Kathleen's Quinoa and Black Beans

I made this a while back but forgot to finish up this post! I used red quinoa, only one can of beans (thanks for the tip, Jennifer!) and added an orange bell pepper. Other than that, I followed the recipe. I wrapped it in tortillas and had it for lunch and felt very healthy =)

Jennifer's Quinoa and Black Beans

I actually made this a couple weeks ago but am only posting now... I actually followed the recipe and added 2 whole cans of beans but shouldn't have! It was very bean-y (and I love black beans). Next time, I'd use only one can. I also took out the corn but should've added another veggie (maybe red bell pepper like Kathleen suggested). The other change I made was to use EVOO instead of vegetable oil. I've really gotten to love quinoa (so easy, healthy, and tasty) and will definitely make this again (with some small changes).

Kathleen's Quick Pasta Bolognese

I love pasta and I love meat so I love pasta bolognese. This was the first time I'd ever made it though. It was really tasty but really wine-y, which believe me, is fine with me. But I'm assuming that when they call for "dry white wine" they aren't talking about chardonnay, right? But what was I going to do with a 3/4 full bottle of icky dry white wine when I finished this? No, it was chardonnay all the way. I also reduced the amount of cream to 1/4 cup. And I used half and half instead of cream. So I'm sure these factors led to my wine-y pasta. Other changes: I used half ground beef and half ground pork, since my Publix didn't carry true meatloaf mix. And now I'm seeing that the recipe called for 12 ounces of meat but I'm pretty sure I used 16 ounces. I also used garlic powder instead of real garlic because I didn't realize I was out of it until it was too late. Overall, I really liked this pasta. It was quick, easy, and made a ton!

January Recipes

Happy New Year!

Quinoa and Black Beans

from allrecipes.com

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup frozen corn kernels

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.

2. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

3. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

Serves 10

Chosen by Jennifer

Quick Pasta Bolognese

from The Best Simple Recipes, page 238

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, chopped fine

1 carrot, peeled and shredded

12 ounces meatloaf mix

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup dry white wine

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 pound fusilli

salt and pepper

1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook onion and carrot until softened, about 5 minutes. Add meat and cook, mashing with potato masher, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine and cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and cook until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Add cream and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes.

2. Add fusilli and 1 tablespoon salt to boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, drain pasta, and return to pot. Add sauce and toss to combine, adding reserved pasta water as needed. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Serves 4

Chosen by Kathleen

Sloppy Joe Di Maggios

from foodnetwork.com

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 pounds lean ground sirloin or ground turkey

1 package beef or pork hot dogs, sliced 1/2 inch thick

1 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon steak seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)

1 tablespoon chili powder

3 tablespoon dark brown sugar

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 (14.5 ounce) can tomato sauce

9 soft burger rolls, like at the ballpark

Heat the extra virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan, in a deep skillet over medium high heat. Add meat and crumble as it browns. Add chopped hot dogs after 3 to 4 minutes then cook 3 to 4 minutes more. Add the onions to the pan and cook to soften, 5 to 6 minutes more. In a bowl mix the spices, sugar, Worcestershire and tomato sauce. Pour sauce over the meat and simmer a few minutes to combine flavors. Slop onto buns and serve.

Serves 8

Chosen by Judy

October and November Recipes

This is a very long overdue post! I have been a very bad blogger! I managed to cook almost all the recipes for October and November but could not find the time to blog about it! So here is a super sized post!

October Recipes

Homemade Baked Corn Dogs


I used all natural turkey hot dogs from Trader Joe's. Since I bought a little bit more cornmeal than I needed, I decided to add it in to the dough. Major fail. F minus fail! I should have compensated the additional cornmeal with more flour and milk/water. The dough was all wrong, but I decided to go ahead and wrap them around the hot dogs. It was very hard to roll out the dough and wrap them nicely around the hot dogs. I also boiled the hot dogs before wrapping and baking. The result? My corn dogs were very, very dry and inedible. Well, like I tell my students-- "you learn from your mistakes!"

Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas


This recipe was super quick and easy for enchiladas! I made the sauce as directed in the recipe and it was yummy. I liked the freshness of the homemade sauce versus a canned sauce. I would have liked for the sauce to drench all the enchiladas next time. So I would probably make more sauce!

November Recipes

Greek Pita Pizza


Very, very, very quick and easy recipe! Like my fellow Best Supper Club members, I too used whole wheat pitas. I only used feta cheese and skipped the onions. I accidentally left the pitas in too long the second bake and it burned a little. Overall, it was pretty good and I would probably make it again for lunch!

Island's Tortilla Soup


What's not to love about this soup? This must have been my tenth time making the soup and every time it tastes just as good. The only thing I did not follow in the recipe was adding the diced tortillas to the soup. This recipe gets better with experience because now it doesn't take me nearly as long because I'm a pro at chopping vegetables! ;)

Spaghetti Squash with Italian Sausage


My first spaghetti squash experience- cooking and eating! I used fresh spicy Italian chicken sausage from Sprouts. I used a can of diced tomatoes I had in the pantry instead of Italian style tomatoes. I skipped the beans because I only like beans with rice :). Other than that, I cooked the recipe as directed. It was very simple. The taste and texture of the squash took some getting used to for me because when I hear "spaghetti", I think I am going to get the spaghetti pasta texture and taste! The spaghetti squash is a great alternative to bad carbs!


And there you go, a super sized post! I promise to be better about posting! -J

Jennifer's Greek Pita Pizzas

Yum! I made these last week and thought they were so good! I used whole wheat pita bread and tomato and basil hummus (my fave!). I think that the double baking (once after brushing olive oil all over the pita then again after putting on all the toppings) is key. It made the pita bread crispy and tasty! I'm actually thinking about making these again next week!

Kathleen's Greek Pita Pizzas

This recipe was super quick and easy since there was no cooking involved, woohoo! I used whole wheat pitas, a mix of baby arugula and spinach, left out the olives, and it was deeelish! The only downside: major onion breath. But totally worth it! I will definitely be making these again =)