Mediterranean Chicken with Potatoes, Fennel, and Olives

This was the other chicken dish we had while my mom was here.  She remembered the fennel and lemon, so I'm not sure which she was wanting but here is the other recipe.  This was good.  The kids weren't huge fans of the fennel, but I liked it.  It was different and good.  Probably not a top pick for me, but then again, it has to be an amazing chicken dish to be a top pick for me.  This was definitely different, but a good different -like if you are tired of the same boring chicken, try this.  I liked the fennel and orange combination.  Not something I would ever have thought to put together, but they went well together.  I will note here that the original used butter.  I did not because I am currently eating non-dairy.  The book also gives a nice vignette on olives on this recipe's page - certainly one of my favorite things about American Test Kitchen books.

• 1 lb potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes 
• 1 fennel bulb, cored, and sliced thin
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 1 package bone-in split chicken breasts, trimmed (I also removed the skins.  For this meal, I think it would be easy/nice to use boneless, skinless thighs, or something already boned for easy serving since I wasn't shredding them at the end or anything.  Maybe next time.)
• 1/2 cup pitted salt-cured black olives, rinsed and halved (I may have forgotten to add these at the end.)

Directions

1. Microwave potatoes, fennel, onion, olive oil, garlic and rosemary in a bowl for 5 minutes stirring midway through cooking.  Pour into slow cooker.  Stir in broth, orange zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.  Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to the slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook until chicken is tender, 3-4 hours on low.
3. Remove chicken and serve.  Stir olives, salt and pepper into veggies and serve.  (Can also add butter or parsley if desired.)

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. 

Asian maple chicken

I have done a lot of crock pot recipes lately.  I used to make more on my piano lesson days but had gotten out of the habit.  I started back and have really liked it. 
This recipe comes from an e-book called crock on.  I've liked a lot of the recipes I've tried there.  What I like most is that they use real food for the most part.  Not cans of cream of something this and that.
This recipe originally called for 1 1/2 lbs of chicken breast.  I had 3 1 lb packages of thighs in my freezer so I used one and added a can of mayacoba beans (you could use pinto or navy if you want.)  I liked the beans just fine but my 14 year old didn't.  No one else complained about them.  They kind of don't go with the whole asian aspect of the meal, so feel free to leave them out.  I was just trying to use less meat and add some fiber in the process.  Also note that the original recipe was called maple sesame chicken because it was topped with toasted sesame seeds.  I just didn't feel like adding them so I didn't.  Feel free if you love them.

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped pepper (I have a mix of red, yellow, and orange diced in the freezer.)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup tamari (or soy sauce)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 can mayacoba beans rinsed and drained
• 2 Tablespoons arrowroot powder (original used flour and water.  I was lazy and mixed in arrowroot as I think it dissolves a bit easier.  You could also use corn starch and water.)

Directions

1. Place chicken in a 3-4 quart slow cooker.  Sprinkle onions and peppers on top.  In a small bowl, combine honey, maple syrup, soy sauce, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder.  Pour over chicken.
2. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.  (I added the beans in about the last 1 hour of cooking and partially shredded the chicken when I added them.)
3. Shred or chop the chicken and return to the crock pot (if you took it out.  I just shred mine with 2 forks in the crock pot.)  Add arrowroot powder.  (or other thickening agent)  I just pushed a measuring cup down on top of the chicken to get some juice in it, whisked the arrowroot into the  juice until smooth and returned it to the crock pot.  (With flour or cornstarch, I'd probably use water, whisk it together and add it to the pot.)
4. Cover and let thicken.  Serve over rice.

