Cheeseburger Pizza

Tonight for dinner I made Cheeseburger Pizza. It was really good and sort of easy. This is how you make it--first make pizza dough or take the lazy way out and buy it already made at Publix (which is what I did tonight). Bake the crust for about 10 to 15 minutes at 400 degrees until it is lightly browned. While it is baking, brown the ground beef and season it with salt and pepper or some sort of seasoning salt. Also, shred some cheese and chop some tomatoes and slice some pickles unless you already have hamburger chips. When the crust is done, top it with the meat and cheese and bake 5 more minutes until the cheese melts. Then take it out and top it with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and ketchup, and mustard. We had the pickles, mustard, and ketchup on the side. And, serve your pizza!



Warning, this pizza will be well loved by children but won't stop the talkative ones from chatting their way through dinner. Grace starts most of her sentences these days with, "It was hilarious..." Love that girl.

A Couple of Good Meatless Meals

Both of these recipes came from my SIL's in Chicago. Thanks girls--we've loved both of these!

Southwestern Salad with Cilantro Lime Rice (the rice is my addition)
**this recipe doesn't have actual amounts, you just have to sort of wing it**

chopped tomatoes
green onions
green peppers
corn
black beans
cilantro

Combo the veggies and marinate them in a dressing made of--
lime juice
garlic
cumin
honey
salt and pepper

You can marinate them for an hour or for the day it doesn't matter. When you're ready to serve the salad, toss it with chopped lettuce and crushed tortilla chips. I also served my salad over a spoonful of Cilantro Lime Rice (recipe below) and it tasted just like the salad at Chipotle. Yum!

Cilantro Lime Rice--
1 cup rice
2 cups water
1 tsp. bouillon
2 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

Use the water and bouillon to make a pot of rice however you make rice. You could also use brown rice. Once it's done then add the lime juice and cilantro.

Red Lentil Deliciousness--

Heat 3 tbsp. of sesame oil and add 1 tsp. curry powder. Add in 1 cup of rinsed red lentils (I bet you could use brown lentils too) and 3 cups of water and 1 tsp. bouillon. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook until the lentils are soft. Make some brown rice and fry some eggs. Serve the rice topped with the lentils, a fried egg, and mango chutney or any other sort of chutney. We all liked this one! I loved it with the chutney and can't imagine it without it but it would probably be good either way.

Dinner!

Above is last night's dinner. The Barley and Corn salad was okay--Ollie loved it but I wasn't super impressed. I'll probably make it again since it was fresh and healthy though. I didn't get a picture of tonight's dinner before it was half eaten--sorry. We had pasta with asparagus. It was super simple--pasta and asparagus that has been sauteed with garlic in olive oil. Toss it all together and then top with cheese--we had three choices--feta, gorgonzola, and goat cheese. It was simple and good and everyone liked it.

Feeding the Family

I am trying some new meal ideas this week. We have been trying to eat mostly vegetarian and to be honest, I've been pretty uninspired. We've had some good meals but it's hard to decide what to make that feels like a full meal. I got a new cookbook at the library. It's a vegetarian cookbook and all the recipes are 5 ingredients or less. I have chosen some recipes to try this week and I plan to blog about them all--aren't you excited?? So, tonight we are having Cabbage and white beans (thank you to AnnMarie for this meal idea) and Barley and Corn Salad (from the cookbook).
Here are the recipes--

Cabbage and white beans--
Melt a few tablespoons of butter or heat a few tablespoons of olive oil. Slice up a head of cabbage into thin slices and add to the pan. Let that saute for a little while until the cabbage is pretty soft. Add some salt to taste and 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar. Then when the cabbage is fairly soft, add 2 cans of drained, white beans. Let it all simmer together until it's hot.

Barley and Corn Salad

1 cup pearl barley
10 oz. pkg. frozen corn or 2 cups fresh corn kernels, cooked
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 c. fresh parsley or 1/4 c. fresh dill (I don't have either but plan on using dried dill)
1/2 - 2/3 cup of vinaigrette

Cook the barley and let it cool to room temp. Add the rest of the ingredients and serve.

I'll report back on how the fam likes it. It won't be anybody's favorite but hopefully it will pass.

