your own!

I wanted a sauce to go with them other than just plain sour cream and I didn't think salsa would taste quite right. I love the flavor combination of chili pepper and lime, so I based a sauce around those flavors. It ended up working really well with these burritoes!

Although this sounds like a super weird combination, it was really yummy. Interesting flavors and other than baking off the sweet potatoes last night when I was cooking some thing else (time-saving tip from Christina). I assembled these (7 minutes) and cooked them (20 minutes) after church today. Beginning to table~ less than 30 minutes. They were yummy, filling and filled with great vitamins (and really budget friendly too~I think the entire meal cost me less than $8!!!!)

INGREDIENTS:

Sweet Potato Burritos

2 large sweet potatoes

1 can fat-free refried beans

1 pkg. (2 cup) shredded 2 % reduced fat Mexican Cheese

1 pkg. whole wheat tortillas

1 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. chili pepper

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Bake sweet potatoes until tender and oozing. (I did these the night before and just left them in their skins in the refrigerator until I needed them - you could probably do this up to 2 days in advance. )

Scoop out sweet potato flesh and mash lightly once cooked.

Mix can of refried beans with the listed spices.

Assemble the burritos in the following order: Beans, sweet potato, cheese. 1 can of beans and 1 package of cheese with the sweet potatoes made 6 burritos with a little cheese and sweet potatoes left over.

Place burritos seam side down in a baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Brush the tops of the burritos with some olive or canola oil. Just a little bit.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Chili-Lime Cream Sauce

1 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/4 - 1/2 tsp. Cayenne pepper (added to spicy preference and to taste)

zest of one lime

juice of 1/2 a lime

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. black pepper.

Zest a lime.

This is my zester, it is super easy to use and makes really pretty zest strings!

Add zest to the sour cream. Add the juice of 1/2 the lime. Stir in remaining ingredients. Chill until ready to serve.

Enjoy this yummy - but totally different type of burrito. If you like sweet potatoes, I promise you will love these burritos! The Chili-lime cream sauce adds another great layer of flavors. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Moroccan Triple Pepper Chicken - Crockpot!

Very little makes me as a happy as being half way through a hard day and thinking about what I'm going to make for dinner once I get home and then remembering with a big smile on my face that I have dinner already cooking in the crock pot! Woo Hoo! Of course, the same old same old can get kind of boring after a while. So here is a new flavorful dish I hope you will enjoy! It was really good and had lots of terrific flavor!

I know this seems like a ton of ingredients, but it was all stuff I had on hand. The entire mixture came together in my crock pot this morning before work in about 7 minutes. No joke!

INGREDIENTS

4 - 6 frozen chicken breasts

2 packages of sliced peppers and onions (or you can be really domestic and slice in strips 1 red, yellow and green bell peppers and 1 onion)

2 cloves of garlic minced

2 Serrano peppers sliced thin

1 can diced tomatoes

2 1/2 tsp. curry

2 1/2 tsp. paprika

2 tsp. thyme

2 1/2 tsp. cumin

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 cups fat-free chicken broth

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2 1/2 TBSP. honey

1 small piece of dark chocolate

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Layer one bag of peppers and onions in the bottom of your crock pot. Lay frozen chicken on top of the peppers and onions.

I love these bags of chicken. ~ I like the way the bag at chicken looks like it is floating above the counter!

Top with the other bag of peppers and onions.

Take the Serrano peppers and slice them thinly.

Add dried cranberries. Sprinkle spices and minced garlic on top.

Place chocolate piece in the middle of the entire mixture.

Pour chicken broth over the mixture. Top with can of tomatoes.

I think these fire-roasted diced tomatoes give it an awesome flavor.

Cook on low for 9 - 10 hours. If you are going to cook the food for about 7 hours, use thawed chicken breasts.
Once the chicken is cooked the entire way through, take the chicken breasts out of the crock pot and shred the chicken.

Add the chicken back to the crock pot and stir in the honey.

I served ours with Almond Couscous.

Loved this yummy dinner!

Jambalaya Beans and Rice

I've been visiting several different cooking blogs and have realized that most include pictures. So here is my first attempt at that. I didn't take pictures of all the steps. I'll try to get better about that. I'd love some input on it all!

With this dish I've taken a traditional Jambalaya type recipe and increased the fiber by adding beans and serving with brown rice. Also using low-fat turkey sausage and other low-fat meats like chicken breasts and shrimp give lots of protein without upping the fat content. I cook the brown rice with 1/2 water and 1/2 fat-free chicken broth and omit the butter. Great flavor, no added fat!

This recipe was made in about 15 minutes with 30 minutes simmer time. If you start the rice first, it should all be done just about the same time.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 tsp. olive oil

1 lb. Turkey Smoked Sausage

2 cans favorite beans (I found a new type that had black, red and pinto beans all together)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 pepper sliced

1/2 onion sliced

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. ground red pepper

2 bay leaves

4 - 5 dashes of hot sauce (add more if you like it hot!)

DIRECTIONS

Slice turkey sausage on the diagonal. (of course my pieces didn't all get cut that way...I was in a hurry!)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.

Cut peppers, onions and mince garlic. I was lazy and didn't want to take the time to chop them all up. These are some of my favorite time savers.

Add peppers, onions and garlic to the skillet and cook until onions are translucent and the peppers are slightly browned on the edges. Add sausage to the skillet and cook until the pieces are slightly browned. Add remaining ingredients and cook for about 30 minutes. You can also add cut up chicken or peeled shrimp if you like. I had some leftover chicken and added it. Serve on top of some brown rice. Enjoy!