BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

My barbeque sauce and chicken was originally intended to be made into a pizza. But I just did not feel like making any bread today. So I improvised and found a bag of tortillas in the pantry and decided on quesadillas instead. I use a quesadilla maker, because I lack the grace it takes to flip a one without all of the filling falling out.  It is a one-use-only kitchen appliance that takes up space in my cabinet, but I love using it. If you are more graceful than me in the quesadilla department, feel free to make yours in a skillet. Try these, they are quick and delicious!

 

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

2 tbs butter

2 chicken breasts, diced

1 medium onion, halved and sliced

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

8 flour tortillas

cooking spray

 1. Heat 2 tbs of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add diced chicken and sliced onions to the pan. Cook together until chicken is no longer pink and onions are translucent. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup BBQ sauce to the pan and mix well.

2. Heat a clean skillet or quesadilla maker and spray with cooking spray. Lay down one tortilla and place a 1/2 cup of chicken mixture on top. Top with cheese and another tortilla. Spray the top with more cooking spray. Cook in quesadilla maker for a few minutes, or in a skillet, cook on each side for a couple of minutes. Repeat until all of the chicken mixture is used.

3. Transfer quesadillas to a clean plate and cut into triangles using a pizza cutter. Serve with sour cream.

Cajun Red Beans and Rice

Red Beans and Rice is a staple in our house. It should be a staple in everyone’s house, I mean in only costs around five bucks for the whole pot. Maybe six bucks if you serve it with cornbread, which I highly recommend. It’s filling and flavorful, without very many ingredients. Beans aren’t difficult to cook, but they do take a couple of hours, so it’s a good meal to make on a weekend. I used turkey sausage to lower the fat, but feel free to use beef or andouille sausage in yours. I used to use the quick soak method when making beans, then one day I decided to just put everything in  the pot and let them go and they turned out pretty much the same. So if you have used the quick soak method*(see note) before and like it, feel free to do so. If you’re impatient like me, skip the quick soak, and have dinner an hour earlier. Enjoy!

Cajun Red Beans & Rice

Original recipe

1 lb (2 cups) Dry Red Beans
12 cups water
3-4 Tbs Cajun Seasoning (or more to taste)
¼ cup dried onions
3 bay leaves
1 lb turkey sausage, sliced

1. Add all ingredients to a large pot and mix. On high heat, bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Turn down heat to medium and let simmer uncovered 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
2. Once beans have softened a bit, mash some of the already broken beans against the side of the pot and stir to thicken the soup. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Let simmer another ½ - 1 hour, until beans are soft and soup has thickened a bit. Remove bay leaves from pot. Serve with rice and/or cornbread.

*Quick Soak Method: Place dry beans in a pot and just cover with water. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes, then turn off heat and let sit, covered for one hour before cooking.

Honey-Soy Chicken Stir-Fry

This recipe is a favorite of the man of the house. He always asks for it when "we haven't had any vegetables in awhile". You see, our definition of vegetables is very different. I consider a soup with carrots and onions, fajitas with peppers, or chicken with a side of green beans to be considered as "eating our veggies". He, on the other hand, does not. I am pretty sure there has to be a minimum of at least three different vegetables in a dish before he considers it a meal with veggies, and onions don't count. I'm not real fond of the green stuff, I'm trying, but it's definitely a work in progress. So, since this recipe calls for four veggies, he loves it, and since the whole dish is covered in a honey-soy sauce, I love it. We both win.

Honey-Soy Chicken Stir-Fry

Adapted from: How Sweet it Is

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup broccoli florets

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

a handful of fresh green beans

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

3-4 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

salt and pepper to taste

1. Prepare and slice all veggies. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add veggies with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add in soy sauce and garlic and stir so veggies are coated, about 60 seconds. Remove from skillet and set aside in a bowl.

2. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. Heat the same skillet over medium-high heat and add remaining olive oil. Add chicken to the skillet cook thoroughly.

3. Once chicken is cooked, add veggies back in the skillet. Add honey and thoroughly mix to combine. Taste and season with salt, pepper, additional honey or soy sauce. Serve with rice.

Quick Cheddar, Onion, & Bacon Biscuits

I'm not usually a semi-homemade kind of girl. I'm more of the all-the-way-homemade kind. But I've had a box of Heart Smart baking mix sitting in my pantry for quite a while and I figured I should go ahead and use it, even if it's not my style. I used the biscuit recipe on the back of the box and added some cheddar, green onions, and bacon and they turned out really yummy. I had mine with some syrup for a little sweet and savory combo. The recipe makes 6 biscuits, but you can easily double or triple it for more. If you need breakfast in a hurry you can whip these up in less than 20 minutes. Yum!

