Mexican Eggs

So, I promised to tell you how we use our leftover enchilada sauce, right? Okay, hold onto your hats 'cause this ones a little crazy. We made this recipe up one night on the fly when we needed a fast, easy, tasty dinner that would satisfy both the adults and the little one at our table. And, did it ever. This meal is so tasty and satisfying.

We call this meal "Mexican Eggs," and essentially it is eggs fried with salsa and enchilada sauce and served with creamy refried beans or black beans and warm, fluffy tortillas. I also top mine with baby spinach or broccoli slaw for some veggie power. This is my all-time favorite easy meal. Try it. You won't be disappointed!

Mexican Eggs

by Sean

serves 2-3

4-5 eggs

1 cup salsa

leftover enchilada sauce (about 1/2 cup)

1 can refried beans or 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)

1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar or pepper jack works well)

4-5 warm flour tortillas

optional toppings:

baby spinach

broccoli slaw

black olives

chopped green onions

Heat refried beans or black beans. Spray a skillet with nonstick spray. Break eggs into the skillet and cook over medium heat until set. Flip the eggs and immediately pour salsa over the top (we like Herdez salsa for this). Then, drizzle enchilada sauce over the salsa. Put a lid over the eggs and cook eggs to your preference. Serve the eggs over the refried beans (or plate the eggs and serve black beans on top). Sprinkle on cheese and optional toppings of choice. Serve with warm tortillas.

En-chee-ladas, Baby!

Okay, so I've posted about enchiladas before. And I just posted about tacos. I'm pretty sure I have a problem with Mexican food. If given the choice, I would gladly eat Mexican food every day for the rest of my life. That's normal, though, right?

I recently discovered this enchilada sauce recipe and it is now my forever go-to sauce. I really love the sauce I posted about before, but it can be a little heavy and gravy-esque. That's fine sometimes, but sometimes I crave a lighter, more tomato-y sauce. This is it. It's an Emeril recipe, and since discovering it, I make it ALL THE TIME. It contains ingredients I always have on hand and the process could not be simpler. I usually whip up cheese enchiladas with this sacue, but it is equally good with shredded beef, chicken, pork, or ground beef. Gotta love a little versatility in life, huh? And, the recipe makes a ton. We usually have at least a cup leftover. I'll show you what I do with that next time.

Try this sauce for me, please. You will be so glad you did! (Note: I substitute 8 oz tomato sauce for tomato paste.)

An ode to tacos

I've had an unnatural love affair with tacos my entire life. Always have, always will. But, it wasn't until just recently that I stumbled upon the perfect combination of ingredients for make-at-home, perfect taco-night tacos. Here's the combo:

Ground beef, natch. Cook it up and add your favorite taco seasoning blend. We usually make our own, but I was lazy last night and used a pouch. Our tacos didn't suffer a bit.

Lots and lots of this!! This is extra-sharp cheddar, but I love pepper jack on these tacos, too.

Shredded green leaf lettuce and chopped cilantro. Don't skip the cilantro here. It's a key ingredient!

Okay, I have a little secret to share. This is canned salsa. I know, you're thing G-ROSS, Keri. But, I promise, it is absolutely, 200% A-MAZING! I'm not a jarred salsa fan, but this stuff doesn't taste like jarred salsa at all. It tastes like homemade or restaurant-style with big, fresh chunks. The key is that this has no preservatives. The ingredients are simply tomatoes, peppers, onions, cilantro, and salt- the same ingredients I use when I make salsa! Please try this salsa for me! You won't regret it and it really makes the tacos.

We're getting there. All seasoned up and ready to play.

Now, this is important. For really delicious tacos, you need fresh corn tortillas. We're going to fry them up, baby. Okay, I don't fry tortillas. Popping oil scares me. Sean fries the tortillas in our house. Here's how he does it:

You need a couple of inches of oil in a skillet. Get the oil nice and hot. Sean said he fries the tortillas on medium-high heat.

Use tongs to "shape" the tortillas as you fry them for a few minutes on each side. He said "fry them until they are done." Helpful, huh? Look for a lightly browned shell with some bubbles. Mmmmmhhhh.

Once the tortillas are fried, it's time to stuff the tacos. This is the good part!

Oh yeah, now we're talking. As soon as I took this picture, I gobbled up more tacos than I care to admit.

