Lemony Chicken and Rice Soup

I've been in crock pot mode for a while.  I'm loving my new book American Test Kitchen's Slow Cooker Revolution volume 2.  Most of the following had their beginnings in that book and were modified by me to fit my family/cooking style.
I'd be a total slacker, but the next couple of recipes are things we made while my mom was in town and I told her I'd post them a week ago.  Sick kids and normal business has delayed my posting, but here they are.
This one is for a soup that was very good.  I only moderately modified it from the original.  I loved how it was creamy without cream since I'm currently eating non-dairy for my nursing baby.

Ingredients

• 2 cups diced onions
• 3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced 
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 8 cups chicken broth.  (I use 2 heaping tablespoons of an organic better than bouillon paste that I buy at costco.  I boil the water and dissolve the paste to make my broth.)
• 1 package bone-in split chicken breasts, trimmed (I also skinned mine)
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cup cooked brown rice

Directions

1. Microwave onions, carrots, garlic and oil in a bowl for 5 minutes stirring mid way through.  Place in slow cooker, stir in broth.  Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to slow cooker.  Cover and cook until chicken is tender.  3-4 hours (book says on low, but I say on high for that short of a time)
2. Transfer chicken to a plate and shred/chop into bite size pieces.  Skim any excess fat from top of soup (I don't find this necessary if you remove the skin from the chicken before cooking.)
3. Whisk egg yolks and lemon juice together in a bowl.  Temper egg  mixture by mixing 3-4 Tablespoons of hot soup into the lemon/yolk mix, then whisk they lemon/yolk mix into the soup until well combined.  Add the shredded chicken and rice and cook until heated through.  (5 minutes or so)  Season with additional salt and pepper if desired.

honey garlic chicken

I have been using the crock pot a ton lately.  I've just decided it is way easier to try and make dinner when I can during the day rather than trying to do it when I'm trying to help with homework, run children here or there, teach a piano lesson, and/or take care of a baby.  This one was super simple and tasted great.  The chicken cooked perfectly and it made a lovely sauce that I served over brown rice.  This made way more sauce than needed.  You could probably add more chicken thighs and have lots of left overs or a second meal.

Ingredients

• 1 package boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• cornstarch (1-2 teaspoons)

Directions

1. Place chicken in the crock pot.  Mix Ketchup, soy sauce, honey and garlic in a bowl.  Pour over chicken and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4.  
2. Remove chicken, cover to keep warm.  Pour sauce into a saucepan (I poured it through a strainer so it wouldn't be chunky.)  Mix about a little water with cornstarch and add it to the saucepan heat to thicken. 
3. Serve chicken over rice and top with sauce.   

Italian chili

This too came from pinterest.  Found it from the same slow cooker post.  It led me to amy bites.  I really liked the idea of italian chili.  I modified it a bit, adding veggies, and changing the spiciness, leaving out the noodles...  If you want spicier, try her recipe - or just add some red pepper flakes.

• 1 lb Italian sausage (we used home-made - YUM!)
• 1 cup diced onion
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 15 oz can great northern beans, undrained
• 1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1/2 cup dry red wine (or sub chicken, beef, or vegetable broth.)

Directions

1. Cook sausage, breaking up as cooking.  Drain off most of the fat leaving about a tablespoon with the sausage (there really was none to drain with our homemade sausage)  Add onion, celery, carrots, Italian seasoning, pepper, sugar and salt.  Cook for 5-8 minutes until veggies are tender.  Add garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant.  Transfer to slow cooker.
2. Add beans, tomatoes, tomato paste and red wine to meat mixture in slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.  

Lentil stew

Going to try to blog some recipes we've liked in the past couple of weeks.  I miss the blog when I'm looking for something we liked.
This recipe is one I found on pinterest.  I found this site with lots of links to slow cooker recipes.  The original of this comes from chocolate covered Kate.  Here is how we made it.  I left out mushrooms, and actually spinach too. I also found I needed a lot more broth/stock that the original said. If you are a mushroom lover, click the link above and follow that recipe. (keeping in mind that you might need more liquid.)   I loved the combination of flavors.  We actually made this twice.  First time my veggie broth was rancid and we had to dump it.  Such a waste.    Second time DH made it.  I had thought he left out chili powder but in reviewing the recipe, I don't see any.  Maybe he left out the cumin.  It was good that way, but I sprinkled the chili powder on it when I ate it for left overs and it was excellent.  Good enough that I had the left overs 3 times.  I thought the lemon flavor was a bit too strong the first day, but not in left overs.  Just and FYI.  I may fiddle with that next time I make this. That is the true judge of if I like something.  :)  I also love a good vegetarian meal.

