Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

We're meat eaters around here. I've only successfully made one other meatless meal that we both really loved, kept us satisfied, and that I would certainly make again. But, I was really looking to keep costs down this week and went to the pantry and fridge for things I already had on hand. It's certainly nothing original and nothing terribly spectacular, but they turned out really good.

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients:
(All ingredients can be adjusted based on how many enchiladas you are making; I made seven.)
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
enchilada sauce (I used leftovers of the sauce I used for the Avocado Enchiladas), about 2 c.
1/2 block 2% sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
onions, chopped
shredded colby jack cheese
corn tortillas

1. Heat black beans on stovetop or  in microwave until warm, but not mushy. I added some garlic powder for flavor. Re-heat enchilada sauce.

 

 

2. Quick "fry" tortillas in oven (spray tortillas with cooking spray and cook on baking sheet in oven set to 350 until they are just pliable).

3. Fill tortillas with beans, cheddar cheese, and onions (I don't eat onions like that, so only Bill got onions). Roll and place seam side down in baking dish.

4. Pour enchilada sauce evenly over enchiladas. Top with colby jack cheese.

5. Bake in 350 degree oven until cheese melts, about 5-10 minutes.

Sissy's Variations:
As I mentioned, I didn't use onions since I don't like them. Bill also had his topped with extra chopped onions. I'd like to try these with different beans just to experiment, but these were great as is!

An All-time Fave: Chicken Spaghetti

One of my very favorite dishes of all time is the Chicken Spaghetti my mom cooks. Now, the fact that it's something my mom cooks is something pretty amazing all by itself. My mom, you see, doesn't really cook. She married men who could cook, and that is where I learned much of what I know about cooking--from my dad and my stepdad, both of whom are great cooks. But, Chicken Spaghetti is something my got from her mom and she's been cooking it for me forever. We rarely get to eat it because nobody else likes it quite like we do; they just tolerate it.

Mom says she has the recipe somewhere, but I've never used. I just sort of go from memory and occasionally call Mom to make sure I'm not forgetting something. It's super simple and makes great leftovers. But WARNING it makes A LOT. I suppose there are ways to cut it down, but for us, it just doesn't work unless you make a lot.

Chicken Spaghetti

Ingredients:
1 whole fryer chicken
1 lb. spaghetti
1 lb. Velveeta cheese
2 cans stewed tomatoes (Italian style or regular)
1 can sweet peas, drained
1 can cream of chicken soup (optional, use only if necessary)

1. Boil chicken in large stock pot until done (about 1.5 hours).

2. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Save broth.

3. Once broth cools a bit, skim fat from top and discard. Bring broth back to a boil and cook spaghetti in broth according to package directions. The pasta should absorb most of the liquid, leaving no need to drain. If there is too much excess liquid, drain off some.

4. Leave pot on burner and reduce heat to medium low. Cube Velveeta into pasta, stirring frequently to allow cheese to melt and to keep it from burning on the bottom.

 

5. De-bone and de-fat chicken and shred into pot. (I just pull the chicken off the bone, discarding the skin and fat, and shred with my fingers. Some people can't do that, so use your favorite method.)

 

6. Add tomatoes, breaking up the tomatoes with your hands or a fork. Allow to heat through.

 

7. Add peas just before serving.

 

 

Sissy's Variations:
The cream of chicken soup is used to thicken the spaghetti up if needed (as well as add some extra flavor). Mine was pretty thick this time on it's own, so I didn't use it. I had 2% Velveeta cheese on hand, so I used that without any difference in taste.

It was super yummy, as always. Bill even raved about it. And I will be eating on it for a week!

Thrown Together Meatloaf

And by meatloaf, I mean turkey meatloaf. We don't really eat ground beef (or much red meat) around here anymore, so meatloaf is made with turkey. It was Friday night and my little brother was starting in his first varsity football. Even though he was going to be playing at a high school right down the street from my house, we still needed to be able to have a quick meal to get there on time. And I still wanted something kind of healthy--or at least not fast food!

So, I thought about the fact that I still had enough mashed potatoes leftover from Thursday night's dinner, so I wanted to make something to go with that. I had a pound of turkey, so I thought, hey, I can throw together a meatloaf. I have a lot of recipes for meatloafs,  and I have made many using no recipe at all. This is one of those, but I'll give you the basics.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey
ketchup
mustard
egg white
bread crumbs
garlic powder
ground pepper
brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cover baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

2. Mix ketchup, mustard, egg white, bread crumbs, and seasonings in bowl.

3. Add turkey to mixture and mix just until combined (do not over mix).

 

4. Transfer to baking sheet and shape into loaf.

5. In small bowl, mix ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar (all to taste).

6. Bake about 30 minutes (or until almost done). Remove from oven and spread ketchup mixture over top of loaf.

7. Continue cooking until done (about 45 minutes to an hour).

Sissy's Variations:
I used dijon mustard this time because we were out of regular mustard and I thought it still turned out great. All of the ingredients are to taste and can be adjusted based on the amount of meat.

Stinky Cheese Chicken and Skinny Mashed Potatoes

That's the best way to describe Parmesan Crusted Chicken for me. I absolutely despise the way Parmesan cheese smells, especially when cooking, and I really don't like the way it tastes all that much, but sometimes it's awesome. I've done a lot of different version of Parmesan Crusted Chicken over the years, and this one is by no means original. It's just a compilation of so many different recipes I've seen and used.

