Cauliflower "breadsticks"

Cheesy Cauliflower Breadsticks via jo cooks
4 cups cauliflower riced, about 1 large head of cauliflower
4 eggs
2 cups mozzarella cheese I used a Tex Mex blend
3 tsp oregano
4 cloves garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup mozzarella cheese or more, for topping

Preheat oven to 425 F . Prepare large baking sheet w parchment. Cauli chopped in florets. Add florets to food processor. pulse til resembles rice. Place cauliflower in micro container. cover w lid. Nuke 10 min. Let cauliflower cool til no more steam. Place cauliflower in large bowl and add eggs, 2 c mozzarella, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix everything together. Separate mix in 2 and place each 1/2 on prepared sheets. Bake crust (no topping yet) 25 min til golden.  crust is not soggy. Once golden, sprinkle w remaining mozzarella and bake 5 min til cheese melted. Slice and serve.

unstuffed chicken breasts with broccoli

Sheet Pan Unstuffed Chicken Breasts with Broccoli via Number 2 pencil
4 chicken breasts, 6 to 8 oz each
Non stick cooking spray or coconut oil spray
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Garlic powder
2 tablespoons of olive oil mayonnaise or regular mayo
8 slices of prosciutto
4 slices of reduced fat provolone cheese, cut in half
1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs
2 heads of broccoli, cut in half
8 oz of grape tomatoes
Olive oil
Flat leaf parley for garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray rimmed baking sheet w pam. Pat chicken dry and season w salt, pepper and 1/4 t garlic powder. Arrange chicken breasts on one side of sheet pan and spread 1/2 T mayo on top of ea breast. Top ea breast w 2 slices prosciutto followed provolone. Spray provolone slices lightly w pam and sprinkle bread crumbs on top.Season again w salt and pepper. Spray top of breadcrumbs again lightly w cooking spray to help them brown. Add broccoli to other side of pan.
Drizzle broccoli w 2 t olive oil and season w salt, pepper and a sprinkle of garlic powder. Toss tomatoes w 1 t olive oil, salt, pepper and a sprinkle of garlic powder and set aside. Bake 20 min.
Add tomatoes to sheet pan half way through cooking time. Sprinkle with fresh parsley.

Cauliflower corn and cucumber salad

I made this for a gathering that we wound up not going to because Teenblock got influenza that turned into pneumonia.  Teenblock said that shirts should be given out that say I survived the flu of 2017-2018.  anyhow, this recipe was ok. I had an issue with the red peppers triggering my heartburn, so maybe I'd have to think about what to add instead if i make it again. It really needs something red for color. Fresh corn off the cob would make this dish even better.  I'm also thinking feta and walnuts would be a tasty addition. Then again my taste buds are off from this stupid head cold.

Cauliflower Corn and Cucumber Salad via Valentina's corner
2 cups cauliflower florets
2 small cucumbers english style and leave the skins on
1/2 red pepper I used roasted
2-3 green onions
1 (15 oz) can corn, drained I only had frozen, but if i can i will use fresh off the cob.
1/3 - 1/2 cup mayonnaise I used salt and pepper olive oil mayo
Fresh dill, optional
Salt and pepper, to taste

Cut cauliflower into sm florets. Slice cucumber in thin slices. Cube red pepper. Thinly chop gr onions. Drain corn. Mix everything. Add mayo, salt and pepper to taste, mix well. Add fresh dill.

Apple Poppy Seed Slaw

This dish was our veggie side of choice until the garden started producing stuff for us to eat.  I think it was the first slaw I've made that Mrblocko actually liked.  I got so excited that he liked it that I made it so often we got a bit sick of it.  I'm sure come spring we will be craving it again along side a big fat juice burger right off the grill.

Apple Poppy Seed Slaw adapted from Damn Delicious and Simply Scratch
about 1/2 head green cabbage and 1/2 head red cabbage- sliced to form shreds
2-3 carrots, shredded
1 medium sized Granny Smith apple, julienned
1 medium sized Fuji apple, julienned

dressing
2 T mayo
3 T olive oil
1 T apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 T poppy seeds
1-2 T Honey to taste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

in large bowl combine first 3 ingredients.  In small bowl combine dressing ingredients.  toss slaw mixture with dressing.  Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Notes:  We like our slaw on the dry side.  If you like a more runny slaw, feel free to double the dressing ingredients.  Also, make sure to taste the dressing before putting it on the veggies.  For some reason, each batch I've made requires a different amount of honey.

Viscose Pie

Viscose pie?  What in the world is that?  

It's my feeble attempt at being clever.  

Viscose is the European word for Rayon, or synthetic silk.  

And today's pie is a fake French Silk Pie.  

Yeah, I promise I won't quit my day job. 

I got the idea for this pie when I made Avocado Pudding back in February.  I kept murdering the avocados with neglect, so it took me a while to get around to actually making the pie.