Indian Paneer (Cheese)

There are a couple of Indian recipes that call for cottage cheese. This isn't your traditional cottage cheese--it's Paneer and you pretty much have to make it yourself. It's seldom sold in stores, even Indian stores. It's actually easy to make although a little tricky. I tried a new recipe today and it's a keeper. I had great success and thought I'd share with all of you in bloggy world in case you want to get adventurous in the kitchen.
All you need is--

• a half gallon of whole milk
• 3 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• cheesecloth and a colander

First thing you do is boil the milk. While the milk is heating up mix the lemon juice into the yogurt and have it handy ready to go into the milk. Also go ahead and line a colander in the sink with 2 to 3 layers of cheesecloth as below. Keep a close eye on the milk, stirring occasionally to keep it from burning on the bottom of your pan. When it starts to boil it will QUICKLY boil right out of your pot if you don't act fast. As soon as it starts to boil and starts rising up in the pot, pour in the yogurt/lemon juice and turn the heat off. If it "works," curds will immediately separate from the whey. If you don't see a noticeable separation, bring the milk to a boil again and add two tsp. of lemon juice. Once the separation occurs then drain it into your cheesecloth.
Pull the ends of the cheesecloth together and tie with yarn and then hang it from your faucet so that all the whey can drain out. I usually let it hang for an hour or so.
After it has hung for an hour or so, set it on a plate and flatten it with your hand and then put something really heavy on it (while still in the cheesecloth)--I used a big pot filled with water. Let that sit for a while--a couple of hours or even overnight to really press the cheese. Take the cheesecloth off and you should have a nice firm round of cheese like the picture below.

Next, cut it into cubes and fry it turning until all sides are golden brown.

Now you can add the cheese to any recipe. Below is a picture of Saag Paneer before I added the cheese cubes. This cheese is also really good in the sauce that I use to make butter chicken. I'll include both recipes below.
Saag Paneer--
3 tsp. butter
3 tsp. olive oil
1 recipe of paneer, cubed and fried
1 med. onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2" piece of ginger, chopped (I use the squeeze ginger that you can buy in the produce section)
1 4oz. can green chiles
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. cumin
2 10 oz. pkg. frozen spinach, drained
1 1/2 c. plain yogurt

Heat the oil and add the onion, ginger, garlic, and chiles. Saute about 5 minutes then add curry and cumin and mix in really well. Then add the spinach and mix it until well blended. Transfer it to a blender or food processor and add the yogurt and about 1/4 cup of water and blend until it's all pureed. You can add a little more water if it's too thick. Return it to the pan and stir in the paneer and heat through.

Butter Chicken (or Butter Paneer)
*I usually double or quadruple this b/c my whole family loves it. You can add chicken, fried paneer, or just use it to dip Naan (Indian flatbread) in.

1/2 stick butter
2 tsp. garam masala
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp coriander
1 tbsp. ginger (I use the squeeze tube)
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp. ground cardamom
15 oz. can tomato puree
1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Melt the butter and add all of the spices and stir fry for about a minute. Add the tomato and sugar and simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the yogurt, cream, and lemon juice and simmer for 5 minutes. At this point you can add fried paneer or chopped, cooked chicken or nothing. Serve over Jasmine or Basmati rice.

Family Friendly Indian Recipes

Ollie brought home an Indian cookbook from his school's library--it's written for children and had some great recipes. Here are a few that we tried last night and we all liked them and they were all easy to make--

Lima Beans with Raisins

1 Tbsp. fresh cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 140z. can of lima beans
2 Tbsp. raisins
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Finely chop the cilantro and drain the liquid from the canned beans. Heat the oil and add the lima beans and cook for 1 min. Turn the heat down to low and add the rest of the ingredients except cilantro. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add 2 Tbsp. water and simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the chopped cilantro over it and serve.

Shrimp Patia

1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic
1 small piece of fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. honey
2 tsp. vinegar
1 1/2 lbs. of shrimp
1 Tbsp. fresh cilantro

Chop the onion, press the garlic, and chop the ginger and add to the oil in a saucepan over medi. heat. Add the cumin, turmeric, coriander, and paprika and saute for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and add the yogurt, honey, and vinegar. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer another 5 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through. Chop the cilantro and sprinkle it over the top. Serve with rice.

