We got fed Rotating Header Image

Mexican

Mexican Stuffed Shells

May 17th, 2012
by erin.
No comments yet

Mexican Stuffed Shells
Date: 5/10/2012

Recipe: http://thewaytohisheart.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/mexican-stuffed-shells/

Modifications: I used ground turkey,and this taco seasoning recipe.

Time to table: 45 minutes prep, plus 45 minutes of baking time

Servings: 4 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like – it was a bit “picy” for her :)

Notes: This was really good and actually pretty easy. I thought the filling could stand to be cheesier, so I would up the cream cheese next time, and maybe add some veggies into the filling too.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Sweet Potato Foil Packet Tacos

May 12th, 2012
by erin.
No comments yet

Sweet Potato Foil Packets

Date: 5/8/2012

Recipe: http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/sweet-potato-foil-packet-tacos/

Modifications: I used ground turkey, black beans, and did not peel the sweet potatoes. I didn’t have tomato sauce, so I just used some crushed tomatoes instead. We use this taco seasoning recipe.

Time to table: 30 minutes, plus 30 minutes of baking time

Servings: 6 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: My friend Chelsea sent me this recipe, and I immediately knew it would be a winner in our house! The best part about these is that you really can prep everything completely beforehand, and then just pop the foil packets in the oven when you’re ready to eat. Ben has an oven at work and was able to bring the extra packets to work the next few days. It is important to layer the packets with the sweet potatoes on the bottom, if they are on top they won’t get cooked through. We served with tortillas and sour cream.

Sweet Potato Foil Packets

Mexican Baked Eggs

Apr 4th, 2012
by erin.
No comments yet

Mexican baked eggs

Date: 3/31/2012

Recipe: http://www.closetcooking.com/2011/09/mexican-baked-eggs.html

Modifications: I only used one jalapeno and just realized that I forgot the oregano. It also seemed to take longer than 5-8 minutes for our eggs to cook, more like 15 minutes, however the yolks were far more done than they appeared visually.

Time to table: 30 minutes

Servings: 4 adults

Ben: Dislike

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: This was one of those meals that kept getting pushed off. I thought it was pretty good, would have been better if we hadn’t overcooked the eggs. The leftovers would be great in a tortilla – Annie had that for lunch the next day and seemed to enjoy it. Ben thought it tasted just like salsa with eggs and wasn’t a fan.

Mexican baked eggs

Mexican Lasagna

Mar 23rd, 2012
by erin.
No comments yet

Mexican Lasagna

Date: 3/20/2012

Recipe:

1/2 lb of ground turkey
1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 14 oz can of black beans
1 14oz can of kidney beans
1 14oz can of pinto beans
1 diced sweet potato
1/2 packets of taco seasoning (I just threw in some cumin, adobo seasoning from Penzey’s, chili powder, paprika, garlic granules and cayenne)
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
4 cups of shredded mild cheddar
1 packet of Spinach Tortilla wraps

Coat the bottom of a larger, somewhat deep saucepan, with extra-virgin olive oil. Let it warm up (burner on medium heat), then throw in onion and garlic. Sautee for about 2 min. Add ground turkey and cook until no longer pink. Add all the beans and sweet potato and stir. Then add taco seasoning and about 1/2 cup of water (or more if it gets too dry), stir. Finally, add crushed tomatoes.  Lower heat, simmer, and stir occassionally for about 20-25 min.  (Meat and bean mixture cooked the night before, tastes better the next day. But, it’s still good same day : )

To layer ingredients: 1 9×13 inch pan.  Thin layer of meat/bean mixture, tortillas (cut to fit pan), then cheese. Then repeat: meat/beans, tortilla, then cheese.

Bake in 375 degree for aluminum pans, 400 for glass for about 15-25 min. Or until cheese on top is bubbly.

Modifications: I didn’t want such a huge batch, so I made this in a 8×8 pan and froze the other half of the mix.

Time to table: an hour of prep (some is simmering) and 25 minutes baking.

Servings: original recipe serves 8 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Loved the sour cream that it was topped with…

Notes: This is a meal that was brought to our neighbors who also have a new baby, and shared with us. We both loved it so much we had to get the recipe from her friend Karen, who apparently adapted it from a Rachael Ray recipe. I further adapted it from what she sent to include a sweet potato and to reduce the amount of meat. The original also called for corn, but I didn’t have that so did not include. There is another Mexican lasagna recipe on the blog too, but I preferred this one.

Mexican Lasagna

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

Jan 18th, 2012
by erin.
No comments yet

Black Bean Tortilla Pie

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!

Black Bean Tortilla Pie

Ben's black bean tortilla pie w/ fried egg
Ben’s serving topped with fried egg

Holding her food out for me to take a photo :)
After I took a photo of my dish, Annie held hers out for similar treatment :)

Homemade salsa

Sep 7th, 2011
by ben.
5 comments

Salsa

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.

Salsa

Cooking the tomatillos

Salsa

Tomatoes ready for blanching and peeling.

Salsa

Peeling garlic WHILE holding a child.