My husband and daughter absolutely LOVED this pie.  I thought it was just ok.  Even though they both knew that it contained Avocado, they each claimed they couldn't taste it.  I, on the other hand, could taste it occasionally, which weirded me out.  It's not like there were big chunks of the green fruit in the pie filling.  The filling was 100% chocolatey brown.  I couldn't figure out why it tasted like I occasionally got a big bite of avocado. 

Perhaps my avocado to sugar ratio was off.  Comparatively, the avocados I used for the pudding were much much smaller than those I used for the pie.  I also used honey this time, instead of syrup.  The syrup had a much stronger flavor, and I think it did a better job of masking the avocado in the pudding than the honey did in the pie. 

Viscose Pie 
6T butter, melted
10 cinnamon graham crackers, crushed into fine crumbs (I used the food processor)
1/4c dark chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli)
2 avocados, pitted and rough chopped
1/4 c high quality cocoa (I like Penzeys)
1/4 c + 1 T maple syrup or honey
1/4 c + 1T chambord (or Baileys or Kahlua)
1/4 t kosher salt
2 T milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond)
8 oz cool whip
more chocolate for decoration

Preheat oven to 375F.  Combine butter and crumbs and press into 8 1/2" pie pan.  Bake for 8-10 min.  Let the shell cool completely before filling.

Melt chips in microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring after each time, until fully melted.  Stir in Cocoa powder.  (This prevents the cocoa from becoming a dusty mess when the food processor is turned on.) Place the chocolate in food processor with avocados, syrup, salt, booze and milk.  Blend until even color and super smooth.  Place in large bowl and fold in 1/2 of the cool whip.  Pour this mixture into the pie shell.  Top with remaining cool whip and additional chopped chocolate if desired.  Chill for at least an hour, but the pie tastes better the next day.  Store leftovers in the fridge.

Vegan Beet Brownies with Frosting

When I made this Fauxberry Pie I was left with about 3/4 c of canned beets that I had no idea what to do with. It was harder than you'd think to find a recipe that I thought my family would actually eat. These Brownies from Eggless Cooking seemed like a good match.

The original recipe calls for 1 c of pureed beets and 1/4 c applesauce.  I just messed around the beet and applesauce ratios so I had a total of 1 1/4c pureed fruit and veggies.

These brownies are so sweet that there is no way you could even taste the slightest hint of beet.  I made sure of that by adding frosting to it.  I used the frosting recipe from Penzey's Vegan Cake recipe.  It's pretty much chocolate crack for vegans and the lactose intolerant.  Because that recipe is for frosting a 9x13 cake and this cake is only 8x8 you get loads of fudgy frosting goodness.

Beet and oat brownies with Fudgy Frosting adapted from Madhuram's Eggless Cooking

3 oz Semisweet Chocolate chips
3/4 c Beet Puree
1/2 c Dk Brown Sugar
1/4 c Cocoa
2 T Margarine
2 t Vanilla
1/2 c Cinnamon Applesauce
3/4 c Oat Flour (I took 3/4 instant oats and processed them to a fine powder)
3/4 t Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 c coarse chopped Walnuts
additional 1/2 c semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 8x8" pan w foil and spray w pam. Melt 3 oz chocolate in microwave at 30 sec intervals, stirring after each time.  This took about 1 min for me. Add beet, sugar, cocoa, margarine, vanilla and applesauce. Stir til creamy.Add oat flour, baking powder, chopped walnuts, salt and unmelted choc chips. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 35-40 min.  Brownies should spring back when touched.  Make frosting.

Frosting
4 T oil
4 T water
6 T sifted COCOA POWDER
2 C sifted powdered sugar

In a small pot, boil water and oil.  It may not come to a rolling boil, but bubbles will appear. Remove from heat. Add cocoa and sugar. Beat until smooth. Pour over cake, spreading icing to the edges, and let it cool. The frosting may stick to the knife when cutting the cake, so dip the knife in warm water and wipe clean after each cut. Store cake in fridge.

You put WHAT in this Chocolate Pudding???

Avocados.

Yes.

I made pudding with avocados.

It sounds mega bizarre, but it resulted in a very rich wonderful pudding.

Although, I think this recipe could have been even better if it has booze in it.  It was my plan to use  the 1 T of Kahlua that the recipe called for. 

Then I opened the bottle.  It was chunky and sludgy.  Does alcohol go bad?  I had no idea.  The general consensus on the interwebs was that after 4 years, that Kahlua should be pitched.  So into the trash it went. 

Then I thought, "Oh! Chambord would taste great too!"

Not when it smells like cough syrup.

Sigh. 

At least the Kahlua had company in the garbage can.

I decided to just add another tablespoon of maple syrup in place of the booze. 

While we all thought the pudding was great, it was definitely missing something.  I sprinkled on a few mini chocolate chips and that really did the trick.

Mrblocko said that he could taste the avocado.  I certainly couldn't, and neither could Blockette.  I think he may have noticed it because he knew it was in there.  I'm certain if I had added the suggested Kahlua, or Chambord it would have masked any hint of the green fruit completely.

