My friend Jenn taught me that a tortilla makes for a great pizza crust. Using a multi-grain wrap makes it an even better choice. Using Pizzeria Uno’s cheap and healthy Mediterranean thin crust pizza as inspiration, I concocted this quick and easy dinner with tomato sauce, baby spinach, feta, Greek olives, and halved grape tomatoes.

UPDATED:
So some pals wanted more instruction. Okay, so put on more baby spinach than you think necessary…even more than you see below. It shrinks dramatically when cooked.

Yes, you can add onions and capers or anything else your heart desires. The cook time doesn’t really change.

I baked mine at 425 degrees for about 25 – 30 minutes. I wanted the tortilla crispy and the toppings hot. I ate it once after only about 15 minutes because I was starving & in a hurry. The tortilla was still very flexible so I was able to make it into a wrap. It was okay, but I prefer the crispy tortilla.

You can’t really go wrong unless you burn it which won’t happen if you’re paying attention. Set a timer if you’re prone to zoning out.

Christian’s not into most vegetables, so I was looking for a side dish and found this one for Mexican Pasta Salad. We’re fans of anything with jalapeños, lime juice and cilantro so we gave it a shot and loved it. We ate it with grilled pork chops and a green salad covered in our homemade Ginger Carrot Dressing. Delicious! The next day we added some grilled chicken to the leftover pasta which made for a filling lunch.

Ingredients 
One box of spiral pasta (I use whole grain pasta)
2 cups frozen corn (or 2 ears of corn on cob)
2 jalapenos seeded and diced
2 scallions chopped
2 limes juiced
olive oil (to coat pasta)
1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
— Boil the pasta per directions on the box, drain and drizzle olive oil over the cooked pasta so it doesn’t stick together.

–While the pasta is boiling, roast the corn, jalapenos and scallion in a pan on medium heat with a tablespoon oil. Stir and cook until corn is golden. You’ll need a lid, because the corn pops! Fun!

— Add to large bowl: pasta, corn, jalapenos, scallions, beans, cilantro and juice of limes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

*Next time I’m going to add some halved grape cherry tomatoes and an extra jalapeño.

Served hot or cold, this vegetarian salad is packed with protein and flavor:

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn kernels (optional…I’ve done with, with celery instead and without altogether)
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

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

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

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

Chow down on its own or as a side dish. Yummmmmmy!

How easy it?

So easy even your 5-year-old could do it. For the busiest of bees or if you want to introduce cooking to your young ‘en or anyone with a fear of cooking, this is the recipe. It’s foolproof, easier than pie and mmm, mmm good!

You just need a crockpot and the following ingredients:

1.5 lbs boneless/skinless chicken breast (is there any other kind?)
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup (no water, just the regular condensed soup)
1 can chicken broth
2 cups frozen carrots/peas*
1 onion diced
2 tablespoons of butter
1 can of Pillsbury biscuits

Place the chicken, butter, soup, broth and onion in a slow cooker. Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on Low. Then, about 90 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. I dunk them and then about 45 minutes into cooking the dough, I dunk and stir them again. So, total cook time about 6.5 to 7.5 hours. If you don’t want to wait that long then, I’d cook it for about 3.5 hours on high then another hour or so for the dough.

Serve in a bowl on a cold winter’s day and let this stick-to-your-ribs meal warm you from the inside out!

*Optional, but definitely don’t bother with celery. I didn’t think it added to the flavor or texture and only watered down the meal.

For lunch today, I finally worked up the nerve to try out my food processor that I bought specifically to make Ginger Carrot Dressing. It was delicious and easy. Honestly, if I had known cooking was so easy, I may have tried it years ago.

I used this recipe found on Epicurious.com:

• 1/2 lb carrots (3 medium), coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped peeled fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots
• 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water

Pulse carrots in a food processor until finely ground (almost puréed). Add chopped ginger, chopped shallots, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt and pulse until ginger and shallots are minced. With motor running, add vegetable oil in a slow stream. (I have never done this. I don’t even know that I can because my machine’s safety function requires the lid to be on and locked.)

Add 1/4 cup water and blend until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Thin dressing with additional water if desired.

Makes about 2 cups that will last up to about two weeks in the fridge.

