Cranberry Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits & Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Black Beans

Once again horrible, quick photos. You will have to overlook them please, because these two things are very tasty.

First up, Cranberry Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits. My son chose dinner the other night and he wanted fried eggs, sauteed swiss chard & spinach, and biscuits. I know for a fact that these were not the kind of biscuits he wanted, but I was ready to try them, so I made half of them without the cranberries. This recipe uses whole wheat pastry flour and it makes a very tender, delicious biscuit. My daughters and I thought the ones with cranberries were very good and my son enjoyed those that were cranberry free.

Second, this Sweet Potato & Black Bean Salad. I'm happy to say that I have completely overcome my dislike of sweet potatoes. The key for me is to combine them with savory and/or spicy ingredients. I made this salad for a Christmas party and it was really delicious. Pretty simple too. I didn't follow the directions exactly because I wanted to add the lime juice and olive oil bit by bit, so I could adjust the taste and I also wanted the little bites of jalapeno to be in there, not pureed. I loved this salad. Many people requested the recipe. It is a fun, healthy alternative/salad that can be shared at this time of year.


Here is the recipe for Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Black Beans
* I didn't puree the dressing, I just added the jalapenos, lime juice and other ingredients
the the roasted veggies & beans
* I used less olive oil than called for, both when roasted the sweet potatoes and when dressing the salad


Here is the recipe for Cranberry Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits
* I used low-fat buttermilk
* I only added frozen cranberries to half of my biscuits

Turkey and Pinto Bean Chili (kinda)

It's that time of year again- Chili season! For some reason, once the weather turns a little bit cooler, it just feels like time to make chili. I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who feels that way.
I usually make a vegetable-heavy chili, sometimes with ground turkey and sometimes meatless with a few different kinds of beans. I saw this recipe in Everyday Food Magazine and it looked really delicious. I wasn't planning on adding anything extra, but I had some sweet potatoes in the fridge that needed to be used and well, an extra can of beans never really hurt anybody, right?

This was delicious!

Emeril's Turkey and Pinto Bean Chili
from Everyday Food
makes 6-8 servings

4 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
2 medium onions, diced
1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
1.25-1.5 pounds ground turkey
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 teaspoons dried oregano
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cans (15.5 ounces each) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream (optional)
* I added 1 1/2 cups chopped sweet potato with the ground turkey and 1 can drained & rinsed black beans with the pinto beans + a little extra water :D

In a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot, cook bacon over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until bacon is crisp, about 8 minutes. Add onions and bell pepper and cook until vegetable soften, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Add ground turkey, chili powder, cumin, garlic, oregano, and cook about 6-8 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through. Continually break meat up with wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper.

Add tomatoes with juice, beans, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a rapid simmer. Partially cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. (This could take anywhere from 20-45 minutes, or more.)

Serve topped with cilantro and shredded cheese and/or sour cream, if desired.

Brown Rice with Black Beans

This is a bad picture of a really surprising, delicious dish. (But look at that sweet little finger. There is always someone trying to help me around here!)
I wasn't really expecting too much out of this dish, but it ended up really surprising me. The ingredients are fairly simple. There aren't a ton of seasonings, but I think the cooking method helps this dish have a risotto-like texture.

The brown rice is really good and takes on a different texture than it normally does. The fresh corn kernels and black beans make it so hearty. It was good the first day right out of the oven, the next day cold out of the fridge, and the third day we used it as a filling for burritos. I love dishes that can be used in multiple ways and that stretch over many days.
I will be making this again and again.

Here is the recipe for Brown Rice with Black Beans

Good Luck Dip

This is actually New Year's Good Luck Dip. I saw it on Ezra Pound Cake a day or two before New Year's and loved this twist on collard greens and beans.

I wasn't going to share it here since it has been a few weeks since New Years Day, but it was so delicious and I figured we could all use some good luck, probably more than just on the first day of the year. You can't really go wrong with dip and this one has some healthy stuff in it.

