The Tale of Two Tacos

Girls' Night Out/In, Mexican

We finally ate those damn tacos! They were delicious!
Here is the link to making your own taco seasoning.
https://funfoodiefamily.com/2013/07/23/homemade-taco-seasoning-mix/

015

Last night I had planned on making patty melts, but there was just too much food in the fridge that we needed to eat up and it was just us girls for dinner (Daddy had a hockey game). For the girls- well, they wanted french toast sticks and Annie Spaghetti O’s. Random, but ok. I made myself a nice big taco salad with the leftover taco meat. We still have a box of taco shells in the pantry, but I think they will sit there for awhile until the taco craving strikes again or I find something else creative to do with them. Any ideas?
image

Chicken Kabobs, Oven Roasted Corn, and Naan with Arugula and Walnut Pesto

Chicken, Dips, Dressings, and Spreads, Sandwiches

I have been in the kitchen cooking since 3 pm. I made marinara sauce for my baked shells, cooked hamburger meat, marinated my chicken, made pesto, cooked dinner, and assembled my baked shells for tomorrow’s dinner. Any day I get to spend in the kitchen is a great one! Here is what we ate tonight…

Chicken Kabobs

I cut up chunks of chicken (4 breasts) and marinated it in olive oil, garlic (6 cloves, smashed and chopped), and salt and pepper to taste. Let set in fridge for at least 20 minutes. This is a great mild marinade, but heat would have been amazing in this. I might have added some diced jalapeno, a splash of hot sauce, or a few shakes of red pepper flakes if the girls were not eating this with us. Maybe next time I will do 2 marinades.
I also cut up some onion and added whole mushrooms to skewers I soaked in water for 20 minutes (while the marinade was going). Rotate on smoking hot grill or grill pan for about 6 minutes or so per side until the inside is no longer pink. 002

003

004

Arugula and Walnut Pesto

You guys know I love to make pesto. This is the same as all the others. Greens (arugula), nuts (walnuts), cheese (Parmesan), and olive oil streamed in to the right consistency.
008

Oven Roasted Corn

I wrapped 6 ears of corn in aluminum foil with 2 pats of butter per ear. I placed them in a 450 oven for about 20 minutes. Fresh corn is always a big hit! We planted some in our garden this year, so hopefully we will get a few ears out of it!

I heated some Naan bread on my gas eye and assembled a sandwich of sorts.It was heaven.

 

006

007

 

Tilapia with Pesto and Cauliflower Gratin

Dips, Dressings, and Spreads, grains, potatoes, Seafood, Side dishes...veggies

I have heard some people say they don’t like cooking fish because they think it will stink up the house. They think it is hard to make. Well, I am here to prove them wrong. It couldn’t be easier and the house smells amazing. I also made a spinach and basil pesto to go with the fish. It matched perfectly. There were no leftovers…

Pan fried Tilapia

Ingredients
2-3 filets of tilapia cut in half
2 cups of flour
salt and pepper to taste
a couple tablespoons of oil AND butter

Directions
Sprinkle both sides of fish with salt and pepper; coat in flour. In large skillet, heat oil and butter over medium-high heat; fry fish in batches, turning once, until golden and fish flakes easily when tested, 4 to 5 minutes.

024

023

Spinach Basil Pesto

Directions- Mix the following ingredients in a food processor and stream in olive oil to make smooth and creamy;
1/2 container of pine nuts
1 handful of both spinach and basil
1/2 container of parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
photo 2

Cauliflower Gratin

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
Sea Salt and Pepper
3 tbl butter
2 tbl flour
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
2 cups of shredded cheese- I used mild cheddar and colby jack

Directions

Place cauliflower on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Generously salt and pepper your veggies. Toss and cover well all pieces with olive oil or cooking spray. Place in preheated 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. Turn to broil for the last 5 minutes to get the pieces golden brown. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a large skillet. Add in the flour, stirring to make a paste. Continue stirring for about 5 minutes. Slowly add in heavy cream stirring and blending. Do the same with the milk. Reduce heat to low and add the cheeses a little bit at a time, stirring and allowing it all to melt. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place roasted cauliflower in a large mixing bowl. Add creamy cheese mixture and blend well. Pour into a cast iron skillet and add more shredded cheese to the top. Bake for 20 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven or until the top is golden brown.

