Vegetarian Enchiladas

It was very icy on Tuesday night, and I really didn't feel like braving the roads to head out and pick something up for dinner.  I scrounged some things out of my cabinets and refrigerator and put together the most amazing vegetarian enchiladas, ever.  These are not smothered in cheese--my husband and daughter are allergic to dairy products.  These are the honest to goodness, amazingly tasty enchiladas that we had for dinner!  Easy, fast, and on the table within 45 minutes.

Vegetarian Enchiladas

1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 medium red pepper, diced
1 heaping tsp. minced garlic
1 can of chopped green chiles
1 28 ounce can corn kernels
1 32 ounce can of vegetarian refried beans
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
corn tortillas
Enchilada Sauce - recipe follows

1) Pre-heat the oven to 350*.
2) Saute the bell peppers, garlic and onion in a large skillet over medium-low heat.
3) As the onions begin to turn translucent, add the corn and the green chiles.  Stir together, mixing thoroughly.
4) Add the refried beans.  The mixture will be very thick, and can burn easily.  Keep heat on med-low, and stir frequently.
5) Add cumin, salt, and pepper. (Adjust accordingly if you like it spicier or milder.)
6) Lower the heat, and allow the mixture to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat when time is finished.

While the bean mixture is simmering, make the enchilada sauce.  Sure, you can buy the stuff in cans at the store, but this is better for you, and doesn't take long to make.  (Recipe follows this.)

Cover the bottom of the cooking pan with a layer of enchilada sauce.

One at a time, spread each corn tortilla with about 1/3 cup of the bean mixture.  Spread the mixture down the middle of each tortilla.  Roll the tortilla up, and place it, seam side down, in the pan.
(note- the corn tortillas WILL break apart.  That's okay. They're all going to snuggle up against each other in the pan, anyway.)

Fill each corn tortilla with the bean mixture, snugging the enchiladas up against each other, until the pan is full.  I usually have enough space left at the top of my pan to add 2 more enchiladas.  I use it.  I fill every available space with enchiladas.

Cover the entire mixture with more enchilada sauce.  If you made your sauce from scratch, don't use the entire pan!  You'll drown these guys!  Instead, Use about a cup to a cup and a half of sauce, spread evenly across the entire pan.

Put the entire yummy mixture into the oven and let it bake for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Note- If you want to punch this up, or stretch it out, add a cup of cooked rice to the bean mixture after the mix is cooked, but before you layer into the tortillas.  Stir thoroughly to incorporate before you spread it into the tortillas.

If you really want cheese on your enchiladas, add it to the pan, over top of the sauce, before you put it into the oven.


Enchilada Sauce
Make sure you have all of the ingredients measured and lined up before you begin!
 
Olive oil- enough to cover the bottom of the pan.  Rachael Ray would say "a turn of the pan".
2 TBSP Cornstarch
1/3 cup chili powder
3 cups veggie broth
14 ounce can tomato sauce  (or whatever size that is - not the small, 8 ounce can, but the next size up)
1 TBSP cumin
1 TBSP oregano

• In a sauce pan over med heat, stir the olive oil and cornstarch together until the cornstarch begins to brown.  You're toasting it.  It should take about a minute - keep a very close eye on it so it doesn't burn!
• Add the chili powder, stir constantly for another minute.  Remember, you're toasting the spices to bring out their full flavor.
• Add 3 cups of veggie broth  (I used 3 cups of water and 3 vegetable bullion cubes.)
• Add the tomato sauce, cumin, and oregano, stirring to make certain all of the spices are incorporated into the liquid.
• Bring everything to a boil, stirring frequently. (You can raise the heat here, if you need to.)
• Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 Note- last one, I promise!  If I had any veggie broth cubes left over, I would have used 3 or 4 of them here.  I would have thawed them in the microwave before beginning the sauce.  If it didn't measure up to the full 3 cups, I'd add water to the thawed broth cubes to make 3 cups.)

What to do with all that Ham

We had ham for Christmas dinner.  It was a big ham, and we've had some leftovers.

