Beef Chimichangas

These are great to make and "feed your freezer" with...pull them out one at a time for a tasty lunch or grab as many as you need for a family dinner. You should be able to easily multiply the ingredients to make batches of 32 or more...depending on what you have room for in your freezer.

1 lb cooked beef

16 oz salsa (as spicy as you like)

16 oz. can refried beans (fat-free work)

Taco seasoning
1t Minced onion
1t Chili powder
1/2 t Garlic powder
1/2 t Cumin
1/2 t Salt
1/2 cup Water

16-8 inch flour tortillas

1 lb. Monterrey Jack cheese or cheddar cheese, shredded

oil, for frying (optional)

Before day of cooking....
1. Brown ground beef with taco seasoning.

Day of cooking...
1. Combine ground beef, refried beans, salsa, and cheese in a large bowl.
2. Microwave tortillas briefly to soften.
3. Fill tortilla with ½ cup of meat mixture and top with cheese. Fold in the ends and roll it up.

Freezing and cooking directions:
Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes (straight from freezer—no need to thaw) OR heat them in ¼ in. deep oil in skillet for approx. 18 minutes over med-LOW heat (turn them once and watch them carefully). **We’ve also found they work well in the microwave…just unwrap, place on a plate and microwave for 1 minute…then 30 seconds at a time until warmed through. YUM

Chicken Chimichangas

Chicken breast (5-6ish)
Taco seasoning (1-2 packets)
Salsa (1-2 cups)
Cheese--mexican blend or co-jack are my favs (2 cups-ish--or more...I like them cheesy!)
Frozen corn-1 cup
Black beans-1-2 cans (depends how "beany" you want them!)
Sliced olives-1 can--this is optional...we just like olives!
Flour tortillas--30-40 (you want the 8 inch ones)
Aluminum foil and gallon freezer bags for packaging

I am estimating amounts...as this depends on how many you would like to make, and how "stuffed" you want each chimi!

Before day of cooking....
1. Toss chicken breasts (split chicken breasts will work...just take the skin off and toss in without deboning...you can debone when you shred later!) into a crock pot. Cover with taco seasoning and salsa. Let simmer all day on low heat. Remove from crock pot, shred, and package to take with you on cooking day.

Day of cooking....
1. Stir beans (drained and rinsed), cheese, corn and olives into meat mixture in a LARGE bowl.
2. Warm tortillas in micro briefly to soften.
3. Place 1/3-1/2 cup of mixture on each tortilla. Wrap it up (be sure to "tuck in" the ends).
4. Wrap each individual chimi in aluminum foil and place in freezer bag.

Baking instructions...
1. No need to thaw!
2. Unwrap and bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes.
OR for a more authentic (albeit..less healthy!) taste...
2. Place 1/4-1/2 inch of oil in skillet and heat over medium heat. Place chimi in oil and cook for approx. 8 minutes per side or until just golden
OR for a quick meal...or hubby's lunchbox!
3. Microwave on medium power 2-3 minutes. (obviously you should remove the foil first!) :)