Cornbread Mexican Casserole

I feel like there has been a common theme with my post lately...sorry for not posting as regularly as I would like. The past month or two of weekends have been pretty busy, so the weekdays are really the best time for me to post. Between softball, short vacations, softball again, and other events, it's been hard to get off the couch during the free time and into the kitchen. Baking has taken somewhat of a back seat, though I am going to post about a Banana Pudding Cake, which turned out really good, and was even "healthified!" Softball is coming to an end (can't say I'm not somewhat happy about this), so I will be able to do more baking on Sundays. We don't have any softball this weekend, so I'm planning to do something Sunday since people at work have been asking why I haven't brought something in for the last couple of weeks (they don't seem to remember the Banana Pudding Cake or the meatballs, both brought it mid-week. I guess they like it Monday...perhaps a nice way to start the week.) However, we are going to a HUGE beer fest on Saturday night...so we will see how I feel on Sunday. The Olympics are also causing me a distraction, but damn if I don't love watching them! It is truly one of my favorite things to watch. Go USA!

This week I made a commitment to cook dinner every night this week. I wrote up my shopping list (full of new recipes! )and headed to the store last night. I tried a new store to see how the prices were, but after the first 6 items in my cart were at least 50 cents more (some as much as $2 more!), I decided to stop and go to Wal-Mart. Yes, Wal-Mart is a zoo, there are some "interesting" people there, but their prices really can't be beat. I'm glad I decided to go, and not stay at the first place just because I was there. I found this recipe on Pinterest, where else, and put my own spin on it. Instead of plain black beans, I made them how I usually do (gave it much more flavor), added a can of Rotel, cooked the onions with the beef mixture (not with the sour cream mixture), and used sweet cornbread in place of regular. The balance between the spicy beef and the sweet bread was awesome! Though the boyfriend thought there was too much cornbread, I really enjoyed it. You could easily make this with ground turkey or broiled chicken as well, but we were in the beef mood. Left overs were great and it stayed within my points range, only 9 points for a pretty big slice; in whole the recipe made 6 servings.

 Cornbread Mexican Casserole

• 1 packet cornbread mix; 7 oz
• 1/2 to 1/3 milk; depending on package directions
• 1 egg
• 1 pound extra lean ground beef
• 1 can Rotel; I used original
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 can black beans
• 1/8 cup water
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1 packet Sason seasoning
• 1 cube chicken bullion
• 1 cup light sour cream
• 1 cup low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup green onion
• Sour cream, salsa, lettuce, and additional green onions to top; optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare the cornbread mix following the package directions. 
3. Pour cornbread in a greased 8x8 glass baking dish.
4. Bake for 15 minutes.
5. While that is baking, make the black beans. Bring water to a boil in pot with Sason, chicken bullion, and 1/4 cup onions. 
6. When it reaches a boil, add beans and cook for 10 minutes.
7. While the beans are cooking, brown the ground beef until half done.
8. Add the onions and finish browning.
9. Add Rotal, taco seasoning, and beans. Turn to low until cornbread is done.
10. In a mixing bowl, add sour cream, 1/2 cup cheese, and green onions.
11. When cornbread is done, top with beef mixture, then with sour cream mixture.
12. Bake for 20 minutes.
13. Serve with lettuce, salsa, extra cheese, and green onions.  

Tips and Tricks

• To save time (but I can't be certain about flavor since I LOVE my black bean recipe), use seasoned black beans or Bush's Grillin Beans in Black Bean Fiesta.
• If Rotel is too spicy for you, add regular petite diced tomatoes.
• For a thinner cornbread layer, only use half the mixture and cook for 10 minutes.
• If you would like the sour cream cold, and not baked, omit prior to baking and top once out of the oven.

Thai Green Curry

Happy Friday everyone! I couldn't be more ready for the weekend. Not that I have huge plans, unless you count going to Sebring for a softball tourney big, but because this work week has seemed to drag on all week. Monday was a short day since I went to the allergist to get allergy testing. This sucked. I was told, by many, including my loving boyfriend, that it was a prick test, similar to people that test for diabetes. This was a LIE (and rightfully so since I would probably not have gone if I knew the truth!) 47 syringes later and nearly passing out (I think I got in my head about the 47 shots), I am allergic to cats (I have 2), dogs, dust mites (one of the most disgusting things I have learned about to recent memory), and a couple of weeds that I will probably never come in contact with. I also have two dime size welts on my arm that itch like crazy and look rather unappealing (red circles with small bumps, similar to ring worm.) I called the doctor and they told me this was some of the molds that were tested (GROSS!) and this is a common occurrence; a bit of Cortisone cream should heal them right up. The icing on the cake is that my allergies have been next to non existent for the past 3 weeks...I could have saved $50, hours of my day, pain and personal torment, and a couple of nasty welts since I already knew that cats and dust caused me to sneeze. Thanks doc!

