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

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

Reuben Sandwiches from Leftover Corned Beef

March 13, 2016

Reuben sandwiches are the perfect way to use up leftover corned beef (if there is such a thing)!

Reuben sandwiches are an interesting phenomenon. They include a lot of things that a lot of people don’t like: corned beef, sauerkraut, Thousand Island or Russian dressing, and rye bread (I think most people are good with Swiss cheese), yet an awful lot of people that I know love Reubens. It seems that the combination of all of the above equals a sum greater than its parts. Honestly, though, because I (a) didn’t like rye bread; and (b) didn’t like sauerkraut, I’d never even attempt to eat a Reuben for a long, long time.

I married a man, however, who almost always orders the Reuben if it’s on a menu, especially if the restaurant makes the claim to have the “best Reuben in town” (a lot of places do). By the way, his current #1 Reuben in Chattanooga is at Vine Street Market. Anyway, I never even gave a Reuben a second glance until I watched him eat them time and time again and finally, I had to give it a go. You know what? In that first bite, I got it. Greater than the sum of its parts….absolutely.

You can buy corned beef sliced at the deli, but why bother when you have leftovers from the requisite St. Patrick’s Day corned beef and cabbage dinner? I love leftovers, you guys. I usually only cook three nights a week, yet we eat at home six nights a week. If I am really thinking ahead-like I was with this corned beef-I can get three meals out of one. If you take a little time to do a little extra cooking, you can repurpose your leftovers into something different…and maybe even better than the original meal. I find that turning one night’s leftovers into something else reduces the “that again?!?!?!” feelings that I used to always get (unless there were tacos. Taco leftovers always welcome.).

A couple of notes about these Reuben sandwiches: you are welcome to use store-bought dressing; I won’t judge. Use Thousand Island or Russian, whatever you like better; Thousand Island is a little sweeter, Russian is a little spicier, usually made horseradish (I made mine with sriracha, which I know is 100% not traditional, but we didn’t have horseradish in the house). Feel free to use deli corned beef as well. Just do me ONE FAVOR. Please be sure to warm the meat and the sauerkraut a little before you assemble your sandwich. There’s a restaurant I’ve eaten at a couple of times that has-both times-served me grilled sandwiches piled thickly with meat…that was cold in the center. If the sandwich is warm…all of the ingredients must be warm. End of discussion.

Do you like Reuben sandwiches? If not, what is it about them that you don’t like?

Leftovers: Homemade Reuben Sandwiches

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Ingredients

For the dressing

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons prepared horseradish or 1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon pickle relish
1 clove garlic, minced

For the sandwiches

Russian dressing (ingredients above)
4 slices rye or marble rye bread
10-12 ounces corned beef - shredded or thinly sliced
4 ounces thinly sliced Swiss cheese
1 cup sauerkraut
3 tablespoons unsalted butter - melted

Instructions

Make the dressing: Stir together all of the dressing ingredients in a small jar. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Prep to make the sandwiches: Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Warm the corned beef and the sauerkraut (I used the microwave). Lay the bread out on a large cutting board.
Assemble the sandwiches: Divide the corned beef among 4 slices of the bread. Top each piece of bread with 1/4 cup of sauerkraut then divide the Swiss cheese among the slices of bread. Top with the remaining slices of bread. Brush the outside of each slice of bread with butter.
Grill the sandwiches: Carefully place two of the sandwiches into the heated pan and grill until golden brown on the bottom, 3-5 minutes. I like to use a second pan to weight the sandwiches. Carefully flip the sandwiches and grill another 3-5 minutes until brown on the other side. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining sandwiches.
Carefully remove the top slice of bread and drizzle dressing over each sandwich. Replace the bread. Serve the sandwiches immediately.

https://chattavore.com/leftovers-homemade-reuben-sandwiches/

Click here to print the recipe for homemade Reuben sandwiches!

Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

March 13, 2016

Slow Cooker corned beef and cabbage is a great way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day…but it’s just as good any day of the year!