Fish and chips

Don't be fooled by the title.  This isn't the fish and chips you are thinking of.  This is chips like potatoes chopped and baked that crisp up almost like a potato chip, with fish, just plain, no breading, on top.  Super simple meal and super yummy!
This idea came from Mark Bittman's book the minimalist cooks at home.  So far I'm liking this book.  It is set up so be simple.  Not a ton of ingredients, just simple meals with lots of flavor.  For every recipe he gives a story behind it, the recipe, keys to succes, and with minimal effort ideas (extras to add for more/different flavor, or to add veggies....)  Definitely a book I will continue to investigate while I have it checked out of the library.
This really was super simple.  Aside from peeling and slicing the potatoes, there wasn't an overabundance of work.    I did add one of his with minimal effort suggestions to add garlic (although I was already thinking about doing that when I read it.)    This was a perfect recipe for me.  I had fish in the freezer that I wanted to use, and potatoes in the pantry that I needed to use.
As far as amounts on this recipe - I can't really say too well.  I actually made 2 pans - an 8 X 8 and a 9 X 13 baking side by side.  I had no problem doing this.  I used more potatoes and fish in the 9 X 13 pan and a little less in the 8 X 8 pan.  I'll list the original amounts which say they make 4 servings.

Ingredients

• 4-5 medium potatoes, 2 lbs or more.  (I used 7 or 8?  kind of lost count.)
• 6 Tablespoons butter (I used 8 1/2 or 9) -melted -or use olive oil if you are anti-butter.  
• salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs white fish about 1 inch thick, skinned - in 2 or more pieces.  (original called for cod.  I used mahi mahi.  4 fillets on one pan (about 2-2.25 lbs) and 2 fillets in the other (about 1 lb)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.  (I put the butter in the pan and put my pans in the oven to melt the butter I used 4 Tablespoons in the 9X13 and 2 1/2 in the 8X8 -see next note) Peel the potatoes and cut into slices about 1/8 inch thick.  (I cut mine on a mandoline and think they were a bit thinner than 1/8 inch.  
2. Toss the potatoes with 4 Tablespoons of the butter (or just toss in the pan if you already melted the butter in the pan. I'm not sure I'd melt the butter in the pan again.   I loved how the butter browned, but it would be easier to toss the melted butter with the potatoes with my hands which I may opt to do next time.)  Season potatoes liberally with salt and pepper and spread them evenly.  Place pan in the oven.
3. Cook for 40 minutes checking occasionally, until potatoes are tender and have begun to brown. Remove from oven. (This didn't take 40 minutes for me - maybe because my potatoes were thin.  I set my first timer for 15 minutes (they were already in the 3-5 minutes so max 20 min.) when I checked them, they were already tender and starting to brown.  I stirred them because some were stuck together and not as browned and cooked them for a few more minutes (while I got my fish together and melted some butter - maybe 5-10 minutes.)  
4. Turn the oven to broil and make sure to have a top rack 4-6 inches from the heat.  Top the potatoes with fish, drizzle with the remaining butter (I used the last of the first stick I had, and a bit more.)  Season with more salt and pepper.  Broil until fish is done, 6-10 minutes - depending on thickness.  Mine took 10 to have all pieces done.  Keep an eye on it while it broils.  I saw a potato starting to burn because it was kind of sticking up, so I knocked it over to flat with a spatula and it solved that problem.

 

Pasta with bread crumbs

Yes, this sounds simple and plain, but really I liked it.  I may have over crisped my bread crumbs a bit.  I didn't mind, (they definitely weren't burned) but 2/4 boys said they were either too crispy/tasted burnt.  Benjamin LOVED this.  He was so excited to have had 2 dinners this week that he really liked.  Even had seconds.  It truly is super simple.  I think if I had not toasted the bread crumbs as long I would have had 4/4 liking this dish.
Other tips for next time - don't add the olive oil to the butter - just add it all to the pasta, and unless using the good Parmesan, I think I could probably have doubled the amount of Parmesan.  (at least 1 1/2 times.)
I doubled this from the original - feel free to cut in 1/2.  I did have a decent amount of left overs, but DH did not eat dinner with us and I didn't know that when preparing.
As is, serves 12 as a side dish, 8 as a main

Ingredients

• 1 16 oz. package short pasta (I used ditalini just because it was the only thing I had a complete package of other than spaghetti - time to go shopping.)
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups coarse soft bread crumbs (4 slices of bread for me - I just tore them up and pulsed them in the food processor until crumbly.)
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2/3 cup (I'd use at least 1 cup next time, maybe 1 1/3) grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  
2. While the pasta is cooking, melt butter in a large skillet.  Add 2 teaspoons of oil (may omit this next time) and the garlic.  Cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.  Add the bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, and salt and stir to coat the crumbs with the butter.  
3. Cook and stir until crumbs are browned and crisp (6-10 minutes.)  Remove from heat and set aside.
4.  When the pasta is done, drain, return to the pot and toss with 2 teaspoons of olive oil (I'd use a bit more next time.) and the Parmesan cheese.  Stir to mix.  Just before serving, stir in the breadcrumbs.  