Besides sandwiches, what have we done with all of that ham?

Western Omelets
Cubed Ham
Diced Onions and Bell Peppers
Eggs
Dash of Milk
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

• Saute the ham, onions, and peppers.  When the onions turn translucent, remove from pan and set aside.  Keep the pan on the burner and keep the burner on.
• In a large bowl, crack the eggs (I use 2 for me), add a dash of milk, and whisk the eggs and milk together until light and fluffy.
• Spray the cooking pan with non-stick spray. 
• Slowly add the eggs to the pan.  Since the pan is already hot, the pan should "grab" the eggs as you add them and they should start to cook quickly.  Using a rubber spatula, pull up the edges of the eggs and allow the raw egg to flow into that portion of the pan.
• When the eggs have set, add the ham mixture and the cheese.  Very gently, fold the omelet in half as you slide the omelet out of the pan and onto a plate.

Stir Fry Rice
3 cups of rice, cooked
Diced Ham
Diced veggies - carrots, bell pepper, celery, onion, etc.
Soy Sauce

• In a skillet over med-high heat, add a chug of olive oil.
• Saute the ham and veggies in the oil until heated through.
• Add rice, stir constantly for 1 minute.
• Remove from heat, add soy sauce to taste.

Note- if you want, you can scramble an egg to add to your stir fry.  Do this first, remove the eggs, and then follow the rest of the directions.  Add the egg back in after you remove the skillet from the heat, but before you add the soy sauce.

Split Pea Soup
6 cups water
4 chicken bullion cubes
(see my recipe for bullion cubes here:http://mini-van-mom.blogspot.com/2013/06/blog-post.html)
2 cups split peas. dried
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp thyme
1 Bay leaf
1/2 tsp pepper
1 ham bone, make sure it's got meat on it.  If it doesn't have enough meat, chop up some leftover ham and add it.

• In the slow cooker, add all of the ingredients listed above.  Add the split peas, and make sure that the ham bone is snuggled down in the beans.  If the water does not completely cover the soup with two inches to spare, add more water.  For every extra cup of water, add another bullion cube.
• Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
•  Stir well before serving.

There are those awkward ends and chunks of ham that are too small for sandwiches.  What to do with those?  I diced a lot of ham and froze it in one cup servings in sandwich bags.  1 cup is a perfect size to add to most recipes.  The end of the ham, I chopped in half with the help of a butcher knife.  The ends have been frozen and added to the "stuff" for future soups.  I have bones, ends of meat, etc, that I save in vacuum sealed bags in the freezer.  I label the outside of the bag, because while it's easy to tell what kind of bones I have from the outside, it's very difficult to tell what the contents are when I pull out a frozen mass.  Chicken bones?  Beef Bones?  Two soups I approach very differently!  I actually have a section of my freezer set aside for soup "stuff'.  You know that basket that sits across the top of a chest freezer?  That's where I keep my soup stuff.

With just a little pre-planning, you can set yourself up to have things on hand in your freezer that will save you time and money down the line.  Even though you might have to remember to pull stuff out the night before, it's well worth the effort!

What did you do with your leftovers from Christmas?

Shepard's Pie

The boys are home on spring break this week.  They've been going a little bit nuts. 

I worked the past two days, and they decided to cook, clean and make dinner.

Last night, they made an awesome Shepard's Pie.  I'm sharing the recipe here, using their words...


