Black Bean Tacos with Avocado Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 cup salsa

1 tsp cumin

corn tortillas

Your favorite taco toppings

Sauce:

1/2 ripe avocado

3/4 cup cilantro, stems removed

juice of 1 lime

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp honey

1/8 tsp salt

Directions:

To make the sauce:

Add all the sauce ingredients to a blender or a food processor.  Blend until smooth.  You can add a bit of water if needed.  

To make the bean filling:

In a saucepan, combine beans, salsa and cumin.  Heat while stirring until heated through. Mash the beans slightly for a creamier filling. 

Assemble the tacos: 

Spoon the black bean mixture down the center of the tacos and top with the avocado sauce and your favorite toppings. 

Source: The Garden Grazer

Spinach Artichoke Pizza

I could probably eat an entire bowl of spinach artichoke dip by myself.  The problem is, I can't justify doing that as "dinner".  But slap it on a pizza crust and my problem is solved! 

Yea!

  

It's the little things.

Spinach Artichoke Pizza

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup butter

2 Tbsp cream cheese

 3/4 Parmesan cheese, grated

1 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

6 oz fresh spinach, roughly chopped

1 can artichoke hearts, rinsed and squeezed dry, roughly chopped

2 pizza crusts (unless you want the topping to extra heavy)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425º (or follow the directions on container)

In a medium saucepan over low heat, stir together the cream, butter and cream cheese until melted.  Combine well. 

Stir in the Parmesan cheese and garlic powder.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes. 

Place the spinach in a frying pan with a tablespoon of water and cook over medium high heat until wilted. Then place on a clean towel and wring out all the liquid.  Then add the spinach to the sauce and stir to combine. 

Spread the sauce over the crust. 

Spread the artichoke pieces over the sauce and top with mozzarella cheese. 

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown. 

Source The Two Bite Club

Pizza Cups

When I made this I became totally frusterated with the dough.  I was trying to get the dough to make a cup-like formation so I could fill it with cheese and sauce.  It kept shrinking back into the muffin tin like a scared little turtle.  No amount of stretching and pressing would keep it in place.

Halfway through I had decided that this was a fail recipe and that I wasn't going to repeat.  Then they came out of the oven and it dawned on me that I didn't need to try to form it so much.  It would have worked great if I just rolled the dough some more and put the dough in and let it be a pedestool for the cheese and toppings.

I'll give this recipe one more try. If it's another fail...I'll remove it from the blog.

Pizza Cups

Ingredients:

Pizza dough

Pizza sauce

Mozzerella cheese

Favorite pizza toppings

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.  

Roll the pizza dough out on a floured surface and divide into 12 sections.  Take one section at a time and line each muffin space in the muffin tin.  Add cheese, sauce and toppings.  Repeat for the rest. Bake 10-12 minutes or until crust is a light golden brown.  

Sesame Chicken Stir Fry

It's a new year, so in honor of healthy New Year's Resolutions, this is a great way to kick of 2013!  I made this dish with broccoli and cauliflower, but it would be awesome with some red peppers and water chesnuts too.  

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup soy sauce

4 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1 lb broccoli florets, cut into small pieces

1/2 Tablespoon fresh ginger, grated

1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

several cups cooked rice for serving

DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl whisk together 1 cup broth, 6 Tablespoons soy sauce, 2 Tablespoons cornstarch and the sesame oil.  

In a large bowl, toss together the chicken with the remaining 2 Tablespoons soy sauce, 2 Tablespoons cornstarch and 1 Tablespoon oil. 

Heat remaining oil in a skillet over medium heat until the oil is hot.  Add the chicken mixture and brown the chicken until cooked through, flippling occasionally, about 5-7 minutes.  Transfer chicken to a plate and tent with foil.  Set aside. 

In the empty skillet add the broccoli and remaining 1/4 cup broth.  Cover the skillet and cook until the broccoli begins to soften and turn bright green.  Uncover the skillet and cook until the liquid evaporates, about a minute.  Add ginger and cook until fragrant.  Whisk the sauce to recombine and add to the skillet with chicken and the juices.  

Cook, stirring often, until the mixture is bubble and thickened.  

Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over hot rice. 

*You can be creative and add whatever type of veggie suits your tastes!  

Source: Mels' Kitchen Cafe  Sesame Chicken Stir-Fry

Baked Potatoes

Baked potatoes are an ideal meal for families whose taste preferences vary.  Also, baked potatoes are very filling and you can load them up with lots of broccoli and say it's healthy!  

Yea! 

