NACHO MAMA...

Not your average nachos.

A dish inspired by the very best kind of leftovers--the kind that can be transformed into a totally new meal in mere minutes. And that makes me happy.

The Leftovers:
1. Beans from the previous night's Beans and Cornbread
2. Homemade Ranch from pizza night earlier in the week

Ingredients:

• 1 can refried beans (or in my case, the equivalent in leftover pinto beans)
• 1 can diced green chili peppers, drained
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 yellow onion, grated or finely chopped
• 4 TBSP salsa

Pick your toppings: tomato, avocado, grated carrots (huge fan!!), more diced onion, diced bell pepper, shredded lettuce, salsa, sour cream, ranch dressing, guacamole, shredded chicken or ground beef, cheese, and the list goes on and on...

I just used what I had on hand: salsa, cheese, carrots, and ranch dressing... and we were all happily filled, no meat involved! 

To do:

• In a small pan on the stove, mix together your beans, peppers, garlic, onion, and salsa. Heat through.
• Assemble the nachos in whatever manner suits your fancy.

Notes to self:

1. Sam does not like the nacho chips on the bottom in the event that small children must be attended to before we're able to eat, and the chips get soggy. Moral of the story: Sam does not like soggy chips. 

2. Next time I think I'll throw everything up on top of a beautiful bed of lettuce and forget the chips. I suppose that undoes the whole "Nacho" theme for a third of the family, but perhaps I could crumble some chips up on top of it and call it "Nacho Mama's Salad..." Enough said. 

Recipe adapted from The Probiotics Revolution

Baked Oatmeal

My lovely sister-in-law, Susan, made this recipe for all of us last time she was in town. She's currently in Europe taking classes and picking her way across the continent from vineyard to olive grove with her sister, Alexis, and dear friend, Joy Snyder. You are all missed!!

In your honor, baked oatmeal:

Ingredients:
2 c oats
1 c walnuts, crumbled
1/3 c maple syrup
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c milk (I use almond milk)
1 egg
3 TBSP butter, softened (or melted and cooled)
2 tsp. vanilla
berries to your heart's content! (I used about 2 cups total of blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries)

To do: 
Combine all of the above ingredients into a buttered 9x9 pan, and bake away!

We usually top off the baked oatmeal with a little bit of milk or whipping cream to add some moisture back in. Delicious!

Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes.

Pizza, pizza, pizza!

Just out of the oven!

And this is where the magic happens...

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1 TBSP active dry yeast

1 1/4 c warm water

pinch of brown sugar

2 TBSP olive oil

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

2 c whole wheat flour, plus more as needed

1 c all purpose flour

To do:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and brown sugar in the warm water.
• Add olive oil, salt, and pepper
• Add flour, adding more little by little as needed so that the dough isn't too sticky.
• Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface, kneading for several minutes.
• Place the dough back in the bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel, and let it rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours. And like I always tell Jack, this is when the magic happens!
• Once your dough has risen, punch it down, and knead it again for several minutes.
• You now have two options: the Sam or the Nat
• The Sam: Roll the dough out into one THICK pizza crust, about 14-inches (pictured above)
• The Nat: Split the dough in half, and roll out two slightly smaller thin crust pizzas
• After you roll your dough out onto your baking stone, just pinch up the edges of your crust so that the tomato sauce doesn't escape!
• Spread your Pizza Sauce onto your crust, and bake for 14 to 15 minutes BEFORE you add your toppings.
• Add your favorite toppings, and bake the pizza until the cheese melts!

             Our current favorites:

• spinach, spinach, spinach (my favorite!)
• pepperoni to make Daddy happy
• several handfuls of mozzarella cheese

            Other favorites: sautéed peppers, mushrooms, minced garlic, etc. 

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBSP olive oil/grapeseed oil

1 carrot, grated

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/4 tsp. basil

1 can tomato sauce

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. pepper

next time, will add:

1/2 green pepper, diced

1 bay leaf

handful of fresh parsley

handful of mushrooms, diced

To do:

• Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft.
• Add carrot, green pepper,  mushrooms, and tomato sauce as well as your herbs and spices. 
• Simmer for half an hour, and be sure to remove the bay leaf if you threw one in!

Yields: about 2 cups

The verdict: I finally found a sauce and crust that everyone (except our non-pizza eater) LOVES!! 

Notes to self: 

Make the sauce early in the day or while your dough is rising.

Double and freeze the sauce and/or dough!!!

Recipe adapted from Laurel's Kitchen

Ranch Dressing

Homemade. 

I have to confess that I felt quite domestic when I finished this first attempt at Ranch Dressing. This little pitcher of ranch inspired me to eat several baby carrots and determined that yes, we would in fact be having pizza for dinner. Pizza is for Ranch-dipping, you know. However, this recipe is very much a work in progress, especially considering the fact that it was far too runny for much carrot-dipping to occur. Here's about what we've got so far, but please adjust spices to your taste!

