This is a tough economy.  Many of us are struggling to make ends meet.  In order to maintain sanity, we’ve come up with a solution to still have dinner parties.  You can save money by having pot-luck dinners.  Each couple/family brings one or two dishes.  Try having a themed pot-luck.  This particular night was Mexican night. I came up with this dish  because it’s low maintenance and serves many on a budget.  Left over enchiladas can be properly wrapped and sealed and placed in the freezer.  For an even fresher taste, prepare a dish of enchiladas following the recipe,but stop before the final step of baking. In a freezer safe dish with a sealed lid,  place in the freezer.  When you feel like having enchiladas, they’re already made.  Just pop them in the oven with tin foil covering the dish at around 350degrees for 45-60 min.  Because dish size and oven ranges can vary, periodically check on your dish to make sure you’re not burning the enchiladas.

Ingredients

1 onion (chopped)\1 large green pepper (chopped)

5 cloves of garlic (diced)

Juice from two limes

1 can of green chilies

1 can of stewed tomatoes

1 can of rotelle

1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 bottle of Mojo

3 cans of enchilada sauce

Salsa (optional for topping)

2 pkgs. of soft tortillas

Seasoning for pork butt (salt, paprika, pepper)

flour

2 pkgs. of sharp cheddar cheese or shredded queso cheese.

Sour cream (optional for topping)

pork butt or 1-2 pounds of chicken breasts..or both

Instructions

Turn the slow cooker to high to heat the machine.  Add the tomatoes, onions, green pepper, garlic, green chilies, and lime juice.  If you’re doing just chicken, add this to the mixture.

To prepare the pork butt, season generously with salt, pepper, and paprika on both sides.  Roll the pork butt in flour.  Heat a frying pan with olive oil on high.  Sear the pork butt about 3-4 minutes on each side.  Add the meat to the slow cooker.  Follow the instructions of your slow cooker for cooking times.  I put the slow cooker on medium and cook the meat for 5-7 hours.  You’ll know when it’s done when the meat falls apart.

To make the enchiladas

Heat the oven to 375.  In a bowl, shred the meat and add some of the tomato mixture from the slow cooker to keep the meat moist.  Don’t add too much because you’ll be adding one of the cans of enchilada sauce.  You’ll need a large casserole dish.  Spray the dish with cooking spray to keep the tortillas from sticking.  With each tortilla, add enough meat mixture to fill the tortilla and roll into a burrito.  Line your burritos side by side in the dish.  Evenly disperse the enchilada sauce so it covers all of the enchiladas. Use a can per casserole dish. Sprinkle cheese over the burritos.  Cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.

Optional second dish

An option for the left over mixture from the slow cooker is to add a bag of rice and let it cook on high until the rice is tender.  Add any meat leftover meat bowl of shredded meat to the slow cooker with the rice and veggie mixture.  This is a great second dish that has rice, meat, and veggies.   Try adding black beans and corn if you like. You’ve just made two meals from the same crock pot.  Remember, work smart, not hard.

You’ll notice my recipes are in grouped in shopping order based on the lay-out of most grocery stores.  There’s nothing worse than roaming the aisles over and over.  Hope this helps.