This is my personal spin on a McKinney family favorite – Cowboy Enchiladas. There seem to be multiple versions of this circulating, so I decided to add my own spin with extra vegetables and the fat-free version of most ingredients. I mean, if you are going to indulge, it’s okay to lighten it up sometimes.
We recently celebrated my mother-in-law’s second birthday in heaven. It’s so important to me that we keep her memory alive for my Little Man, and making a dish she made for us seemed like the perfect way to remember her. I can remember her bringing this dish to my house one of the last times she came to see us. She wanted to make it an easy night on me since she popped in on a school night. I’d never had Cowboy Enchiladas, but it totally made sense that it was her kind of meal.
The common Mexican flavors combined with ingredients she knew her family would love made it even more special. I felt I had a glimpse into my husband’s childhood as we ate dinner together. And, you know what, there is nothing easier than Cowboy Enchiladas on a school night with chips and salsa on the side.
So this year, as we celebrated Jen Jen, I thought I needed to share this recipe with you! She wanted nothing more than to be a grandma, and I’m committed that these babies remember how much she loved and prayed for them.
This year she would love so much snuggling her new grandbaby that bears her name and listening to the big giggles and banter together in dress-up clothes with all the accessories. A game or two of hi ho cheerio and Yahtzee would be on the schedule.
As I stirred everything together, I could just hear her say, “oh my Keisha, you just know I make simple things, and these are always so good.”
Lean Mean Cowboy Enchiladas
Ingredients
- ½ onion chopped
- 1 bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 cup frozen chopped spinach
- 2 pounds lean ground turkey
- 1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
- 2 beef bouillon cubes
- 1 block 2% Velveeta Cheese
- 18-20 carb balance tortillas or corn tortillas
- 1 can fat free cream mushroom soup
- 1 can fat free cream chicken soup
- ½ cup skim or 2% milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Chop onion and bell pepper separately.
- In a skillet, saute onions in olive oil.
- Once they are mostly cooked, add the bell peppers and saute until the edges are browned.
- Add frozen spinach and stir together.
- Add ground meat and cook through.
- Dissolve bouillon cubes in ½ cup of hot water.
- Once the meat is browned, add canned tomatoes and bouillon to the meat mixture.
- Stir together and cook down until juice is mostly dry.
- Cut ⅔ of the cheese block into cubes and stir into the mixture while warm.
- Stir together until cheese is fully melted.
- Fill tortillas with ⅓ cup of the meat mixture.
- Roll up and place in a 9×13 baking dish with seam side down.
- Repeat until all meat mixture is in tortillas.
- In a saucepan, mix together soups, ⅓ block Velveeta cheese, and 1/2 can of milk.
- Stir consistently to avoid scalding.
- Once the soup mixture is melted, pour it over the top of the rolled enchiladas.
- Bake at 350, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
Notes
If you need some other recipes to round out your fiesta, try some of these.
