Quick and Easy Tortilla Ideas

Hubby's Breakfast Taco

Sometimes I don't want bread.  So I was walking around the grocery store thinking "What were my favorite things to make in college?"  Quesadillas!  Because they were cheap and easy to make.  And they were different from having Ramen noodles everyday.  Tortillas are great to have around.  You can make so many easy meals. 

Quick & Easy Breakfast Taco

My hubby and I used cheddar cheese, sausage, and eggs.  Butter on the bottom of the pan makes the tortilla nice and crispy.  You can also throw on some hot sauce at the end.

Saving money is always important for us.  Tortillas are inexpensive and versatile.  You can use them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  Even dessert!

Super Simple Snack

Sugar Galore!

Ingredients:

-Sugar

-Cinnamon

-Tortillas

-butter

Put some butter in your pan, hot but not too hot.  Don't want to burn the butter. 

Fry your tortillas one at a time.  Getting both sides light and crispy.  When they are done put some sugar on it.  We used cinnamon in our sugar mixture too.  It gives it that churro flavor.  Then cut up the tortillas into tiny wedges.  Remember to wipe off excess sugar mixture...or don't.  I just have to remind myself less sugar next time. 

If this idea is lacking chocolate for you...well why not add some chocolate spread with peanut butter or bananas. Make a dessert quesadilla.  

Do you get tired of bread?  What do you use as an alternative?  

Breakfast For Dinner

Waffles 

Waffles for dinner!  Why not?  It is super easy to make and versatile.  Waffles are good with a lot of different things.  I used this recipe as my starter and you can always play around with more sugar or different extracts.  I don't make them the full size because I like the way the edges look.

What are some fun waffle combos?
-Nutella & Waffles
-Ice Cream on top of waffles
-Waffles with syrup & butter
-Waffles & Fried Chicken
-Waffles with sausage and/or bacon

And that list can go on and on.  Why else do I like making waffles for dinner?  Saves money.  The ingredients are things that I like to keep stocked in my kitchen.  Flour, sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs have so many uses.  I think the most expensive item on that list may be vanilla extract.  

Stack them up

What breakfast do you like to have for dinner?  

Pork Ribs With A Root Beer Float

Pork Ribs

Pork ribs are great on the grill or in the oven.  We sadly, do not have a grill.  The oven works well on a low temperature.  Low and slow is key.  Before you put it in the oven, give it some flavor.  You can use a spice rub or your favorite bbq sauce.  My hubby chose to do a spice rub.  It turned out tasting really good.  I ate it for leftovers at lunch the next day.  What I really like about pork, besides the taste, is the price tag.  We got these at Target for around $6.00.  I'm sure if we went to the local Meat Farms it would have been even cheaper.  I recently purchased boneless pork ribs and the price was great.  If I can get leftovers from a meal, it is always a good frugal moment.  

Root Beer Float

To quench my thirst after a spicy bite of the pork, was a cold root beer float.  I forgot how much I love these.  Vanilla ice cream and root beer is one of my favorite soda floats.  What other floats should I try?  

-Vanilla Ice Cream & Orange Fanta 
-Chocolate Ice Cream & Cream Soda

Those are just some soda floats that I might try. 

White Chocolate Covered Pretzels

White Chocolate & Pretzels 

I always see pretzels covered in yogurt in the grocery store.  I opted for some white chocolate chips & small pretzels instead.  This was my first time actually covering a food item in chocolate.  Geez, what is wrong with me?  Why did I wait so long?  

Melting Chocolate

Microwave Method:

1.  Throw some chocolate chips or shavings in a bowl.  

2.  Microwave in 20-30 second intervals.  You don't want to over cook it.

3.  Once you get the consistency you are happy with dip your pretzels in.

4.  Put them on a tray covered with parchment paper.

5.  Put the tray in the refrigerator for an hour or until chocolate has hardened. 

White Chocolate Covered Pretzels

I threw a strawberry in for the fun of it.  My first few pretzels didn't come out so neat, but I soon got the hang of it.  When I finally had my first pretzel, oh my, was I a happy girl.  Now I want to cover everything in white chocolate.  This was such a simple treat to make.  

What else can I cover in chocolate?  Are you a chocolate lover?

