Monterey Beans and Cheese

So for the next 2 weeks we are doing simple, and healthy here. (We are talking hardly any cheese and meat food items! More beans and I guess there are quite a few that has bacon in it...) Ok, so they may not all be super simple, because I do have some gluten free things planned.... ;)

I also planned out breakfast, lunch AND dinner! Typical when making out menus, breakfast and lunch were more of a "go - with - flow", but I decided I want them all planned out, that way I know I have enough bread for their pb and j and not making these extra trips to the store! I am not gonna lie, buying for 2 weeks kinda stinks! Now, I will have to go to get more milk, but I know for a fact that I am covered with the rest of the ingredients, minus milk and bananas! :)
Not gonna lie, planning all 3 meals, whew... But then again using this cookbook I found a few really good looking breakfast ones! Lunch will be pb and j and then leftovers, or more like cracker, cheese and fruit and veggies... Will see how it goes!! :D

My mom had gotten me an AWESOME cookbook and will be taking many recipes from that. It's called More-with-Less.

Tonite I went with a bean recipe again, go figure! Last nite I made tostado's, will put that recipe up once I get the green sauce figured out! :)

Anyways.... This was super easy to make! I just put the beans in a pot and let it come to a slow boil and boiled them for about 3 hours.



Place your bacon in the frying pan...

While bacon is frying, cut up your pepper and onion....


Bacon nice and crispy, yummy!!!


Place your pepper and onion in the bacon fat and saute... Make sure the heat isn't up too high or you will burn those puppies! You want them soft, but not brown.... ;)


While the onions and peppers are frying, cut up the tomato(s)


Ok, so mine got a little brown, but they were nice and soft and now burnt... ;)


Add all the other ingredients next! The beans, bacon, cheese, tomatoes, chili powder...


Stir it up til the cheese is melted


Place your rice on a plate (sorry for the kid-monkey plate... We used kids plates tonite for din-din!)


Place some of your Moneterey Bean and cheese on top...


Mix it all up and ENJOY!!!! Loved it! Such GREAT flavors!!!!


Monterey Beans and Cheese

Fry drain and break into pieces, 2 - 3 slices bacon
Set that aside and saute in bacon fat until tender:
1/2 medium onion
1/2 green pepper
Add:
bacon bits
2 cups cooked kidney beans
1/4-1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 ripe tomatoes, diced (or 3/4 cup tomato sauce)
1/4 cup beef broth or tomato juice
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper
Cook slowly, stirring constantly, until ingredients are blended and cheese is smooth- about 5 minutes. Serve with rice.

*I didn't have any beef broth or tomato juice, so I just used water.
I also used 1 tomato instead of 2. My kiddos aren't too big on tomatoes, well, I take that back, 2 of them are fans, then other 2, not so much, so I was trying to please them all and just used 1! :)
I didn't add any salt or pepper.
I also used 3 slices of bacon, recipe calls for one, but we like bacon in this family!!! :)
You could use no cheese, or they have some milk free cheese that you could use instead!
Also, I used Jasmine rice, it is THE best rice out there! I won't every go back to bland, boring white rice! My friend got me HOOKED on this stuff!!!! Not as healthy as brown rice, but hey, baby steps right? ;)


Enjoy, let me know what you think! ;)

Grandmother's Russian Pancakes (Pflinzen)

Strawberry and Banana Filling


I just now see that my last post was pancakes as well, oh well.... This is more like a crepe. The kiddos LOVED these, especially the ones that I put cinnamon and sugar in! ;)

These are really easy to make, it does take a bit of time because you have to do one at a time... But totally worth it!

I made some that had cinnamon and sugar in it and then I got some strawberries out of the freezer that the kids and I had picked earlier this year, chopped those up and added a banana.

Please be careful rolling them up, they are hot! ;)


Mix flour, milk, eggs and salt together


All whisked up


Pour 1/4 cup batter in pan






Pick the pan up a bit and roll it around a bit so the batter is thin and close to the edges of the pan

Nice and golden brown on one side


Sorry this pic is pretty dark, but this one has the cinnamon and sugar all over it, yummy!!!


