Black Bean and Spinach Burrito "Wraps"

6 cups fresh spinach, loosely packed
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice or Mexican rice
1/2 cups chopped romaine hearts lettuce
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup salsa or pico de gallo
6 tablespoons Greek yogurt
Kosher or sea salt to taste
6 wraps or tortillas, warmed

Place spinach in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, or use a knife to finely chop the spinach.  In a large skillet over medium heat, add black beans and spinach.  Heat until spinach is wilted, approximately 3 minutes.

Layer spinach mixture, then rice, lettuce, cheese, salsa, yogurt onto tortilla.

Serves 4-6.

Original recipe from skinnyms.com

Personal Notes:  I forgot the lettuce.  Didn't even notice it was missing.  I used sour cream instead of Greek yogurt, because that's what I had.  I bought tortillas that come uncooked and I had to cook them before use.  They were awesome (brand: tortilla land).

Verdict:  Keep.  Easy to throw together and very filling (I only ate one).  Also pretty healthy and a great way to get spinach.

To warm tortillas, preheat oven to 300 degrees. Stack tortillas, wrap in foil, place on a cookie sheet and warm 15 minutes while preparing ingredients.

Place spinach in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, or use a knife to dice leaves. In a large skillet turn to medium-heat, add black beans and spinach. Heat until spinach is wilted, approximately 3 minutes.

Evenly distribute spinach and bean mixture in the middle of the wraps (leaving about 2" on one end for folding), add 1/4 cup rice to each wrap, add lettuce, cheese, salsa and Greek yogurt evenly over wraps. Fold wraps over and under on the ends.

Read more at http://skinnyms.com/spinach-bean-burrito-wrap/#WtrZJCXbMoMwKPLQ.99

To warm tortillas, preheat oven to 300 degrees. Stack tortillas, wrap in foil, place on a cookie sheet and warm 15 minutes while preparing ingredients.

Place spinach in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, or use a knife to dice leaves. In a large skillet turn to medium-heat, add black beans and spinach. Heat until spinach is wilted, approximately 3 minutes.

Evenly distribute spinach and bean mixture in the middle of the wraps (leaving about 2" on one end for folding), add 1/4 cup rice to each wrap, add lettuce, cheese, salsa and Greek yogurt evenly over wraps. Fold wraps over and under on the ends.

Read more at http://skinnyms.com/spinach-bean-burrito-wrap/#WtrZJCXbMoMwKPLQ.99

To warm tortillas, preheat oven to 300 degrees. Stack tortillas, wrap in foil, place on a cookie sheet and warm 15 minutes while preparing ingredients.

Place spinach in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, or use a knife to dice leaves. In a large skillet turn to medium-heat, add black beans and spinach. Heat until spinach is wilted, approximately 3 minutes.

Evenly distribute spinach and bean mixture in the middle of the wraps (leaving about 2" on one end for folding), add 1/4 cup rice to each wrap, add lettuce, cheese, salsa and Greek yogurt evenly over wraps. Fold wraps over and under on the ends.

Read more at http://skinnyms.com/spinach-bean-burrito-wrap/#WtrZJCXbMoMwKPLQ.99

Warm Winter Lemon Cake

1 package (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
2 cups cold milk
1 1/4 cups water
2 packages ((4-serving size each) lemon flavor instant pudding and pie filling
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake mix as directed on package. Pour batter into greased 9x13 baking dish.

Pour milk and water into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes and granulated sugar. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Pour over cake batter in dish. Place baking dish on baking sheet to catch drippings, as mixture does bubble.

Bake 55 minutes to 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean (Mine took 45 minutes). Cool in pan 20 minutes. (Mixture will thicken slightly as it cools.) Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Spoon onto serving dishes. Serve warm; garnish with raspberries, if desired. Makes 16 servings.

 

Personal Notes:  I forgot to add the extra 1/3 cup sugar and it was still delicious.  I didn't even realize I forgot it until the next day when I was reading over the recipe.  This is delicious warm or cold :).

 

Verdict:  Definitely a keeper!  It's easy and delicious.  Light, so not super-filling. 

Stir Fry Veggies

So I am not the world's greatest vegetable eater.  I don't enjoy most vegetables plain -- whether cooked or raw.  They generally need salad dressing or veggie dip to make them tolerable. 

That said, I'm always looking for new ways to eat vegetables.  Ways that will make me happy to eat them.  A lot of them.  Because I know they are good for me.  Important.  And I want to be a good example to my daughter of eating vegetables. 

One place I was happy to eat my share (and even more) of vegetables was Mikata, a Japanese steak house in Dothan.  It was one of the places on my must go here list while we were down visiting in November.  So the last night we were there, we treated my parents, and they really enjoyed it.  My dad even ate the mushrooms (which he likes to call slugs). 

