Name: Baked Chimichangas with Shredded Beef
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil, divided; 1 medium onion, thinly sliced; 1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced; 1 poblano pepper, seeded and thinly sliced; 2 cups shredded leftover beef roast (you could also use chicken or pork); 8 8-inch flour tortillas; 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded pepper jack, Monterey jack, or cheddar cheese; sour cream, guacamole, and salsa, for serving (optional)

Baked Chimichangas with Shredded Beef

April 15, 2016

Baked chimichangas with shredded beef are an easy and delicious way to use up any leftover slow cooker pot roast you might have!

I am sure that I have mentioned this here before, but I know a lot of people who don’t eat leftovers. I don’t mean that they never have leftovers and therefore never have the opportunity to eat leftovers…I mean that they dislike leftovers, so much so that anything that doesn’t get eaten in their house the first go-round gets tossed. I used to have a general disdain for leftovers, but these days I live for leftovers. Every day that I have leftovers is a day that I don’t have to start from scratch with my meal prep, and that’s a good day, my friends.

There’s no arguing that some foods definitely taste different the second time around. Chicken is a prime example. Other foods, like macaroni and cheese, change texture when reheated, so they need a little extra milk or maybe some more cheese stirred in. There are very few leftovers, though, that can’t be salvaged. First, you have to know the right way to reheat them, like I do in this YouTube video that has changed my life when it comes to eating leftover pizza, fried foods, and, well, just about anything else.

I have another leftover strategy, though. I call it “repurposing”. That means that I take one food and turn it into something else. Leftovers are great for making tacos, soups, quiches, etc. This is actually my favorite strategy for leftovers because I love trying to think of something different to do with leftovers. The book Make Ahead Cook (⬅️that’s an affiliate link) from America’s Test Kitchen is a great resource for coming up ideas for make-ahead meals, using up leftovers, etc.

Mexican standards really are a great vehicle for using up leftover meats, beans, and vegetables. Tacos, burritos, tostadas, nachos, enchiladas, chimichangas…I could keep going. I decided that my slow cooker pot roast deserved to be remade into chimichangas, and since I’m not a huge fan of frying, baked chimichangas seemed like the way to go. With sautéed vegetables, cheese, and shredded beef, these baked chimichangas definitely do the tender shredded pot roast justice.

Do you like leftovers? If so, what’s your favorite way to eat them?

For other great recipes, check out the Meal Plan Monday link-on Southern Bite!

This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, please read my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Mary

Yield: 4 servings

Baked Chimichangas with Shredded Beef

10 minPrep Time:

25 minCook Time:

35 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil, divided
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 poblano pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
2 cups shredded leftover beef roast (you could also use chicken or pork)
8 8-inch flour tortillas
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded pepper jack, Monterey jack, or cheddar cheese
sour cream, guacamole, and salsa, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a medium skillet, preheat one tablespoon of the oil over medium heat.
Add the onions and pepper to the skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until tender, five to eight minutes. Add the shredded beef and cook until heated through.
Divide the beef mixture evenly among the tortillas (slightly less than 1/2 cup of the mixture per tortilla) then top each with two tablespoons of cheese.

Fold one side of the tortilla over the long edge of the filling.

Fold the sides in.

Roll the remaining unfolded end over the folded portion of the tortilla.

Brush both sides of the chimichangas with the remaining oil. Place on the baking sheet with the folded side down. Bake for six to eight minutes then turn over and bake for another six to eight minutes, until lightly browned on both sides. Serve immediately with desired toppings.

https://chattavore.com/baked-chimichangas-with-shredded-beef/

Baked chimichangas with shredded beef are an easy and delicious way to use up any leftover slow cooker pot roast you might have! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Ten Foods That are Cheaper to Make at Home

April 13, 2016

Unless you’re eating off the dollar menu, you can save a ton of money by cooking for yourself. Here are ten foods that are cheaper to make at home.

