Enchilada Casserole

Enchilada Casserole

This is great for a quick to assemble, weeknight meal.

Ingredients:

Photo taken by my 9 year old because she
was the only one who had any left on her plate. 

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can rotel, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup warm water
1 heaping tsp of Better than Bouillon Roasted Garlic base
12-15 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Process:

Mix warm water and bouillon base in a small bowl/mug. Combine black beans, Rotel, mushroom soup, and water/bouillon in mixing bowl. Spray 9x12 casserole dish with non-stick spray. Layer 4-6 corn tortillas on the bottom of the dish, cover with 1/2 of the filling mixture. Sprinkle about 1/3 cup of cheese on top of filling, then repeat layers (4-6 tortillas, remaining filling mix, 1/3 cup cheese). Tear remaining tortillas into bite size pieces and randomly place on top of casserole, top with remaining cheese.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, uncovered. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Serving suggestion:
Serve with a dollop of sour cream, tortilla chips, and/or guacamole salad.

Taco soup!

When I visit Sunshine at school, I stay in a hotel room with a kitchenette. There, I can prep food for her to store in the freezer. Her favorites are veggie noodle soup, taco soup, and chicken/black bean enchiladas (not vegetarian). This isn't the most appetizing photo, but it's my little prep kitchen during a recent visit. Taco soup recipe below. It's a winner!

I have been making variations of this taco soup for years. My kids devour it. Honestly, I've never seen anybody turn it down.

Ingredients:

1 can corn, drained
2 cans diced or crushed tomatoes (whatever you prefer)
4 cans beans (black beans, pinto, or tri-bean blend: drained and rinsed)
1/4 cup taco seasoning (store bought or make your own)
1 T dehydrated onion
2 cans of water

Put all ingredients in Instant Pot, high pressure for 4 minutes. Manual release. Top with cheese and/or sour cream and tortilla chips. Also freezes well, and is GREAT as leftovers.

Stove top alternative: place all ingredients in a soup pot and simmer on the stove top until flavors meld and onions are rehydrated.

A hearty breakfast

Rainy mornings call for savory breakfast. PS-perfectly ripened avocados are similar to unicorns in their evasiveness and their level of magic. Co-op Friday! ❤️

Dense bread, sliced & toasted, with a hummus schmear and topped with sliced avocado. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

The Veggie Queen's Black Eyed Peas and Greens

We started the new year off right with this amazing recipe from the Veggie Queen. Y'all, it was so good I made it again the next day!

Vegan *Chicken* & Dumplings

It's winter in Texas, which means we have random cold weather sprinkled into the normal January days. Time for some comfort food! Daddio requested chicken & dumplings, and instead of my regular recipe I decided to try something new. I used the instant pot and the stove top, mainly because I was running behind (what's new?) and wanted to speed the process. With some very minor adjustments, this stove top recipe turned into a mixed IP/stovetop meal.

Ingredients:

3-4 carrots, sliced
3-4 ribs of celery, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 white potatoes, large dice
1/2 t rosemary
1/2 t thyme
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper, freshly ground
1 bay leaf
3 Not Chick'n bouillon cubes (divided)
6 c water (divided)
seitan (rinse and chop to preferred size)
8 oz white mushrooms, rough chop
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c corn meal (I prefer Bob's Coarse Grind for texture)
1 T baking powder
2 T parsley (optional)
1 1/2 c almond milk

Place the following in the Instant Pot and give a stir. Set pot to 5 minutes at high pressure. Manual release.
3-4 carrots, sliced
3-4 ribs of celery, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 white potatoes, large dice
1/2 t rosemary
1/2 t thyme
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper, freshly ground
1 bay leaf
2 Not Chick'n bouillon cubes
3 c water (enough to just cover veggies in the IP)

--

While the IP is working its magic, bring the following to a simmer on the stove top in a large soup pot:

seitan (rinse and chop to preferred size)
8 oz white mushrooms, rough chop
1 Not Chick'n bouillon cube
2 c water

--

After manual release of pressure, pour contents of IP into soup pot on stove top, add 1 cup of water ( for a total of 2 cup per bouillon cube). Bring this to a boil.

