DIY Oven Cleaner

My oven was...gross.

I forgot this last winter to run the self cleaning option (because in Phoenix there is no way I am running THAT cycle in the summer.)  Let's be honest it's not my favorite.  Basically it creates an environment so hot that hopefully it all turns to ash and you wipe what's left out.  Not a big deal unless your oven is REALLY bad.  Then you run the risk of setting the fire alarm off as smoke billows from your oven and the fire department shows up because they are pretty sure they deciphered the SOS in the plumes.  Oy. That's where I was.  Gosh, sometimes smoke would start coming just with the preheat of the oven at 400.  No bueno, amigos, no bueno.

I have been highly motivated as of late to get our house clean and myself on a schedule.  Especially since we will be starting school in...oh, look at that...17 days!  The girls like to help so we are working on those aspects.  They are seeing the effects of "many hands make for light work" and merry hearts make for merry work, too.  Although today, I'll admit, I was not so merry.  I know that I set the tone and I reaped what I sowed today.  More on that later.  Back to being motivated...

Yesterday, after most of the rest of the house had been worked on earlier in the week I tackled a couple of problem areas in my kitchen.  I was faced with the oven once again.  I finally said, "That's it.  It just needs to be done."  So, I went to my friend's blog where I saw her recipe for a DIY oven cleaner.  It was a little different than another one I had and I wanted to try it. (Note: the Melaleuca a. is tea tree oil)

It was pretty amazing!  You could barely see through my oven door and now you can TOTALLY see through it.  The door took some extra elbow grease but totally worth it.  But the inside pretty much just wiped out.

I will say, make sure that you oven is just warm.  Not hot.  Mine was too hot and I think it messed with the paste a little.  If you have an electronic temp that shows up on your oven maybe let it get to 100 or 120 and then turn it off.  The lowest mine would go was 170 and I didn't let it cool enough.  Which in turn made for a crazy mess to clean up this morning but still worth it in my opinion.  Next time I know.

It was hard to get to the top of my oven because the broiler elements and the angle.  But I think for what's left the self cleaning will do nicely.

Here are my before and after photos -

Before (top) and After (bottom)

After (top) and Before (bottom)

Spaghetti Squash with Bolognese Sauce (Paleo)

Pictures.

I need to remember pictures.  They probably won't be lovely but it would enhance this place a bit more.  I'll work on it.

When you visit this blog you will find a lot about food.  Yes, there are other aspects to homemaking.  I am not always good at them.  That's okay.  I am learning about getting better.  I also feel like I am coming out of the fog and no longer in just survival mode now with three little ones.  But certain areas still lack.  We have clean clothes.  That's a win.  But priority comes to eating.  People need to eat or the natives get restless.  Right now I am cranking out meals for three adults and three munchkins, three times a day.  Sometimes there are snacks but not very often.

My girls generally like spaghetti and meat sauce.  For some reason all of them have really liked tomato or tomato sauce type meals.  However, the carbs in pasta stick with me and I would like to move away from it as much as possible... even if I DO love it.  When I did my first round of The South Beach Diet I made some spaghetti squash.  I didn't come out very well.  Nope.  So much so that I never made it again.  But I decided to try it this last Sunday.  OH. MY.  So very good.  The sauce came together very well and this has turned into one of my favorite meals for fall when the squash is in season.

My husband and I loved this!  I probably ate a little too much and was totally stuffed until I went to bed.  There was no urge to snack.  It was just happy to my soul.  Granted it's not an actual noodle texture but I thought it got the job done for sure!  My two-year-old, Miss A, asked for seconds.  Nuff' said.  My 11-month baby ate hers all up.  My almost four-year-old is a skeptic when it comes to dinner.  She just wanted to eat the sauce.  But after awhile she warmed up to the new foods and ate it all up with minimal fussing.  It was a total win in my book with her!