More notes --

I actually really worried that the crumbs wouldn't be crisp enough - part of the getting them too crispy problem.  I also added them right before I planned to serve this only to have a child knock a glass butter dish on the floor and I had to stop and clean the mess.  Luckily the pasta wasn't any worse for the wear.  The crumbs held their crispiness.  As left overs, the breadcrumbs are no longer crisp, but are not mushy either.  Totally still edible, and seem to have an even more intense buttery garlic flavor.  

Pistachio lemon pilaf

Here is another pilaf I tried out.  Again, I thought it was great, but I had planned it thinking that my younger 2 would like it because they like rice and neither of them were enthused by it.  For some reason the youngest has decided he only  likes white rice.  (Sorry, but I rarely make white rice.)  This rice was brown rice, but looked yellow again - different seasonings than last week but same effect.
While I didn't like this as much as the rice from last week, I did still like it a lot.  It was a great pilaf.  I thought it should have had a bit more lemon flavor and actually sqeezed the juice of the lemon into the rice when it finished.  Still didn't taste like a rice that had lemon in the title.  I would definitely use a second lemon if making this again.  (That is if you want the rice to taste like pistachio lemon rice.)
My inspiration for this recipe came from my book 366 delicious ways to cook rice, beans, and grains.
She seems to use mostly white rice in that book though, so I always change it to brown rice and again she called for shallots - not going to happen when I already have 8 sweet onions on my counter.  :)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 large sweet onion, diced (3/4 -1 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 lemon (zest and juice) -I'd use 2 next time
• 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 cup shelled roasted pistachio nuts, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
• freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

1. Rinse rice.  Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add onion and garlica and saute until softened.  (3 minutes) Add rice and saute until rice appears a bit toasted and has absorbed some oil. (4-5 minutes)  
2. Stir in chicken brown, lemon zest and turmeric.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer until liquid has been absorbed and rice is tender (about 45 minutes)
3. Stir in pistachios, cilantro, pepper, and lemon juice.  Dry pot lid.  Place a kitchen towel over saucepan and replace lid.  Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. (I liked this step.  It seemed to help the rice absorb the last bit of liquid.)

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.  

Chickpea wraps

OK, as I was making this recipe I decided I definitely was NEVER making it again because it was way too much work.  Here is the mess....  (believe me, it continues out of the picture.)

This isn't even all of the mess, there are more dishes to the left of the picture.  SAD

They also burned even when turning the heat all the way down to medium - check them out - NOT pretty.

Then I fed them to the children.  Here are their plates...

And to that their commentary - and these comments are from my 2 toughest critics - "Mommy these are delicious!"  3.5 year old who rarely eats all of dinner finished every spec.  And "These taste like McDonald's snack wraps."  13 year old who didn't even eat dinner last night and tried to get out of the house with no breakfast because we were out of milk = no cold cereal for him = no food apparently.  He was offered waffles made from waffle mix or eggs.   Neither was good enough for him.   He did manage to drink 2/3 of his green smoothie, but only because my logic won.  Our conversation went something like this...Him  "I'm still full from dinner."  Me "You ate 1/3 of a pancake and a small bit of lettuce."  Him ... starts drinking green smoothie.  So like I said, commentary like that earns this a post and I guess I'll have to give it a 5 star.  I hesitate wanting to deduct for the difficulty, but then I look at the plates and have to go 5.  :)  I guess I'll be making them again in the future.