Even though Blockette watched me prepare this dessert, she was surprised when Mrblocko and I were discussing the flavor of the avocado.  She thought we were pulling her leg.  Although, I'm not sure where she would get that idea.  We NEVER do that.


Avocado Pudding adapted from Produce on Parade
1/4 c dark chocolate chunks or chips
2 ripe avocados
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 c maple syrup
1 T. Hazelnut Kahlua (or other liqueur or maple syrup)
1/4 t kosher salt
2 T almond milk

melt the chips in 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring between each time until melted.  Blend remaining ingredients in food processor til smooth.  Add melted chocolate and puree, making sure to scrape down the sides so you don't have any green bits in your pudding.  Chill for at least 3 hours in the fridge.  Top with mini chips or nuts.

Butternut Squash Sloppy Joes

A few days ago I wrote about how my mom came to visit and brought cookie dough mix in tow.  She also brought me several butternut squash (squashes?) from a relative's garden.  We aren't the biggest fan of squash in this house.  Although I gotta say that I turned everyone around with zucchini from the garden.  However, as a general rule, squash is not food for happy fun time at the dinner table.

I hemmed and hawed so much that one of the squash started crying.  I'm going to guess it was crying cause it was oozing this weird yellow stuff from it's eye, bellybutton, place where it was attached to the stalk. 

So I stepped up the pace and decided on Butternut Squash Sloppy Joes from A Sunshiny Day.

Surprise surprise...They were delicious!

I guess my mom should give me stuff she doesn't want more often. 
I really hope she starts not wanting boxes of $100 bills!

Butternut Squash Sloppy Joes adapted from A Sunshiny Day
1lb gr beef
1 T olive oil
2 med onion (diced)
1 c butternut squash (peeled & finely diced)
1 med red pepper (diced)
14.5oz fire roasted diced tomatoes (I used tomatoes from the garden that were pureed)
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
1 t cinnamon
2 t oregano
2 t sugar
1 t worcestershire sauce

 In lg pan heat oil over med-high heat. Add onions, peppers and squash. Cook 8-10 min stir occasionally. Mix all spices in sm bowl and set aside. Add gr beef to onion mix and cook 5-10 min til meat cooked through. add spice mix.  stir to coat meat. Add tomatoes and worcestershire and cook  5 min til reduced. Serve on a roll.

What Not To Do With Cucumbers

I planted one lonely cucumber plant.  This spring I debated whether or not that was a good idea, you know, just in case the one plant dies...then you've got a backup. 

Whoooo boy.  Am I sure glad I only planted one cucumber.  That sucker is prolific.  I'm pretty sure there is a law of physics where you have to have at least 4 cucumbers on your kitchen counter at a time.

via

I've given cucumbers to the food pantry, my best friend, my husband's best friend, and Blockette's teacher.  I still have an overabundance.  Cucumbers up the wazoo.

What on earth was I going to do with all these cucumbers?  I did a search online and found this recipe for a cucumber drink.  It called for a pound of cucumber, 1/2 c lime, 1 1/4c mint, 1/2 c sugar and 1 c water.

Long story short, you make a simple syrup out of the sugar and water, then dump it and all the other ingredients into a blender and puree.  After straining, you then add 3 more cups of water. 

The recipe said to leave the skins on.  That the skins would give the drink a lovely green color.  Um no.  It made the drink a pukey green color.  That was problem number one.

Problem number two was my mint had gone to seed.  I had a dilly of a time trying to get a cups worth of mint. And then there was the tiny matter of a giant moth that hid inside the mint I brought outside.  I mean it wasn't Mothra, but it wasn't one of those dainty white ones.  Think Silence of the Lambs.  Yeah.  There was lots of screaming. 

The third issue was that I realized my lime juice had gone bad.  So I mixed everything up without that.  I tested the drink to see how it was before I went out and bought some lime juice.  It tasted...ok, but it seemed like it would be a lot better with the lime.

So Blockette and I headed out to the store where I purchased some non-brown non-lumpy lime juice, which I added to my cucumber drink.

I poured the three of us each a glass.

We all took a sip and declared it "not bad."  Then we had another sip.  My family was silent.  (Yeah.  They are some smart peeps.)  They all looked at me.  Blinking.  I quietly grabbed their glasses and dumped their contents down the drain, along with the remaining gunk in the pitcher. 

Then my husband said, "Honey?  Never EVER make that again."

Done. And. Done.

via

(Although, I think if I used better mint and peeled the cucumber...Kidding honey!  Just kidding!)

Sesame Oil Hummus

I'm not the biggest fan of tahini. Whenever I've tried to make hummus the tahini always makes it taste funky.  I've tried a few different brands all with no luck.

Of course when I saw this recipe for hummus that used sesame oil instead of tahini at Are You Hungry?, I whipped up a batch right away.

Thing is, I don't really like it.

I'm thinking that I don't like a strong taste of sesame.  Sure sesame seed bagels are great, and give me a sesame seed bun over a plain one please!  I even like sesame seeds in my granola.  I guess I can have too much of a "good" thing.