So, upon our return to Washington, I started thinking...  I bet I could do that! 

And so I set out trying different things.  And I think I have it down now.  So here's my recipe.  Sort of.  I haven't exactly measured, so it's approximates.

1/2 crown of broccoli, broken into small florets
2 stalks celery, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 to 2 cups cabbage coarsely chopped
1 to 2 carrots, cut into carrot sticks
1 small zucchini, cut into sticks (roughly the same size as the carrots)
1/2 a medium onion, cut into thick slices or 3 green onions, sliced in 1 1/2 inch pieces (or both)
3 to 4 mushrooms, sliced into thick pieces
1 to 2 tablespoons butter (depending on the amount of vegetables.  I use 2 tablespoons for the vegetables pictured above)
2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon soy sauce (again, depending on taste and amount of veggies.  I use close to 1 tablespoon for the veggies pictured above)

Heat frying pan over medium heat (I would prefer a wok, but this is what I have) and melt butter.  Add carrots, celery, and broccoli and cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes.  Add onion.  Cook another minute.  Add cabbage and cook an additional 1 to 2 minutes.  Add zucchini and stir a couple times.  Add mushrooms.  Cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add soy sauce and stir into vegetables another minute.  Remove from heat and serve. 

I usually am cooking total time of 7 to 8 minutes.  But you can go longer or shorter, depending on how crisp you prefer your vegetables.  And you can change up the order as well, but that's the order I prefer, because I like my celery and carrots more done.

A lot of this recipe is dependent on the cook's preferences, but I'm pretty happy with this.  I've been making it more and more.  I love to add a lot of mushrooms.  And I've also added the canned baby corn (didn't like it in this) and asparagus stems, since I had them leftover from Monday Meals.  The asparagus stems were fine with this and I added them with the carrots and celery.

This is the first recipe I have ever developed on my own, and I'm pretty happy with it, so I thought I'd share :).

Asparagus & Parmesan Cream Pastry

1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons lemon juice
5 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons shaved Parmesan cheese

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, lemon juice and basil.

Unfold puff pastry on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Cut into four rectangles, placing them slightly apart on baking sheet. Spread cream cheese mixture to within 1/2 inch of edges. Trim asparagus spears to 1 1/2 inches shorter than pastry. Press four spears (I used 6 to 7) onto each pastry, alternating direction. Drizzle with oil.

Bake at 400 degrees for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with shaved Parmesan cheese. Slice each pastry in half. Serve warm.

Personal Notes:  I didn't have fresh basil, so I used between 1 and 2 teaspoons of dried.  I also only used about 8 ounces of asparagus (which was about 26 spears) and put between 6 and 7 on each rectangle.  It does have a strong lemon taste, so the cream part doesn't taste too awesome by itself.  Also, I would probably cut back to maybe 6 ounces of cream cheese, because it made a lot of cream topping.

Verdict:  Keep.  But I would be anyway, since this was for Monday Meals and is going in the cookbook :).  It is definitely something different.  And definitely interesting.  I love that it's easy too.
 
Recipe from Taste of Home.

Foil-Pack Taco Chicken Dinner

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves

4 teaspoons taco seasoning mix

2 cups thinly sliced peeled potatoes

1 cup shredded cheese

1/2 cup salsa

1/4 cup sour cream (optional)

 

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Sprinkle chicken evenly with seasoning mix.  Place 1/2 cup of the potatoes on center of each of 4 large sheets of aluminum foil; top each with 1 chicken breast, 1/4 cup of cheese and 2 tablespoons salsa.

2.  Bring up foil sides.  Double fold top and both ends to seal each packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside.  Place in single layer in 15x10x1-inch baking pan.

3.  Bake 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender.  Remove packets from oven.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Place 1 packet on each of 4 plates.  Cut slits in foil with sharp knife to release steam before opening.  Top each serving with 1 tablespoon of sour cream.

 

Recipe from kraftfoods.com

Personal Notes:  Because this is a Kraft recipe, the ingredients called for are all specific to their brand.  I just used what I had.  We eat meat, but not a lot of it, so I cut one large chicken breast in thirds and only made 3 foil packs.  I forgot to add the sour cream.  And I don't feel 25 minutes was sufficient time (for either the chicken or the potatoes).  I ended up finding that out after I opened mine to eat it.  I decided to put it back in (open) before eating any of it.  I put them in for another 15 minutes, making a total of 40.  And I had small pieces of chicken, so using a whole piece would, I think, definitely require more cook time.

Verdict:  Keep.  I liked the flavor, and it was easy.  I don't think it's something I'll make often, but I think it will be a fun every-once-in-a-while dinner.  And it may seem fun and exciting to kids as they get a little older.  So I'm always looking for fun and different things to do with my kids.