Black Bean Pie

This didn't turn out as pretty as I had hoped. My mother in law taught me how to flute the edges of pie crust but I wasn't nearly as good as she was so I didn't really bother. Sorry Laurie! I adapted this from Sing for your supper.


Ingredients
2 9 inch pie crusts
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 cup salsa
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 flour tortillas
1/2 cup sour cream


Preheat oven to 350. Press one of the pie crusts into the bottom of a pie pan. Mix the beans, salsa, and corn together. Spread 1/3 of the mixture onto the pie crust. Sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese and cilantro on top. Place one of the tortillas on top and press down so that it's flat. Spread half the sour cream on top of the tortilla. Repeat the layers ending with cheese and cilantro. Put the second pie crust on top and seal the edges. Cut a few slits in the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. 

Cheesy Roasted Cauliflower

I accidentally  snacked on most of this before the rest of dinner was ready and before my husband got home. Whoops. 


Ingredients
1 cauliflower cut into florets
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup bread crumbs 
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Over the Edge Herbed Spinach  (Optional)


Pre-heat oven to 425. Toss the cauliflower with the olive oil and spread in a single layer in a baking pan lined with foil. Bake 20-30 minutes or until cauliflower is desired tenderness. I like mine a little crunchy still. Mix the bread crumbs and melted butter. Spread over the top of the cauliflower. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake another 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper and Over the Edge Herbed Spinach. Eat all of it before dinner. Especially the crispy cheesy bites at the bottom of the pan. 

Nutella S'more Pockets

You need these immediately. I have seen a whole bunch of s'more recipes and Nutella recipes lately. I combined them all and this is what I came up with. It's possible that I over-filled them a little bit. I don't mind. Also, shout out to my husband for being the best camera man! 


Ingredients:
1 puff pastry sheet
1/2 cup Nutella 
2 graham crackers 
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
1 Hershey's bar


1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Cut the puff pastry sheet into 4 squares. Spread Nutella on each square.

2. Add graham crackers. You will be folding them in half so try to keep the graham crackers on just one side.

3. Add marshmallows. I didn't have mini marshmallows so I cut big ones into quarters. It was messy. 

Zoe loves these. Look how happy she is.

4. Break the Hershey's bar apart and put 2 pieces on each pastry.

5. Fold them in half and press the edges together. Bake for 20-30 minutes Or until golden brown. 

Vegetarian Chili

This recipe makes a ton of chili. Invite lots of people over when you make it. Or don't and eat chili all week.


Ingredients:
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 can vegetarian baked beans
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies or jalapeños
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 stalks of celery, thinly sliced 
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon basil
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon parsley
Shredded cheddar cheese


1. Place all ingredients in a slow cooker. Stir until everything is well mixed. Cook on high for 3-5 hours or on low 5-8 hours. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and serve with cornbread. Mine just came from a box. 

A Garden

I've never gardened before. I had no clue what I was doing. But my boo helped a lot. 

Just hoe-in' 

He's much better at this than I am. 

Diggin's holes. I look like a huge dork with a tape measure clipped to my pocket. 

Plantin' bulbs.

Gardening is very hard work. And this is all it looks like. I'll update when we have plants.

The Best Pizza Dough

We love pizza in this house. We (I) call it nature's perfect food. When we lived in Chico I had my favorite pizza dough recipe. I loved it. It was perfect. When we moved to a higher elevation, it never turned out right. I tried and tried and sometimes it came out close. But it was never the same. I finally gave up and tried something new. This is my new favorite. My old favorite will always have a special place in my heart.


Ingredients:
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup warm water
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/4 cups flour

1. Mix salt and yeast together. Add honey and water. Stir for a few minutes. You can also use a mixer for this. 

2. Add oil and 1 cup of the flour. Mix until the flour is completely incorporated. Add another cup of flour and mix again. Once that flour is incorporated, add the last 1/4 cup and mix.

3.  Continue to mix until it becomes more dough-like. It should be tacky but not too sticky. Place on a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until dough is smooth.