At least Mrblocko liked this dip so it didn't have to go directly into the garbage can.  Funny thing is he would rather not eat anything with sesame seeds on it.  Guess we are opposites like that.


No Tahini Hummus from Are You Hungry?
2 cups chickpeas or garbanzo beans (if using canned drain, rinsed and towel dry)
3 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
4 - 5 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. garlic, crushed or minced
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. smoked sweet paprika
3 Tbsp. sesame oil

In a food processor, blend chickpeas, lemon/lime juice, and 4 T olive oil. Add garlic,spices, and sesame oil. Blend to a smooth paste.  If  too dry, add more olive oil a little at a time until dip is desired texture. Serve chilled.

Baked Rigatoni

This Baked Rigatoni from Real Mom Kitchen totally blew my mind.  It was so awesome! 

Although, it nearly almost wasn't. 

I kept spilling things on the floor and counter.  The ingredients for the roux, the roux itself, noodles, etc.  Then I pulled it out of the oven 10 seconds before burning the cheese on top.

 Yeah I almost nearly burnt that bad boy.  And it wasn't even because I wasn't paying attention. The oven must have been running hot that day because I followed the recipe exactly.


Luckily my clumsiness didn't ruin the dinner.

 I made two minor changes to this recipe.  Instead of using mozzarella, I used Italian Blend pre shredded cheese.  Then I added peas.  I love how it gave the dish some color, and I didn't have to mess around with figuring out any side dishes for our meal.

And the absolute best part of the dish?  The leftovers tasted just as awesome as they did the first time around.  Everyone WANTED to eat this the second time around.  That's what I call winning!

Baked Rigatoni adapted from Real Mom Kitchen
1 pkg (16 oz) rigatoni pasta ( I used penne)
1/2 c butter
1/2 c flour
1 qt milk (4 cups) (I used skim)
2 c grated mozzarella cheese (I used Italian blend)
about 1/2 lb thinly sliced ham (I used 1/2 lb leftover cubed ham)
seasonings (onion salt, pepper, cayenne pepper - just eyeball the amt)
1-2 c froz peas
small pads of butter for top (I used tiny squares of 2T butter)

Preheat oven to 425 F. Melt butter over med heat and start water boiling for pasta. Once butter's melted, whisk in flour. Add your milk to make the roux. Stir til sauce thick enough to coat back of  spoon. When water boils,  cook pasta to al dente. . When white sauce is done, add seasoning, ham, and 1 c cheese. stir well, to melt cheese. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Add 1-2 c frozen peas.  Pour mixture into a greased 9×13 pan, smooth top and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Dot top with butter bits. Bake 25 min, til top bubbly and brown. (To make ahead of time and freeze: cool completely after pouring in pan, then add cheese and butter. Cover securely and freeze.  If cooking from freezer, add 30 minutes  to the cooking time, and check the center before serving.

Ham and Veggie Cobbler

Originally this dish was called broccoli cobbler.  I found it over at the blog Half Baked Harvest. I really messed with this recipe.  I added loads of other veggies, reduced the amount of canned soup, and added ham! 

The whole family really enjoyed this dish.  The only bad thing about it was the broccoli.  The dish fed the three of us for two meals, with one more leftover.  No one wanted to eat it because the broccoli had gotten stinky sitting in the fridge for several days.  To avoid wasting food, the next time I make this I will leave the broccoli out all together and replace it with  other mixed veggies.

I really hated to toss the odoriferous leftovers. The cheddar biscuit topping was amazing.  It was even better than the topping on the crumble pot pie.

The cheese made the topping all crispy.  I just love crispy cheese.  OK.  So I know the photos make the topping look burnt.  My camera does that.  I blame the horrible lighting in my kitchen.  The topping is deep golden brown.

Ham and Veggie Cobbler adapted from Half Baked Harvest
Filling:
1 can  Cream of Garlic and Mushroom soup
2oz softened cream cheese
3 c broccoli florets, fresh (about 2-3 heads) or frozen (or replace with veggies of your choice)
2c ham
1/2 c grated cheddar cheese (I used a 3 cheddar blend from Kraft)
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 diced carrots
1 1/2 c corn (I used frozen)
1/2 c peas (I used frozen)

Cheddar Drop Biscuits:
2 c flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 t baking soda (I forgot this)
1/2 t salt
1/2 c butter (1 stick), cold
1 c grated cheddar cheese, and 1/4 c more for topping
1/2 c plus 2 T buttermilk, cold and shaken (I used buttermilk powder combined with skim milk)
1 egg, cold
Freshly ground pepper for topping

Preheat the oven to 400F. In a large bowl, add soup and cream cheese. Mix until combined. Fold in ham, veggies, cheese, and black pepper. Add to greased 8x12 baking pan. Set aside and prepare biscuits. Add dry ingredients to med bowl: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and mix. Using a box grater, grate cold butter into flour mix. Stick bowl in freezer for 5 min. Meanwhile, combine  buttermilk and egg. Remove bowl from freezer. Gently break up butter and combine with flour, using hands, until it resembles small peas. Next, add cheese and combine until evenly mixed. Add  buttermilk mix all at once and mix until barely combined; lightly knead dough until it forms one solid mass. Drop 6-8 mounds of dough onto surface casserole. Top with cheese. Top each biscuit with black pepper. Bake 40-45 min. Biscuits will be golden brown and the sauce will be bubbly.  (This dish can be made up to 3 days ahead of time. cover and chill until ready to use. Bake as directed.)

