BBB - Black Bean Burritos...Yum!

I'm excited to share a simple, tasty recipe with you that I stumbled upon at a blog called The Simple Dollar. Trent, the author of that blog, shares a weekly recipe that is both delicious and frugal that he makes for his family.

Now, let me just say up front that I am a very boring cook. I tend to make the same five or six dishes because: #1 - I hate shopping, even grocery shopping, and my cart seems to just follow the same route every week in the grocery store, stopping in the same aisles, in front of the same freezers, and being drawn to the same produce (yawn); #2 - My family rarely gives me any feedback regarding the meals I do make and seem to be reluctant in suggesting ingredients or meals that are different (unless it pertains to tater tots, french fries and ice cream); #3 - Because of reason #1, I easily become lazy when my mind wants to make healthier, long-lasting changes to our diet as a family and I fall into the same boring routine.

So, I saw Trent's recipe for Black Bean Burritos and thought, "I can do that!" There are only a few ingredients:

A can of black beans. I happened to have one in my pantry.....I think it's because I was going to make a cold bean salad at one point. I also have a can of red kidney beans that I plan on using next time. I just heated the can of beans on the stove.....


A jar of salsa. And, yay, salsa was just on sale this week at the grocery store. I picked up a jar of the mild variety. Chunky or not, mild or hot, whatever your preference is, or, you can just cut up some fresh tomato if you choose....



Lettuce. It can be shredded and any variety you like. You can even use baby spinach. It provides a nice, fresh crunch in the burrito.....




Shredded cheese. Again, any kind you prefer. I buy the store brand of the Mexican or taco flavored. I like the finely shredded.....when the beans are heated, the cheese melts a little and......yummy!


Don't forget the tortilla! I use wheat tortillas. Place on a dinner plate and heat in the microwave for about 15 seconds to soften so they don't split when you roll them. They can be as big as your appetite. If my kids were young, I'd probably use the small tortillas.



I built my burrito this way:

On the heated tortilla I placed a spoonful of heated black beans near the bottom edge of tortilla, topped with another spoonful of salsa, some shredded lettuce comes next, then a sprinkling of shredded cheese. I then folded bottom edge over all toppings, and, as I began to roll it to the top, folded in the sides (like an envelope) so the filling doesn't spill out.

My family all enjoyed this recipe. What I like about it is that it's inexpensive, healthy, and easily adaptable to other ingredients. And so easy to do!

I hope you'll give it a try, and I recommend that you visit Trent's blog as well.

Have a blessed day!

Liane

It's Summertime?

I want to first of all thank all of you who left kind and comforting comments regarding the loss of our cat, Misty. We miss him very much but your kindness has made his absence easier to bear.

I live in New England and here it is, July 11th, and we've had maybe 5 or 6 days since the beginning of June that have felt summer-like. I think only twice have we had two days in a row of bright sunshine and warm air together. With so many days of gray, it kind of feels like a sunless, damp February, and people are matching the gloomy weather with their gloomy moods. And in a twisted sort of way, when the weather finally broke yesterday with a glorious summer day, our community (along the ocean - huge attraction for out-of-towners) was flooded with tourists. Now, we don't mind that they come and visit. It's just that we do mind when they don't bother to purchase a map or Google directions and stop us wherever we are demanding directions to Newport, Mystic, or the liquor store (no please, no thank you); are impatient while driving in our small community and start honking at us as soon as the traffic light changes, or expect us to mow down the pedestrian that is crossing in the crosswalk in front of us (I was nearly hit by a car from Massachusetts last night at Walmart). And they don't grocery shop in proper clothes. By 'proper' I mean clothes that cover or conceal the areas of one's body that the rest of us really don't want to see. Really.

If you're a summer-time book reader, I'd like to recommend a series that I just finished. The author is Cindy Woodsmall and the series (called Sisters of the Quilt) contains three books: When the Heart Cries; When the Morning Comes; and When the Soul Mends. The first book is about a young Amish girl, Hannah, who is obedient to her family and community and is in love with a young man. Then Hannah suffers a life-altering event, and we see how it impacts her life and those that are close to her. I loved this series. It's a Christian book and I felt immersed in the Amish life-style. It actually inspired me to become bolder in putting the goals that I have in mind in for my life into action.