On the side: corn and black bean salad with a cilantro-lime vinaigrette. Yummy.

And last, but not least, little helpers to help you gobble up the tacos are a must. Hadley LOVES tacos- almost as much as me.

Brynn hasn't tried tacos yet, but I'm betting she will love them, too. Try these tacos-- I promise you won't regret it!

Check me out

My Baked Southwestern Corn Dip recipe was featured on Tipnut as one of "24 Delicious Dip Recipes." So cool! Seriously, I've never even heard of Tipnut before, and I have no idea how they even found my little, bitty blog. But, hey, I'll take the link any day!

I'm off to get ready for another telephonic job interview. I guess my screaming banshees didn't completely ruin my first interview. Keep your fingers crossed that everyone manages to nap through this interview.

The lunatic is in my head**

I am just having one of those weeks. You know-- the kind where nothing goes right. And I mean absolutely nothing. I have woken up feeling like I have cotton in my temples every morning. Worst of all, I had a headache that was so bad yesterday that I ended up sleeping for two hours after Sean got home from work. I almost missed dinner and that, I tell you, never happens.

I set up a phone interview for a potential job on Tuesday and didn't realize that the interviewer was in a different time zone than me. So, the painstaking planning I did to ensure that the kids would be napping during the interview came to a grinding halt when the interviewer called me an hour before I thought we were scheduled to talk. Surprise! Time for an interview and both kids are not only awake but also screeching like little chimpanzees. I'm sure I got that job.

I've forgotten things left and right, like extra diapers for the trip we took to have lunch with Daddy, and Hadley's swim diapers for the trip to the sprinkler park. Today, we went to the botanic gardens to play in the little wading creek and "rain storm" area, and I completely forgot towels and extra clothes. Poor Hadley had to ride home in her diapie because she was way too wet to ride home in her clothes. I'm sure she loved that. Actually, I take that back. She did love it. She sang the whole way home while she gobbled up Craisins. She's easy to please.

That reminds me-- I was going to give you guys the oh-so-difficult (ha!) popsicle recipe I use for making Hadley little sweet afternoon treats. I knew that we would want to give Hadley cold treats this summer, and when I saw a little popsicle-making kit in the dollar section at Target, I jumped on it. Now, I can make her 8 little popsicles at a time, and she loves them. To make, I just fill each little cup 3/4 full with water and 1/4 of orange juice. Easy, healthy, and free of tons of added sugar and dyes. Since Hadley has never had a real popsicle, she thinks these are the best treats ever. And, while she is eating one, I can buy myself a few minutes to get laundry started or to chop veggies for dinner. Win-win, my friends.

** Extra credit if you can name the song I stole this title from.

I baked!

Well, I kind of baked. Isn't it beautiful??

It's a Blueberry Cream Cheese Galette. I'm so stinking proud of this thing because typically, I don't bake. And when I do, it doesn't always end well. There are a few things I do really well but following directions is not one of them. Therefore, baking and I don't always get along. This recipe, though, was foolproof. I used a store-bought crust and had the whole thing ready to pop in the oven in less than 10 minutes.

I based my galette off of this recipe but modified it slightly (see, I told you I can't follow directions). I didn't use cornstarch because I didn't want the fruit to break down too much (and I didn't have any), and I layered cream cheese under the berry mixture. The cream cheese was Sean's idea and made the tart so decadent and yummy. We both loved this dessert! And, it is so simple, yet so elegant and pretty, that I will definitely be making this the next time we entertain.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Galette

Adapted from For the Love of Cooking

1 pie crust
about 3 cups of blueberries, rinsed and dried
1-2 Tbsp white sugar (I only used one because it seemed like plenty)

2-3 Tbsp cream cheese, sliced

1 egg, beaten
Raw sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper and lightly spraying it with cooking spray. Unroll the pie crust on the parchment paper. Lay slices of cream cheese in the center of the pie crust. Gently mix the berries and sugar in a small bowl and pour/ heap on top of the cream cheese. Fold the pie crust to just cover the berries, leaving plenty of berries showing at the center.

Brush the outside of the pie crust with egg and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream or whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Baked Southwestern Corn Dip-- Yum!