I generally make corned beef and cabbage one time a year-some time around St. Patrick’s Day. I don’t know why I only make it then; we both love corned beef and cabbage, but I guess since it’s on sale in March that’s when I think about it. At any rate, with it just being two of us in the house, we can stretch a single corned beef brisket for at least three and sometimes even four meals. Dishes like that are glorious. I really don’t understand people who never eat leftovers. Sure, there are some foods that are pretty gross the next day….but most foods are even better and minimal cooking, hello?!?!?!?! I like to repurpose my leftovers, so I have a couple of repurposed corned beef recipes to share with you over the next week.

Anyway, enough about leftovers. Let’s talk about corned beef. First off, let me clear something up. Corned beef is always brisket but brisket is not always corned beef. I have run into several people who, when I start talking about brisket, say, “I don’t like brisket!” to which I say, “WHO DOESN’T LIKE BRISKET???” and invariably they make a comment about corned beef. Then I have to set them straight. Brisket is a cut of beef. Corned beef is brisket that has been “corned”, which is a form of curing. The more you know….

Really, though, I should follow with, “WHO DOESN’T LIKE CORNED BEEF?” I really don’t get it. My favorite deli sandwiches usually involved corned beef or pastrami (which is peppered corned beef). I mean, it’s salty and meaty and GAH. Plus you get to pair it with delicious things like potatoes and eggs and melted cheese. How could that be a bad thing? Is it a bad association with the vile cans of corned beef you can buy at the store (I recently saw a YouTube vlogger make sandwiches with canned corned beef and it was not pretty)? If you don’t like corned beef, please comment with your justification-inquiring minds want to know!

One of these days I’m going to corn my own beef. It’s pretty simple, just time consuming. I never think about it in time, though. Anyway, this slow cooker corned beef and cabbage could scarcely be considered a recipe, but I’m giving it to you anyway. Also, I don’t love cabbage, but I find that when prepared this way it doesn’t get über-soft, which equals stinky, and when cooked with the meat and then salted and buttered it absorbs a lot of those flavors. It’s quite good. If you just can’t do it, omit the cabbage and just have corned beef and potatoes!

Yield: 6 servings

Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

10 minPrep Time:

8 hr, 20 Cook Time:

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Ingredients

one 2.5-3 pound corned beef
8-12 red potatoes, quartered
1/2-3/4 head cabbage, thinly sliced/shredded
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
salt

Instructions

Open the corned beef and drain away any liquid. Place the corned beef fat-side up into a 6-quart slow cook (cut in half if you need to in order to make it fit). Sprinkle the contents of the seasoning packet over the corned beef. Arrange the potatoes around the corned beef. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Pile the cabbage on top of the corned beef and potatoes in the slow cooker. Replace the lid. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until cabbage reaches desired tenderness.
Remove the cabbage from the slow cooker and place on a platter. Drizzle half of the butter over the cabbage and stir to coat. Add salt to taste.
Arrange the potatoes around the edges of the platter, mashing them up just slightly as you get them out of the cooker. Drizzle the remaining butter over the potatoes and salt to taste.
Thinly slice the corned beef and place on top of the cabbage. Serve immediately.

https://chattavore.com/slow-cooker-corned-beef-and-cabbage/

Click here to print the recipe for slow cooker corned beef and cabbage!

Thanksgiving Leftovers 10 Ways

November 23, 2015

Eating plain old turkey day after day can get pretty old, so here are 10 great ways to creatively use up your Thanksgiving leftovers!

It’s an old joke…you eat Thanksgiving leftovers for days…weeks, even. It gets old after a couple of days, right? What if you revamped your Thanksgiving leftovers? I love to make leftovers into something completely different. Here are some ideas from Chattavore and some of my favorite bloggers for how you can use your Thanksgiving leftovers!

1. Elena Ruz Sandwich – because how could you go wrong with turkey, cream cheese, and strawberry jam on grilled bread?

2. Crunchy Turkey Casserole – Cooking and Beer – Turkey is the most notorious of Thanksgiving leftovers, and this casserole repurposes it in the best way possible!

3. Turkey Pot Pie Soup – Turkey, vegetables, rich broth, and a golden crust? You’ll be begging for Thanksgiving leftovers.

4. Mashed Potato Croquettes – Spicy Southern Kitchen – No need to throw away your leftover mashed potatoes when you can make these delicious potato cakes!