And finally, this being the weekend where families have a little bit more time to spend together, I'd like to share a new recipe that I found at the website, allrecipes.com. My kids love French Toast for breakfast and this recipes provides the yumminess in a less time consuming manner.

Ingredients:
5 cups bread cubes (get a loaf of day-old to save $$)
4 eggs
1-1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup white sugar, divided
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 T butter, softened
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter an 8 x 8 in. baking pan.
2. Line bottom of pan with bread cubes. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over bread. Let sit at least 10 minutes. Dot with butter.
3. Combine remaining sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake in preheated oven about 50 - 60 minutes, until top is golden.

*Note - the inside of the casserole, while being completely cooked, with be soft - almost custard-like.

Serve warm with maple syrup. Enjoy!

I hope you all have a blessed weekend!

--Liane

Chicken Deliciousness

Ooooh, I made the most delicious roasted chicken tonight for dinner. I frequently find myself in cooking ruts. I take the same routes in the aisles of the grocery store, leaning towards the same items each week. Well, I picked up a roaster the other day when I was shopping. On sale, of course. Now, I'm not one for watching cooking shows from a learning standpoint. I love to watch people bake and cook, but mostly as a spectator. And that goes for cookbooks, too. I find myself just looking at the pictures rather than actually reading the recipes. Boring, huh?

Well, when I was preparing the chicken for roasting this afternoon, I thought of an episode of Everyday Italian with Giada DeLaurentis (sp?) that I happened to catch the other day. I usually stick an apple and an onion in the cavity of the chicken before baking, but Giada cut up an orange and a lemon. Hmmmm. So I happened to have a bowl of oranges right in front of me. So I cut up an onion and an orange and stuffed them into the cavity. Found some twine and tied the ankles together. Wrapped some foil on the wing tips so they wouldn't burn, and then seasoned with freshly ground pepper. I then melted a 1/4 cup of butter and basted the chicken before popping it into the oven.

I baked it at 350 degrees for total time of about 2-1/2 hours (it weighed about 9 lbs before cooking). After the first hour, I began basting the chicken every fifteen minutes. The aroma that filled my house was absolutely wonderful! I wish I had taken a picture of the nice, brown, roasted bird. When I took it out of the oven, I let it sit for about 1/2 an hour while I made some mashed potatoes and sweet corn.

Let me tell you, that chicken was so moist and tender! I am excited about this because most of the time my chicken comes out dry and my husband always slathers butter or salad dressing on it.

I like to keep things simple. I like simple recipes that don't call for out-of-the ordinary ingredients or special kitchen gadgets. I don't even own a mixer. I just use a fork - forget having to plug-in anything or having to wash beaters.

How about you? Do you have a tried-and-true method of cooking your favorite main dish? Any cooking secrets you're willing to share?

Have a great day!

Liane

Pumpkin Tarts

We had a little party at work on Friday and I wanted to bring in a little tasty to share. So I made these scrumptious pumpkin tarts. It's actually a Pampered Chef recipe (I used to be a kitchen consultant - briefly) and it's quick and just a little different from pie. The filling is just made up of 1 can of pumpkin, 2 cups of whipped topping, 1 tsp. pumpkin pie seasoning, and 1 - 3.4 oz box of cheesecake flavored pudding mix. I made the tart shells from ready-made pie crust that I used to cut star and round shapes using cookie cutters. I baked the empty shells in a mini-muffin pan for about 10 - 12 minutes at 400F. Once the tart shells had cooled, I filled them with the pumpkin filling. I had a lot of filling left over so I put it in a graham cracker crust and topped it with the left over whipped cream. I contemplated adding chocolate curls to the top but decided I didn't have to have chocolate on everything. I put this pie in the freezer and will probably have a piece before bed. This might be a recipe to try when you've been on a baking streak and don't want to have the oven on for one more day, or if you have a lot of pumpkin on your hands.

Enjoy!!