The Tale of Two Tacos

Meatless Fridays started this week - with taste buds like Steve this makes for s lot of brain power on my end to deliver tasty meals that are meatless, filling and not just pasta. I love pasta as much as the next person but it tends to leave me...full of empty carbs? Ok, so this isn't much better BUT a few other things can be added to make this meal a little more nutritious (i.e. black beans, tofu crumbles, shrimp).

I was tempted to start this sentence with "taco bell..." But then realized how quickly that would send so many people running directly to Iowa Girl Eats (which is amazing btw). Anyways, I've often indulged on the cheesy potato taco at Taco Bell during the Lenten season when I was on the run and needed a good, meat free treat. Delicious. If you've never had one, stop what you're doing and go get one. The thought of this taco not only made me drool at work but it also inspired our meatless meal for the night.

The tale of two tacos. I actually couldn't decide the best way to tackle this taco so I attempted both versions. The trying discussion on which to make  sent me and my coworker slurping up our spit as we discussed the pros and cons of each choice. The first version is simple with instant mashed potatoes, the second with homemade fried potatoes. Either can be made the homemade or the easy way of course.

Fried Potato Taco with Pepperjack Cheese Sauce

4 medium red potatoes diced small

1 medium onion diced

1 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp garlic

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

Pepperjack Cheese Sauce

1Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

2 c milk

1 c Pepperjack cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Wash potatoes, dice into small cubes. Boil in high until softened, about 15 minutes, remove from heat and drain.

 Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil in large fry pan on medium heat. Add onions and potatoes. 

Allow potatoes to brown before turning. Add garlic, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Add one tbsp of butter and continue to cook until well browned and slightly crunchy.

 In a medium saucepan melt butter on low heat. Whisk in flour and let cook for a minute. Add milk and whisk together. Let cook until a cream sauce forms, whisk frequently. Once thickened, remove from heat and add shredded cheese. 

Warm tortillas until softened, add potatoes, lettuce, tomato and cream sauce.

Mashed Potato and Poblano Tacos

1 package of Idaho Roasted Garlic Instant Potatoes (you can use whatever you desire, this was just what I had on hand!)

1 medium poblano pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 c Pepperjack cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

4 Tbsp canola oil

Corn tortillas

Place poblano pepper on cookie sheet, place in oven on broil for about 5 minutes per side or until skin starts to blister. 

Follow instructions for mashed potatoes. Add cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. 

Once poblano pepper has cooled, peel skin and remove stem and seeds. Dice and add to potato mixture. 

Add cheese and combine thoroughly.

 Heat oil until hot. Add one heaping tablespoon of mixture to one side of the tortilla.

 Fold in half and press shut, this will be thin like a quesadilla. Add to hot oil and cook on each side until browned. Drain and serve.

Philly Cheese Empanadas with Cream Sauce

I try to do a red meat meal at least once a week, particularly ground beef. The problem comes in that my creative mind seems to slip into a coma whenever i try to decide what to make. I find myself always stuck on meatballs, something with a Mexican twist or... What? I battle with myself to find something to do with ground beef that I have all the ingredients for or that doesn't take a ton of time to do up something fancy. Lets be serious, between work and the hour I try to commit to the gym everyday, cleaning, laundry and relaxation time, a fancy meal every night just isn't always in the cards. And now with Steve working late, it's nice sometimes to have a meal that he can easily take as leftovers for a late afternoon snack. 

I came across a recipe for Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes and thought "How great would these be if they were compact and grab and go?".  And there it was born - the Philly Cheesesteak Empanadas. My mom makes these yummy empanadas with a taco twist on them so I took the starter of that concept and married it with the Philly Cheesesteak concept and let me tell you...S.U.C.C.E.S.S. - concept, the best. You all remember that silly cheer from high school, right? Well hold onto your britches because your taste buds will certainly be singing that once you try these. 

I wish I had a great story to tell with this one, something funny? Don't have that. Something cute? Nope, nope, failing there. Something inspiring? Food inspires me constantly but I don't think that's the kind of story I'm looking for. So there it is, just a good, quick and easy recipe. No fuss, no story; get over it. 

Heat oil on medium high heat. Add chopped green peppers and onions. Cook until softened.

Add ground beef and brown.

Dissolve beef bouillon in warm water.  Add steak sauce and bouillon mixture to ground beef. Simmer until thickened, then turn off heat.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and whisk in flour. Let cook for approximately 1 minute.  Add in milk and whisk to combine. Bring up to slight bubble and allow to thicken.

Turn off heat and add in shredded cheese. Stir until completely combined.  Add more milk if mixture seems too thick.

Flatten biscuits into 6" diameter discs

Add 1 - 1 1/2 tbsp of ground beef mixture to center of dough.  Add 1 tsp cream sauce.  Fold over and press dough together to seal. 