I’m not telling anyone anything you don’t already know here. A lot of restaurants try to tell you that if you come in and eat off of their special menus that you can eat in their restaurant cheaper than you can eat at home. Now, I’ve ordered quite a few value-sized fries and junior bacon cheeseburgers off of Wendy’s value menu in my lifetime, but unless you are ordering off of the dollar menu, it’s not cheaper to eat out than to make food at home. Here are some of my favorite examples of foods that are cheaper to make at home (in no particular order)

1. Coffee
I have a Starbuck’s gift card in my wallet that’s been sitting there since November. I don’t really have anything against Starbucks, but it’s pretty darn expensive – even for just plain old coffee. I’d rather make a huge cup at home for pennies than wait in a long line to pay for a small cup.

2. Cupcakes
Gigi’s closed a while back, and I won’t lie…I didn’t cry. I bought cupcakes there once and I didn’t hate them, but they were so expensive and, as I mentioned in this list, I just thought that the icing to cake ratio was way too high. Obviously, baking your own cupcakes takes a lot more time than dropping by a bakery, but even if you make your cupcakes from scratch (because yes, cupcakes from a mix are cheaper than making them from scratch), you get 24 cupcakes for, in most cases, less than $10. And you control your icing ratio. WINNING.

3. Salad
I saw a meme the other day that said something along the lines of “Don’t talk to me about obesity unless you can explain why a burger is $1 and a salad is $7.” Touché. It’s true, it’s true. Even a fast food salad is expensive…Philip and I went to a fast food restaurant for dinner a while back and I thought that I’d get a salad to take for lunch the next day. Until I saw how much the salads cost. Um, no thanks. I’m sure I ended up eating cheese, crackers, and pickles for lunch. For the cost of one of those fast food salads, you could buy a package of romaine hearts and some tomatoes, whisk together a quick vinaigrette, add some toppings, and have salad for a week.

4. Burgers
So, sure…I mentioned the Wendy’s junior bacon cheeseburger, which is no longer $1 but is less than $2. And you probably won’t make burgers for a family for four for under $8. But let’s be honest: that junior bacon cheeseburger doesn’t last that long. I like my burgers simply topped – cheese, caramelized onions, and a quick sauce of things I have in my fridge – and I could definitely buy an onion, a pack of ground chuck, and some buns for under $10. I always have cheese and mayo, ketchup, and pickles (for saucifying) in my fridge, so this is a no-brainer.

5. Fries
A 5-pound bag of potatoes is $4.00. Salt is less than a penny per teaspoon and few teaspoons of oil aren’t much more. And you don’t have to leave the house (which means you don’t have to change out of your pjs) to make my baked fries. The choice is obvious.

6. Ice Cream
Okay, let me clarify here. Ice cream actually can be pretty pricey to make (though I love to experiment with new ice cream flavors from time to time). However, it is way cheaper to buy ice cream at the grocery store than it is to buy it at an ice cream shop. Since it’s just me and Philip, though, a lot of times I can make the excuse that it just makes more sense to buy a single serving at an ice cream shop than to have ice cream in the freezer that’s either going to go uneaten or is going to tempt me with its evil deliciousness night after night.

7. Fruit
Okay, so we don’t “make” fruit, but much like salads, fruit is a great example of how we get ripped off in order to eat healthier items in restaurants. The upcharge on fruit is outrageous. Buy your own and cut it up yourself, or buy fruit that doesn’t require cutting – apples, bananas, oranges, pears.