Baked Potatoes

Ingredients

4-6 large russett potatoes

sour cream

cheddar cheese, shredded

bacon, crumbled

butter

(anything else that sounds tasty on top of a piping hot potato)

Directions:

Preheat oven to about 350º.  Wash potatoes and poke holes with a steak knife on all sides.  Coat with olive oil and roll in sea salt.  Bake directly on the rack (I always put an empty cookie sheet down on the rack below to catch juices...think: clean oven).  Cook until fork tender.  About an hour and a half.  The time really depends on how many potatoes you have. 

Once they are done, use a fork to perforate one side and mash it open.  

Load the open potato with your favorite toppings and dig in!

Lasagna Spinach Wheels

What is better than saucy noodles stuffed with cheese and spinach? 

These rolls are pretty easy to make and I liked being able to serve them individually. It makes for a prettier plate when serving. 

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients:
9 lasagna noodles, cooked
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasonings
salt and fresh pepper
1 jar spaghetti sauce
9 Tablespoons mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Make sure you drain the spinach well. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan cheese, egg, garlic, Italian seasonings  and salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Pour about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry by patting them with a paper towel. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over a noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 Tablespoon of mozzarella cheese. Cover baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.

Homemade Baby Food

I'm not Mrs Organic or Whole Food Fanatic, but I have always made my own baby food.  I've done it for a few reasons.  First, I feel more comfortable if I'm the one preparing my child's first foods.  This way, I know exactly what is going in to their tiny tummies.  Secondly, I quickly discovered that store bought baby food is EXPENSIVE!!  I can make three times as much for the same price of a few of those little containers.  Typically, they are about .50 each.  Thirdly, I can portion it out.  I can choose to do one, two or even three cubes at a time.  Less waste. 

Gotta love that!

Homemade Baby Food

Ingredients:

Any fruit of veggie you plan to feed your little tot. 

Directions:

Steam your choice of food until very soft.  Place in a food processor with some of the water used to steam and puree until a smooth consistency. Depending on the food choice, you may decide to peel first.

Portion out in ice cube trays and freeze.  Once frozen, transfer to ziplock bags and store in freezer until needed. 

*Be aware, some foods are not suppossed to be fed to an infant.  Check with a trusted source or your pediatrician as to which foods are good to start with. 

*I try to get fresh foods when I can.  Occasionally, I'll buy frozen.  I try to check the ingredients to make sure there isn't added salt. 

*If you choose a food with skin, it may be harder to get a smoooooth texture.  Notice the pictures of the peas I made.  

*Some foods I regularly make are:

Sweet potatoes (without skins) (These I cook in the microwave)

Squash

Green Beans

Peas

Carronts

Corn

Pumpkin (this is the easiest!  I just buy it already pureed in the can NOT PUMPKIN PIE MIX!)

Broccoli

Apples

Pears

Bananas (Don't steam these, just mash up once they are good and ripe)

*I typically don't season these foods.  I like my babies to get just the basic foods so I can monitor an allergic reaction.  SOmetimes I'll add cinnamon to the bananas or sweet potatoes.  I almost ALWAYS serve with baby cereal. 

Tomatillo Salsa

Um, YUM!  

While helping out my sister and her husband's family during their family reunion I somehow ended up making this salsa.  I had never made this before and I was following a recipe from my sister's friend. Because usually when I make salsa, it's a BIG batch, so when the time came to chop peppers, I absentmindedly chopped up WAY too many for this little bowl.  

You know, auto pilot.  

It was HOT!  But dang, was it good.  So...beware, if you don't like it hot, go easy on the peppers.  

Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs tomatillos

1/4 cup cilantro, minced

1 bunch green onions, chopped

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1-2 jalepeno and serano peppers

1/2 cup water

Directions:

Peel and thoroughly rinse tomatillos.  Cut into halves and place in a food processor.  Add cilantro, green onions, salt, pepper and peppers.  Blend together.  Add water a little bit at a time until desired consistency.  Blending each time to thoroughly mix.  (You may have leftover water)

*It's recommended to control the heat of your salsa to add a small amount of peppers at a time and taste until desired heat is reached.  

7-Layer Bean Dip

This is the easiest dip to make and everyone loves it.  If you can operate a can opener, you can make this dip. 

I've seen it made by mixing taco seasoning into the sour cream to add another flavor, but I prefer it as is.  I like the taste of sour cream.

Also, if you can, try to make it with homemade guacamole.  It'll take this dip up a notch. But, store-bought is good too.   