Anyways, enough bitching and on to the recipe. This week, the boyfriend requested that I attempt my hand at green curry. Not being much of a coconut milk lover, I can say I made this out of love and not because it seemed that intriguing to me. Since I have never ate curry, let alone cooked it, I had to do some research. Surprise, green curry has about 186,462,173 different recipes online, so which one to pick? Well, for starters, I looked up the restaurant that boyfriend and I went where he had curry to see what theirs had in it. After that, I searched through many recipes until I found one that seemed easy to make, used a paste, not a homemade curry, and had great reviews. 30 minutes later, we were eating homemade green curry and to my surprise I LIKED IT! The coconut milk did not overwhelm the dish and the veggies and chicken were cooked perfectly. The only thing that I would do different next time is add a bit of soy or fish sauce to kick up the salt. All in all, it was a tasty dish that I would be happy to make again.

Thai Green Curry

• 1 pound chicken breast, cubed
• 1 small red pepper, large diced
• 1 small green pepper, large diced
• 1 small onion, large diced
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts 
• 5 tbs green curry paste
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 tbs oil
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tbs cornstarch
• Cilantro, green onion, and lime for garnish

1. Heat large skillet to medium high heat and add oil.
2. Add curry paste and stir for one minute. I learned that this is called Blooming.
3. Add 1/4 the can of coconut milk. Cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add the rest of the can and cook for additional 3 minutes.
5. Add chicken and cook for 4 minutes.
6. Add vegetables and cover. Cook for 10 minutes.
7. Add a bit of the sauce to a small cup. Stir in cornstarch and mix to remove lumps. 
8. Add cornstarch mix back to skillet and add soy sauce.
9. Stir until thickened. 
10. Serve with or over jasmine rice with cilantro, green onion and lime.

Tips and Tricks

• If you like your curry a bit more spicy, add red chilis or jalapenos.
• Use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Many recipes I saw used carrots, baby corn, basil, and a leafy green.
• Use tofu to make vegetarian.

Grilled Chicken Tostada

Tonight I am going to see one of my favorite bands of all time, 311. I'm really glad that I got on Facebook today and saw that the show was tonight, because I thought it was tomorrow, and that would have sucked. My boyfriend has never got to experience a 311 show or ME at a 311 show, and while he is fully aware of how crazy I am, he is in for a treat. I'm hoping that my sister and her boyfriend can go, but they need to find arrangements for little man, something about an 8 month old at a show just doesn't jive well lol. I have read a couple of their set list and happy to see they are playing their old stuff. Their last album was majorly disappointing to say the least. I am ready to jam hard tonight!

This recipe came about because I had a bunch of leftover Mexican ingredients from a recipe I made the night before. The cool thing about tostadas is you can put whatever you want on them. I happened to have had some pico, black beans, and cilantro lime slaw already made. I always have cheese and sour cream on hand, and I had an extra chicken breast left over from making the Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken, so all I had to get were the tostada shells. I made the black beans re-fried style by taking the emulation blender to them, but they could have stayed the way they were and been just as good. All in all, this was a healthy dinner. Two shells were 4 points, the chicken was 2 per shell. Sour cream, cheese, and beans were 4 total, but I could have used less to cut down the points. One of these bad boys were enough.

 Grilled Chicken Tostada

• 2 chicken breast, marinaded in your favorite marinade, grilled, and diced; I like Garlic Herb and White Wine from McCormics
• 6 tostadas
• 1 cup black beans; recipe here 
• 1/2 cup pico de gallo; recipe to follow
• 1/2 cup Cilantro Lime Slaw; recipe here
• Garnish; cheddar cheese, sour cream, green onions, and cilantro

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Put the beans in a blender or use an emulation blender, and blend until smooth.
3. Bake tostada shells for 5 minutes until crisp.
4. Put a layer of black beans on the tostada.
5. Top with chicken,
6. Then top with garnish; slaw, pico, cheese, green onion, cilantro, and sour cream.