This dip starts out with a little bit of bacon. You cook a sweet onion, red bell pepper and then add the collard greens, and cook them down until they are nice and wilted. You might be thinking that collard greens can't fit into a dip. But they can. Make sure you finely chop the collard greens. To lighten this dip up a little, I used nonfat cream cheese and nonfat Greek yogurt. I was actually kinda surprised by how yummy this dip was. I also added some black-eyed peas since we had this dip the same day as the Southern Egg Rolls.

I used whole wheat pita chips as my main dipper, but I think it would taste great with veggie sticks too. Since it was sort of a New Year's party for our family, I splurged and bought some Frito dips, so they could use those to dip into this dip.

This was a great recipe and we loved how it turned out.

Recipe for Good Luck Dip
* I used non-fat cream cheese
* I used nonfat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream
* I added some cooked black-eyed peas

Southern Egg Rolls

I know I've said this before, but you need to know that I am not a true Southerner. Therefore, I cannot be held accountable for things that I say or make that have the word "Southern" in front of them.
I did find this recipe on a blog that is written by a real Southerner, so, well, so, that is that.

I saw this recipe a couple of days before New Year's and loved this twist on the traditional black eyed peas and collard greens, that people eat around here on New Year's to bring good luck for the coming year.

I love anything that isn't traditional and adds a little flair to the ordinary, so I decided to make these on New Year's Day.
They are so good that I think you should make them any day.

I decided to bake these egg rolls because I have baked egg rolls before and you can still get a nice crunchy shell, without all the extra fat. Plus, being a true non-Southerner, I don't fry things.

I am here to tell you that these little guys taste great baked. And with a few changes.
But, if you feel like frying them, I'm sure they taste really yummy that way too.
They also tasted great the next day, cold, straight out of the refrigerator.


Recipe for Southern Egg Rolls
* I used less bacon than called for
* I added a large red bell pepper to the onion and cooked them together
* I used a combination of monterey jack & mozzarella cheese and used 1 1/2 cups instead of 2 cups


* this recipe calls for frying the egg rolls, but I have made egg rolls in the past and decided to bake them instead.
preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
Prepare the egg rolls as you would for frying, but lay them on the prepared baking sheet, folded side down.
Spray the tops with cooking spray.
Bake for about 18 minutes or until the outside is golden brown and crispy.

Southwestern Pumpkin Patties

One of my favorite things about fall is canned pumpkin. I opened a large can of pumpkin a couple weeks ago and starting making some great pumpkin recipes.
I wanted to make something savory and I found this recipe for Southwestern Pumpkin Burgers over at Eating Well. I changed the name to patties because it didn't seem right to call them burgers.

I happened to have one cob of fresh corn left in the fridge, so I used that. I kinda eyeballed the amounts of onion, corn, red bell pepper, etc. and I ended up having to use more pumpkin puree than the recipe originally called for to make the patties hold together.
I found these fun looking Flatout FOLDits and so we used them to hold our patties and toppings.

These were pretty good. The flavor was very similar to a savory sweet potato recipe, if you are looking for some sort of comparison.

This was a fun way to use pumpkin.

Recipe for Southwestern Pumpkin Patties
* I used panko instead of bread crumbs
* I used Flatout FOLDit Artisan Flatbread because it looked fun and different

Orzo & Shrimp Salad

I went to random.org to find a winner for my fig giveaway and the winner is #6- Rachel, who said "I would love a bunch of fresh figs, I love anything with fig but I've actually never had fresh ones - I love the way they look inside! =)".

I hope she enjoys her fresh figs!

Now onto today's recipe, which is something I threw together a couple of weeks ago.
We eat roasted shrimp at least once a week and this was one of the version's that I made recently. I thought it would taste great with some orzo and roasted vegetables. I also added some fresh corn kernels since summer is winding down a little bit, I thought I would get some fresh corn in while I can.
This was a really delicious dinner. Sorry the instructions are a little crazy, but I just tried to record what I did, since I just made this one up. I make up dinners all the time, but usually don't post them. This one was just too good to pass up.