8. Lunchables
No, you don’t get Lunchables in restaurants…but think about those little trays that you can pick up in the lunch meat section of the store. They are super convenient, and yes, they are fun for kids. But they’re kind of pricey, when you consider the cost of buying a box of crackers, a package of lunch meat, some cheese, some fruit, and maybe even some cookies (though you guys know I’d make my own) and packing them into a fun lunch box (like these Easy Lunchboxes, which are my personal favorite and fit perfectly into my lunch bag). (◀️Those are affiliate links)

9. Breakfast Sandwiches
Whether you like your breakfast sandwich on a biscuit, an English muffin, a croissant, bread, or a tortilla, it’s hard to argue that assembling your own with bacon, sausage, or ham, eggs, and cheese at home is a lot cheaper than the drive-thru. They’re super-convenient to freeze, too.

10. Alcoholic Beverages
No matter what your drink of choice is, alcohol is consistently less expensive to consume at home. Beer, wine, mixed drinks…you’ll save a ton of cash if you buy it at the store and mix it or pour it yourself. The upcharge on alcohol might be the most outrageous of all – Philip once paid $10 (he forgot to ask the price) for a pint of beer at a restaurant then bought the same beer in a 12-ounce bottle at a store for around $3…and these days, mixed drinks run around $8-$9 each at a bar. Whoa.

Now, I’m not saying that you should never, ever go out to eat. Dining out is fun, and it’s nice to have access to convenience when you need it. What I am saying, though, is that you aren’t saving money by dining out. If you make a few more things at home rather than buying them out, you’ll save a ton of cash!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Homemade “Onion Soup”

April 11, 2016

Slow cooker pot roast is a dinner classic. It’s ready to slow cook in less then ten minutes, and it’s ready when you get home from work!

I love my slow cooker. These days, that sentiment has become, “I love my Instant Pot.” If you haven’t checked out the Instant Pot (??that’s an affiliate link) yet, you definitely should. It’s a slow cooker, a pressure cooker, a rice cooker, and a yogurt maker. Oh, and you can sauté in it. One of these days I’ll write a full review, but for now, just suffice it to say that it’s pretty much amazing.

Anyway, that’s not really the point of this post. There’s just something amazing about coming home from work and knowing that dinner is waiting for you. It’s even better when you can make a meal in the slow cooker that you know is going to stretch for a few days, which is why I love to cook a big batch of meat in the slow cooker to use in other dishes.

Slow cooker pot roast is definitely a classic. As many different types of slow cooker recipes that I’ve made over the years, slow cooker pot roast is still the thing that comes to mind first when I am trying to think of what to make in the slow cooker. Why wouldn’t it, though? It’s so amazingly tasty, and after hours in the slow cooker it’s absolutely fall-apart tender. Best of all, there’s usually enough left over for some tacos or an open-faced roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy (can you tell that I’ve been down this road a few times)? By the way, there’s a recipe coming on Friday that I made with the leftovers from this particular roast.

Back before my from-scratch days, I used to love to make my slow cooker pot roast with Lipton onion soup. Sprinkle that on a roast and you’ve got yourself a darn tasty roast. You know what’s in those packets, though? Salt and dehydrated onions, pretty much. I have that stuff in my kitchen, so there’s no need to buy a box of onion soup at the store. I like to brown my meat before I put it in the slow cooker, which takes less than ten minutes. A sprinkle here and there and eight hours on low, and you have yourself a perfect slow cooker pot roast!

What’s your favorite thing to make in the slow cooker?

This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This will not affect the cost to you. For more information, read my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Mary

Yield: 8-10 servings

Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Homemade “Onion Soup”

3 minPrep Time:

8 hr, 10 Cook Time:

8 hr, 13 Total Time:

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
2 1/2 - 3 pound beef roast (shoulder roast, which is what I used, or chuck)
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon dehydrated onions
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

Instructions

Preheat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Generously sprinkle the roast with salt and pepper. Brown in the oil for 2-3 minutes per side.
Place the roast in the slow cooker. Sprinkle the dehydrated onions, garlic powder, and onion powder over the roast. Cover and cook on low for eight hours or high for 4 hours. Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, or egg noodles.

https://chattavore.com/slow-cooker-pot-roast-homemade-onion-soup/

Slow cooker pot roast is a dinner classic. It's ready to slow cook in less then ten minutes, and it's ready when you get home from work! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Noodle Bowls with Peanut-Sesame Sauce

April 8, 2016

Noodle bowls with peanut-sesame sauce are a quick, simple, and delicious vegetarian meal that is sure to please even your picky eaters. I mean, they’re made with peanut butter. How could you go wrong?

