green pepper

Chili Macaroni and Cheese

Apr 20th, 2012

Date: 4/18/2012

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2011/02/02/four-bean-chili-mac-cheese/

Modifications: I added a lot of sour cream since I was using 2% milk and because sour cream is delicious, and I think I used too much pasta so I added more chili and cheese to compensate.

Time to table: 20 minutes

Servings: 5 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: Again, this was so easy – I LOVE the concept of using leftovers to make a slightly different meal. We will definitely be trying this more! We all loved this meal in both forms – Annie probably enjoyed it a bit more here – mostly she just picked out each noodle though

Four Bean Chili

Apr 19th, 2012

by erin.

1 comment

Date: 4/16/2012

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2011/02/01/four-bean-chili/

Modifications: I used ground turkey instead of beef, and added a chopped bell pepper.

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 6-8 hours cooking time.

Servings: A lot – this nearly filled our crockpot – at least 8 adults.

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: This chili was really good! We all are bean lovers, so this went over well. Annie enjoyed narrating which bean she was eating at that time This is part of a 3 in 1 meal that weelicious posted, so the next post will be what we did with the leftovers.

Chicken Spaghetti

Mar 28th, 2012

by erin.

1 comment

Date: 3/26/2012

Recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/

Modifications: We used an entire chopped red pepper and a whole onion too. This was split into 2 portions, each in a 8×8 pan.

Time to table: 1 hour prep (including cooking chicken and shredding it), 30+ minutes baking (it’s closer to an hour if baking from frozen)

Servings: 4 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: This is one of our freezer meals – I’ve blogged about it on my other blog several times but it’s never been featured here. It’s a big hit around our house. I think it would be good with different veggies in it too – maybe some chopped broccoli instead of the pepper.

“Now picture of Annie’s food, too”

Chicken enchiladas

Feb 15th, 2012

by ben.

No comments yet

Date: 2/15/2012

Recipe:

3 cooked and shredded chicken breasts
2 onions, diced
2 green peppers, diced
3 cans (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 T cumin
1 T chili powder
1 T garlic granules
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
~20 tortillas, the tortillas we used were ~8 inches in diameter
1 can enchilada sauce (28 oz) plus one extra can (14 oz)

Steps:

Cook and shred the chicken
While chicken is cooking, saute the onions and green peppers in oil or butter for a few minutes, adding the cumin, chili powder, and garlic granules for the last 30 seconds
Move vegetables to large mixing bowl.
Add all the black beans to the vegetables
Shred the chicken and add to the black beans and vegetables
Open the smaller can of enchilada sauce and add about half of it to the chicken mixture and stir to combine.
Assemble the enchiladas using the following steps:

Spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce on the inside of a tortilla
Spoon about 1/4 cup or so of the chicken mixture into the tortilla, spread the mixture into a line
Sprinkle some shredded cheese on top of the chicken mixture
Wrap the tortilla up and add it to a 13 x 9 pan
Continue until you run out of tortillas or chicken mixture

Now, with a full pan of enchiladas, pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top
Top with more shredded cheese
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes

Time to table: 90 minutes

Servings: 7 dinners (21 enchiladas)

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: We made these as part of our freezer meal stash for when the baby arrives and cooked three of them for our dinner tonight, with 18 leftover which we froze in sets of three so we can cook individual meals with them. Adding the cumin, chili powder, and garlic granules to the sauteed vegetables greatly contributed to these being better than I remember them, I don’t normally add any seasonings to the vegetables. We had these topped with sour cream and sriracha (for me) and they were delicious. Annie enjoyed eating the sour cream most of all.

Crockpot chicken and veggies

Jan 26th, 2012

by ben.

1 comment

Date: 1/18/2012

Recipe: http://mamaandbabylove.com/2011/04/05/freezer-cooking-with-slow-cooker-recipes/

Modifications: We halved the amount of chicken from 2lbs to 1lb, just because it seemed like a lot of chicken.

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 8 hours crockpot

Servings: 2 adults, 1 toddler

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Dislike

Notes: This dish was meh. The original recipe calls it “barbecue” chicken, but I hesitate to use that word because it doesn’t taste like barbecue at all. We found this recipe to be oddly bland, and when we make it again we’ll for sure add more spices and salt to it. We have another bag of this in the freezer that we’ll most likely use when Erin is on maternity leave in a couple months. I DO like this method of prepping dishes though, as all you need to do is chop your vegetables, mix everything together, and freeze it – no cooking at all. We’re going to try this method with chili and see how it goes.

Annie was in a MOOD tonight and had none of this.

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

Jan 18th, 2012

by erin.