Quick Cheddar, Onion, & Bacon Biscuits

Adapted from: back of HeartSmart Baking mix box

1 1/2 cups Bisquick Heart Smart baking mix

1/2 cup low-fat or fat free milk

3 green onions, chopped

1/3 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 tbs butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Stir together baking mix and milk until soft dough forms. Add in onions, cheese, and bacon. Mix together.

2. Turn dough onto a surface lightly sprinkled with more baking mix. Knead dough about 10-15 times until everything is incorporated. Shape dough into a ball and press down into a circle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut dough into 6 triangles. Place triangles on a lightly greased baking sheet and brush tops with melted butter.

3. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Italian Sausage Soup

So, I kind of have this thing for soups. They are definitely one of my most favorite things to make. I mean, they basically cook themselves after all. Throw in some stock, veggies, meat, anything really, let it sit, stir a few times, and you're done! Yep. There's nothing like a really good soup. And this one's a good one. If you've ever had the Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden, this is basically the same thing, but "healthified". It's a bit spicy and has a lot of flavor for such a simple soup. I usually serve homemade breadsticks with this soup when I have some extra time, but any breadsticks would go great with this. Enjoy!

Italian Sausage Soup

Adapted from: eatbetteramerica.com

2 slices bacon
1/2 lb lean Hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
2-3 medium russet potatoes, cubed
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 cups water
2 cans chicken broth
4 cups chopped fresh kale
1 cup fat-free half-and-half or regular half-and-half

1. In large pot, cook bacon until crisp; drain on paper towel. Crumble bacon; set aside. Remove and discard drippings from saucepan.
2. In same pot, cook sausage over medium-high heat 6 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until no longer pink. Drain well on paper towels; set aside.
3. In same pot, mix potatoes, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, pepper flakes, water and broth. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cook uncovered about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir in bacon, sausage, and kale. Cook 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes and kale are tender. Stir in half-and-half; cook just until heated.

Crawfish and Crab Au Gratin

Well, it's officially crawfish season here in my part of the world. My in-laws are all about some crawfish, and they usually treat me and my husband to a crawfish boil once or twice a season. They always get a ton and there are always leftovers. I ran across this recipe awhile back and thought it would be a great way to use up some leftover crawfish. So since we had our annual crawfish boil this past weekend, I was finally able to try it out. It was creamy, spicy, and full of flavor. I mixed in a can of lump crabmeat with the crawfish and served it over whole wheat pasta. I also think it would be really good served with some crusty french bread and a salad. If you've got some leftover crawfish and are looking for a quick meal, try this, it's sure to please.

Crawfish and Crab Au Gratin

Adapted from: Momma Hen's Kitchen

2 tbs butter

2 tbs all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups low-fat milk

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided

1 cup cooked crawfish tails

1 can lump crab meat, drained

 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  In a pan, melt butter over medium heat.  Whisk in flour and stir continuously for 1 minute.  Whisk in milk, very slowly.  Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.  Mixture will be thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in Cajun seasoning and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

 

2. Add crawfish and crab meat; stir well.  Grease a glass pie dish and pour mixture into it.  Top with remaining cheese.  Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, or until cheese begins to bubble. Serve over pasta or with bread.



Lemon Pound Cake

I'm not sure why, but I have been craving some lemon cake for the past few days. Not just any lemon cake, but the one that you get from the grocery store bakery. My mom used to bring home one of those cakes quite often when she went grocery shopping, and it was usually gone in a couple of days. Unfortunately, the grocery store version is loaded with fat and calories, and seeing as I am trying to maintain obtain a good figure, I needed a lighter Lemon Cake. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com and tweaked it a bit to cut the fat. I switched out half of the butter for plain greek yogurt, and I used low fat (1%) milk. You would never know it! This lighter version tastes just as good as the original and weighs in at only 230 calories and 5.5 grams of fat per slice! I couldn't ask for anything more.

Lemon Pound Cake
Adapted from: allrecipes.com

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1 egg
low fat milk (filled to 1 cup line when mixed with egg)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 lemon, zested and juiced

Glaze (powdered sugar and milk)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In another bowl, cream together butter, greek yogurt, and sugar. Break 1 egg into a measuring cup and then fill to the 1 cup line with milk. Add to butter mixture and beat well. Add vanilla, lemon zest and juice. Add dry mixture and mix well.
4. Pour batter into an 9x5 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean.
5. If using a glaze, mix together powdered sugar and milk until desired consistency. Once cake cools completely, pour glaze over cake and let sit for a few minutes before serving.

Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia

I have a confession to make - I don't care all that much for seafood. I know, I know, How can you not like seafood? It's just not my thing I guess. This is a problem sometimes because my husband would eat seafood everyday if he could, but I never want to cook it for him. So, because he is such a good guy, I try. And I've found that I do like some seafood like, tilapia, crab...and....a few other things. I've also found that I like it best when its fried. I know, that's bad, but you have to try this fish, its so tasty! It turned out much crispier than I anticipated with such a thin coating, and the crust had a good flavor. I served it up with a side of fresh green beans, and my guy was pretty pleased.



Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia
Adapted from: allrecipes.com

1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 (6 ounce) fillets tilapia
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1. In a shallow bowl, combine the egg and lemon juice. In another shallow bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder and salt. Dip tilapia into egg mixture, then coat with cornmeal mixture.

2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Fry fillets, two at a time, for 5-6 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
　

Jalapeno Cheese Bread

This recipe has been on my to-do list for awhile now. The past few months have been so busy for me, I just haven't had the time to sit around and wait for bread to rise. Well today I did, and boy was it worth the wait. If you have a few hours to devote to it, homemade bread is always worth the effort in my opinion. There is nothing like the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven. And when it's studded with spicy jalapenos and sharp cheddar cheese, it's just that much better. This bread is great for sandwiches, or just a slice toasted with butter. Try it! It's worth the wait.

Jalapeno Cheese Bread
Adapted from: Pink Parsley

3 3/4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup cold buttermilk
1/3 cup water
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 Tablespoons honey
1 envelope (about 2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 4oz can diced jalapenos
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Toss the jalapeno and cheddar with 1 Tablespoon of flour in a small bowl.
2. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan.  Remove from heat and add the cold buttermilk and stir to combine.
3. Mix 3 1/2 cups of the flour and the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Add the buttermilk/water mixture, butter, honey, and yeast to a liquid measuring cup.  Turn the mixer on low, and add the liquid in a slow stream, increasing the speed of the mixer as you go to medium.  Continue mixing until the dough is smooth and satiny, stopping to scrape the dough from the hook as needed.  After about 2-3 minutes add the jalapeno-cheese mixture, and continue to knead about 10 minutes total, adding flour 1 Tablespoon at a time, as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the sides of the bowl.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead to form a smooth ball, about 30 seconds.
5. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, rubbing the dough around the bowl to coat with the oil.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place the bowl in a warm place (I put mine in the microwave). Let rise 60-90 minutes until dough has doubled in size. Punch down the dough and recover. Let rise another 45-60 minutes. (If you are using Instant Yeast, you can skip the second rise.)
6. Turn out onto the floured surface and gently press the dough into a rectangle that is 1 inch thick and 9 inches long.  With the long side facing you, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pressing with your fingers as you roll to make sure the dough sticks to itself.  Turn the dough seam-side up and pinch it closed.
7. Place the dough seam-side down in a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan, and press it gently to make sure it touches all four sides of the pan.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm spot until the dough almost doubles in size, 20-30 minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place an empty baking pan on the lowest rack of the oven.  Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and pour  into the empty pan.  Set the loaf onto the middle rack, and bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf reads 195 degrees, about 40-50 minutes.
9. Remove the bread from the pan and cool to room temperature on a wire rack.  Slice and serve.

Fruit & Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

These grab and go muffins are super tasty and filling. They're chock full of good for you stuff like oats, bananas, apples, and raisins. This is a great recipe to use if you're looking to use up some ripe bananas like I was! I took some liberty with the recipe from Eat Good 4 Life and added some vanilla and left out the nuts because I didn't have any. I also left the skin on my apples because I like the color and texture of it. Overall they turned out great and will make a good breakfast for the next few days. Enjoy!

Fruit & Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
Adapted from: Eat Good 4 Life


2 ripe bananas, mashed
1  egg
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup low fat milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
2 medium apples, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1  3/4 cup oats
3 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup walnuts (optional)

 1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Grease a muffin pan or line with paper cups .
2. In a bowl combine bananas, milk, oil, sugar, vanilla and egg. In another bowl wisk together dry ingredients, flour, oats, cinnamon and baking powder. Add dry mixture to wet mixture, mix well. Fold in apples, raisins, and walnuts (if using).
3. Spoon the mixture evenly into muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
4. Make sure you remove muffins immediately after they are done. Let them cool on a wire rack.