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups onion, chopped (always an approximation for me)
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic -2-4 cloves
• olive oil -1 tsp-1 Tbs for sauteing veggies
• 1.5 cups diced bell peppers (I used mini sweets)
• 6 carrots, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/3 cup dry lentils
• 4 cups vegetable stock or broth
• 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons grated lemon zest
• optional (5 oz spinach)  Sounds good but we didn't use it.

Directions

1. Saute onion in oil in a large saucepan until it begins to brown.  Add garlic, peppers, carrots, celery and cook for 5 more minutes.  (Pretty sure I added a bit more oil at this time.  I just went by what it looked like it needed.)  
2. Add vinegar, tomato paste, fennel seeds, paprika and cumin.  Cook 15 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  
3. Add lentils, broth, tomatoes, and salt.  Bring to a boil, Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until lentils are done.  Add lemon zest.  Stir and serve.  (If using spinach, add with lemon zest and cook 2-3 minutes until it wilts.  If your a fan of chili powder or want a spicier or smokey flavor, try it with a sprinkle of chili powder.  I loved the left overs like that.

Mexican chicken spaghetti

I really liked this dish, which was surprising.  I haven't cared much for chicken lately.   I thought it was from having eaten vegetarian for a long time, but after finding out I was pregnant, I've decided that maybe I can just blame it on pregnancy.  This is one of the fist meals I tried when trying chicken again and I really liked it.  Some of my favorite things about this meal were - 1) it was easy, 2) the spaghetti cooked in the crock pot, 3) it wasn't as spicy as the chicken spaghetti's I've had in the past, and 4)it didn't have any cream of anything soups.  Good recipe if you ask me.  It was nice and creamy with a great flavor. 

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, sinless cicken breast
• 1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
• 2 cups salsa (I'm partial to Jack's sold at costco - fresh salsa with a hint of lime.  Yum!)
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 8 oz spaghetti noodles, broken into small pieces
• 2 - 3 cups hot water
• 8 oz cream cheese

Directions

1. Place chicken in the bottom of a 5 quart crock pot.  Add beans, salsa, corn, salt and pepper.  Pour 1 cup of water over the top.
2. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
3. Remove the chicken and shred.  Return to the crock.  Add 2 cups hot water (original said 3 but a comment said they did 2 and so did I.  I may have added 1/2 cup more, I can't remember.  If you don't look like you have enough water, feel free to add 3 cups.  You just want enough to be able to submerge your noodles, but not so they look like they are drowning.  You don't want soup in the end.)  Add broken spaghetti noodles.  Push down to submerge.  Turn crock to high and cook for 45 minutes-1 hour.  
4. Turn off crock.  Add cream cheese and let melt.  (I cut my cream cheese into squares before adding to speed up the melting process.  Stir and serve. 

Mexican pizzas

Here was another idea from the Cheap. Fast. Good cookbook.  I mixed their idea with the taco pizza that I like to make and kind of made taco pizza with a tortilla shell.  They did have a couple of new ideas for toppings in the book.  I combined their ideas with ours and this is what we ended up with.  I loved that they were quick and easy.  One son didn't want to toast his in the oven, so he just used the beans as burrito topping which is also perfectly acceptable and makes this meal quite adaptable.  I love that even though it was beans, my 3 year old bean hater ate it and asked for more because the beans were "squished."  3/4 boys loved this and had seconds.  Even had to make another can of bean topping.
Warning, now gushing about my favorite tortillas.  I LOVE these tortillas.  If I can ever figure out how to make some like this I would be sooo excited.  They are corn tortillas with all the flavor of corn, but in the ingredients there is some vital wheat gluten which makes them pliable like a regular tortilla.  They also come in a taco size - not the tiny regular corn tortilla size.  However, they are like $3 for a package of only 6.  I splurge for them occasionally because they are so tasty.  They are made by La Tortilla factory and called hand made style Corn Tortillas.  I have to buy them at Randalls.  It is the only place I know that carries them.  Try them if you love corn tortillas.    OK, done gushing.  Back to the recipe.
 We did these really low key.  I let the kids pick a type of tortilla, I put the bean base on it, then cheese, and they picked at least 2 of the 4 veggie toppings available.

