Avocado Egg Tostada

In an effort to eat healthier, I've been searching for quick healthy recipes to make on Skinnytaste.com (thank you, Andrea), and unlike most healthy-eating-diet-skinny-food-fad websites and blogs, I find that Skinnytaste is the ultimate in appealing healthy foods because the author:

A. Sounds like a person that legitimately loves food

B. Doesn't sound crazy (there's not a lot of fad-talk here, which bugs the crap out of me).

C. Uses ingredients you might already have in your kitchen 

D. Doesn't use the fake versions of foods that don't consitute real food at all (looking at you, egg beaters)

So, in my book, this blog is a winner. 

Long story short, when I went to make this delicious looking Avocado Toast with a Sunny Side Egg  I was very disappointed when, having already mashed avocado and started the egg, I found that the loaf of whole-grain bread that had previously resided in the freezer was MIA. So, I had to revamp this recipe, which was perfectly fine for me, because tostadas (which is what I call any open face stuff-on-a-corn-tortilla-with-cheese) are what's up.

Here's the recipe, which makes a single tostada -- and which by itself is only 279 calories. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 corn tortilla (firm it up by toasted it in the broiler or in a hot pan)

1 oz. avocado (1/4 of a hass avocado)

Salt, pepper, and lime juice to taste

1 large egg

1 tsp. olive oil 

1 tbsp. queso (I used Carlita brand Monterey Jack Salsa Con Queso)

Handful of grape tomatoes, or thereabouts

What to do: 

1. Get out all of your ingredients first so that you don't do what I did with the Skinnytaste recipe and then realize I don't have the stuff (classic Hayley move). 

2. Mash the avocado, seasoning with salt and pepper, and a little lime juice to keep it from browning. (Keep the pit - avocado pits naturally prevent browning, so helps preserve leftovers a little better).

3. Heat your egg pan (I used a nonstick) on medium with the olive oil. Let the pan heat all the way up before adding the egg - this makes the egg cook perfectly. I left mine slightly runny. When I flipped the egg, I put the queso on top to let it get warm and runny. While the egg is cooking...

4. Toast the tortilla (I use the broiler - put it in for maybe 2 minutes per side to make it nice and durable).

5. Assemble!  Tortilla on bottom, spread about 1/4 of your avocado onto the top. Set the egg with queso on top, and sprinkle with cut up tomatoes. Pair with a piece of fruit and your morning coffee for a healthy fast breakfast. Nom!

Soft Buttered Pretzels

Soft Buttered Pretzels

These were ridiculously addictive. My dad and I made these together on a beautiful afternoon. Make sure you have people around to share these with so that you don't eat the whole lot of them by yourself!  We got this directly off of the flour bag - guess what brand it is? 

Prep time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Bake time: 10 minutes

Ready in: 2 hours

Ingredients:

3 to 3 1/5 cups flour

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 (1/4 oz) package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp) 

1 c. water

1 tbsp. vegetable shortening

6 c. water

1/4 c. baking soda

2 tbsp. butter

Coarse salt (kosher salt is best), seseme, or poppy seeds

What to do: 

1. Combine 1 c. flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a medium bowl. Blend well. Heat 1 cup water and shortening in a small saucepan to 100-110 degrees F. Add liquid to flour mixture. Blend at low speed with an electric mixer until moistened. Beat 3 minutes on medium. Stir in by hand an additional 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 c. of flour or until dough pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl. On a floured surface, knead in 1/2 to 3/4 c. flour, until dough is smooth and elastic.  Place dough in greased bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and a cloth towel, letting it rise in a warm place (80-85 degrees) until light and doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Spray 2 cookie sheets with non-stick spray. Punch down dough. Divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 16 inch rope. Form into pretzel shape like so (this took so long to get right - see photo above to see the only one that turned out perfectly hanging out front and center).

 Photo credit: 

http://unamericanaincucina.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/pretzel_shape.jpg

Place pretzels on greased cookie sheets. Cover. Let rise in warm place about 15-20 minutes. Adjust oven rack to top position and heat to 400 degrees. Combine 6 cups of water and baking soda in a shallow sided saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil. Slowly drop pretzels into water, one at a time, cookie 15 seconds on each side. Remove from water with a slotted spoon, return to greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with pretzel salt and/or seeds.

Bake for 8 minutes. Brush with melted butter. Bake 22 additional minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Brush generously with remaining butter, and serve warm.

Makes 12 pretzels.