The skinny mashed potatoes are all mine. I love mashed potatoes, but the way my grandmother makes them (the best EVER) would have me at least 50 pounds heavier if I made them on a regular basis. For a long time I didn't even realize I was making "skinny" mashed potatoes--I was just using low fat/low cal stuff I always have on hand. But I love them, so does Bill, and my little brothers still say I make the best mashed potatoes.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken (I had three breasts)
1 tbsp. flour
1/4 c. grated parmesan/Romano/asiago blend cheese
1/8 c. Italian style bread crumbs
1/8 c. shredded parm/Romano blend cheese
garlic powder (to taste)
fresh ground pepper (to taste)
2 egg white, slightly beaten
splash of skim milk

1. Pat chicken dry and trim any skin/fat.

2. Heat oven to 375. Cover baking sheet with foil (for easy cleanup) and spray with light coat of cooking spray.

3. Mix flour, bread crumbs, cheeses, garlic powder, and pepper in shallow dish (a pie plate works well). In separate dish, beat egg whites with milk.

4. Dredge chicken through egg whites, allowing excess drip off. Coat chicken with cheese mixture. Place chicken on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle and press leftover cheese mixture on top of chicken. Spray with light coat of cooking spray.

5. Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked and breading is a golden brown.

Sissy's Variations:
I think next time I will use a bit more bread crumbs. But other than that, it turned out great.

Skinny Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
potatoes of choice, peeled, and cubed
4 garlic gloves, cracked
skim milk
Smart Balance butter
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray
garlic powder

1. Make sure potatoes are cubed pretty small for faster cooking. Place potatoes and garlic in pot and just cover with water. Cover pot and bring to boil. Cook until fork tender, about 20 minutes.

2. Drain potatoes and put back in hot pot to get rid of excess moisture.

3. Add a splash or two of milk, about 1 tbsp. butter, and garlic powder (to taste) to potatoes and mash with potato masher.

4. Add more milk, but not so much that you can see the milk--too much milk with result in a gluey consistency. Spray with spray butter (5-10 sprays). Mix with hand mixer (or in standing mixer) until desired consistency--add milk as needed.

Sissy's Variations:
I change this up depending on the meal and what I have on hand. For this meal, I added parmesan cheese to go with the chicken. Next time I will add more.

Steak and Potatoes

So, we love a good steak in our house. Bill actually cooks the steaks quite a bit. Three years ago, for Valentine's Day, he decided that he would cook dinner for me. He looked up some recipes, went to the store and bought ingredients, and cooked all by himself. He picked a steak dish with a cream sauce/dressing over salad. It was really good. He also "discovered" a new way to cook steaks at home. I grew up on steak cooked on a grill, so it never really occurred to me to cook them any other way.

So, in our house, steaks are seared on the stovetop, in a pan, then transferred to stove to finish cooking under the broiler. We also love to eat steaks at Outback Steakhouse, and their method is searing before cooking, so I suppose it makes sense that's how we'd cook them.

So for tonight's menu, I chose steaks, twice baked potatoes, and green beans. (I meant to make garlic bread, but I never got around to it.) All of these "recipes" are ingredients I sort of threw together and that can be adjusted to taste/dietary restrictions.

Steak Marinade:
garlic, finely chopped
shallot, finely chopped
onion, finely chopped
parsley, chopped
red wine vinegar
olive oil
Worcestershire sauce
salt substitute
fresh ground pepper
salt free steak seasoning
cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients in large plastic bag. Marinate steaks for at least one hour.

Heat pan over medium high heat with a little olive oil or cooking spray. Make sure you use an oven-proof pan. Turn oven to broil. Sear steaks for about 30 seconds on each side. You want them just browned on the outside. Transfer pan to oven and cook to desired doneness. We like medium to medium rare, so about five minutes each side. I don't have a pan large enough to cook both steaks at once (they were pretty big sirloins), so I transferred the first steak to a baking sheet and covered tightly with foil, then cooked the second.

Twice Baked Potatoes:
two large baking potatoes, scrubbed and rinsed
garlic cloves (I used four)
butter (I used a little Smart Balance butter and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray)
sour cream (light sour cream)
bacon (low sodium, cooked in microwave)
Parmesan/Fontina/Asiago/Romano cheese blend
sharp cheddar cheese (I used light)

Pre-heat oven to 400. Poke holes in and spray potatoes with cooking spray and wrap with foil. Place garlic gloves on sheet of aluminum and toss with a little olive oil; wrap. Place potatoes and garlic on baking sheet. Garlic was done in about 30 minutes. The potatoes took about an hour. Allow the potatoes to cool just enough to handle. Cut slit in top and spoon out the insides, leaving just the skin. To the potatoes add the roasted garlic and next four ingredients (amount is purely based on taste) and loosely mash together with fork. Spoon mixture back into potato skin and top with cheddar cheese. Put potatoes back in oven and bake until cheese is melted.

Green Beans:
frozen green beans, thawed
olive oil and olive oil cooking spray
garlic, chopped
onion, chopped
fresh ground black pepper
vinegar
butter

Heat pan over medium heat with a little olive oil and cooking spray. Saute onions and garlic until slightly tender. Add green beans to pan and coat with a little more cooking spray. Saute green beans until almost cooked through. Add vinegar and pepper and reduce heat. Just before serving, add a little butter or spray butter (I used spray).

Sissy's Variations:
For the steak, I think I will sear just a little longer next time. I don't think mine turned out as well because I didn't sear as long. And I'll probably use less vinegar next time.
For the potatoes, I think more roasted garlic, but they were just about perfect. Oh, and I'll make sure I'm not out of green onions next time.
For the green beans, I want to try them with fresh next time and maybe add a little Parmesan cheese at the end.

Overall, the steaks tasted good, although Bill's wasn't a very good cut. The potatoes were awesome. Bill said it was the best potato he'd ever had. Bill didn't like the green beans and I thought they were just okay. But, still, an all-around good dinner, which is good because I burned myself again on the stupid pan that came out of the oven!