Ingredients: 
1/2 c whole milk plain yogurt (I made the "runny" mistake of using a low fat version)
1/2 c buttermilk
extra virgin olive oil, just a splash
1/4 c sour cream
3/4 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp. black pepper, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp. dill weed
1/8 tsp. celery seed

To do:

• Whisk together the yogurt, buttermilk, olive oil, and sour cream
• Add spices and whisk it all together!

Notes: The consensus at our place = too runny for anything but salads and in need of a little more "umph..."Next time I will be sure to use the full fat yogurt and keep adding spices until it's got just the right zip to it. 

"Beans and Cornbread..."

"They go hand in hand..."

Thank you Mr. Louis Jordan for the inspiration: listen to it here!  And when I think of the song, I think of blanket forts in the family room, TBS Dinner and a movie night, and watching The Money Pit for the first time. Oddly enough, I don't think even tasted beans and cornbread until our fifth year of marriage... last year! Crazy! 

My apologies for the picture. Oh never mind that my beans are a little on the, well, dry side.  However, Sam went back for seconds, so he didn't seem to mind too much-- sweet husband that he is! And just for the record,  butter and sour cream do wonders for dry beans! 

Ingredients:
dried pinto beans (I used the small bag from Publix)
water
salt
pepper
sour cream, for topping it all off

drum roll please.... Jiffy Corn Bread (1 box), 1 egg, 1/3 c milk, butter

To do:

• Rinse and drain beans in a colander, picking over them to remove any debris or unsightly beans. 
• In your pot of choice, cover the beans with a couple of inches of water.
• Bring the beans to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and well... simmer for about two 1/2 to 3 hours until the beans are tender. 
• Add salt and pepper to taste. 
• Important note to self: Check on the beans during the cooking process, and add more water if necessary! 

Prep time: 15 minutes total, maybe.

And just FYI... leftover beans make a fabulous base for nachos! 

Chicken Noodle Soup: In sickness, and in health

As my father would say, "Feel the health!"

For our family, this soup has become the soup of all seasons. In sickness and in health. Currently, in sickness here. Nothing like a bout of hand, foot, and mouth piggy-backed onto colds to get one re-evaluating diets and the amount of sugar we've been eating lately... never mind that it's 104 right now, and I'm not sure how anything is surviving this heat. 

I stumbled across this chicken soup recipe last winter during pregnancy.  Jack had a series of colds, and he just so happens to love chicken noodle soup.  Without further ado, I'll share the quick broth recipe, compliments of Paula Deen, and then soup two ways... slightly adapted from the Lady's Chicken soup recipe.  

Stock Ingredients: 

2 1/2 lbs. chicken (we used bone-in, skin on breasts)

3 1/2 quarts water

1 onion, peeled and diced

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning

3 cloves of garlic, minced

4 bay leaves

3 chicken bouillon cubes

To do:

• Add all the ingredients to your stock pot, cooking on medium-high heat until the chicken is fully cooked and reaches an internal temperature of 165ish, approximately 40 minutes. 
• Remove the chicken and set it aside to cool. Importantly, remove and discard bay leaves. Paula Deen suggests removing the onion, but I usually let it be or remove some of it. 
• After the chicken has cooled, pick it off the bone, setting aside yet again.

"In Sickness" Soup Ingredients: 

2 c carrots, sliced

2 c celery with leafy green tops, sliced

2 1/2 c egg noodles or whole wheat noodles

1/2 red pepper, sliced

1/2 green pepper, sliced 

1 c mushrooms, sliced (I recommend shitakes. Why shitakes?)

8 garlic cloves, minced

3 TBSP fresh parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

1/3 c cooking sherry

2 tsp. rosemary

salt and pepper, to taste

To do: 

• Here's to hoping and praying you have a food processor: slice and dice all veggies! 
• Bring the stock back to a boil. Add the carrots, cooking for about 3 minutes. 
• Add the celery, garlic,  and peppers, cooking for an additional 8 minutes. 
• Add the pasta and cook according to package directions.
• Once the noodles have cooked, add the chicken, mushrooms, parsley, sherry, and rosemary. You could even add a little more garlic here at the end. 
• Cook for another couple of minutes, tasting and adding salt and pepper as needed along the way.

"In health" Soup ingredients

Also known as: "Soup the second way" or "an exciting way to spice up the leftovers..." You get the point.

All of the above

3/4 c whipping cream

1 c parmesan cheese

To do: 

• Follow all the above steps, adding the parmesan and whipping cream when you add the chicken, etc. 
• Sprinkle a little extra parmesan cheese on top of the bowls just before serving! 

And so, my friends,  you have Chicken Noodle Soup for every occasion and for every soul!

Happy cooking!

8-10 servings

Notes: If you have more time and plan ahead... neither of which were applicable to me with this round of soup, make your own stock in advance to pack in even more nutritional benefits! Once you've got this stock in the pot, go ahead an add the lemon pepper, rosemary, etc. that the above recipe calls for to add more flavor.