Black Bean Tostadas

The other day, I discovered a website called EatBetterAmerica.com . They take unhealthy recipes and create healthy alternatives. Since I'm trying to eat healthier and get in better shape, I have been spending a lot of time on that website! As I was searching for something for my husband and I to eat the other night that wasn't too expensive, I stumbled across something called Spicy Black Bean Tostadas. Both of us like spicy foods and Mexican, so I thought it would be a good experiment.

While they didn't sound like they would be the most flavorful things in the world, they turned out delicious! They were very yummy, very filling, but very healthy at the same time. I think this one is definitely going to stay  in the recipe book for awhile!

Black Bean Tostadas


Four corn tortillas
1 can black beans, drained
1 jalepeno, seeded and chopped
1 roma tomato, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp + 2 tsp  cooking oil
3/4-1 cup of your favorite cheese (I used a Mexican blend)
Fresh Cilantro

Preheat oven to 425. In the mean time, place the 2 tbsp of cooking oil (whatever kind you have on hand) on a cookie sheet, glass casserole dish, etc. and then coat the front and backs of the tortillas. Once the oven has preheated, place the cooking sheet into the oven for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, flip the tortillas and cook them for another 5 minutes, or until crispy.

In the mean time, heat 2 tsp of cooking over medium heat. After it's heated up, saute the jalepeno, tomato, onion, and garlic. After these are tender, put in the can of black beans. Cook until heated through.

Put a little bit of cheese on each tortilla, and then spoon the mixture evenly onto each tortilla. There was actually quite a bit of the mixture, so you could probably usually 2 or 3 more tortillas in this recipe. Cook in oven for about 5-6 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Sorry this picture is so nasty-sauce looking. It was on my phone. 

Spinach Potato Sausage Frittata

One of my favorite website to search out recipes is Allrecipes.com. There are thousands of different delicious recipes for every occasion. I think most of my favorites stem from that website. Last week, I saw a recipe for a yummy looking Spinach Potato Frittata. It looked simple (and cheap!) to make, so during Forrest and mine's trip to the grocery store, we got ingredients for it. I changed a bit of the ingredients around, but I think it turned out delicious! Forrest really liked it a lot, which always makes me happy. Then again, he'll eat just about anything.

Spinach Potato Sausage Frittata

3 red potatoes (medium sized)
1 cup of spinach
1 crushed garlic glove
1/4 cup chopped up onion
Salt and Pepper
Any other spices you think would taste good!
5 sausage links
6 eggs
1/3 cup milk
Shredded cheese (I think we used about 1/2-3/4 cup of Mexican blend. Use however much you want and of whatever kind you want!)

Slice the red potatoes into relatively thing slices and set aside. Cook sausage in a pan. Get rid of most of the grease from the oil, leaving just enough to lightly coat the potatoes. Place the potatoes into the pan and cook until they are tender, which should be about 8-10 minutes. Mix in spinach, garlic clove, onion and spices and cook for about 2 more minutes.

In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and milk. After these have been well beaten, pour into the potato mixture and combine everything together.  Sprinkle with the desired amount of cheese and reduce the heat slightly. Cover and cook until the eggs are cooked (about 8 minutes). After cooking on stove top, place in the oven on 350 for about 5 minutes.

And there you have it! A few notes though . . .

**The original recipe calls for olive oil. At first I was going to use canola oil, but then I thought it might be tasty to use just a little bit of the sausage grease. That sounds nasty and probably not very healthy...but it was just a small amount and was SO delicious. However, if you are trying to make it healthier, cook the sausage separately and then put it into the pan. Use olive or canola oil to cook the potatoes in.**

**The original recipe called for fresh spinach, but we couldn't find any when we were getting our groceries at Walmart (it was late on Saturday night!). I just bought frozen spinach, cooked it up, and then mixed it in with the rest of the ingredients. I thought it worked just great!**

**One trick my mom taught me about garlic is to be the already minced garlic that comes in little glass containers at the store. I've always hatted chopping up garlic, so this is th perfect solution**

Starving Student Ramen Meal

So yesterday, I was starving. I looked through my cupboards and realized I had come down to the inevietable choice of Top Ramen. Since I just couldn't fathom the thought of just eating just plain Ramen, I looked up recipes online. Someone suggested sauteeing the noodles with an egg and then adding the seasoning. Well, I did this, and then added a few random things I found in my fridge. It turned out really good, and it was wayyy easy!

Delicious Ramen

1 package of Ramen (any flavor--I used chicken)

Seasoning that is included

1 egg

Grilled chicken strips (I use the kind that you get in a big bag at the store)

Mozerella Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Lemon Pepper

Cook the Ramen until done (either in microwave or on the stove). Strain until only noodles are left. Place noodles into a pan on the stove. Crack egg, and saute until the egg is fully cooked (stir constantly while doing this). Add in chicken, Mozerella, Parmesan and Lemon pepper. Mix for awhile until chicken is cooked through (the chicken I used was pre-cooked, but frozen, so I just did it until it was warm!). Add seasoning from ramen and stir again. Serve!