I do have to add - giving myself hope for future endeavors, that although it doesn't seem like these make very many, the go a long ways.  We probably only ate 1/2 of them and everyone liked them.  I've had them twice for lunch as left overs, and while they were lacking the nice crispy quality they had fresh, they were not lacking in flavor.  Still tasty enough that I've had them twice.

Problems I had with this recipe and their resolution for next time (hopefully)

• wouldn't grind in my food processor or blender.  Too thick of a paste.  I should have known better and just gone straight to the immersion blender.  I know it is better for super thick batters.  Somehow I just thought this would be thin enough. 
• The burgers wouldn't hold together well when cooking.  I actually just realized that I used waffle mix instead of flour.  Maybe wheat flour would have worked a bit better.  Seems like waffle mix should have given it some sticking power, but it wasn't nearly enough.  
• Burgers hard to flip (because they didn't stick together super well.)  Try frying in more than 2-3 Tablespoons of oil (like submerging them?)  Not sure I want to try this option, but I'm contemplating it.

I figure you deserve a picture that is at least somewhat appetizing after the other pictures right?
Here are our wraps on the plate with their ranch dressing and lettuce.  

OK, here is the recipe

chickpea patty ingredients

• 1 1/2-2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cup onions, minced (1 semi large)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 cup carrot, finely chopped (between 1 and 2 carrots depending on size.)  
• 1 3/4 cup cooked and drained chickpeas  (3/4 cup dry, or about 1 can)
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons peanut butter (or tahini but I don't have tahini)
• 1/2 Tablespoon dried parsley (original called for more but I'm not huge on parsley -add more if you like it and/or use fresh.)
• 1/3 cup flour (I ended up adding another 1/3 cup, but then again I was accidentally using waffle mix.)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• coconut oil - for frying.  (I used extra virgin and it gave it a wonderful light coconut flavor.  I think it was really key in these being so wonderful.  The slight hint of coconut was perfect in this recipe.    I ordered my extra virgin coconut oil online.  They don't carry it at my local grocery store, just the regular coconut oil.  My local health food store does carry it though.  (I just didn't know they even existed until after I ordered mine online.)  I definitely recommend trying to find it for this recipe if you don't have it.)

wrap ingredients

• tortillas - I used a wheat wrap, but let the kids use flour tortillas
• ranch dressing - I used this new recipe.
• chopped lettuce (I used romaine.)

Directions

1. Chop onions - in a food processor if desired.  Start sauteeing in the butter.  Meanwhile chop carrots and garlic in the food processor and add to the onion.  Add carrots, garlic and cumin and saute for another minute or 2.
2. Mash the chickpeas into a paste (again, I used the food processor, then tried the blender, but next time will use the immersion blender.  Add the sauteed veggies and process until well mixed.  Stir or process in the peanut butter and parsley.  In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in chickpea mixture.  
3. Heat 2-3 Tablespoons of oil in a skillet.  Make small patties.  I scooped about 1.5 Tablespoons into the oil and flattened it with the back of my rubber spatula.  

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.

Limey refried beans

So when I saw this recipe it sounded delicious.  I must say I wasn't disappointed.  It oricinally came from an e-book I have from kitchen stewardship. Of made it my own way.  Mostly just leaving out the cheese plus changing a few proportions.  It was so tasty.  Definitely no need to buy refried beans at the store.  These were much better and really I've decided it is no big deal to cook beans at home.  I always avoided it in the past thinking it to be too time consuming.  Honestly, it isn't because they don't have to be babysat or anything.  It just requires a little pre-planning.  Put them on to soak the night before and start them cooking a couple of hours before you want to eat.

We used this to make 7 layer dip.  (Recipe to follow.)   I actually served that for dinner, not an appetizer.  I figured why not?  Beans are good for you, avocados and tomatoes are good for you...  Why can't it be dinner?  But I digress, this isn't a post about 7 layer dip - that is my next post right.  On to the beans. (which apparently I didn't take a picture of by themselves, but refried beans are refried beans right?)

