Taco Salad

Taco salad night yet again! This was delicious as usual and very easy. I had planned on making chicken enchiladas but decided against it because I forgot one of the key ingredients.

Last night, oddly, we had the same thing as Tali did. The girls really liked it. I just used leftover pasta from the night before and some garden tomatoes, butter and parmesan cheese.

Mexican Lasagna

I'm not sure why I call this Mexican Lasagna as I'm sure Mexicans actually make real lasagna but I couldn't think of a better name for it so there ya have it.

Mexican Lasagna














Ingredients:
Corn Tortillas
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
1 can corn drained
1 can diced tomatoes (not drained)
1 small can diced green chilis
2 pouches boca crumbles
taco mix
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 cup shredded cheese
Enchilada sauce
10x10 baking pan (I get about 9 slices of lasagna from the 13x9 pan)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Mix corn and black beans in a pot and warm.

Cook the boca crumbles with taco seasoning, can of tomatoes, onion and garlic.

Slice about 5 corn tortillas in half and have 3 whole ones.

Use the halved tortillas and lay along the bottom ouside of the pan, fill in the gap in the middle with a whole corn tortilla.

Place a layer of bean/corn mixture on top of the tortillas. (I only end up using about half of the corn/bean mixture.)

Put another layer of corn tortillas on top of the bean/corn mixture.

Top that layer of tortillas with "meat".

Place a final layer of corn tortillas on top of the "meat" mixture.

Place green chilis on top of tortillas and then top with cheese. Place in the oven until warmed through and cheese is melted (about 20 minutes).

With about 5 minutes left on the oven warm up the enchilada sauce.

Slice Mexican lasagna and put on plate. Top with 1-2 tablespoons of enchilada sauce. Add sour cream, avocado or salsa (or all 3!) on top of the enchilada sauce.

Enjoy! :)

Leftovers

We were going to go out to dinner for my birthday but that didn't happen for various reasons. Top that off with the fact we didn't get home until around 8pm so we did leftovers. Leftover "Tomato Pasta" that I posted about a few days ago. Not as pretty as fresh made but yummy nonetheless.

Tomato Pasta

Pasta

We had soccer practice tonight from 5:30 - 6:30 so dinner had to be something quick and easy. It was all pre-made organic stuff that I just heated up. No cooking involved tonight.

I got my new digital camera and I'm working on learning how to use it. Hopefully the pictures will look ok until I figure out how to fine-tune them. :)

You're welcome to read about my camera and why I love On-Star by reading my real blog: Misadventures Of A Modern Day Alchemist.

Cheese raviloi with bruschetta garlic bread and pesto on the side.

Peppers & Sausages (meat eater style!)

Not too long ago Tali posted a dinner with peppers and sausages vegetarian style. Well, this is with REAL sausage and let me tell you it was YUMMY! I used Nathan's Kielbasas and red, yellow, and orange peppers sauteed with half of a vidalia onion. The only thing I didn't do was use tomato sauce. I used two small cans of diced tomatoes. There was some sauce but I didn't put it on until I was eating it and realized it needed some. I put two cloves of garlic in with the tomatoes. Perfect!

Man, was this tasty! I definitely recommend this meal and I even got my picky ass husband to take a few bites of the peppers. They were a bit pricey (almost $5 for three freakin' peppers!) but very good and you feel like your getting some health food with your kielbasa. I washed this all down with some yummy locally made white wine. (Don't worry, it was cheap but not out of a box!)

Lazy Girl's Chicken Parm

Ingredient:

1 jar of spaghetti sauce
pre-breaded chicken tenders
spaghetti
mozzarella
Parmesan cheese

Easy! I'm tired and really need to get to the grocery store. Also, I really hate Tuesdays because my husband works late and it's a long day.

Mock Tuna Salad

The camera issue persists, and now when I turn it on it makes a rattling noise. But, I have wonderful news -- tomorrow, for part of my birthday present to myself, I will get a new camera! YAY!

Tonight's dinner is mock tuna salad stuffed into tomatoes. Contrary to popular (and yet, incorrect) opinion, vegetarians don't eat fish. Fish have faces. Real vegetarians don't eat them. Don't give me some crap about "almost" vegetarians or "mostly" vegetarians. You eat things that have faces and you're not a vegetarian. Deal with it. :)


Picture taken with the bad digital camera.











Picture taken with the webcam attached to my laptop monitor.