And here's the original recipe from the flour bag:

Strawberry Oatnut Muffins

I went strawberry picking and decided to make muffins out of my berries that needed to be used up, which turned out to be a delicious way to use them. This is a mash-up of my favorite muffin - the Banana Split Muffin by the Flat Belly diet people and some oat strawberry recipe I found online. I got it into my head that oats needed to happen, and the addition of walnuts makes them nice and filling for a breakfast on the go. I found a website where I could plug the ingredients and measurements in for a recipe and it would spit out the nutritional facts, which are included at the bottom. So here they are!

1 c. oats
1 c. chopped walnuts
1 c. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1/4 c. canola oil
1/4 c. yogurt
1/4 c. milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp. almond extract
1 c. Strawberries, diced

Grease and flour 12 muffin cups or use paper liners. Set oven to 400 degrees.

Grind walnuts in food processor into fine meal. Add in oats, flour, eggs, milk, oil, and extract, and blend until oats are smooth. Transfer to bowl. Stir in sugar, baking powder, and salt until well blended. Fold in strawberries.

Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and tops spring back at touch.

Spinach Manicotti with Italian Sausage Marinara

Decided to make manicotti this go-round because I couldn't find jumbo shells at the store to make stuffed shells. Great results ensued from this off-the-cuff recipe, and I'm going to try to remember this for later. Hence, here it is!

A couple of things to preface this recipe -- the back of the manicotti package said that 15 oz. of ricotta would fill 8 manicotti. With the spinach added in to my 15 oz. ricotta, I ended up filling all 14 manicotti in the package, but I did underfill them a bit to stretch the mixture. But even underfilled, my husband and I were full after 2 manicotti each.  I cooked some tonight, and froze a casserole pan with the rest for later, so this will last us.

Spinach Manicotti with Italian Sausage Marinara

Ingredients:

• 14 manicotti, cooked according to package (about 9-10 minutes, al dente)
• 5 oz. spinach (frozen is fine-- thaw ahead)
• 15 oz. ricotta
• 1 egg
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup shredded Italian blend cheese
• 1 jar marinara sauce
• 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage
• Italian cheese to throw on top

What to do:

1. Cook manicotti according to package, and set aside.
2. Cook Italian sausage fully, drain. Pour in marinara sauce.
3. Blend ricotta, egg, garlic, spinach, and 1 c. shredded cheese in food processor until smooth. This is the filling.
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Spread some marinara on bottom of pan to prevent sticking, and pipe filling into the manicotti (*see helper hints below). Pour marinara with sausage over top, and then cover with a nice layer of cheese.
6. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

*Manicotti are annoying to fill. Pour the filling into a freezer bag, cut a SMALL hole in a bottom corner, and pipe it out. I emphasize small because I always cut it way too big and make a giant mess.  Another hint I
read online was to just slit the manicotti open, fill them, and then reseal them, but I feel like that defeats the purpose of having a closed tube pasta, and then it spills out everywhere when you go to eat it. I mean, it will taste the same, but doesn't hold together the same.

Other notes: Normally, I would be lazy and skip the food processor so I don't have to clean it. Don't do that! If you add spinach, it makes it such a nice texture and consistency when you throw it all in the food processor. And you can probably throw it into the dishwasher anyway.

Spirited Spirits

Stellar Mojito 

Makes 2 drinks:

20 mint leaves, plus mint sprigs for garnish
4 tbsp. fresh lime juice (2-3 limes), plus 2 lime slices for garnish
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 c. white rum
crushed ice
1/2 c. club soda

In tall glasses, combine 8-10 mint leaves with 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice and 1 tbsp. sugar. Crush mint leaves into the mixture. Add 1/8 c. white rum to each glass and lots of crushed ice. Top each glass with 1/4 c. club soda and stir. Garnish with mint sprig and lime slices and serve!

Watermelon Margarita

Makes 4 drinks:

3 c. chopped watermelon
Juice of 10 limes (3/4 to 1 c.)
1/3 c. sugar
2 cups ice cubes
1 c. tequila
1/2 c. Grand Marnier or triple sec

Blend watermelon, lime juice, sugar, and ice and blend until smooth. Add tequila and Grand Marnier/ triple sec and pulse to mix. Fill tall glasses with more ice and serve.

White Sangria

Makes 4 drinks:

One 750 ml bottle of dry white wine (sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio will do)
1/2 to 1 c. brandy, to taste
1/4 c. sugar
2 limes, sliced into wedges
2 lemons, sliced into wedges
1 orange, sliced into wedges
1 green apple, sliced
1 small bunch of white grapes and sliced in half
1 c. seltzer
ice cubes

Combine wine, brandy, and sugar in a large pitcher until sugar is dissolved. Add fruit and seltzer to the pitcher and let it sit for 1 to 2 hours in refrigerator before serving. Add ice before serving!