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked pinto beans (I cooked up 2 cups of beans, but didn't use them all.  I'm pretty sure I could have though.)
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• sea salt (or Himalayan pink salt) -to taste (I used 20 grinds in the beans on their second hour of cooking (even though they were doing very well at 1 hour - I cooked them longer since I knew I was mashing them - and I was busy cleaning.:) - then I used another 5 grinds in the actual refried bean part.
• 3 Tablespoons lime juice (3 limes - juiced)
• 1/2 teaspoon lime zest - zest of 1 lime - I didn't measure

Directions

1. After cooking the beans, reserve the cooking liquid to thin the refried beans.
2. In a large pot (to save dishes, use the one that cooked the beans) heat the butter.  Add onions and begin sauteeing.  Add cumin and continue sauteeing.  Add garlic and oregano and cook until onions are lightly browned.
3. Stir in 1 cup of bean cooking liquid and 4 cups of beans (you can play with this if you want -adding only 1/2 of the beans, pureeing, then adding more and pureeing a bit less if you want it a bit more chunky.  I know I wanted mine smooth, so I added all of the beans at once.)  Mash with a potato masher, or if you have one (my preferred method) an immersion blender.  Blend until desired consistency.  
4. Heat until desired consistency (for example, if it is too watery, heat to thicken.)  Add lime juice, zest and salt to taste.  

zucchini corn cakes

Saw this cute little idea in an old Pillsbury magazine that I have from August 2001 - Crazy old.  I'm pretty sure I hardly looked at it back then because it is a vegetarian edition of the magazine and that didn't really interest me at the time.  Now however, that is a different story and I have tried a few things lately out of there.  This one was nice and simple.  Even though I was out of pancake mix and had to make more the entire meal only took me 30-40 minutes to prepare and that includes cleaning up as I went along and setting the table.  Not bad.  I have of course adapted it to my liking.  First and foremost using my own pancake mix rather than a store bought one, but I also did things like topped it with salsa rather than diced tomatoes....  I thought these were great.  DH swears he can taste the zucchini in them.  I don't think you can - no more or less than zucchini bread anyway.  Duncan loved them and had 3 or 4 which for Duncan is a lot of food.  Tavio hated them "too wheaty"  in his opinion - Mostly that is an aversion to my waffle mix which he doesn't like.  I thought they were a great, simple meal and 5 out of 6 members of the family ate them just fine.  :)  I would rate these a 4 or 4.5, but in trying to give a good idea of what the entire family likes, I'm giving them only a 3.5.
One final note - I did double the recipe from the original.  I ended up with a decent amount of left overs, but again, one of the teenagers at 1/2 of one and that was it.  Feel free to 1/2 the recipe if you have less than 6 people in your family.

Ingredients

• 3 cups pancake mix (if using a store bought mix, make sure it is a complete mix - the just add water kind.)
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed under warm water and drained
• 1 medium-large zucchini, shredded
• sour cream and salsa as desired to top

Directions

1. Combine pancake mix, cornmeal, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Stir in water just until lumps disappear.  Stir in corn and zucchini.
2. Cook on a griddle set to 375.    I spooned mine onto the griddle with a 1/4 cup measuring cup then spread them out a bit with the back of the cup.  It made somewhere around 20 cakes.
3. Serve topped with sour cream and salsa.

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.

Apple Barley Tart

This original recipe intrigued me for 2 reasons.  1 because it used quince and I have never even heard of that fruit let alone tried it.  Sadly I couldn't find it in the 3 stores I checked in over the week.  However, I was also intrigued by the use of barley.  I'm always interested in using different grains.  This was quite tasty.  Benjamin absolutely loved it and had seconds and thirds.  That is a treat because he usually hates all dinners.  Aaron wouldn't really eat it - ate his 3 bites worth and filled up on salad.  Tavio complained it was too sweet but ate his whole piece.  The rest of us liked it, so go figure - mixed reviews.  It was pretty sweet for a dinner meal, but it also had the Swiss cheese in there to counter act the sweet of the apple.  Thank goodness my apple jelly was expired or it would have been even sweeter.  As it was, I don't think I would have wanted any more sweetness, and I was glad I didn't have the apple jelly that was in the original recipe.  Here is how we made it.

