Black Bean and Tortilla Bake

I've made this a few times and we really enjoy it. In fact, I just finished prepping it for our dinner tonight and will just pop it in the oven 30 minutes before we're ready to eat.

I think it's a great meatless meal. However, if you have a husband who MUST have meat with every dinner, I think you could add chicken and it would taste really good. This meal also makes for great leftovers (if you have any left over...)

1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin powder
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce- I use a 15 oz can, I actually can't see how 8 oz would be nearly enough sauce)
1 (16 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
salt and pepper
12 soft corn tortillas
8 ounces low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded, reserve 2 tablespoons

Preheat oven to 350* F.
Spray a large skillet with cooking spray.
Add garlic, onions, tomato, green onion, cumin, and chili powder.
Cook on medium heat until onion is tender.
Add tomato sauce and cook 5 minutes more.
Stir in beans, cilantro, salt and pepper.
Spray a 9 inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
Layer 4 tortillas, 1/3 cheese, and 1/3 of the bean mixture; repeat 2 more times.

Top with reserved 2 tablespoons of cheese.
Bake 20 minutes, covered, then 10 minutes uncovered or until bubbly.

Tomato Basil Pasta

If you have a garden and are wondering what to do with all those tomatoes, this is a winner. We've had it twice in the last week and it's a hit. I don't have a recipe, I just kind of throw it together, which is one thing I love about it, I also love that it tastes so yummy and costs so little!

1 lb of your favorite pasta (I like it with spaghetti)
4-6 cups diced tomatoes (a mix of varieties works great)
2-4 cloves garlic, diced
2-4 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1/4-1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2-3/4 cup shredded pecorino romano cheese (again, I like the Kirkland)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta in salted water. After you start the water for the pasta, add the olive oil to a large sautee pan over medium heat. Once it is hot, add garlic and tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook until tomatoes are falling apart and liquid from tomatoes has gone down by 1/3-1/2 (about 10-15 minutes). Toss with hot pasta and basil and half of the cheese. Use remaining cheese to top individual servings. Enjoy!

Strawberry Buttermilk Gelato

This is another Cooking Light recipe (I know, I love Cooking Light:)). We tried it yesterday and it was delicious...so, run out and get some strawberries before it's too late and give it a try. *If you don't have an ice cream freezer, come borrow mine!

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
5 cups quartered strawberries (about 4 pints)
2 cups low-fat buttermilk

Preparation:
Combine sugar and water in a large saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour into a large bowl; cool completely.
Place strawberries in a blender, and process until smooth. Add strawberry purée and buttermilk to sugar syrup; stir to combine.
Pour the strawberry mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Yield
8 cups (serving size: 1/2 cup)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 134, FAT 0.8g (sat 0.3g,mono 0.2g,poly 0.1g); IRON 0.3mg; CHOLESTEROL 1mg; CALCIUM 48mg; CARBOHYDRATE 31.7g; SODIUM 17mg; PROTEIN 1.6g; FIBER 1.7g

Easy Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

I don't have an actual recipe for this so bear with me.

1 yellow or white cake mix with all ingredients it needs (on the box) to make the cake
1 can pineapple slices
butter/margarine
brown sugar

(when mixing the cake mix and it asks for water...use the pineapple juice from the canned pineapple first. So, if it says 1 cup water and you only have like 3/4 cup pineapple juice use that and then just add 1/4 cup water.)

Preheat the oven to whatever degree it says on the cake mix box. Put some butter in the bottom of the pan and put it in the oven to melt while you mix the other ingredients.
Take it out when it is melted and cover the bottom of the pan with brown sugar. I don't have a specific measurement for the butter or the brown sugar because I usually put a TON! Do it to your liking. ( a lot is good!).

Put the pineapple in the bottom of the pan.

Pour the cake mix on top of the pineapple/butter/brown sugar and bake for the time it says on the cake mix box. I usually watch just to make sure. It will be a little brown and sometimes brown around the edges from the butter, but you can do a toothpick test to be sure.

I love it warm...so I cut and serve as soon as possible out of the oven.
I never flip the cake onto another surface or anything...why? It's upside-down already! That makes it right-side up! It's delicious no matter what.

Enjoy!

two fresh Avocado Salsas

Morgans Salsa:

2-3 avocados (diced)
6 Roma tomatoes (diced)
1 small can of corn (or fresh off the cob but you will have to cook it first)
1 can black beans
1/2 onion (finely chopped)
garlic salt (to taste)
Italian dressing (to taste)

*My sister in law made this at our last family dinner and it was delicious with some corn chips.

My usual avocado salsa:

2-3 avocados (diced)
6 Roma tomatoes (diced)
a handful of cilanto (chopped)
3 green onions (thinly sliced)
2-3 limes (squeeze juice, to taste)
finely chopped garlic (to taste)
1 small can corn
1 jalapeno (finely chopped and seeded)
salt (to taste)

*I use this recipe for lots of things...chips, salads, enchiladas, tacos, whatever sounds good! Also, the picture above is the last batch of salsa I made with some of our tomatoes from our garden (not Romas) and some from the Herfels garden. It turned out really good and I didn't use corn, avocados or green onions ( I used a Vidalia onion instead) so it's a versatile recipe.

