Yummy Spanish Rice and Beans

This is super easy and YUMMY!

You need:

• 4 cups Unprepared Rice
• 6 cups (to 8 Cups) Low Sodium Chicken Broth/stock
• 4 whole (to 8) Tomatoes
• 2 whole (to 3) Onions
• 8 cloves (to 14 Cloves) Of Garlic
• Butter
• Chili Powder, Paprika, And Cumin To Taste
• 1 can (to 2 Cans) Black Or Pinto Beans

Begin by preparing rice with chicken broth/stock. Once prepared, salt to taste.

Chop up tomatoes, onions, and garlic as small as you prefer. Saute in pan with a tablespoon or so of butter. Add approximately 3 tablespoons chili powder, and 1 ½ tablespoon of both paprika and cumin. Stir until nicely combined.

Feel free to add beans if you like them… no need to drain. Mix cooked rice together with tomato/onion/garlic mixture.

The best enchiladas I have ever made.

This started off as a Pioneer Woman recipe but there were a few things I had to change. I made it the first time exactly as she did with the exception of the enchilada sauce. I used green instead of red and it was really good. This time I added shredded chicken and still used green enchilada sauce. I do not have pictures because we ate it all - and fast!

Ingredients

• whole Corn Tortillas
• Olive oil, For Frying
• 1 can (20 Ounce) Enchilada Sauce
• 2 cups Sour Cream
• 3 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Grated
• 1 cup Sliced/chopped Green Onions
• ½ teaspoons Ground Cumin
• ¼ teaspoons Cayenne Pepper
• Shredded Chicken

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix together sour cream, green onions, Chicken, 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar, cumin, and cayenne pepper.

Heat Olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Heat enchilada sauce in a separate skillet or saucepan.

Using tongs, fry tortillas one at a time, for only about five to ten seconds per side (don’t allow to crisp.) Remove from oil, then dunk tortilla in enchilada sauce. Lay tortilla on a plate, then spoon a good two or three tablespoons of the sour cream mixture in the middle. Roll tortilla, then place face down in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas and sour cream mixture.

Pour the left over sour cream mixture and enchilada sauce over the top.

Cover the dish with the remaining cheese, then bake for 15 to 20 minutes until bubbly.

Serve with Rice and beans.

My Favorite Monkey Bread!

The monkey bread recipe I used to use has been demoted... I played around in the kitchen yesterday making a new version of monkey bread because I remembered last minute I was supposed to bring something to a play date I had... in an hour. (panic set in)


I used what I had on hand- sorry about measurements- again panic had set in...

Ingredients:

2 cans of jumbo butter biscuits
1 red apple peeled and chopped into little chunks
chopped pecans
a stick of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar packed (i did measure this)
vanilla extract
sugar
cinnamon
bundt pan

What you do is:

preheat the oven to 350
grease a bundt pan and set aside
pour brown sugar, stick of butter, and vanilla in a sauce pan
cook on low stirring occasionally
cut all biscuits into quarters
pour about 1 cup sugar and a good sized amount of cinnamon into a zip lock or a tupperware dish with a tight fitting lid.
though in 8 pieces of dough at a time and shake to coat.
then put in the bundt pan
sprinkle some pecans and apples in on top
drizzle a little bit of brown sugar mixture around
repeat this process until you run out of biscuits, pecans and apples.
take the remaining brown sugar mixture and pour over the top.
bake 35 minutes
let cool for 10 or minutes before putting on a plate

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

This is another home run from the cheap, easy, and YUMMY recipes I got from Woman's Day. They say $1.83 per serving.

I am not gonna lie I was really nervous about this one. I am not one to like beans and cilantro and the thought of mixing some of this stuff really did not sound good to me. This was supposed to be Wednesday's dinner but we went out and ate instead so I made it for lunch yesterday. I then had it for lunch today and we will be making it again next week for dinner.

Ingredients:

makes 4 servings (it sticks to your ribs)

1 cup rice

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

1/2 red onion chopped

2 cubanelle peppers (banana peppers)

1 ham steak cubed (found by the bacon/sausage in stores)

1 TBS minced garlic

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

2 cans low sodium black beans (UNdrained)

1/2 cup water

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1/2 cup cilantro - I personally think this is TOO MUCH. A little cilantro goes a long way and too much will leave your food tasting like soap. And yes I know what soap tastes like because I often had my mouth washed out. I used a generous handful and ran the knife through it a few times.

