Taco Packets Take 2

So, I've written about this recipe before on my blog here. This weekend I decided to make them again because they are absolutely perfect for work lunches. So I went to look over my blog post and found it to be not very clear or straight forward as I based it off a different recipe I found here and didn't want to take away from their traffic. However now I realized my recipe is definitely different enough to be able to give you my own recipe. So here goes:

Ingredients:
2 cans refried beans
1 large pack of ground beef (2-3lbs)
Two cartons of cream cheese (16oz)
Shredded cheese
Mid sized tortillas
Tabasco Sauce
Chili Powder
Paprika
Cayenne Pepper
Ground Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Cooking Oil Spray (I use the one that is completely olive oil, since the other ones with ingredients I can pronounce creep me out)
(optional Oregano)

Get your seasonings out:

 Next step:

I season the ground beef. You may have noticed by now, that I really like to use a lot of seasoning. So I'll take the plastic off the ground beef and throw on the first round of seasonings: cayenne, salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, cayenne, and oregano if desired. I usually use the oregano, but I was out when I made this yesterday.

Preheat your pan on the stove. I use a big dutch oven. Now throw your meat into the pot seasoning side down.

Since the meat is unseasoned side up, I now put the bunch of seasoning on the meat again and brown it. As I break the meat up, I add more seasoning, because, seasoning and spices make the world go round. And make the world more delicious!

Once the meat is browned, I add the two cans of refried beans. Haha, it almost looks like dog food. My husband hates beans, so these are all for me, muahaha!

Blend it all in. The heat will kind of melt it. It also gives it a creamy consistency. Now add the two packets of cream cheese.

Again, blend, mix, blend.
Add a bunch of cheese. I used up what I had left in my fridge. People who know me, all know that there can never be too much cheese in my opinion. Hah!

Make sure everything is blended and mixed. Looks like this:

Now get your filling station set up. The filling, the tortillas, cooking spray, and Pyrex dishes to put them in.

I like the mid sized tortillas. Having two of them is about the perfect lunch size. When I made the really big ones One wasn't quite enough, but two is too much.

Now dollop your filling onto the tortilla.

Wrap them up and put them seam side down into the Pyrex dish.

Now fill up the dish.

Spray the packets on each side with the cooking spray. This helps them get crispy on both sides. I like the crispiness.

Now stick them in the preheated oven at 350 for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes get them out, flip them, and then put them back in for another 15 minutes.

As you can see, if you fill them a little bit too full, they will bust filling out at the seam, but it's no great tragedy.

You can either make these ahead like I did and freeze them. Or you can pre-fill them, freeze, and then bake later. I like having them all done because they are also delicious cold, and you can just let them defrost throughout your work day and have them ready at lunch, or you can microwave them and enjoy them warm. If you microwave them, just be aware that they won't be as crispy.

This amount of filling made 24 packets. I had enough filling for at least one to two more, but I only had 24 tortillas. :)

I hope this recipe is easier to understand and follow. As usual I hope you enjoy the recipe, and am always happy to get feedback!

Taco Packets

I've still been struggling a bit with the blues lately. So I did the thing that always makes me feel better: I cooked something new, did a bit of experimenting, and fed people. I cooked for my husband and one of his friends.
This is the recipe I roughly followed:
Chimichangas
However it's not fried. I also modified the recipe and used ground beef I cooked up with Mexican seasoning instead of the shredded chicken the recipe recommends. I cooked up the ground beef with paprika, salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and a bit of oregano. Then I mixed in a thing of whipped cream cheese, a bunch of sharp cheddar cheese, a bit of Mexican blend cheese and filled the tortillas. My husband hates beans, so that completed his set. But for his friend and myself I first put down a layer of refried beans, and then the meat and cheese mixture.
I served them with pico de gallo, sour cream, and slices of avocado. I was surprised by how delicious they were. Spraying them with the cooking spray gave them a kind of crunchy shell which I really liked! I may be weird, but some of the cooking sprays really weird me out when they have all those ingredients I can't pronounce. So I bought one that is just olive oil. They were also extremely filling. My husband managed to eat two of the ones without the refried beans. His friend and I both only managed one each of the ones with beans and felt completely stuffed afterwards.
I bought the large winco pack of ground beef, the larger size of cream cheese, one regular sized bag of shredded cheese, and a bit extra cheese, and a small can of refried beans. This made 8 of the baked burritos, or taco packets as I like to call them. 5 with the beans and 3 without.
Here are two pictures of what they look like. These are the ones with beans, the ones without are a bit slimmer.