Chicken and Dumplings

These are, the best chicken and dumplings, I have ever eaten. Sorry Mom. I still love yours, but these are a completely different animal. Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman, this soup is hearty, flavorful, and the dumplings are oh so fluffy. These chicken and dumplings are so good it's ridiculous. I would eat them once a week until I got tired of them if my husband would let me. But I don't think he will, so I'll just make them a couple of times a month and call it even.

Chicken and Dumplings
Adapted from: The Pioneer Woman

2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Chicken Thighs
2 Chicken Breast
Salt And Pepper
½ cups Finely Diced Carrots
½ cups Finely Diced Celery
1 medium onion, diced
½ tsp Ground Thyme
¼ tsp Turmeric
6 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
½ cups Apple Cider
½ cups Heavy Cream

Dumplings:
1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
½ cups cornmeal
1 tbs (heaping) baking powder
1 tsp salt
1-½ cup Half-and-half
2 tbs parsley
salt to taste

1. Skin chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a pot over medium-high heat. Brown chicken on both sides and remove to a clean plate.

2. In the same pot, add diced onion, carrots, and celery. Stir and cook for 3 to 4 minutes over medium-low heat. Stir in ground thyme and turmeric, then pour in chicken broth and apple cider. Stir to combine, then add browned chicken. Cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes.

3. While chicken is simmering, make the dough for the dumplings: sift together all dry ingredients, then add half-and-half, stirring gently to combine. Set aside.

4. Remove chicken from pot and set aside on a plate. Use two forks to remove chicken from the bone. Shred, then add chicken to the pot. Pour heavy cream into the pot and stir to combine.

5. Drop tablespoons of dumpling dough into the simmering pot. Add minced parsley if using. Cover pot halfway and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Check seasonings; add salt if needed. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Pastel Sugar Cookies

Who doesn’t love sugar cookies? Well, my hips don’t, but nobody asked them anyway. Really, I prefer baking to cooking, it’s just so relaxing, don’t you think? Like I said though, my hips and too many baked goods don’t really agree, so I have to limit my baking to once or twice a month. Since I don’t bake that often, when I do, I use the good stuff. Real butter, real sugar, you know, everything that makes a delicious treat really bad. I figure, if I send half to work with my husband, and another portion home with my pregnant sis, I won’t eat too many and my hips and I will get along just fine.  

 

Pastel Sugar Cookies
Adapted from: All Recipes.com

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups butter (2 1/2 sticks)

2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Food Coloring of choice

1/4 cup white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until just blended.

3. Separate the dough into 2 or 3 zip top bags (I recommend the ones with the sliding zipper). Add 2-3 drops of food coloring to each bag and zip closed. Squish/knead each bag until the food coloring has blended into the dough. (This would be a fun step for kids to help with.) Place bags of dough in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes to let the butter reharden a bit.
4. Remove bags from freezer and cut a corner off of each bag. Squeeze out portions of dough and roll into walnut sized balls. Roll the balls in remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and flatten slightly.
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned at the edges. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chicken Potstickers and Fried Rice

I love these things. They are crispy on the bottom and chewy on top with a simple flavorful filling. It's a shame that I never knew what I was missing until a couple of months ago when I decided to make them for the first time. The only other experience I've ever had with pot stickers were the ones in the sushi cold case at the grocery store. I don't know if I prepared them wrong or what, but they weren't all that impressive. Then I found this recipe one day and made them from scratch and they were so good they have become a regular on my monthly menu. When served with a side of veggie fried rice its a complete meal that’s quick and delicious.

Chicken Potstickers
Adapted from: Confections of a Foodie Bride

2 uncooked chicken breasts, diced
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Wonton wrappers *
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/3 cup water


1. Cook the chicken over medium heat until done. Add the remaining ingredients (through garlic) and cook until the greens are wilted nicely. Let mixture cool just a bit and add it to the bowl of a food processor. Process the filling until it reaches the desired consistency.
2. Lay a wrapper on a flat, dry surface put a Tbsp of mixture in in the middle. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, (I use my fingers) wet the wonton wrapper surrounding the filling and fold the dumpling, pressing the seams together: bring two opposite corners to the center, bring the remaining corners to the center one at a time and press tightly.
3. Add oil to a clean skillet and add dumplings. Add 1/3 cup water to the pan and cover tightly. Remove from heat when the dumplings are golden brown on one side, about 4 minutes. (Watch these very closely, they can burn very quickly once the water is gone.) Serve warm with soy sauce.
*I made my own wrappers using this recipe, but you can certainly use pre-made ones if you can find them.
　
　
Fried Rice
Adapted from: Many different recipes

