Chicken and Rice Burritos

My favorite thing about this recipe? Leftovers! Although they are great fresh, I always try to make a large batch so I can have extra to wrap in foil and put in the fridge. The Honey packs his lunch to work every day so leftovers are a definite bonus for him, and he especially loves to take these.

Another perk of making burritos this way is that by browning them on the stove or grill helps them stay together better and gives it a nice crunch when you eat them. For this post I cooked them on the stove, but I've seen my my neighbors cook theirs on the grill which works better when you're making dinner for a crowd.

The recipes I have listed here will make about 10-12 burritos which is enough for a family dinner plus leftovers. Generally when I'm making a full recipe I'll cook my chicken in the crock pot during the day so that it's one less thing for me to worry about at dinner time. However, the pictures I have are for a half-batch and I just cooked the chicken in a saucepan on the stove.

Chicken Filling:
4 chicken breasts
1 c. salsa
2 tsp. cumin

Cook the chicken and salsa together in a medium saucepan until chicken is no longer pink inside.



Remove chicken from the pot. DO NOT discard the juices and salsa in the pan. Using 2 forks, pull the chicken breasts apart to shred.






Return chicken to the pan and stir into the juices. Add 2 tsp. cumin and mix well. This is your filling.





While the chicken is cooking, prepare your rice filling (sorry, no pics for this one yet!):

Cilantro Lime Rice Filling:
2 c. water
2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
1 c. uncooked rice
1/4 c. lime juice
1/4 c. fresh cilantro
Salt to taste

To cook the rice, bring water and bouillon to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in rice, lime juice, cilantro and salt, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes until rice is done.

Okay. Now you have both chicken filling and rice filling. Now it's time to assemble these babies! Take a large flour tortilla and lay it flat. Top with desired amount of chicken filling and spoon a little more salsa on top.









Add a layer of rice and shredded cheese (we like sharp cheddar!)









Next step: roll the burrito! Fold both ends of the tortilla over the filling.








Give the tortilla a quarter turn and "roll" the burrito closed starting at the bottom.









Place burrito, folded side down, on a preheated grill or pan. Cook until browned on the bottom and flip over.









Brown the other side and remove from heat.

Italian Rice with Steak

This recipe was born out of desperation. We eat a lot of chicken in our house. A LOT of chicken. And every so often, I'm just sick of chicken. So when I go to the grocery store I'll scan the packages of beef and pork and find something reasonably priced to take home. The problem with most "reasonably priced" steaks is that they are not meant to be grilled to perfection. The cut just isn't good enough to be nice and tender off the grill. That's where marinating comes in. Fortunately, this recipe has one of the easiest marinades born to man: a can of Italian-style diced tomatoes. And as an added bonus, it only used 1/2 the package of steaks I bought, so my $3.50 special is going to last me through 2 meals. Maybe we'll do stroganoff next...


Italian Rice with Steak
(Makes 3 adult servings)

1/2 lb. steak, raw
1 can Italian-style diced tomatoes
1 heaping Tbsp of corn starch
1/4 c. light sour cream
1/2 cup rice, cooked (comes out to 1 1/2 c. cooked rice)


Slice steak into strips.




















Place into a bowl or plastic container and add diced tomatoes.










Mix well. Cover and place in fridge to marinate for at least 4-5 hours.











After marinating, pour entire steak and tomato mixture into a large pan.











Add corn starch and sour cream and cook over medium heat until steak is lightly pink in the middle (about 15 minutes).










Yes, I know it doesn't look pretty in the pan, but once you spoon it over the rice it looks so much butter! Each serving is 1/2 c. rice and 1/3 of the mixture. Serve with some steamed broccoli on the side and enjoy!