7-Layer Bean Dip

Ingredients:

1 can refried beans

1 container sour cream

1 container guacamole (or homemade)

2 cups, shredded cheddar cheese

1-2 tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 can sliced olives

Directions:

In a glass casserole dish, layer each ingredient in order, beginning with the beans.  

*Serve with tortilla chips or pita bread.  

Broccoli and Potato Soup

It may be 115º outside, but when the thought of soup sounds good, it doesn't matter how hot it is outside!  This soup is very creamy and rich.  A little goes a long way, I ended up freezing about half the batch because we just weren't going to eat it all.  Can't wait for the cooler months to hit so I can defrost my leftovers!

Broccoli and Potato Soup

Ingredients:

2 tsp oil

1/2 c white onion, chopped

5 russett potatoes, cubed

6 chicken bouillon cubes

4 tsp salt

2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 c flour

4 c milk

4 c broccoli, chopped

Directions

In a large pot saute onions in oil.  Once onions are soft, add potatoes, bouillon cubes, salt and fill with enough water to cover the potatoes.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Simmer until potatoes are tender.  

In a bowl, blend cream cheese with flour until smooth.  Beat in milk until smooth.  Add to the potato pot, slowly.  Pour in broccoli.  Stir frequently.  Boil until thick and broccoli is tender. Salt and pepper to taste. 

*When I make this again, I'll be chopping the broccoli a little smaller. 

Broccoli and Beef

If you like broccoli and beef, you must try this recipe.  Every bite bursts with flavor.  Be careful not to overcook the meat...the juicier the better.


Broccoli and Beef

Ingredients:

Sauce:

1 Tablespoon rice wine vinagar

2 Tablespoons low-sodium chicken broth

5 Tablespoons oyster sauce

2 Tablespoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Beef and Broccoli:

3 Tablespoons soy sauce

1-2 lbs flank staeak, cut into 2-inch wide strips with the grain, the sliced across the grain in to 1/4 inch-thick slices

6 garlic cloves, pressed

1 inch piece fresh ginger, minced

1 1/2 lbs fresh broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/3 cup water

3 medium scallions, sliced

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combie beef and soy sauce.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour.  Meanwhile, whisk the sauce ingredients together. Set aside.

In another small bowl, combine garlic, ginger and 1 teaspoon peanut oil.  Set aside. 

Heat 1-2 teaspoons oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot.  Add half the beef and break up clumps.  Cook, without stirring, for about 1 minute, then stir and cook until beef is browned around edges and cooked through.  About 1-2 minutes.  

*Don't overcook the meat (cook just barely so the meat stays tender)  

Transfer the beef to a bowl and cover with foil. 

Heat another 1-2 teaspoons of oil and repeat with the remaining beef. 

Add 1 tablespoon oil to the same, now empty, skillet.  Heat until hot and add broccoli and cook for 30 seconds; add water, cover pan and lower heat to medium.  Steam broccoli until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes. 

Push broccoli to the sides of the skillet and add the garlic/ginger mixture.  Cook, mashing the mixture with a spoon, until fragrant, about 20 seconds.  Stir the mixture into the broccoli.  

Add the beef back to the skillet and toss to combine. 

Whisk the sauce to recombine and add to the skillet.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened and evenly distributed, about 1-2 minutes.  

Transfer to a serving platter, sprinkle with scallions and serve on top of rice. 

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

If you ask me, sweet potatoes are gross.  I just can't bring myself to eat them.  They LOOK good, and I wish I liked them.  So the only reason I decided to make these was for my husband.  He loves sweet potatoes.  

See how much I love him?

So as we are eating dinner, I am looking at these orange potato chunks and encouraging my 5 year old to eat them.  I realize that I can't talk to him about trying out the food that was prepared for dinner if I'm not willing to do it myself.  

I take a few pieces and put them on my plate.  I pick one up.  I take a moment to prepare myself for the yuck I'm about to eat.  I pop it in and chew.  And chew.  And chew.  Swallow.  

Surprise!  These babies aren't bad!  In fact, I enjoyed how they tasted so much I ate 2 more skewers full of sweet potatoes!  I felt like such a big girl, trying out new food!  

Glad I did!

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

2-4 medium sweet potatoes

olive oil

salt and pepper

Directions:

Peel each potato and cut into chunks.  Place all the chunks in a microwaveable bowl and cover with plastic or a ziplock bag if the bowl will fit inside.  Microwave for 3 minutes, stir, recover and microwave again for another few minutes.  You want the chucks to be tender enough to put on a skewer, but not cooked all the way through.