Pico De Gallo

• 3 plum tomatoes; seeded and diced
• 1/2 small red onion, diced
• 1 tsp jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 2 tbs cilantro; minced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tsp salt; more if needed to taste
• 1/2 tsp black pepper 

1. Mix all ingredients in a small mixing bowl and let mingle for an hour before serving. 

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken with Brown "Fried" Rice

My struggle to stay on the WW continues. I only want to lose 8 to 10 pounds, but dammit if I can't stick with the plan. My struggle really comes down to two things; my love for food and the damn weekend. The boyfriend and I like to drink and go out to eat (that part is more me than him). We aren't alcoholics or anything, but going to the bar Friday for Happy Hour and/or having a Sunday Funday are common things for us. At 4 points a drink, they add up fast. Of course when you drink, you like to eat and that means more points. I usually save my weekly bonus points for the weekend, which is a big help, but finding delicious but WW appropriate recipes during the week can be somewhat challenging.


Pinterest is a good site to find all sorts of things, good and bad (trying to find a healthy recipe when your friend pinned 100 dessert recipes is not helpful.) I don't think my boyfriend fully understand the appeal until an amazing dish is created that I found off the site. This would be one of those recipes. Weekly, I ask for ideas for dinner. This week, he wanted something Asian and I had the perfect idea. I pinned this recipe months ago but never made it. I saw on Facebook that a friend made it a couple weekends ago and raved about it, so I knew it was something we needed to try. And guess what, it really was amazing!! I made a healthy "fried" brown rice to go along with it and everything was simply amazing. Not only was it filling and satisfied our Asian craving, it was with my point allowance for the day. Next time, I'm going to add some other flavors to the sauce and try to make a General Tao style version, I'll post that when I do. Chicken is 10 points for 4th of chicken and 3 points for 1/2 cup rice.

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken with Brown "Fried" Rice

Chicken

• 1 pound chicken breast; cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup corn starch
• 3 eggs; beaten
• 1/4 cup oil
• Salt and pepper

Sauce

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tbs ketchup
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Heat oil in large skillet to medium-high heat. 
3. Salt and pepper chicken to liking.  
4. Place cornstarch in a medium mixing bowl.
5. Place eggs in another medium mixing bowl.
6. Take a third of the chicken and toss in cornstarch to cover, then dip in egg, then place in skillet where each piece is not touching.
7. Cook til brown, then flip. The chicken will not be fully cooked.
8. Continue in batches until all chicken is browned.
9. Mix all sauce ingredients up.
10. Place chicken in a 9x13 baking dish and pour sauce over chicken.
11. Bake for 50 minutes, turning chicken every minute minutes or so.

Brown "Fried" Rice

• 1 bag Uncle Ben's Ready Made Brown Rice
• 1 egg; beaten
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1/4 cup carrot, diced
• 1/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/8 cup green onion
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• Pam or spray oil

1. Spray Pam or oil in large fry pan and heat to high. 
2. Add egg to pan, cook for one minute, then turn. Then chop up in to little pieces. Remove and set aside.
3. Add onions, carrots, and peas to pan and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Add rice and soy sauce, cook for 3 more minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Remove from heat and mix in green onions and egg. 

Tips and Tricks

• If you would like some sauce to pour over chicken or rice, once chicken is cooked, remove from dish and a 1 to 2 tbs of water to sauce to thin out sauce.
• You can use any rice you have on hand, just measure out to 2 cups rice.
• Add any vegetables you have on hand to rice. Peppers, mushrooms, edamame, and brocolli would all make good additions. 
• If you would like to use cut more calories, you spray oil instead of oil when cooking chicken. 