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz can black beans (pinto would also work fine)
• 1 cup salsa (today I used our favorite costco salsa Jack's.  Love it's hint of lime)
• tortillas -used desired type.  I used flour and corn
• shredded cheese - I used sharp cheddar, but Monterrey Jack, or Mexican blend, or Colby jack would all be good.
• toppings - I used corn, canned chopped green chiles, chopped sweet peppers (red and yellow), and olives today.  You could also include onions, jalapenos, tomato, avocado, and even meat if desired.  
• Salsa or sour cream for serving (optional if desired -one son added sour cream -no one added salsa today.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Mash black beans with a potato masher or fork.  Mix with salsa.
3. Place as many tortillas as will fit on a large baking sheet.  Top with bean mixture, cheese and whatever toppings you desire.
4. Bake for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and beans are heated. (Honestly we didn't time them at all.  I just went about making a second batch asking the next group what they wanted on them and checked periodically to see if the first batch was done.)

  Like I mentioned, I did end up opening a second can of beans and making a second batch of beans.  Another option is to just use refried beans if you want to be quicker, but I prefer making my own bean spread because it is super easy, and tasty.

loaded baked potato soup

I just did a lot of baking and am actually going to get it blogged right away.  This was the soup we had for dinner that everyone liked.  I was actually surprised because I expected some of my non baked potato lovers to dislike the soup, but everyone liked it.  I had to spoon feed Aaron because he hasn't decided he likes soup yet, but he ate at least 5 bites, maybe more all of which contained bits of potato.
The idea is from a book I have from the library called Cheap. Fast. Good!  This is only supposed to serve 4 according to the book.  I served it with scones and a salad and stretched it to all 6 of us.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 large onion (about 1 cup diced- I used a heaping cup.)
• 6 pre-baked potatoes, scooped from the skins and diced (about 3 cups diced - my third cup was heaping) or 2 packages refrigerated hash-brown potatoes
• 1 32 oz box chicken stock
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper (I just added a few grinds of fresh)

Optional for serving (but tasty albeit not vegetarian :)

• real bacon bits (not imitation)
• shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. melt butter in a 4 1/2 -5 quart dutch oven or soup pot.  Chop onion and add to butter.  Saute until beginning to brown.  
2. Add the stock bring to a boil.  Add the diced potatoes, sour cream, milk, salt and pepper.  Cook until heated through - 3-5 minutes.  Top with bacon bits and cheese.

Black bean salad

Loved this recipe.  Like the previous recipe this recipe came from a book I have checked out from the library right now called Clean Food by Terry Walters.  I have liked the things I've tried so far.
This recipe reminded me more of a salsa than a salad and we actually used it more like a salsa.  The  book gave the idea of wrapping it in a burrito with avocados and salsa, but we just put it on top of quesadillas or just a tortilla and ate it like that and it was delicious.
I loved that it used diced tomatillos.  That was new for me.  We love the tomatillo ranch that goes with cafe rio pork, but I had never tried it diced in a salad.  It was good.
I'd rate this one a 4.5 or 5 star.  I loved it's fresh flavors.  Of course my kids that don't like beans or salsa (not the same kids) were not thrilled with it.  I however enjoyed the left overs for lunch twice.  YUM!
I did do a tiny bit of modifying of this recipe making a bit less.  This way it serves about 6. (original was 8)

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked black beans (2 15 oz. cans rinsed and drained)
• 3 tomatillos, husked and diced
• 2-3 mini sweet pepper diced
• 1/2 sweet onion diced
• 1 1/2 cup corn, fresh or frozen
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cover and refrigerate to allow flavors to blend.

Mexican coleslaw

Yet again I'm super far behind in blogging.  Darn computer issues.   We just need a new one that the teenagers are not allowed to touch (aka dowload viruses to.)  I seriously need to find a recipe I made before vacation.  They were some raw pecan balls.  I totally thought I blogged them, but went to make them again and didn't.  Aargh!
This coleslaw recipe was super tasty - that's saying something because I'm not always the biggest fan of coleslaw.  I tried another one a couple of days later with the other 1/2 of the cabbage and it wasn't nearly as good.  This one however is a definite winner.  (and I didn't even put in the avocado or the pepitas.)  I found the recipe cooking club magazine.  So without further ado, here is the delicious dish.


Ingredients

• 6 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
• 8 oz jicama, finely chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup chopped sweet bell pepper (I used a combination of colored mini sweets)
• 1 medium carrot, shredded (1 cup)
• 1/3- 1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
• 3/4 cup sliced green onions
• 1/2 cup roasted salted pepitas (although I forgot these)
• 1 avocado, chopped (I forgot to add this as well.

Dressing ingredients

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel (I used about 1/2 an orange for both of these)
• 3 Tablespoons lime juice
• 2 teaspoons grated lime peel (I used 1 lime for both of these)
• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Place all coleslaw ingredients except pepitas and avocado in a large bowl.  Toss to combine.
2. Whisk all dressing ingredients together in a small bowl until blended.  Stir into coleslaw.  Cover and refrigerate 1 hour to allow flavors to blend.
3. As a bonus, just befor serving, don't forget to sprinkle the pepitas and avocado - I got side tracked looking for the pepitas, finally gave up and totally forgot the avocado.  Go figure.  :)  It was still wonderful without them.

