Easy Vegetarian Mexican Burritos

I’ve obviously been more into cooking than other crafts lately; I’ve been having so much fun making recipes, too! This recipe could have meat added to it if you like, carne or pollo asada would be excellent, but this burrito tastes fantastic without meat :-)

The cheese gets so ooey-gooey and delicious. It was too tasty to stop eating and take a picture of before ;-)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 can vegetarian refried beans
• 3 cups mixed veggies; I like 2 cups pepper strips, 3/4 onion, and 2 or 3 mushrooms
• 2 cups Mexican rice (recipe below)
• 1/2 avocado or guacamole
• Sour cream and cheese (optional)
• 2 extra large tortillas

Directions:

Put the refried beans in a  small saucepan and set over medium low heat to warm. Slice the avocado into 6 to 8 slices.

Make sure your veggies are as dry as possible and sautee over medium high to high heat with a bit of vegetable oil. Mix everything up every couple minutes until slightly browned, then take off the heat. Warm the tortillas, fill with beans, rice, veggies, sour cream and cheese, and avocado, and roll up. Grab a knife and fork and dig in! If you like you can grill the finished burrito in a large pan with a bit of oil for a crispy exterior.

Ingredients for Mexican rice:

• 1 cup rice
• 2 1/4 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup onion, diced small
• 1 garlic clove, minced, or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 0.5 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies (optional)
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 dash red pepper flakes
• cilantro or parsley, for color

Directions:

This recipe couldn’t be any easier: toss everything into your rice cooker; push the cook button. Stir everything once the rice cooker is done and remove it from the cooker so it doesn’t burn on the bottom. Makes about 4 cups.

Decadent Hot Cocoa and Nutella with Whipped Cream

One word describes this drink: amazing! So rich and chocolatey with a hint of hazelnut. This drink is great for the coming winter! Snuggle up with someone and share this delicious drink :-)

I’d have included a picture but it was far too delicious to set down long enough to set up a shot ;-) I hope you’ll forgive me!

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk (I used fat free)
• 3 tbsp Godiva dark hot cocoa
• 2 tbsp Nutella
• Whipped cream or marshmallows to top

Directions

In a small saucepan, slowly warm the milk over medium-low to medium heat. When the milk is warmed to about the right temperature, whisk in the hot cocoa powder and Nutella. Continue whisking and heating to ensure the Nutella is fully melted and incorporated into the drink. Pour into two mugs, top with marshmallows or whipped cream, and enjoy this rich, decadent drink!

Makes 2 servings, because delicious hot cocoa is something that should be shared.

Creamy Artichoke Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe – Vegan Friendly Version Included!

I went to California Pizza Kitchen recently and had their artichoke broccoli soup. Isn’t it pretty?

 

I fell in love with it; the pepperiness, the creamy texture, the pretty little speckles from the broccoli. I couldn’t justify spending $7 on a bowl every time I went there, so I knew I had to find a recipe I could make at home. I wasn’t able to find the exact recipe from CPK, but I modified a broccoli cheese soup recipe and it turned out pretty darn close! And see, mine’s pretty, too :-D And it cost $7 for a whole pot full of soup!
My honey is working on being as vegan as possible so I’ve added some notes below for vegans :-)

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces (you can use margarine for a more vegan-friendly version)
• 1 cup white onion
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, white or black
• Pinch nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/16 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth
• 14 oz frozen broccoli, thawed and drained
• 4 to 5 large canned artichoke hearts, about a half can, chopped into thirds
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (can be omitted for a less creamy/more vegan friendly version)
• 1 1/4 cups shredded medium Cheddar, plus a little extra for garnish (can be omitted for a less creamy/more vegan friendly version)
• Croutons for garnish

Directions

In a large pot, melt the 3 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme; cook until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add the flour and cook until the mixture is well blended and smells fragrant, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the chicken stock or vegetable broth, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and artichokes; simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat, let it cool for at least 5 minutes but up to 20 would be even better, and puree with a hand-held immersion blender or in batches in a blender. Pulse carefully if you’re hungry and impatient and risk blending it all at once like I did. Vegans and those looking for a more health-conscious soup can stop here! It tastes fantastic at this point. If you want it a little creamier and cheesier, read on.

Add the cream and bring to bare simmer to heat through. Add the cheese and cook over low heat, stirring, until melted. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons cold butter, stirring to blend.

Remove from the heat and ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle extra cheese and croutons over the top of the soup and serve immediately. Serve with a side of sourdough toast if desired.

Makes 5 to 6 delicious cups :-D

Possibly the Best Quiche Ever!

Do you like quiche? I love quiche. You know what else I love? Eggs, spinach, onion, bacon, and cheddar. How better to enjoy all these lovely ingredients than in a warm, flaky, delicious pie crust? (I did tell you I love quiche, right??)

I absolutely love making this quiche. And it’s so simple, too! But I bet you don’t want to keep hearing about how much I love the recipe, I bet you’d rather just see the recipe? Oh, fine ;-) Here it comes!