Shepard's Pie

1 pound of ground beef (get the good stuff, Mom, the 93% lean)
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 huge bag of mixed veggies (but make sure it doesn't have lima beans, I hate lima beans)
Mashed Potatoes (the kind from a box.  I'm a college student, you can't expect me to mash them from scratch.)
1 can of V-8 juice
3 of those funky little broth cubes you make in the muffin tin
Worcestershire sauce
thyme
rosemary
pepper - white and black

1) Brown the ground beef, garlic, and onion in a big skillet.
2) While you are browning the beef, follow the directions on the box of mashed potatoes to make enough to serve 8 people.  Use the microwave, because it's faster.
3) Once the beef and onion look done, add the bag of mixed veggies.
4) Stir the veggies in until they are mixed up really good with the meat.
5) Into the pan, add: 1 can of V-8, 3 broth cubes, 1 glug of Worcestershire sauce, a pinch of thyme, and a really small pinch of rosemary, crushed up.
6) Add white and black pepper.  I'm not sure how much - two shakes of white pepper, and then you just grind the black pepper over top of the meat mix until it smells like too much and then you mix it all in really good.
7) Put the veggie mixture in a 13 x 9 inch casserole.
8) Put the mashed potatoes over top.
9) Bake it in a 350* oven for 30 minutes.

This was actually really good.  I have no real idea how much black pepper went in.  I know that middle child stood over top of the pan and used the pepper grinder until the top was pretty much evenly coated with pepper.  I guess the best way to describe that is "season to taste".

Dinner in less than an hour, courtesy of my two college boys.  Life doesn't get much better than this!

Dinner Tonight

Dinner Tonight was another clean the crisper kind of night. 

Surprisingly, the meal turned out so well, I wanted to share it with you.

It's a hearty, meatless meal that will fill you up.  As always, don't go out and buy anything just to make this meal.  The idea is to use what you already have on hand in the crisper.  Add other things if you have them on hand, or keep them out if you don't have them.

Rice and Quinoa Pilaf

In a large skillet, sauté:

2 cloves garlic, diced
1 large onion, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
4 carrots, diced
1/4 pound mushrooms, diced

When the veggies are nicely softened (after 5-10 minutes, when the onions are translucent),
add 1 cup rinsed quinoa, 1 cup of rice, and water- 4 1/2 cups.  (1 1/2 cups for the quinoa, 3 cups for the rice)

Add 3 broth cubes.  (I used my veggie broth cubes that I keep in the freezer.)

Bring everything to a boil, stirring to keep stuff from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Cover, lower heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop about a cup of nuts.  (Your choice.  I love pecans, so we used pecans because I tend to have them on hand.)

When time is up, remove cover from the rice and quinoa.  Stir a few times, making sure that all of the water is absorbed.

Add pecans and serve.

(I didn't have any peas on hand, but I kept thinking that fresh or frozen peas would have been really good, tossed in at the end with the pecans.)

We made muffins to go with our bake.  Dinner was beyond awesome.  By the time I realized I had a keeper and that I should have taken a picture of this, everything was gone! 

Dinner Tonight

 

Actually, this was dinner Monday night.  Pasta Fagioli. 

 

I found the recipe here: http://theprudenthomemaker.com/index.php/pasta-e-fagioli.   The Prudent Homemaker is written by Brandy, who develops all of her own recipes.  This one looked different than any I had tried before.  At the very end of the recipe, you cook the pasta separately from the soup, and then add the pasta to the soup just before serving.  The combination of spices, and the processing that she used in this soup raised this from "just another bean soup" to "totally amazing". 

Since daughter is a vegetarian, I replaced the chicken bullion with vegetable stock.  (Remember my broth cubes I made from turkey?  I also made broth cubes from vegetable stock a few weeks back.)

 

 

Pasta Fagioli- ready for the fridge!

 

 

The recipe on the website gave me more than enough soup to feed the three of us for dinner!  (Now that the boys are back at college, I have leftovers again!)

 

So now, we have awesome leftovers!  I didn't actually process the soup.  This is going in the fridge.  I don't like to store things in plastic because I'm never certain what chemicals will leach into my food.  Instead, I store leftovers in small canning jars in the refrigerator.  I always have a few empty jars sitting around at any given time during the year.  When I can something up, I write the contents and the date on the lid in sharpie.  After we use up whatever is inside, I clean the lids and save them.  The writing on the lid of the jar lets me know that they are used, and I can reuse them to store things in the fridge.  The lid to this jar says "Grape Jelly, 2010". 