2 tbs oil or butter
2 carrots, diced
1 small onion, diced
½ cup frozen peas
3 cups cooked rice (I usually make this ahead of time)
3 drops sesame oil
Soy sauce, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 egg

1. Heat oil or butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add carrots, onion, and peas and cook until softened, 5-8 minutes.
2. Add cooked rice and sesame oil to pan. Mix everything together, then add soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Saute everything together for a couple of minutes until warm.
3. Push aside some the rice to make room to scramble the egg. Add beaten egg to the exposed pan and cook until scrambled. Mix cooked egg in with the rest of the rice. Serve with additional soy sauce if needed.

Spinach Dip Taquitos

One of my most favorite things to indulge in is the Santa Fe Spinach Dip from Cheddars. If you don't have a Cheddars where you live, you are definitely missing out. It has the perfect ratio of spinach to cheese, and its super spicy. I will admit, most of the food there is nothing special, but man, that spinach dip is the bomb! But enough going on about that. The point is that I had an ingenious idea last night. Well,  I'm probably not the first person in the world to come up with it, but I've never seen a recipe like this, so we'll go with it. I had some extra cream cheese in my fridge I needed to use badly and a package corn tortillas. At first I thought I would make these Chicken Taquitos that are completely delicious, but then I remembered the giant bag of frozen spinach in the freezer that was taking up way too much space. Then I started thinking about spinach dip. So I thought, I wonder how spinach dip would be wrapped up in a corn tortilla? The answer: super yummy! So I roughly based the recipe for my spinach dip filling on this recipe from Food People Want, but I didn't follow it too closely, so you can follow the link if you are looking for a stand alone spinach dip recipe.  These would be great for a Meatless Monday meal, or as an appetizer. You must try these!

Spinach Dip Taquitos

Adapted from: a combination of a few recipes

1 tbs butter

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

6 oz reduced fat cream cheese

Worcestershire sauce, to taste

Hot sauce, to tase
Cayenne pepper, to taste

1 cup shredded pepperjack cheese

salt and pepper

10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
Package corn tortillas

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside. 
2. In a small skillet, melt butter over medium heat, and add onion and garlic to pan. Cook until soft, 5-8 minutes.
3. In a microwave safe mixing bowl, heat cream cheese for 30 seconds. Add remaing ingredients (except the corn tortillas) to the bowl of warmed cream cheese. Mix well.
4. Place 3 tortillas at a time on a plate in between 2 paper towels, and heat for 20 seconds. Working quickly place 2 tbs of spinach filling in the center of tortilla and roll tightly. Place seam side down on the sprayed cookie sheet. Repeat this process until all filling is used up. Lightly spray taquitos with cooking spray.
5. Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until edges are crispy and starting to brown. Let cool a few minutes before serving. Serve warm with sour cream and salsa.

Makes 12-15  6 inch taquitos.

Introduction and a Blueberry Pancake

Hello everyone! Well I've decided to jump on the bandwagon. I'm a stay at home mom to a little boy who will be turning one year old in just two short months. He recently learned how to crawl and he has been underfoot everywhere ever since! This of course poses a challenge in the kitchen, but with a few child locks and a good eye we have avoided any accidents thus far, though not forever I'm sure. So this is a blog, mostly about what goes on in my kitchen, and sometimes about the challenges of raising a baby toddler. I hope you will come along with me!

...and for breakfast, Classic Buttermilk Pancakes with Blueberries. Enjoy!


Classic Buttermilk Pankcakes with Blueberries
Adapted from: BHG New Cook Book 11th edition

1 c  all-purpose flour
1 tbs  sugar
1 tsp  baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 beaten egg
1 cup buttermilk (I used 1 tbs lemon juice in 1 cup regular milk)
2 tbs cooking oil
2 handfuls blueberries


1. In a medium mixing bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center and set aside.
2. In a small mixing bowl combine the egg, milk, and cooking oil. Add egg mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).
3. Pour a 1/4 cup batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or skillet. (Non-stick works best for pancakes in my opinion.) Top wet batter with a few blueberries (or alot if you like). Cook for about 2 minutes on one side. When batter starts to bubble and edges start to dry, flip and cook for another 2 minutes. Serve warm with butter and syrup, or with whatever other toppings you love!

Makes 8-10 4-inch pancakes.