Orzo & Shrimp Salad by Mary Ann
First, get your water boiling for your orzo (I used half a box). Prepare that according to the package directions. Then roast your vegetables- I used asparagus and red bell pepper this time. Set them aside while you prep the other parts of the salad.
Turn down the oven temperature and roast your shrimp. While the shrimp is roasting, cut your corn off the cob.
By this time the orzo should be ready, drain the orzo and put it in a large bowl. Add the roasted vegetables and corn kernels.
Then add about 1 Tbls olive oil, the lime juice, 1 Tbls red wine vinegar and chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Add more olive oil, vinegar or lime juice, to taste.
Serve in bowls and top with roasted shrimp.

Roasted Veggies
1 pd of asparagus
1 red bell pepper
olive oil
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Chop vegetables into 1-inch pieces and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 12-15 minutes or until veggies are crisp- tender.

Roasted Shrimp
juice of 1 lime
olive oil
salt
pepper
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 pd peeled and deveined shrimp

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the thawed shrimp on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, the lime juice, and season with salt & pepper. Sprinkle chopped parsley on top and toss everything together with your fingers. Roast for 8-10 minutes, until shrimp is pink and firm.

To finish off the salad you need-
2 cobs of fresh corn, kernels cut off
1-3 Tbls olive oil
juice of 1/2 or 1 lime
salt
pepper
1 -3 Tbls red wine vinegar
1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley

Roasted Veggie Pizza

I saw a recipe for Grilled Veggie Pizza in Cooking Light and really thought it looked delicious. I decided to roast some veggies and make my own version of the pizza.

I roasted 2 huge half-sheets of veggies w/ olive oil, salt & pepper in the oven for 10-15 minutes @ 425 degrees F- which gave me enough leftover veggies for a quinoa/veggie dish and quesadillas later in the week.
The veggies I roasted were:
1 lb asparagus- cut in 2-inch pieces
1 eggplant-chopped
1 red pepper-chopped
1 green pepper-chopped
2 yellow/summer squash-chopped
2 zucchini-chopped

I used a whole wheat pizza dough from my local grocery store to make the crust.
I used my basic pizza sauce


The original recipe- Veggie Grilled Pizza
*I used fontina cheese and the fresh thyme/mint herb combination, like the recipe suggested but chopped my herbs before sprinkling them on top.

I really liked this healthy version of pizza and roasting that many vegetables at a time was great, because I had enough extra to last for a couple other meals during the week.

What is your favorite way to top your pizza?

Vegetarian Taco Salad

The most recent issue of Eating Well had a section of great salads. I wanted to make every single one of them. So far I have made 2. The Spiced Eggplant-Lentil one that I posted a few days ago and this take on taco salad.
I liked the idea of a vegetarian taco salad and knew that if I played around with this recipe a little bit it would be a great dinner for us and no one would even notice that there wasn't any meat.

Usually when I make tacos I use lean ground turkey and reduce the amount by 1/2, adding a can or two of black, kidney or some other kind of bean to fill in for the "missing meat". Not that I miss it at all.
So, I was really happy when I saw this version which had beans, corn, whole grains and other things as the main event.

I had to make a couple of changes since my husband doesn't like tomatoes. I used red peppers instead and didn't combine all the salad ingredients. I just layered them on everyone's plates, since some of my kids don't like salsa, I just added that to my hubby's salad and mine.

I also used quinoa instead of brown rice just because I already had some that was cooked in my fridge.



Recipe for Vegetarian Taco Salad
* I used quinoa instead of brown rice
* I added cumin, subbed red bell pepper for tomatoes and mixed my salad together differently than the recipe advised.

Curried Vegetable Couscous

This is another great recipe from the Mayo Clinic Cookbook that caught my eye, even though there was not a picture provided alongside the recipe. Kind of disproves something I said the other day about pictures being the inspiration for the dishes I choose to cook and bake, but oh well!

I love anything that has curry in it. Curry powder, curry paste- whatever it is, I love it.
My mom used curry powder in quite a few dishes when I was growing up and I think that is probably part of the reason why I love it so much.

I made this to take to a family dinner as a side dish and it was well liked by everyone which meant I didn't get as much of it leftover throughout the week for my lunch, but at least it was a hit.
It uses whole wheat couscous, which is almost exactly the same tastewise as normal couscous.
You use a food processor to mince celery, carrot, red bell pepper, onion, garlic and gingerroot and then saute the veggie mixture with the curry powder. (That is why the whole dish looks yellow, not bad lighting, just curry powder!)
Meanwhile the couscous cooks up and then you throw the whole thing together. It was so easy and really delicious.

