Pizza w/ Whole Wheat

I ran out of white flour so I added about a cup of whole wheat flour. Happily, it made the crust taste better! I just add a lot of mushrooms and green peppers with the pizza sauce and mozz cheese. It smelled wonderful coming out of the oven!

Fajitas

I confess we didn't have anything with the fajitas, although it's one of those meals where everything is kind of in it anyways:

It took a little prep time - chopping, and stuff, but in the end wasn't too bad. I'd say about 30 minutes.

Fajitas:

Fajita Spice:
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder

Mix together in small bowl. This is enough for one batch of fajitas, but feel free to make a lot of it, because the measurements are in the recipe, and that way you wouldn't have to make this up every time.

Meat:
Trim off fat from beef or steak, or you can even use chicken or turkey if desired. We used shoulder steak and it was incredible. Cut along the grain into bite-size strips. Place in bowl and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of fajita seasoning. Stir a little and then cover and chill 30 minutes. If in a rush, it won't hurt to just let it sit in the bowl on the counter until just before you need it.

Meanwhile, cut into slices 1 medium red or green bell pepper. I had a bunch of frozen ones, so I cut up orange, red, and green. Cut up one medium onion into thin slices, separated into rings. Also cut up about two roma tomatoes, or roughly 3/4 cup tomatoes, any kind.

Heat a tablespoon or two in a skillet (I used my wok), on med-high. Cook the peppers and onions with the rest of the spices (1 teaspoon) for about 3 or 4 minutes until crisp-tender, then remove from skillet and put in a bowl. Add a little more oil and cook the meat in the skillet. I turned the heat down to medium. Cook for a few minutes or until desired doneness. Drain well.

Return onion and pepper to skillet with the meat and then stir in tomatoes. Cook and stir a minute or so or until heated through, then adding about 1 Tablespoon lemon juice (lime is better).

To serve:
Warm your tortillas, and fill with meat mixture. I served mine with lettuce and salsa, but sour cream and guacamole go well too.

Makes: About 4 servings.

Salmon & Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

So we are not counting fish with our weekday vegetarian diet. It has been super easy to cut out the meat! And it's been easier on the grocery bill. What a pleasant surprise. Especially since I recently learned more about the food (especially meat) industry, I'm feeling very good about this choice.

So onto the making of this dinner: Probably took 45 minutes. I am slow and scatter-brained when I make dinner. So it probably wouldn't take that long for someone else.

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes (a favorite!)
2 russet potatoes
1 big yam/sweet potato (the orange ones)
2 cloves garlic
about 1 tsp. rosemary (crushed)
butter
Directions: cut up the potatoes and put into a baking dish. mince garlic and sprinkle over potatoes. put about 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. rosemary into your hand and crush it up. I do this because those poky rosemary needles don't really add to a nice texture in your mouth. But it's such a nice flavor; I really like it! Then add some cut up butter--just enough to give a little flavor, keep the potatoes from sticking and to make them crispy. Put into a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Check potatoes periodically and turn them to get them crispy and evenly buttered.

Salmon
I'll tell you right now I'm not that good at cooking fish. My Dad is an expert and Brian definitely does better than I. But I was all I had last night. ;-) I added a little butter to the pan, sprinkle the salmon with lemon pepper and cook on medium-low heat until the flesh turns pink (vs. the orangey-red is starts out as). We love salmon! And since we're not eating much meat anymore, it's been fine on the wallet.

Chickpea & Vegetable Curry

Got this one from a co-worker.

Chickpea & Vegetable Curry

Ingredients
3 cups cauliflower florets
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup loose-pack frozen cut green beans
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 14-ounce can vegetable broth
2-3 teaspoons curry powder
1 14-ounce can light coconut milk
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
Cooked brown rice (optional)

Directions
1. In a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker, combine cauliflower, chickpeas, green beans, carrots, and onion. Stir in broth and curry powder.
2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
3. Stir in coconut milk and shredded basil leaves. Spoon rice, if using, into bowls, and ladle curry over the top.

Nutrition facts per serving: 219 calories, 8g protein, 32g carbohydrate, 7g fat (4g saturated), 9g fiber

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Ham chowder

Sorry no picture. My new camera makes the food look so unappetizing.

6 c. chicken broth OR

4 chicken boullion cubes and 6 c. water.

4 potatoes

2 c. chopped ham

1/2 c. whipping cream

1 can corn OR green beans

Bring broth to a boil, add potatoes. Cook potatoes for about 20 minutes or until soft. Add ham, cream and veggie. Heat through.