I've decided that neither do the dinner justice and I'd like to point out the gymnastic-type feat I had to overcome in order to take a picture with the webcam. I should get serious kudos for that, after all it shows my true dedication to this blog. ;)

Mock Tuna Salad
1 can chick peas (aka garbanzo beans if you're from the southwest) RINSED and DRAINED!
Mayo (We use vegan mayo in this house)
1.5 tsp soy sauce
1 pickle diced
1 stalk celery diced
You can add onion if you want but onion in tuna salad is evil. So we skip that.

Toss the chick peas in a food processor and blend for a few seconds until coarsely chopped. If you do it too long you end up with more of a paste. If you are afraid of over-doing it with the food processor, use a fork to mash up the beans. Toss in mayo, soy sauce, pickle and celery. Mix with a spoon. Stuff in a tomato or whatever.

All you non-vegetarians. Try this. I swear it tastes like real tuna salad.

Monday's Dinner - Tomato Pasta

I don't feel like trying to take a picture of this with the blurry camera, so I'll post a picture of it when we make it in the future. What I made was what we call "Tomato Pasta" or since my middle son couldn't pronounce "tomato" as a toddler and called it "May-toe-too" we sometimes call it "May-toe-too" pasta.


You need:
Pasta of your choice
Fresh olive oil
Tomato
Kosher Salt
Parmesan Cheese


Dice up tomato and put it in a bowl. Lightly cover with olive oil and a few pinches of salt. (DO NOT STIR!) let it sit on the counter while you cook the pasta. Once the pasta is cooked/drained toss with the tomato/olive oil mixture and top with a small amount of Parmesan cheese.

Pesto Pizza

Camera still hosed, I intend to have new camera by the end of next week so until then I apologize that my photos aren't up to par.


Individual sized pizzas with pesto "sauce" and bruschetta topping.










Instead of pizza sauce we used pesto. Topped with some mozzarella cheese and bruschetta topping (which is tomatoes, basil, garlic and onions in olive oil).

Copy Cat Calzones

We made calzones tonight and Emma helped. She loves cooking lately more than Dora! These had garlic, pizza sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni and fresh basil. They were deeelicious!

It's not beef - stroganoff

There's something wrong with my camera. It won't focus. I don't know what the problem is. I don't recall dropping it or anything. I'm going to post tonights picture but it just looks like crap. If I can't get it fixed in the next 24 hours I will try to see if I can get a still shot of dinner with my webcam but if that doesn't work I can't afford a new camera until I get paid next week. I'll still post what we ate and any recipes that might go along with it but I won't be able to post any pictures until I get the new camera.

So here's a REALLY bad picture of dinner tonight.


Vegetarian Beef Stroganoff













Ingredients:
1 package of Morningstar Farms Steak Strips OR 2 pouches of Boca Crumbles
2 cans of Cream of mushroom soup
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
milk
Fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup Fresh chopped spinach
1 box of pasta of your choice

Boil pasta per directions on box

In a pan with some olive oil saute the onions and garlic. Add in the cream of mushroom soup and enough milk to make it thin (I think about a cup to a cup and a half??). Toss in the "meat", fresh mushrooms and chopped fresh spinach. Heat until warm

Top cooked pasta with the mushroom/meat mixture and top with more fresh spinach

Salad & Piggies

The husband is working late again and I procrastinated all afternoon so we had a simple dinner (think this is a habit?) of pigs in a blanket and a salad.

I was so excited to score a $1 coupon off Hebrew National hot dogs recently. They really are good. I love that you don't have to worry about icky parts of the cow in there. I cut them in half and wrap them in crescent rolls and serve with spicy mustard. Yum! For the girls, I cut them up into choke-proof bites.

For my salad I tossed together baby spinach leaves, some green leaf lettuce, red onion, cherry tomatoes (from the in-laws' garden) and avocado with a vinaigrette dressing. What? Avocado? I know, I know, it's not my usual thing but I thought I'd try it since it's supposedly so wonderful. The girls did not like it, not one little bit.

Italian Sausage and Peppers (Vegetarian Style!)

While cooking. Aren't the colors awesome?









Italian Sausage and Peppers over Pasta - Vegetarian Style!






Italian Sausage and Peppers - Veggie Style!

Ingredients:
Boca Italian Style Sausage
1 small can Tomato Sauce
1 15oz can Diced Tomatoes (plain or seasoned it's up to you)
1 medium onion (Vidalia works GREAT for this)
2-3 cloves garlic
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Orange Bell Pepper
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
1 box Penne Pasta
2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Directions:
Boil Pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking:
Place frozen "Sausages" into a pot with Tomato Sauce cook on medium-high heat while you deal with the veggies -- stir occasionally during this time.