Sean digging in

The last time we made the trek to visit family a few hours away, we brought home a bag full of their fresh-grown sweet corn, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and peppers. I was in heaven. Until I realized we could only eat so many ears of corn on the cob. That's when I remembered this delicious recipe for Baked Southwestern Corn Dip. My mom found this recipe in our local newspaper years ago and we have since adapted it to our tastes. Our family almost always has this dip at holiday parties, but I figured, why not in the middle of the summer? And, for kicks, why not have this dip for dinner instead of an appetizer? It's full of yummy veggies so it can't be completely unhealthy, right? Yeah, just read the list of decadent ingredients.... it's definitely not health food. But it is seriously good!!

Baked Southwestern Corn Dip

About 2 cups fresh corn or 1 Can Yellow Corn Kernels

1 Can Sliced Black Olives (2-1/4 oz)
1 Can Ro-Tel (10 oz)
1 Can Black Beans (15 oz)
1 Medium Fresh Jalapeno Pepper (2 Tablespoons Chopped)
2 Jarred Roasted Red Peppers, chopped
1 Cup Shredded Monterey Jack, Colby Jack, or Pepper Jack Cheese
½ Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Cup Mayonnaise

Cooking Oil Spray
Tortilla Chips for Dipping

Preheat Oven to 350
Drain black beans and Ro-tel tomatoes (and corn if you used canned). Mix drained vegetables and corn in a medium size mixing bowl. Add jalapeno, roasted red peppers, both cheeses, and mayonnaise. Stir well.

Spray a 2 quart baking dish lightly with cooking oil spray. Pour the dip into the dish and smooth the top. Bake until the top is bubbly, about 30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips. Spicy bulk sausage also tastes great in this.

Sweet Corn and Cilantro Salad

Here it is, my recipe for Sweet Corn and Cilantro Salad-- finally! I promise that I have very good reasons for posting this so belatedly. The main one being that I wanted to re-make the salad and actually measure things out for you. Instead of just giving you rough directions, like add a little of this and a little of that, I wanted to actually give you a RECIPE. Imagine that. Unfortunately, I rarely measure when I cook. I just add ingredients until I get the dish the way I want it. I rarely have failures with this method, but I also rarely have specific recipes to share, either. So, I'm working on that.

Another reason I've been slow to post this? I'm just lazy-- er, busy. Really, we have been super busy this week with story times, Little Gym, play dates, and more. Who knew a baby could have this many social engagements?

Anyway, back to the recipe. I can't take full credit for this salad, or really much credit at all. My mom has been making this salad for years, and I simply tweaked it a bit after I claimed it as my own. My mom's version of this salad uses white shoepeg corn, yellow onion, and tomato. I like to jazz up the textures and flavors by mixing corns, like sweet golden and white corn . I also love the fresh flavor of cilantro in this salad and now add it every time I make it. For a kick, you can also add fresh jalapeno, pickled onions, or pickled jalapenos. Anything goes with this salad-- and it is always a hit. I love to take this to parties and cookouts since it is so easy, yet so tasty.

Sweet Corn and Cilantro Salad

2 cans corn (white shoepeg, sweet white, sweet golden), drained
1 small tomato, diced
1-2 tablespoons of yellow onion, finely diced (go easy on the onion in this... as the salad sits, the onion can get very strong)
handful of fresh cilantro, roughly torn
Up to 1/4 c. mayo (we use light)
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Mix the drained corn, tomato, onions, cilantro, and mayo in bowl. I would add a little bit of mayo at a time to make sure that 1/4 c. is not too much mayo for you. I don't like a lot of mayo, so I usually add just under 1/4 c.

Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for about an hour prior to serving.

Happy Fourth of July!!

I hope yours is great-- full of great food, friends, and family!

I know this post is a little early, but we're having a big cook-out tomorrow for some friends and family, so I'll likely be too busy cleaning/ prepping/ freaking out tomorrow to post. I have so much to do and with a baby in the house, so little time to do any of it. Actually, I'm trying very hard to not over-plan or stress in preparation for this little party. I want to host a laid-back and fun dinner and not care if my house isn't perfectly clean for it. We'll still have fun and we'll all be okay.

Yeah, that isn't really how I work, so that's what I'm trying to do. I don't think it's working. I spent tonight after Hadley went to bed sweeping the garage, back patio, and front porch. Then, I cleaned the kitchen to an inch of its life and was about to start vacuuming when Sean forced me to sit down. I acquiesced but only because I haven't sat down yet today. I'm really not good at the whole laid-back thing.