Ingredients

• 1 frozen deep dish pie crust, thawed as directed
• 2 ounces/.5 cup diced white onion
• 8 ounces frozen spinach, thawed
• 3-5 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked crisply and crumbled
• 2 cups shredded cheddar (I prefer medium, mild or sharp will work)
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 8 large eggs, beaten
• .5 tsp salt
• dash of pepper

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix the cheddar with the flour until all the cheddar is coated. Beat the salt and pepper into your eggs. Wait until the oven is fully at temperature, then mix the beaten eggs, onion, spinach, bacon, and cheddar together and pour into the pie crust.

Baked for 60 minutes, turning partway through cooking if your oven doesn’t heat evenly. To test for doneness, stick a knife into the quiche near the center; if the knife comes out clean, it’s done! Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes to cool, then cut and enjoy!

Mmm, the cheese and egg on top turned a gorgeous shade of golden brown

So pretty inside!

It took a lot of willpower to wait and take this picture ;-)

Homemade Frappuccinos

I am obsessed with frappuccinos. I love them. Ever since I found my favorite frappuccino (grande coffee frapp with hazelnut syrup, please!) I’ve been so in love with them. And ever since I found a recipe online I’ve been having so much fun experimenting with the original recipe and making it even better. The original recipe only showed how to make coffee frappuccinos without any flavoring but I prefer my coffee to be flavored, thank you very much.

And so, without further ado or unnecessarily long and drawn-out verbiage, here is the recipe.

Coffee Frappuccino

Ingredients: (Makes approximately 1 Venti or 2 Tall Starbucks equivalents)

• 2 cups ice
• 1 cup brewed coffee, chilled overnight (strong or regular strength, either works)
• 1/2 cup milk
• Fat free is what I use but you can use any kind
• 1/4 cup flavored liquid coffee creamer
• My favorites are Coffee Mate Vanilla Nut, Toffee Nut, or my absolute favorite for frappuccinos: Hazelnut
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup Cool Whip Extra Creamy Whipped Cream made with real cream
• This is one of my secret ingredients! Make sure you get the stuff with real cream! This really helps keep it all together, check the ingredients to make sure there’s xanthan gum in there too because it will help keep it from separating and gives it a richness that is lacking if you leave this out
• Measure this by putting all the other liquid ingredients in a measuring cup, if you’re following this recipe it should be 1 3/4 cups’ worth of liquid, and then spooning a bit into the measuring cup and pushing it down to displace the liquid until it shows 2 cups total
• If you don’t have cool whip, using an extra tbsp of sugar and an extra 1/4 tsp of guar gum will achieve a similar effect
• 1/4 tsp guar gum
• This is optional but extremely nice to have. The guar gum slightly thickens the frapp so it has a nicer “mouth feel”
• Blender or Magic Bullet individual blender
• If you use a Magic Bullet you’ll need to split everything in half and make it in two batches. It’ll still turn out delicious and you can share with a friend! (Or have seconds for yourself!)

Directions

These are perhaps the simplest directions for any recipe I’ve ever made: Stick everything in your blender. Mix until the ice is in tiny chunks. Top with more whipped cream if you like. And enjoy! Just look at how pretty it turns out :-)

Veggie Ramen Stir-Fry Recipe

It’s time for another one of those completely random blog posts! A couple weeks ago I spontaneously got the idea for something amazing: veggie stir fry with ramen!! I figured I’d share my recipe with you.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• 2 packages ramen blocks, uncooked
• 1/2 of a one-pound package of frozen stir-fry veggie mix; can substitute with fresh veggies. I added some fresh mushrooms this time
• Soy sauce
• Protein such as tofu, beef, chicken, shrimp, etc. cut into small bite-sized pieces (optional). I used half a block of tofu and it was too much, so use about a quarter of a block unless you really like tofu

Directions (pictures below)

1. Thaw your frozen veggies or prep your fresh veggies; heat your skillet or wok over medium-high heat and add a bit of oil
2. Bring your water for your ramen to a boil, using the flavor packet if desired; add noodles when a boil is reached, breaking the noodle blocks in half if desired, and begin the next step right away
3. If you’re cooking meat (NOT if you’re cooking tofu), add it to the wok and cook it about halfway to doneness
4. Add thawed or fresh veggies and tofu, if you’re using it. Wok until heated through and the veggies take on a bit of color
5. Add the now-cooked ramen noodles to the wok; do not add any of the cooking liquid
6. Sprinkle in 2 to 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, just enough to coat everything
7. Mix over heat until soy sauce glazes everything slightly
8. Enjoy! Goes great with miso soup!

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8! :-D

And now, for something completely different…

So we were making dinner last night, and Levi, my boyfriend, remembered that we still have gel food coloring from when I made a colored cake earlier this year… He got creative, and made a monster!

It’s…

...blue chicken fettuccine alfredo!

I must say though, it looks kind of pretty next to the broccoli

I’m sorry I’ve gone without posting for so long, I’ll get something up as soon as I have something worthwhile to post >.>