Enchilada Casserole

Enchilada Casserole

I've had friends ask me how I get the recipes I make well.... last post I mentioned Pinterest and the craziness of it - I am completely addicted! I get plenty of inspiration for dinner from my almost 1000 recipe I've pinned (told you I was addicted)! However, I rarely open the pin once I have pinned it - I get an idea and do it the way I think would work. Case-in-point is this weeks post: Enchilada Casserole. I freaking love Mexican food! You probably have learned this from here and here. This was no different, easy and good!

(Its hard to take pictures of food!)


Enchiladas Casserole

The Stuff:

1lb lean ground beef

1 cup corn (frozen or canned, I use this frozen roasted corn from Trader Joe's - so good!)

5  8in flour tortilla (you can use whole wheat or corn, may change amount you need)
2 cups of reduced fat shredded cheese
1 can black beans (rinsed)
1 small can diced olives (optional, but good)
1/4 cup jarred salsa
10 oz of enchilada sauce (I use homemade and will share that recipe next week)

The How To:
Preheat oven to 375
Grease (I use Pam) a 2qt casserole dish and set aside
On medium-high heat in a large skillet brown ground beef, use a wooden spoon and break up until browned, drain fat
Stir in enchilada sauce, olives, corn (can still be frozen if using that), & black beans, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes



the onions are from the enchiladas sauce, feel free to add to the meat, too!

 While that is simmering, take the casserole dish and cover the bottom with the salsa

Take 3 of the tortillas and place on bottom, rip to fill in gaps



Layer half the meat on top of that with half the cheese

Then another layer of tortillas, meat and last layer with cheese and bake for 20 minutes cover with foil. Remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and brown

Here's a picture of the layers....

And another....

And the final product, serve with sour cream, avocado and cilantro!

Enjoy!

She's Baaaaack! (And skillet lasagna)

After a year and some months (6 to be exact) I've decided to start my blog again! I've had many requests and questions wondering where it went (thanks, supporters, you warm my heart!). Now, I figured out people WERE reading my blog and liked it. Not much has changed since Summer of 2011, well, The MR. and I moved and we got a dog! Reggie is the best boy - the apple of our eyes! (Oh, and Pinterest has been going gang busters! Are you on there)?

This is the Reg Boy. You will be seeing lots of him, I have a feeling.

And now for the food, who likes lasagna but hates all the work? Me! Here is a simple recipe that has all the lasagna flavor but only takes 30 minutes - start to finish! Introducing Skillet Lasagna. Pretty easy one pot meal with all flavors of true lasagna. (I have pics of the food but they are on my iPad which is not with me - I'll post tonight. I just really wanted to get this puppy out there)

Skillet Lasagna

The Stuff:

1 lb ground beef (lean for this WW folks or anyone wanting to cut calories)

2 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup ricotta (skim milk works fine)

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (I'm a rebel and just used the cheddar/jack combo I had - either would work)

3 cups lasagna noodle pieces (about 10oz)

3 handfuls of fresh spinach

1 white or yellow onion chopped

1 teaspoon of grape seed oil (or olive oil)

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

The How To:

• Preheat oven on broil
• In an oven proof skillet, heat up grape seed oil (I will post about the benefits of different kinds of oils in a post coming soon) and add onions. Cook until translucent
• Add beef and cook until no longer pink, breaking up clumps with a wooden spoon, drain fat
• Add seasoning, tomatoes and noodles and stir

• Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until noodles are soft, stir frequently so noodles don't clump together and/or stick to pot
• Add 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup ricotta and stir
• Then add ricotta in tablespoon drops on top of mixture

• Add rest of mozzarella and put under broiler for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly

Enjoy!

Roasted Veggies

Ok, this recipe is not rocket science, but these roasted veggies are delicious! You can use whatever veggies you have on hand. I went with asparagus, yellow squash, zucchini, red and yellow peppers and onions. Next time I might try to add eggplant and tomatoes. I served these with a lean pork chop and roasted fingerling potatoes for an easy weeknight meal.