Bowls are a really popular thing right now. A quick scan of Instagram reveals a bevy of jealousy-provoking bowls. They’re usually assembled in rustic-looking, asymmetrical bowls that appear to have been hand-thrown and they almost always include a fan of avocado. Sarah Forte from Sprouted Kitchen wrote an entire book (<–affiliate link) about them. I know it sounds like I’m being facetious, but I promise I’m not. I’m pretty jealous that I don’t eat more beautiful food like this.
Anyway, every time I look at a bowl – be it a noodle bowl, a rice bowl, a quinoa bowl (even though I hate quinoa)….whatever kind of bowl, I make a mental note that I need to make more beautiful bowls of food. Not only are they gorgeous, they’re usually very simple combinations of food and my ability to make them is really only limited by the fact that I don’t want to pack twelve different tiny Gladware containers with all of my ingredients in order to eat them for lunch. However, I eat dinner at home pretty much every night, and summer break is coming up (six weeks!!!), so maybe I can resolve here and now to try to make more meals in bowls.

I’ve actually been making soba noodle bowls with peanut-sesame sauce for years now. I first discovered them when I bought the book How to Boil Water (pasta pies, penne alla vodka, and…sesame noodles. I traded that book to McKay’s years ago and the versions of these recipes on my site are all mine, but they were definitely inspired by those early cooking experiences driven by that book, which I would to this day recommend as a great cooking basics resource for a beginner.
This recipe comes together in less than 30 minutes. In fact, the most time-consuming step is boiling the water to cook the noodles, which cook in three minutes. I included zucchini noodles, which I made with my Inspiralizer (<–that’s an affiliate link, because I❤️my Inspiralizer), but if you don’t have a spiralizer, you could use a julienne peeler ( Do you like “bowl” meals? What’s your favorite?

Find other great recipes on the Meal Plan Monday link-up on Southern Bite!

Mary

Yield: 4-6 servings

Noodle Bowls with Peanut-Sesame Sauce and Zucchini

10 minPrep Time:

10 minCook Time:

20 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

8 ounces uncooked soba noodles
2 medium zucchini, spiraled or cut into julienne
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
cucumber, for garnish (optional)
chopped roasted peanuts, for garnish (optional)
chopped cilantro, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Cook the soba noodles in salted water according to package directions. Drain the noodles, reserving one cup of the cooking water.
Transfer the drained noodles back to the pot and add the zucchini. Set over medium heat and add the peanut butter, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Cook, stirring constantly, until the peanut butter coats the noodles and the zucchini has softened, 3-4 minutes.
Thin the sauce with the noodle cooking water until it reaches desired consistency. Serve immediately, garnished as desired with cucumbers, peanuts, and cilantro.

https://chattavore.com/noodle-bowls-peanut-sesame-sauce/

Noodle bowls with peanut-sesame sauce are a quick, simple, and delicious vegetarian meal that is sure to please even your picky eaters. I mean, they're made with peanut butter. How could you go wrong? | recipe from Chattavore.com

Steamboat Sandwiches (Shallowford)

April 6, 2016

Steamboat Sandwiches on Shallowford Road in Chattanooga, Tennessee is a great place to get excellent sandwiches at amazing prices during the workday!

As I type this, I am already lamenting the fact that my spring break is nearly over. As you read this, I will already be back to work, no longer able to pull off the whole “full-time blogger” charade. I’m not complaining, just stating facts. One of the nice things about breaks, though, is the fact that it gives me the opportunity to eat at restaurants that are usually closed when I’m not at work. I don’t get many opportunities to eat at restaurants during my workdays; I’m lucky to have time to eat lunch at all. Itinerant staff problems.