I found myself in a pinch when I went to make this as I didn't have the right amount of tomato sauce.  As in, I didn't have any.  I did have tomato paste.  A 1:1 ratio of tomato paste and water worked nicely.  Also, I realized later that if I had added vegetable broth (I like Pacific's Organic Vegetable Broth) it would have kicked up the favor and nutrient value a bit.  I think I will do that next time.  I also cut the red pepper flakes down to 1/8 just in case.  Oh, I think mushrooms (chopped for me please!) would be a good addition to this sauce, too.

Spaghetti Squash with Bolognese Sauce (from Cavemen Gourmet)

1 spaghetti squash

1 pound ground beef
1 large onion – chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 15 oz can of organic tomato sauce
1/4 cup fresh parsley – chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
Salt & Pepper

Directions
Cut your squash in half lengthwise. Clean out squash.  Once you halved the squash, you can either bake it in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees or microwave it. Let cool for a few minutes.  It’s incredibly fast and easy. These ‘noodles’ taste great and are so easy to make. They have a high water content so keep that in mind when you add sauces.  

In a dutch oven, saute the garlic, parsley and onion in extra virgin olive oil and stir on high heat until nicely golden.  Add the ground beef, salt and pepper, and cook on high heat. Make sure to constantly stir the meat so it breaks nicely and you don’t have large chunks of meat.  We’re making bolognese sauce here – not meatballs.

Once the ground beef is nice and brown, add the tomato sauce, oregano, rosemary and red pepper flakes.  Stir the mixture so that all of the ground beef and tomato sauce are evenly mixed.  Taste and correct seasonings (add salt and/or pepper if needed).  Lower heat and let simmer for an hour. 

After an hour, the bolognese sauce should be meaty and delicious with a slightly sweet taste from the sauteed onions and have a little kick from the red pepper flakes. For those Lacto-Paleos out there, feel free to top with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Smoky Bacon Chili

I love food.

I have a love hate relationship with.  I love it.  But I hate what it can do to my body.  Okay, okay... it's the bad decisions I make about food that I hate.  I feel like I am in this new place learning about food.  I am wanting to teach my girls good things so that they don't face the same things I do.  It's no secret that I battled my weight for most of my life and especially now after three babies in just three years (my youngest was born the day before my oldest turned three!)  So, here I am evaluating my eating habits.  We did low carb (South Beach) for awhile and it worked for us.  Then something would happen and we would fall off the wagon into convenience and not-so-healthy options.

Recently, I have been reading about different "paleo" options.  There are some different ways to be paleo and if I had to choose one of the many tag lines it would be "lacto-paleo" because we enjoy some dairy things around here.  I have already noticed a decrease in how much we use and that is not a bad thing either.  Anyway, I am not going to go into the details of "paleo" here.  There are more than enough sites to read about it.  If you want some suggestions then please ask.  However, I am not claiming to be an expert and I am still learning.  Also, I really just like the recipes that I find.  Most are packed with flavor and are nutrient dense.  I didn't eat a lot of vegetables before I got married and now as I have been looking through paleo meals I am starting to think through at least two sides of vegetables depending on the meal.  I am more satisfied after a meal and I feel good that I am presenting my children with a healthy option.  Whether they actually eat it or not is an entirely different story.  More on that later.  Also, our change is gradual... more on that later, too.

So, here is one meal that I had this week that got RAVE reviews from my husband and my dad who is living with us for awhile.  It was indeed pretty tasty.  HOWEVER, if you make this as is and you have little mouths to feed it will be WAY TOO SPICY.  I just got in task mode and threw it all in and realized what I had done when it was TOO LATE.  So, the munchkins did have to take at least one bite (and they did pretty well as long as the bite had sweet potato with it... and a bit of sour cream for the two year old) and they had macaroni & cheese instead.

Smoky Bacon Chile (from PaleOMG)

Ingredients

o    1lb ground beef

o    6 slices of bacon, cubed

o    1 yellow onion, diced

o    1 red pepper, diced

o    1 green pepper, diced

o    1 garlic clove, minced

o    1 (14) ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes

o    1 (8) ounce can of tomato sauce

o    1 tablespoon garlic powder

o    1 tablespoon chili powder

o    2 tablespoons smoked paprika

o    2 teaspoons cumin

o    1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

o    salt and pepper, to taste

o    2-3 sweet potatoes (optional)

Instructions

1.       Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Poke holes in your sweet potatoes with a fork. Place on rack in oven and cook for about 30 minutes or until potato is soft and cooked through.