Spicy (not hot-spicy) Chickpeas

1 clove garlic
1 onion
1 can chickpeas
1 Tbsp. oil
1/4 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Press the garlic and chop the onion, chop the tomatoes, and drain the chickpeas. Heat the oil and add the garlic, onion, coriander, garam masala, and turmeric and fry for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, and lemon juice and cook for 10 minutes.

School and Soup

Well, Day 2 of our "second semester" is behind us and we are getting into the groove. Joe has done exceptionally well the last two days and even declared today that he's starting to like school. Not sure what changed because we are mostly doing the same stuff and I even added a couple of things but I'm just thankful for two good days in a row. One thing he asked me to do more of is art. He's decided that he wants to be an artist when he grows up. I decided to add art but while teaching him as well so we are doing an Evan Moor Literature Pocket book called "Caldecott Winners." Books receive the Caldecott award based on the illustrations and this study features about 10 Caldecott books. We read them and do activities based on each one to complete a pocket for each book. I spent about two hours today prepping all of the pockets. I have found that if I'm going to be successful with this kind of study I need to have it prepped ahead of time. I have been enjoying getting back into the school routine and the calmer days after such a busy December. It was actually kind of therapeutic to accomplish something.
After Grace had a little freak out moment over math I decided to try something new for her and for Joe. They have both struggled this year with Horizons math, I guess it is just too much for them. So, we are going to try Mammoth Math. You buy the PDF so it's super cheap and you just print it yourself. I got Grace the Multiplication 1 and Joe the Addition/Subtraction one. Hopefully we will have success and if nothing else at least an end to the freak out sessions.

And now...soup...
I made two really good soup recipes tonight and thought I'd share them--
The first was super easy chicken and dumplins (my sister's recipe) in the crock pot. You just put some boneless chicken in the crock pot (I used about half a bag of boneless, skinless tenderloins) and add chicken broth until the crock pot is almost full but with some room for the dumplin's. I started that cooking this morning and about midday I added carrots and peas and a can of cream of chicken soup (you could put that all in first thing in the morning). About 30 minutes before dinner time, add frozen dumplins (you'll find them in the freezer section) and cook another 30 minutes. This was so good and so easy! Thank you Cheryl for the recipe.

The other soup was Lemon Orzo Soup and it was really good too. Here's that recipe--

8 cups of chicken broth
3/4 cup orzo
juice of 1 large lemon (about 1/3 cup)
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
grated parmesan

Bring the chicken broth to a boil and add the orzo. Turn the heat to low/med. low and cover for 10 minutes. Whisk together the lemon juice and the eggs until frothy. Add a ladle of hot soup and continue whisking then slowly add the egg mixture into the pot of soup while whisking. Keep the soup hot but not boiling for another 5 minutes or so. Pour into bowls and top with parmesan.

Anytime Bars

1 cup raw pecan halves
1 cup whole raw almonds
2 Tbsp. spelt flour (I think all-purpose would be fine)
2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
2 Tbsp. flaxseed, finely ground
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup oatmeal
1 cup pitted dates, quartered
1 cup dried apricots (I used Goji berries)
1 egg
5 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast for 7 to 10 minutes, until aromatic and slightly browned.  Repeat this process for almonds.  Turn oven down to 325 degrees.  Combine spelt flour, all purpose flour, flaxseed, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a food processor and process for 5 seconds to combine.  Add pecans and almonds; pulse 5 times to coarsely chop.  Add oats, dates, and apricots.  Pulse 10 to 15 times, till mixture is well chopped but coarse.  In a large bowl, whisk together egg, maple syrup and vanilla till combined.  Add fruit and nut mixture and use your hands to mix well, being sure to separate any clumps of fruit.  Spread mixture in square baking pan in an even layer and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, till set and golden brown.  Don't overbake or bars will be too dry.  Let cool on wire rack for 5 minutes, then cut into 25 squares.  Leave bars in pan till completely cool so they'll hold together when you remove them. 