UPDATE: I’ve made this twice since this original post. Christian thinks it could use a little more “kick” or “tang”. Vinegar perhaps? I’ll tinker with it. That said, we’re in our 40s and our tastebuds have been burnt off to worthless nubs. The recipe is perfect as-is, he’s just looking for a boost. Perhaps we’ve had a bit too much in too short a time and he’s growing bored. Is this a reflection of our marriage? Should I seek counseling or just add more vinegar? Hmmm.

I made some yummy and easy chicken pot pies using my Chicago Metallic Pie Mold. For pie crust, I got a box of Jiffy & followed the instructions. I rolled out the dough and using the plastic mold, I cut out four sections to fill the pan wells and four for the tops.

For the filling, here’s the recipe I used/tweaked. Note that this made enough filling for about 7 to 8 pies. So, next time I make it, I’ll probably cut the portions in half.

Ingredients: 
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast cubed
2 cups frozen carrots and green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
3 springs thyme
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 425.

Add chicken, carrots, peas & celery in a pot & fill with enough water to cover. Boil for 15 minutes, drain & set aside.

In a separate saucepan, cook onions in butter until translucent. Add in flour, salt, pepper, garlic and thyme. Carefully stir in chicken broth and milk. Let mix simmer on med-low heat until thick. Remove from heat.

Pour the chicken mix into pan wells then top with the hot, creamy mixture. Cover with top pie crust and seal edges.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until filling is bubbly and tops are golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

For two years in a row, Christian (new comedy special debuts 4.15.14!) and I haven’t swapped gifts in the traditional sense. But last year he did get me a rolling pin and this year the Chicago Metallic Pie Mold I’d been dreaming of. (Update: that pie mold is no longer sold, but here’s a link to a set of 4 individual pans.)

If you’d told the 20-something-year-old me I would’ve wanted these as gifts, I would’ve beaten you with said rolling pin and made a nice meat pie out of your innards to bake in my new pan. Lo! How times have changed.

In a recent post, I talked of my latest obsession is how to recreate Panera Bread’s yummy egg soufflés while at our cabin, since there is no Panera within a hundred miles or so.

I found a few knock-off recipes online and pulled the basic common elements and made my own. I’ve made ham & asiago, goat cheese & spinach, sausage and cheddar, and cheese blends with and without onions & jalapeños. They were all amazing!  Since Christian doesn’t like eggs, I made a few with just sausage, onion and cheese for a hearty meat pie.

Ingredients
1 8-ounce tube Pillsbury Crescent Roll Dough (I suppose you could make your own dough. Go for it!)
7 eggs, 1 reserved*
4 tbsp of half & half (or  2 tbsp heavy cream & 2 tbsp of milk or half & half…really just 4 tbsp of whatever milk/cream concoction you want or have on hand.)
3/4 cup of shredded cheese (any flavor / mix of flavors you like)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of diced ham, sausage, or bacon or whatever meat or veggies** your little heart desires.

UPDATE: I’ve used Pepperidge Farm’s puff pastry sheets for dough and like it much more. A little lighter & flakier and uses less dough for each pie.

Directions
— Preheat oven to 375F.  or 400F if you’re using puff pastry

— Unroll the crescent dough but do not separate the pairs of triangles. Instead, pinch along the perforated seam so the 2 triangles become a square of dough. So you’ll wind up with four (4) squares. Roll out each square of dough a couple of times to make a 6″ x 6″-ish square. (For puff pastry, 1/3 of a sheet rolled out & cut in half makes two pies.)

— I spray the pan with non-stick spray and put one square of dough in each compartment.

— Mix 6 eggs, milk, and heavy cream in a microwavable bowl. Egg yolks should be completely broken and mixed in. Add shredded cheese and salt and mix again.

— Microwave the egg mixture in 30 second increments on high, stirring after each increment until you have a sort of solid, slightly runny scrambled egg mixture. (About 4 times-ish in a 1,000-watt microwave.)

Basically you’re cooking the eggs just enough so the dough at the bottom will cook, and the dough at the sides and top won’t fall in.

— Stir in your meat or veggies. For veggies, I sauté them a bit before adding.

— Fill each pie with your mix.

— Fold dough over the egg mixture.

* Optional – Break and whisk the remaining egg and brush over dough before popping it into the oven. This makes the dough brown to shiny, golden color. Pretty and makes it look “done”, but totally not necessary. So if you wanna save an egg and aren’t trying to impress anyone, feel free to skip this. I’ve included photos of what the difference looks like below.