2.       Now pull out a large pot, add your cubed bacon and let cook down.

3.       While the bacon is cooking, chop all your veggies.

4.       When the bacon has browned and is a bit crisp, add your veggies.

5.       Let cook for about 6 or so minutes, then add your ground beef and all the spices.

6.       Once the beef is browned, add your tomato sauce and fire roasted tomatoes.

7.       Mix well and let all the flavors meld together while cooking on low for the next 8 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

8.     Split Sweet potato and pour chili over it and enjoy!

Pizza Dough

Remember my 2012 Crafting Plan?

Well, I finally finished ONE of them.  The pizza dough.  I have tried a couple of different recipes.

My first one was a simple recipe I got from my bread machine book.  I made a whole wheat version for this Black Bean Nacho Pizza.  I think whole wheat in general is a little dense but it was still quite good.

A couple of weeks later I tried the regular white flour recipe.  It turned out good.  I will say that there is a trick to working with pizza dough.  Gravity is your friend and I now understand why pizzerias twirl their dough.  However, the whole wheat dough was by far easier to actually roll out.

Just last night I used Pioneer Woman's pizza dough recipe from her favorite pizza recipe.  I like that I can do this dough up a few days ahead of time.  However, I did this one the morning of the day that I would be using it.  At some point I will try the aged option.  This was a really good recipe!  What else would you expect from PW?  However, I think for how I was using it I would use the whole batch for a thicker crust.  I would also maybe let it bake up some before putting the toppings on.

I know some people freeze dough and I may look into doing that, too.  I am all for putting things in my freezer :)

Fiesta Chicken (Green)

As promised, here is the green version which I adapted from the the red version posted earlier this week.  I prefer this one but both are equally delish!

Fiesta Chicken (Green)


1.5 lb chicken breast
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can hominy (found in the Mexican or Latin food area) -- if you can find a small can go with that.  You may only be able to find the big can and that is fine.
1 can black beans (rinsed)
1 small can of green chile/enchilada sauce (or half of the BIG can)
1 small can of chopped green chile (fresh or frozen would be best but do what you need to do if you have little mouths to feed-- or add more to your liking.)

Put it all in a crock pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours (depending on your cooker and if chicken is frozen.  Mine tends to be on the hot side so it could even be 3 hours!)  Shred Chicken.  Serve with flour tortilla or over rice with cheese and sour cream.

Enjoy!

Fiesta Chicken (Red)

I realized I was in process of putting up all the freezer meal recipes that I made for the arrival of Miss S and obviously not finished.  At some point I will give an update on what I thought about the meals, how they thawed, and reheated.  It has been a fun learning process and we really haven't been disappointed.

Anyway... more on that tangent later.  :)

If you Google Fiesta Chicken you will get a plethora of recipes.  I found the one that I use here.  It's a random place to find the meals but I used many of their suggestions!

I call their version the Red version because I later adapted another version of it that I call Green.  Being from New Mexico I prefer most things in a green chile version.  Yum.  I will post the Green version in another post.

Fiesta Chicken (Red) from blonde-designs


1.5 lb chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes (I used petite)
1 can corn (could use frozen) - drained
1 can black beans - rinsed
1 C salsa
taco seasoning (I think I used about 1 T)

I may have added about 1/2 C water or stock because I don't generally use the "juice" from canned items except for the tomatoes or no salt/no sugar added corn.


Add everything to a slow cooker and cook on low until done (about 4-6 hours depending on your cooker and if your chicken was frozen or not) Shred chicken.  Serve over a flour tortilla or over rice with cheese and sour cream.  Or it makes a nice soup/stew like meal on its own, too!

If you want to use this meal for a cooking group or Once a Month Cooking you can just add everything to a zip loc bag and freeze.

