Smothered Chile Colarado Burritos: SRC

Woot!  It’s Secret Recipe Club time!  This month, I was assigned Heather’s blog, Fit Mama, Real Food.

Heather is a mom of 2 and a group fitness instructor!  It’s such a great combination!  As I was looking through her recipes, I also took a peek at some of Heather’s fitness tips.  I even did her plank workout!  And let me tell you: it was tough (especially following boot camp & zumba!) but so so good!  I’m definitely working it into my own workout routine!

Go, abs, go!!

Now for the recipe!

I ended up getting a new crockpot and I wanted to try it out, so I picked these delicious smothered chile Colorado burritos.  Even though I kept calling them enchiladas.  And then I bought the tortillas too small, so I rolled mine like enchiladas, too.  Oops.

The recipe also calls for homemade enchilada sauce (which I’ve always wanted to try!)  Since I knew that the recipe would be slow cooking anyway, I just put the ingredients for the homemade enchilada sauce into the crockpot and let it cook that way instead of making it ahead of time  But if you’re looking to bulk up your pantry with homemade sauces, check out Heather’s recipe for a huge batch of enchilada sauce!

One last change I made to the recipe was to stir the refried beans directly into the shredded beef, but that’s just personal preference.  Plus, once the beans were stirred in, two little picky eaters ate them without complaint.  Dude even ate his entire half burrito!  And enjoyed it!  It always brings such joy to my heart when the kids enjoy a meal I’ve prepared.

Thank you Heather, for great (and easy) recipe!

Crockpot Smothered Chile Colorado Burritos

Adapted from Fit Mama Real Food

2 lb beef stew meat, trimmed of excess fat

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 cup beef stock

1 heaping tbsp chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 (15 oz) can refried beans

Whole wheat tortillas (6-10, depending on size)

Shredded Monterey jack cheese (about 8 oz or as desired)

Place the stew meat into the crockpot.   Add the crushed tomatoes, beef stock, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper and stir to combine.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours of until the meat is very tender and shreds easily with a fork.

Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees and grease a casserole dish.

Heat the refried beans (I used the microwave).  Remove the beef from the crockpot and shred using two forks.  Stir the refried beans into the shredded beef (unless you don’t have picky kids, then leave them separate).

Spread about ¼ cup of the cooking sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.

Dip each tortilla into the cooking sauce in the crockpot, then fill with a large scoop of the beef mixture and a sprinkle of cheese.  Roll and place in the casserole.

Once the casserole dish is full, pour a bit more cooking sauce over the top and sprinkle with more cheese.

Bake for 5 minutes, then switch to broil and cook until the cheese is lightly browned.

Serve immediately lettuce (or spinach), sour cream (or plain greek yogurt), and sliced avocado (or guacamole).