An Unexpected Day at Home

Well, Hannah does have the stomach bug and it's been a rough day.  She is quite the drama queen and especially when she's sick.  It's hard to even know how sick she is because of all the drama.  If Grace were to act like Hannah has acted today I'd have her at the hospital.  In between comforting and consoling and plugging my ears and pretending not to hear the whining and moaning and rag holding I managed to almost completely clean my house.  Thankfully I have a small house.  I got both bathrooms scrubbed, the kitchen scrubbed, my room cleaned, the living room de-cluttered.  It really felt good to get it all done.  We really, really need to be home more so that I don't get so behind on all the cleaning.  Not sure what to cut out though...a topic for another day.  Here's what I made for dinner--

This is a veggie sub and it was so good!  Here's what's on it--mayo, oil, and vinegar, tomatoes, spinach leaves, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, black olives, and pepperoncinis.  I made G and J just a regular turkey sub but Ollie and I had the veggie.  It was so good.  I might have to make it again tomorrow.
Please pray for me Hannah, she really is miserable and this momma is emotionally and physically wiped.  It could be a long night...

Focaccia Florentine Recipe

1 pound (you can use less) of turkey bacon 

olive oil

fontina cheese, grated

3-4 packages of frozen spinach, thawed and drained

pizza dough

Make your pizza dough or buy some at Publix and press it into a pizza pan.  Cut the bacon into pieces and fry it.  If you are using turkey bacon, use olive oil so that you get some bacon flavored oil to cook the spinach in.  Once the bacon is crispy, add the spinach and saute until everything is hot.  Top your pizza crust with the spinach mixture and then top that with cheese.  Bake at 375 for about 25-30 minutes.

A Long Day and Other Random Thoughts

This picture sums up my day. I had a big ol' long to do list and was feeling overwhelmed--throw in a couple of catty girls, one hyper overstimulated boy, and one Monday and well, the picture above says it all. I recovered tonight by babysitting a sweet newborn and just holding and rocking and watching two episodes of Grey's Anatomy. I feel refreshed and ready for another day....Now for some random...
These are the two books I got the experiments from. We did the 101 one first and did about 75 of the experiments. The other book had a lot of repeats from the first book but had some pretty neat new ones as well. It's hard to say whether I'd recommend them or not--a lot of the experiments didn't actually work which I think is common with elementary science projects. If I were to recommend a book I think I'd recommend the Usborne Science Experiments book. We used that with My Father's World and the experiments were better and used more common household supplies.
I love this picture of Joe--not sure why but I just do.
I spent a good part of Saturday making a crinoline to go under this poodle skirt. "Grease" is coming up in just a couple of weeks and Hannah has about 4 costume changes. I think we've got it all together now. The crinoline was miserable work and it is crappola but it should survive four shows.
This was our breakfast the other day and let me say that it was delicious! For real. This is a homemade Lara bar topped with bananas and cashew cream and flax seeds and chia seeds. The kids and I all had this and we all loved it. To make the cashew cream you just soak about a cup of raw cashews in water for about 20 to 30 minutes. Then you blend them with some of the soaking water, a little bit of lemon juice, honey, and vanilla. It makes a creamy topping for the breakfast "sundae."
I also made another raw bar that is just as good as the Lara bar. It's a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip bar. Here's how to make it--
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 1/2 cups oats
1/2 c. raisins or other dried fruit (I left this out)
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. maple syrup
1/2 c. nut butter
optional--2 to 4 scoops of protein powder
2 Tbsp. flax seeds
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix it all together and press into a cookie sheet and chill or freeze until hard. Cut into bars and keep in the fridge.
We are trying to eat more raw foods. I will not go completely raw but I am trying to eat at least one raw meal a day. The other night for dinner I made a big pot of pinto beans and refried them for the rest of the family and then left some whole and made a salad with spring mix, beans, and then the toppings below. The rest of the family had the toppings with their refried beans. It was a good and filling meal. I am not much of a salad eater but I really liked this.

I got myself two new tie dye t-shirts--I love them! Here's one of them. I also bought Grace one too that matches the one in the picture. She and I have similar taste in clothes--we both like lots of color and we both will trade fashion for comfort. Below is her new "Life is Good," t-shirt. I found it at Goodwill the other day and I just had to get it for her. Now if I could just find one that is my size at Goodwill. I have been wanting a "Life is Good, " t-shirt for years but just can't bring myself to spend $25 on a t-shirt.

