Mini Enchiladas

These little morsels are a game changer: fast, delicious, versatile and a total hit with adults and kids alike! Even better - they're easy enough to get the kids into the kitchen. 

If you've been thinking about encouraging your children's life skills and growing their confidence in the kitchen then this dish is a great place to start. Equally, if you have a hoard of kids over after training or for a kids party, you can whip these up no trouble. 

It's all food you can keep in stock in the pantry too, even the chicken - either use leftovers or pick up one of these Tegel Shredded Roast Chicken packets which lasts in the fridge for a few weeks.


Ingredients: (serves 4-6 people - or 12 as a snack)

• 12 small to medium sized tortillas (20-25cm diameter is a good size) 
• 2 cups (approx 300g) cooked shredded chicken
• Or 1 can kidney beans for vegetarian
• 1 can corn kernels, rinsed and drained
• ½ onion, finely diced
• 1 400g can Wattie's Mexican Tomatoes 
• 1 x 35g packet Farrah's Taco Spice Mix
• 2 cups grated cheese

To Serve: 

• 125 ml tub sour cream
• Sweet chilli sauce 
• Green Salad

Method:

Heat the oven to 180°C. Spray a regular-sized muffin tray (not texas muffins) with cooking oil.

Heat tortillas as directed on package (usually 30 seconds in the microwave does the trick). Press 1 tortilla into each muffin cup. Bake for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir together chicken (or beans), onion, corn and half of the cheese. Stir in tomato and taco seasoning. Divide the mixture into the cooked tortilla shells. Top with the remaining grated cheese.

Bake 14 - 17 minutes or until enchiladas are toasted and mixture is heated through. Top each with a spoonful of sour cream, dollop of sweet chilli sauce, and serve warm with salad on the side. 

Tuna Pasta Bake

If you liked my Cheat's Lasagne Recipe from a last month then you'll love this variation. I used to spend hours coming up with elaborate meals to prepare, but these days with a young baby I don't have enough to time to prepare, let alone think of such creative meals as I used to. Well not regularly anyway. 

This pasta bake is great in that I can throw this in the slow cooker in the morning (while the little one naps) and then it's ready to serve in the evening. Perfect for if we have a busy afternoon ahead. It's so easy and pretty darn tasty too. The leftovers keep us going for a couple of days and best of all, even the baby likes it!

Ingredients:

• 2 x 185 gram tins of tuna in spring water
• 1 x 400 gram can of creamed corn
• 1 cup of vegetable stock
• 2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, roughly, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 300 grams dried pasta 
• 1 & 1/2 cups of grated cheese
• 1 & 1/2 cups of milk
• 2 eggs

Oil the bowl of the slow cooker, and turn on to high setting to preheat. 

In a food processor mix the tuna (including liquid), creamed corn, stock, celery, carrots, onion, and salt and pepper till well combined. 

Spread 1/4 of the mix in the bottom of the slow cooker dish. Cover with half of the dried pasta, then another 1/4 of the mix over that. Sprinkle with half of the cheese, before layering the remaining pasta, then the rest of the tuna mix on top. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. 

In the same food processor (don't bother cleaning it in between) combine the eggs and milk, then pour this over the top of the cheese. Put the lid on the slow cooker and reduce the temperature to low. Cook for 5-6 hours, before slicing and serving.