Roasted Veggies

The Stuff:
1 pound asparagus
1 large or 2 small zucchini
1 large or 2 small yellow squash
1 large onion (I used sweet yellow onions, red would be good too)
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt

The How To:

• Preheat oven to 400
• Chop the veggies into bite size pieces
• In a large ziplock bag add half the veggies and 1 tablespoon of olive oil; shake around until veggies are well coated
• Add to a cookie sheet and then do the same with the other half of the veggies and the olive oil
• Top the veggies with s&p and bake for 30 minutes or until the veggies are soft

WW friends: The whole thing is 7 pp due to the oil, you can cut back on the oil if you want, but I don't think you'll get the same results. The serving I had was 2pp and soooo delish!

Enjoy!

Seafood Pasta

Pasta is my go to meal, its fast, easy and keeps me full. For this meal I basically cleaned out the cupboards and refrigerator. I've been traveling so much lately I haven't had time to go to the grocery store so I was literally looking at bare cupboards and had to use my imagination for this one. And you know what I decided? That's the best way to make dinner! I had some frozen shrimp, frozen seafood (Scallops, calamari and shrimp medley from Trader Joe's), edamame and sun dried tomatoes. Writing it out makes it sound a little odd, but I tell you it was great.

 

Seafood Pasta

 

The Stuff:
teaspoon olive oil
1 large shallot
1 glove garlic
1 large heirloom tomato (or whatever type you have)

I love Heirlooms!

8 oz frozen, shelled edamame
8-10 oz seafood (any combination will work)
1/8 cup sun dried tomatoes
1 roasted red bell pepper (I used the jarred kind)
1 teaspoon season salt
1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Juice from 1 Meyer lemon
2 teaspoon olive oil, separated

 

The How To:

• Cook pasta as directed and drain reserving 1 cup of pasta water
•  Heat up the oil, chop shallots and garlic, add to pan 
• While shallots and garlic are cooking (5 minutes) defrost the seafood and set aside
• Add frozen edamame to pan (I use frozen because it thaws out just enough in the saute pan and adds a nice texture to the dish), cook for 3 minutes
• Dice sun dried tomatoes and bell peppers and add to pan
• Add seasoning and cook for 3 minutes
• Add seafood and cook for 5 minutes 
• Add 1/2 cup of pasta water and scrap bottom of pan of all the goodness
• In a big bowl throw in pasta, remaining pasta water, heirloom tomatoes (diced) and contents of pan, stir until well incorporated
• Spoon portions into bowls and add 1/8 cup Parmesan cheese to each bowl, add half lemon juice and half olive oil in each bowl, stir
• The lemon, Parmesan and pasta water make a sort of sauce that is delicious and refreshing!

WW Friends: 1 portion for me was 9 points, for an accurate count you should tally yours up

Enjoy!

Tilapia Fish Sticks

I am not sure about you, but when I was a kid fish sticks made a regular appearance on the dinner table. They were easy for my mom to make leaving her time to pack lunches, clean house and do the other 100 different things single moms have to do. As I've gotten older, I'm not a fan of frozen fish sticks - I am actually not sure there is anything "fishy" about them. So, I decided to make a grown up version using panko and tilapia and baking them - these babies are good! And, still pretty easy, not as easy as the frozen ones, but who eats frozen fish sticks anymore?:)

Tilapia Fish Sticks

The Stuff:
3 tilapia fillets
1 cup panko crumbs
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 cup egg white substitute or 2 eggs beaten

The How To:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
• Cut fish in half like a hot dot and then in half like a hamburger (am I the only one that grew up with this? Just in case, cut longways and then cut short ways :)
• In a bowl put panko, pepper, parsley and chili powder, in another bowl put beaten eggs
• Create an assembly line with cut fish first, then egg, then panko, then a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam cooking spray

• Take fish one piece at a time and dip in egg until well coated, then dip into panko until completely covered, place on cookie sheet, continue with remaining fish
• Spray fish with a couple sprays of Pam to help seal the crumbs
• Bake for 10 minutes, then flip and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until browned
• Serves 2-3 depending on how hungry The MR. is...I normally have 1 tilapia fillet, served with cooked spinach and sweet potatoes

WW Friends: 4 sticks (1 fillet) is 4p+

Enjoy!