Cooking Ingredients

Stir Fry Oil

I found a new oil in Whole Foods this weekend.  While I was looking for olive oil, I stumbled upon this stir fry oil by La Tourangelle.  Olive oil is used most nights that I cook.  It's just one of my favorite cooking ingredients.  This oil is infused with stir fried onion, garlic, and ginger flavors.  Flavors that I like in my food anyway.  I tried using this with chicken, peanut butter, and soy sauce.  I love making my own type of peanut sauce.  

Chicken Tenders in sauce

I used some Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter creamy and soy sauce too.  Along with the new stir fry oil, it tasted pretty good.  It can be a one bowl meal with some rice at the bottom and some of your favorite veggies.  I like snow peas with stir fry and/or peanut sauce.  

My favorite cooking ingredients:

1.  Olive oil

2.  salt & pepper

3.  soy sauce

4.  chili sauce

5.  peanut butter

6.  Old bay seasoning

Those are just a few of the basics.  What ingredients do you like to use most?  What is your favorite cooking ingredient?

Kimchi Fried Rice

Kimchi Fried Rice

Trader Joe's has a Kimchi Fried Rice in the frozen food section that is really good.  Last night I decided to try and make my own.  I had Kimchi, rice, and eggs on hand.  This version is just really simple...and I like easy cooking.

1.  Cook some rice.  I used my handy rice cooker and made two cups.  One cup for me and left the rest plain for the family.  

2.  Fry up some Kimchi.  Most recipes say to chop it up.  I did not.  I just threw a nice amount into my frying pan.  I used olive oil but you can use frying oil.  I also added a little salt...I have a salt problem.

3.  Add your cooked rice to the pan.  Now it is better to have the rice cooked way ahead of time.  It makes for a better fried rice.  As you may have noticed, I go to the beat of my own drum.  

4.  Last step is up to you.  There are many pictures of a sunny side egg on top of the Kimchi fried rice.  I did not want the runny egg yolk on my rice.  So, I used a fried egg instead and mixed it into the rice.

5.  Enjoy your rice!  The best thing about fried rice is that you can make so many different versions.  You can use chicken, steak, shrimp or just veggies.  Take out the kimchi and add soy sauce and oyster sauce.  The possibilities are endless.  Have fun with your food.

Apple Fritters and Beer Batter

Apple Fritters

I watch so much Food Network you would think I would be a Master Chef by now.  Ha!  Not really, but always  trying to improve and expand myself as a baker.  I was watching an episode of The Best Thing I Ever Made and was inspired by Sunny Anderson's recipe.  I changed a few things along the way.  I think I used Apple Pie Spice instead of Pumpkin Spice.    

Beer batter is super quick to whip up.  I used 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of beer...but added a little more flour because I realized the consistency needed to be thicker.  When I'm in the kitchen, everything is a fun little experiment.  

Beer for batter and the husband

Check out this yummy beer that we used for the batter.  I say we because my hubby joined in the fun.  He also likes this beer by itself.  He also helped rescue the caramel peanut butter sauce.  Rescued it from me.  Let's just say, I could never be a candy maker.  Once done frying, everything came out great.  I will be experimenting with all different types of beer for batters.  Maybe next time will be onion rings or fish n chips.  

Do you like to fry things?  Dip things in batter?  

My First Time...Cooking Fried Calamari

Squid Bodies

Saturday morning was my alone time.  I went to Whole Foods to do a little shopping.  Along the fish section I saw a lot of great things including lobster, scallops, and squid.  Lobster was ten bucks a tail, so that was a no go for me.  I chose the squid because it would be a new adventure in cooking.  Three quarters of a pound turned out to be around $6.50.  

Flour Mixture

Grab some flour, salt, and pepper.  Mix it up.  Cut your squid bodies into 1/2 inch rings or whatever thickness you are happy with.  Toss the rings in your flour mixture.

Frying the Calamari

Drop the rings into oil.  I used vegetable oil.  I read that the oil should be 350 degrees.  I didn't check the degrees and just put the oil on medium heat.  Calamari cooks fast!  The first few rings I put in were cooked too long and that was only a minute.  So just keep your eye on them and do a few test batches.  

Fried Calamari with a Soy Chili Sauce

The end result...yummy!  Normally Fried Calamari is served with marinara sauce.  My husband mixed some San-J Organic Shoyu with chili sauce.  It made a nice, slightly spicy dipping sauce.  

Calamari in Olive Oil

There was a few bodies left and I decided to try it another way.  I heard on the Dr. Oz show that calamari cooked with some olive oil is a cancer preventative food.  They did a whole episode for all the good things to buy.  Here is a link to the list.  I actually loved this way of cooking the squid.  Addicted to olive oil?  Yes, just a little bit.  