Yellow rice and black bean salad

I found this recipe in my 366 delicious ways to cook rice, beans, and grains book.  I loved how colorful it was as I was preparing it.  (will post pictures soon.  I just realized DH took my camera to scout camp so not only was I unable to take pictures of the green waffles I made this evening, but I can't post pictures now.  Boo.  This was a nice colorful meal with the yellow/orange rice, black beans, red pepper, tomatoes, scallions and cilantro.  It just looked  nice.  I loved the flavor the annatto oil gave the rice.  I actually liked the rice so much that I didn't want to put the dressing on it.  So I let people choose -lime dressing or no lime dressing.    Here is how I made it.  I'm writing directions how I made it, but at the same time making it easier to shop for - for example, I used grape tomatoes and chopped them because that is what I had in the house and I wasn't buying a regular tomato just for this recipe.  However, if making this again, I'd rather look at the recipe and think -ok, I need 1 tomato.   The original was white rice.  That would definitely take less time to make, but I was going for more nutritious.  Just plan a little extra time to use brown rice.

Annatto oil is needed to make this recipe.  I made it as follows

• 2 Tablespoons annatto seeds (small red seeds.  I find them in the bulk spice area of my grocery store.)
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Heat seeds in oil over low heat stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.  (The oil should be nice and orange/red.  You can double this and store it in the fridge for future applications.  This makes a little more than you actually need for the recipe as well.  

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups basmati brown rice (LOVE this stuff - use whatever type of rice you like - the original called for regular white.)
• 2 Tablespoons annatto oil (see above)
• 1/2 large sweet onion 
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 3 cups water (you may be able to get away with 2 3/4 but I didn't want to chance it using brown rice.)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 15 oz can black beans rinsed and drained (I was lazy today - can sub 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans.)
• 1 red pepper (or other color sweet pepper) diced. I actually used the tiny sweets and used about 6.
• 1 tomato, diced (I actually used grape tomatoes because that is what I had at home)
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons (more or less) chopped fresh cilantro

If making the dressing, whisk together

• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar (original was red and I'd like to try that next time.)
• optional salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Rinse the rice and drain.  In a large skillet, heat annatto oil over medium heat.  Add the rice, sweet onion and garlic and saute until everything gets nice and yellow/orange and rice starts to look toasted and more dry.  (about 5 minutes)
2. Add water and salt.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed (50-60 minutes)  Remove from heat.  Set aside to cool
3. While the rice is cooling, chop all of your veggies.  Toss rice and remaining ingredients together in a bowl.  Stir to combine.  
4. If you want to make the dressing, whisk it all together and combine it with the rice.  The dish is yummy either way.  

mini whole wheat blueberry muffins

I have finally succumbed to looking at pinterest.  I resisted for a while, trying to convince myself that I could keep everything in evernote and not have one more online time taker.  But in an effort to stop having tons of windows open on my computer at any given time, and in an effort to find more recipes, I finally gave in.  It was a great way to spend a super early morning after the migraine woke me up at 2 and the pain followed by the caffeine from the Excedrin kept me up.  I had tons of luck finding fun breakfast ideas and healthy snacks.  Sadly, what I'm most looking for - healthy, vegetarian dinners are still eluding me.  I'm sure I'll find some though.  There's a ton of stuff out there.
This recipe comes from a new blog I found called Oh She Glows.  I will be adding that to my blogroll soon.  She posts lots of vegan recipes.  I didn't make these vegan, and I changed up her streusel a bit, but I love her site.  So many things I want to try from her blog.
These were the perfect recipe to try this Sunday  because we went blueberry picking on Saturday morning, so we had some nice fresh blueberries to use.  I really liked these.  They were sweet enought without being too sweet, and I loved that the sweeteners used were natural sweeteners.

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk (use non-dairy to be vegan)
• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed (I find that 2 Tablespoons whole =1/4 cup ground)
• 1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Topping ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons coconut palm sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 Tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/2 Tablespoon flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 and spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.  I made mini muffins and made 33.  (So 1 tin of 24 + 9 more)  
2. In a small bowl, mix together the wet ingredients (milk, vinegar, oil, syrup, extracts.)  In another bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flax, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt).  Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir just until combined. (I poured the dry into the wet and then reused the bowl from the dry ingredients for the topping.)
3. Gently fold in the blueberries.  Pour into prepared muffin tins.  I used my cookie scoop.  It was the perfect size to fill my mini muffin tin to the top.  
4. In a small bowl (I used my dry ingredients bowl) mix topping ingredients until combined.  Sprinkle over the muffins.
5. Bake for 13-16 minutes or until golden and top of muffin springs back when pressed.   Let cool a bit before serving.  