Grace and I spent well over an hour today cranking out her quilt. She has one problem after another and so I have to sit with her even though she does all the work. She really wants to enter it in the fair before we send it off so I am insisting that she do all of the work herself. It is taking forever and I can't wait for her to bed done. Hannah only has about 20 to 30 more minutes of work on hers and it will be done. Woohoo!!
Here's to a better day tomorrow--I have already decided that I will be more relaxed if it kills me. :0)

Winnie the Pooh Stew

I recently combined a couple of soup recipes and came up with a REALLY good soup. I've served to a number of people and everyone raves about it and wants the recipe and I say, sure, I'll get it to you. Problem is...I made it up and so I don't really have an exact recipe. I am going to attempt to come up with one though so here goes. Just remember that this soup is very forgiving so exact amounts are unnecessary.

2 small or 1 large onion, chopped

1 head of broccoli, chopped (I discard the stems, actually I feed them to my bunnies)

4 to 6 carrots, peeled and chopped

4 med potatoes (not the baking kind but the ones in the bag)

butter

spinach

rice (optional)

cooking sherry

chicken broth (I prefer "Better Than Bouillon")

Melt the butter and add the onions and saute until soft. Then add the carrots and potatoes and toss in the butter and saute for a few more minutes. Add the broccoli and fill with enough water to cover the vegetables. Keep track of how many cups you use and add one bouillon cube per cup or you can just use chicken broth instead of water. Add about 3 Tbsp. of cooking sherry. Bring to a boil and then turn it down to simmer for about 20 minutes until veggies are pretty soft. Use a blender or hand blender to puree the soup. Then add a few handfuls of spinach and if you have some leftover rice that is good as well.

That's it!

Dahl recipe

Go here for the Dahl recipe (aka Spicy Lentils).

Melissa's Borscht Recipe

6 Tbsp. butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and grated (I chopped)
I large green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/4 in. dice
3 1/2 cups shredded green cabbage
1 med. size beet, peeled and grated
1 small rib celery, chopped
1/2 tart apple, cut into 1 in. pieces
2 med-size boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 quarts vegetable or chicken stock
Bouquet garni (1 bay leaf and 8 peppercorns tied in a cheesecloth bag)--I didn't do this but did thrown in a bay leaf
1 tsp. paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
dill for garnish
sour cream for garnish

Melt the butter in a large soup pot. Add the onion, carrot, and bell pepper and saute until the onion and bell pepper are softened (about 5 minutes). Stir in the cabbage, beet, and celery and continue to saute, stirring occasionally for about 10-15 minutes. Stir in the apples, potatoes, tomato paste and garlic, then add the stock and bouquet garni and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered for 20 minutes. Add the paprika, salt, and pepper, sugar, and lemon juice to taste. Let stand 2 to 3 hours or overnight. Serve topped with dill and sour cream.

Chicken Curry Recipe

This is a favorite in our house with Ollie and I as well as the kids. I always double or triple it so that we will have leftovers.

Chicken Curry

Saute until soft--
3 Tbsp. butter
1 apple, chopped
1 med. onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped

Then add--
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tbsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Puree all of that in a blender and then add 1 tbsp. flour and process a bit more.
Return to heat to thicken. Add about 1/2 cup of milk give or take until it is the right consistency for you. Add cooked, cubed chicken and serve with rice.

Four Week Meal Plan--Week 4

• Monday--Philly Cheese Steaks
• Tuesday--Spicy Lentils
• Wednesday--Shepherd's Pie
• Thursday--Pasta with alfredo, spinach, and salmon
• Friday--Hoppin' John
• Saturday--free
• Sunday--Pancakes and eggs

Recipes--

Philly Cheese Steaks--
1 1/2 to 2 lbs. of sliced roast beef from the deli
sliced provolone cheese
hoagie rolls
onions
bell peppers
oil and vinegar

Slice the roast beef into strips and saute in olive oil and vinegar until it's browned and a little crispy. Lay the slices of provolone on top of the hot meat to melt. Saute onions and peppers in a separate pan. Toast your rolls and make your sub!

