refried black beans food storage style

So I went to make some slow cooker refried beans today.  I've tried my sisters recipe with success in the past, and I wanted something vegetarian tonight because we've had a lot of meat this week.  I also had nothing planned so I figures surely we had dried beans.  However, we are out of dried pinto beans.  I also haven't been to costco this week and we have run out of my diced frozen onions, our bag of mini sweet bell peppers, I'm out of garlic....  You get the picture, I need to go grocery shopping.  Great reason to make this a food storage meal right?  That's what I did.  I modified my sister's recipe first and foremost using black beans instead of pinto.  Then I also used dehydrated or dried everything.  I even added some celery and bell peppers to give it a few extra veggies.
This turned out great.   I love cooking beans in the crock pot.  I totally have to remember to do that more often.  I did think it was a bit peppery.  Would love to fiddle with the spices in the recipe - less pepper, maybe add chili powder or chipotle chili powder for spice?  However, everyone ate and loved the burritos.

Ingredients

• 3 cups dried black beans
• 10 cups water
• 1 Teaspoon dried garlic minces
• 4 Tablespoons minced dried onions
• 1/2 cup freeze dried celery
• 1/4 cup dried bell pepper mix (red and green)
• 1/8 teaspoon cumin
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/4 teaspoons pepper.

Directions

1. Rinse and sort beans.  Add to crock pot with all remaining ingredients.  Cover and cook on high for 8 hours or until soft.  
2. When done, drain (saving liquid)  mash with potato masher or immersion blender or whatever you want to use to get the desired consistency, adding reserved liquid as necessary.  (My sister suggests making them a little on the runny side because they thicken over time.  
3. Serve as a side, or add 

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.

Ravioli with tangy butter

I am the queen of bad bloggers right now for many reasons but we have had a few meals that were delicious lately and I really wanted to post them.  This ranks right up there for super simple, and Sooo yummy.  I don't know if the kids loved it as much as I did, but I thought it was absolutely wonderful.  All 4 boys ate all of it, so I guess it wasn't too bad, and Duncan even had the 2 left over raviolis (yes only 2 - and DH was out of town) for breakfast the next morning. 
I had worried with the name tangy in the title and with 2 Tablespoons of vinegar that it would be a bit too tangy for the kids - especially when I added the vinegar and it boiled and smelled strong.  However, it was definitely NOT too vinegary.
Sadly, there is no picture of this one.  With my lack of blogging has come a lack of picture taking.  :(


Ingredients

• 18-20 ounces ravioli (I used closer to 21 oz of cheese ravioli - tortellini would also work fine.)
• 6 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped (more or less - I used less because only 2 people wanted walnuts)
• Parmesan cheese, grated for topping

Directions

1. Cook ravioli according to package directions
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook the butter over medium heat stirring occasionally until it begins to turn golden brown (about 3 minutes.)  Turn off the heat.  Let cool for about a minute.  Stir in balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  Stir in raviolis (or pour over raviolis.)  Stir to combine.  
3. Serve and top each serving with walnuts and Parmesan cheese.  

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.

Bean and Tortilla Soup

This week my cookbook of choice has been another I have checked out of the library called Cheap. Fast. Good!  It is a great book full of time saving ideas ... however, I really had to pick and choose to find ideas that fit with a healthy lifestyle - lots of canned items -of course.  Seems like most of the quick cook books are.  I have to say that I have enjoyed making some quicker meals this week.
I loved this soup - think chicken tortilla soup but with beans instead of chicken.  I loved the addition of lime.  Added a great extra flavor.  I made the recipe as posted here (similar to the book in quantity and it said it served 4)  but if making again, I would more than likely add a third can of beans, more corn, and another cup of broth and adjust spices accordingly (1.5 times chili powder, cumin, sugar and lime) to make it serve my family.  Luckily DH did not eat at home and there was only about 1/2 bowl of left overs.  Aaron wasn't happy about this, but I smashed his beans and he ate at least 10 bites of soup with me spooning it too him.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 15 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen yellow corn, rinsed to defrost
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• juice of 1 small lime
• tortilla chips (a few crushed in the bottom of each bowl.
• shredded cheese (cheddar, monterrey Jack, or Mexican blend) if desired - pretty sure we skipped this.