7 layer dip

So, as I posted in my previous 2 posts, we actually had this for dinner.  It was super tasty and were it not so much work, I think I'd eat it a lot more often.  :)
I do have to admit that my younger sons didn't particularly care for it.  The 3 year old really wouldn't give it a chance.  He was in a bad mood, knew it had beans, and wanted nothing to do with beans that day - even smooshed.  Go figure.  The 6 year old ate his serving only half heartedly and was very excited to get just plain salsa to dip in when he had finished his 6 bites.
Not sure if I've shared this on the blog before, but our current food eating/trying rule is that you have to eat as many bites as you are old.  This works wonderfully well for the younger ones.  The littlest only has to try 3 bites.  The 6 year old 6.  I have to admit that sometimes the 13 year old gets away with only 1-2 bites just to avoid a fight, but only on foods he already "knows he HATES"  like the hummus on the Mediterranean pizza the other night.
OK, back to the 7 layer dip.  I made a couple changes - mostly because it worked for me.  The original recipe called for equal parts sour cream and mayo.  I had 1/2 cup of mayo left and 1 cup of sour cream so those are the proportions I used.  Honestly, I preferred to use more sour cream and less mayo if the flavor was fine, and it was.  Here's the recipe with links to the recipes I used for refried beans, guacamole, and taco seasoning.

Ingredients

• About 2 cups refried beans 
• guacamole
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons taco seasoning
• shredded cheese - we used Monterrey Jack this day.  Cheddar would be good too.  about 2 cups or so
• sliced black olives
• chopped tomatoes
• sliced green onions (we actually didn't have any, so in reality we had a 6 layer dip.  However, our of tradition, I'm posting it with the onions as 7 layer dip.  Feel free to make 6 layer dip if you too forget to buy green onions.  :)

Directions

1. In a 9 X 13 pan, spread the refried beans to cover the bottom of the pan.  (mine were still a bit warm so I spread them out at the beginning to cool.
2. In a bowl, stir together the mayo, sour cream and taco seasoning.
3. Continue to layer remaining ingredients on top of the refried beans in the order listed.  Spread the guacamole over the beans, the sour cream/mayo mix over the guacamole, then sprinkle with cheese, olives, tomatoes and green onions.  
4. Serve with chips or veggies.

Pinto Pasta shells

Made these tasty little pasta shells last night.  I loved them and know if I don't get them blogged soon, I will forget what I did and I can't have that because I really liked them.
I got the idea from a March 2000 Betty crocker magazine.  Unfortunately for me (for easiness sake) I didn't have the 3/4 cup taco sauce it called for.  However, I ended up doubling the recipe and using all of the sauce I made which was way more than 1 1/2 cups, so I guess it all worked out in the end.  Certainly home made sauce is better than store sauce with preservatives and such right.  It sure was yummy and that is the most important fact when dealing with food.  Especially since nobody but me found the dinner from 2 nights ago even edible.
If making this again, I would probably start with dry beans - 2 cups dried would work well.  I think you'd get a softer bean that would mash better to make the beans a bit more refried which is always helpful for my picky 3 year old.

Ingredients

• 24 jumbo pasta shells
• 1/2-1 Tablespoon butter
• 1/3 cup (or so) diced onion (I had an extra large onion that I used for the sauce, but saved a bit for another part of this recipe.  I'm guessing as to the amount.)
• 2 cans (15 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 6 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 recipe enchilada sauce (or store bought enchilada sauce or taco sauce)
• 1 -1 1/2 cups colby jack cheese, shredded
• handful of crushed tortilla chips
• Optional sour cream or green onions for garnish (I forgot to pull these out, but they would have went well.)

Directions

1. Make enchilada sauce according to directions.  Cook pasta shells according to package directions
2. In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until fragrant.  Stir in the beans, cream cheese and 1 1/2 -2 cups of the enchilada sauce.  Head over medium-low heat until cheese is melted, mashing beans up a bit if desired.
3. Heat oven to 350.  Spray a 9 X 13 pan with cooking spray.  Fill the cooked shells with bean mixture.  Place shells in the prepared pan.  Pour remaining sauce over the shells.  Sprinkle with cheese and chips.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Chocolate peanut butter popcorn/cereal

So, I really should be done blogging for the day, but the next 2 are so much fun that I just have to keep blogging.  (That and my boys are actually playing very nicely together, and dinner had to marinate for an hour so it is done and in the fridge.  Score!)

