Zucchini, Black Bean and Rice Skillet

If only take one thing away from today... make it this recipe.
O. M. G. it is yummy!  It's so simple, but so good!  Here is the picture from the website where I grabbed this recipe (which can be found here):

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups quartered lengthwise, sliced zucchini
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1 can (15 oz each) black beans
1 can (14.5 oz) Hunt's Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes with Garlic (undrained)
3/4 cup water
1 cup instant white rice, uncooked
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese blend

Instructions:
1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add zucchini and bell pepper, cook 5 minutes, cooking occasionally.

2. Add beans, undrained tomatoes and water.  Increase heat and bring to a boil.

3. Add rice; stir well.  Cover, remove from heat and let stand 7 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.  Sprinkle with cheese.

And since I love cheese... I added a little bit more :)

Now get off your butt and go make this!!!!

Roasted Pears With Gorgonzola

We had employee appreciation day at work - it was awesome!  There were five surprises throughout the day... first we walked in to the smell of Belgian Waffles.  We could pick our own toppings.  My waffle had an "A" for Ashley :)

Second, everyone had one of these at their desk - how cute!  Mine had Coconut M&Ms... they were yummy!!

We had 15-minute chair massages, an awesome lunch from Mama's on the Half Shell (cheeseburger sliders, mini crab cakes  and the best mac & cheese ever!), and last, they closed the office early!  It was such a fun day I had to take a nap as soon as I got home!

I also got a really nice fruit basket from my boss.  I decided to do something fancy with the pears... so the next day I made Roasted Pears with Gorgonzola.  (Here is the website where I found the recipe)  I tried this once at a restaurant in NYC and it was so good, so I couldn't wait to have it again.

Ingredients:
4 Bosc pears, halved and cored, but not peeled
Extra-virgin olive oil
A few pinches of dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup crumbled good-quality blue cheese / gorgonzola
1/4 cup walnut pieces
2 tbsp honey

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Arrange the pears, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, honey and sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper.

3. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake 15-20 minutes.

4. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and spoon a generous teaspoon of crumbled cheese in the center of each pear half, return the pears to the oven and roast until they are tender and the cheese is soft, about 5-10 more minutes.

Modifications:

• I did not have any thyme, so I left that out.
• I also left out the walnuts.

My dad bought me Gorgonzola at the Eastern market. 

As soon as I opened it, I was totally grossed out... LOL!  I love blue cheese, so I don't know why this bothered me.  I ate one of the pears and it was ok... but I gave the rest to my parents... along with the rest of the cheese!   

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Another recipe already?!  Yes, friends!  Aren't you lucky?

I pinned this recipe a while ago, and finally made it!  It's a two-fer!

First... 
Crockpot Chicken Tacos
Serves ~ 12

1 Envelope Taco Seasoning
6 Pieces Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 16-ounce jar Salsa
Dump everything into a crock pot and give it a little stir to blend the seasoning with the salsa. You do not need to add any water to the taco seasoning.

(I actually mixed the taco seasoning and salsa together before dumping!)

Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. When done, the chicken should shred easily when stirred with a fork.

This is what it looked like after 7 hours... so I grabbed a spatula (my favorite kitchen gadget!!) to stir it up a bit...

And it shredded so easily!!

The next day I made tacos for dinner... they were YUMMY!!

After eating my my tacos, I dived into making the next recipe with the same chicken!

Second...

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Serves: 6

2 cups of the shredded chicken
One 32oz box of chicken broth
One can corn (drain)
2 handfuls chopped cilantro
One squeezed lime*

One can diced tomatoes
One can diced tomatoes w/ chiles
1/2 large yellow onion
One can black beans
2-3 table spoons of tomato paste
2 teaspoons of cumin
2 teaspoons of chile powder
2 teaspoons of garlic powder

Dump everything in a pot and simmer for ~30 minutes.

* Yup - I squeezed a lime.

First four ingredients...

Next four ingredients...

Finished!

After simmering for about 45 minutes I let it sit for awhile and then refrigerated overnight. This soup will make your house smell amazing!

I ate it the next night for dinner... it was really good!!!  If you like things spicy, it definitely can be kicked up a notch or two :)

I will definitely make this again!  I was able to freeze the soup and some of the chicken.  I used the chicken to make tacos one night, put it on my salad at lunch the next day and in the soup... and still had a lot left over!  So I was able to freeze small portions so I could easily have chicken tacos whenever I wanted. :)

Mexican Dorito Casserole

As part of my 2013 New Year's Resolutions, I am trying 2 new recipes each month.

On January 1st I made Pork & Sauerkraut.  I didn't document it, or take pictures, but I made it!!  And I made homemade mashed potatoes too.  It was yummy!!  You can grab the recipe here.  I added Granny Smith Apple & brown sugar.

So, for my second recipe of the month, I tried Mexican Dorito Casserole.  I had all of the ingredients but Doritos & cheese, so quick stop to the grocery store and I was on my way!!  I found the recipe on Pinterest, which lead me to the Jam Hands Blog.  First, here is the original picture...

