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Big S Farms Salsa Redeemed, or Making The Most of a Tortilla Disaster

2 weekends ago we bought some whole wheat tortillas to make breakfast burritos…it was a good thing there were only two of us eating.  There was a note on the package saying they pack their tortillas when they are fresh and still warm, so there may be some sticking together.  I shrugged it off when I read it, but THEY WERE NOT KIDDING.  We only managed to salvage two whole tortillas for burritos.  The rest were practically glued together and impossible to pry apart without tearing.  So much for more filled-tortilla meals after that. 

To make up for the disaster and not waste the tortillas (which were pretty tasty at least!), I concocted one of my favorite things, a CASSEROLE!

Tortilla-Fail Turned Taco Casserole

• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 tb minced garlic
• 1 package fajita seasoning or taco seasoning
• Salt, Pepper, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, hot sauce (Big S Farms!) to taste
• 1 cup water or broth
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 1/2 cups salsa (Big S Farms Smoke on Mountain! Yum!)
• A giant pile of tortillas, shredded/torn/cut/involuntarily turned into medium-sized pieces
• Shredded mexican-type cheese

1. Brown ground beef in a large pan.  Remove beef, leaving just a little bit of fat to cook onion, pepper, carrots and garlic until soft and translucent.
2. Add seasoning packet, spices, water, beans and salsa.  Simmer over medium heat until it gets nice and thick.  As it heats, taste a couple times to adjust seasoning to your own spiciness.
3. While the meat mixture is cooking, spread tortilla pieces on a baking sheet and coat with cooking spray and toast in a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes or until they’re a bit brown and crispy (check on them to make sure they aren’t burning). 
4. Combine the meat and the tortillas in a large casserole dish coated with cooking spray.  It will take a little bit of work to get it evenly mixed…I mixed it in the casserole dish and the tortillas really wanted to clump together.  It would probably work better to dump the tortillas into the pan with the beef little by little and mix until they’re all coated with flavorful sauce.
5. Top casserole with cheese and bake at 350 degrees until everything is bubbly and the cheese starts to brown. 

We served over shredded lettuce with some fresh chopped tomatoes and sour cream.  SO filling and amazing.  Matt had it for lunch leftovers yesterday and completely forgot the lettuce and sour cream (we are out of tomatoes).  He said it was still delicious! I’m having it for lunch today, but will definitely be adding the lettuce because otherwise I would be tempted to eat way too much of the yummy part and end up with an over-full tummy from lunch.  No fun when you’re trying to get work done! 

Here are some pictures, some fuzzy (grrr), some great.  Also, note the return of Big S Farms salsa…I was completely right…it worked really really well in this dish! Can’t wait to open up one of the spicier ones!

αυγά rancheros?

First up, Santana teaches Matt how to do push ups! No matter what she is doing, if Matt tries to exercise in the middle of the living room, she POUNCES!  Her whole body wiggles and wags along with her tail and she looks happier than ever while bounding across the room to run under him, lick his face, pounce in front of him, and just generally play along with this super fun game of pushups!  It is crazy adorable and we love her for it!  This morning we decided she is the perfect dog for us because of her quirky awesomeness…and we concluded that this is because she is the dog-version of our favorite schvester, Dori.  They are puppy/person soulmates, for sure.

  

Second, some yummy giveaways:

Erin at I Walk In This World is giving away a ton of Mr. Kracker products and asking about whole foods.  Whole foods! Hooray!

Over in Jackson’s World you can enter a giveaway for some Holey Donuts….I need these. Anytime they send me an email, I spend most of the day debating whether or not I need some mail-order donuts. 

Can we count Holey Donuts as a Wholey Food? I think so. 

Ok, enough drooling…on to some cooking.  I have a few meals backlogged that I want to post, but will just spread them out over a few days.  First up, a Greek-inspired breakfast (we have been on a Mediterranean kick lately, I guess).

You all know about my recent obsession with mexi-breakfasts.  I usually get really excited when there are huevos rancheros on a menu…I love the mix of the runny fried egg, creamy beans, crunchy tortilla, spicy salsa…it’s all wonderful for me.

We had leftover gyro meat from an amazing meal we shared from  Mr.. Gyro in Greenwood (this place is SPECTACULAR), and I turned it into a greeky rancheros type thing.  I may need a suggestion for a title for this meal, since all of my ideas have been pretty lame. 