Shepherd's Pie--
There are a lot of different recipes for this out there but this is what I usually do--

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
mashed potatoes (homemade, instant, whatever)
frozen green beans
canned gravy
cheese

Brown the ground beef and mix with canned gravy and green beans. Top with cheese and then mashed potatoes. Bake for about 30 minutes or so at 350 degrees.

Pasta with alfredo--see Week 2

Hoppin' John

one bag of black eyed peas
a ham hock
rice
sweet pickles, chopped
dill pickles, chopped
chopped onions

Soak the black eyed peas overnight and then cook on the stove or in a crockpot with water, salt, and a ham hock. Serve over rice and put the pickles and onions on the table as toppings.

Four Week Meal Plan--Week 3

• Monday--grilled cheese, salad, and fruit
• Tuesday--Spicy Lentils
• Wednesday--Chicken Cobbler Casserole
• Thursday--Spaghetti
• Friday--Pintos in the crock pot (see Week 1)
• Saturday--free
• Sunday--Bacon, eggs, grits, and toast

Recipes--

Spicy lentils--see Week 1

Chicken Cobbler Casserole--

4 tbsp. butter, melted
4 cups sourdough, cubed
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 med. sweet onions, sliced
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1 cup white wine
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup roasted red pepper, chopped (you can get these in a jar)
2 1/2 cups chicken, shredded

Toss together the butter, bread, and parmesan. Saute onions in butter for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Add mushrooms and saute for 5 more minutes. Stir in wine, soup, chicken and roasted red pepper. Cook about 5 minutes or until bubbly. Put in a baking dish and top with bread cubes. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Four Week Meal Plan--Week 2

Here's the plan for Week 2--

• Monday--Subs
• Tuesday--Spicy Lentils
• Wednesday--Frito Pie
• Thursday--Pasta with Alfredo sauce, spinach, and salmon
• Friday--Cuban Congri
• Saturday--free
• Sunday--Vegetable Frittata

Recipes--

Subs--
Take a loaf of french bread and put mayo and mustard on one side, olive oil and vinegar on the other side. Then stack meat, cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce and you've got a sub!

Spicy Lentils--see Week 1 for recipe

Frito Pie--
1 lb. ground beef
1 can pinto beans
1 can enchilada sauce
8 oz. tomato sauce
1 bag of Frito's
shredded cheese
sour cream

Brown the ground beef and mix in pintos and enchilada sauce and tomato sauce. Layer fritos, meat mixture and cheese twice. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with more fritos and sour cream.

Pasta with alfredo, spinach, and salmon--
Super easy! Just pick a pasta and cook it. Cook salmon or use canned. Saute spinach in olive oil. Then toss it all together with a can of alfredo sauce. This is one of my kid's favorite meals!

Cuban Congri--
2 cans black beans
2 cups Minute Rice
1/2 cup water
2 yellow onions
1 med. bell pepper
3 tsp. garlic powder or fresh garlic
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt to taste

Chop onions and bell pepper and saute in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, and oregano and saute for 2 to 3 more minutes. Pour the water in a med. size pot and bring to a boil, add the rice, beans, and sauteed onions and peppers and salt to taste. Cover and cook on low heat for 5 minutes or until the water is absorbed.

Frittata--this recipe is from Amy
I would recommend doubling this because this doesn't make much.

6 ounces uncooked spaghetti
1/2 C chopped onion
1/2 C red bell pepper
2 medium zucchini-sliced (1 1/2 C)
2 TBSP fresh basil leaves snipped and divided (or maybe 1/2 tsp dried basil)
1/2 tsp salt plus 1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 oz. grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove
3 plum tomatoes-seeded and chopped

Break spaghetti into 2-3 inch lengths and cook according to package directions.

Chop onion and bell pepper, slice zucchini, cut up basil.

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, 1 tsp fresh basil (or all the dried basil), 1/2 tsp salt, and black pepper, add 4 TBSP of the grated parm cheese.

In a 10" frying pan, heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, zucchini, and garlic. Cook and stir 2-3minutes or until veggies are tender. Stir in cooked spaghetti. Reduce heat to low. Pour egg mixture over pasta mixture in pan. Cover, cook 14-15 minutes or until egg mixture is set in center and then remove from oven. Cut into pie shaped wedges and serve topped with tomato mixture below.