Are you a seafood lover like me?  What will you try or not try?  

A Quick Breakfast Parfait

This weekend I decided to shop at Trader Joe's.  I like the fact that they say "No" to GMO products.  Our family is trying to get on a more organic and healthy meal plan.  I picked up some strawberries, granola, and vanilla yogurt.  Separately, I enjoy all three of these.  Together they make a yummy little parfait.  Perfect for me during breakfast because I can't eat too much in the morning.  

My Ingredients:

Vanilla Yogurt

Granola

Strawberries

Start layering your ingredients in a cup or glass of your choice.  Some yogurt, granola, yogurt, strawberries, and so forth.  The wonderful thing about parfait is creating your perfect combo.  You can use any type of fruit and yogurt you desire.  I was happy with the taste of all three mixing together.  Next time around I will choose regular yogurt instead of the nonfat yogurt.  It just seemed to thin for my taste.  The granola was a total hit, I can snack on that all day.

Cheers!

So the next time you want a quickie in the morning, and I do mean a quick breakfast treat, make yourself a parfait. 

Ghirardelli Brownie Mix

This was our first time picking up a Ghirardeli Brownie Mix.  Usually we get the Duncan Hines brownie mix.  Ghirardelli is known for their chocolate and well, I'm a bit of a chocoholic.  I've gotten this box at my local grocery store but I have also seen them being sold at Target.  

Brownie a la mode

One of my favorite things to do with a warm brownie is to make it a la mode.  Put a little vanilla ice cream of your choice on top.  Maybe add some hot fudge or in this case I had some Hershey's syrup on hand.  My first bite was heavenly.  The Ghirardelli brownies are awesome.  The chocolate was intense but good and the cold vanilla ice cream made it perfect for my taste buds.  

Do you love brownies?  How do you eat your brownies?

Couscous Veggie Salad

When I was pregnant with my daughter Nia, fresh veggies were my number one craving.  For some reason I didn't like sweets.  This was pregnancy number two and taste buds were much different this time around.  I guess it was a good craving because all I wanted was healthy food.  This couscous salad was something my husband made for me one night.  I was hooked!

Osem Israeli Couscous cooked

I use the Osem Israeli Couscous because it is much thicker and larger then the cousous you normally see from other companies.  I bought mine from Target.  If you are enjoying this for yourself then you can just make a cup of it.

Fresh Cucumber, Yellow Pepper, Red Pepper

While the couscous is cooking you can go ahead and chop up your veggies.  I chose a yellow pepper, red pepper, and a cucumber.  You can add any fresh veggie that you want.  I happen to like the crunchiness of peppers and cucumbers.  

Mix it up

I used a food storage container to mix everything up.  After you let your couscous cool off, throw it in the container with all your veggies.  I added some olive oil, salt, and pepper to mine.  Give it a good shake.  Put the finished product in your bowl and enjoy.  It's simple, fast, and healthy.  Well healthier then grabbing the cookies.

Baklava Experiment

This weekend I was feeling a little lazy but still wanted to try and make a new treat that I haven't attempted before.  Baklava is something I always really enjoyed.  I would either get it from a family friend who is Turkish or I would go to my local Greek Restaurant. 

I looked up different recipes and read the reviews on them.  Its always interesting to read other peoples tips on what they tweaked in a recipe.

Overall I was happy with the outcome.  I might use less honey mixture next time but my husband seemed to enjoy it.  Baking sweet treats is always fun.

The Stuffed Shells Experiment

Stuffed and ready to go

This weekend I decided to invoke my inner Martha Stewart.  I tried making stuffed shells with ground beef on Saturday.  I call this an experiment because I did not use a recipe.  That could be my first mistake.  I used cooked ground beef, ricotta, salt, pepper, and an egg.  Mixed it all up in a bowl and stuffed my cooked shells.  So far, so good.  Placed it in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes.

Baked and ready to eat

My end result wasn't too bad.  What did I learn from this experience?  The stuffing could have used an extra egg and maybe some more seasoning.  Overall I'd say it gets a 7.  I've been a stay at home mom for over 4 years now, but I'm still no Betty Crocker.  Everyday I try to better myself as a cook, mom, wife, and person.  I think next time I will use a recipe from Everyday Italian.