March Choc Chip Cookie: Zucchini Version

Zucchini cookies!  Why zucchini?   Cause they are green for St. Patrick's Day of course!

Well, they aren't super duper green, they just have little green speckles on them.

I tried to make them in secret, but when I went to shred the zucchini in the food processor I accidentally put the slicing blade on instead of the shredding blade. I may have said some unkind words to the food processor and zucchini.  Naturally, that caught the attention of my husband, who was suddenly curious about the goings on in the kitchen.

To my surprise, he didn't make a weird face about the vegetable addition to our St. Patrick's Day dessert.  You see, Mrblocko is not the biggest fan of zucchini. 

Guess what?  He Loved then!  With the oats, walnuts, dark Chocolate chips, and cinnamon, you simply cannot taste the zucchini. 

While we all loved the cookies, I thought the directions were a bit off.  First, my cookies did not spread at all.  Perhaps this was because I used less zucchini than the recipe called for, or because I used old fashioned oatmeal versus quick cooking oats?  I wound up flattening the dough before putting it in the oven.  Even with the flattened cookie dough, my cookies took 17 minutes for them to brown.

You would think that with the extended baking time these cookies needed they would have been hard as a rock.  When I took them off the baking sheet I had visions of Hagrid's rock cakes from the Harry Potter books.  Amazingly, they were soft and cake-like.  What a wonderful surprise!

I plan on growing zucchini in my garden this year, so this is a great recipe to keep on hand for when I (hopefully) have an over abundance of summer squash.



Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies from Nestle
1 1/2 c flour
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 c (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4c sugar
1 egg
3/4 t vanilla
1 1/2 c shredded zucchini (I used 2 small zucchini which were only 1 1/4 c)
1 c quick oats (I used old fashioned)
1 c chopped nuts (I used half walnut pieces
1 2/3 c (10-oz. pkg.)  Dark Chocolate Chips (I like Nestle because they are larger than their milk and semi sweet chips)

 350° F. Lightly grease baking sheets.(I used parchment paper.) Mix flour, cinnamon and baking soda in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar in large mixer bowl until well combined. Add egg and vanilla extract, beat well. Add zucchini; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, nuts and morsels. Drop by rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. (I used a small cookie scoop and flattened the dough out with moist hands) Bake 9-11 min or until light golden brown around edges. (For me this took 17 minutes) Cool on baking sheets for 2 min; remove to wire rack (or paper towels) to cool completely. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature.

Sweet Potato and Bean Burritos

This is another surprising vegetarian meal we had for Lent:  sweet potato and bean burritos from cHow Divine. It was surprising because even my husband, carnivore extraordinaire, enjoyed it.  He even said he, "barely missed the meat."  If you know my husband, that is HIGH praise.  Usually if I attempt to make something sans animal protein, he makes sad pathetic pained faces.  Not this time!  He even chose to eat this as leftovers instead of leftover fritatta.  And the fritatta had meat in it.

Woah.

Please don't judge this dish by my photos.  Mashed sweet potatoes and mashed beans ain't perty.  That's why you wrap them up in a tortilla and hide it.

See?

Much more appetizing! 

We ate our burritos topped with cheese, sour cream, guacamole, olives and salsa.  I meant to cut up lettuce, but I'm only just now realizing that I forgot to do that!

This was the first time I tried the whole wheat tortillas.  I was surprised how great they tasted.  I will buy them from now on for meals like this.  If I'm making giant burritos, or enchiladas, I'll still get the white flour tortillas.  One, because they don't make jumbo whole wheat tortillas, or if they do, they aren't at my grocery store.  Two, if I'm making enchiladas the dish is covered in sauce so you couldn't discern the subtle flavor notes of the whole wheat. 

Another great thing about this recipe is that it made two huge burritos for each of us for 2 meals.  Plus leftovers for at least two more burritos.  That's about 14 large burritos.  Not too shabby.

This recipe was definitely a winner in this house!