Pesto-Ranch Chicken Salad

My cousin made this one last week at our reunion and she just threw it together without measuring, so I'm going to give it my best guess. It was so yummy!

1 lb farfalle (bowties) pasta, cooked and rinsed
1/2 cup fresh or store-bought pesto
1/2 16 oz bottle light ranch dressing
aprox. 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (can use rotisserie)
1 cup shredded parmesan
1/2 cup pine nuts (even better if you toast them first)
aprox. 1 1/2-2 cups frozen peas
aprox. 1/2-1 cup craisins (optional)

Combine the dressing and the pesto in medium bowl. Place all ingredients in very large bowl and stir to combine. Makes a great meal on a bed of lettuce.

A Few of Kim's Easy Favorite's

Hi Friends:
Amie has been challenging me to post a few recipes and I now have a chance to do so. I am all about easy recipes where I usually have all on ingredients on hand. Here are a few of my favorites:

Easy Fruit Dip:
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 C Brown Sugar
Tsp Vanilla
8 oz Cream cheese (Room temp)

Mix well and crunch up your favorite candy bar or Heath or Skor Bits. Mix in and serve with fruit.

Chicken Tortilla soup:
Large can of diced tomatoes (I use the spicy kind)
1 can of corn (juice and all)
1 can of cream of corn (you can also sub this for another can of corn)
2 cans of water
cooked chicken (I just use a can of Costco chicken)
2 tsp chicken soup base or 2 bullion cubes
1 tsp chili powder (or one package chili seasoning)
1/2 -3/4 C salsa (I use pace Medium)
Salt and Garlic powder to taste
Stir and heat until warm or sometimes I throw mine in the crock pot at lunch time on low.
Top with cilantro, sour cream and crushed tortilla chips. (I love cilantro and sour cream so I put mine right in the pot.)
This recipe is so versatile, I bet you could even add black beans if you wanted. Maybe I'll have to try that sometime.

Britty's Blueberry Fruit Salad:
1 16 oz. Cool Whip
16 oz. Sour cream
1 can of Blueberry Pie filling
1 can of sweetened condensed milk

Mix well and serve chilled!

I don't know is someone has already posted this, I have given this recipe to a lot of people.

Rich Chocolate Cake:
1 chocolate cake mix (I use double chocolate or chocolate fudge)
1 big box of instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
1 cup chocolate chips

Bake as directed on the box but add 10-12 minutes onto the baking time. This is moist and yummy!

Garden pesto

For those of you who have basil in your gardens, this is a must-try. I think that fresh pesto is so much better than bottled. Roland prefers it to restaurant pesto too. If you need a food-processor, call me!

Pesto Recipe
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano (Kirkland is great)
1/2 cup Olive oil

3 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts
3 garlic cloves

Place the garlic in the food processor fitted with the blade attachment and process until chopped. Add the basil, and the nuts. Turn on and add the oil through the feed tube cup (this will allow it to drizzle in slowly so that the mixture can emulsify). Add the cheese at the end and turn on to combine.

Toss with hot, cooked pasta or drizzle over chicken. A little will go a long way. I like to use just enough to coat, not drown my pasta. 1/2-3/4 cup is usually enough for 1 pound of pasta.

*Air is the enemy of pesto, if you don't plan on using it right away, press some plastic wrap onto the surface refrigerate or freeze. I like to make a few big batches and freeze them in ice-cube trays. it will keep for a few months this way and I don't have to pull out more than I need. It's great for pesto-pizza because you only need 2 cubes for one pizza.

"grilled" zucchini

Since it's the season for endless zucchini, here is an easy idea that we like to do when we're grilling something for dinner. Thinly slice one or two zucchini and toss with olive oil and some herbs or seasoning salt (use your imagination and pick your favorites). Fold up the sides of an 18" piece of foil and place the zucchini slices in the foil. Put it on the grill and stir occasionally until it's all tender-about 10 minutes.

Favorite "low fat" breakfast eggs

1 cup egg beaters (or 4-5 eggs beaten)
a large handful of fresh spinach
reduced fat feta cheese (I use about 1/4 cup)
shredded Parmesan cheese (I use about 1/4 cup)
1 tbsp olive oil or Pam
diced tomatoes ( sun-dried tomatoes are even better but not low fat)
thin sliced onion (1/4 of a reg sized onion)
garlic salt (to taste)

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender. Add spinach and wilt down (it shrinks a lot so add a LARGE handful) once wilted, add eggs. When eggs are just about done, add tomatoes and both cheeses (to taste) and salt (careful w/salt because the cheeses are salty). Serve warm with toast or tortilla

*This serves about 2-3 people depending on how hungry you are.