Slice up the onion and peppers into strips. Dice up the garlic cloves. Put into a pan coated with olive oil.

Pull sasuages out of Tomato Sauce and slice into circles (Like you would a kid's hotdog) toss into pan with peppers/onion. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over them and cook on Medium-high heat until veggies are tender.

Right before the veggies are tender toss in the can (don't drain!) of diced tomatoes and warm through.

Serve over pasta

Early Dinner

My husband is working late so I decided to feed the girls early since I was hungry. We had macaroni and cheese that I make from scratch but on the stove top, melon and home grown tomatoes. I'm going to be so sad when all the garden veggies end. Tomatoes are so nasty when they aren't in season.

You will also see on Emma's plate some ham because she loves it. ;) Look at that face and you can see how mad my firstborn daughter gets when I turn OFF Dora the Explorer!

On the Grill

Tonight we had pork chops grilled with rosemary, salt and pepper. They were so flavorful and delicious! I also made smashed potatoes (red potatoes cut up in cubes and smashed with milk, butter, kosher salt and pepper) and for something green, steamed broccoli.

The kids loved this meal and were actually quiet during dinner. Thanks, Dana, for the suggestion of using rosemary on pork. It was a great tip!

Split Pea Soup

It's been raining here for almost 3 days and even though it's no where near soup weather (it's still 78 degrees outside) the gloom made me crave soup. I had everything in the house necessary to make split pea soup (with extra carrots) and that's what we had! I apologize in advance because split pea soup isn't the prettiest stuff on Earth to photograph. It also looks like I put 7 pounds of cheese on top and I didn't. It's a very small sprinkle of cheese across the top.


Split Pea Soup with Corn Bread Muffins.











Split Pea Soup
Vegetarian split pea soup is pretty much the same as non-vegetarian you just leave out the pork.

1 package Split peas
4 cups Vegetarian "chicken" broth
2 cups water
4 - 5 Carrots diced
1 Onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
Pepper (to taste)

Throw it all in the pot and cook for several hours.

Corn Bread Muffins
1 stick butter (melted works better)
1 cup corn meal
1 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Mix it all together. Put into muffin pan. Bake at 400 F (205 C) until done (around 15-20 minutes).

Spaghetti

Well I apologize for not posting on Friday but we went out for Chinese and I just couldn't take a picture of my food without people staring. It was good but probably not worth the calories and fat we consumed.

Tonight I made spaghetti and salad. We also had a piece of garlic bread (not pictured). A friend of mine came over and our three year old daughters helped make a cake and cupcakes this morning so we had that for dessert. I should have snapped a pic because it was so pretty but I didn't.

The meatballs are not from scratch. I'm lazy. They were frozen from Krogers but very good.

Kids loved this meal.

Quiche

I was going to make something totally different for dinner tonight and I had the dough in the pie pan and went into the freezer to get some boca crumbles and there weren't any! DoH! So this is honestly a 5 minute "oh crap what do I have in the house that I can put in a dough base?!"

What did I come up with? Quiche!













Quiche with fresh chopped spinach and feta cheese. With mozzarella-basil garlic bread and a field greens salad.



The baby loved it too. I have no idea how he manages to get a piece of food in the middle of his chin every time he eats.














For the quiche I used only 2 egg yolks and the rest were egg whites because I don't really want my children to stroke out. I chopped up fresh spinach and tossed in some feta cheese. I also made a mozzarella garlic bread from some old hoagie rolls I had around the house. I sprinkled some minced garlic on the bread roll, sliced up some fresh mozzarella, and put that on the bread. Topped it with some fresh basil and tossed it in the toaster oven until the cheese was melted.

Calzones

Tonight I made calzones using a recipe for dough that my mom has had for ages. I had some trouble rolling out the dough, I think that is because many years ago I fixed the recipe for high altitude and haven't changed it back. So they came out a bit thicker than I'd like but they were still super good. Even the baby loved his.

They were stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella, spinach, tomatoes, LOTS of garlic, fresh basil and feta. I served them with marinara sauce to dip in.

Each kid only ate half a calzone and the neighbor girl ate dinner here too and loved it as well.

Before Cooking.













After Cooking










To answer to comment questions from yesterday and a few days ago...

1. My kids love green chili. They grew up in the southwest so it's nothing uncommon for them to eat them.

2. Avocados are both a super-food and we love them, so that's why we eat them quite often. They are full of fiber, vitamins and monounsaturated fats to promote brain growth and lower bad cholesterol.

