Eggs, rotel, cheese and corn tortilla

I suppose this would "qualify" as huervo ranchero eggs BUT I can't say that because I've never had them before! Believe it!

Anyways, picked up to packages of corn tortillas on clearance yesterday (50 cents each) and figured what the heck, I'll make me a cheap cheap CHEAP breakfast (me only, The Boy is still sleeping, Hubby is in bed watching the cooking channel)

Warm small skillet over medium high heat, dampen corn tortilla with water from hands.

Heat tortilla in pan, flipping every so often til its a little golden brown (yes, there is nothing in the pan). Once golden brown and a little crispy, put on plate that you will be using to eat from.

Toss in a little butter, some diced onions that you found in the fridge and a spoonful of rotel (MEDIUM), saute a little, then pour egg beaters over the top (as much or little as you would like).

As the eggs set up, top the corn tortilla with a little bit of cheese and put a scoop of sour cream off the side.  Once eggs are set, place on top of tortilla, and top that with a little bit of fresh chopped cilantro (or in my case, just get the scissors out and cut it up).

Serve ... enjoy ... try to calculate how much this cost ...

Corn tortillas, 50 cents for 24, only used 1, pennies
onion, leftover diced from tacos last week, no clue how much that was ... leftovers in my opinion is FREE
scoop of rotel, the can cost me at most, 50 cents, plenty more left in can (now jar) in the fridge, 5 cents?
egg beaters ... 67 cents for the carton. I've used it almost daily, so probably 15 cents for this serving
Cheese, $1 for package, been using all week long for various things, still half bag left, figured 5 cents?
sour cream was $1 and been floating around for various days, 5 cents?
Cilantro? Oh, I finally got SMART AGAIN by buying the stupid plant for $3.99. That, parsley and basil. I am so tired of buying the stupid stems that go bad within 4 days ... so for the price of a weeks worth of fresh herbs, I bought a WHOLE plant that will feed and satisfy me for over a month. I've got them in the house, sitting on the big counter spot behind sink in kitchen. Too cold lately and I figured I may use them more if they are right there. So far so good (4 days in).

So what, 40 cents? Somewhere thereabout? Regardless, it was yummy and satifying. I may have to try it for the Boy and Hubby.

Lets say ... 40 cents?

Pinto Beans and Pepper Jack Burritos

Another one from the WW in 20 minutes ...

1 cup canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 cup ff egg substitute
4 whole wheat tortillas, warmed
4 tbs shredded reduced fat pepper jack cheese
4 tbs prepared salsa

spray medium skillet with non stick spray and heat over medium heat. Add beans, chili powder, cumin, cook stirring, til heated through. Add egg substitute and cook til set, 3 minutes or so.

Place 1/4 of egg mix along one side of each tortilla, and top with 1 tbs pepper jack cheese & 1 tbs salsa. Roll up to enclose and serve.

Oatmeal with Blueberries and Walnuts

Breakfast option provided by WW in 20 minutes cookbook.

3 cups water
2 cups quick (not instant) oatmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamonm
1/2 cup ff milk
1 1/2 cup thawed frozen ff whipped topping (yummm, CoolWhip)
1 cup thawed frozen blueberries
1 tbs chopped walnuts

combine water, oats, sugar and cinnamon in medium pan, bring to boil. Cook, stirring constantly til thickened, 5 minutes or so.

Remove from heat & stir in milk til combined. Fold in coolwhip and blueberries and top each bowl with walnuts.

Serves 4

Shrimp and Asparagus salad

Here's another one from the WW in 20 minutes book ... I should point out, hubby is not a fan of asparagus. I am not either, but then again, I'm not a fan of many veggies, but I keep trying. I actually have some asparagus in the freezer that I may try this with soon.

1 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 inch lengths
2 tbs lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lb peeled/deveined shrimp (cooked)
1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 ed onion, thin sliced
2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped
2 hard cooked eggs, sliced

Fill large skillet with 1 inch of water and bring to boil. Add asparagus and cook, covered, til crisp tender 5 minutes. Drain and rinse under cool running water.
Whisk together lemon juice, oil, salt & pepper in small bowl, set aside.
Transfer asparagus to bowl. Add shrimp, onions, parsley, tomatoes. Drizzle with dressing & toss to coat evenly. Top with eggs.