A little while ago I got a group of e-books.  One of my favorite in the set is called real food, real easy.  It has some great recipes for real food.  Both of the next 2 recipes are adaptations of recipes from that book.  I'm also planning to redo my sidebar soon and add the blogs of all of the contributors of the e-book because they are more in line with the new healthier way I'm cooking.  Yet another thing on my to do list. :)  

I'm not sure how, but the original recipe didn't have you cook this at all.  Seemed like it would be too moist and sticky.  Since I was already making granola, I just cooked it similarly.  Made the popcorn/cereal perfectly dry.  

I forsee many versions of this popcorn - honey cinnamon, plain peanut butter, maple....  Let the experimenting begin.

All of the kids except Tavio loved this plain as a snack.  Tavio said it tasted burnt.  I actually tossed a few in my milk after my muesli this morning and I think it was even better as cereal than as a snack.  Definitely a keeper.

Ingredients

• about 3 quarts popped popcorn (1 cup kernels)
• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup coconut oil (original was only 1/4 -I may try the lesser amount.  I just messed up this time, but it worked great and I type how I made things)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Melt together the peanut butter, honey, cocoa powder and coconut oil.  (This really took no time - less than a minute on the stove - of course it is summer in Houston.  :)
2. Pour over popcorn and stir together until well coated.
3. Pour popcorn on parchment lined baking sheets.
4. Bake at 300 for about 5 minutes.  (To be honest, I threw mine in when the oven was still pre-heating and left it about 7 minutes.)
5. Turn the oven off but do not remove the popcorn.  Let rest in the oven for a couple of hours.  (I went to a class at the gym and took this out when I got home.  My granola definitely wasn't ready, but this was perfect.)
6. Remove and store in an airtight container.

Black bean and plantain burritos

Why have I never thought of this before?  I love black beans.  I love plantains.  I've eaten them paired together so many times it isn't even funny - especially living in Venezuela.  They both pair well with queso fresco.  So why have I never thought to put them all together in a burrito?  I have no idea.  But I saw this idea in a cookbook I have checked out of the library called The everything guide to being vegetarian.   While I can't say that it is my favorite cookbook, or that I want to buy it, it has had some good ideas - like this one.  However, in this recipe the book used canned beans - I used dried and totally changed up the recipe.  However, I do have to credit the book for giving me the idea of putting those 3 ingredients in a burrito.  So yummy.  The plantain adds a delicious sweetness and the queso fresco adds a nice saltiness that just made a unique and wonderful burrito.  Definitely want to try this again.  Oh, and sadly, the left overs are already gone - should have made more I guess.
Here is my version - some of the measurements are a bit vague, but it is to adjust to taste.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried black beans, soaked overnight
• salsa -to taste I'd say 1/4-1/2 cup.  Sadly I ran out so I was closer to the 1/4 cup, but a bit more would have been nice.
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 ancho chile
• 2-3 ripe (yellow to black) plantains
• 2-4 Tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil
• tortillas -10-12 depending on the size.  If large burrito size, maybe only 6-8.  I used some homemade corn, and some flour ones from the store.
• queso fresco, crumbled

Directions

1. Place the  black beans, ancho chile, and 6 cups of water in a large pot.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1-2 hours or until the beans are cooked.  (For me, it took only  about 1 hour.) (I also have to mention here that I took the skin off of the ancho as it cooked - not sure if it is necessary, but it kind of peels right off once it is hot.)
2. Add oregano, cumin, and salt and continue simmering and stirring occasionally until the water is mostly gone.  
3. Meanwhile, slice the plantains and fry until golden  in 1-2 Tablespoons of oil per batch. 
4. When the water is mostly gone int he beans, add the salsa.  Heat through mashing until desired consistency. (For me this was pretty mashed because typically my youngest won't eat beans if he can tell they are beans, but it ok with them if they are mashed.)
5. Serve beans topped with a couple slices of plantain, sprinkled with queso fresco and wrapped in a tortilla.  YUM!

The tortilla pictured here is a corn one.  I've found a corn tortilla at the store that is like the best of both worlds - soft and pliable like flour, but tastes like corn.  It ran in my mind that they used vital wheat gluten in it, so I tried out these by making the recipe on the masa harina package but adding a Tablespoon of vital wheat gluten and a bit of olive oil.  The result was fine, but still needing work.  Hopefully one day I'll get a version I love and post about it.  :)

grilled cheese with brie

Yet another recipe from 6 o'clock scramble.  Here I decided I didn't want to add the spinach that was in the original because I'm just not a fan of cooked spinach, I had already eaten spinach in my green smoothie, and I was serving this with a salad.  So, I got lazy/just didn't want the spinach, and just made these plain grilled cheese.  However, I did use a bit of peach jam as suggested in the original.  Peach jam and Brie on a sandwich are DELICIOUS!  Worth the post - even though I have no picture, and the recipe is super simple.

