I've Moved!

Hi there!

I have moved on up!

You can find my new blog at www.KaliKatCorner.com!

See you there!

Vegetarian Homemade Taco Bell Mexican Pizza

Hey there!

My husband and I used to love Taco Bell. In a very seriously gross way. Lots of memories from our early relationship involve Taco Bell. I'm pretty sure there was an entire summer where I ate it everyday... No joke.

Then we grew up and realized how unhealthy fast food is for us, so we stopped eating it.

But every once and a while, that craving hits and you gotta have it! Luckily I discovered a recipe for homemade Mexican Pizza! It is delicious and may even be better than the original!

Ingredients (this is for 2 Mexican Pizzas)

4 flour tortillas - soft taco size
olive oil
1 (15 ounce) can refried beans
enchilada sauce
cheese, shredded
tomatoes, diced
green onions, chopped

optional:
taco sauce
jalepenos

Directions

1. Heat oil in pan. Place a tortilla in pan and cook until it is crispy, bubbly and brown around the edges. Repeat with all tortillas. 
2. Once tortillas are cooked, place two tortillas on a cookie sheet or baking dish to create the "bottom."
3. Spread refried beans on tortillas (usually I will heat the beans and add taco sauce to make them more spreadable and delicious!). 
4. Place other tortillas on beans. 
5. Spoon enchilada sauce onto tortillas.
6. Top with cheese, tomatoes and green onions.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until cheese is melted or place under broiler until cheese melts.
8. Cut into fourths and enjoy!

Guacamole

Now I was under the impression that I hated guacamole... I'm not that big of a fan of avocados. However, when I tried this recipe that one of my good friends made, I fell in love!

 I have tweaked it a bit and you should too!

Peel and seed avocados. Then mash. This is much easier if you do it before you add anything else! 

I do not measure anything our for this recipe, I just eyeball it. This is how much onion I used.

And how much tomato. 

Eat!

Guacamole*

Ingredients

3 ripe Avocados 

1/4 of an onion

1/2 of a tomato

Lime juice (about 1/2 of a lime per avocado- this is an estimate. Keep tasting until it's right!)

salt and pepper to taste (Do not forget this! I almost always do and you can tell something is missing.)

optional: chopped jalapeno

              cilantro

*This amount of ingredients is based on my taste. If you don't like that much tomato in your guac, reduce it. 

Also, the original recipe called of cilantro. My husband and I have recently decided we do not like cilantro that much and I was sick of buying a whole bundle of it for just a few sprigs, so I just left it out and it tastes fine without it. 

Directions

1. Peel and seed avocados. Mash them up.

2. Add chopped onion, tomato, lime juice, salt and pepper. Stir it up!

3. Taste to make sure you like it - add more salt/pepper/lime juice if necessary.

4. Enjoy!

Black Bean and Corn (Loaded) Baked Potatoes

Hi again. Last week, for Meatless Monday I made black bean and corn baked potatoes. I added my own rendition of "loaded" to them. They were delicious! My husband and I each had one potato and only ate half... It was awesome as lunch the next day too!


Adapted from MyRecipes.com.

Ingredients:

(Remember - I made this for 2 people... I didn't reduce the "insides," just the number of potatoes. We did have "insides" left and ate in taco form later.)

2 medium Russet potatoes (could use sweet potatoes)
olive oil
salt
1 onion
garlic powder (I forgot to measure! I just shake until it feels right!)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 can rinsed black beans
1 cup frozen corn

To top: (optional)
Salsa
Jalapenos
Sour cream/yogurt
Shredded cheese
Cilantro

Directions:

1. Poke potatoes with fork, rub with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and bake at 450 degrees for about an hour. Keep poking with a fork to see if they are soft enough.

2. In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat, add onions and cook until clear. About 3-4 minutes.

3. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, beans and corn. Cook until heated through.

4. When potatoes are ready, cut down the center, but not through the potato. Push ends towards the middle to open the potato up, fluff inside with a fork.

5. Add bean/corn mixture to potato and load it up!

Enjoy!

Easy Mashed Sweet Potatoes

This is such an easy and yummy recipe! I make this as a side for everything. :)

Originally from All Recipes.

The original recipe called for 6 sweet potatoes, but since I am only cooking for two, I used one sweet potato  It usually does not leave any leftovers though!

I forgot to take a photo after they were mashed, we were too busy eating them! So this is what a cubed sweet potato with butter and maple syrup looks like before being mashed.



Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 Sweet Potato, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons of milk
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons of maple syrup

(How easy is that?!)

Directions:

1. Put potato cubes in a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until potatoes are soft. They will start to float. Usually about 15-20 min.

2. Drain potatoes, mash either by hand or with a mixer. Add other milk, butter and maple syrup. Blend until smooth.

That's it!

Spinach Artichoke Chicken

This is similar to the spinach artichoke dip, but healthier and for dinner! It seemed wrong to be eating it for dinner because it was so delicious!

Recipe adapted from Add A Pinch.

The original recipe called for 8 chicken breasts, however, I was only cooking for 2 people, so I used two chicken breasts each cut in half (so 4 pieces) and reduced the recipe by half.

Spinach Artichoke Chicken

Ingredients:

8 chicken breasts

1 can artichoke hearts, drained

10 oz frozen spinach cooked according to package

1 tsp. garlic powder

½ cup Greek yogurt

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup Parmesan cheese

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375º F. Spray baking dish with olive oil nonstick baking spray.
2. Place chicken into baking dish. Salt and pepper chicken and then bake 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients and then pour on top of chicken. Bake 20-25 minutes.
4. Let stand about 5 minutes before serving.

Kale and Mushroom Lasagna in the Crock Pot

I love my crock pot. I may be an addict. So this recipe already had one thing going for it. Make it vegetarian and done! I was sold.

My husband's exact words about this lasagna:"It was possibly the best food I've ate period. I loved that is was delicious and healthy and filling. I couldn't stop eating."

Me? Well, I thought it was pretty good, however, at the request of my husband, I added artichokes which I think I may try without next time. The taste was fine, however, once and a while I would bite into a harder part of the artichoke heart and that I did not enjoy. :/ Still, delicious and I would recommend it!

Originally from Savoring the Thyme.

However, I did change a few things. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Kale and Mushroom Lasagna in the Crock Pot

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 container of Ricotta Cheese
4-5 ounces of low-fat cottage cheese
1 large egg
1 cup coarsely chopped Kale and Spinach leaves (I used a combo, but could just be one or the other)
8 oz. mushroom, roughly minced
30 oz. of marinara sauce. (I used on jar of vodka sauce from Trader Joe's.. Next time I will add another half or full jar)

lasagna noodles (whole-wheat preferred), uncooked
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (I probably used more. I tossed in a handful into the ricotta/cottage cheese mixture and then covered the top of the lasagna)
Coarse salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1 can artichoke hearts, chopped

Directions:

1. Saute onion, green pepper and garlic in olive oil until soft. (I also added the artichoke for a couple minutes to soften it)

2. Meanwhile combine ricotta, cottage cheese, egg, kale and mushrooms in a large bowl. Mix the saute mixture into the ricotta mixture and mix well. Can add shredded Parmesan for extra cheese. 

3.Cover the bottom of the crock pot with marinara sauce. Place noodles over the sauce, overlapping them slightly and breaking into pieces as necessary to fill up the space.

4. Spread some of the ricotta-vegetable mixture over the noodles followed by some marinara sauce. Repeat until you have used up all of the luscious ingredients.

5. Sprinkle the Parmesan or cheddar on top and set the slow-cooker on high for 2 hours (or 4 hours on low).