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (I used Jarlsberg)
• 2 cups barley cooked and cooled (I used whole grain barley -both whole grain and pearled say simmer 1 cup in 3 cups water for 45-50 minutes. Worked well for me and I had left over.)
• 1 red apple cored and diced
• 1 green apple cored and diced
• 1/2 cup chopped dates
• 1 - 9 inch deep dish pie crust (I used this recipe with wheat flour and coconut palm sugar)   

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.  
2. Lightly beat eggs in a large mixing bowl.  Stir in cheese, barley, apples and dates.  Pour into the pie crust.
3. Bake for 30 minutes or so until the bottom browns (I believe I had to add a few minutes 2-5)

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.  :)

Lentil burgers

I don't know why, but I really love to admit on my blog when I try something that I'm a bit afraid to try.  Vegetarian burgers of any type are high on my list of things I just don't have a huge desire to try. (store bought maybe, but make at home - not so much.)  The only other time I've tried one it was black beans and I tried it because I thought it went with the theme of a Mexican burger.  Today's burger was a Lentil burger, but spiced with cumin and coriander and served with a Greek salad.  Somehow it reminded me of falafel or something and managed to make it on my menu.  I actually liked it.  I think I probably over cooked the burgers a bit - I was afraid of them being too mushy, but I don't think that a bit more moisture would have been bad inside the pita.  So - note to self for next time (and anyone else interested) don't overcook the burger if putting them in a pita.
 You can cut this recipe down if not needing to make as much.  I did a 1 1/2 batch of the original.  The original came from a book I have and enjoy called 366 delicious ways to cook rice, beans, and grains.  I will say I did change the directions to saute everything before boiling just to add flavor.  However, the original just tossed everything in a pot and boiled - feel free to do that if short on time.

yield - 6 servings (I made 8 patties and 1 tiny one, but it really did a good job of feeding my family of 6.)

Burger Ingredients

• 3/4 cup dried green or brown lentils, rinsed
• 3/4 cup uncooked brown rice (I used basmati because I love that stuff.)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced  (I had a very large onion.  I used a bit over 1 cup in the burger and served the remainder as an optional topping)
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 teaspoons (1.5 Tablespoons) cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 3 3/4 cups water

Other optional ingredients

• chopped lettuce (I'm partial to romaine)
• chopped cucumber (I seed and chop)
• feta cheese
• onions
• olives (I used kalmata)
• tomatoes (I had some orange cherry tomatoes - sweet and yummy (and I didn't have to chop them.)
• Caesar dressing (I used the this recipe)
• pitas (I used this recipe -only I divided it in 8 not 9 - I liked that better.  I also used a bit of dough I had left over in a bucket of 5 minute a day dough - don't worry it will be a future post - made great pitas.)

Directions

1. Saute onion in olive oil until fragrant adding the carrot as it get chopped.  Add garlic, then rice and lentils, then the cumin, coriander and salt.  (Basically I chop my onion, then start cooking as I finish chopping and measuring.)  Once everything is in, I really only saute it a few seconds to get everything coated.  Add the water.  
2. Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and boil gently until rice and entils are tender and all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 40 minutes.  (Took mine probably 45.)  Drain in a colander to remove any excess liquid.
3. Let cool slightly then puree in a food processor, blender, or my tool of choice this day - the immersion blender.  
4. Form into 3-4 inch patties and fry burgers on a medium hot fire in the grill, under the broiler, in a George foreman grill, or I did mine in a frying pan that has ridges so it looked grilled.  Cook until browned and crisp o both sides (5-10 minutes per side depending on how high of a temperature you are using.)  
5. Serve in pitas topped with lettuce, cucumber, feta, onions, olives, tomatoes and/or Caesar dressing.  I put all of these ingredients out on the table and told my kiddos they had to have lettuce, but then they could choose 2 other veggies plus feta and/ or dressing if desired.  That worked great.  For myself, I made my salad on my plate, tossed it with my dressing, then put as much as would fit in the pita with my burger, and ate the rest as a side.  Worked wonderfully well.  

great greek pasta

So, finally a recipe that isn't originally from 6 o'clock scramble.  (I think I've exhausted most of the vegetarian ones in there anyway. :)
I found this recipe in my saving dinner book.  It originally had chicken in it.  I have adapted it to not have chicken although I did serve it with the option of chicken - which all of my children chose.  (I just used some pre-cooked I had in the freezer - thawed it in the microwave and added it on top.)  I had mine without the chicken.  Either way it was a nice pasta salad.  I did not use all of the pasta.  Would definitely have been too dry.