Sweet Potato and “Un-Fried” Bean Tacos Recipe from cHow Divine
1 1/2 c cooked pinto beans (or 1 can)
1 c cooked black beans (or 2/3 can)
2 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2  red bell pepper, finely chopped (Mine was roasted with the icky skins peeled off)
2 T soy sauce
2 T dijon mustard
4-6 TB + 1 TB at a time
1/2 t cumin
1/4 t cayenne (feel free to adjust heat to your liking.  This was just mild enough for our daughter)
2 large sweet potatoes, baked until very soft (1 hour at 425F.  Sugars should be bubbling out stab holes and caramelizing.)
tortillas of your choosing (we used burrito sized whole wheat)
canola oil for the pan


 Mash beans til smooth. In a separate bowl, peel and mash cooked sweet potatoes. Cover mashed sweet potatoes and keep warm. Heat pan on med heat. Add just enough oil to coat bottom of pan. Add garlic, onions  and peppers to pan. Saute about 5 min.  Add beans to pan. Stir until heated through. Add soy sauce, mustard, cumin, and cayenne. Add water as needed to get desired consistency.  Should be smooth and creamy. Mix well. Push beans to side and add mashed sweet potatoes to pan. Lower the heat to lowest setting to keep warm. Heat tortillas as needed.  Fill them up with beans, sweet potatoes and any other fixins your heart desires.

Stovetop Broccoli, Ham and Rice

Just a quick little post today about this Cheesy Broccoli Rice with Ham from Buns in My Oven.

This dish was a quick and easy one pot meal. 

I thought it was a great way to use up leftover ham.

Except...
I didn't like the leftovers.

Not even a little bit.

Guess that's ok.  Mrblocko and Blockette did!

I'm pretty sure it was the broccoli that messed things up for me.

I'd make this recipe again if I was feeding more than just the 3 of us, or half the recipe so there wouldn't be any leftovers.

 Stovetop Cheezy Broccoli and Ham from Buns in My Oven
1 T olive oil

1 c long-grain white rice

2 1/4 c chicken broth

2 small heads of broccoli

2 T butter 

3 cups cooked diced ham

1 -2 c shredded cheddar

1/2 t garlic powder

salt and pepper, to taste

splash of milk, as needed

Heat olive oil in a med pan over med. Add rice and stir to coat. Toast rice, stirring often, just until it starts to turn golden. Pour in broth, bring to a boil, turn heat to low, and cover. Cook, covered,10 min. While rice is cooking, chop broccoli into bite-sized pieces. After 10 min, add broccoli to rice. Cook 5 -10 min til most of liquid absorbed. (The broccoli will cook for 5-10 min and steam for 5. ) Remove from heat and add butter, ham, cheddar, and garlic powder. Stir until well incorporated. Cover and let sit 5 min.  Stir again and add salt and pepper to taste and a splash of milk if you'd like to thin out  texture a bit, if needed.

Crumble Pot Pie

Back in my early 20's, before I knew how to cook, I used to love chicken pot pie. You know, those little mini frozen guys in a box.  I thought they were the best.  Now that I've cut way down on the amount of processed foods I eat, they are way too salty for me.

So I just don't eat them anymore.

Now, I guess I could make them from scratch, but I'm not the biggest fan of making pie crusts.  While I can make them, I'd really rather not.  I'm not sure why I don't like making pie crusts.  It's not like they are any more work than making a loaf of bread from scratch.  My best guess is that it involves a rolling pin.

My rolling pin and I aren't the bestest of friends.  Things always turn out uneven, or they stick to the rolling pin, or whatever I'm rolling out tears beyond repair.  It ain't fun times.

That's why this chicken crumble pot pie from Cooking Classy caught my eye.  There isn't any crust, but a biscuit like crumble topping.  That sounded exactly my speed.

 I changed the recipe around a bit so it would fit in a 9x13 pan.  I wanted to have enough for two meals. 

As I was assembling this dish, I realized that I used to make something similar to this from a box back when I was a newlywed.  It had canned chicken and a scant few veggies.  This version kicks the prepackaged box stuff's bum.  It kicks it so hard it runs squealing home like a wee little pig.

I was slightly concerned that biscuit topping might taste gross as leftovers.  Fortunately, that was not a problem.  When I reheated the leftovers in the microwave, the topping did get soft and mushy.  Surprisingly, that was NOT a bad thing.  The whole dish tasted like a very thick, non-soupy version of chicken and dumplings.

Of course, this was because I did NOT read the directions correctly.

See you are supposed to drop the biscuit topping on a cookie sheet to crisp it up first.  I didn't do that.  I just put it right on top of the casserole and baked it until it turned light brown.

I'm here to tell you that if you do this, your dinner will still be awesome.  So awesome that your family will cheer when you tell them they're having this for leftovers.  Mine did!  Blockette even did a little happy dance as well.

I've plans to make this again with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. I did a bit of research and the recipe on Cooking Classy is adapted from Cooks Illustrated.  They make you subscribe to their site to get their recipe's but I did find the same recipe HERE. That recipe has 1 package of mushrooms, 1 tsp tomato paste and 1 tsp soy sauce. I think I'll try those additions next time, along with following the instructions for the crust.