Chicken Spaghetti

I have heard a LOT about The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.  However, I resisted going to her website.  I thought many of her things would be far too difficult for me to make or require a BUNCH of ingredients for one meal that I don't normally have on hand and would never use again unless I made that meal again.  Boy howdy, I was wrong! (She also has an iced coffee recipe that I am dying to try -- I need to peruse her recipes a bit more.)


I think I was looking around on other blogs for ideas for freezer meals and someone's list pointed be to the PW and her Chicken Spaghetti.  I thought I would at least give it a whirl.  I have never had anything smell SO GOOD while I was prepping it.  I wished I had actually tripled the recipe so we could have one pan for dinner that night.  Alas, I had to settle for just taking a test bite here and there.  Yummy!!  Seriously, though, I just wanted to stand there and sniff at it the rest of the day.  It was sad to cover it up and stick it in the freezer for when Baby #3 arrives.  Sigh.  I generally have most of these ingredients in my pantry and if I don't they are not going to sit forever waiting to be used.  I think I was out of Cayenne Pepper so I just left it out.


You can find the recipe here:  Chicken Spaghetti


However, if you just print out the recipe card from her site I would suggest reading through the whole post for more specifics on what to do and what not to do.  I will post my extended version with specifics below.

Chicken Spaghetti  (from The Pioneer Woman)

2 cups Cooked Chicken (from whole fryer cut up or other source)

3 cups Dry Spaghetti, Broken Into Two Inch Pieces

2 cans Cream Of Mushroom Soup

2 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

¼ cups Finely Diced Green Pepper

¼ cups Finely Diced Onion

1 jar (4 Ounce) Diced Pimentos, Drained

2 cups Reserved Chicken Broth From Pot

1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt

⅛ teaspoons (to 1/4 Teaspoon) Cayenne Pepper

Salt And Pepper, to taste

1 cup Additional Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Fill large pot (think stock pot or pasta pot) with water.  Put on stove and start heating the water.

Wash each chicken piece.  Add chicken to water.  Bring to a rolling boil and let boil for a few minutes.  Reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for a good 30 to 45 minutes.

Dice green pepper and onion.  Drain the 4 oz jar of pimentos. (If they came diced, awesome!  If they are sliced dice them up a bit).

Next, break the thin spaghetti into 2-inch pieces until you have around 2 1/2 to 3 cups. (if you’re careful and keep the spaghetti nice and packed, it should be around 2 1/2 – 3 cups, uncooked.)

Remove cooked chicken from pot.  Reserve 2 cups of the broth.  Turn the pot with the rest of the broth to high heat.  When it is boiling again add the spaghetti.  Cook to al dente (remember you will be baking this again later!)  Drain and set aside.

When the chicken is cool, remove chicken meat from bones.  You will need two cups (packed) of meat.

**Note: You can use any cut of chicken you like. I like the whole fryer because it gives you a mixture of dark and light meat, but if you’d like to do just breasts, that would work just fine! Also, if you have cooked chicken from another source (leftovers, etc), that’s fine too; just be sure to add a small amount of canned chicken broth to the water before you boil the spaghetti. (Not too much, though, or the dish will be too salty.)

Add chicken to large mixing bowl.  Add chicken and 2 cans of Cream of Mushroom soup.  (Sometimes I like to use Cream of Chicken & Mushroom soup. You can do one of each, or pick one. They both work beautifully.)  Add the diced green pepper, onion, and pimentos.  Add 2 Cups grated sharp cheese.  1 tsp Lawry’s seasoning salt.  Generous seasoning with black pepper.  1/8 to ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (1/8 of a tsp is usually good for little mouths.)

Now start adding the chicken broth, beginning with 1 cup. Stir it up, then add a little more. You want the mixture to be stirrable, but definitely not soupy. I usually stop just short of using the full two cups.

Stir thoroughly, then take a bite and check your seasonings. Add a little salt if needed, a little more pepper, and maybe a little more Cayenne if you didn’t have enough Chutzpa the first time around. Make sure it’s seasoned enough!

Place in any shape casserole dish.  Top with an additional 1 cup of shredded cheese.

