An acceptable use of flour tortillas

You may remember this post, where I mentioned that we don't buy flour tortillas with the exception of burrito and chimichanga use, or in the case of cooking for company. Well company is coming, and included in that are two beautiful (but picky) little girls, and one slightly less picky man. In the interest of planning ahead I decided to make and freeze some flautas so we will have a couple of quick meals to eat while they are here. Hopefully they will go over well, and I will lose my reputation as the aunt that makes the "weird food". So here is a recipe for not weird baked vegetarian flautas that you can make and freeze should you wish. If you like things spicy consider adding some salsa to the mix.

Totally Not Weird Flautas

1 block of cream cheese softened
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of green chilis
garlic salt, salt, cayenne and pepper to taste
Flour tortillas (ten pack)

Mix together the first 3 ingredients and add seasoning to taste.

Divide the filling evenly between the tortillas, placing it in the center of the tortilla.

Roll up tortilla and place flap side down on a baking dish. Bake at 375 for about fifteen minutes, or until tortilla becomes crispy at the edges.

If you wish to freeze these put them on a baking sheet and place them in the freezer to freeze individually first. Once frozen you can bag them and tag them. Errr that is put them in one labeled Ziploc freezer bag.

Chickpea Pot Pie

Sorry about the lack of pictures, I promise to get in a whole slew of them once I can figure out how to get them from my phone to my computer....Now you have to ask yourself, which is better, no pictures, or a slew of cell phone pictures. I will leave you to decide weather or not you want to check back and see about those.
This was yummy! The sauce was a little thick/non existent. Mostly because I second guessed myself and added two extra tablespoons of flour. It's pretty much just chicken pot pie, but with chickpeas, and instead of a crust I used drop biscuits. It's a pantry meal so adjust it to whatever you have on hand. Since it has vegetables, protein, and grains, there was no need to make any side dishes to go with it. And we had leftovers for lunch the next day. /happy dance

For the biscuits
1 1/2 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup olive oil

Mix together the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet ingredients all at once. Stir to combine. Set aside.


For the filling
2 cups of chickpeas
2 cups of frozen veg (I used a mixture of peas and spinach)
2 potatoes diced
olive oil
2 tbs butter
4 tbs flour
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp seasoning salt divided
1/4 tsp pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Once melted, whisk in the flour 1/4 tsp seasoning salt and pepper. Cook for a minute or two or until the floury taste is gone. Pour in the milk all at once, whisking as you go. Heat through. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile pan fry the potatoes in olive oil until golden brown and add salt to taste.

Pour frozen veggies, potatoes, and chickpeas into a greased casserole dish. Pour sauce over the top, and drop biscuit dough in rows over the top of the veg mixture.

Bake at 350 for 30-50 minutes or until biscuits are done, and the filling is bubbly.

Addendum
Here is the aforementioned slew....
Note the negative space, the contrasting colors....


The shadow of my elbow...
oooooh aaaaahhh

Saffron Rice with Lentils and Garlic Butter

The good news is I found my camera...the bad news is that it wasn't before I took this picture.
This was yummy. I'd like to say we all enjoyed heaping bowls of this round the dinner table, but that would be a lie. The truth is that my darling son woke up early from nap time, and he woke up hungry. And consequently he ate 3 adult size bowls of this, the result being that there was little left for the rest of us to eat. So I will definitely be using this as a side dish next time. Maybe along side some grilled veggies. If you don't have saffron, I'm not going to say you should go out and buy some just for this recipe, as it is very expensive. However, should you happen to have a bit left over from another recipe, or if you just love saffron rice as much as I do I think this is a good place to use it. I made this in my rice cooker......what's that, you don't have a rice cooker? Well go get one, no seriously, they are awesome.

What you need for the rice
1 1/2 rice cooker cups of rice
1 1/2 rice cooker cups of lentils rinsed and sorted
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 pinches of saffron
1 tbs butter
3 cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped
Broth

What you need for the garlic butter
1/4 cup softened unsalted butter
Pressed garlic (I used 4 cloves) and salt (I used about 1/4 tsp) to taste.

Add the rice, lentils,salt, pepper, chopped garlic, butter, and saffron to your rice cooker. Add broth to the fill line required by your rice cooker for 3 rice cooker cups of rice. Cook. :)

Mix together the remaining garlic, butter, and salt to taste. Top your saffron rice with this mixture as desired. I think this would have been outstanding with a few tablespoons of freshly chopped herbs. Maybe next time.

To veganize simply replace butter with vegan "butter".

Vegan Malai Kofta.....kinda

Who loves a cell phone photo....show of hands? Alright then. This lovely dish is what we had for dinner tonight, and I gotta tell you it knocked my socks off. Malai Kofta is a dish made of... you guessed it unmeatballs (I know that is kind of becoming my thing) and a creamy sauce. Well traditionally they are packed with nuts and raisins, and all sorts of things my kiddos are allergic too. So this is my version, without the allergens, and packed full of chickpeas instead of cheese so they are vegan. They are great for a celebration, or special evening. You can make the unmeatballs a day ahead of time and cook them up when you are ready to make the sauce. Great served over rice, this recipe is also gluten free (be sure to check your ingredients).

For the unmeatballs
1lb bag of chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked according to package directions
3 baked potatoes with the skins removed
2 tbs olive oil
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt or more to taste
cayenne to taste

Heat the oil over medium low heat and add the garlic, salt, and spices. Cook for two minutes or until fragrant, being careful not to burn the garlic. then remove from heat.

Puree the chickpeas until smooth in your food processor and pour into a large bowl.

Mash in the potatoes and the spice/oil mixture until well combined. Taste, and add salt and cayenne as desired.

Shape into balls and refrigerate until ready to cook.