4. Place dough in an oiled bowl. I like to swirl the dough around in the bowl so it is also covered in oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Set it somewhere warm and leave it alone for an hour. When you come back, it should have doubled in size. Punch it. Dump it back onto a floured surface and knead it for about a minute. It should feel more like dough. Place it back in the bowl, cover, and go away for another hour or so. 

5. Get your toppings ready. I'm usually happy with plain cheese pizza but I got a little crazy tonight and I used onions and bell peppers. 

6. Set your dough on a floured surface and begin stretching it. I just use my fingers to press all the edges into a circle. My pizzas are never really round. It's more important that it's the same thickness everywhere. I also like to hold it up and turn it in my hands so the weight of the dough stretches it. It's not difficult. It just takes a little bit of practice. She explains it better than I do.

7. Once you're happy with the shape, put your dough on a pizza pan and start adding toppings. Tempeh sausage is one of my favorites. After your pizza is all assembled, brush the edges of the crust with olive oil to prevent it from browning too much.

8. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes. 

Avocado Fries

This is all I want to eat. All day. Every day. I stumbledupon this recipe awhile ago and I made them today. Just imagine them. They're avocados. And they're fried. And they're even better than you're probably imagining. I changed a few things. Here's my recipe.


Ingredients:
2 avocados
3 eggs
2 cups Italian style breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons garlic salt
Vegetable oil for frying


1. Slice avocados. Slicing avocados is weird but the shape doesn't matter. 


2.Pour oil in a skillet to a depth of one inch. Heat until a pinch of bread crumbs sizzles and turns brown. 


3.Beat eggs together in a shallow bowl. Mix bread crumbs and garlic salt together in another bowl. 


4. Dip each avocado slice in the eggs and then coat with bread crumbs. Place about 5 at a time in the oil. They fry really fast so as soon as you finish putting the last one in, you'll need to flip the first one. Flip the rest and as soon as the last one is flipped, start removing them. Place on a plate with 2 or 3 paper towels. Repeat with the rest of the avocados. 


5. Eat! They're really good dipped in ranch. 


6. Make more. 

Hot Rice Bag

This is the best thing ever! I don't know why I've never owned one of these before. I found  this and it happened to be about 50 degrees inside my house this morning. Sewing isn't really my thing so I simplified it even more. Here's what you do.


Cut a square or recatangle out of your chosen fabric. It can be any fabric. I chose something a little heavier so you can't see through it. My rectangle was about 12 by 13 inches. It doesn't need to be exact though. Fold it in half with the outside in and sew 2 of the edges together. 

Turn it right side out and fill it with rice. I used somewhere between 5 and 6 cups. This requires 2 hands and my husband wasn't home to operate the camera. This was the best I could get. 

Turn the opening of your bag down so the edges of the fabric are inside. You can iron it if you want to but it's not necessary. And actually, it makes more sense to iron before putting the rice in. 

Sew the final edge of your bag closed. The bag is heavy so it's a little tricky to hold it and sew at the same time. Pins would probably make it easier but I don't have the patience for that crap. 

Here it is! I microwaved mine for 2 1/2 minutes and it's still hot an hour later. 

This is my morning. I'm so cozy and comfy. I don't even miss my husband. 

Yes I do. 

Magnetic Shopping List

I think of about a million things I need throughout the course of a day and when the time comes to go buy those things, I can't remember what they are. So I came up with this. It took about 5 minutes and is really practical.The idea is that I'll write things down as I think of them. Whether I'll actually use it or not is anyone's guess. 


Materials:


A notepad (This one was really ugly so I just turned it over.)
A couple pieces of cute paper
Magnets (I used the kind with a sticky strip on the back.)
Glue dots, white glue, tape, or any adhesive really

Cut and arrange your paper the way you want it to look. Glue or tape together. Glue or tape the notepad on. Attach magnets to the back. That's it! 

The kitties will really get involved in this one! I think I'm hilarious. My husband doesn't. You don't have to either.