Directions

1. In a 4 1/2 quart soup pan,  saute onion in butter until fragrant.  
2. Add beans, tomatoes, garlic, corn, chili powder, and cumin to the pot.  Stir to blend.  Add broth, sugar and lime juice.  
3. Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes to blend the flavors.  
4. To serve, crush the chips slightly and place in the bottom of the bowl.  Ladle the soup over the chips.  Top with cheese.

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.  

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.

black bean patties with pineapple guacamole

Must. Start. Blogging. Again.
I've gotten so out of the habit of blogging since I've not had the greatest luck with computers this year that I can't seem to get myself to actually sit down and do it.  I have sat down twice in the last 2 days to blog and ended up getting up and heading off somewhere with the kiddos - trying to squeeze out the last bit of summer before school starts on Monday.  However, the downside of not blogging --- I'd LOVE to make those pecan balls I made before vacation, but I didn't blog them and have absolutely no idea where I got the recipe.  Boo!
I'm starting with tonight's dinner.  Although 3/4 boys didn't like it, I really did -- and so did 1 boy who had seconds.  I will warn that this is quite a time consuming dish, but I expected that with a homemade guacamole.
Typing the recipe followed by my commentary this time around so you can skip it if you like.  However, it really helps me know what to do for next time.    I'd rate this 4-5 stars.  My younger 3 boys would rate it 0 I'm sure.  Oldest would give it a 5 and DH was out of town.

Guacamole

Ingredients

• 1 cup diced fresh pineapple (I actually used frozen that I let thaw)
• 1 cup peeled and diced jicama
• 2 baby sweet bell peppers, diced
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced (feel free to use a whole mine was just kind of big so I only used 1/2 here and 1/2 in the burger.)
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and diced (save pits)
• 1/2 red onion, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  (I felt like having my avocado a bit more smashed so I took a potato masher to the side were I put the avocado in.  I still had some chunks of avocado, but it looked more like guacamole that way than salsa with avocado.)  Place pits on top of guacamole to keep avocados from browning.  Cover and refrigerate to allow flavors to develop.

Black bean patties

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon ground golden flax seeds (see commentary)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded (again I used a half, but feel free to use a whole)
• 1/4 onion, peeled (I used a sweet onion)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (1/2 Tablespoon)
• 4 cups cooked black beans (if using canned you'll need 3 cans minus about 1/2 cup.)
• 2/3 cup cornmeal
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil for frying (although see my commentary)

Directions

1. Soak flax in a bowl with 3 Tablespoons water for 20 minutes.  (I did this while preparing the rest of the burgers and was fine.)
2. In a food processor, finely chop garlic, jalapeno and onion, stopping to scrape the sides down if necessary.  Add the cilantro and cumin and pulse to combine.  
3. Add 2 cups black beans and cornmeal and process just until combined.  Pour into a large bowl.  Fold in soaked flax seed and remaining 2 cups black beans and season to taste with salt and pepper.  (see commentary below)
4. Heat skillet over medium high head.  Add 2 Tablespoons oil.  Form bean mixture into 8 patties.  Fry 3-4 minutes on each side adding more oil as needed.  
5. Serve topped with guacamole.

Commentary

• flax seeds - I ground my 1 Tablespoon of seeds in a coffee grinder.  That made 2 Tablespoons of flax seed meal.  I used only 1 Tablespoon of that but think I could have/should have used it all.  The gel it made was a bit watery on top and I didn't really want to add that to the beans because it would make them a more mushy texture.  I added them anyway today, but next time would just go ahead and toss in all of the ground flaxseed.
• black beans - I have a small food processor so only 2 cups of black beans fit in it.  I chopped that with 1/3 cup cornmeal, dumped it into a bowl, then did the other 2 cups black beans with the other 1/3 cup cornmeal.  I know the recipe says fold them in, but I know my youngest won't try beans if they look at all like beans and he will spit them out if he feels something in his mouth that feels like a bean.  Knowing that, I wanted to chop all of my black beans.  That worked out just fine. After I chopped the second batch of beans, I put them in the bowl and mixed the 2 batches together.
• Oil for frying - I actually preferred the way these cooked on the second side - the side that didn't have much oil.  (because it had absorbed into the first side as it cooked.)   They seemed to hold together better and crisp up a bit better without the oil.  I almost wish I would have tried my second batch without oil.  I cooked these in a ridged pan that makes them look like they have grill marks - mostly I like that is is square and fit 4 patties nicely.  But the oil seemed to do something to the cornmeal that made it crumbly or something - just on the outside layer -I just didn't have this problem on the second side when the pan didn't have much oil left in it.  