I used to add cheese, but realized it was not necessary and had less fat, too. Also, we didn't want to use corn last night and I experimented with the green beans. They taste fine, but are a weird size. We do prefer corn. I serve it with rolls and milk.

Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

It takes about 20 minutes to prep this meal and 15-20 minutes to bake.

1 pkg 8 oz elbow macaroni (or roughly 3 cups)
1/4 c butter
1/4 c flour
2 c milk
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Cook and drain macaroni. In a shallow 1 1/2 quart pan (my 8x8 works too) layer macaroni and 1 1/2 cups cheese and white sauce.

White sauce: in a saucepan melt butter, flour, salt, pepper, and milk. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Pour sauce over mac and cheese layers.

Bake 375 degrees 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly golden brown.

Corn Quesadillas

No, I didn't take that picture. But this is what we had on Monday. It is one of those quicky meals and it's pretty darn tasty. I would also mention that we are not eating meat on weekdays. (We are trying to "eat meat sparingly.") So I'll be trying out a lot of vegetarian dishes. Here's the first:

Prep & Cook Time: 10 minutes!
Ingredients:
- Flour tortillas
- Whole kernel canned corn
- cheese
- cilantro
- salsa

Basically all you do is put the tortilla in the pan, add a little cheese, some corn, a little cilantro, a little more cheese, salsa if you want it, and fold it. Turn it over when it's gotten warm on one side.

"Anna's Burritos" aka Black Bean Chicken Burritos

We first had these at my good friend Anna's house. So now we call them "Anna's burritos." Also a regular in our dinner rotation. The leftovers for this one always get eaten. :)Takes probably 20 minutes to make this.
Ingredients:
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4- 1/2 c. honey
1 bunch cilantro
2 cans black beans (or about 8 oz of the dried beans if you want to use those.)
1 lb. cooked chicken
cheese
lime

Directions:
Saute 1/2 onion, 2 cloves garlic in pan. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup honey depending on how sweet you want it. (Sometimes I add more later after it's all done and it's not quite sweet enough.) Add 1 bunch chopped cilantro. Cook honey and cilantro for about 2 or 3 minutes. Add about 2 cans black beans and 1 lb. cooked and chopped (or shredded) chicken. Heat until boiling and most of liquid is evaporated. Serve in warm tortillas with lime and cheese.

* Make SURE you rinse those canned black beans or it'll be mushy and soggy! We actually like it better when we make it with the dried beans we've soaked and cooked ourselves. But, sometimes you just don't have the motivation/foresight/time for that!

Chicken Corn Chowder a la (Marisa's) Mom & Dad

oh yes. Our family loves this chowder. It is delightful. It probably takes about 30 minutes to make. And that is a Great Harvest wheat roll there. Boy, do they know bread!

Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts
- chicken bullion
- 1/2 medium onion
- 3 medium potatoes
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 can creamed corn
- 1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
- 1/4 green pepper
- 1 small package of frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 pint half & half

- Boil 2 (or more) chicken breasts.
-Add about 4 tsp. chicken bullion granules
- chop up 1/2 medium onion
Boil together for 20 minutes or until chicken is tender. Do not overboil.
Take out chicken breasts and chop up or shred. Set aside.

Chop up 3 medium potatoes into smallish chunks. Add to chicken water. Allow to cook. Add 1 can creamed corn, 1 can whole kernel corn (drained), 1 can cream of chicken soup. Chop up 1/4 green pepper and add to the pot. Add small package of frozen mixed vegetables. Add about a pint of half & half. Let simmer until all vegetables are done. Make sure you taste it before serving it out. It may very well need more chicken bullion.

I assure you this is a DELICIOUS chowder. A family classic.


...And yeah, I know I said I planned on blogging our meals. I lied. Sorry. Somehow I think you'll all probably forgive me. Doubtless all you followers/readers were busy enough the past few weeks anyway!

Breakfast Burritos

Sorry. No picture. But it's pretty cut and dried.

package of tortillas
scrambled eggs
cooked sausage, crumbled
cheese - mozzarella, pepper jack, etc.
salsa
garlic potatoes (I think I posted that recipe before, but if not, it's included below.)

Put however much of everything you want into a tortilla. Heat up in the microwave. Voila.

Garlic Potatoes:
cook however many potatoes you want to in the microwave, then cut up into bite size chunks and put into a skillet with a few tablespoons of oil. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and parsley if you have it. Cook on medium heat, flipping every few minutes until starting to get crispy.