I am going to try it again with quinoa or millet and can't wait to eat it again!


Recipe for Curried Vegetable Couscous

Vegetable Fried Rice

What do you do with leftover rice?
I had some brown rice leftover after I made Caribbean Red Beans and Brown Rice and knew right away that I was going to use it to make some version of fried rice.
I really wanted to make a vegetable version and found a great recipe online. I just wanted to add a couple more vegetables and ended up doing the recipe my way. I adapted the recipe according to what I did and also included a link for the original recipe.

We had this alongside the salmon in the previous post and it was a really great combination and a really delicious dinner.

There was enough leftover from this recipe, that I was able to add some cooked, chopped chicken to it and it provided us with another dinner later in the week. I love it when that happens.

Vegetable Fried Rice adapted from Eating Well

2 cups cooked brown rice

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons canola oil

8 oz sliced mushrooms

1 lb asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped

2 cups sugar snap peas

4 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

1. Heat canola oil in the pan over medium-high; add mushrooms and cook for two minutes. Add asparagus, bell pepper, scallions, garlic and ginger; cook, stirring, until the vegetables are just tender, about 2 minutes.
2. Scoot all the veggies to one side of your pan and add eggs. Cook and scramble for about 1 minute. Mix into vegetables.
   
3. Add the cooked rice, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar snap peas to the pan; cook until the liquid is absorbed, 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in sesame oil and sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds.

Original Recipe for Vegetable Fried Rice

Frittata with Spinach, Sausage, Peppers, and Eggplant

It would be a complete understatement if I said my kids didn't like helping me in the kitchen.
It has gotten to the point where I hardly get to do anything and they start fighting over who gets to stir or add this ingredient or whatever.

I love having them help and love the fact that they are so interested in cooking/baking.

On a Friday night, a couple of weeks ago, my 5 year old daughter told me she wanted to make dinner. I got out some veggies and we started discussing the options.
This frittata is what we ended up with.
I kid you not when I say that my 5 year old made this dinner almost without any help.
She chopped (with me holding the knife with her) sauteed (I watched), whisked the eggs, measured, layered, etc.
She really did all the work and she was so proud and excited to eat what she had made.

The great thing about this meal is that you will end up with roasted veggies and cooked sausage/onion mixture, which will give you a head start on dinner for a couple of extra nights.

Another thing about this frittata is that you can mix and match the veggies and protein to whatever you have on hand at the time.
You could roast mushrooms or zucchini or whatever you have on hand. You could use chicken, ground turkey/beef, tofu, or any other protein in place of the turkey sausage.
You could use thyme or rosemary instead of the chives. You could also add cottage cheese or feta to the egg mixture. Be adventurous and mix it up!

We have started having a frittata once a week using whatever veggies are in the fridge.
I love having the leftover pieces for breakfast later in the week.

The best part about having kids help in the kitchen is that they really want to eat what they create. I did not have to bribe or plead with my kids to eat this. My daughter was so happy that she made it, she gobbled it up and her siblings were so proud they gobbled too.
Not to mention, it was really delicious.

Frittata with Spinach, Sausage, Peppers, and Eggplant by Mary Ann and R (age 5)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 small eggplant, chopped
2 Tbls olive oil, divided
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pkg Lean Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage, (I used Jennie-O)
1 6 oz bag baby spinach
10 eggs
2 Tbls chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese


Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Place chopped peppers and eggplant on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 Tbls olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes. Set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees.

Heat 1 Tbls olive oil in a large skillet. Add chopped onion and saute for a few minutes. Add sausage and break up into small pieces. Add garlic and cook until sausage is cooked through, 6-9 minutes. Place half of sausage/onion mixture in another container and refrigerate for another use.
Add baby spinach to sausage/onion mixture left in skillet, and saute, until wilted. Set aside.

In a large bowl, crack 10 eggs. Whisk to combine. Add chopped chives and milk. Season with salt and pepper, and whisk until combined.