* I added a jalapeno for a little extra spice.

garnish with fresh lime wedges

Directions:

Bring 2 cups of water to boil. Add rice- cover and remove from heat.

Heat oil over med heat in a large skillet or wok.

Add peppers and onions and cook until they are tender.

Add ham and cook until browned.

Add cumin, garlic, and oregano and cook for about 30 seconds.

Pour in both cans of UNDRAINED beans and 1/2 cup water and reduce heat and bring to simmer for about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and add red wine vinegar and cilantro.

Serve over rice and use lime for garnish.

[Ramen] Noodle Frittata

Again I am shocked! Thank you Woman's Day for cheap recipes! I spent under $2.00 making this (not including my home made salsa).

Ingredients:

2 packages of Chicken flavored Ramen

6 large eggs

1/4 cup scallions chopped

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

2 tsp butter

Salt and pepper to taste (less salt because the flavor packets are sometimes salty depending on the brand you use)

Salsa

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400

Boil ramen noodles without the flavor packets.

In a mixing bowl mix the 2 flavor packet and 6 eggs.

Add the cheese and scallions.

Drain the noodles and stir in to the egg mixture.

Melt the butter in a round baking dish in the oven. When the butter is melted pour the noodle and egg mixture into the pan and bake for 10-15 minutes until the top is set.

cut into wedges and serve with Salsa.

Turkey Tacos with Zesty Lime Salad

First off I will now tell you that I am NOW a believer in ground turkey. I have only used it one other time and I think we ordered pizza because it was not that great. The tacos I made tonight were by far the BEST tacos I have ever had.

Ingredients:

Ground turkey

Taco shells

1/2 head Purple cabbage chopped

1/2 head Lettuce chopped

Medium avocado diced

Medium tomato diced

1/2 purple onion diced

Fresh cilantro

1 large lime

1 TBS olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Chili powder (salt free)

Cumin

Garlic powder

Dried oregano

Directions:

Make your own taco seasoning- This is a great HEALTHY alternative to the packets you get at the store that are packed full of sodium.

in a air tight container or jar mix 1/4 salt free chili powder, 1 TBS cumin, 1 TBS Oregano, and 1 TBS garlic powder and mix well.

Brown ground turkey and season with Taco seasoning.

In a gallon zip lock mix the lettuce, cabbage, avocado, tomato, onion, and a small amount of cilantro.

Pour in olive oil, juice from lime, and salt and pepper to taste.

Seal bag and shake well to coat.

Serve in the taco shells. The salad with have enough flavor that the extras like cheese and sour cream will not be necessary. Although we still had some :)

Pork Lo Mein

So I got a Womans day magazine at the store today because it had easy cheap recipes in it. I am pumped and we will be having one today for lunch.

I was SHOCKED because there are 4 recipes are made with RAMEN NOODLES! Yup Still shocked.

So I am making this one for a late lunch today because I found some pork chops on managers special because they had to be sold by tomorrow:

Pork Lo Mein

cook time 25 minutes
serves 4

Ingredients:
2 packages of oriental flavored ramen noodles
2 tsp oil -olive or vegetable
1 onion chopped- i will use half
3 garlic cloves minced
1 1lb frozen stir fry veggies-thawed
12 oz pork cutlets or thinly sliced pork chops cut into strips
1 TBS cornstarch

directions:

Boil 6 cups of water
Add Ramen noodles without the flavor package
turn off heat and let stand 5 minutes until tender and drain.

while the noodles are cooking heat 1tsp of oil in nonstick skillet. add onion and cook for 5 minutes stirring often about 5 minutes or until tender then add garlic 1 minute or unitl fragrant

add thawed stir fry veggies cook 3 minutes or until crisp and pour into a bowl.

heat 1tsp of oil in same skillet and add pork cook 2 minutes or until browned and cooked through remove to bowl of veggies

in skillet-stir 1 cup of water, the seasoning packets, and corn starch and bring to simmer cook 1 minute or until slightly thickened.

add noodles and toss to coat

add veggies and pork toss to coat and cook over low heat tossing until warmed through.