Air Fryer Chicken Chimichangas

Holy moly! I didn't think I would ever get to eat these again since fired food is off the menu. Air Fryer Chimichangas are the bomb! Super easy to make. Here are some of my mods: 

1. Make double the amount of sauce when cooking the chicken - it tastes amazing poured over top of them when they come out of the air fryer. 

2. It's ok to use cream cheese if you don't have Neufchatel-it's what I did. :)

3. We had a ton of green chilis in our garden this year so I added fresh ones to the mix. Yum! The rest went into my canned tomatillo green chili recipe that I use for chicken enchiladas. [I ended up with 17 quarts!]

4. I added some shredded cheese to the tops while cooking-nice touch!

5. This works best with an upright air fryer with trays that looks like a mini oven. [Also comes with a rotisserie attachment.] Worth the extra dollars.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/278702/air-fryer-chimichangas/?fbclid=IwAR2CnzKUgy3h1YCrnGLNQZCMvg-xZBJzI5OmquljLhr-TIS4-r-EBuYiR-s

Salsa Verde Enchiladas with Venison

A friend of ours traded pork for venison, so I perused Pinterest for guidance. I found this super delicious and simple version. I modified it a bit by cooking the venison and onions together and adding the spices all in one pot. I used pork broth to dip the tortillas in, sprayed the pan with olive oil, layered the meat, used green chili (canned earlier this year from our garden), sour cream and shredded cheese inside each tortilla and topped with green chili, rotel and shredded cheese. It tasted lighter/healthier than a typical beef enchilada recipe. Definitely a keeper. :)

https://www.nevadafoodies.com/salsa-verde-enchiladas-with-venison/

Chicken Avocado Lime Soup

The hubby bought a bag of limes last week, so I've had to figure out what to do with them. Although margaritas come to mind, I decided to first (re-)make Salsa Verde (Green Chili), then made Green Chili Breakfast Burrito Casserole and tonight Chicken Avocado Lime Soup. I added black beans, corn, and green chili.  I served it with tortillas, sour cream and shredded cheese. Definitely a good one for a cold night. :)

https://www.cookingclassy.com/chicken-avocado-lime-soup/?utm_source=feedly&utm_reader=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chicken-avocado-lime-soup

Salsa Verde (Green Chili)

I used a couple of different recipes just for spice options, but this recipe is almost entirely mine. This is our first year growing a variety of peppers. One day, the hubby brought in hatch, serano, tomatillo and a couple more I can't remember. So I decided to just roast it all (for 20 minutes at 400 degrees) and throw it in the food processor. I added lime juice, a bit of salt, cumin and onions; next time I might add cilantro. The hubby said it was the BEST green chili he's EVER had. :) It was also nice and easy for me to not have to separate the peppers. I ended up using it for Green Chili Breakfast Burritos and Chicken Avocado Lime Soup.

Example: 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/salsa-verde-green-tomatillo-salsa-recipe-1939985

Green Chili Breakfast Burrito Casserole

The second round of peppers came in from the garden and the request was for breakfast burritos with green chili for dinner. I loosely used the recipe below for guidance. I used ham instead of sausage, and added tomatoes and mushrooms. Served with homemade salsa, guac, shredded cheese and sour cream. According to the hubby, I could make this over and over and he'd never get tired of it. I'd say it was a success :)

https://frugalhausfrau.com/2015/03/26/green-chili-breakfast-burritos/

Hatch Chile Chicken Enhiladas

Let me start off with my side note--I have been cooking enchiladas all wrong for years. In this recipe, I learned to dip the tortillas in chicken broth before stuffing and wrapping them. [We prefer flour tortillas but they worked just the same.] No more dried out shells! It also makes them much more pliable when rolling.

Once again, the hubby has stayed true to form and brought me home another item I'm not used to working with--Hatch Chilies (which are seasonal). I had heard how delicious they are, but had never attempted to prepare them. Thanks to Ree Drummond (the Pioneer Woman) and Google, I have mastered roasting, peeling and chopping up my own green chile sauce. To make it even better, I put a whole chicken in the crockpot and used the broth for the recipe.

This was a fun one, and truly easy to make. Looking forward to more "surprises" if they turn out this good. I have a feeling the hubby is going to buy more REAL soon...then I'll try my hand at canning green chile sauce :)

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/how-toroast-green-chilies/

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/green-chile-chicken-enchiladas