At this point, you can cover it well and freeze it, unbaked. Or you can cover it and refrigerate it, unbaked, for up to two days before baking. Or, if your family is salivating and rending their garments in hunger and agony, go ahead and bake it at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes until hot & bubbly.

Italian Stuffed Meatloaf

So, I realized that I had originally planned to post all of the recipes I was making for the freezer when Baby #3 arrives.  I am SO behind.  I must say there are some that I am more excited about than others which may be why I haven't posted some yet.  This may be one of those recipes that I am not so excited about right now.  The recipe comes from some ladies that do some once a month type cooking.  They have a group of ladies that get together, make meals, swap, and they leave with about 12 different meals to use during the month that they store in their freezers.  If you follow the link at the bottom of the recipe you can get to the original post and click on a PDF that is there of many recipes that they use for this gathering.  Many could also be used for freezer meals for a baby as well.  I have a few other recipes that I will post from them that we really enjoy.

Anyway, when I made this I tripled the recipe -- two for the freezer and one for dinner that night.  I was a little less than excited in the final product.  However, it was different and it was good.  I probably won't make it again as I like my Turkey &Vegetable meatloaf much better.  I wonder if this would taste better with a different meat like elk (yum!) or turkey.  Maybe someday I will try it that way.

If you try this let me know what you think!


ITALIAN STUFFED MEATLOAF

1 lbs ground beef
1/2 c breadcrumbs
1/2 t salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c onion, diced
1/8 c celery, finely diced
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp basil
1/8 c Parmesan
1 eggs
1/8 t Worcestershire sauce
1/8tsp hot pepper sauce
1-1/2 c spaghetti sauce

Filling:
1/2 c ricotta cheese (low fat)
1/2 c Italian cheese blend, shredded
1/2 T parsley

Assembly:
Meat Mixture: In small bowl, mix breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, garlic, onion, celery, Italian seasoning, basil and cheese.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, break up beef and make an indentation in the center. Break the eggs into this well;
add Worc. Sauce and hot pepper sauce. With a fork, quickly beat the eggs and sauce together in the well. Using either your hands or large spoon, mix eggs and meat together until well combined. Pour the breadcrumb mixture into the meat mixture in 2-3 installments, mixing each time until well incorporated. If mixture seems too dry, add a little milk or one more beaten egg to the mixture. Filling: In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, shredded cheese and parsley. Mix together and set aside.

Divide meat mixture into two equal parts. Line loaf pans; press 1/2 of meat mixture into loaf pan. Pressing
down with your fingers or the back of a spoon, create a shallow “ditch” down the middle of the meat mixture. Spread part of ricotta filling mixture into each ditch, leaving about 1-1/2” border of meat all around. Press second 1/2 of meat mixture into loaf pan, pushing down around the edges to help seal in the filling.

If freezing, do so here using foil and plastic wrap method. (Thaw in fridge before cooking)

To Serve: Preheat oven 350 degrees. Bake meatloaf for 30 min, then spoon off any excess grease, if necessary. Pour 1-2 cups of your favorite tomato or spaghetti sauce on top of meatloaf and bake an additional 25-30 min. Be careful not to over-bake. Serve with buttered noodles or pasta, a salad, and garlic bread.

courtesy of http://blonde-designs.squarespace.com/blonde-designs-blog/2010/1/29/freezer-meals.html

"Vegetarian" Lasagna

I am always looking for something to add vegetables to our meals rather than just as a side.  I am not really creative there and Miss L is now in a phase of hit or miss on whether she likes vegetables and Miss A could not care any less as long as the food is in front of her.  I found this recipe browsing Pinterest (surprised?) and it was in a list of "8 weeks of easy recipes" from a website called, Moms Who Think.


So, while I am not a huge fan of mushroom I purchased all the necessary ingredients.  I had pasta sauce already on hand from a great sale and oddly enough I also had feta on hand that I needed to use sooner than later.  I have the word vegetarian in quotes in this post because I happened to have some left over pasta sauce that had some Italian sausage in it.  I added more sauce to the recipe as an estimate.  Go with what works for you.  Also, 24oz of mozzarella was a lot of cheese.  I didn't use it all by any means.  I will be using in in another meal later this week.  Be sure not to cook the vegetables too much as they will become too mushy during baking.  While I almost left the feta off because Miss L has not been such a fan of feta in the past.  However, she seemed to like it and it adds a whole new dimension -- must. add. feta.