Spray a 9x13-inch pyrex dish with cooking spray. Spread the sausage/spinach mixture on the bottom of the dish. Add half of the roasted peppers and eggplant (put the other 1/2 of veggies in a plastic container and refrigerate for another day).
Pour the egg mixture over the sausage/veggies and make sure all veggies are covered with the eggs. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the top.

Bake in the 400 degree oven for 20-23 minutes.
Serve.

Broiled Salmon with Peppercorn Lime Rub and Quinoa Vegetable Salad

It seems like it will never stop raining around here. I am not going to complain about the weather, but somehow it really affects my mood more than I would like it too.
When I wake up to gray skies and rainfall, I want to snuggle back into my covers and stay there for the entire day. At this point in my life, staying in bed all day is not an option.

That little blurb has absolutely nothing to do with this salmon- I just had to share.

I can't remember exactly where I saw this recipe, I think it was in a Cooking Light magazine or cookbook or something. The combination of the pepper and lime sounded really good to me and I liked the fact that the side dish was a quinoa-veggie combination.
This quick rub comes together is seconds and it is a simple flavor combination. Sometimes those simple things have the best results.

I am lucky because my kids really love to eat fish. I have been trying to serve it at least twice a week and it is really helpful that I don't get any complaints when I serve fish for dinner.
This was a really great, quick dinner.
My family loves quinoa too, so there were no fights about that either.
I love having sucessful dinner experiences.



For Quinoa-Vegetable Salad- combine 1 1/4 cups chicken broth and 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa in a medium saucepan; bring mixture to a boil.
Cover and simmer 12 minutes or until liquid is almost absorbed.
Stir in 1 1/2 cups chopped zucchini and 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper. (I also added 1 cup sliced mushrooms).
Cover and cook 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
Remove from heat.
Stir in 2 Tbls chopped fresh chives, 2 tsps olive oil, 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper.

Recipe for Broiled Salmon with Peppercorn Lime Rub

CEiMB- (rewind) Mom's Turkey Meatloaf

This week for CEiMB the recipe was Confetti Chili and was chosen by Lauren over at I'll Eat You.
I did not make chili, obviously. Mainly because I made this pumpkin bean chili a couple weeks ago and my hubby is not a big fan of chili.
Instead I am posting Ellie's recipe for her Mom's Turkey Meatloaf.

Going back and making this recipe, which was the first recipe that was chosen for CEiMB, was Kayte's idea. She was working on making all the CEiMB recipes that were chosen before she joined the group. She mentioned she was making this on twitter and I already had ground turkey breast in my fridge, so I decided to jump in and make it too.

I have only made meatloaf once before in my life. It was when I was a newlywed and my husband was not a fan. I remembered that all these years, so I never made it again. Not to mention I am not a huge meat fan, so it has never really appealed to me.
I made a 1/2 recipe of this meatloaf and it was a big hit with my family.
I didn't have any tomato sauce, so I topped it with ketchup. I thought this made it just a little bit too sweet and I think it would have been better topped with tomato sauce.
My son really loved this. He asked for the leftovers in his lunch for school.

I thought the onion should have been diced thinner- it was too prominent. I do think this was a great way to get some oats into a meal, a real secret ingredient.

While this was ok for me and definitely a crowd pleaser for my family, I don't think I will be making it regularly- too many other exciting dishes to make.
But, if you make meatloaf regularly, this is a really nice way to lighten it up.

Check out the CEiMB Blogroll to see what everyone thought of the chili!


Recipe for Mom's Turkey Meatloaf

Red Curry Chicken

This is going to be a super quick post. I wanted to get to this sooner, but had a really lazy morning, so here it is.
I saw this recipe on Prudence Pennywise a couple of weeks ago and since I absolutely LOVE red curry paste and this recipe looked super easy, I made it on a random weeknight.
I have made tons of Prudy's recipes and they always turn out fabulously. Always. I had absolutely no doubt that this one would be any different.
I used apricot preserves at the end and they really tone down the red curry paste, so that it isn't too spicy at all.
Prudy suggested that you could sub garbanzo beans for the chicken to make it vegetarian, but I thought it was a great addition, so just threw a can of them in with the mix.
Very good.
Very easy.
Make sure you come back tomorrow for National Bundt Day!

