Enchilada Casserole

This is a great dish to make and bring to friends and family who have just had babies.  I received this after my last one and I just made it to day to bring to a friends house!  Here are the ingredients:

1lb ground beef
1 chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can rinsed and drained black beans
4tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt and pepper
1c water
16 oz can corn
16 oz jar taco sauce
1c sour cream
16oz shredded cheese
whole wheat tortillas

Brown the ground beef, then add the chopped onion and garlic and saute until soft.  Once soft, add the black beans, chili powder, salt, pepper, and water.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.  In a 9X13 casserole pan, spread 1/3 of the taco sauce on the bottom and cover with tortillas.  Add 1/3 sauce on top, then add the beef mixture, sour cream, corn, 1/2 of the cheese and top with another layer of tortillas.  Top with the rest of the sauce and cheese and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

SIGN THE PETITION

I've been watching "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution."  I went to his website this morning and saw that he has a petition you can sign.  He's trying to get as many signatures as possible and then present this to the government to try to get them to change what's going in school lunches.  Here is a link to sign the petition:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/petition

Lentils and Rice Pilaf

This is the homemade version - no box!  I sauteed 1 chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic, and 2 handfuls of baby carrots in olive oil.  Then I added 1c basmati rice and toasted it.  I had precooked 1c lentils for 20 minutes and added those in along with 2 1/2c water, 1/2tsp thyme, and 1tsp basil.  I brought this to a boil and simmered for 20 minutes.  When there were about 5 minutes left, I added 1c frozen peas.  When I served this to my son, he said "mmmm, this looks wonderful."  He's so funny!

Baked Spaghetti

I have a lot to catch up on.  Tonight was an easy meal, but with something special!  I browned a pound of Italian Sausage and added a jar of Roasted Garlic spaghetti sauce.  I mixed this with 3/4lb spaghetti that I boiled for 5 minutes.  I topped it with mozzarella cheese and baked for about 20 minutes on 375. 

For the special part, I made a salad.  I used some leftover spring mix, but added spinach and arugula from my garden!  For the dressing, I mixed the juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1 clove garlic, salt and pepper, olive oil, and a few chopped sprigs lemon thyme from my garden!  Yea, I actually used something from my garden!

Pulled Pork Pitas

I ran out of tortilla shells, so I used leftover pulled pork to make a pita.  I stuffed half a whole wheat pita with cheese, pork, cole slaw, and cilantro.  Delicious!

Pulled Pork Tacos

I helped my sister make some coleslaw on Thursday night and mixed it with some leftover pulled pork that she had made.  It was so good, I had to make my own!  I bought a 2 1/2lb pork shoulder and cut it into big chunks.  I made a rub for the chunks out of:

1tsp dried oregano
1tsp chipotle chili powder
1tsp ground cumin
2tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

I covered the pork with the rub and browned it on all sides in a dutch oven.  Once it was browned, I added:

1 cubed onion
4 smashed garlic cloves
1c chicken stock
1small can tomato sauce
1T blue agave (or honey)
juice of 1 orange and 1 lime

I brought all this to a simmer, then covered it and put it in the oven at 325 for 1 hour 45 minutes.  Once it was done, I took out the meat and skimmed the fat off the top of the sauce.  I brought the mixture to a simmer and let it simmer about 10 minutes while I shredded the pork.  Once the pork was shredded I strained the sauce and poured it over the meat.  It was then ready for the tacos.

I prepped my family that there were some ingredients in these tacos that they might not like, but that they needed to try it because everything complements each other and tastes out of this world!

I warmed some whole wheat tortillas, then topped them with a touch of sour cream, then pork, shredded cheese, "Sweet and Spicy Coleslaw", and cilantro.  They were sooo good!  The recipe for the coleslaw is below:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/down-home-with-the-neelys/sweet-and-spicy-coleslaw-recipe/index.html

Santa Fe Soup

I made this for my kids birthday parties, but never posted it!  My mom was asking for the recipe, so I thought I'd put it on here and she could get it then! 

2lb ground beef
1 diced onion
1can black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans
2 cans corn, drained (I used Mexican corn that had red and green bell peppers in it)
1 can tomatoes and green chilis
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cans water
2 pkgs Ranch mix
2 pkgs taco seasoning

Brown and drain the beef and onion.  Add everything together either in a crock pot or large pot.  Cook until done!  It's pretty easy and very tasty!

White Bean, Sausage, Kale and Tortellini Soup

My daughter found the container of White Bean, Sausage, and Kale soup in the freezer the other day and really wanted it for dinner.  When I made it in January, there were a lot of leftovers, so I froze it for another great soup day!  There wasn't quite enough left for all 5 of us, so I added 2 cups of chicken stock, let it come to a simmer and added a few handfuls of tortellini.  My daughter thought it was Minestrone, even though it's a lot different of a soup!  It was a good way to transform my leftovers!