 

If you are looking for a warm, filling, over the top, simply sublime recipe for Pasta Fagioli, I recommend that you head over to the Prudent Homemaker's website and try this out!  http://theprudenthomemaker.com/index.php/pasta-e-fagioli

 

Once you journey over to Brandy's website, take the time to browse through her website and blog (http://theprudenthomemakerblog.blogspot.com/).  Brandy's husband had no source of income for almost a year, and she manages to feed a growing family on 33 cents a day.  33 CENTS!!!  And I thought I could pinch a penny! 

 

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

My Frugal Accomplishments

I'm not sure how much I've actually saved this past week... or how I'll do this week.

All three of our children were born during this week.  One birthday was yesterday, one is tomorrow, and one is Saturday.  All born within 4 years.  Yep, go ahead, think whatever thought it is you are thinking.  I've heard it all before!


As far as Frugal Accomplishments for this week:

We had invested in the Maryland Pre-Paid College Trust when the kids were little.  College tuition is due this month.  Between the scholarships and the pre-paid college trust, we paid out $2,000 for this semester - for both children, combined.  I have to admit, making those payments was horrendous when the kids were younger, but so glad NOW that we did it!

I stopped by the grocery store and found that they had also added a "seconds" shelf in the produce section.  This is where they have veggies that they feel have passed their prime.  I picked up bags of 3 yellow squash, 6 green peppers, and a cabbage for $4.  Tonight, we're having tacos with spicy cole slaw.

We cooked one of the turkeys that we picked up on sale around the holidays.  I have lots and lots of leftovers in my fridge.  Today, I am making a batch of broth from the bones.  (Read my recipe and directions for making broth cubes here: http://mini-van-mom.blogspot.com/2013/06/blog-post.html.)
The broth cubes will be put into the freezer to use later.

We made baked potato soup from scratch.  We bought a 50 pound bag of potatoes at the beginning of the year, and they are starting to sprout!  We are cooking up those potatoes just as fast as we can!  I really don't want to see those potatoes go to waste.  This past week, we've had a baked potato night, and baked potato soup.  We made a huge batch of home fries for breakfast with scrambled eggs Sunday morning. 

We went to the used book store, traded in some old books and picked up some new ones to read.  Daughter found an awesome volume of Sherlock Holmes and one of Edgar Allen Poe.  Husband found a great book about the National Parks.

Have a wonderful week!

Black Bean Soup

It's going to be a very cold day today in Maryland.  Not as cold as it's been in the Midwest, but cold for Maryland.

By the time I get home from work tonight, I will be tired, cranky, hungry and grumpy.  So, I decided that we are having black bean soup.  I can put it into the crock pot before I leave for work, and when I get home tonight, a tasty dinner will be waiting for us!

If you plan ahead, soak 16 ounces of beans the night before in a pot of water.  Next morning, pour off the water and put clean water in, enough to cover the water with two extra inches (or more) of water.  Bring the water to a boil.  Add 1 tsp. of baking soda to the water when it starts to boil.  Skim the foam off the top of the water before following the rest of the recipe.

If you are using canned beans, use 2 cans, or 16 ounces.  I always make certain my cans are BPA free... you can find them in the organic aisle.  BPA is a plastic that is used in the lining of some food cans, most notable is beans.  BPA will leach into the beans.  BPA has been shown to cause health problems.  So... even though the BPA free cans are more expensive, to me, they're worth the extra cost.  (And if you really want to save money, you're going to use dried beans anyway, because they are considerably cheaper than canned!)

Black Bean Soup

2 cans black beans (or 16 ounces, soaked overnight)
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne
3 1/2 cups chicken broth (or veggie broth, if making it vegetarian)
2 cups water

to make:
In a large dutch oven or heavy cooking pan.
Saute onions and garlic in a small amount of oil until soft.
Stir in cumin, ginger, and cayenne, stir constantly for a minute, then add beans, broth and water.