Ingredients

• butter (if desired)
• peach or apricot jam
• 8 slices of bread (I used home made wheat - original called for whole grain or sourdough)
• 8 ounces Brie cheese, cut into 1/8 inch slices

Directions

1. Make sandwich by spreading jam on one slice of bread, top with brie, and another slice of bread.  Bake on a griddle or in a frying pan until toasted on both sides.  I coated my griddle with butter before putting the sandwiches on.

I must add, 8 oz wasn't really enough brie for sandwiches for all 6 of us.  I did make other sandwiches with cheddar or whatever other cheese I had.  Everyone liked these though.

blender buttermilk waffles

Update: This is now my goto waffle recipe. I now use all wheat, sometimes 2/3 c bean flour, 2/3 c water, other times 1/3 cup each and 1/3 cup olive oil. Both turn out well. Love this recipe.

 After I taught my bean class, I ordered a downloadable bean book from everydayfoodstorage.net.  I've been trying to try some recipes from there, that this was one of those recipes - modified of course.  All of her baking recipes use bean puree.  I use bean flour.  It is way easier than pureeing beans in my opinion.  I also made these wheat-white and added a bit of vanilla.    I used a smaller portion of wheat than I normally would have because I ran out in the front of the pantry and didn't feel like crawling to the back to pull out another barrel.  However, I really liked this combination a lot.  I'm trying not to use white flour, and will probably end up trying this same recipe using 100% wheat, but I will probably also make these occasionally with white. She also made them in the blender - simple I suppose, but mine was probably dirty from green smoothies -or I didn't want to make it dirty so I could make green smoothies, so I made them the traditional way.   They were very light and fluffy - that is a problem I have with my current waffle mix.  I did double this from the original as well.  I have a large waffle iron and if I'm going to make waffles, I want left overs for another day in the week.  (they fit perfectly in my toaster.  I either refrigerate the extras, or freeze them separated by wax paper for another day.)
For the combination of being healthier than a lot of my other waffle recipes, and being so nice and fluffy I could give them a 5 star rating, but I still think I like tender sour cream waffles better, so they will stay a 4.5.  However, they are an awesome, plain waffle.  I'm planning to try and make a mix based on this recipe if I ever get buttermilk powder again.

Ingredients

• 4 cups buttermilk
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cups bean flour
• 2/3 cups water
• 2 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 1/4 cups wheat flour (I use white wheat and again, this is just the amount I had ground.  I'd either go all wheat next time or half and half -1 3/4 cups of each)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (bean flour, white flour, wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) until well blended.  Whisk in remaining ingredients (buttermilk, water, eggs, and vanilla) until combined.
2. Pour in pre-heated waffle iron and bake according to your waffle iron's instructions.  For me, it is until it beeps.  :)  LOVE my waffle iron.

easy-cheesy tortilla skillet

Here is another quick and easy recipe from the six o'clock scramble.  (slightly modified by me of course.)  LOVED the fact that this was super simple and super quick.  Everyone also ate it without complaint, even the little ones.  Yet another vegetarian dish (not vegan) this one uses both eggs and cheese.

Ingredients

• 3 cups broken tortilla chips (I like the food should taste good chips with flax seeds.)
• 1 1/2 cups chunky salsa 
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (we used sharp)

Directions

1. In a large nonstick skillet, warm the tortilla chips slightly.  Add the salsa and sir until the chips soak up the liquid.
2. Pour the eggs on top.  Cook and stir until the eggs are set and the mix is somewhat dry.  (This won't get as dry as normal scrambled eggs with the chips and salsa in there - I kept thinking it would, but it didn't.)  Top with cheese - stirring in if desired.
3. Serve hot.

Yellow fruit and veggie pop

Yesterday I don't know what possessed me to decide to spend so much time in the kitchen - withdrawals maybe.  It was fun, and I made some good stuff, but man I don't like the clean up.  :)

First I had promised Benjamin and Aaron that we would make Popsicles.  It had warmed up this week, we were out of frozen treats, and I really didn't feel like buying something store bought because I'm trying to be more healthy and eat less processed foods.....  So, I let the boys pick a popsicle out of my Ice pop Joy book.  Luckily Benjamin picked the yellow goodness pop.  I had wanted to make this pop because it used cantaloupe and mango - both of which I got in my bountiful basket this weekend.  It called for sparkling water - which I had purchased at costco in the morning, and a yellow squash (really making me want to try this - which I had bought in the afternoon.  (Can you tell I wanted to make this pop too - I was sooo glad he picked it.)  