While soup is coming to boil on the stovetop, mix dumpling batter:

1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c corn meal (I prefer Bob's Coarse Grind for texture)
1 T baking powder
2 T parsley (optional)
1 1/2 c almond milk

When soup is boiling, drop batter by spoonfuls into soup. DO NOT STIR. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. DO NOT STIR. (PS: It is inadvisable to stir, even though you really, really want to. Trust!)

Serve immediately, but also makes for good leftovers!


Some notes worth mentioning:

-I am not a fan of meat substitutes, but like to try them from time to time in certain recipes since we have omnivorous friends & family over for meals often. My family liked the seitan in this dish, but we likely won't use it again unless we make this for non-family members.

-I enjoyed the potatoes in this soup, but I also like my dumpling base to be creamier instead of brothy (is that a word?). Next time, I may add one more potato but mash it to try to adjust the consistency of the broth.

-Served with a hearty green salad (leaf lettuce and spinach) topped with hard boiled eggs for a protein and B vitamin boost.

Sweet Tooth

We needed a simple snack to cure our sweet tooth...and I had a fresh bag of flower just waiting to sift.  It's a wild Tuesday night, y'all!

I found this recipe for maple cinnamon cookies somewhere on the internets and took a screen shot.  It was so simple, everything is pretty much a staple item in my kitchen, and they are delicious!  Nothing like warm cookies and cold almondmilk—am I right?

Maple Cinnamon Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 c. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 T applesauce
1/4 c. maple syrup
3/4 c. sugar
2 1/2 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
cinnamon for sprinkling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix wet ingredients:
3/4 c. canola oil
2 T applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. sugar (I know, this isn't a wet ingredient but we're pretending today)
1/4 c. maple syrup

In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients and then add to wet:
2 1/2 c. flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Mix to combine.  Then, place dough by spoonful onto baking sheet.  I used my hands to roll them into balls.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.

During the first batch, I check at the halfway point and noticed they weren't spreading at all.  I pulled them out and pressed them with a fork (peanut butter cookie style) so they would bake through in the time allotted.  For the second two trays, I pressed them prior to baking.  You can sprinkle the cinnamon before baking or after.

Next time: I think I will form the dough into a tube and wrap and place in the fridge for a few minutes to chill.  Then, I'll slice and bake instead of pressing.  For some reason, the pressed hash marks on cookies don't taste right if they're not peanut butter.  Yep, I'm quirky. ;)

Enjoy!

Dinner for a busy evening

I am a homeschooling mom of 3 with a pilot husband.  We are busy, just like so many other families.  Last night after Punky's gymnastics class and before Sunshine's martial arts class was dinner time.  I menu plan every week but sometimes I'm just not feeling it.  Last night was one of those nights.  The menu said spinach fettuccine.  This is a family favorite (it used to include shrimp but is absolutely delicious veganized) but I wanted to change things up.  Plus, I was avoiding the grocery store (forgot to pick up the noodles earlier in the week).  Anything to avoid the grocery store, right?

I had about 1/3 pkg. of fine, whole wheat spaghetti noodles that I cooked to al dente.  In a large pan, I melted about 1 T seasoned Earth Balance spread and 1 tsp olive oil.  I added about 5 oz. fresh spinach and the grape tomatoes (halved) that I had on hand.  The spinach wilted down and the tomatoes swam in the seasoned "butter".  As soon as the noodles were ready, I strained them and added them to the seasoned veggies and tossed.  Delicious!

We used an extra sub roll to make garlic toast under the broiler (more Earth Balance spread, olives, and non-dairy cheese of your choice), and our busy evening meal was complete!

Tip: Add freshly ground pepper, to taste, after plating the food.  My Punky does NOT like pepper in her food, so we use it sparingly during the cooking process.