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.

apple avocado salsa

Last post for tonight.  This is a salsa I had when we were eating at a friend's house.  I loved it so I got the recipe.  It was so good - spicy from the jalapeno, but sweet from the apples.  Wonderful combination of flavors.  I think I could eat it as a lunch "salad."  Ha ha!

Ingredients

• 2 unpeeled apples, cored and diced (she had used some type of green apple)
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
• 2 green onions, diced
• 1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lime/lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup or honey
• 1 teaspoon finely minced chopped jalapeno pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, (about 1 clove)
• dash pepper
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained.

Directions

1. Mix all of the ingredient together.
2. Serve with chips.

Family Tuscan Pizza bowl

This is another recipe I saw at my moms  in her Demarle catalog and had to try.  I loved it.  The kids all griped about it.  I think Benjamin ended up actually liking it once he ate it because he ate his whole piece.  Tavio said he wasn't hungry, but ended up finishing his piece - but I know he didn't like it much.  Brandon, myself and my mom all liked it.
Again I had to make some changes and rearranges with this recipe - starting with the fact that we didn't have the size pan they wanted.  We also didn't have their dough mix or spices.  So here is what we did and I LOVED it.  Very fresh tasting because the veggies only got to crisp tender because they were only heated until the cheese melted.

Lets start with the pizza dough recipe.  I looked up my quick wheat recipe and clicked the link back to Mel's kitchen cafe and used her recipe with some extra spices.  Turned out great, and we really did make it quick and easy - mom didn't knead it long at all.  Super simple

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 Tablespoon yeast
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon each thyme, oregano and basil

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425.  Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl until well combined.  Let the mixer knead it for a minute or 2.  
2. Roll out into a very large circle.  WE put this over a 14 X 2 inch pan.  I know I don't have one of these at home, but that is what my mom had, so the circle was probably 16 inches.  
3. Either brush the dough with oil or spray your pan with cooking spray.  Gently lay the dough over the reverse side of your pan (ours was 14 X 2 - original recipe's was 11 1/2 x 2. You may also get away with 2 smaller cake pans.) 
4. Bake 12-15 minutes until center is light golden brown and edges are cooked.  Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.  Take it off the cake pan and place it on a pizza peel or cookie sheet (if it fits - ours went on the peel because it didn't fit anywhere else.  

While the crust is baking and cooling, prepare the veggies for the rest of the pizza

Ingredients

• crust above
• 12 stalks asparagus, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 golden bell pepper, chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped (That was 8 for me.  I didn't use all of the whites, but I did use most of them and all of the greens.)
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 1/2 cup fresh basil (I stuffed the cup somewhat - not tight, but not super loose for both the Spinach and the basil.)
• 1 vine tomato, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (Mom had kosher so that is what we used.)
• 1/4 teaspoon Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning.
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan (optional - we didn't measure this and we used the powder stuff because that is what we had but we just sprinkled)
• cheddar cheese - we just added a tiny sprinkle of cheddar for color and flavor-maybe 1/4 cup

Directions

1. Prepare veggies while the crust is cooking - chop and put in a bowl.  Add the salt and garlic mix.  Toss to combine/coat everything.  
2. Pour veggies into the pizza crust bowl made above.
3. Top with Mozzarella cheese.  Sprinkle with Parmesan and cheddar.
4. Return to oven and cook until the cheese melts.  (We placed this directly on a pizza stone to cook the second time around.

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.  

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.  

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.