Roll it up (again sorry it's so dark)


What it looks like all rolled up!!!


Here it is with the strawberries and banana's on it!


The two kinds that I made rolled up


Cinnamon and sugar all cut up


Strawberry and banana ones all cut up



Grandmother's Russian Pancakes (Pflinzen)
Combine in a mixing bowl:
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups flour
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Beat with a whisk, or blender, or hand held mixer

Heat 10 inch skillet and add a bit of oil to bottom of skillet.
Pour in about 1/4 cup of pancake batter, tilt pan so it goes all the way to the sides. Turn in a minute or two until underside is nice and brown, a nice light brown, not dark burnt brown! ;)
Remove when other side is done and looks like the top.
Repeat with remaining batter.
Finished pancakes should be thin and slightly crispy on the edges. Serve with honey, or cinnamon and sugar, or applesauce, or any other fruit you like.


*You can put the filling in them and roll up or have the person eating them put whatever they like in it, then they roll it up. For the kids, I made one cinnamon and sugar one, and then put strawberries and banana's in the other.
REALLY easy to make and the kiddos LOVED it!!! Try it and let me know what you think! :)
(I got this recipe from my More-with-Less cookbook that my mom got me! More to come from this AWESOME cookbook!!! :D)

Oatmeal Pancakes

(Whoa, 3 days/recipes in a row, I am on a roll!!! :))


Again, we had brinner!! Ya know, breakfast for dinner?!?! ;)

I found this recipe in my Amish cookbook that I just got a few weeks ago at the Amish Farmer's Market! I just added a few things to it! I put cinnamon and apples in one batch and then added cinnamon and chocolate chips in another, and then had some regular ones with a bit of cinnamon. The last time I made pancakes that had apples in them, my littlest man decided to pick out all the apples! :) Crazy, silly boy!! SOOOO, I made some regular ones for him! ;)

This is one is really easy to make! You could also omit the while flour and add wheat instead!

Pour the milk over the uncooked oats

I put the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and sugar in a bowl


Mix it all together



Beat the eggs and coconut oil in a separate cup, then added it to the milk and oats

Stirring it...

All mixed up, ready for the flour...


Now it's ready! You can either start cooking them, or start adding more yummy stuff to this!


Yummy, they smelled soooooo good!!!!!!!!!


Oh yummo!! Look at those pancakes! nice and brown and perfect!!! :oP


Here's the chocolate chip ones...


These were a bit more runny, I may not have had enough flour, or oats, I dunno...


But they were still REALLY good!!!!!!! :D


Here are all 3 of them! The plain with just a bit of cinnamon, cinnamon/apples, and then the cinnamon chocolate chips... Notice a pattern here? I am not fully ready for cooler weather or fall, but maybe if I start cooking with the yummy things from fall, I will be ready? ;)


My little one trying to stuff HALF of a pancake in his mouth


This one LOVED the chocolate chips one! It was a bit worse!


It looks like it's really hard to cut, but he was sooo into cutting his pancake, determined he was gonna do it by HIMSELF!!! ;)


Yummy mom, thank you! :)




Oatmeal Pancakes

2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups uncooked oats
1 cup flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup coconut oil (or olive oil, vegetable oil...)

Pour milk over the uncooked oats and let sit while you get the other ingredients together. In another bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and sugar. (I also added 2 teaspoons cinnamon too)
Beat the eggs and add the oil, mix then add that mixture to the milk and oats. Stir. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined. (if you want other things in your pancakes, add them now.)
Bake on lightly oil/greased griddle or electric skillet until golden brown on both sides.

*I added cinnamon to one batch, apples and cinnamon to another, then yet one more I added cinnamon and chocolate chips.
I put in about 2 teaspoons cinnamon, made about 4, then added 1 whole chopped, peeled Granny Smith apple to the batter. Cooked the rest. Then I made half a batch for the chocolate chip ones. I put in about 1 teaspoon cinnamon and added a couple handfuls of chocolate chips.
These are really good and super easy to make!
You could easily use whole wheat flour instead of the white flour...
Let me know what you think! :)

I was thinking you could even add some raisin and cinnamon... yummy....