Place 5-6 pieces on a skewer.  Lay all the loaded skewers on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Use a brush to coat all sides of the potatoes.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Preheat the outdoor grill and grill the potato skewers for about 5 minutes on each side.  Cooking time may vary, so just grill until the potatoes are cooked through.  

Twice Baked Potatoes

Talk about a crowd pleaser!  I don't know anyone who doesn't like a twice baked potato! I may or may not have eaten one of the leftover potatoes for breakfast the day after I made these.  

Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:

4-6 medium russett potatoes

1/2 c sour cream

1/4 c butter, melted

2 c shredded cheese

1/4 c bacon bits

To bake potatoes:

olive oil

sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400º.

Coat potatoes with oil and cover with salt.  Poke 3 holes on each side of each potato with a steak knife.  Place directly on oven rack with a cookie sheet below to catch any drippings.  Bake potatoes for 1 hour.  

When potatoes or cool, cut in half lengthwise.  With a spoon, scoop out most of the potato, leaving about 1/4 and inch of the potato inside the skin.  

Set the scooped out potatoes aside. 

Brush each potato skin inside and out with butter.  Place skins on a cookie sheet, face up and broil for about 6-8 minutes.  

Use a potato masher to mix the remaining potato, sour cream, cheese and bacon bits and scoop into the skins.  Sprinkle shredded cheese and extra bacon bits over the tops. 

Broil for about 2 more minutes. 

EAT EAT EAT!

Lynn's Pasta Salad

During Teacher Appreciation Week one of my favorite parents brought this pasta salad to our "Feed Your Teacher" potluck.  Of all the varieties of goodies brought, this dish was devoured first.  Everyone kept asking, "Who made the pasta salad?!  It's sooo good!"  I knew this was a recipe I HAD to have!

The secret is in the salad dressing.  This is the brand you'll want to try to find.  Any other brand and you'll comprimise the deliciousness of this pasta!

Lynn's Pasta Salad

***This makes A LOT!  If you are going to serve it for dinner, I suggest cutting the recipe in half.  Otherwise, this is ideal for potlucks!  A real crowd pleaser!

Ingredients:

2 boxes farfalle pasta (bowtie), cooked

1 container each grape tomatoes, red and yellow, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 large can sliced olives

1 small container feta cheese, crumbled (Garlic and Herb)

1 bottle Brianna's Home Style Real French Vinaigrette salad dressing

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for a few hours so you can serve it chilled. 

***SEPTEMBER 7th, 2013***

I made this today and after going to two seperate stores looking for the amazing mircale dressing for this salad, I couldn't find it.  I decided to take my chances on another dressing.  I settled on Girard's Greek Feta Vinaigrette.....

Luckily, I scored and the pasta is just as yummy.  

Whew!

Fettuccine Spinach Alfredo

The worst thing about alfredo sauce is that one portion is enough calories discredit any form of exercise you have done...ever...in your entire life.  But the best thing about alfredo sauce is it's SO DANG GOOD!

The cream cheese in this sauce really adds a creamy flavor.   And don't scimp on the parmesan cheese, that fake powdery stuff will leave your sauce tasting chaulky. 

Fettuccine Spinach Alfredo

Ingredients:

1 pt. heavy whipping cream

1 stick butter, salted

2 heaping Tablespoons cream cheese

1/2 C REAL parmesan cheese, shredded

1 tsp garlic powder

A handful or two of fresh baby spinach (the amount depends on how spinachy you want your meal to be), chopped

1 package fettuccine noodles, cooked

2 Tbsp olive oil

Combine whipping cream, butter and cream cheese and melt together over medium heat.  Ensure it is mixed well.  

In a frying pan, cook the spiniach in olive oil until wilted.  Combine with the sauce. (you can reserve some of the cooked spinach to place on top of your pasta...it just looks pretty)

Simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Combine cooked noodles and sauce.  

Creamy Corn

My brother made this for Thanksgiving this year.  Since then, we've made this at least 3 times (Thanksgiving was 3 weeks ago!)  It is so sweet and creamy!  Yum!

Creamy Corn

• 
  
• 
  
• Ingredients
• 
  
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 (16-ounce) bag frozen corn, defrosted
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• Salt, to season
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, or more if you like. 

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 4 tablespoons butter. When butter is foamy add the corn stirring to coat with the butter. Cook stirring frequently for 1 minute. Add sugar and cook for 2 minutes more. Increase heat to high and add heavy cream-continue to stir so corn won't stick to pan. Add salt and pepper. Cook corn until most all of the cream has absorbed about 5 minutes more. Remove and serve hot.