Place on cookie sheet and cook for 12-15 minutes or until dough is slightly browned.

Serve with remainder of cheese sauce as dipping sauce or drizzled on top.

Philly Cheesesteak Empanadas

1 lb ground beef (preferably 90/10)

1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/4 C steak sauce (like an A1)

1 C water

1 Tbsp beef bouillon*

Cheese Sauce

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp flour

1 c milk

1 c shredded Swiss cheese

*Water and beef bouillon can be substituted for 1 c beef stock,  I just happened to have only the bouillon on hand! 

Freezer Breakfast Burritos

I've come to realize that there are a few ingredients and or spices that seem to appear in almost all of my recipes.  I don't know if its preference, availability or simplicity, but if this gets repetitive, I'm sorrrrry (have you ever seem Simon Birch? I'm trying to say sorry like him in the baseball scene, YouTube it). 

Anyways, as most of my stories go, my poor hubby would eat a bag of chips and drink a 2 liter of pop if I weren't around. In fact, I've seen him do it. I'd often walk in for a weekend visit only to find a 2 liter, open and being drunk straight from the bottle and various opened bags of chips.  Real healthy.  

We're getting older - as much as I try to hold onto my youth with the pictures in my cubicle being one from when I was a jr. in college and one from my senior year, the inevitable is happening.  With that, I personally worry about my metabolism dropping. Did you know that after the age of 20, your daily expenditure decreases by 150 calories every decade? And your basal metabolic rate decease one to two percent every decade? HORRIFYING! As I've entered into the so called "upper 20's" range, I'm more aware of both mine AND Steve's metabolism more than ever. 

The kid doesn't eat  breakfast.  He can go until 4 pm on a weekend without a single meal. Can you IMAGINE what's happening to his metabolism? I watch as it slowly heads towards oncoming traffic, headed to it's eminent death.   With his busy season, its even more of a challenge to keep us right on track. He works 12 hours a day - we eat dinner at 8:30/9pm - the gym is not seen quite as often.  Time for breakfast.  Breakfast jump starts your metabolism and has been proven to increase your metabolic rate if you've slowed yours down.

Enter - the freezer breakfast burrito. It's quick, compact, convenient and you get your protein, your fiber and your calcium all wrapped in a neat little package. Best of all? EASY. 

Freezer Breakfast Burritos

12 La Milagro Wheat Cassaera Style Tortillas (They're fajita tortillas so they're thicker than the norm)

1 Lb Jimmy Deans Breakfast Sausage, browned and drained

8 Eggs

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 C half and half or heavy whipping cream

1/2 C Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1 -1 1/2 C Diced Potatoes, Fried

Scramble eggs with cream, salt and pepper.  Cook but leave slightly wet (they will microwave better when you reheat them this way.  Put 1 - 1/2 tbsp of sausage onto a tortilla, top with 1 tbsp potatoes and 1 - 1 1/2 tbsp eggs.  

Top with cheese as desired and wrap burrito styled (fold in outside edges as you roll from end to end.  Wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer bag.  Recipe will make almost the whole dozen depending on how much you stuff them! These can be frozen and reheated simply by removing from the freezer and microwaving for 2 minutes! 

TItle Boxing Bad @$$

I have to say, its been quite a while since I've posted. I used to be able to take some time to write leisurely here and there, but life seems to be a whirlwind lately and I can't seem to find time to...be leisure? Or maybe its that as much as I do love writing, my leisure often includes laying on the couch and quickly passing out or playing mindless games on my new Ipad (yaaaay!) Any hoo, I have a fitness update that I'm pretty excited about.  I haven't seen a dramatic change in my weight lately - BUT I feel leaner and in better shape than I have ever been and I have to credit it to Title Boxing.  I've even gotten to the point where I'm ready to break up with my trainer (it'll be a sad day, he might cry) and add another day of boxing once a week.  The best part? I have become more efficient in burning calories boxing and am averaging just shy of 700 calories in my one hour session! It's a sad day to break up with my trainer and awkward since I will still probably be there 3 - 4 times a week in addition to my boxing buuuut, we'll both get over it. 

I've challenged myself this week to see if I can box three times, train twice, do Zumba cardio and then regular cardio each once.  I made it through two days in a row of boxing and I must say, I'm looking forward to the change.  Here's to getting lean, losing weight and kicking butt! 

Skinny Zucchini Bread

I really don't believe that there's such thing as "skinny" and dessert in the sentence. Sure, one can substitute prunes for sugar or a multitude of other substitutes but lets be serious, it'll be seriously missing something. When I eat sweets, I want them full fledged sweet and gooey.