Peas, Prosciutto and Pasta

Three "P's" that are delightful together: peas, prosciutto and pasta. This is an easy weeknight meal that is literally ready in minutes (10 tops). The peas take all of 2 minutes to cook, the pasta is 7-9 depending on what kind you use and the prosciutto doesn't have to be cooked. Talk about easy!

Have you ever had English Peas? If not you should start, or if you have bravo - keep it up! These suckers are bigger than normal peas, have a nice crunch to them, a little sweet and oh so good.

Peas, Prosciutto and Pasta

The Stuff:
1 pound English peas peeled
3 oz prosciutto, cut in small strips
1 pound of your favorite pasta (I think something with some shape works best)
1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped (I ALWAYS keep jarred roasted red bell pepper on hand, they are great in dressings, sauces and pasta)
1 shallot, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
S&P to taste
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

The How To:
Make pasta as directed, reserve 2 cups of pasta water
Blanche peas: boil water, throw in peas for about 2 minutes, immediately run under cool water, set aside

Before being blanched, but oh-so-cute!

In a saute pan heat 1 tablespoon of oil and throw in red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute to open up the flavor
Throw in shallots, garlic and red bell pepper until tender, about 5 minutes
Take of heat and throw in prosciutto piece by piece not in one big chunk, this will help it keep separated
Toss in peas and pour mixture over cooked pasta, mix well
Toss in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, stir
Pour in a little pasta water at a time until it makes a sauce
Top with s&p, FRESH Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley

Serve with sourdough bread to sop up the yummy juices

Enjoy!

(WW Friends, I will post nutrition facts SOON! I have been so behind on my posts that by the time I get to posting I have NO idea what the points are - I sooo need to get organized! This is about 6 p+)

Stuffed Peppers with Heirloom Tomato Sauce

Stuffed peppers are one of my favorite things, the small problem is I forgot all about them! Its been years since I've last made them - but after making them this last time I will NOT let that happen again. They are so easy and a complete meal in one! Lots of veggies, some protein and a little cheese - yum! You can use whatever colored pepper you'd like for this recipe. I used green because they were huge, but feel free to mix it up.

Stuffed Peppers

The Stuff:
2 large peppers or 4 small ones
1 pound of lean pork
2 zucchinis
2 summer squash
1/2 cup mushrooms
1 small onion
2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 recipe of heirloom tomato sauce (see below)
1 egg
splash of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder (cut back if you don't like heat)
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 thick slices of mozzarella cheese

The How To:

Preheat oven to 350

Heirloom Tomato sauce:
1 cup of ripe heirloom tomatoes
1/8 cup olive oil
Place ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix until tomatoes have broken down and formed a sauce

Stuffed Peppers:
Cut the tops off the peppers

Use a cheese grater to shave the zucchini and squash

Chop the mushrooms
Chop the onion

In a bowl mix all the ingredients except the cheese, peppers and tomato sauce

There's meat under there, promise :)

Coat the bottom of a casserole dish with half the heirloom tomato sauce

Add the well combined ingredients to the peppers, really stuff them good. Don't be afraid if they seemed overflowing, that's what you want

Add peppers and top with remaining tomato sauce
Bake for 40 minutes, take out and top with the mozzarella cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melted

Look at the ooey gooey cheese!

This is the "smaller" of the two - soooo yummy!



 Not the best picture, but you get the idea.

Enjoy!