Subs

Tonight we made Italian subs with ham, salami, provolone, turkey, lettuce, tomatoes and onions and some dressing. I broiled them in the oven a little. We had some Sun Chips and grapes (not pictured, I'm sure you know what grapes look like).

Emma didn't eat much of the sandwich but did eat some chips and grapes. However, she had a late afternoon snack so I'm thinking she just wasn't that hungry. Cate choked on a chip and scared the bejeezus out of us both but then ate the sandwich and grapes happily.

Just for our #1 Fan Dana, I put my sub on a white cutting board so it's not confused with Dora's beautiful features. ;)

Taco Salad

Taco Salad with Corn
















Taco salad had: beans, taco "meat", tomatoes, avocado, cheese, lettuce and shredded carrots.

Pizza (yep, again)

Emma helped me make pizzas again tonight but this time we made one for her picky daddy. It was deeeeeeelicious!

It was easy and cheap, too. Today I discovered pizza crust pouches at Walmart for 37 cents a piece! Then I just used pizza sauce and whatever veggies and toppings we had (peppers, garlic, red onion, fresh mushrooms, pepperoni and cheese).

Tortellini

Tortellini with "it's not alfredo"-pesto sauce and a mixed field greens salad.















Just mixed together the leftover "it's not alfredo" sauce with some pesto and tossed it in with some tortellini. Long homeschooling day so had to do an easy dinner. :)

Green Chili Casserole

Green Chili Casserole w/Cheesy Mexican Rice






Green Chili Casserole
8-10 Eggs
1 large can diced green chili
1 cup sour cream
Mexican cheese
Enchilada sauce

Mix it all together, toss in a baking dish and bake at 375 F until done. Top with enchilada sauce.

Chicken Creation & Potatoes

Oh my dinner was so yummy tonight! I invented this little creation by just taking frozen chicken breasts straight from the freezer and tossing them in a dish, drizzling w/ olive oil, sprinkling some italian dressing powder, fresh garlic, basil, tomatoes, red onions and peppers and then baking it in the oven. I also did Tali style red potatoes with rosemary.

It took about an hour to cook everything just right and that was at 375 so I don't know how T does her potatoes in 30 minutes. Maybe it's got something to do with them being organic. Mine take much longer!

My husband would not have tasted my chicken creation with someone else's mouth (he's not here though, he's working late). He's just *that* picky. It smelled wonderful and tasted just as good and that's coming from someone who prefers chicken fried. ;)

It's Not Alfredo Pasta

We were going to have pasta with mushroom Alfredo sauce for dinner but when hubby started to cook the Alfredo sauce he realized that we didn't have any Parmesan cheese. (oops!) So since necessity is the mother of invention, he made an "oh crap we have no Parmesan cheese sauce"... I will post the recipe below.

It's Not Alfredo Pasta w/Mushrooms. (Mushrooms were sauted in garlic butter and place on the pasta and not *in* the sauce.)







^^This plate is hubby's plate ... he fed the baby off of it as well as himself.


Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella Salad (because he had to slice up the mozzarella)












Oh Crap We Have No Parmesan Sauce

Fat Free Half and Half (or whole cream if you're not counting the calories)
Mozzarella Cheese
Butter
Kosher Salt

Place 1/2 quart of cream, 1 stick of butter and two pinches of salt in a pot. Bring to a boil SLOWLY (do NOT put it on high) and while stirring add in the mozzarella cheese. Remove from heat and serve. If using half and half you will need to add a small amount of flour to thicken.

Pasta & Piggies

For dinner tonight I made pasta salad using a lot of the fresh veggies we have from my in-laws' garden and a few from the store. This is my 3 year old's plate. She didn't touch the pasta salad but did eat the hot dog and watermelon.

Elisa's Rainbow Salad

1 box of rainbow pasta
cherry tomatoes
red onion
cucumber
broccoli
mozzarella
Italian dressing (I like Good Seasons that you mix yourself with red wine vinegar and oil)

Chop veggies while the pasta cooks then mix together with dressing and salt and pepper to taste.

Pigs in the Blanket

I used the recipe on the side of the crescent rolls. You've seen me make this one before. ;)

Dinner by Daddy

My husband has two culinary skills: grilling and deep frying. Tonight he grilled steaks and put together this delicious meal all by himself while I wasted away on some wine.

We decided during dinner that we are going to feed the kids first and then ourselves. I really hate lukewarm food and taking a 3 year old to the potty mid-meal kind of puts a damper on an appetite. So next week you will see all plastic plated kid's meals because I plan to enjoy my dinner in peace.