Recipe for Red Curry Chicken on Prudence Pennywise

Crawfish Etouffee and a Birthday Girl

This is my little Ry-Bear. Today she turns 5 years old.
She is the one who has been begging me to buy crawfish everytime we go to the grocery store.
So, I finally did.
She was so happy. A few of them still had claws and everything!
Now, being the non-Southerner that I am, I had absolutely no idea what to do with these little guys- heads and all.
That is where Margaret stepped in to help. I left a comment on her blog, Tea and Scones, when she posted a shrimp recipe and she got back to me about some different ways that I could cook these guys.
Luckily, my kids are pretty fearless. They did all the head removing for me. I was going to post a picture of them in action, but it made me sick to my stomach. I am a weakling!
Anyway, I decided to make the Crawfish Etouffee. It is really quite simple. You melt some butter- I used 2 Tbls, add chopped onion and red bell pepper, season it up (I used Creole seasoning), add the crawfish and let it cook for a few minutes. Then you serve it over rice.
I can't even tell you how much my kids loved this. They had heaping plates full and then, had 2nds. They told me they want to try scallops and clams next.

Now if the birthday girl could just figure out what kind of b-day cake she wants. First it was princesses, but now she wants green frosting that tastes like pink, so she can cover it with dinosaurs and jungle animals. (She is a good combo of girly-girl and tomboy.) Should turn out interesting. Life always is with our little Bear!

Recipe for Crawfish Creole

Recipe for Crawfish Etouffee

One Year Ago-Minestrone and Easy Breadsticks

Farmland Vegetable Pie with Phyllo Crust

Are you tired of hearing about my twitter recipe ideas? Well, I hope not. Because here is another one.

This recipe was also an idea that was "tweeted" to me when I posed the problem of the bag of fresh okra.
Nancy told me about a vegetable pie that she made last year that contained okra, alongside a bunch of other fresh veggies. She tweeted me a link to her post about the pie and that was really all it took.
I decided it would be our meal before church on Sunday (we go to church at 1 pm). That gave me Sunday morning to put it together.
The original recipe calls for summer squash, yellow tomatoes, okra, and corn. Nancy added green beans. I decided to use zucchini along with the summer squash, eggplant instead of the tomatoes (my hubby hates them) and a red bell pepper instead of the corn.

I also decided that I would top my pies with a light phyllo crust instead of making the pie-like crust originally called for. I did this to reduce the prep and cook time and also to save some calories.
The pie also contains hard boiled eggs and cheese. Here is a shot of my sauteed veggies with the chopped eggs.
For my crust, I thawed out my phyllo dough and layered 4 sheets, spraying heavily with cooking spray between each layer. I then cut the pieces to fit over my individual pies. (I halved the recipe). It only took about 15 minutes for the phyllo crust to be brown and crispy.

I absolutely loved this! My hubby and kids had to be bribed a little bit (they like veggies, but this was asking a little much), so I also made some mini meatballs to round out this meal, which were super delicious, that I will share at another time.

The veggies still had a little bit of crispness, thanks to the short saute and small amount of time that they spent in the oven. The cheese and eggs added nice texture and flavor.
I am so glad I have found a few other ways to eat okra!
I also wanted to share this trick for getting your hard boiled eggs perfect. I am sure you know that if the yolk has a greenish tint around it, that means they are overboiled. If the yolk is mushy and dark yellow, then they are underboiled.
I found this method from Martha Stewart a couple of years ago when I first made Open "Face" Egg Sandwiches.
I actually boiled extra eggs so we could make those sandwiches later on in the week- it is one of my son's absolute favorite dinners- you can check out my post about it HERE
Hard Boiled Eggs from Martha Stewart
In a medium saucepan, cover 7 eggs (in a single layer) with water, 1 inch above eggs. Bring to a boil; cook, uncovered, 2 minutes. Cover and remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Place eggs in bowl under cold running water until cool. Peel eggs.
Recipe for Farmland Vegetable Pie