Cafe Rio-esque Cilantro Dressing/Dip

While searching for a lime chicken reciep the other day, I came across a blessed recipe. The delicious Cafe Rio Lime Cilantro Dressing. It called for somethings called tomatillos, and the grocery store I go to unfortunately did not have these items. So I changed that up, and just used red tomatoes. I also couldn't find limes (yeah, i go to a lame college grocery store), so I used key limes instead.  I wasn't sure if it would work, but it did! I think it turned out to taste quite similar to dressing from Cafe Rio. It's really good on salads, nachos, or just to dip chips in. I also found a recipe for the rice and chicken from Cafe Rio, so I will definitely be trying those out soon!


Cilantro Lime Dressing

1 package of Buttermilk ranch dressing mix  (you'll need mayonaise for this)
1 medium tomato

2 key limes

1 jalepeno (take the seeds out)

8 stalks of cilantro (just the leaves)

1 clove of garlic

Mix together the buttermilk mix according to directions. Let it set up in the fridge for about 30 minutes. After this, blend together all of the above ingredients in a blender until smooth. Refridgerate until ready to serve. 

Spaghetti Chicken Bake

So every Tuesday and Wednesday, I head over to my brother to watch American Idol. We have started a tradition to always have some kind of good food. Well, after the first couple of weeks I started running out of ideas. So I started searching through blogs, and using the website Big Oven . It has tons of yummy recipes, but my favorite feature is the recipe generator. You type in three ingredients you have and it finds recipes for you. Last week I found a recipe for something Called a Spaghetti Chicken Bake. I ended up not being able to find all the right ingredients, so I changed it around and added a few ingredients..It looks kind of gross, but its absolutely delicious. My brother says its one of his new favorites! It's pretty simple to make, and is very filling..Enjoy!





Spaghetti Chicken Bake

1/2 box of Wheat Spaghetti (or white, just depends on your preference), broken into 3 inch pieces

Grilled Chicken strips (about 1.5 pounds)

1 container of Queso (Just the cheese dip you find at the store by the tortilla chips)

4 tbsp butter

1 red pepper

1/2 large red onion

5 slices of turkey bacon, cut into  small slices (you could use regular bacon as well)1

1 can tomato sauce

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Mexican Blend grated cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Bring water to a boil and cook broken spaghetti until tender. Strain and rinse with cold water; set aside. Cook grilled chicken strips (I used pre-cooked ones, so I just cooked them until they were warm), and then cut into smaller pieces. In a very large pan, saute red pepper and onion. After sauted, put tomato sauce, queso, and cream of mushroom soup together in pan until smooth and hot. Add chicken and coat. After this mixture is complete, add the spaghetti noodles, and combine until everything is mixed well. Pour mixture into a 9x13 greased pan. Top with mexican blend grated cheese. Bake at 300 for 30 minutes. After this, take pan out and garnish with turkey bacon. Cook for an additional 30 minutes. Immediately upon taking out of the oven, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Delicious when served with garlic bread!

German Chocolate Cookies

Two recipes in one day? It's your lucky day!
So the other day at work, I was going through some blogs, and randomly came across one that had this delicious sounding recipe on it. It was called German Chocolate Cookies. So I immediately wrote down the recipe, and decided to make it. So I went to the store and bought the ingredients..And of course, because I wanted to be able to say it was my own recipe, I changed it up a little bit. They seemed to be a big hit. Since I'm not eating sweets this month, I was disappointed not to be able to eat the leftovers today :( They are really easy to make, and definitely delicious!



German Chocolate Cookies

1 box of German Chocolate Cake Mix
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Canola Oil
1 4 oz (I think it's really like 4.16 oz on the package..but find the package closest to 4 oz) package of andes mints
3/4 of a bag of Milk Chocolate Chips
1/2 bag of Butterscotch Chips

Beat all the ingredients together in a bowl until well mixed. Place spoonfuls of cookie dough on a well greased pan. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Enjoy!

Chicken Pesto Pizza

All credit for this goes to Kristalyn! Seriously, she made it during Christmas Break because I remembered how I absolutely loved it the one time she made it like 10 years ago. And well, 10 years has not changed my taste buds. It's so yummy! I made it last week for my brother and me and some of his roommates...Yum! Here's the recipe :) (BTW, these pictures are from when Kristalyn made it. I felt it appropriate to put them because it's her yummy recipe!)



Chicken Pesto Pizza



One box of Jiffy Pizza Crust (if you want a thicker crust, use two)
Any kind of chicken, shredded (I actually used grilled chicken strips, and just cooked them up in a pan for awhile..it was yummy!)
1 packet of pesto sauce (to make this sauce, you'll need oil--preferably olive oil--and milk)
Any kind of cheese
Diced Tomatos (optional)
Bacon (optional)

Cook up the chicken and set aside. Make the pizza crust according to directions. While it is being prebaked (I believe it's like 5 minutes), cook the pesto sauce according to directions. After the crust is done being prebaked, pour most of the sauce on the crust, and spread it around. Leave enough of the sauce to mix with the chicken. After putting the sauce on, cover the top with cheese. And then layer with the chicken, a tomatos/bacon (if you desire). Cook at 425 for about 18-20 minutes. Enjoy!