Here is the recipe:
Mexican Dorito Casserole 
Serves 4-6


2 c. shredded cooked chicken
1 c. shredded cheese (or more if you are a cheese hound)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes (canned tomatoes with jalepenos-mild)
1/2 packet taco seasoning (or more- to taste)
Bag of doritos


1. Pre-heat oven to 350-f degrees.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except Doritos.

3. In a greased 2 qt baking dish, put a layer of crushed Doritos (about 2 cups), then a layer of the chicken mixture. Repeat once more, ending with a layer of chicken mixture. Top with more shredded cheese, cover, and bake for 30-35 minutes, till bubbling hot.

Here's all the ingredients mixed except the chicken.... which was cooking :)

First layer of Doritos.

Ready to bake!  I am a cheese hound, so I added a ton of cheese to the top... yum!!!

All done!  

My after shot...

REVIEW:
I would give this 6.5 - 7 stars out of 10.  Definitely wasn't bad, but I probably would not make it again.  I didn't like the Doritos in there as much as I thought I would.  The leftovers were ok, needed to add some water while microwaving, and it was still a little dry.  But was definitely fun and had a nice taste!

MODIFICATIONS:

• I cubed my chicken.  I'm not a good "shredder" of chicken... 
• I used 1 1/2 to 2 cups cheese 
• I poured 1/2 the juice out of the Rotel tomatoes.  I wasn't sure if I should drain them or not... if I were to make this next time, I would not have drained them!
• I used at least 2/3 of the packet of taco seasoning.
• I did not use the whole bag of Doritos... probably 80% of the bag.

Italian-Style Turkey Meatloaf

I get tons of email a day... most of them I delete... some I glance at and then delete.  But one day I read through an email and ended up finding this recipe (you'll have to click on it to be able to read it):

I actually had all the ingredients at home, so I thought, what the heck, I'll try it!!  So here it goes....

Gather ingredients.... like my backdrop?  LOL

Sprayed cookie sheet... just in case you wondered what one looked like:

All the ingredients... lil' bit gross, right?!

And then form into the 'loaf' shape & cover with ketchup!

I deleted the cooked meat loaf picture from my phone before posting... oops!  It tasted pretty good!  I ate leftovers for the week and enjoyed them!  I still prefer regular meatloaf though.  But I love trying something new! :)

Easter Dinner

This year I had Easter dinner at my house!
It was my first holiday family dinner.
I found the best recipes and planned the perfect menu... click for the recipes.
Everything turned out great!  :)


Slow Cooker Honey Dijon Ham

Corn Casserole

I forgot to take a picture before we all dug in!  Oops!

Potatoes Au Gratin (compliments of The Pioneer Woman, so you know it had to be good!)

Soooo yummy!!!

Asparagus
Dessert consisted of Coconut Cake (provided by my grandparents) and fresh fruit!
Here are some pictures from the day:

The table set for dinner!

Easter cards & candy :)

Coconut Cake... an Easter tradition in our family!

Grandmom enjoying dessert.

My beautiful mother!

Feeding Shelby a jelly bean... she doesn't like the black ones!

And of course... Shelby in her bunny ears!

 Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!!

Baked Eggplant and Zucchini

During the hurricane, I decided to try a recipe I had seen online... it was simple and delish!!

Baked Eggplant and Zucchini from Rachel Ray

Ingredients:

2 cups tomato sauce

1 small eggplant, cut into long slabs

2 small zucchini, cut into long slabs

1 cup each shredded fontina and parmesan

1/3 cup torn basil

As you can see I made some minor adjustments... I added mushrooms and used a 6 Cheese Italian blend cheese.

Directions:

1. Spread 1/2 cup sauce in 9-by-13-inch baking dish; top with eggplant, zucchini, 3/4 cup sauce and half of each cheese and basil; repeat. Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.

First layer...

Second layer (I forgot to put the mushrooms on before the sauce & cheese)

After... yummm...

It was pretty tasty!!  Next time I would slice the eggplant and zucchini thinner.  I also added some Tastefully Simple Italian Seasoning mix which helped give it some flavor.  

Mushroom Blue Cheese Turkey Burgers

(I'm going to attempt to try a new recipe once a week... wish me luck!)

I had some ground turkey in the freezer, so I found a recipe on allrecipes.com (my favorite recipe website!) - Mushroom Blue Cheese Turkey Burgers.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground turkey

8 ounces fresh mushrooms 

1 onion

2 tablespoons soy sauce (I didn't have soy sauce, so I used worcester sauce)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat grill for high heat

2. Finely chop onion & mushroom

3. Mix together ground turkey, mushrooms, onion and soy sauce (or worcester sauce).

4. Season with salt and pepper and form into patties.

5.  Place patties on the prepared grill and cook for 10 minutes per side, or until well done.  Top with blue cheese during the last few minutes (I actually mixed the blue cheese in the burger mixture).

I used a little Chipotle Mayo & tomato on a whole wheat hamburger bun... it was pretty good!  Very tasty!