Easy Mac and Cheese Dinner

Yes, I am on a mac and cheese kick! It's easy and fast... Ok, maybe not the most healthy, but I got the whole wheat noodles, so that makes it somewhat healthy, right? And again, I'm gonna say it again, sometimes you need something fast and easy! ;)

For this, I just added a few extra things to make it more, um, filling I guess you could say! ;)

Most of these things you will have on hand... And if you don't have one of something, don't add it, it's ok! It will still turn out!


Ok, I kinda take that back, if you don't have the milk to make the mac and cheese, then that might be a fail! Know what I mean? ;)


(ok, maybe I stop thinking and just start writing out the recipe?)


Make the mac and cheese like it says on the box

Yummy, cheese fried onions!! :) LOVE Aldi's!!! :)

Then regular too!!! :)

No, I didn't open the can upside down! I should get some money from Del Monte!!! heeheee!!! I just added some Italian seasoning to the tomatoes. I am cheap, so I just add my own spices instead of buying the Italian kind! ;)

There is the mac and cheese ready to go....

Add 1 pound ground beef, 1 small onion

I can diced tomatoes with the Italian seasoning

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Stir it all up!

Add 1/2 cup french fried onions, I added the cheese ones first....

Put it in an 8x8 baking dish, cover and bake for 30 minutes


When done, sprinkle regular french fried onions over the top and serve! YUMMY!!!!!!! :)

Easy Mac and Cheese Dinner

2 boxes Mac and Cheese (and ingredients to make it)
1 pound ground beef (or turkey) browned and drained
1 small red onion
1 can diced tomatoes with Italian Seasoning (about 1-2 teaspoons)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
About 1 cup french fried onions (can be cheese or regular or both!), divided

Make mac and cheese according to the box. When done, add the ground beef, onion, diced tomatoes, cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup french fried onions. Mix all together, place into an 8x8 backing dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350degrees for 30 minutes, or until heated through. Sprinkle with the remaining french fried onions and serve!

*You don't have to add that much meat, or omit it if you want.
You don't need to use 1 cup shredded cheese, you can add half that, or add a different kind of cheese.
Also, I used cheddar friend onions inside the casserole and sprinkled regular ones over the top when done baking.
I served this with green beans. It was a HIT!!! We all loved it!! If you double this, you can place half of it in a freezer safe container and reheat when needed! :)

Pizza Crust

Ok, so I didn't think about taking pics as I was making this crust! I was on the phone and in a hurry to get it going, I needed to let it rise for an hour, and yeah, the phone call got me distracted. But let me tell you, this pizza crust was SUPER delish! I like it WAY better the other one I had posted before on here...




Yummy!! :)






This is the veggie one! :oP

It really is easy to make! You just need to make sure to let it sit an hour before you need it! I don't always remember that... ;)


Yummy Pizza Crust

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt (I used garlic salt instead)
2 tablespoons olive oil (I use coconut oil)
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (I used WAY more, almost 4 cups)

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

*Like I said in the ingredients part, I added garlic salt instead of the salt.
I also use coconut oil for EVERYTHING now! But if you don't have or don't use it, then use olive oil.
I also was in a hurry, so I used my good ole Kitchen Aide mixer with the bread hook to mix it all up. It's way better if you do it by hand, but sometimes I gotta cheat, and I did this time! :)
You can also take pieces of sting cheese and wrap it around the crust and have a cheese stuffed crust! :)
If you want, you can also mix up some butter and garlic salt, and then spread it on the crust.
For one of them I put olives, pepperoni, and mushrooms.
For the other one I put, sweet banana peppers, (oh my, boy do those add a VERY delish extra zing and taste! If you prefer a bit of added "hot", try using the hot banana peppers!), olives, red onion, and mushrooms.
I love making pizza, you can add whatever you have on hand! :)

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!! :D

opps

So I am behind again, go figure!! I go 2 days in a row and then nothing forever! I have a good excuse this time! ;)
One kiddo not feeling the greatest and making some cakes today! Am hoping during nap time I can get one up for today! So keep checking back, I am sorry, I am trying!!! :D