Greek Breakfast Heaven

• 2 pitas
• 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas
• 1/4 of a small onion, chopped
• dried parsley
• 1/4 cup water
• minced garlic
• 3 Tb shredded cheddar cheese
• Leftover Gyro meat
• 4 fried eggs

1. Toast pitas until a little bit crispy
2. While toasting, sauté onion and garlic until soft. Add parsley, water and chickpeas, cooking over medium-high heat until water is mostly absorbed and chickpeas are heated through. Mash chickpeas to desired consistency (I left it fairly chunky).
3. Spread chickpea mash on pitas and sprinkle cheese ton top.  Pop back in the oven for a couple minutes to melt the cheese. 
4. Heat gyro meat.  We just reheated in the microwave for a couple minutes.  Our leftover meat had a little yummy sauce on it, so that got mixed in as well and when it reheated (with a tiny bit of water added to keep it from drying out) it made a really flavorful sauce. 
5. Put the reheated meat and any sauce on top of pitas.
6. Top with fried eggs.  I aim for over-medium.  

YUM!  This was sooo satisfying.  Definitely not a light every-day breakfast.  But a wonderful weekend treat that held us over for quite a while!  We definitely got our protein in for the day! Also note in the second picture how perfectly my two eggs turned out!! The two I made for Matt were not as pretty, but I was pretty pleased with myself for the second batch. 

 

 

Coming soon: Big S Farms Salsa redeemed! Stay tuned!

Big S Farms Salsa arrival!

Thanks to Missy’s great salsa recipe contest a couple weeks ago, I received a big box full of spiciness on Wednesday! I didn’t get a picture of the box, but it was pretty great…one huge box, full of packing peanuts, with a much smaller box packed inside. Inside this wonderful smaller box…3 jars of salsa and 3 bottles of hot sauce (and some recipe cards)!! Thanks to Vance from Big S Farms!

I am crazy about salsa…if there are tortilla chips and salsa in the house, I will probably want to snack on them. If I snack on them, they will probably disappear. I’m ok with this. It’s delicious! On the Big S Farms website, they describe their Gourmet Habanero sauces and salsas:

Our habanero sauces and salsas are crafted with a perfect balance of heat and flavor to make the perfect taste treat for even the most discerning palate. Each product is made with all natural habanero varieties and ingredients.

I’m contemplating a big Mexican feast this weekend, since I have so much salsa and hot sauce on hand. Perhaps perhaps perhaps. As I try all the varieties, I will definitely be reviewing them here and letting you know how I used them in my meals!

However, we already have two jars of salsa open in our fridge (one we bought a while back and one my parents had at their hotel when they were in town). It seems silly with two half-eaten salsas already on hand to open another jar. But it was new! We had to try it!

So we chose the Medium salsa for a blind taste test of salsa brands!! Matt and I are big fans of taste tests…does anyone remember when Diet 7up had a promo where you could fill out a form online and get a can of diet 7up, sprite zero, and diet sierra mist delivered to you? It was 2 years ago, I think? Anyway, we were EXTREMELY excited about this, and ran to the computer to fill out the form as soon as we saw the commercial. I don’t even think we had to talk about it…the commercial ended, we looked at each other, and we ran to the computer.

We didn’t see the package for a while…and when we did, we had mostly forgotten about it. I went to UPS to pick it up and since it was a package, I had to open it right away…I called Matt from the car, VERY excited. Not only that, they were whole cans of soda! I got 3 cans of soda in the mail! Awesome! He was just as pumped, and we soon were blind taste testing away!

We set up a pretty elaborate scheme with 6 cups. Each of us filled up the others’ cups and marked them with a sticker on the bottom. The taste test revealed some interesting results. From best to worst, Matt’s choice was: Sierra Mist, 7up, Sprite. Mine was: Sprite, 7up, Sierra Mist. We had reverse preferences! My favorite part is that despite the fact that this was a 7up promo, neither of us preferred the Diet 7up over both of the others…promo failed!

Needless to say, Matt was up for a salsa taste test.

I set the test up like this (sorry for the fuzziness):

6 chips, 3 salsas (Big S Farms Smoke on the Mountain, Trader Joe’s Medium Salsa, San Juan Salsa Mild), 1 glass of water.

First, Matt closed his eyes while I fed him the salsas in a random order and then I recorded his preferences. Then Matt fed me the salsa in a different random order…I had to turn around because I am really bad at keeping my eyes closed for things like this.

THE RESULTS (from most to least favorite):
Matt: Big S Farms, San Juan Salsa, Trader Joe’s
Mallory: Trader Joe’s, San Juan Salsa, Big S Farms

We are reversed again!! I think this is hilarious.

I was sad that I didn’t like the Big S Farms salsa! It had a strong flavor that I couldn’t pinpoint and I just wouldn’t be able to snack on that! I think I preferred the TJ’s because it is the thinnest and simplest, without a lot of “fresh” flavors…this sounds strange, but I grew up snacking on this kind of salsa, and it’s the one I can eat with tortilla chips for hours on end because it’s so addicting. I think the Big S Farms will be ridiculously better in meals, and I can’t wait to try it out! We both agreed that we liked the San Juan Salsa brand…we used this in our breakfast burritos over the weekend and it looks homemade…chunky and finely diced (similar to a salsa I made recently). Matt said his top two were really close to one another, almost tied…and I really enjoy the San Juan Salsa, I just couldn’t snack on it on a regular basis.