Salsa

Annie helped by throwing the garlic into the food processor.

Salsa

Peeled.

Salsa

Getting the seeds and juice out of the tomatoes makes a mess.

Salsa

Ready to start cooking.

Salsa

The finished product.

Salsa

Spinach & black bean enchiladas

Aug 22nd, 2011
by ben.
1 comment

Spinach and Black bean enchiladas

Date: August 18th, 2011

Recipe: http://ellysaysopa.com/2011/03/07/meatless-monday-chipotle-and-tomatillo-sauced-black-bean-enchiladas/

Modifications: I doubled the amount of cream cheese because we had half of a package left and I wanted to use the whole thing up.

Time to table: 75 minutes

Servings: 4 adult dinner, 2 toddler dinners

Ben: Love

Erin: Like

Annie: Love

Notes: We used a salsa verde recipe from our CSA newsletter this time that used some stuff from the box (tomatillo, jalapeno, garlic, cilantro) and we used a green pepper instead of a red pepper because that’s what we had on hand. This was a delicious recipe that we’ve made before and we’ll definitely make again as it’s so easy and would probably be a good freezer meal. I used a dry, white cheddar cheese that didn’t melt too nicely and while it tasted fine, the pics don’t make it look too appetizing.

Annie eating enchiladas

Spinach and Black bean enchiladas

Spinach and Black bean enchiladas

Creamy chicken taquitos

Jul 16th, 2011
by ben.
2 comments

Chicken taquitos and refried black beans

Date: July 12th, 2011

Taquitos recipe: http://annies-eats.net/2011/04/27/creamy-chicken-taquitos/

Refried black beans recipe:

  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 garlic clove, diced
  • 1 T chopped cilantro
  • 1 can black beans
  • 2 T butter
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
Melt the butter in a frying pan. Sautee the onions until translucent, add the garlic for the last minute or two. Add the beans, water, and cilantro and let simmer until the water reduces to the consistency you want. Add the cheese to melt and serve.

Modifications: I had to use more than 1/4 cup of salsa for the taquitos mix to thin it out some.

Time to table: 40 minutes with cooking time

Servings: 14 taquitos

Ben: Love

Erin: Like (amended to Love after trying this when not in the first trimester of pregnancy and puking)

Annie: Love

Notes: This was a huge hit. Everyone loved the taquitos and Annie even would take bits of tortilla and dip it in black beans and eat it. I had leftovers for lunch today (and will again tomorrow) and they are great reheated. Easy and a crowd pleaser, can’t beat that!

Chicken taquitos and refried black beans

Mexican Pizza

Jul 5th, 2011
by erin.
1 comment

Mexican Pizza

Date: June 21, 2011

Recipe: http://annies-eats.net/2010/12/09/mexican-pizza/

Modifications: None

Time to table: About 15 minutes for the pizza dough, and 30 minutes to prep the pizza

Servings: 3 adults, 1 toddler

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like, although the crust was a bit too crunchy for her to eat it easily

Notes: This pizza dough (linked in the recipe, but also found here) is THE BEST pizza dough I’ve made! I feel like I tried it once before and it didn’t work – maybe the key was using actual instant yeast, versus active dry (I found a large container of it at Whole Foods so now we’ll have it for a long time stored in the fridge!). It was perfectly crispy and chewy at the same time. Yum! This pizza was a bit spicy actually, due to the black bean puree “sauce”. I thought it was delicious.

Pizza crust

Mexican pizza

Skeptical of the pizza

Spinach and Cheese Quesadilla

May 13th, 2011
by erin.
1 comment

Spinach Cheese Quesadillas

Date: May 11, 2011

Recipe:

  • 2 whole wheat tortillas
  • Very large handful spinach (fills a 10” skillet when fresh)
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheese
  • Olive Oil
  • 1 clove garlic

Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil to pan, heat up for about 30 seconds and add 1 clove minced garlic. When the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds more, add  a large handful of baby spinach (or chopped regular spinach) and stir until wilted.

Spread shredded cheese on one tortilla, add spinach, cover with a bit more cheese so that the cheese can adhere to both sides of the quesadilla.

Using the same pan, add a bit more oil (I used spray) and heat quesadilla on both sides until the cheese is melted.

Time to table: 15 minutes

Modifications: I cut this into quarters with a pizza cutter (My preferred way of cutting quesadillas – much easier than a knife), and then cut one quarter into bites for Annie, also using the pizza cutter (pictured below).

Servings: 1 adult with a small appetite and 1 toddler (I had 3/4s, Annie had 1/4)

Erin: Love (surprising! This is probably because I got some really tasty white cheddar from Whole Foods that really made this delicious to me)

Annie: Like+ (she ate it all but wasn’t shoveling in)

Notes: This idea came from my friend Rebekah – when I lamented that I had no idea what to cook for myself and Annie, she said she always does spinach and cheese quesadillas on her solo nights with her daughter. I also gave Annie about a 1/4 cup sauteed sweet potato cubes as well.

 

Spinach Cheese Quesadillas

Annie eating spinach cheese quesadillas

← Earlier Posts