Pizza Night

I made this pizza from scratch (well, pizza dough mix and pizza sauce from a jar) and used veggies I had in the fridge. We had ice cream for dessert because we're just bad like that. It was delicious and everyone was happy as evidenced by above pictures.

The picture of the pizza was almost forgotten in our mad rush to gobble it down. I got it too brown because I forgot to lower the rack in the oven. We live too far away from town to call for pizza delivery so Emma and I have taken to making our own. It takes us longer but she loves helping. It's her favorite thing to help fix.

Sloppy Joes

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes w/Corn and Classic Lays Chips.










*gasp* Yes, my kids are allowed potato chips once in a while. I grew up with classic lays being something we ate with sloppy joes and it's another one of those blame my mother things. :)

The Sloppy Joes had mushrooms and diced tomatoes in the the sauce and were made using Boca crumbles.

I have company here this weekend so I may or may not post tomorrow's dinner (not sure if we are going out or not). So I'll either see you tomorrow or see you Monday (Sunday is leftover day)!

Lasagna Rolls

Spinach-Feta Lasagna Rolls with Caesar Salad.








Just to prove to you the baby actually eats it too. :)















Spinach-Feta Lasagna Rolls
Lasagna Noodles
Box Frozen Spinach
Small Container Ricotta Cheese (I only use half)
Feta Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese
Fresh Basil
Marinara Sauce

Pre-heat oven to 375F

Boil lasagna noodles until just under cooked. While noodles are boiling mince up fresh basil and mix in with ricotta cheese. Rinse noodles in cold water. Lay flat on a counter. Spread a small amount of ricotta cheese lengthwise down the noodle. Top with spinach (do not squeeze out the water). Top with feta cheese. Roll up the noodles.

Coat the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish with a small amount of marinara sauce. Place lasagna rolls in baking dish. Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over the top of the rolls. Cover with marinara sauce and bake until warmed through (approx 25 minutes). Put more mozzarella cheese over top once out of the oven.

Tacos Again?

This is taco salad. I use a pack of taco seasoning with lean ground beef and cook it in the microwave in one of those handy dandy Pampered Chef pots. Dump some meat onto crushed tortilla chips and added more yummy vegetables from the garden. I like light ranch dressing on mine. My husband prefers sour cream. It's another easy meal that you can adapt to fit the picky people in your house easily. Even my almost 16 month old daughter ate this.

For dessert we had some fresh fruit.

Pasta Salad

Just another simple dinner by Elisa. I used a boxed pasta salad mix and added in fresh garden veggies and deli ham.

For dessert, vanilla ice cream with caramel syrup. Yum.

Tacos!

We had tacos up on the menu for today and I blame Elisa for stealing my idea yesterday and giving you two days with one of us having the same menu. ;) j/k


My 7 year old prefers soft tacos with just "meat" and cheese. He also had a side of corn and black beans w/jalapenos.

*I forgot to put his avocado on the beans before I took the picture.

The baby had a soft taco for dinner as well.


My 9 year old likes crunchy tacos with all the fixin's.















Vegetarian Tacos

I am not a big fan of soy meat, I think it tastes funky. So any time I cook with it I make sure to add stuff to hide the flavor.

Ingredients:
Boca Crumbles
Taco Mix
Small Can of Tomato Sauce
Can of diced tomatoes (do not drain!)
Onion diced
Green chili diced
2 cloves garlic minced

With a small amout of olive oil saute onion, garlic and green chili until onion is soft. Mix in Boca "meat", can of tomato sauce, can of dice tomatoes and taco mix. You shouldn't need to add water like it says on the package of taco mix. If it looks too "thick" add a little water, but not more than a few tablespoons. Cook until warmed through.

Top with whatever you want -- we use cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream.

Eggplant Sandwiches

Eggplant Sandwiches with mozzarella, tomato and avocado.

*Please note each "big" boy only had half of a sub.




Fruit "Tort" but I cheated tonight and used pre-made graham cracker crusts and vanilla yogurt as the filling.










Eggplant Sandwiches
Eggplant sliced
Sub Roll
Tomato
Feta Cheese
Basil
Minced Garlic
Mayo

Brush eggplant with olive oil and place on non-stick cookie sheet into 350 F oven for about 7 minutes.

Toast Sub Roll. In a small bowl mix garlic and mayo. Spread garlic/mayo mixture on sub roll. On sub roll layer: baked eggplant, tomato, basil and Feta cheese.