Nancy's post about Farmland Vegetable Pie

One Year Ago-Baked Fish with Roasted Mixed Vegetables

Asian Patties

I found this recipe quite a few years ago, in Parents Magazine and I have been making variations of it ever since. It is easy and gets lots of veggies into a nice meal.
The original recipe uses ground sirloin and I have made it in the past with beef. I don't really eat beef anymore, so the past few times I have made it, I have used ground turkey breast.
Basically, any ground meat would work. If you use ground turkey breast, you just have to watch the patties close, because if you cook them too long, they will be dry.
Sometimes, I add a little chicken broth to the pan while they are cooking, just to keep them moist.
The cream of coconut and anchovy paste really makes the flavors great. My kids really enjoyed this meal because it is something that you can eat with your fingers and everything is close to bite size.

Asian Patties adapted from Parents Magazine
2 Tbls cream of coconut
1 Tbls plain bread crumbs
1 Tbls soy sauce
1 tsp. grated fresh gingerroot
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp anchovy paste
3/4 pd. ground turkey breast
1 1/2 cups cucumber slices
1 cup carrot slices
1 cup red pepper slices
1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 Tbls sugar
1 tsp salt
Lettuce leaves

1. In a bowl, combine coconut cream, bread crumbs, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and anchovy paste. Add turkey and gently combine until well mixed. Shape meat into 12 small patties, cover and refrigerate until ready to cook.

2. In another bowl, combine cucumber, carrot and red pepper. In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, salt and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, remover from heat and pour over veggies. Let sit for 3 minutes, then drain, reserving liquid.

3. Heat grill or skillet over medium high heat. Grill patties until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Serve in lettuce leaves with vegetables and rice on the side. Dip in reserved liquid.


Coming Tuesday- TWD- Honey Peach Ice Cream

Stacked Burrito Pie

I saw this recipe in a recent issue of Family Fun Magazine and it look liked an easy quick dinner. I changed up the ingredients quite a bit, to make it more of a meal that my family would enjoy. The original recipe called for ground beef and I subbed in a bunch of veggies instead. I also subbed in plain yogurt for the sour cream, which is something that I usually do and added some extra beans for fiber. I had already packed my springform pans when I made this, so I just put it together in a cake pan, which worked just fine.
We all liked this dinner and it was very filling. The great thing about this recipe is that it is very versatile and you can switch up the ingredients anyway you want.

Stacked Burrito Pie adapted from Family Fun Magazine

1 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

2 red, orange, or yellow bell peppers, finely chopped
1 small zucchini, cut in quarters lenthwise and sliced

2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cups frozen corn kernel
4 (10-inch) flour tortillas

1 cup refried beans

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 cup salsa
8 ounces Cheddar or Monterey Jack, grated

Step 1 In a large skillet over medium-low heat, warm the oil. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and sauté another minute.

Step 2 Increase the heat to medium, then add the bell peppers, zucchini, chili powder, and cumin. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add the salt, water, black beans, and corn, and bring the mixture to a boil. Allow it to continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates, about 20 minutes.

Step 3 Heat the oven to 350°. Using the rim of a 9-inch springform pan as a template, trim 3 of the tortillas to the size of the pan. Leave the fourth tortilla untrimmed. Note: You can also bake this dish in a 9-inch round cake pan and serve it like a lasagna.

Step 4 Spray the bottom and the sides of the pan with cooking spray. Press the untrimmed tortilla evenly into the pan's bottom. Spread 2-3 tablespoons of the refried beans over the tortilla, followed by 2 Tbls of plain yogurt and 1/4 cup of the salsa. Spoon and spread a quarter of the veggie mixture over the salsa, then sprinkle a quarter of the grated cheese evenly over the top.

Step 5 Place one of the trimmed tortillas on top of the cheese, then repeat the layering of the refried beans, plain yogurt, salsa, vegetables and cheese. Continue this way until the ingredients and tortillas are used up. You should end up with four layers, topped with the final sprinkling of cheese.

Step 6 Bake the pie until heated through, about 30 minutes. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the rim from the springform pan, if you used one. Slice the pie into wedges using a sharp knife.

Coming Next- Craving Ellie- White Gazpacho