— Bake for about 20 minutes (15 for puff pastry) and then it’s bon appetit time!

**I made a spinach and goat cheese soufflé and added both ingredients after the microwave process.

Pictured from L to R:
Puff pastry after baking with no egg wash,
Crescent rolls with egg wash (egg soufflés in top pans and chicken pot pies in lower ones),
Christian enjoys his sausage, onion and cheese concoction, and
A cross section of his meat pie. Heh.

I made some out of this world guacamole using a recipe I found online and tweaked a bit. It’s so, so good I wanted you to have it. Hey, why not pair it with my Chicken Tortilla Soup!

• 3 avocados
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 medium red onion, diced
  
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced. But I actually use the equivalent of one small Jalapeño pepper from a jar because my hillbilly grocer never has fresh japs.
• 1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon of minced garlic (or one clove if you’re mincing it yourself, which I don’t know why you’d do that!)

In a large bowl place the peeled, seeded and scooped avocado and lime juice. Toss to coat. Drain, and reserve the lime juice, after all of the avocados have been coated. Using a potato masher add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash. Then, fold in the onions, jalapeno, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve. Enyoy!

You guys. Seriously. Try this. Here’s whatcha wanna do:

Get some fruit. Freeze it. Dunk it in some melted chocolate & coconut oil. Lick off all the chocolate that has “accidentally” dripped everywhere. “Clean” the chocolate covered dish with your index finger. Lick. Repeat.

Okay, for real, here are the uber-simple instructions:

— Stick a plate of fruit (sliced if needed like in the case of kiwis, bananas and such) in the freezer for an hour.
— Melt 1 bar of dark chocolate and a tbsp of coconut oil. (For the dark chocolate bar, use Hershey’s or Cadbury or the like. I’ve tried fancy stuff like Jacques Torres with yucky results. A larger 3.5 oz bar is perfect. Save a square or four to pop in your mouth while working and it’ll still be fine.)
— Once melted and blended, let it cool to room temperature. (I never have patience for this with fine results. That said, there’s always a surplus of oil at top and chocolate at bottom, so maybe I should wait next time.)
— Plunk the frozen fruit in the melted mixture using a popsicle stick, toothpick or, in the case of my raspberries, a skewer.

Because the fruit is frozen & the plate chilled, the chocolate will dry quickly so it’s not even that messy and it’s MMM…MMM….GOOOOOOD!

Refrigerate or re-freeze the final product. I prefer them chilled in the fridge rather than frozen solid because, ouch, my teeth!

*For larger servings, keep this ratio: 1 tablespoon coconut oil for every 1/4 cup dark chocolate. Also, if you’re not a coco-nut (heh) use a refined coconut oil. Also, I use sugar free chocolate because sugar is the devil.

All in all, it’s a quick, easy, affordable, delicious, healthy treat. Basically, you’re gonna want to invite me to your parties so I can treat you to some chocolate covered fruits.

Not wanting to make a trip into town for supplies, I made chili with stuff I had around the cabin. Writing it down for future use as it was super easy and MMM, MMM GOOD!

* 1 pound of ground beef or turkey
* 3/4 cup diced red onion
* 4 heaping tablespoons of Mrs. Renfro’s Green Salsa
* 2 teaspoons of chili powder
* 1.5 teaspoons cumin
* 1 jalapeño diced (I chopped up a heaping tablespoon of canned, sliced ones because I didn’t have a fresh jap.)
* 1 green bell pepper diced
* 1 can beans drained (We had a can of red kidney beans which is optional, of course, as is everything else.)
* 1 & a 1/2 tomatoes (just what I had…mix and match with diced tomatoes and tomato sauce based on what’s in the cupboard.)
* 22 oz of tomato sauce (I had a 14 oz and 8 oz can in the cupboard so used what I had)
* 8 oz water (I filled the empty 8 oz can of tomato sauce but didn’t need to.)

Brown the ground beef in a pan then add to the crockpot with the other ingredients. I actually sautéed the onion & green pepper with the beef because I thought we’d be eating it in about 2 hours. Ended up cooking it on high for about 4 hours.

Topped it off with shredded cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream and some crushed tortilla chips. Delicious and easy and cheap!