I do have a pretty yummy menu planned out, though. Here's what we have planned:

Tortilla chips and homemade pico de gallo
Various types of grilled sausages and hot dogs (chicken and apple sausage, spicy smoked sausages, etc.)
Marinated cole slaw
Sweet corn and cilantro salad (I'll post the recipe in a few days)
Baked beans with brown sugar and bacon

And for dessert, a Red, White, and Blue Trifle made with layers of strawberry cake, whipped cream, blueberries, and strawberries. I got the recipe here (and am modifying it slightly) and I can't wait to try it. Yum!!

Enjoy the holiday!

Sandy's Potato Salad

Years ago, my mom and I took a cooking demonstration class at a Viking School. One week of the class was dedicated to potato salads-- all different types of salads. Some were entree salads with ingredients like pulled pork and flank steak and others were traditional side dishes like one based on a loaded baked potato with thick-cut bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, and green onions. Yum. That was the best. I have long since lost the pamphlet of recipes that we brought home from that class, but I still remember the yummy salad concoctions.

I didn't actually start making potato salad on a regular basis, though, until I tried Sean's mother's potato salad. Sean's mother, Sandy, is a great cook and she loves teaching others her recipes. I have learned so many things from her and make many of her recipes on a regular basis. I hope to pass these recipes onto Hadley one day when she is older.

Sandy's potato salad is loaded with ingredients that I love, like green olives, boiled eggs, celery, green onions, and flat-leaf parsley. And, the kicker is that instead of an all mayonnaise base, she uses mayonnaise and a little bit of canola or olive oil. There's no mustard, either. That would be wrong. And, since she is from New Orleans, she spices it up with lots of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning. It's a must for just about any dish she cooks. We use Tony's in just about everything, too.

I don't really have a recipe for this salad since it's more a method than a science, but essentially, you boil some potatoes and a few eggs. Let both cool slightly. Then peel the potatoes and eggs, cut the potatoes into cubes, mash the eggs, and while the potatoes are still warm, mix in the eggs, vegetables, mayo, and oil. Just add the fillings until you get the salad to the consistency that you like. If you like tons of olives and just a few onions in your salad, that's fine. Then, season to taste with black pepper and Tony's. Tony's is mainly salt, so go easy on the salt if you add any.

Enjoy!

The Easiest Dinner Ever

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. Things have been uber hectic around here. We were out of town visiting family last weekend and since returning home, I have been trying to get us ready and packed for a weeklong vacation in Orlando that we leave for on Friday night. I'm dreading the drive already. Yes, we have opted to drive 14 hours with an infant. We need help. And, I need to be medicated before we leave.

But, before we leave, I have been wanting to share a recipe that we tried last week for a rotisserie crockpot chicken. The full recipe is below. Variations for this recipe are floating around the web right now, but the method is essentially the same for all of them. You prepare a chicken to cook, season it, and then place the chicken on top of loosely rolled balls of aluminum foil that you have placed in the bottom of your crockpot. The aluminum balls keep the chicken from resting in its juices and allow the heat to circulate around the chicken, much like it would if you roasted the chicken in the oven.

I cooked a 3.3-pound chicken and it was tender, falling apart, and delicious. I don't know if the chicken actually tasted like a rotisserie chicken since I don't buy those, but the meat was great. We made shredded chicken tacos, barbecue chicken pizza, and buffalo chicken sandwiches with our chicken and still had enough meat to freeze some for later. And, seriously, this was the easiest and fastest dinner I have made in a long time. I spent ten minutes prepping the chicken and had cooked chicken for dinners throughout the week. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from one I found here on Big Oven:

3 -4 lb. whole chicken rinsed, patted dry (remove bag from cavity)
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Seasoning salt, black pepper, cayenne, onion powder, and garlic powder (season your chicken to taste)
aluminum foil

Make 4-5 loose balls from the aluminum foil. Mix seasoning salt, black pepper, cayenne, onion powder, and garlic powder in a bowl. Rub inside and outside of chicken with olive oil and then rub with seasonings to taste. Spray the inside of the crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Put foil balls (4-5) in the bottom of the crockpot. Place the chicken on top of the foil balls, breast side up. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4-6 hours. Do not add water or other liquid to crockpot. Do not remove the lid from the crockpot until the chicken has finished cooking.