Skinny Zucchini Bread

3 c all purpose flour

1 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

3 eggs

1/2 c unsweetened apple sauce

1/2 c canola oil

2 1/4 c white sugar

3 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 c grated zucchini

1/2 chopped pecans

2/3 c dark chocolate chips

Grease two 8x4 inch bread pans, preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

Sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg together in medium bowl. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, applesauce and sugar together in large bowl until well combined.

 Slowly add in sifted ingredients and beat well. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Separate mixture evenly between two pans.

 Bake 45 -55 minutes or until toothpick inserted all the way through comes out clean. Cool and remove from pan.

Mini broccoli egg muffins

If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times...and if it has to do with food then I've definitely said it a thousand times: I love breakfast. Recently with my new love (or perhaps personal obligation?) for lower carb, the fun seems to get sucked out or breakfast. No more eggs and rice,or spaghetti and eggs (don't judge). I can say goodbye to tortilla chips crushed in my with eggs, salsa, cheese and avocado. What's left?!? How will I sinlessly eat and enjoy breakfast ever again?!? Carb free mini egg and broccoli quiches? BINGO (think Talladaga Nights). These totally satisfy that craving for a breakfast that's hearty and healthy at the same time.

I've tried going the extra healthy route with these by doing turkey Italian sausage and ill admit, it really loses a little something when it's done this way ("it's the grease you idiot, it's missing the grease," I remind myself). It can definitely be done this way and its still good, but I will say try it the regular way first and then if its still not healthy enough for you, go ahead and sub.

Perhaps the best part about these is that they heat great the next day, next several days even. My husband loves when I make these and there are leftovers because he can just throw them in the microwave and grab 'em on the go.

Sausage Broccoli Mini Muffins

1 lb of Italian sausage, removed from casing (I usually get the ground Italian sausage from the fruit market but if you can't find it, just cut off the casing)

1 c fresh broccoli - you can do frozen but make sure it's thawed and drained

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp minced onion

8 large eggs

1/2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 milk

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 C sharp cheddar cheese

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brown Italian sausage and crumble, drain any grease. Add broccoli, garlic, minced onion and salt. Cook until broccoli is slightly softened. Remove from heat and set aside. 

In medium bowl, beat eggs and milk. Add olive oil, baking powder and cheese. Spray 12 muffin muffin tin with cooking spray. 

Spoon in sausage and broccoli mixture filling just under half the muffin cup. Ladle in egg mixture filling 3/4 of the way full.

 Sprinkle extra cheese if desired. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until eggs are firm.

Fiesta Rangoon

I had to share this recipe right away with Super Bowl Sunday right around the corner. I'm sure you've mostly all heard of crab Rangoon before. It's a tasty staple on the appetizer page of many Chinese restaurants. It's the perfect combination of light and crispy wonton wrappers filled with a creamy mixture of imitation crab (what IS that stuff anyways?!?) and cream cheese. Fancy places might add some chives and serve them up with a sweet and sour sauce. But what about all those people who would love the idea of this appetizer, less the crab, fake or not?

Because I'm such a kind, loving and caring wife, I always wonder to myself "WWSE?" - what would Steve eat? For those of you who don't know, until he met me, lived with me even, my husbands diet consisted mostly of a few main food groups, none of which were "weird".  We're getting places in trying to get Steve to try new things, but I always have to keep a few plain things in my arsenal just for him.  And then it dawned on me - Fiesta Rangoon.

Ok, so I don't know what part of the crab Rangoon is really Rangoon but for the sake of recipes, we're gonna go with it.  This recipe has all the great qualities of the crab Rangoon; the warm, creamy inside, the crispy wonton skin, the texture- but it's missing the crab for any of you plainer eaters.

It starts with a filling of cream cheese, salsa and Mexican blended cheese and finished with a Mexican inspired sweet and sour sauce.

Fiesta Rangoon

Yield - 20

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 c chunky salsa (for these I used a pineapple peach salsa, you can use whatever you have on hand)

1 c Mexican blended cheese

Small package of wonton skins

Cream together cream cheese and salsa until well blended and a light salmon color. Add cheese and mix. Heat enough oil in a deep fry pan so that there is approximately one inch of oil. Place wonton skins so they form a diamond. Add one small teaspoon of mixture to wrapper and fold in half to make a triangle. Fold in two outer corners so wonton is house shaped. Add filled wontons to heated oil, cook until browned on one side, approximately 2-3 minutes, turn and cook other side until browned. Remove and drain on paper towel.

*I tried wrapping these a few different ways ranging from rectangular pockets to traditional looking crab Rangoon that's neatly bundled up. I found that this technique worked best to avoid too much leakage haha.

Sauce

Jalapeño jelly (found usually at specialty stores)
Sweet and sour sauce
1 tsp cumin

Combine equal parts jelly and sweet and sour.


These can easily be made ahead of time and reheated in the oven. The crisp up just as well as when they were made fresh! Preheat oven to 350 degrees and heat for 10-15 minutes.