Ingredients

• 1 pound rigatoni (I didn't use it all -you'd be fine with 12-16 oz.)
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 cup diced onion (I used sweet onion)
• 1 large tomato, chopped (I actually used 1 roma and a few cherry tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup Feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teapsoons oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• Optional, chopped, cooked chicken

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile in a large skillet, saute onion in butter until fragrant.  Add garlic and saute a bit more.  Reduce heat and add tomato, feta, lemon juice and oregano.  Stir to combine.  Add pasta and stir until completely heated through.  Salt and pepper to taste and serve.

One pot Italian rice and beans

Here is another recipe from my preferred recipe book right now - The Six o'clock scramble.  I did modify this a good deal to use up things I had on hand like fresh rather than frozen green beans, tomato sauce not pasta sauce - upped the basil ... Seemed to go over pretty well with everyone.  Nothing super wow, but also nothing that got too many whines and moans.  :)  Pretty sure I didn't get a picture, and I forgot to serve it with the mozzarella cheese on top, but that would have been yummy.  I just forgot to get it out after making a salad.

Ingredients

• 10 oz (or so) fresh green beans, washed, trimmed and chopped
• 1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes with their juice
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 cup pitted black olives plus 1/2 cup of their juice
• 1 1/2 cups pre-cooked brown rice (I had left over in the fridge - original had just 1 cup quick cooking)
• 2 teaspoons basil
• shredded mozzarella cheese for serving

Directions

1. In a medium stockpot with a lid, combine all ingredients except cheese.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes (more or less depending on how cooked you want your beans and/or how long you want the flavors to mix.)
2. Serve topped with mozzarella cheese.

bacon quiche

So, one of my freezer meals was supposed to be a quiche.  I never made it.  I had it on my menu for this evening and planned to just make it normally, but the thing called for 1/2 cup mayo, 1/2 cup milk and only 3 eggs (for 2 quiches)  I just couldn't imagine making a quiche with mayo and it tasting good.  I went to our best bites to check out their ideas and found a zucchini quiche.  Although I like zucchini and have one in the fridge, DH doesn't like it and I felt like sparing him.  Plus I'd rather toss the zucchini in some muffins or waffles.  Point being, their quiche used no milk.  I liked that idea because my problem with quiche is that it always comes out too moist for my liking.  I figured no milks, no extra moisture right?  So, I kind of ended up just making up my own recipe.  Turned out to be the best quiche.  Everyone loved it (except Aaron which surprised me because he likes eggs.)  So I'm actually blogging this right away so I don't forget it.

Ingredients

• 2 store bought frozen pie crusts, thawed  (remember I had some of the ingredients from the original recipe which was a freezer meal.  Feel free to make your own crust. I personally love my push in pie crust - totally no fail. -You could probably leave out the sugar for this recipe)
• 4-6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (or buy precooked and cut with scissors)
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 teaspoons garlic
• dash garlic and herb seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• dash of oregano
• 6 oz shredded swiss cheese
• 8 eggs

Directions

1. Saute onions in butter until fragrant.  Add the garlic and saute a minute or 2 more.  I added my salt and pepper here too, but you could just add that to the eggs.  Remove from heat and set aside to begin cooling.
2. In a large bowl (I always use a measuring bowl with a spout so it is easy to pour.)  Beat eggs, with seasonings.  Add Cheese and whisk again.  Add bacon and onions and whisk again.  Divide evenly between the 2 pie crusts.
3. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.  (both my recipes said 40-50, and I checked at 30 thinking I was just going to cover the crust.  I left it in for 5 minutes more, because I'm so used to quiche being to moist for my liking but I could have taken it out after 30 minutes.  However, it was not rubbery or anything after 35.)
4. Let cool slightly and serve.  (I let mine cool while I made green smoothies.