Tomato mixture: combine tomatoes, remaining 1 TBSP fresh basil (or dried basil to taste), and 1/8 tsp salt, plus remaining 2 TBSP parm. cheese.

Variations: change the veggies, change the cheese, add meat, delete the veggies entirely, LOL. I made this the other night and added colby jack cheese and smoked pork. I had no veggies, so I used spices with bell pepper and onion instead. I'd actually prefer the real thing, but it worked with the spices too.

Four Week Meal Plan--Week 1

Here's the plan for Week 1--

• Monday--Italian meatball subs and salad
• Tuesday--Spicy Lentils and rice--the spicy lentils are not hot spicy, just full of spices spicy.
• Wednesday--Chicken Ro-tel
• Thursday--Spaghetti, salad, and french bread
• Friday--Pinto beans in the crock pot with tortilla chips and toppings--cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, lettuce, guacamole, and salsa
• Saturday--??
• Sunday--Breakfast burritos

Recipes--

Italian Meatball Subs
Mix together--
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup bread crumbs (or oatmeal)
2 Tbsp. parmesan cheese (optional)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 lb. ground beef

Gush it all together and shape it into 1 inch balls. Broil until brown and put in the crock pot. Then mix together--
15 oz. tomato sauce
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup red wine or beef broth
1/3 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. sugar

Pour the sauce over the meatballs and cook on low all day or on high for 6 hours or so. To serve, put some meatballs and sauce in a hoagie roll or french bread and top with provolone cheese.

Spicy Lentils---go here.

Chicken Ro-tel

1 whole chicken or bag of boneless chicken, cooked and shredded
16 oz. spaghetti, cooked
1/2 cup butter
1 bell pepper
1 onion
1 can mushrooms
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes
8 oz. velveeta cheese
1 can Lesuer english peas

Saute onion and pepper in the butter. Cut the cheese into cubes. Mix the cheese into the hot pasta to melt. Add all the ingredients to the cheesy pasta and put into a 13 x 9 pan. Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.
Note--this can be frozen before baking, my plan is to double this recipe and freeze the second one.

Pinto Beans--see here for the recipe, when I am pressed for time--a bag of tortilla chips will work in place of frying corn tortillas.

Breakfast Burritos--
Eggs (1 per burrito)
large flour tortillas
hash browns
cheese
bacon
canned green chile (the little cans)

Scramble the eggs, fry the hash browns, cook the bacon, and warm the tortillas so that they are soft. To assemble the burritos--in each tortilla put a spoonful of eggs, some hash browns, cheese, green chile (I leave this out of the kid's burritos) and then roll it up. These can be made ahead of time and then heated in the oven. They can also be frozen.
You can serve them with salsa poured over the top as well.

A Couple of Indian Recipes

Here are a couple of recipes that I have talked about.  

Spicy Lentils (dal)

1 cup whole brown lentils

4 cups water

salt, to taste

1/2 tsp. ground turmeric

2 medium onions

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional--I leave it out b/c it makes it too spicy for my kids)

1 large tomato or a can of diced tomatoes

Wash the lentils, plance them and the water in a large pot.  Let them soak for an hour.  Add salt and turmeric, cook covered over low heat until tender 30 minutes to an hour.

Meanwhile, chop the onions and garlic finely.  In a small skillet over medium heat, warm the oil.  Add the cumin and once the spices darken add chopped onions and garlic and cook until browned.  Add the coriander, cayenne, tomato; cook until the tomato is soft (about 5 minutes).  When the lentils are cooked, add the tomato-onion  mixture, stir, and cook for another 5 minutes.

Green Curry Fish

1 tsp. green curry paste (more or less depending on how spicy you want it)--this can be found in the ethnic section at the grocery store, it's a tiny little jar

about 2 Tbsp. oil (the recipe calls for sesame but I use coconut or vegetable)

2 red onions, finely chopped

2 pounds of any kind of white fish, cut into small cubes-- We've made it with whiting and with Hoki (sold in Wal-mart in the frozen section)

1 2/3 c. coconut milk

3 Tbsp. fish sauce

2 oz. cilantro, fresh mint, and fresh basil

Heat the oil and stir in the curry paste, add the onions and saute until soft.  Add coconut milk and fish sauce and fish and simmer until the fish is done, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the fresh herbs and serve.