Roasted Shrimp

I was pretty impressed with this one - great flavor.  I first made my "marinade."  I put about 1/4c olive oil, 2tsp lemon juice, 1T dijon mustard, a splash of Pinot Grigio, 1 large clove garlic, minced, and salt and pepper in a bowl and wisked it together.  Then I peeled and took the tails off 1lb shrimp and mixed them into the sauce.  I accidentally bought the large shrimp, which are NOT large.  They end up being bite size.  So, we just ate a lot of them!  I put them in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.  This was really only because I made this mixture right before a babysitting kid got picked up and I didn't want to put them in the oven until after they left.  so, I'm not sure that this step added anything.  I roasted the shrimp at 400 for about 10 minutes, until they were pink.  We ate this with leftover Quinoa Pilaf and some of the shrimp sauce mixed in with the quinoa and that was really good!  I think the next time I make quinoa, I'm going to pour this sauce over it!

Quinoa Pilaf

I found a huge bag of organic quinoa when I made my first trip to Costco a few weeks ago and have been very excited to use it!  I've only ever been able to find it in the bulk section at Whole Foods before, so I only ever have a little bit.  The bag describes it as more of a side dish, but since it's such a great source of protein, this was our main course today.

I sauteed 1 small onion, diced, 2 celery stalks, and a handful of baby carrots, both chopped on medium in some olive oil.  Once they were soft, I added 1 chopped clove garlic and 1c quinoa.  I toasted the quinoa for a minute, then added 2 cups vegetable stock and 1tsp thyme.  I brought this to a boil, them simmered, covered for 20 minutes.  While this was simmering, I chopped 1/2c walnuts.  I chopped these pretty finely.  I wanted the kids to have the crunch of them, but to still be able to basically swallow them without chewing.  Once the quinoa was done, I fluffed and stirred in the walnuts.  I think we are going to have the leftovers for a side dish tonight!

Tuna Salad

I  love tuna salad, but I usually don't remember to get all of the ingredients, so I never make it.  I use 3 hard boiled eggs (it's a lot of egg, but that's how I love it), 2 stalks celery chopped, and 2 cans drained white tuna.  I only use white tuna, basically just because.  Eating meat out of a can, in general, weirds me out a little and I don't like seeing too much color.  It's just one of my many quirks.  But I love tuna salad, so just the white meat for me!  I topped all of this with a squirt (about 1T) of Grey Poupon Hearty Brown Mustard (this is my new favorite dijon), a few quirts of mayo (just depends on how mayo-y you like yours), a splash of lemon juice, and salt and pepper.  Don't underestimate the power of the salt and pepper.  I made this for years without the salt and pepper and thought it was good.  Then after watching the Food Network for years and years and watching them salt and pepper everything, I decided to give it a try.  It really does bring out all of the great flavors and also help to meld them together into deliciousness!  I stuffed mine into a whole wheat pita for lunch today, but usually it's just between 2 slices of plain old wheat bread.

On a side note...apparently my kids and the babysitting kids love honeydew!  I bought one yesterday and my son and I cut it up this morning.  I gave the kids their lunch and I didn't hear 1 peep while I got mine together.  They were all eating leftovers, so I don't think it was their main dish that made them so happy!

Roasted Artichokes

Great side dish and so easy to make!  I drained a can of quartered artichokes, drizzled them with olive oil, salted and peppered them, and roasted at 400 for about 20 minutes.  I only use canned artichokes for 2 reasons...1) I LOVE the flavor of the brine and 2) I bought, cut, and prepared 2 fresh artichokes a while ago and they didn't taste good, took a lot of work, and there wasn't much to show for it!  Canned are the way to go!

Southwest Pasta Bake

I knew that I wouldn't feel like cooking when we got back in town last night, so I bought a box dinner from Wal-Mart.  It was Southwestern Chicken Pasta Bake and was actually really good.  While I was eating it, I thought that it might be easy to make into a vegatarian dish.  So I got up from the table and started!  I had leftover salsa and velveeta that I melted together with some milk.  I'm not sure how much of each - probably about 1c salsa and 1c cubed Velveeta.  I just added enough milk to make it saucy.  I added 1 can rinsed and drained black beans, 1c corn, and a little less than 1/2 lb cooked whole wheat macaroni.  I mixed it all together, topped it with cheese, and put it in the refrigerator for lunch today.  I baked it for about 30 minutes on 400 (although I think my oven's 400 is really about 350).  It probably could use some cumin or chili powder or something to give it more flavor, but it was pretty good for just throwing it together!