020

021

022

Oh, and we had a side of couscous. That is always a hit. =) Hope you have a great week!

The B.E.L.T- Bacon, Egg, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich

Sandwiches

The best thing about a sandwich is there is no right way to make one. You can add anything you like. You can leave off something you don’t like. You can take a classic sandwich, like the BLT, and change or enhance it, if you will. The same can be done for the Grilled Cheese. One of my daughters did not want a BLT, but a grilled cheese with bacon. Ok. Love it! My husband wanted a BLT, so I made him the classic. My other 2 daughters wanted a plain grilled cheese and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I wanted to have a BLT with a poached egg.

You might say, “Why are you making everyone something different? I thought you only make one thing and everyone has to eat it?”

That is my rule for dinner. I only make one meal. You eat it or starve. No one has starved. Everyone eats. Breakfast and lunch are a different story. I have no problem making different meals for breakfast and lunch. Usually everyone always wants to have the same thing anyway. Every once in a while, someone might want to be unique, so I roll with it. C’est la vie!

Here are some very lovely pictures of my BELT. I toasted some rosemary french bread, slathered it with mayo and horseradish, added my bacon, lettuce, and tomato, and topped with my poached egg. Messy, but oh so good.

009

007

010

006

Stove Top Lasagna and Bruschetta

Date Night, Girls' Night Out/In, One pot meal, Pasta, Pizzas, Flatbreads, Toasts

Last weekend, I was watching The Kitchen, a show that comes on the Food Network. It is kinda like The Chew, but only comes on Saturdays. Sunny Anderson is one of the TV chef personalities, and she was making this stove top lasagna. It looked so easy and delicious, I thought I would make it the next time lasagna was on the menu. I made this kind of from what I remember, so it is not exactly the same as hers. Here is the link to her original recipe. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/sunnys-pan-sagna-one-pan-plan-lasagna.html
Here is how I made it…

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 chopped onion
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning and fresh herbs- next time I will add more
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound ground beef
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 container of mushrooms
1 to 2 cups beef stock
8 par-cooked lasagna sheets, broken into shards- I also added the end of a box of penne.
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions
You need a large pan with a lid that is also oven safe. I used a circular dutch oven. Add the olive oil on medium-high heat. When the oil begins to swirl around in the pan a bit, add onions, mushrooms, Italian seasoning, a little salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook until the vegetables are tender and the onions become translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and garlic. Stir for a couple of minutes.

Add the beef to the pan. Cook while breaking up with a wooden spoon until cooked through and browned, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stir. Add the stock to cover the contents by almost an inch. Bring the pan to a boil then add the broken lasagna sheets. Make sure you cover the pasta with the liquid. Cover the pot, lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the lasagna noodles are al dente, about 8-10 minutes. I uncovered it and stirred it around every few minutes to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.
011

Once it is done, stir in the Parmesan cheese. The spread the mozzarella all over the top. Turn the oven on low broil. Put the pot in the oven and keep the door a jar a bit. Keep an eye on it and take it out when the cheese is melty and brown. YUM!

013

017

Of course I didn’t forget about the Bruchetta! Make this before you put your lasagna in the oven for a nice appetizer to munch on while you sip some wine and wait for dinner to be ready. Lots of different ways to make this- what kind of bread are you going to use; are you going to toast it first or toast the ingredients on it; what kind of toppings are you going to add etc.

I made mine pretty in a pretty basic way- Cut open some bread, minced some garlic and put it on the bread first, then add slices of a tomato, mozzarella, and top with some thinly sliced basil leaves. Put in the oven on low broil until cheese is melted. Perfect with a glass of Malbec!010

012

014