No comments yet

Date: 1/17/2012

Recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/336692/tortilla-and-black-bean-pie (I also made this before WAY back in the day right after I’d started my blog)

Modifications: Used whole wheat tortillas – and the ones we got (Mission 100% whole wheat “soft taco”) were EXACTLY the perfect size for my 9” springform pan so that was awesome. I used water instead of beer – I’m sure the alcohol cooks off, but it feels weird cooking with any alcohol for a pregnant woman and a toddler… so yeah, just water. I added some additional seasoning – Penzey’s Adobo seasoning. Also added a chopped green pepper to the onion/garlic/jalapeno mix to up the veggie content.

Time to table: 30 minutes active, 20 minutes baking

Servings: 6 adults

Ben: Love (with the addition of a fried egg for him)

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: We are on a ROLL with the triple love meals over here! I knew this one would be a hit – we have loved it all the other times we’ve made it and this was no exception. I forgot to add sour cream and salsa to mine but it was still quite good even without that. We even had this on a weeknight and Annie devoured it – proving that it’s a keeper!

Ben’s serving topped with fried egg

After I took a photo of my dish, Annie held hers out for similar treatment

Adobo seasoned chicken and rice

Jan 1st, 2012

by ben.

No comments yet

Date: 12/18/2011

Recipe: http://www.deliciousmeliscious.com/2011/12/adobo-seasoned-chicken-and-rice.html

Modifications: I’ve never heard of, nor could we find, tomato powder, so we substituted tomato paste. We used boneless, skinless chicken thighs as well so we didn’t have as much meat as the original recipe called for.

Time to table: 60 minutes

Servings: 6 adult servings

Ben: Like

Erin: Like+

Annie: Like

Notes: I wasn’t really excited for this recipe but it surprised me, I really liked it a lot. More than that I liked that it’s very adaptable so you can take this same process and make many different variations. Annie claimed she was done after a few bites, but then shockingly found her appetite again when the grapes were brought out.

Tortellini Salad

Dec 29th, 2011

by erin.

No comments yet

Date: 12/25/2011

Recipe: http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2010/01/balsamic-chicken-spinach-and-tomato-pasta-salad/

Time to table: 30 minutes

Modifications: Since this was a side dish, we left out the chicken. We also doubled this. I didn’t use Newman’s Own dressing, just some generic balsamic.

Servings: I think there were around … oh, 17 adults or something? The single recipe would easily feed 6 I think.

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Dislike, would not try a bite.

Notes: Everyone really liked this! It felt very summery (as most of the ingredients are freshest in summer obviously) which was a nice change of pace – but obviously this would be better in the summer using actual fresh ingredients. Stuff like basil and tomatoes right now are pretty sad, but I still enjoyed it despite that.

Turkey Pumpkin chili

Dec 5th, 2011

by ben.

6 comments

Date: 11/25/2011

Recipe: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/467

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped

2 jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 pound ground white or dark meat turkey

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with their liquid

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée

1 cup water

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, jalapeños and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add turkey and cook until browned. Add tomatoes, pumpkin, water, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and add beans. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes more. Ladle chili into bowls and serve.

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 30 minutes simmer or 5 hours cook time in a crockpot.

Modifications: We made this earlier in the day and used a crockpot instead of cooking it on the stove.

Servings: 6 adult servings

Ben: Like

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: This was a recipe from our neighbor Molly that they’ve made a couple times and it was a hit up at the cabin with Erin’s parents.

Homemade salsa

Sep 7th, 2011

by ben.

5 comments

Date: 9/4/2011

Recipe: The recipe we used was modified from a recipe that Brian sent us:

Original recipe:

1 ice cream pail of tomatoes, blanched and peeled
3 medium onions, chopped
3 green bell peppers, chopped
1/2 cup lemon juice
12 oz. tomato paste
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon oregano
2 cups vinegar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
3 jalapeno peppers

Simmer all ingredients together for 1/2 hour, over low to medium heat,
stirring it frequently. Process in pint jars (remember if the jars
and lids are super hot from being sterilized and salsa is boiling when
you fill the jars they may seal without the boiling water bath).

Modifications: We made a couple changes to this recipe. I don’t think we had an entire ice cream bucket of tomatoes, but it was close. We added several other ingredients that we had from our box: tomatillos (sauteed and pureed), diced garlic, and cilantro.

Time to table: 2 hours total

Servings: We got a little over a half gallon of salsa.

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: Our neighbors had just given us a bag of tomatoes from their garden and then we got two more bags from our CSA this week, so we were inundated with tomatoes. Salsa was the perfect solution as it used all the tomatoes as well as several other veggies we had from the CSA box (tomatillos, garlic, cilantro, bell peppers, jalapenos). I don’t believe canning salsa to be worth the effort in general, but this was a great way to relieve the pressure of all the veggies we’ve had for the past two weeks.