For the sauce

2tbs olive oil
4 cloves pressed garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin
cayenne to taste
1/4 tsp salt (or more, the amount you need will depend on the saltiness of your tomato sauce, I'm erring on the side of caution here. You are welcome to add more salt)
1 can of tomato sauce
1 cup of coconut milk

Heat the olive oil over medium low heat and add the garlic and ginger. Cook for about a minute taking care not to burn the garlic.

Add the spices and salt all at once. Add a dash of cayenne (you may add more later for more spice). Cook for another minute or two while stirring.

Add the tomato sauce, (lower the heat if your stove runs hot, mine does :) tomato sauce burns quickly) and stir in the coconut milk.

Heat just to a simmer (not boiling) and lower heat. Cook for about five minutes and add salt, and more cayenne to desired spicyness. *

Pour sauce over unmeatballs...enjoy! :)

Little man ate 5 of these over rice. Big man had about that many too, and would have had more, but he was saving room for pie. My darling girl only ate one, and some rice, it seems she was saving room for pie as well.

*Did you know that spicyness isn't a word?? A fact my spell check keeps trying to inform me of. That can't be right.....

Spicy BBQ Tempeh Sandwich and Garlic oven Fries

This was my Mother's Day special dinner.....that I made for myself. I had a wonderful Mother's day, unlike my birthday the celebration of being a Mama is one I can truly get excited about. I am so thankful to have my two little ones in my life, they bring me so much joy and I love watching them grow.

I awoke in the morning to coffee and cards made by my dear little ones (with some help from Daddy). Inside he had captured everything that they had wanted to say to me, from my son....
"Mine, Mine, color, Mama, Mama, all done"
and just a small excerpt from my daughters card
"I love my Mommy because she makes me think of love, and wiggling my fingers".
She is such her Mother's daughter, I too love wiggling my fingers. :)
When Daddy asked what she thought I wanted for Mother's day there was no hesitation at all, "A sock puppet!" she proudly exclaimed. And sock puppets are what I got. Made with love by my beautiful unique little girl.

Anyhoo back to the meal. I didn't really measure, so I can't give you a real recipe. However if you are familiar with cooking and like to fuss around a bit with recipes anyway, I can give you the gist of this.

For the tempeh, I sliced it and pan fried it in some pam, turning once until it was golden brown. Then I added a mixture of BBQ sauce, hot sauce, and cayenne, lowered the heat, and let the sauce reduce and be absorbed by the tempeh.
I sliced the ciabatta bread. Then I brushed it with garlic butter, added mozzarella cheese and toasted it, before adding the spinach and tempeh.

The oven fries are simply sliced and roasted potatoes until golden brown or until you are so hungry you can't stand it anymore....check out my picture and see if you can figure out which one I did. :) Then tossed with a mixture of olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Then sprinkled with parmesean cheese.

I think this is a wonderful introduction to tempeh, if you have never had it before....well and if you like BBQ sauce.

Cilantro and Ginger Rice with Chickpeas (late night snack)

Since about February I have been working out.... a lot. And so far the main difference I've seen is that my rings are loose......but my pants are still tight. You do realize what that means right? All of my weight is redistributing from my hands to my aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway. Not quite fair if you ask me, the point being that the hubster and I went to the gym tonight and when we got home, after feeding, dressing, changing, and putting the kiddos to bed we found ourselves HUNGRY. In need of some good fuel for our bodies (and apparently mainly my...back to the point) I thought I'd whip up a sauce that go over some chickpeas and rice that we already had on hand.

Ingredients:

1 cup cilantro washed very thoroughly
2 cups spinach ditto
3 cloves peeled garlic
3 tbs olive oil
3 tsp vinegar of your choice
3 tsp minced ginger
1tsp honey (or more to taste, some vinegars might be sweeter than others requiring less to balance the acidic taste)

Salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.

Everything except the salt, pepper, and cayenne, goes into the food processor until smooth. Add salt pepper and cayenne to taste. Spoon over rice and chickpeas. Super simple, super good.

In other fantastic news little man's sweat test (test for cystic fibrosis) came back normal! :)
/happy dance

Some Thoughts (not recipes)

"I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.

So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD...."
1 Samuel 1:26-27

WARNING: Dragging out the soap box, messages of love and hope, and a boating analogy are contained in this blog.

I don't know much about boats, I have been on a couple cruises. I could tell you that boats go on the water, they have sails, and decks, and I can even name a few movies that have boats in them. And if you give me some pretzels and cheese, I can make this.....


which resembles an actual boat. But that's where my knowledge ends, so keeping that in mind bear with me as I continue to give a boat analogy using my limited knowledge on the subject.

On the cruises I have gone on I am aware that I am on a large boat. I'm thankful for the buffets, the constant provision of food, and enjoyment. I know that if I pick up the phone to order room service there will be someone on the other line, and my needs will be met.

I have never been at sea during a storm, though I imagine this would be a whole new level of awareness and knowledge. In a storm I would learn things about that ship that I probably wouldn't notice otherwise, and be thankful for other aspects of the ship. The awning that I once ate my lunch beneath would be a shelter from the rain. You can bet I would be finding footholds and places for my hands to grasp. I would be thankful for the life jackets and radios that would help me make it through the storm. And even though I don't know how all those ropes and pulleys and navigational equipment work....they would work none the less.

It has been rough to go through these medical tests with little man. As a Mom my first instinct is to wonder if I did something wrong, should I have noticed a symptom sooner, did I fail to recognize an allergic reaction to a food, or miss a day of vitamins rendering him anemic for life......in my brain it could happen. The waiting is what I thought would be the hardest part, but in it I am learning new aspects of my wonderful God.

In summery

Boat = God
Storm = Life
God = Shelter from the storm
God = Good