All Wrapped Up

Mr. Food It Yourself and I are in a rut. No, it has nothing to do with being married for 11 years. Over the winter we got lost in a cycle of eating the same ten or twelve dinners over and over and over and over. That is actually pretty common, or so I have been lead to believe. We like to think of ourselves as uncommon, however, and I have been working hard to mix it up in the kitchen.

Neither of us are particularly picky when it comes to eating. Also in our favor- of the foods we dislike, we have many in common (beets, okra, kidney beans). Best of all, there is no need to spend a single dime on cookbooks when the internet is full of recipes. I found this carbohydrate- controlled grilled chimichanga recipe on the Taste of Home website and Mr. Food It Yourself agreed it was worth a try.

The first time around I followed the recipe closely, except I used a reasonable amount of garlic. (Seriously, two cloves of garlic to a pound of meat? Who hates garlic that much? Just leave it out if you don’t like it. I used five cloves like a normal person.) The verdict- certainly a keeper, but it could stand some improvement. Mostly, we decided it needed more salsa. Here is how we have been enjoying our meat-wrapped-in-dough dinners (more on that label later)

Step one- Heat your favorite frying pan over medium-high heat and add a mist of oil spray. Saute a medium onion diced, as much garlic as you like (or leave it out if you don’t like it), and a sweet pepper until the onion goes translucent.

Step two- Add the meat. I use whatever lean stuff the grocery store has a deal on. Sometimes they have 93% lean previously frozen ground beef on special, sometimes they have a good price on ground turkey. This week, they had some really lean looking “stir-fry beef” at a good price. I am 100% certain it is the little odds and ends they are left with after cutting the larger steaks and roasts. I am okay with that. I diced it small and cooked it most of the way through.

Step three- add a half cup of your favorite salsa and a 4 oz can of chilies, drained. I am still experimenting with different brands of chilies, so if you have a favorite let me know in the comments. Stir frequently until most of the liquid from the salsa and chilies has evaporated.

Step four- Turn off the burner and add 2-3 oz of really good, really sharp cheddar; sliced or shredded. You could substitute another strong flavored cheese of your choice. Keep stirring with the residual heat to get the cheese to melt. That is the glue that will keep your chimichangas together. Fellow DIYeters with special diet needs, take note: cheese is high in saturated fat, calories, and most damningly of all sodium. Use the good stuff and use it wisely.

Step five- divide the filling into six (roughly) equal portions and roll each portion in an 8 inch wide tortilla.

The first time I made these I skipped the grilling step because we have no grill. After dinner I realized we do have a grill! It is electric and fits on my countertop. Grill those rolls of yumminess until they are crunchy. Bonus- we found this step makes the roll-ups stay together better, making them easy to eat by hand. A healthy dinner with no forks required. Who could ask for anything more!

We are all busy, and it is easy to get stuck in a rut with your DIYet. However, variety is important. I am still looking for other recipes to shake things up. I made an eggplant and zucchini lasagna that Mr. Food It Yourself liked, and a stuffed baked spaghetti squash he did not like. The important thing is we are expanding our dinner repertoire.

What new dishes have you tried lately? Share in the comments!

PS: in regards to that “meat-wrapped-in-dough: comment, you NEED to watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8rxHO4g6H4&feature=youtu.be