Serves 4

Denver Omlet

Another recipe courtesy of WW in 20 minutes. Did I ever mention how I love to come across a quick new, to me, recipe that I have all the ingredients in house for?!

1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 lb sliced lean ham, chopped
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 cup ff egg substitute

Spray medium nonstick skillet with nonstick spray over medium heat. Add bell pepper, onion, ham and black pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until veggies are softer, 4 to 5 minutes. Pour in the egg substitute and cook til almost set about 3 minutes, lifting the edges of egg with a heatproof rubber spatula to allow uncooked egg to run underneath.
Fold in half and cook til set, about 2 minutes. Cut in half, place each half on a plate and serve. 

Serves 2.

Presto Pesto Sirloin

This is NOT a tried and true recipe, not yet.  But its part of the Busy Nights Healthy Family Meals cookbook section and I've definately put it on my list for trying.

Non stick spray
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp dried oregano crushed
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb sirloin steak (boneless), rimmed of all fat

1 c fresh basil
1/2 c chicken broth
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp olive oil
1 medium garlic clove
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tbs and 1 tsp pine nuts (roasted in pan or oven)

Preheat broiler, spray broiler pan & tray with nonstick stuff. 
In shallow dish, stir in lemon juice, oregano, garlic powder & pepper. Add steak and turn over a few times to coat. Let sit 5 or so minutes.
In food processor, process all the pesto ingredients til smooth (not the pine nuts). Pour into small saucepan and bring to simmer over medium high heat. Simmer 2 minutes or so til thickenend, stir occasionally. Remove from heat.

Broil the steak til desire doneness. Serve topped with the pesto & pine nuts.  Round out with brocolli if desired.

Blackened Grouper Sandwiches

For those who live in Florida, you know that most "local" restaurants will offer this at some point on the menu and man, it is sooooo very good.  I had purchased some filets from Winn Dixie when they were buy one get free a while ago & I've got burger buns that need to be used so here we go!

4 grouper filets
blackening season (I use Badia brand, cheaper, bigger bottle, just as good as that Jean P stuff)
Lemon (for the juice)
Burger buns
Coleslaw (I just use the raw cabbage from a bag and toss with the thousand island dressing)
Thousand Island dressing
Pickle spears

Lay out the filets in a glass dish. Run your fingers over to be sure there are no bones (I have fish bone phobia, sorry). Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the fish.  Sprinkle evenly with the blackened seasoning. A little makes it a flavor, alot gives it a kick, use your discretion.

Spray a grill pan with a heavy amount of no stick spray once pan is heated to medium high. Place filet on pan & cook til cooked.

Place cooked filet on bun, top with a little coleslaw, thousand island dressing and a pickle spear on the side.

Mushroom Soup with Noodles

So I got this book from the library last week, "Weight Watchers in 20 Minutes".

Mind you, we are NOT doing weight watchers in this house.

But I am all for eating healthier AND in less than 20 minutes. So I checked it out.

This is origianlly called double mushroom broth & soba noodles. Soba noodles is considered a speciality and I'm completely against buying something for ONE recipe. And TOFU? Uhh. No. I dont' think  so. So I made changes ...

8 ounces angel hair pasta
4 cups chix broth
4 quarter size slices peeled fresh ginger, sliced thinly
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 lb cooked chicken (or heck, just use a can of the stuff already made)
2 cans of mushrooms (fresh if you have, but I don't!)
1/4 cup chopped chives.

Cook pasta according to directions, drain & set aside. Meanwhile, combine broth, ginger, soy, seasme oil in medium size pan, bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered 5 minutes. stir in chicken and mushrooms. Cover, cook for about 5 minutes.  Remove pan from heat and stir in chives.

Put 3/4 of the noodles in 4 bowls and divide the soup evenly among the 4. Serve

Just another Herb Viniagrette

Yup. That's pretty much it. But you know what ... any vinagrette is better than no vinagrette.  And honestly, I keep forgetting how much I love the simple flavors when they are made fresh, at home, right before dinner...so much for the bottled salad dressing that I can get dirt cheap. This is dirt cheap too and so much fresher tasting.

In a jar with tight fitting lid (doesnt' need to be large, my tostidos salsa jar was way too big) add:

juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard (anything but the bright yellow kind)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped/minced
a few twist of fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbs italian seasoning (dried herbs) or use thyme, basil, etc.