(If you are cooking this in a crock pot, put the beans, broth, & water directly into the crockpot.  Add the onion mixture to the crock pot and stir well. Set your timer on high for 4 hours, or low for 8.)

Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.  Lower heat to low, cover and simmer for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.

*note- remember the broth cubes I made over the summer?  I'll be using three of them in this recipe today.


If you want to round out the meal, you can serve this over rice, or with cornbread!

Stay warm today!

Saving a Little Money - One Penny at a Time

I try to cook most of our meals from scratch.  Not only is it healthier if I cook the meals myself, it saves an awful lot of money over time.  One thing I find I constantly need is Chicken Bullion and Chicken Broth.  I'm not fond of the bullion cubes you find at the grocery store.  They are very high in sodium.  In fact, many bullion cubes contain some form of Monosodium Glutamate. (MSG).  Since I have problems with MSG, I find it easier to make my own home made version of bullion cubes.  I make my bullion cubes in advance, so I can pull them out and use them when I need them.

You will need a deep pot, and the left over bones (with meat still attached) of whatever you have recently eaten.  Chicken, Turkey, and Beef bones all work well for this.  I usually do this on a day when I know I'm going to be home all day.  I start the broth simmering in the morning, and then turn it off around  2 or 3.  I let it cool, skim off the fat, and then make the cubes.




Everybody into the hot tub!  One turkey carcass, three stalks of celery roughly cut into large pieces, four carrots, peeled and snapped into several large chunks, and an onion, cut into quarters.  Put everybody into the pot and add water.  I add enough water to make the bones float- usually about half full.  Bring the mix to a rolling boil, and then lower the temperature down to a "2" or "Med-Low" and let everything simmer for hours.  Let it simmer at least 4 hours, with the lid on, adding water occasionally to make certain that the water level never drops down below the halfway point in your pot.  After 3 or 4 hours, turn the heat off and let the broth cool.  Skim any visible fat off the top.  At this point, cookbooks will tell you to pour the broth through a cheesecloth in a colander over another pot to remove the bones and veggies.  I hate getting extra pots dirty, so I fish out what I can.  I guess I'm a little lazy.  I figure that any chunks of veggies or meat that I can't get out with my little hand held strainer deserves to stay in and help flavor the next meal.



Here, I've portioned out the broth into a muffin tin.  I always spray the tin with a non-stick spray before I add the broth.  It helps to make getting these guys out a little easier.  I freeze the broth overnight, and then pull the tins out.  Run a little warm water over the top and bottom of the tin.  Using a fork (or table knife) and some patience, leverage these guys out of their little spaces.  These guys have just come out of the freezer.  You can see the fat has come to the top.  I scraped off what I could before I put them in a freezer bag.

Look!  Little bullion cubes!  When a recipe calls for chicken bullion, or a small amount of broth, I will pull out one of these cubes and add it.  Each cube contains about 1/2 cup of broth.  One of these cubes will add as much flavor as a bullion cube, but with much less sodium.  A long time ago, I used to make these in ice cube trays.  Pulling the cubes out of an ice cube tray was much easier - the trays are designed to release their contents easily.  However, I had two problems with this method- I'd always end up using 2 or 3 broth cubes for every meal I made.  Even worse, the mess I made attempting to get the broth into the trays- and to get equal distribution among the trays, was very messy.  With the broth in a muffin tin, I can fill the muffin holes 2/3 full and still have a decent size cube.  It allows room for expansion in the tin.  I make less of a mess transporting muffin tins that are 2/3 of the way full across the room to the freezer than I do a mostly full ice cube tray of broth.  Don't ask me why... I guess I'm just clumsy!

So, for a days worth of work, I ended up with 24 little cubes of turkey broth. They are happily sitting in the freezer right now, waiting for me when I next need them.

I froze the rest of the broth - 3 quarts worth- in 3 plastic containers with screw-on lids.  I will use these when I need a large quantity of broth to make soup.

For the three quarts of broth alone, I saved $10. I put in maybe an hour's worth of work, total on this project.  Nice investment of my time!