Here's the dish as I made it:
Crumble Pot Pie adapted from Cooking Classy
4 small chicken breasts (or two mega large ones- about 3 cups shredded)
2 c chicken or turkey stock (enough to cover the chicken in the crockpot)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 c peeled and diced carrots (about 2 large carrots)
1 c diced celery (about 3 stalks)
1 c finely diced yellow onion (about 2 small onions)
1 c frozen peas
1 c frozen corn
(sliced mushrooms)
(1 t soy sauce)
(1 t tomato paste)
3 T butter
1/3 c flour
3/4 c milk  (next time I'll use 1 c)
1 t lemon juice (next time I'll use 2t)
1 1/2 t dried parsley (or 3T fresh)
1/4 t dried thyme (or 1/2 t fresh)

For the crumble:
2 1/4 c flour
2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
heaping 1/4 t  pepper
3/4 t garlic powder
heaping 1/8 t cayenne
6 T butter, cold and diced into small cubes
1/2 c. finely shredded Parmesan cheese
generous 1c evaporated milk (You can use cream or milk if desired)

Place chicken and broth to cover in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 5 - 6 hrs til chicken  cooked through. Remove chicken from slow cooker, shred and set aside. Strain broth from slow cooker through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl and reserve broth (if you don't have a fine mesh strainer just try to remove the pieces of fat). 

To prepare crumble: Preheat oven to 450 F. In a mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder and optional cayenne pepper. Using fingers, cut butter into mixture until resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in Parmesan . Pour in cream and mix just til combine. Break and drop mixture into 1 - 2" pieces onto a Silpat lined baking dish. Bake in 10 min until golden. set aside.

To prepare filling:  Heat oil over medium high. Add diced carrots, onion and celery. Saute vegetables, stirring occasionally until lightly golden and tender, about 5 - 6 minutes. Pour vegetables into a bowl and set aside. (Here's where you'd cook the mushrooms for 5 min, then add soy and tomato paste, cooking until all liquid evaporates.  Then remove mushrooms to a bowl with remaining veggies.) Reduce heat to medium, melt butter in saucepan (I like to brown it a bit for and extra layer of flavor), then add in flour and cook, stirring constantly for about 20 seconds (it will be very thick). While stirring, slowly add in milk followed by reserved chicken broth, lemon juice, parsley, thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring mixture just to a boil,  then slightly reduce heat and allow to cook about 1 minute longer until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove sauce from heat and add chicken,  sauteed vegetables, frozen peas and corn. Toss to evenly coat. Pour mixture into 9x13 dish that's been sprayed with pam.  Top with baked crumble topping.  Bake at 400F til golden, 12 - 14 min. Serve warm.

Salsa Bean Dip

Our local library has a reading program every year over the summer. The kids have to read a certain number and type of books to complete each part of the program. This year the theme was "Reading is Delicious" and one of the activities for Blockette's age group was to check out a cook book and make a recipe with the help of an adult.

One of the cook books we checked out was called American Grub, by Lynn Kuntz.  Each state had one or two recipes based off of something related to the state.  The book also had a little blurb about each state which I thought was fun too.

The recipe that caught my eye was the Anasazi Bean Dip. While I really like my go to recipe for Pesto Bean Dip, I get tired of it after a while and want to try something new.

I thought this bean dip was pretty good, and so did Mrblocko.  It's more of a chip bean dip, than a veggie bean dip, but we still ate it with veggies.  Blockette has decided that she doesn't like the new bean dip and has decided she'd rather eat her veggies plain until I make the pesto dip again.  I'm not sure if this is because she doesn't like the taste of the dip, or she doesn't like change.  Probably a little bit of both.

If you'd like to try this tasty bean dip here's the version of the recipe I made:
Anasazi Bean Dip adapted from American Grub by Lynn Kuntz
2 cups of cooked pinto beans
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper (use more or less to taste)
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c salsa

In a food processor, pulse beans.  Add onions and pulse.  Add spices and puree til mostly smooth.  Pour mixture into a bowl and add sour cream and salsa.  Stir until combined.  Let chill in the fridge for at least an hour to let the flavors combine.

Morning Glory Muffins

We liked these morning glory muffins, from Eat Your Vegetables, so much that I've made them twice already!

As you can see in the above photo, I made some in a regular muffin tin, and some in a jumbo muffin tin.  I think I prefer the jumbo ones!

These babies are loaded with all kinds of goodies: almonds, pecans, apples, carrots, raisins, craisins, and coconut, just to name a few!  I like to pretend they are healthy. Veggies and Fruit = healthy right?  At least they are healthier than a bowl of Fruit Loops or a cinnamon roll.

Because they have so many add ins, they are a very dense muffin.  They rose hardly at all.  They weren't so heavy that you felt like eating a brick though.  Just keep in mind that they are not a light fluffy breakfast pastry.  These babies are substantial and will fill you up.

Now this could be because I added more things than the recipe suggested.  First I used 1/2 c of coconut pulp instead of coconut flakes.  I had made some coconut milk for Mrblocko when he couldn't have dairy.  Our blender isn't too spiffy, so I had to strain out the chunks.  I didn't want to pitch them, so I tossed them into the batter.  I thought I'd miss the coconut texture, so I added a handful of shredded coconut as well.