Put on the lid tightly and shake to mix well. Dress the salad and mix well. Our simple salad with dinner last night?  2 romaine hearts, chopped, half of a iceburg head, chopped, 2 plum tomatoes, chopped 1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced and topped with fresh parmesean cheese.  This was actually better than the pasta we had with it, in my opinion. I love fresh salads!

Evil Noodle Salad Dressing

I love, love, love a spicy steak salad, or rather, an Evil Jungle Salad from Houston’s, or a spicy Asian Noodle Salad … the names can go on & on. These are generally just a bed of greens, some thin noodles, basil, mint and cilantro and thin sliced steak served with a nice spicy dressing. Some, like the one from Houston’s counterbalance the spiciness with avocado and mango slices which is delicious, but not mandatory. I am only giving the dressing recipe as the salad should be how YOU prefer…

1 lime
½ cup olive oil
½ cup soy sauce
3 tbs sesame oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 ½ tbs ground ginger or 3 tbs fresh grated
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Red pepper flakes to desired hotness
Cilantro, if available, chopped. Do NOT add until you are ready to serve the dressing, otherwise it gets icky.

Squeeze lime to get as much juice as possible into wide mouth jar that has a tight fitting lid. Add rest of ingredients, put lid on and shake, shake, shake. Add cilantro to jar and shake right before serving. I do not normally refrigerate as it firms up but I suppose you could/should.

Sesame Noodles

This is one of the things that Hubby requests that I make frequently. He just loves it for some reason. Princess does too but not The Boy. It’s easy and heck, a little different than normal.


1 lb box of spaghetti (thin or angel hair if you have, regular will work)
2 tbs sesame oil
½ cup soy sauce, preferably low sodium
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
2 tbs sugar
Handful fresh cilantro, ripped up
1 tbs ginger, grated (I discovered the stuff in the tube)
1 tsp chili oil (or again, the stuff in the tube!)
3 green onions, sliced
Handful (1 cup) pea pods, sliced in bite size pieces
Toasted sesame seeds

Cook pasta til al dente. Drain OVER the pea pods and rinse with cold water. Mix together sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, cilantro, ginger & hot chili oil in large bowl. Dump noodles with pods and toss to coat all. Add green onions and toss more. Chill til sauce is absorbed by noodles.

Ok, this is soooo easy to modify. You can add red pepper slices, carrot shreds, small broccoli, just about anything you want to make this more to your taste! Yummmmm

Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

I can't believe it but I've had this recipe for 2 years. To actually hold on to the paper that long ... wow. Originally came from FoodTv - Ellie Krieger, I believe, but of course, modified to suit our taste.


1/2 cup soy sauce (I use the super thick stuff)
3 tbs brown sugar
4 tbs sherry
4 tbs rice wine vinegar
1 tbs sesame oil
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 large piece (about the size of the garlic)ginger, grated
dash of red pepper flakes (to taste)
sesame seeds (optional)
2 pks of b/s chix thighs (I generally use costco brand and there are 5per pack but lately have been doing the bone in thighs for cost reasons.)

Mix marinade all together, pour over the top of chicken in baking dish. Let marinate in fridge for 1 to 8 hours.

Heat oven to 375, bake covered for about an hour (we like our chicken well done, and thighs really do need to cook longer). Take foil off around last 15 minutes, sprinkle with sesame seeds & cook til chicken & seeds are golden (don't burn the seeds!)

Make the sesame noodles to go along and enjoy!

Red Sauce (spaghetti sauce)

This is a sauce that taste awesome, but you really must let it simmer away for several hours ... I generally make it on a Sunday, serve some that night & freeze the rest in 2 ziploc bags for 2 to 5 more meals (depending on number of people).


2 tbs olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 to 1.5 lbs of italian sausage, remove from casing
3/4 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp marjoram
1 large bay leaf, break in thirds (don't forget if an extra piece falls in!)
6 oz can of tomato paste (I've used 12 by accident, just add a little water)
6 regular size cans of either tomato sauce, crushed or diced (your choice, I use sauce as hubby hates chunky cooked tomatoes)
1 can water
salt & pepper to taste
1/3 c fresh basil, juilenned (have forgotten so many times that I don't know what the difference is)

In medium size stock pot, heat oil. Saute onions & garlic 1 minute or so, then add sausage and cook, breaking up as it cooks.