Ham and pea pasta

I found this recipe over on deals to meals.  I actually don't think I changed the ingredients any.  Directions some, but that is it.  I really liked it.  It came together super quick and I was in need of a quick meal the evening that we had this.  As I'm typing this, I'm thinking I probably could have also tossed in some pureed cauliflower and not compromised anything.  An idea for next time.

Ingredients

• 1 8 oz. package cream cheese (I used the light)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cups milk
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese  (I've had some delicious Parmigiano Regianno the past week or 2 It has made some tasty recipes.  YUM!)
• 1 teaspoon garlic (I used jarred)
• 1 teaspoon basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lb fettuccini noodles
• 1 cup (or so) cubed ham (I just used 1 package of how ever much I had frozen)
• 8 oz. frozen peas (or so - I just added a good amount.  :)

Directions

1. Cook noodles according to package direcions.  
2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, butter, seasonings and milk.  Stir until all ingredients are melted and well combined.  
3. While that is warming, saute ham and frozen peas in a large saute pan until warmed through.  Add pasta and cream sauce to the saute pan and stir until combined.  Serve.  

"kids love it" casserole - spaghetti flavor casserole with spinach (and extra veggies)

I found this recipe on myfoodstoragecookbook.com but it was all written out like a food storage recipe so I went to the source which was taste of home.  Then I changed it up plenty from there.  It turned out pretty well.
My changes - lots - too many to list really, sauces used, spices, extra veggies, less meat...
Verdict - older kids ate it fine, and I thought it was fine.  5 year old ate it with no complaint (he griped about orange chicken yesterday but ate it.) However, he left little piles of ground beef on the plate.  3 year old actually ate it - totally surprised me.  I thought he would gripe about the green things, but he griped about the red things.  He actually ate some bites of spinach.  He did leave the more heavily covered pieces of pasta on his plate.  I think he disliked the ground beef as much as the spinach.  Other than that, it seemed well enough liked by everyone.  Nothing spectacular, but likeable, full of veggies, and easy to prepare.  Not to bad for the crazy day I had around here.  (House alarm battery dead, no one in town has a replacement.  2 hours later I finally have one....  this after being up half the night with the thing beeping due to the dead battery -oh, and did I mention DH is out of town.  Yes, I was glad to have a simple to prepare dinner.  Probably why I streamlined the directions so much, but hey it worked, so it's all good right?)
So ideas for next time - puree the spinach, and the crushed tomato sauce to leave no trace of either, just a color to the sauce, and possibly leave out the ground beef??  Neither of the little 2 liked it.

Here's what I did today.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef - I used 1 contain pre-cooked with onions, salt and pepper.  
• 1-2 Tablespoons dehydrated onion
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (I used jarred)
• 2 (15 oz.) cans crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup cauliflower puree
• 1/4 cup sweet potato puree
• 1-2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning (Not sure if I threw in 1 or 2, but it could definitely use 2
• 1/2-1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon each thyme, oregano, and basil (added because I couldn't remember if I used 1 or 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning and I wanted plenty of flavor.)
• about 10 oz frozen chopped spinach
• about 10-12 oz small pasta (I used a wagon wheel)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten (I didn't feel like worrying if these would cook when I tossed them in hot casserole so I used 3 Tablespoons powdered eggs
• about 1 cup sharp cheddar
• 1/4-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, to a saute pan, add cooked beef, onions, garlic, spices, spinach, crushed tomatoes and purees, (I just tossed both purees and the spinach in frozen and let them thaw while the sauce heated up.)   Heat through.  Simmer as the pasta cooks, adding a bit of water if necessary to keep it from being too dry.  (I think I added about 1/2 cup water during the cooking process.)  
3. When the noodles are ready, stir in the cheese and egg (or egg powder.) Add the noodles and stir to combine.  (I probably cooked closer to 12 oz past, but added closer to 10 oz.)  Pour into a greased 9 X 13 pan, top with Parmesan, and bake at 250 for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted.