Southwestern Quinoa and Black Bean Casserole

We like spicy foods so it was nice finding this healthier version of a mexican dish. It was very yummy and very hearty. I added more cumin and chili powder. I think it would be good with a can of hot Rotel tomatoes in there as well. I made some adaptations to the recipe. Original recipe comes from Pinch of Yum.

Ingredients

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, minced

2 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed, minced

2-3 bell peppers, diced (I used green, red and yellow)

1 tbsp oil

1 can of black beans

1 cup quinoa

2 cups chicken stock

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 1/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese

diced green onions

Instructions

Preheat over to 375 F

1. Cook the quinoa in the chicken stock as you would for rice. (I use my rice cooker). 

2. Heat oil in large pan over med-high heat. Add peppers and onion and saute for a few mins. Add garlic and jalapeno and saute again for a few more mins. Add black beans and stir together cooking through. You can add a can of Rotel Tomatoes at this point if you could like and cook awhile until thickened. Taste and add salt if needed. 

3. Mix in cooked quinoa and add cayenne, chili powder, cumin, and salt if needed. Cook for 1-2 mins. 

4. Spoon mixture in a glass baking dish coated with cooking spray. (I used a 9x9 pan). Top with cheese. Place in oven and cook until cheese is melted. 

5. Top with fresh tomatoes, green onion and avocado if desired 

Can be served with sour cream, tortilla chips or on some lettuce for a mexican salad. 

Jewish Apple Cake

This cake is great for breakfast/brunch. So yummy with the cinnamon and apple combination. I baked this in my angel food cake pan. So moist and good! It's a very thick batter so a bit tricky to spread but if you put little blobs all around and spread carefully it works. Enjoy! This recipe comes from Lime in the Coconut.

Ingredients

For the apples:

5-6 sm-med apples, cored, peeled and sliced thinly

3/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp cinnamon

For the batter:

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup orange or pineapple juice

4 eggs

1 cup oil

2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a tube pan for baking. 

In a large bowl, toss your sliced apples with sugar and cinnamon and set aside. In a separate small bowl, mix together your dry ingredients-the flour, salt and baking powder. Then in a large mixing bowl combine your juice, eggs and oil until combined. Pour in the sugar and extract and mix until well incorporated then add the flour mixture and blend well. Now in your prepared tube pan you'll be layering the batter 3 times and apples 2 times, layer batter then apples then batter then apples and finishing up with a layer of batter. If you have any juices that have collected from your apples in the bowl simply pour them onto the cake once your done building up the layers. These sweet, cinnamony juices will contribute to the moistness of the cake.  

Bake for 1 1/2 hours until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan and then remove and serve. 

Mama's Pound Cake

It's always good having a yummy pound cake recipe on hand and this one is a good one to have. It calls for vegetable shortening but I used coconut oil instead which gave it a really nice flavour that went well with the strawberries and frozen yogurt I served it with. You could also just use all butter if you want. Some have said it's a bit sweet with the 3 cups of sugar, I put just slightly less but it goes good with fresh berries without any added sweetening. This make a lot of batter so make sure you use a large tube pan (I used an angel food cake pan that doesn't have the removable bottom) You could use a large bundt pan, cake pans or large loaf pans, whatever you use make sure it doesn't fill more than about half way. Recipe is from Paula Dean.

Ingredients

1/2 pound (2 sticks or 1 cup) butter, plus more for pan

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

1/2 tsp fine salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk (I used half & half)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat over to 350 F

With a mixer, cream butter and shortening together. Add sugar, a little at a time. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Stir dry ingredients together in a bowl and add to mixer alternately with milk, starting with the flour and ending with the flour. Mix in vanilla. Pour into a greased and floured tube pan and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours (this depends on what pans you use could be less time if separating the batter into multiple pans), until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. 

Chicken Salad Croissants

I have always loved these. Perfect to have for a Summer lunch. This recipe is a little different than I have had in the past with the added cabbage and pineapple but I had it at a church function and I thought they were very yummy and needed to get the recipe...so thank you Lonny Leavitt! (not sure where she got it from but thanks) I don't recommend making it the day before as it tends to go watery.

Ingredients

2 cups of cooked chicken

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup cabbage

1/2 cup pineapple tidbits 

1/2 red onion

1/2 cup toasted cashews or almonds

3/4 cup of grapes

Dressing

1/2 mayo

1/2 salad dressing (mirale whip)

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp dry mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all together and serve on croissants or whatever bread you prefer, or just on a bed of lettuce. 

Veggie Crescents

I make this recipe every year for Christmas and it always gets lots of raves about how good it is. I have done it as a tree or just in a big circle as I've had to triple the recipe at times. I chop my veggies way smaller than the picture and don't decorate it like this but you can do whatever makes you smile :) 

I don't remember where I got the recipe from as it's been years but probably Pillsbury since you use their product for it. It's a great appetizer for any time of the year. You can use 2 pkgs of dinner rolls and press into a jelly roll pan. After cooking and adding the creamy dill mixture cut into squares and  then add slices of veggies on top, cucumber, broccoli, peppers, cherry tomatoes..whatever you would like on each square. 

Ingredients

1 pkg. refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (like Pillsbury)

1 (3oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened (half a brick)

1/4 cup dairy sour cream

1/2 tsp, dill weed

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 cup finely chopped broccoli florets

1/2 cup finely chopped red pepper

1/4 cup finely chopped green onion

Open crescent rolls but leave together, don't unroll. Cut roll into 12 rounds and place onto cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Cook as directed on package until golden brown. Cool. mix together cream cheese, sour cream, dill and garlic powder. mix well until smooth. Spread on top of rolls. Sprinkle on broccoli, red pepper and green onion. All you have to do is pull them apart to eat. Enjoy!

Easy Garlic Chicken

This recipe is super easy and the chicken is juicy and yummy. Recipe is from Food.com.

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp olive oil

additional herbs and spices, as desired

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking dish or cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat with cooking spray or brush with oil.

2. In small pan saute garlic with the oil until tender.

3. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar. Add additional herbs and spices as desired.

4. Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish andcover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture. 

5. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

6. Bake uncovered for 15-30 mins, or until juices run clear. Cooking time with depend on the size and thic

Versatile Pasta and Beef Skillet

This picture is not what it really looks like but it did not come with one and I didn't remember to take a picture when I made it..so..it's the closest I could find.  We all really enjoyed this dish. I used shells instead of macaroni but I'm sure you could use whatever you wanted to. You could also change it up a bit and use a small can of tomatoes instead of a large one and add 1 cup of salsa. You could also use taco seasoning instead of the oregano and basil. Or omit the pasta and add a can of kidney beans, black beans or chili beans and serve over rice. So yummy! Recipe from cooks.com. Picture from realmomkitchen.com. 

Ingredients

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

1 med-large onion, chopped

1 large green pepper, coarsely chopped

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced

4-5 cloves garlic, peeled

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef

1/2 cup Marsala wine

1 large (28oz) can diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp basil

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 cup ketchup

2-3 cups elbow macaroni

1 small can mushrooms

salt and pepper to taste

hot red pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp or to taste

Directions

In a skillet, saute onion, pepper, celery and whole cloves of garlic in 1 Tbsp of olive oil and butter. Turn garlic cloves to brown on both sides, then mash into the oil using the tines of a fork (this gives a mellow, roasted garlic flavor) I just used minced garlic for this. Don't allow garlic to burn. When edges of onions have taken on colour, remove contents of pan to a bowl and set aside. 

In same skillet, brown ground beef in remaining olive oil over high heat, stirring often. Drain to keep hamburger dry halfway through the cooking so as not to steam the beef. As contents of skillet become dry, additional olive oil may be added. When beef has browned nicely, deglaze the pan by adding the Marsala wine and stirring up the brown bits from the bottom. Reduce heat to the lowest setting. Stir in the chopped tomatoes (juice and all). Add 1/2 tsp basil and 1/4 tsp oregano. (use fresh herbs when available, doubling quantities) Add ketchup. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 mins or until vegetables are tender but not mushy. Cover skillet half way (by tilting lid).

Meanwhile, boil macaroni according to package directions. Drain. 

After the 30 mins has elapsed, stir mushrooms and cooked pasta into the tomatoe and ground beef mixture in the skillet. Season to taste with seas salt, pepper and hot red pepper flakes. Cook another 2-3 mins until mushrooms have heated through before serving.