Pinto Bean Chiliquiles

My kids ate a ton of this tonight - I'm not sure whether they were just really hungry, or if they actually liked the dinner. I started out with a recipe from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen for Black Bean Chilaquiles (p 288-289), and made a few changes.

8 small corn tortillas
3 TBSP canola oil
salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
onion powder
1 15 oz can pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
1 15 oz can chili beans
2 cups water
shredded cheese (cheddar, monterrey jack, or queso fresco)
sour cream

1. Make tortilla chips by cutting tortillas into 6 wedges. Toss in a bowl with 1 TBSP oil and some salt. Bake in a single layer on a baking sheet in the oven at 350 degrees until edges are golden brown (10-15 minutes). (Or use regular tortilla chips)

2. Heat remaining oil in saucepan, add garlic, and cook till fragrant. Add beans and 2 cups water. Bring to boil and simmer about 10 minutes. Beans should still be soupy. Using a potato masher, mash beans until they form a coarse puree. Bring the beans back to a simmer, and stir in the tortilla chips. Cook until tortilla chips are soft, but retain some chewiness. (You can add water if the beans get too dry.)

3. Sprinkle liberally with cheese, and serve with sour cream or creamy tomatillo salad dressing drizzled on top.

Husbands Delight

When I asked John what he wanted to eat for Father's Day,

he said "something no one else will like."

I had a feeling what he really wanted was fish, but I

don't like fish (unless it's battered, fried, drizzled with lemon juice,

and smothered in tartar sauce), so I pulled out this old recipe

that I found on Recipezaar years ago.

John and I liked it, but most of the kids hated it.
That's what John asked for, right?

Ingredients:
10 oz egg noodles
1 lb ground beef
onion powder
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP white sugar
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
Meanwhile, brown hamburger with some onion powder (or you can use diced onions - fresh or dried). Add can of tomatoes, salt, and sugar. Bring to boil and simmer for 15 minutes. In a medium sized bowl, combine cream cheese and sour cream.

Put a little over half of the cooked noodles in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Cover the noodles with the meat mixture, and then the cream cheese and sour cream mixture. Top with the remaining noodles, and sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until it is hot and bubbly. (I usually cover with tinfoil for part of the time to keep the cheese from getting too brown.)

Oatmeal Cookies

For Father's Day, John requested Oatmeal Cookies.

And to make things complicated, he asked that

1/3 of them be plain, 1/3 have white chocolate chips,

and the last 1/3 to have butterscotch chips.

John got this recipe from his mother, and I've blogged
about them once before on my regular blog.
They're delicious!

Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup butter softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 TBSP vanilla
2 eggs
optional - white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix butter and sugars until well blended. Add vanilla and eggs.
Mix in oatmeal.
Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to butter mixture. Beat just until mixed.

Drop by tablespoons onto a cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden.

This time around, I split the dough into thirds, then rolled the portions into logs (about 2 inches thick) and wrapped them in wax paper. Once the dough was chilled, I sliced the dough into half inch discs, put them on cookie sheet, and baked them.

Wet Burritos

This recipe originally called for hamburger. I tried it tonight with just the refried beans, and we didn't miss the meat. Store bought enchilada sauce is usually too spicy for John and the kids, so I mixed the gravy with some tomato sauce and half the enchilada sauce. Some unbaked tortillas are trans fat free, so I prefer those to the precooked ones.

Ingredients:
1 pkg tortillas (either the precooked, or cook the raw ones)
2 cans refried beans
1 pkg brown gravy mix (mixed), or one jar brown gravy (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 can enchilada sauce (10 oz)
1-2 cups shredded cheese (I like Monterrey jack and cheddar)
lettuce (shredded or finely chopped)
tomato (finely chopped)
sour cream

Directions:
Put a spoonful of beans on a tortilla, roll it up burrito style, and place in a 9x13 pan. Repeat with other tortillas and remainder of beans (you'll probably get about 6-8 burritos).
Mix brown gravy and enchilada sauce together and pour over burritos. Top with cheese and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until cheese melts and sauce is hot and bubbly.
Serve with shredded lettuce, tomato, and sour cream.

Pasta

In the last week, we've tried a couple of new pasta dishes.
The first is Penne and Broccoli from Recipe for Disaster.
The second one is from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. The kids weren't crazy about it, but I thought it was good.
Baked Lemon Pasta

I may eventually get around to typing the recipes up here, along with the small changes that I made for our family. But in the meantime, at least I remembered to link them. :)

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars

from Sunset Magazine, October 2006
original recipe, here


Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter with sugars until smooth. Beat in egg, peanut butter, and vanilla until well blended.

2. In another bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, oats, baking soda, and salt; stir or beat into butter mixture until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Stir in chocolate chips.

3. Spread dough evenly in a buttered 8-inch square baking pan. Bake until pale golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool on a rack about 10 minutes, then cut into 12 pieces. Let cool completely.

"THE" Dip

1 can black eyed peas (drained)
1 can shoepeg corn (drained)
3 TBSP green onions, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped (optional - peel and seed them)
3 avocados, chopped
2 TBSP chopped cilantro
1 package Italian dressing, mixed according to directions

Put everything together and stir well.
Serve with tortilla chips.

We sometimes have this for a main dish. The kids love it, and with some fruit it can be filling enough for our family.