Beef and Bean Burritos

Recipe: Sixteen Minute Beef and Bean Burritos

Prep Time: 5 Minutes  |  Cook Time: 11 Minutes  |  Difficulty: Easy  |  Servings: 6

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Ingredients

• 2 pounds Ground Beef
• ½ whole Medium Onion
• 1 can (7 Ounce) Mexican Tomato Sauce Or Enchilada Sauce
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• Cumin, Oregano, Chili Powder, Garlic To Taste
• 1 can (28 Ounce) Refried Beans
• ¾ cups Grated Cheddar Cheese
• 12 whole Burrito-sized Flour Tortillas
• Extra Grated Cheese, For Sprinkling
• Extra Sauce, For Drizzling
• Cilantro Leaves, Optional
• Optional Filling Ingredients: Mexican Rice, Sour Cream, Guacamole, Green Chilies, Pico De Gallo

Preparation Instructions

Brown ground beef with onion and season to taste. Pour in sauce and simmer over low heat. Add water if mixture gets too dry.

Heat refried beans in a saucepan. Add cheese and stir in till melted. Keep warm.

Heat tortillas in microwave for one minute.

Spread a small amount of beans on each tortilla. Add meat. Fold over ends, then roll up. Place two burritos on a microwave-safe plate. Drizzle red sauce over the top and sprinkle with more grated cheddar. Microwave for one minute, or until cheese is melted and burritos are very hot. Serve immediately.

OPTIONAL: Fill burritos with any optional ingredients you like. (I love them full, but my boys like them very plain.)

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/brown-hot-and-plenty-of-it-vol-i/

grilled chicken pineapple quesadillas!!!
Go there for pretty pictures!

Ingredients

• 8 whole Flour Tortillas
• Butter Or Margarine
• 2 cups Grilled Pineapple, Sliced
• 3 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 3 cups Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Sliced
• Cilantro
• 3 Tablespoons Barbecue Sauce

Preparation Instructions

(To grill pineapple: cut wedges, stick on skewers, and grill over low heat. Cut into slices.)

(To pound chicken, place inside a Ziploc bag and pound with a mallet or large can to flatten to uniform thickness.)

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and Cajun spice (or cumin/cayenne, etc.) Drizzle olive oil on a grill pan and grill on both sides until done, brushing with barbecue sauce. Set aside and slice into very thin slices.

Warm griddle over medium heat and put sizzling butter or margarine in the pan. Slightly warm and toast tortillas on both sides, then remove from griddle and set aside.

To assemble, sprinkle four browned tortillas with grated Monterey Jack. Arrange chicken slices evenly over the surface. Add pineapple slices and jalapeno slices. Sprinkle on cilantro. If desired, drizzle extra barbecue sauce over the top. Add second browned tortilla on top of each one. (You’ll have four complete quesadillas at this point.)

Add to oven to warm, or back to skillet to warm, until cheese is melted. Cut each quesadilla into six wedges. Serve with sour cream, pico de gallo, and lime wedges.

Savory Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ground mustard
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 4 (3/4 inch) thick pork chops
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• MUSTARD SAUCE:
• 2 teaspoons ground mustard
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons orange marmalade
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Dredge pork chops in flour mixture. In a skillet over medium heat, brown chops in oil on both sides, about 8 minutes. Combine the sauce ingredients; pour over chops. Cover and simmer until meat is tender, about 20 minutes. Spoon sauce over chips when serving.

From Allrecipes.com

Sparkling Cranberry Gems

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sparkling-cranberry-gems-recipe

Very easy and super yummy and somewhat healthier for you.  The only disappointing thing from this recipe is that I only got 18 cookies using my cookie dough scoop, not ~3 dozen.  :o(  Also trying a batch with dried cherries since I ran out of cranberries and didn't even get 2 dozen.

Cookies
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) King Arthur White  Whole Wheat Flour, organic preferred; or  King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 cups (7 ounces) dried cranberries,  packed
2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into pats
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) milk

Coating
scant 1/2 cup (about 3 1/2 ounces) coarse white sparkling sugar
Place the flour and dried cranberries in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the cranberries are coarsely shredded. Imagine a single dried cranberry cut into about 4 pieces: that’s your goal.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

Whisk together the flour/cranberry mixture, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the vanilla and butter, mixing until the butter is thoroughly distributed, but some pea-sized chunks still remain. Dribble in the milk while mixing; the dough will become cohesive.