These are from 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know by Cindi Leive and the Editors of Glamour Magazine

Leive, C. (Ed.). (2010). 100 recipes every woman should know. New York, NY: Hyperion.

Lemonade with Strawberries

Perfect Lemonade with Strawberries

Serves 6 to 8:


2/3 c. sugar
5 cups cold filtered
Zest from 2 lemons
1 c. fresh lemon juice (5-7 lemons)
1 pint strawberries (fresh or frozen), chopped in half and with hulls removed
2 dozen ice cubes

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, 1 c. water, and lemon zest. Simmer gently over moderate heat for 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.

2. Strain the syrup into a 2-quart serving pitcher. Stir in lemon juice and remaining 4 c. water.

3. In blender, puree strawberries.

4. Pour strawberry puree into the pitcher, stir in the ice, and serve.


These are from 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know by Cindi Leive and the Editors of Glamour Magazine

Leive, C. (Ed.). (2010). 100 recipes every woman should know. New York, NY: Hyperion.

Enchiladas

I never seem to have store-bought enchilada sauce when I need it, so I've experimented with making it myself an awful lot. And now, I think I've finally got it how I like it. This might not be how they do it in Mexico, but I'm in Virginia, so that's how I feel about that.  

If you don't have enough tortillas, then instead of rolling the meat up in them, you can create a casserole with layers of tortillas, meat, and cheese. I typically find that I am short on tortillas, so it's a nice way to use them up. Also, flour tortillas are fine, but corn tortillas REALLY make this dish a winner because they are infinitely more flavorful. On the other hand, corn tortillas are tiny and harder to roll, so they work better for me in casserole form. One last note -- when I make enchiladas, I typically make one for that night, and one to stick in the freezer for a fast dinner when I don't feel like cooking, so the recipe makes a lot of food.

Enchilada Sauce 

Makes 1 9x13 pan and 1 8x8 pan. Use a pie pan if you want to. Casseroles can come in any form you want them to!

Olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ sweet onion, finely chopped

1 ½ quarts crushed tomatoes

1 ½ tsp. cumin

1 ½ tsp. chili powder

Dash of oregano

Dash of parsley

Sprinkle of cinnamon (do NOT be heavy handed!)

5 oz. of tomato paste, for thickness

2 TBSP white vinegar

Brown garlic and onion in the oil in a pot over medium. When onions are clear and browning, mix in tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, oregano, parsley, cinnamon, some tomato paste, and vinegar. Use as much tomato paste as you need to thicken it. Bring mixture to a boil, and then turn down to simmer on low as you make the enchilada meat.

Enchiladas

1 lb. sausage 

1 lb. ground beef

Cumin

Chili powder 

Water

1 oz. or so tomato paste (reserve some from the enchilada sauce)

Some leftover crushed tomatoes (enough to make it look tomato-y)

Enchilada sauce

Cheeses, shredded - use cheese to taste. Monterey Jack and Mild Cheddar are my favorites here.

Beans are optional. Refried black beans would be my choice if I was throwing them in a layer.

Make the sauce in a small pot. While it's simmering, brown the meat in a pan. Drain fat. Turn down heat to a simmer, and add in cumin and chili powder to flavor the meat a bit. Add in the tomato paste and some leftover crushed tomato to make it tomato-y. Then throw in some cheese, stir until it melts, and turn it off. 

Turn on the oven to 375 degrees.

Arrange the tortillas, meat, and sauce altogether in an assembly line to make it easy to put together next to your casserole dishes (1 9x13 and 1 8x8 or so)

For a casserole-style, throw enchilada sauce on the bottom of the pans so tortillas don't stick. Layer tortillas in the bottom. Add a meat layer next, and then sauce on top of that. You can add cheese now if you want to, or to make it a little less fatty, don't. Add another layer of tortilla, meat, sauce, (cheese). Finish it off with more tortillas if you have extras. Top with sauce and cheese for the top. If you ran out of tortillas, you can leave it at 2 layers of tortillas.

For rolled enchiladas, put enchilada sauce in bottom of pans so tortillas don't stick. Fill tortillas with a little meat and then lay in bottom of pan with seam on the bottom. Do this until you run out of tortillas, and pack them in. Throw sauce over the top and then cheese, and bake.

Bake both for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees. And enjoy!