Next, I added 1/2 c pecans.  Sure the recipe already had almonds, but I thought it needed pecans too. You couldn't really taste the almonds, but the flavor of the pecans jumps right out at you.

I didn't have enough dried cranberries so I used 1/4 c cranberries and 1/4 c raisins.  They were a nice mix of flavors.  I'm sure you could use all raisins if you wanted as well.  I bet golden raisins would be particularly tasty.

Finally, I added 1/2 c white chocolate chips.  Because, well...just because.  I had some and thought they would be tasty.  As this recipe made 12 jumbo muffins (or 24 regular size muffins) there were only a few chips per muffin.  This was just enough to give the muffins that little extra flavor boost.  Not that they needed it.  But seriously, why not go over the top if you can?!

Morning Glory Muffins adapted from Eat Your Vegetables
1/2 c (3 ounces) dried cranberries, rehydrated in hot water and drained (or any combo of dried fruit to equal 1/2 c)
1/2 c white chips
2 c (8 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 c (7 ounces) sugar
2 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
1 t ginger
1/2 t salt
2 c (7 ounces) peeled and grated carrots (Use a food processor if you have one)
1 large tart apple (6-7 ounces), grated
1/2 c coconut pulp and a handful of shredded coconut(or a heaping 1/2 c shredded coconut)
1/2 c (2 ounces) sliced almonds
1/2 c pecans
1/3 c (1 1/2 ounces) wheat germ (I used wheat bran)
4 1/2 t ener-g egg replacer whisked with 6 T water (or 3 eggs)
2/3 c vegetable oil (I have used half veg oil and half olive oil with no olive oil taste.  you can also replace half the oil with applesauce)
2 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease 12 large muffin cups (or 24 reg muffin cups).

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. Add carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and wheat germ.

In a separate bowl, whisk eggs or egg replacer/water, oil, and vanilla together. Add to flour mixture and stir until evenly combined. Fold cranberries and chips into batter.

Divide batter among cups and bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.

Spicy Grilled Mushrooms

These grilled spiced mushrooms from Home Skillet totally blew my mind.
Ka-boom with the flavor explosion!

I'm already a huge fan of mushrooms. 

 And grilled? 

Sign me up for that.

There is just something simply amazing about this spice mix. It's smokey, sweet, savory, and spicy, with just a hint of salty. All that, combined with the meaty savory flavor from the mushrooms, and you have every flavor base covered. (At some point we are going to have to try this rub on grilled chicken. Mrblocko and I agree it would be awesome as well.)

And get this...Mrblocko asked Blockette if she wanted to taste a mushroom. Our daughter who won't eat a mushroom, even if you paid her, said "YES!" That will give you an indication of how enticing they had to have smelled for her to want to give a mushroom a taste test.

Get this, Blockette said she actually liked them. 

My child. 

Liked a mushroom. 

Woah. 

Although, they were too spicy for her to eat more than one. To her credit, the mushrooms were right on the edge of my heat tolerance level. Any hotter and they would have been too spicy for me.

The original recipe was even spicier. The spice blend calls for 2 tsp each of ancho and New Mexico Chile powder. I used 4 tsp of Chili powder instead. Once we run out of this batch, I will reduce the cayenne pepper from 2 tsp to just 1 tsp. I think this will make the spice blend with in Blockette's heat level. Mrblocko will probably be a bit sad, because he thought the spice blend was perfect the way it is. He can always add a pinch of cayenne to his portion of mushrooms and bring the heat up to inferno if he wants.

Amazing spicy grilled mushrooms from Home Skillet
Spice blend
1 T kosher salt
1 T black pepper
2 ½ t garlic powder
1 ½ t onion powder
1 ½ t oregano
1 ½ t basil
¼ t cinnamon
3 T brown sugar
1 T smoked paprika
1 T paprika
4 t chili powder
1-2 t cayenne

Combine all spices and store in an airtight container.

Grilled mushrooms
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved
4 tablespoons canola oil
1 ½ tablespoons mega spice mix

Place mushrooms in medium bowl. Drizzle oil and toss with mushrooms. Sprinkle on spice mix, coating mushrooms evenly. Set aside and prepare grill.

If using charcoal, light charcoal according to package directions or using your favorite method. Once 80-90 percent of charcoal ashed-over, spread into single layer, put cooking grates on, cover, and let grates heat up for 5 min. Adjust height of charcoal and air vents, if applicable to get a nice hot temp(350-400F).

If using gas grill, set temperature to high (350-400F) and cover for 5 min to heat grates.

Using a paper towel, coat cooking grates with thin layer of oil. Try to not let it drip down onto the coals to prevent flare ups. Place halved mushrooms on grill, cut side down. Cover, and come back in about 2-3 min to check on them. Once they’ve started to soften up just a bit, and bottoms have a nice char, remove from grill and serve hot.

BBQ Onion Rings and Burgers of Extreme Goodness

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