Lechon Asado (Cuban Roast Pork)

Sorry to be M.I.A. lately, I was in North Carolina this past weekend visiting my grandfather, or DaddyMac as we refer to him (his name is Mac.) Though he is in an assisted living home and some days are not as good as others, he still has a great sense of humor and cracked us up on several occasions. My favorite was when he told me he was proud of me for being a half mommy, in reference to Dylan, my sister's 8 month old. I liked that term a lot. Though I love the term "aunt", I felt very honored to be thought of as a mommy to him. I will never come close to being the mommy he already has, she is beyond amazing with him, but it was still a thoughtful gesture. It was nice to be able to help out my sister while we were there. She was able to take a bath or two at the hotel, able to get ready without having to check on him every few minutes (he plays in his Pack n' Play while she gets ready, usually does well with that, but sometimes doesn't want be alone), and I even changed a couple diapers (just the pee ones, mommy can deal with the poo.) All in all, it was a really great trip and I was happy I got to spend time with all my family.

I made this recipe a couple days before I left. The game plan was to make it last for two separate recipes, which it would have had I found plablano peppers which seemed to be a hot item that week at the store. The first night we just ate it with some black beans and yellow rice, as pictured. The second recipe was going to be pork enchiladas with plablano sauce (still drooling over that idea), but that didn't go as planned. After a hard day at work and going to 3 separate grocery stores, I gave up and we ended up going out for Mexican. There is a new place down the street that is really good, and the beers are huge...just what I needed. Anyhow, I made this in the oven, cooking it on low heat for many hours, however, a crock pot could work just as easily (see Tips and Tricks for preparation). The flavors were amazing, and there was definitely enough for left overs and other recipes. Though the ingredients list is small, this isn't a quick recipe, but easy to make and I promise you won't be disappointed in the final dish.

Lechon Asado (Cuban Roast Pork)

• 3 pound pork shoulder
• 2 large oranges, juiced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

1. Mix together the orange, lime, and lemon juice with the garlic, salt and pepper in a large non-metal bowl.
2. Stab some holes into the pork with a knife and place in bowl with marinade.
3. Let marinade for 24 hours.
4. Remove from fridge and bring to about room temperature. This will ensure your meat will cook evenly. 
5. Preheat oven to 225 degrees.
6. Place in 9x13 baking dish, with marinade and cook for 8 to 9 hours, basting hourly with marinade.
7. Remove and reserve the juices. Shred pork with fork and pour juices over.
8. Serve and enjoy.

Tips and Tricks

• If you would like to use a crock pot, follow steps 1 through 4, then put in crock pot with marinade and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove and cook in over on 400 for 15 minutes until a crust has formed. Remove and follow step 7.
• Fresh oranges, limes, and lemons are a must. The flavor cannot be matched with bottled juices.
• If you are using a larger pork shoulder, double the amount of oranges, limes, lemons, garlic, salt and pepper.
• If you like your pork a bit more firm and not shredded, remove from the oven after 4 hours.

Jamaican Jerk Pizza

To whom this may concern, I am at work right now....typing this out...not working. You have stressed me out. You held a meeting (that did not deal AT ALL with work related issues) that took most the people I need to complete their tasks so we can move things along within the process. You have made me want ice cream, Taco Bell, sushi, and a plethora of other bad for my WW diet. Tomorrow, we have a deadline. It is on our heals like Jason, from Friday the 13th, (which happens to be tomorrow ironically enough) and we can't seem to run fast enough. Though he is gaining speed, we will prevail! We will not be slashed, diced up, and left for dead. We will meet our deadline, then throw it in your face, but right now, I am taking a mental time out to post about the awesome, yet WW worthy, pizza I made the other night.

OK, woosaaa. I feel better. Anywho, the other night, the boyfriend suggested pizza for dinner. I love making homemade pizzas; there are so many things that you can do. BBQ chicken is one that I make the most often, but I suggested making a jerk pizza. He loves California Pizza Kitchen's jerk pizza, so I thought I would try my hardest to one up it. In the end, CPK still won, but not by much. They do have a wood-fire oven, which I do not, and they have been doing it for much longer, BUT this thing was pretty f'ing awesome. I warn you, this is spicy. You can cut down on the spice by not using as much jerk sauce or not adding habanero jelly to the mix, but I really like it spicy. Fresh dough is the way to go, but if you can't find it (I buy mine in the bakery section of our local grocery store) or don't want to make it, you can always use the stuff in a can. I really enjoyed this pizza, and now wish I had more as my stomach is growling at me. WW points equal 7 per slice.

