breakfast ring

So a few people had asked when I made the "Bacon" Egg and Toast cups - It's not real bacon. It's made of soy. I use the MorningStar brand that you can find at your local grocery store in the freezer section. Most places have a specific spot for vegan/vegetarian frozen foods. Anyway, Christopher came home from the field tonight. They had gotten some pizza at the company, but was still hungry. So I whipped up this little breakfast ring.

Ingredients:

1 can of crescents (8 count)

shredded cheese

5 large eggs

8 sliced of bacon, cooked

Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.  Scramble your eggs on stove top.  Lay out crescents
on a parchment lined pizza pan. Add your cooked bacon. Sprinkle cheese lightly. Add your eggs and some more of your cheese and fold crescents over. Bake for 17 minutes or until crescents are done
and golden brown.

pumpkin rice krispies treats (gluten free)

There is a Children's Fall Festival coming up in a few days here at Fort Bliss. My FRG will have a booth set up to sell goodies, hold some raffles, and do some crafts with the kids. I made two baskets to be raffled off: A Scentsy basket and a Kids Movie Night basket. Since I love to cook and bake, I decided I also wanted to make something to put in our bake sale. I found this treat after browsing several food blogs. Pumpkin Rice Krispies Treats. And a bonus - it's gluten free!

Ingredients:

1- 10 oz bag of marshmallows

6 cups of (gluten free) rice krispies cereal

red and yellow food coloring

15-20 tootsie rolls

green decorating frosting

3 tablespoons of butter

In a large pot, melt butter. Add in marshmallows. Once marshmallows are all nice and melty, add in 12 drops if yellow and 4 drops of red food coloring to make 'pumpkin orange'. Add in the cereal. Wait about 5 minutes. I sprayed some nonstick cooking spray on my hands in between rolling so nothing would stick to me. Roll rice krispies mixture into balls and place on wax paper. Push a tootsie roll into the top center to make a stem. Use green frosting to make the leaves. Voila! 

vegetable egg rolls

I love some Chinese food. Unfortunately, most of it has some type of meat in it. So I just left meat out and made vegetable egg rolls. Super delish! And I think they came out pretty freakin good for my first time ever making an egg roll!

Ingredients:

8 egg roll skins

1 egg, slightly beaten

broccoli florets, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 medium carrot, shredded

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

shredded cheese (optional)

In 12-inch skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Cook carrots, broccoli, onion and bell pepper in oil 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature. You can either use a skillet and oil or a deep fryer for the egg roll skins. I used a skillet and oil. Heat the oil to 350 degress F. Meanwhile, place 1 egg roll skin on work surface with 1 corner facing you. (Cover remaining skins with damp paper towel to prevent drying out.) Brush edges with beaten egg. Spoon 1/2 cupvegetable filling slightly below center of egg roll skin (add cheese too if you are using it); fold corner of egg roll skin closest to filling over filling, tucking point under. Fold in and overlap right and left corners. Brush remaining corner again with egg and gently roll egg roll toward remaining corner and press to seal. Place seam side down on plate. Repeat with remaining egg roll skins, beaten egg, cheese and filling. Bake on 350 for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve immediately! 

confetti wild rice

Another easy meal. Yes, I know I use a ton of rice. It's delicious.

Ingredients:

6 oz white and wild rice mix

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

1/4 cup minced fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Prepare rice according to package directions then cool completely. Place rice in a large bowl. Add peppers, parsley and basil. Combine mustard, oil and vinegar in a small bowl, mix well. Pour over rice and vegetables. Toss well to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Enjoy!

Rice and Veggie Cheese Medley

Pretty simple to make. Turned out really well!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of butter

3/4 teaspoon of Italian herd seasoning

1 package (10 oz) frozen veggies

1 box of Uncle Ben's 3 cheese rice

1 cup of water

1 cup of milk

3/4 cup shredded cheese

Melt butter in a large skillet. Stir in seasoning. Add veggies and rice. Cook for two minutes then add water and milk. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in cheese, and enjoy!

asian noodles

Tyler came over to hang out with us tonight, so we decided that I needed to try an Asian dish! Phenomenal!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

3 Tbsp. corn or sesame oil

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

Red pepper flakes

Chopped green onions or chives, optional

1/2 package linguine or rice noodles

Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Heat all ingredients in a frying pan except for the noodles until they melt together. Stir into the noodles. Add veggies or cubed tofu, if desired. I added in chopped green bell pepper.

 

 

vegetarian tortilla stew

Liz came over today for a movie day and I decided she needed to be in on this deliciousness that is vegetarian stew. So we choose this recipe. Success! 

