Dinner recipes we love

I love to cook. I didn't really know that until I got married, though. When I was dating Kenny, he taught me a lot about cooking and we really enjoyed cooking together. He is my inspiration! Since being married, I've tried a lot of new recipes, experimented a lot, invented my own recipes, and just had fun cooking! That is one reason why I have one day a week I want Addie to help me cook/bake something--I want her to enjoy being in the kitchen too! I think I've become a pretty great cook. I cook a lot of vegetarian dishes since I eat vegetarian, but I definitely cook meat dishes as well because Kenny and Addie love meat. Eating vegetarian as a family some of the time helps us save money...which I'm all about.

I'm just going to list some of our favorite recipes and include links when I have them. I use pinterest (and allrecipes.com) quite often to find new recipes and to keep track of recipes I want to try.

BLACK BEAN QUESADILLAS 

 This is a great quick dinner. Best quesadillas I've ever had, and they freeze well. I've used frozen cilantro on these before (since cilantro often goes bad quickly and I don't always make this right away after shopping).

CREAMY CAULIFLOWER SOUP
 We love this soup and just seems so fall-like. I usually use fresh carrot instead of frozen carrot since I have that on hand. I often add potatoes as well (would be a good use of leftover baked potatoes so they're already cooked). I have used cream of celery and other cream-of soups too. The potato one is great but I've found it tends to be more expensive (off-brands don't really make it). 

RICE AND BLACK BEAN CASSEROLE

 I've made some changes: 1 1/2 cup uncooked white rice (I felt like it could use a lot more rice and it makes it go farther for cheap); 3 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth; I omit mushrooms because I don't like them; I often use cheddar cheese instead of swiss because it's what I have on hand.

ROASTED GARLIC CAULIFLOWER

 Pairs well with pasta--especially alfredo pasta. Great side dish.

CRASH HOT POTATOES

 Pairs well with roasted green beans, recipe below.

ROASTED GREEN BEANS

 12 oz green beans, washed & trimmed and then dried

  2 t olive oil

  salt, pepper

1/4 t garlic powder

1 1/2 T shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean-up (totally worth wasting foil). Lay the green beans on the pan and drizzle oil over. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and toss evenly to coat (I never really measure the amounts on any of these, I just make it up). Cook 10 min, shake around. Cook 5 minutes more. Then top with parmesan cheese.

SALSA CHICKEN

 Great easy chicken recipe, pairs well with quinoa and black beans recipe below. This is Kenny's favorite meal ever.

QUINOA AND BLACK BEANS

 I make a few changes to this as well. I often add chopped zucchini (at the same time as the onion) to increase the flavor and healthiness of the dish. I also usually add fresh tomatoes (diced) at the end--great extra flavor. I usually don't add cilantro since it goes bad quickly and shop very frequently.

HOMEMADE PIZZA
 We love homemade pizza. I've finally found my favorite pizza dough recipe, however it does require a little planning. If you want to have homemade pizza within about 30 minutes, try this recipe. But if you can plan a little ahead, use the recipe below. It is so good. We have topped our pizza dough with just pasta sauce (you could use pizza sauce but I don't have it on hand so I just use leftover pasta sauce and it works great) or minced garlic. Both are great. We top the pizza with whatever we have on hand. We've done ham and pineapple, tomatoes and spinach, just cheese, etc. We then top with shredded mozzarella cheese and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and italian seasoning.

Dough:
1 package dry yeast (2 1/4 t of yeast)
1 cup very warm water
3 T sugar
1/2 t salt
2 t olive oil
3-3 1/2 c all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, salt, and olive oil. Mix in flour and knead until smooth. Let rise in greased bowl for one hour. Roll out on floured surface as thin as possible (it rises really well!). Lay on pan and roll edges to form crust. Top with ingredients and bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

BLACK BEAN SLOPPY JOES

 This is a delicious, unique recipe. I usually make homemade buns (not that difficult!) to go with them, and it's delish. See below for that recipe. You could use store-bought buns too. Sometimes I'll make this recipe and a meat sloppy joe recipe as well so Kenny can have some of both. 

HAMBURGER BUNS

 You can make the dough for these in your breadmaker or with a mixer or by hand. I've done it multiple ways and it's always turned out great.

SPICY BEEF AND CHEESE ENCHILADAS WITH RED SAUCE

 This is a recipe I invented so it's not as specific with numbers. We really like it. You can adjust the spiciness to your liking. I do half the pan meatless for me.

Ingredients: 

Flour tortillas

Shredded cheddar cheese (I use a cheddar/monterey jack mix)

Ground Beef

Sauce

1 1/2 T olive oil

2 t minced garlic

1 t onion powder

1 8 oz can of tomato sauce

1 regular sized can of red enchilada sauce

1 12 oz can tomato paste

1 T taco seasoning

3/4 c salsa

1 t cumin

1/2 t basil

1/2 t oregano

3/4 c frozen corn (canned would work too)

1/4 t corn starch (helps keep the enchiladas from getting soggy, but its probably fine without)

Combine olive oil, garlic, and onion powder on medium heat until garlic begins to brown. Then add tomato sauce, paste, all spices. Simmer for around 5 minutes. Add corn and corn starch, stir. 

Then cook the meat. I usually do this in the same pan once I scoop all the sauce out (saves dishes, gives it more flavor). I don't know how much meat I use (somewhere between 1/2 and 1 pound). I end up putting around 2-3 T in each enchilada of Kenny's, so it all depends on how many you are making and how much meat you like. Anyway, I just cook the ground beef with an additional 1 T or so of taco seasoning. If you want the enchiladas less spicy, you could omit cooking the meat in taco seasoning.

After the sauce and meat are done (goes really quickly), I get a 9x13 pan and put a little sauce on the bottom. Then I take tortillas, put some cheese and meat in them, roll up, and place seam side down in the pan. Then I pour sauce over all the enchiladas so they are covered. I usually use all but maybe a cup  or so of the sauce for around 12-14 large enchiladas. I usually save the leftover sauce for dipping sauce for quesadillas or something (I've also frozen it for later use). Cook at 350-375 (higher temperature if you like crispier enchiladas) for around 25 minutes.

GARLIC BREADSTICKS AND HOMEMADE ROLLS
 Here are our favorite roll and breadstick recipes. THEY ARE SO GOOD. I can't even tell you how good they are. The breadsticks are actually really quick. The rolls take awhile, but it is well worth it when you have the time.

Let me know if you have questions about any of the recipes. I'd love to know if you try them!