Place the coarse sugar in a plastic bag; about 1-quart size should do.

Using a teaspoon cookie scoop (or a spoon), scoop the dough by 1 3/4-teaspoonfuls (about 1 ¼" balls) into the bag, 6 or 8 at a time. Close the top of the bag, and gently shake to coat the balls with sugar. Place them on the prepared baking sheet, and use the bottom of a glass to flatten them to about ¼" thick (about 1 ½" in diameter). Repeat with the remaining dough.

Bake the cookies for 16 to 17 minutes, until they’re set and barely, BARELY beginning to brown around the very edge; the tops shouldn’t be brown at all. Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pan.
Yield: about 3 dozen cookies.

Breakfast Cookies

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/breakfast-cookies-recipe/index.html

*I just used reg. whole wheat flour.  Didn't have pastry flour but maybe next time I will!  I also did part applesauce part oil instead of all oil and no nuts and our house.*

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup (1 small jar) strained carrot baby food
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup bran cereal flakes
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup walnut pieces, lightly toasted in a dry skillet for 2 minutes, until fragrant and chopped

Directions

Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Combine butter, oil and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down sides if necessary, until sugars have dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute. Add egg, carrot puree and vanilla and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add oats, flakes, raisins and walnuts and mix over low speed just until incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than traditional cookie dough. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using between 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter, form a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving about 3 inches between cookies. Wet hands and use palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4-inch thick. Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

From Lunches Fit for a Kid

Recipes: A Menu in Honor of Roald Dahl

I don't know how many of you all read my Adventures in Readingblog, but we love Roald Dahl.  Love.

I didn't hear until this morning on NPR that it was his birthday.  Oops.  So, no lunch festivities.  Oh well.

So, I made a dinner in his honor.

Oompa Loompa coins, Boiled Slobbages in tomato sauce with cheese, Charlie and the Chocolate Milk

James and the Giant Peach Cobbler with Snozzberries

First off, Boiled Slobbages.  I modified this from a recipe I found online, and it's from James and the Giant Peach, I believe.

Basically, they are spaetzle.

And they are super fun to make and delicious!  I will be making them again for sure.  Might just call them spaetzle next time, though...  I served them with plain jarred tomato sauce and cut up string cheese.  You could be more creative.  I wanted my kids to eat them.  It worked.

I also made Oompa Loompa coins, which were crinkle cut carrot coins, boiled briefly in lightly sugared water.

To drink, we had Charlie and the Chocolate Milk.  I know, how creative of me.

And, for dessert, we had James and the Giant Peach Cobbler withSnozzberries.  Those would be raspberries for the uninitiated.

Onward, to the recipes!


Boiled Slobbages in Tomato Sauce

Dough
2 eggs
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 c flour
1/4 c skim milk
1/4 c seltzer (optional - can use all milk.  The seltzer makes them fluffier)

To boil: 
2 c chicken or vegetable broth
4 c water

To fry:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter


For sauce:
1 c  tomato sauce (can make homemade)
3 sticks string cheese, cut up

Combine the ingredients for the dough together well.  Let rest for about 10 minutes.

In a large pot, boil broth and water.

This part is fun

Pressing the dough through

Filling up with slobbages

Using a spaetzle maker or a collander, press the dough through holes into the boiling liquid.

My pot was a little too small

Stirring.

Boil for about 2-3 minutes, or until they all float, stirring occasionally.

Into the cold water!

Remove from the boiling liquid and submerge in a bowl of cold water for about 30 seconds.  This keeps them from sticking.

Heat oil and butter in a large frying pan.  Saute the slobbages briefly in the pan.

The string cheese got all melty before we ate. Mmmm.

Stir in sauce and pieces of string cheese and serve.


James and the Giant Peach Cobbler with Snozzberries

1/2 c butter
3/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 c sugar
1 pinch nutmeg
3/4 c skim milk

1 28-oz can sliced peaches in light syrup
1/2 c snozzberries (or raspberries, if you can't find snozzberries)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Melt butter in the oven in a 9"x9" pan.

Combine all remaining ingredients except for the fruit.  Pour over the melted butter (do not stir).

Pour the snozzberries and peaches over the top (do not drain).

Ready to go into the oven

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the crust has risen around the fruit and is browned along the edges.

(Of course, I forgot to take a picture of it all baked and not scooped out)

Happy Birthday, Roald Dahl!