Jamaican Jerk Pizza

• 1 ball or can pizza dough
• 1 1/4 cup chicken; I used a rotisserie chicken, but you can use whatever you have. Grilled chicken cut into strips would be perfect
• 3/4 red pepper, sliced into thin strips
• 3/4 yellow pepper, slicked into thin strips
• 1/2 red onion, sliced into thin strips
• 3/4 to 1 cup jerk sauce; I used a bottle jerk sauce from the grocery. My boyfriend likes a lot of sauce, so I used a cup.
• 2 tbs* habanero jelly; you can leave this out if can't find or don't like it really hot
• 1 cup provolone cheese, shredded or cut into strips; divide into 1/2 cup portions
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs green onion, diced

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees; or whatever your dough instructions say.
2. Work dough to fit a circle pizza pan. Use flour as needed.
3. Cook pizza dough for 10 minutes. 
4. While dough is cooking, saute peppers and onions for 5 minutes over medium until slightly softened. Remove and set aside.
5. Mix together jerk sauce with jelly, if using.
6. Add chicken to skillet used for peppers and onions, add 2 tbs of jerk sauce, and cook over med-low to heat and cover with sauce. Remove and set aside.
7. When pizza crust is done, cover with jerk sauce, chicken, layer of cheese, veggies, and top with remaining cheese.
8. Bake for 20 minutes.
9. Remove and top with green onions.

Tips and Tricks

• It was cheaper to buy the small sweet peppers than large whole peppers. They worked perfectly. Cut about 8 of them if using.
• I only had provolone sandwiches slices on hand, so I used 6 slices cut into thin strips.
• Feel free to use whatever jerk sauce you have on hand or make your own!

Tomato Sauce Two Ways

In our house, there is a great debate over what makes a good tomato sauce. My boyfriend prefers a sauce that has a lot of texture due to vegetables and cooks for awhile, making the sauce a sweet and giving it a thick consistency. I like more of a marinara style sauce, that only has onions (sometimes), large chunks of tomatoes, and has a slightly acidic taste due to not cooking the sauce for as long. Due our differences, and the fact that I wanted to convince him a bit that my preference was the best, I decided to make two sauces. We served them with the Italian Meatballs I made this past weekend. Both were very good (still like mine a bit better), however, one was much more simple to make than the other.

The first sauce recipe below took a good portion of the day to cook. I have to say, I felt quite Italian doing this. I imagined myself as an old Italian woman, preparing Sunday dinner for her family of 30. I'm gonna be as up front and honest with you as I can about this sauce. It isn't the recipe to make if you are short on time, want instant results or think that the more you stir it, watch it, or turn the heat up, the faster it will cook...that will not happen. What will happen is A. your sauce will taste like a pot full of different flavors and very acidic B. you will have a sore arm from stirring so much or C. you will burn the sauce and no one is going to eat burnt sauce. If you don't think you have the time, about 5 hours, or the patients, skip on down to the second recipe. Like I said before, both are great recipes that are sure to please, how much time you have and what result you want will be the deciding factors.

Tomato Sauce Two Way


Hearty and Slow Cooked Version

• 2 28 oz. can of canned tomatoes; San Marzano if you can find them, they will make all the difference
• 1 12 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 stick of celery, diced
• 1 stick unsalted butter, divided in 2 tbs and 6 tbs
• 2 tbs salt
• 1 tbs black pepper

1. Heat olive oil and 2 tbs of butter in large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
2. Add onions and cook until the onions are translucent. Do not brown them.
3. Add celery, carrot, and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until carrots are softened, but not falling apart.
4. Add canned tomatoes, with juice, can of crusted tomatoes, butter, salt and pepper. 
5. Cook on medium to medium high until small bubbles appear and pop.
6. Cover and turn down to a simmer, and cook for 4 to 5 hours, stirring periodically and tasting, adding salt and pepper as needed. 

Tomato Heavy, Marinara Style, Quick Sauce

(Picture coming soon, sorry!)

• 1 28oz cans of tomatoes; San Marzano if you can find them, they will make all the difference
• 1 large onion, cut into two large pieces
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 tbs salt
• 1/2 tbs black pepper
• 1/2 garlic powder

1.  In a large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat, add the tomatoes, onion, and butter.
2. Cook until small bubbles appear and pop.
3. Cover and turn down to a simmer and cook for an hour to an hour and a half, stirring occasionally to break down large pieces of tomato.
4. Remove onion, add salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
5. Cook for 15 minutes, test, and season accordingly.