I asked my Facebook friends for some suggestions of places that are not open on nights and weekends. I got several suggestions, some of which I’d already tried…then the winner. One friend suggested that we try Steamboat. A friend from work had recently had a Steamboat sandwich in the office and was gushing about how good their house-made bread and egg salad were. I made a mental note that I needed to eat there at some point and moved on, unsure of whether Steamboat still had a location on Shallowford Road or if I would have to go downtown and deal with paid parking in order to check it out.

Good news: the Shallowford Road location of Steamboat Sandwiches is indeed still open, hence plenty of free parking. It was around 1:00 when we arrived and, while I wouldn’t say it was crowded, there was still a steady stream of folks coming in to get their sandwich fix. The whole operation is unbelievably efficient. They have a small menu – 13 sandwiches (or build your own), a handful of sides, brownies, and cookies. You step up, tell the man at the counter what you want, he circles it with a dry erase marker on a laminated card, and he sticks it up for the lady who makes the sandwiches to see. Our sandwiches were ready before we finished getting our drinks. That, my friends, is what we call speedy service.

I decided that I needed to try the pimento cheese, as I’ve kind of made it my mission in life to try pimento cheese pretty much anywhere that I can find it homemade. I stayed simple, with just lettuce and tomato (no condiments or additional toppings), since I think that pimento cheese really does stand on its own. Too much more makes for a pretty goopy sandwich. I have to say, I was quite impressed. The pimento cheese was very simple – just shredded cheddar, pimentos, and mayonnaise – but delicious in its simplicity. It worked so well with the amazing bread, which is fresh-baked daily and so gloriously soft. It’s perfect for squishy fillings but not so soft that you feel like you’re eating dough (a common complaint that Philip has about a lot of white breads). The lettuce is shredded, which really does make for an easier sandwich-eating experience, since you don’t have to worry about pulling the entire leaf off of your sandwich. I got the combo, which includes chips and a drink. They had Salt and Vinegar Lay’s, so I was happy. They also have orange-flavored sweet tea, which does not taste like it has orange juice in it but rather orange Kool-aid or Tang or some other orange flavoring agent…and we loved it. I noticed that on Tuesdays and Thursdays you get a free brownie or cookie with your combo, so I was kind of sad that we didn’t wait until Thursday to go!

Philip decided to order the specialty, the Steamboat sandwich. The Steamboat includes smoked ham, Genoa salami, pork roast, Swiss cheese, special sauce, mayo, mustard, lettuce, and pickles. We heard several people ordering the Steamboat as they came in, so it’s obviously pretty popular. I tasted it and it was a great combination of flavors…I mean, how can you really go wrong with three variations of pork on the same sandwich? Philip really liked the special sauce and was trying to figure out what it was as he worked his way through the sandwich, ultimately deciding that he thought it tasted like Buffalo sauce. Like me, he thought the bread was excellent and that it definitely gave the sandwich an edge.

After we left, I decided to put a photo that I had taken on Instagram. I looked up Steamboat Sandwiches and realized that there was a location in Knoxville. As I read the website, I realized that it’s a small chain/franchise operation. Just FYI, that still fits into Chattavore guidelines…as long as it’s a small operation I’m good with it, particularly considering that it’s regional. Because of the hours, it’s unlikely that I’ll be going to Steamboat very often, but at $13 for two sandwich combos, this place has great prices on excellent food and it’s worth a visit when you have time.

Steamboat Sandwiches is located at 5950-C Shallowford Road (at Polymer Drive). They are open 10:30-3:00 Monday-Friday. You can call them at 423-499-6355. There is another location (I am not sure if they are owned by the same franchisee) downtown at 812 Broad Street. They are open 10:30-2:00 Monday-Friday and can be reached at 423-756-8388.

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