This meal, while messy for my one year old, went over very well!  Great leftovers and the girls gobbled it up!  Totally worth the mess.  Totally.

Vegetarian Lasagna Ingredients:

4 medium zucchini
1 package of fresh mushrooms (amount depends on taste)
1 medium onion
Fresh garlic (to taste)
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach
28 oz. jar pasta sauce
24 oz. mozzarella cheese
8 oz. feta cheese
Olive Oil (to coat the pan)
Lasagna Noodles

Directions:

1. Boil lasagna noodles until al dente. Mince zucchini, mushrooms, onion and garlic.

2. Coat pan with oil and sauté vegetables until tender. Add defrosted spinach. Add pasta sauce.

3. Layer vegetable mixture on top of noodles; add mozzarella cheese on each layer.

4. Top with feta cheese. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 until brown and bubbly.

5. Serve with warmed Italian bread. (Or maybe a fresh green salad!) 

Chipotle Bean Burritos

My friend, AMH, pinned this recipe and she blogged about it later.  So, here I am doing the same thing.  She warned me that this may be a little too spicy for the little mouths that gather around my table so I proceeded with caution.  As I read through the recipe I decided that I would take beans out for the girls before the mashing of some of the beans and the addition of salsa.  That seemed to work as the girls gobbled it up without blinking an eye.  However, the beans for the girls were a bit dry when I started mashing them.  I added a couple of teaspoons of water.  Next time I think I will add some stock or something with more flavor.  Also, my girls love pico de gallo so I will give them that instead of salsa (although they sometimes devour salsa, too).  The original photo and recipe can be found on the website My Recipes.

Overall, this was a pretty yummy meal.  I think that I would actually increase the chipotle pepper after I take the beans out for the kiddos.  I know my spice isn't very old and I wanted to taste it a bit more.

We generally have all these ingredients on hand (or things that are easily done without or substituted) so this makes a cheap and easy meal for us.  Even my husband who is sometimes apprehensive about our meatless meals thought this was pretty good and was up for eating it again.  YAY!!

Chipotle Bean Burritos

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 (15-ounce) can organic black beans, drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, drained
• 3 tablespoons refrigerated fresh salsa
• 6 (10-inch) reduced-fat flour tortillas (such as Mission)
• 1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese
• 1 1/2 cups chopped plum tomato (about 3)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
• 6 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
• 6 tablespoons light sour cream

Preparation

• 1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in chile powder and salt; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/3 cup water and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in salsa. Partially mash bean mixture with a fork.
• 2. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/3 cup bean mixture into center of each tortilla. Top each serving with about 2 1/2 tablespoons cheese, 1/4 cup tomato, 1/4 cup lettuce, 1 tablespoon onions, and 1 tablespoon sour cream; roll up.

Maureen Callahan, Cooking Light 
JANUARY 2010

Ham & Cheese Sliders

I keep seeing this recipe being "repinned" on Pinterest and I always think to myself, "Good recipe, I need to blog about it."  This was one of the first things I tried from Pinterest.  It was originally pinned from The Girl Who Ate Everything.  (I need to look through this blog a bit more! HA!)

Ham happened to be on sale that week.  I will say because of the general expense of meat I probably would not go out of my way to make this meal again.  However, it will be in rotation for when we generally have leftovers of ham.  So, think Resurrection Day/Easter, Christmas or New Year's if that's your thing... or anytime it is on sale.  This recipe may work well with deli sliced ham if you find a good deal on it.  This meal was a bit on the expensive side for me because I got the swiss cheese in the deli.  However, my buyer's remorse was short lived with how well this meal went over with everyone AND I was able to use the cheese I had not only for this meal but for another meal and some lunches.