Friday Night Dinner: Enchiladas

I love food. I love to shop for food, cook food, and best of all, eat food. I have always loved reading about food, too, and can remember spending hours as a child reading my parents' cookbooks. I still have my recipe box that I created as a child with all of my favorite recipes neatly printed on Strawberry Shortcake recipe cards. It's so fun to look at my young handwriting and the recipes that captured my interest back then. I know, I was a supreme dork. But, what can I say?

Looking back at my Strawberry Shortcake recipe cards, it's plainly obvious that I loved Mexican food even as a child. Most of my recipes are for different types of chilis, enchiladas, mexican-style casseroles, and tacos. And, that love has followed me over the years. There is just something about the spices, heat, and flavors of Mexican food that I crave. In fact, I could eat it every day and sometimes, we do. I don't play favorites, either. I love all types of what I call "Mexican" food, whether it is Tex-Mex, Americanized Mexican, or authentic Mexican. It's just all good. I really lucked out with Sean, too. He likes Mexican food and is willing to indulge my cravings by eating it quite often. What other sign of true love do you need??

Lately, I have had a mean craving for Tex-Mex, especially Tex-Mex style enchiladas. You know, the yellow cheddar cheese variety that is covered in chili gravy, more cheddar cheese, and a sprinkling of onion? We just can't find good Tex-Mex here. We have an abundant supply of "authentic" Mexican-style restaurants, but they serve white Chihuahua cheese, bland meat, and fake guacamole. It's okay for what it is, but it's not great. And, it doesn't satisfy a craving for Tex- Mex.

One Friday night when I was dying for some cheese-and-onion enchiladas, I asked Sean if he would want to try making our own chili gravy and enchiladas. He was game. I don't know why we didn't try this earlier. We love to cook and to experiment with new recipes, but for some reason, I envisioned enchilada sauce being more difficult to make than it was. Don't get me wrong, this is a time-consuming meal, but it's super easy.

I found a recipe on Homesick Texan's blog for chili gravy by Robb Walsh, the guru on all things Tex-Mex, and we jumped right in. The basic method is simple. You make a roux with flour and oil and then you add tons of spices, mainly chili powder and cumin, and let it thicken to a rich, thick, hearty gravy. Then, you lightly fry corn tortillas, stuff, and bake, and voila, you have homemade Tex-Mex. And, oh my, are they good. Those enchiladas are simply heaven on a plate. We have made these enchiladas for several Fridays over the past few months, and they are my favorite meal right now. And, the fact that Sean is willing to spend hours in the kitchen making my favorite meal just melts my heart. You know the saying that food is the way to a man's heart? It's totally the way to my heart, too.

Spaghetti Night Revisited

I have tomatoes coming out of my ears right now. As of this morning, I had a dozen tomatoes in the fridge and no idea as to what to do with them. Apparently, I have amnesia while shopping and just keep buying tomatoes despite the fact that we haven't eaten a fraction of what we already have. And we don't usually eat a lot of tomatoes. We make salsas, salads, and sandwiches with them, but we certainly don't polish off enough to need a bushel at a time. So, I started thinking about what I could do with them. In my free time this afternoon-- ha ha-- I searched around online for some dinner ideas and finally stumbled upon a recipe called "Mediterranean Pasta with Fire Roasted Tomatoes." Actually, it's more of an advertisement than a recipe, but the overall method and idea sounded great.

Essentially, this dish requires that you roast about 2 pounds of tomatoes that have been drizzled with a garlic and herb-infused olive oil. Then, when the tomatoes are nice and brown and soft, you crush half of them with a little more olive oil and mix that and the remaining tomatoes with spaghetti or fettuccine. Sounds delish, right? It was!

It was light, simple, flavorful, and so easy to make. I roasted the tomatoes and boiled the pasta while I fed Hadley. Then, we whipped up a quick salad, and dinner was ready. I adore quick and easy weeknight meals, and there's nothing like family spaghetti night. Only, this was nothing like the spaghetti and marinara of my childhood. It's a grown-up version with a kick. And it will probably be making an appearance at our house again next week.