July 11- Taco Casserole

Taco Casserole

(Original recipe from El Paso; I made a few minor tweaks.) 

1.25 lb  extra lean ground turkey 

1 16oz can refried beans

1 16oz container of chunky salsa

1 1oz package of taco seasoning

2 cups broken tortilla chips

4 medium green onions, sliced

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup sliced olives

1 cup shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350. 

2. Cook turkey on medium-high 5-7 minutes, in a large skillet. Stir occasionally. Once the meat is cooked, drain any excess oil. Stir in beans, salsa, and taco seasoning. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. 

3. Scatter crushed tortilla chips along the bottom of an ungreased casserole dish. Top with meat/bean mixture. Sprinkle with pepper, onion, tomato, cheese, and olives.

4. Bake 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

5. Serve. Top with sour cream, hot sauce, or shredded lettuce if desired. 

July 5- Shrimp Jambalaya

An easy, one-pot dish of warm comfort. Scrumptious. 

Shrimp Jambalaya

1 medium onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

3 tbsp butter or margarine, cubed

3 cups vegetable broth

1 lb cooked shrimp, peeled 

1 1/2 cups uncooked, long grain rice

2 tsp Creole seasoning

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

2 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes, drained

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

1. In a large skillet, saute onion and bell pepper in butter until tender. 

2. Add broth and rice, Creole seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, and cayenne pepper to the skillet and bring to a boil. Once you've reached a boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Cook 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender. 

3. Stir in tomatoes, shrimp, and peas. Heat through. 

4.Enjoy!

June 30- Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bake

Where would my inspiration be without Pinterest? 

Granted, my photos weren't as beautiful, but the result was delicious despite the ho-hum appearance. 

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bake

Original Recipe by Gingerbread Bagels

1 1/2 cup oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 large banana, mashed

1. In a large bowl, mix oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. 

2. Add vanilla, milk, and egg to mixture and stir through. 

3. Add peanut butter and banana. Mix.

4. Spread into an 8x8 cake pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. To my surprise, I don't own an 8x8 square pan. I used a round cake pan and a small glass dish for baking.

You can't go wrong when peanut butter is involved. 

June 30- Turkey Stuffed Bell Peppers

A friend recently mentioned making stuffed peppers, and raved about how easy and delicious they were. I'd been wanted to try stuffed bell peppers for a while and was inspired to give it a shot. 

Turkey Stuffed Peppers

4 large peppers

1 lb ground turkey 

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 onion, chopped

1 15oz can tomato sauce, divided

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

garlic power (as desired)

1. Cut tops off peppers and remove seeds. Place in a large sauce pan and cover with water. Bring water to a boil and cook 3 minutes. Drain and place peppers in ice water. Remove from water and place on paper towel to dry.
2. In a skillet, cook turkey and onion over medium heat until there is no more pink. Drain any excess grease and remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup tomato sauce, rice, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
3. Place in a baking dish. Drizzle with remaining tomato sauce. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until peppers are tender.
4. Serve. I discovered that they tasted pretty good with ketchup!

When I made these, I used 1.5lb of meat simply because I had that much leftover from a 3 lb package I had bought earlier this week. I had bought a large package of bell peppers, but not all of them were very good. To improvise, I took the good pieces of the flawed pepper (along with parts from the tops of the good ones) and chopped them into small pieces. I scattered them across the bottom of a small baking pan and topped them with the remaining filling and tomato sauce, and baked this concoction alongside the peppers. It turned out good and is a great improvisation if you have too much filling. (My hubby prefers the filling over the bell pepper shell, so this was actually a blessing in disguise!)

June 21- Fiery Fish Tacos

Fish tacos instantly make me think of summer, riding beach cruisers through Huntington Beach, stopping at Wahoo's, and watching the waves crash onto the shore. Ahhh yes. 

Tonight I prepared my own version of fish tacos, complete with cream sauce. 

Fiery Fish Tacos

6 tilapia fillets

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp cumin

1tbsp chili pepper

onion powder, to taste

salt, to taste

1 lime (or lime juice)

Corn tortillas

1. In a nonstick skillet, heat olive oil. Add tilapia fillets and season with cumin, chili pepper, onion powder, and salt. Cut lime in half and squeeze juice generously over fillets. 

2. Cook tilapia about 10 minutes, flipping fillets occasionally. 

3. Warm corn tortillas over stove.

4. Top tortillas with fish and any toppings you like!

Cream Sauce

1/2 cup Light Miracle Whip

1/4 cup skim milk

lemon juice

garlic salt

Mix ingredients until smooth. Adjust Miracle Whip and milk for desired consistency, and lemon juice and garlic salt for desired flavor.

June 18-Chicken Couscous

Tonight I decided to try something different and learned a few lessons in the process.
1. Following a recipe from an iPhone is difficult. Print it out.
2. It's okay to make a mess sometimes (I was a splattering mess tonight!)
3. Couscous is delicious.

It was a nice meal to try for a change, but we both came to the conclusion that it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. We liked it, but neither of us loved it.

Chicken Couscous

(Original recipe by Family Circle. 

Recipe seen below is my version based on preferences and what ingredients we had in the kitchen)

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

1 large onion, thinly sliced

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

2 cups chicken broth

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

8oz shredded carrot

1 cup couscous

1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute onion 3 minutes. Remove.

2. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook in skillet. 

3. When chicken is cooked through, add broth, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer. Add carrots and simmer another 3 minutes. 

4. Stir in couscous. Cover, remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes.

5. Serve.

June 14-Chicken Stir Fry with Brown Rice

Hooray for easy weeknight suppers. Stir fry is a perfect choice for a quick, simple, and fresh meal. Tonight I hadn't prepared anything in advance, but I knew that I had everything on hand that I needed to whip up our own DIY version of this classic takeout dish.    

June 14- Chicken Stir Fry with Brown Rice

Sorry that there aren't any measurements or cook times...

I just improvised along the way, with what we had. Have fun and do the same!

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Mixed stir fry vegetables (green beans, water chestnuts, snap peas, carrots, red pepper, asparagus, etc)

Fresh garlic, minced

Dried onion

Soy Sauce

Brown Rice

1. Cut chicken into small pieces and cook in a nonstick skillet. Generously drizzle soy sauce over chicken. When chicken is close to done, add dried onion. 

2. In a large wok, cook vegetables and garlic. I added the garlic after the other veggies had been cooking for a little while, so that it would not overcook. 

3. Meanwhile, prepare brown rice as directed.

4. When chicken and vegetables are done, add chicken to wok with the vegetables and heat through. 

5. Serve over rice.