No matter what my fussy salsa taste buds think, Big S Farms won the Matt Taste Test! Hopefully he will snack on it, and at least I know he will love it when I use it to make some Mexican food! Have you tried Big S Farms? If not, click over to their site  to order your own or find some recipe suggestions! I can’t wait to see how its unique flavor works with other things, especially when heated up! (This makes me consider another taste test…salsa con queso dip! Matt, can I count you in?)

Falafeleftovers

I love leftovers! I am extremely satisfied by using up random bits of leftover things throughout the week and get really frustrated when food is wasted or spoils. So last night’s dinner was very fulfilling for me.

When we made falafel from scratch the other day, Matt had 3 patties for lunch the next day, and we froze the last four for later use. Tuesday, I took them out of the freezer and defrosted them in the fridge, and then popped them in the toaster oven to heat up while I put together the rest of dinner, which largely came from our CSA box this week!

Falafel Chop Salad

• 1 head Red Leaf Lettuce, washed and torn
• Salad Dressing to Coat (we used parmesan pepper or something like that)
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 medium cucumber, chopped
• ¼ small white onion, chopped
• ¼ block Beecher’s Flagship cheddar, chopped
• 2 small pitas
• Olive oil
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Italian seasoning
• Grated Parmesan
• 4 leftover falafel patties 

1. Toss lettuce with dressing, just enough to coat lightly. Split between two plates and top with veggies and cheddar.
2. Brush pitas with a light coating of olive oil and garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, and parmesan to taste. Place these on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees until toasty (10-20 minutes…keep your eye on them!). Remove from oven, let cool for a minute, then quarter.
3. Toast falafel patties on a tray in the toaster over until warmed through and re-crisped.
4. Serve salad topped with crumbled falafel and pita crisps on the side.

Super easy! I topped each of my pieces of pita with a heaping pile of lettuce and veggies and cheese and ate like a mini open-faced sandwich. So delicious and really satisfying for our tummies…also very very filling. We debated putting some leftover black beans (from breakfast burritos this past weekend) on the salad as well, but I’m glad we didn’t, since I probably wouldn’t have finished.

Matt gets no carrots because of his OAS… stupid allergies! Also, speaking of Matt, he did an adorably wonderful post about the Mallory Color Guessing Game, which he made for me when we started dating and he taught me hexadecimal! Fun!

Super Easy Homemade Pizza

I love homemade pizza crust…it makes me really really happy. The problem is, I usually am not in the mood to make dough. So I have a ridiculously easy pizza method I use when we want that quick dinner bite of pizza. Just as easy and fast as heating up a frozen pizza in the oven (or toaster oven), and you have more control over the ingredients, which is always a good thing!

I use a homemade, Crockpot marinara that I usually make in giant batches when canned tomatoes are on sale, or when we have herbs at the end of the summer to use up. I freeze the sauce in small freezer bags in two-serving portions. Perfect for heating up and throwing on top of pasta for a quick dinner for Matt and I. Also perfect for defrosting the day before and using for pizza! Since we only made two small pizzas, there was still lots of sauce left, but that’s something that you can easily heat up and throw on some pasta or veggies or whatever you like for marinara (dipping sauce for breadsticks??).

Here it is:

 Top 2 whole wheat pitas with about 2 Tb of marinara, spaghetti or pizza sauce. Sprinkle on a little Italian Seasoning and Parmesan Cheese. Add toppings of your choice (we used what we had leftover in the fridge…pepperoni, bacon and some sautéed onions). Top with shredded Italian Cheeses (mozzarella, provolone, asiago, whatever you like). Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is bubbly and just starting to brown.

 That’s it!! Let it cool for a few minutes, slice and enjoy! So easy! Pitas make amazing mini pizza crusts because they have a doughy chewiness, but also get nice and crisp when you bake them in the oven. If you’re just doing one pita, you can also just throw it in the toaster oven, which makes it even easier.

We’re crazy about pizza and are always looking for new ways to fit it into our meal plans! Since we had falafel on Monday night, we had leftover pitas, and this worked perfectly. It’s not NY style pizza, but it will definitely hold us over.

I am looking forward to the next chance we get to go to Queens together (I have NO idea when this will be) so we can share some Napoli pizza, right across the street from where Matt grew up. Look how happy it makes us! (Please note our awesome fake smiles.  We have perfected this artform.  Also, who thought it was a good idea to eat a giant pizza before we went to Herhey Park that day?? It seems like poor planning, but it was delicious!)

My parents are flying into Seattle this afternoon, so it will be a busy weekend of eating out rather than much cooking at home, so we’ll probably be a little sparse on the blog side of things, but maybe some new places will pop up to review!

Have a wonderful sunny weekend!