Ingredients:

1 (19 ounce) can green enchilada sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn
4 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn into strips
salt and pepper to taste

 

In a pot, mix the enchilada sauce and water. Season with garlic powder, chile powder, and cumin. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Mix in the beans, tomatoes, and corn. Simmer until heated through. Top with tortilla strips and season with salt and pepper to serve. 

cheese and veggie quesadillas with black bean salsa

For Christmas last year, we treated ourselves to a quesadilla maker. I love this thing for nights when I am not feeling well and want something quick. 

Quesadilla Ingredients:

4 flour tortillas

1 cup shredded cheese

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 medium tomato, chopped

Salsa Ingredients:

1 can diced tomatoes

1/4 cup corn

1 jalapeno, chopped

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

Put all ingredients for salsa in a medium bowl and mix. In the quesadilla maker, put one tortilla flat. Sprinkle evenly with cheese, tomatoes, and bell pepper. Top with a flour tortilla. Close the maker and cook for 5-7 minutes, depending on how brown you want the tortilla. Enjoy!

mediterranean orzo salad

Salad Ingredients:
1 cup orzo pasta
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 can ( 2 1/4 oz) sliced ripe black olives, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Dressing Ingredients:
1 packet of Hidden Valley Original Ranch Salad Dressing Seasoning
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar

Cook orzo to package directions, omitting salf. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Mix orzo, red bell pepper, cheese, olives and fresh chopped basil in large bowl (if using dried basil, add to dressing). Whisk together salad dressing seasoning, oil, vinegar and sugar. Stir dressing into orzo mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Garnish with basil leaves or parsley springs before serving if desired.

vegetarian shepherd's pie

I honestly have never heard of Shepherd's Pie until finding a vegetarian form of it. Someone told  me it's a classic dish. Apparently I was sheltered as a child. :P Anyway, made this for the kiddo and myself tonight. Om nom nom!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups hot water

1/2 cup of milk

2 tablespoons of butter

1 package of 4 cheese mashed potatoes

3 cups of frozen veggies, thawed and drained

1 can of cheddar cheese soup

1 can of french friend onions

Heat oven to 350ºF. Heat hot water, milk and butter to a rapid boil in 2-quart saucepan. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 pouch Potatoes just until moistened. Let stand about 1 minute or until liquid is absorbed. Whip with fork until smooth and set aside. Stir remaining ingredients except onions in large bowl. Pour vegetable mixture into ungreased 1 1/2-quart casserole and sprinkle with half of the onions. Spread potatoes over onions. Bake uncovered 25 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining onions. Bake 3 to 5 minutes longer or until mixture is hot and onions are brown.

cheesy potato soup

Who doesn't love their crock pot? I know I do! Here's a recipe for you. After the picture, keep scrolling! Great leftover idea! :)

Ingredients:

4 medium potatoes, diced

medium stalk celery, diced

3 cups of water

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

 1 cup of milk

bag (8 oz) shredded American-Cheddar cheese blend (2 cups) 

In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix potatoes, celery and water. Cover and cook on Low heat setting 6 to 8 hours. In small bowl, mix flour into milk; stir into potato mixture. Increase heat setting to High. Cover and cook 20 to 30 minutes or until mixture thickens. Stir in cheese until melted. Serve. I also added in some Parsley.

This makes a ton of soup! So since there are only 3 people in my family, we ALWAYS have leftovers. And lets face it, soup just isn't as good when it's warmed back up. So here is what we do. We have one of those nifty small food processors. Take the leftover potatoes (I used a spoon with slits to drain the soup part) and put them in the processor (or blender if you have that!). Take the processed potatoes and put them in a bowl. Slowly add soup a few spoonfuls at a time until desired consistency and VIOLA! Homemade mashed potatoes for tomorrow nights dinner. :)

cucumber peanut salad

 Ingredients:

3 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick crescents (about 4 cups)

2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 Tbsp. rice vinegar or white vinegar

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 tsp. fennel seeds

1 to 2 tsp. seeded, minced fresh chili pepper (optional)

1/2 cup crushed roasted peanuts (or more, to taste)

Stir together the cucumbers and salt and place in a colander. Let drain for up to 15 minutes. Rinse the cucumbers well and drain again. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, lemon juice, and vinegar until the sugar has dissolved. When the cucumbers have been drained, heat the oil in a small saucepan. Once hot, add the fennel seeds and chili, if using. To avoid scorching, remove from the heat and swirl for about 30 seconds, then continue to cook over low heat for 1 minute, stirring continuously. Remove from the heat and set aside. Transfer the cucumbers to a large, shallow serving bowl and pour the hot seasoned oil on top, tossing well. Stir in the vinegar mixture. Set aside at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before serving. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Top with the crushed peanuts just before serving.