I have not tasted this as a pop, but I did take a sip of the "smoothie" and it was quite good. (That is saying something because I'm not a huge fan of cantaloupe - juiced anyway, I'm also not a huge fan of sparkling water.) Benjamin had a whole cup of the smoothie and drank it down.  He had a pop for breakfast this morning and ate most of it.  I liked the mix of flavors which like I said, surprised me.  I also liked the little bite the sparkling water gave it.  Altogether it made a pretty, tasty, healthy pop.  I'd definitely make this one again. I've also thought of just making this as a smoothie.

Ingredients

• 1 yellow squash, chopped
• 1/2 cantaloupe, scooped from shell and cut into chunks
• 1 cup chopped mango (this was probably 2/3 of my rather large mango)
• 2 cups sparkling water (any flavor -I found a lemon at costco that was just water and natural flavor - no sweeteners or salt.)
• 1/4 cup raw agave nectar

Directions

1. Put all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.  
2. Pour into molds, add sticks and freeze until solid.

heart shaped hand pies

For valentines day I totally wanted to make something simple and chocolate.  I was really leaning towards this (chocolate) ....but I didn't have almond meal.... and we had already had this (more chocolate) for breakfast.  Then I saw this post at our best bites.  I opted to go with the sweetie pie pops, but #1 I had no lollipop sticks.  #2 - wouldn't have mattered, there was no way I was taking that much time to make something so tiny and cutsie.  Boys just don't appreciate it.  However towards the end of that post, they did mention you could make them hand pie size.  That size 1 recipe of pie crust will make 6 hand pies.  Perfect.  I really wanted to make apple but alas, my apples were past usable, so I opted for cherry (DH's vote.)  They really weren't to hard to make, and turned out super cute.  I did use our best bite's pie crust recipe -because it was easier than anything else, and I used the idea for filling from their site as well -found here - you must scroll to get to this part.  Here it is all put together the way I made it.  Of course if you want super wonderful directions and pictures click any of the links to our best bites.  I still have no photos on my current computer so my blog remains photoless.
These were pretty good.  I liked them quite a bit.  How well they were received by the kids depended on how much they liked cherries. :)

Pie crust (Make while you toddler is napping and put in the fridge for later.  :)

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon shortening (I used butter flavored)
• 1/4 cup ice water

Directions

1. Mix the flour and salt in a bowl.  Cut in the shortening until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
2. Add water a Tablespoon at a time and toss until the dough comes together.
3. Pat into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and put in the fridge until ready to use.

Cherry filling (certainly you could spice this up some, but I was going for ease. -you probably only need to make about 1/2 this much for just 6 pies)

• 2 cups cherries (I used frozen pie cherries which I defrosted in the microwave -no pre-planning on my part)
• 2 or 3 Tablespoons sugar (I think I used 2 heaping Tablespoons because the cherries are a bit tart.)
• 2 -3 Tablespoons flour (again, I used heaping Tablespoons and I think 3 this time because the cherries were plenty juicy

Directions

1. Mix together in a bowl.

To make the pies

1. Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut out 12 heart shapes with a cookie cutter.  Mine was about 3 1/2 inches across.
2. Prepare a cookie sheet by lining with parchment paper.  Place 6 of the hearts evenly spaced on the parchment.  Add a little cherry filling.  Notice the key word.  I thought I was putting a little and leaving enough room for the top - wrong!  They leaked out all over the place.  Of course I took advantage of that and brushed the juices over the top of the pies so they had a sweetish pink glaze, but that is beside the point.  I was super glad they were on parchment because they made a mess.  My fault to be sure, but messy.
3. Top the pies with the remaining 6 heart shaped crust pieces.  Now, if you didn't make a juicy mess, you may need to wet the edge with water to seal the hearts closed.  I certainly didn't.  With or without the water, seal the edges of the heart pies together by pressing down all around the edge with the tines of a fork.
4. Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes.  (Sorry not sure exactly how long they ended up taking.  I'm thinking it was closer to the 30 end for this size.)

Note -with my remaining cherries and crust I did make 1 pie in a jar.  I just pushed the crust into the bottom of the small canning (jelly) jar and filled it as full as I dared with cherries.  Pretty sure mine was 1 size smaller than those used on our best bites.  While I'm hear, I have to say I just clicked on their cupcake link.  Now I need to try those.  Yum!