I actually halved this recipe because I didn't think we would need ALL of them.  Plus, I was running short on time (I forgot I still had to slice the ham myself!) and I had opted earlier to only buy one bag of rolls.  Next time I will make the full recipe as they were gobbled up and they would make AWESOME leftovers.  Just sayin'.

Ham and Cheese Sliders

adapted slightly from the Recipe Club

24 good white dinner rolls

24 pieces good honey ham
24 small slices Swiss cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup miracle whip

Poppy seed sauce
1 T poppyseeds
1 1/2 T yellow mustard
1 stick butter, melted
1 T minced onion
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and miracle whip. Spread onto both sides of the center of each roll. Place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss inside of each roll. Close rolls and place them into a large baking dish or heavy cookie sheet. Place very close together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches. Let sit 10 minutes or until butter sets slightly. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes. Serve warm.

** sandwiches can be assembled a day ahead and kept in the fridge ready to bake.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

Let me just say, my kiddos (1 & 2 1/2) gobbled this up!  That should be all you need to know to try this yummy meal.  I had just used the last of my sour cream a couple of days before so I didn't get to use that in these this time around.  However, my littles don't really like sour cream so I would have left it out of theirs anyway.  I put a little less chili powder in as my girls can be a bit sensitive but they didn't complain! I will add this to a regular rotation.  I had some left over chicken from another meal so it made it a pretty cheap meal.  However, I may try this with whole wheat tortillas next time around. (You can find the original recipe by clicking on the photo - they also have a print friendly version available there.)  Oh yes, this was also tagged on my Pinterest board.  Love.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wrap

*Makes 6 wraps*

1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 green onion, finely sliced (white and green parts)
1/2 red or green pepper, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a combination of monterey jack and sharp cheddar)
Sour cream (optional)

6 burrito-sized flour tortillas

Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla. (Optional: on some of the wraps, I dotted the cheese with about 1-2 tablespoons of reduced fat sour cream before arranging chicken and rice mixture down the center – it made the wraps delightfully creamy.) Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open. Spray the tortillas all over with cooking spray.

Heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for 1 minute. Arrange 2 wraps, seam-side down, in pan and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining wraps. Serve.

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

Not too long ago a friend posted on her blog about all the lovely things one can find on Pinterest.  Anything really from food, crafts, photography.  If it's on the internet it can be "pinned."  She posed the question to her readers if we are on said website do we do anything with the things we pin.  While I have not done anything with the crafty things I have pinned I have made several recipes that I have pinned.  It has actually become my go to place to plan my meals.  Granted, some things you find there can be quite extravagant.  However, you can find super simple and budget friendly meals as well.  So begins the many meals that will be tagged with "Pinterest."  Oddly enough, I found this recipe on the same friend's recipe board!  However, the original recipe can be found on MarthaStewart.com.

For whatever reason I didn't use the beer in this recipe.  I wanted it to be a lighter beer (as in color) and I think all we had on hand at the time was a stout.  Maybe next time.  It was a really yummy meal.  I made the mistake of getting smaller tortillas than the called for 10-inch.  Get the 10-inch people!  I made mine in a cake pan rather than pulling down the spring form pans.  Probably beautiful either way.  But the spring form will allow for easier access.

This is a great recipe and the kiddos loved it.  We had a tiny bot of taco meat left over so I threw it in just for kicks.  If I were making this again it would be perfectly delish as it is written.

• Tortilla and Black Bean Pie
• 
  
• 4 flour tortillas (10 inches)
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno chile, minced (remove seeds and ribs for less heat)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 12 ounces beer, or 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
• 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (2 1/2 cups)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. With a paring knife, trim tortillas to fit a 9-inch springform pan. Use the bottom of the pan as a guide. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, jalapeno, garlic, and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.
3. Add beans and beer, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until liquid has almost evaporated, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in corn and scallions, and remove from heat. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
4. Fit a trimmed tortilla in bottom of springform pan; layer with 1/4 of the beans and 1/2 cup of cheese. Repeat three times, using 1 cup cheese on top layer. Bake until cheese melts, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove side of pan; sprinkle pie with scallions. To serve, slice into wedges.