Cook, stirring occasionally til sausage is cooked, but not overly so. If there is too much fat at bottom of pan for your taste, drain and then add rest of ingredients, except the fresh basil, stir to combine. Bring to a boil, stirring all the while. Reduce heat to low simmer til just bubbling (perking). Simmer, uncovered 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

After an hour, stir in fresh basil (if you happen to remember!).

Serve, freeze, etc.

Chili Cheese Dogs

I always forget how easy these are to make and how happy everyone is with them. They are gooey and make a great patio meal.

1 pkg of hot dogs. Any type will do
1 can of no bean chili
1 bag of cheddar cheese, shredded
1 pkg of hot dog buns

Now that you have the difficult list of ingredients down, lets cook.

Steam hot dogs til cooked. I use my bamboo steamer, but you can use a steamer rack, or if you prefer, fry them up in a skillet with a bit of water. Please, do not EVER boil your dogs.

Heat the chili on low heat.

Place buns in large baking dish. Open each one up a bit and put the dog in … push down as you will need room on top.

Top each dog with some chili (as little or as much as you’d like) and then liberally spread each with cheese.

Toast under broiler til the cheese is melted. If desired, you can top with onions, tomatos, peppers, whatever, before serving. Scoop out with a large spatula or spoon as they will be really gooey but oh so yummy.

Tacos

This is not really a recipe as I do not make my own taco mix seasoning. I know, I know. But it’s just so much easier to buy the little packet and I can get them on sale fairly cheap. I do prefer the El Paso brand over others. I don’t know what it is. Maybe the color of the meat after it cooks?


I use ground turkey. Ground chicken if I can find it on sale. Will use ground beef, but it must be the 93/7 ratio. I just hate that fat in the bottom of the pan that needs to be drained out after cooking.

I use flour tortilla shells. Nope, don’t make these from scratch either. I have but it is a little time consuming, in my opinion and they just don’t taste that great. I suppose if I applied more effort and such, they could be better, but I do NOT have the time lately. Just wrap up in a damp cloth napkin and zap in the microwave for about 30 seconds to warm them up.

Gotta have diced onions, tomatos and Franks Hot Sauce. I use the Vidalia onion chopper thingy for the onions and tomatoes. Piece of cake.

Shred the lettuce by cutting the iceburg in half, take out the core, and then thinly slice. Doesn’t need to be perfect, but should be fairly thin.

Ahhh lets see, what else? OH. Cheese. Uh huh. Generally we use sharp cheddar, already shredded (that would be why the freezer inventory turned up 8 bags), but have used Mexican blend. Not sure whats up with that stuff though, didn’t particularly care for it, too much artificial taste.

Sour cream. I'm the only one in this house that likes sour cream on tacos.

Also, we always serve with chips & salsa. Salsa from a jar on nights like this. Since I almost always turn the leftovers into a taco salad for lunch then next day, I need all the extra leftover tomatoes for that!

Pantry Food - Blackbeans with Corn & Chicken

This came from my local paper, http://www.sunsentinel.com/ as a way to make something yummy using our hurricane supplies, kind of funny as it’s pretty tasty and I make it about once a month! I generally make it for lunches or quesadillas

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can corn, no salt if possible, drained
4 scallions, thinly sliced, about ½ cup
1 red/yellow or orange pepper, diced
1 can of chicken, drained (or ¾ lb / 3 cups cooked chicken), cut into bite size pieces
Juice of 2 limes (3 tbs)
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbs ground cumin
Salt & pepper to taste
Diced tomatoes (optional, but highly recommended)
Baked tortilla chips, optional
Avocado, optional (diced)

In large bowl, mix all except chips & avocados. Chill 30 minutes or one day ahead. Mix to redistribute dressing and top with chips & avocado if using.

This is really good to use as a filling on quesidillias, just omit the chips & avocado, use a little cheese on the tortilla shell and grill up.

Shark Chips

Another simple recipe to use with the fryer.

Take your taters, scrub them well (or peel if desired).
Slice them super thin using a mandolin. Honestly, you need to either use the mandolin or your food processor as they need to be almost paper thin.
Toss in a bowl of cold water til ready to cook.
When ready to fry, drain and place on towel, dry off as well as possible, make sure there is not any excess water.
Heat oil to 375 and cook batches til crispy.
Drain, place on platter and lightly salt. We make a little dippy sauce using a bit of ketchup, ranch dressing and a touch of mustard.

These are really yummy, almost like potatoe chips but much more tasty!