Black Bean Chimichanga

While flipping those a Southern Living magazine a while ago...almost 3 years ago...I stumbled upon a recipe for Black Bean Chimichangas. Being a vegetarian and a fan of black beans and Mexican fare, I decided to give it a try. It looked easy enough and versatile.

I love this recipe. I've made this dish about half a dozen times and it has never disappointed. It's very simple to make if you use a can of black beans (I like Whole Foods Spicy Organic BB). I use large whole wheat burrito shells and can make about 5 chimichangas per batch. The variation of ingredients you can use is limitless. I've made them vegetarian, with shredded pork left-overs, ground beef and chicken. You can add what ever fresh ingredients you like to change the flavor profile.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001806859

This photo was taken in February 2011. Instead of using burrito shells, I used smaller tortilla shells and wrapped them like enchiladas. So versatile.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Justin!

My son is a huge Curious George fan. We have three PBS channels that run Curious George episodes and this is a good thing since it's his favorite cartoon by far. So, what better theme to use to inspire his birthday cake?

A month before my son's birthday a friend decorated a Curious George cake for her son who was turning 3. She is a great cake decorator. We've taken one cake decorating class together, but she has much more talent and patience than I do. She found her inspiration cake through a web search and posted photos of her cake online. I decided not to reinvent the wheel, but to duplicate her cake as best as I could.

But first things first. I wanted to try a new Banana Sour Cream cake recipe. George likes bananas, right? I made one layer according to the recipe found on the Kraft Food website. THe second layer I added mini chocolate chips to.

--unfinished--

Sweet Potato Chips

In an attempt to get my son to eat his vegetables, I decided to make sweet potato chips. Sweet potatoes used to be one of his favorite foods, until he learned all about birthday cake and crackers and other such items that contain no nutritional value.

I've made these before and love the tender and crunchy texture. The sea salt and lime make a wonderful combination on this tasty vegetable. It's nice that these are easy to make too.

My son didn't end up eating these...or anything else for dinner. It's a shame that one has to go to bed hungry when there were plenty of chips to be eaten with dinner.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/baked-sweet-potato-chips

Crunchy Chicken Fingers

It seems as though every night is a struggle to get my son to eat something different. The cost of buying him organic chicken tenders really adds up quickly. In an attempt to get him to eat chicken tenders that I make, so that I know exactly what's in them, I decided to try a Parents Magazine recipe. If it's in a Parents Magazine and its a recipe for children, it's gotta be good, right?

This recipe was easy enough to make. A little dredging here and little tossing there and into the oven it goes. After that it went onto a plate with every child's favorite condiment - ketchup. Do you think he ate it? No. Did I try to entice him by mentioning it was rolled in cereal? Yes. Did my enticing work? No. After spending two hours in the kitchen making dinner (chicken tenders, a casserole and sweet potato chips), I wasn't going to make a PB & J. Eat it or go to bed hungry. Mommy is done playing restaurant every night.

My husband ate the chicken tenders and he really liked them. I'll be sure to keep this recipe handy and maybe, one day, my little one will eat some homemade chicken tenders.

http://www.parents.com/recipe/chicken/crunchy-chicken-fingers/

Cheesy Potatoes

I like cheesy potato casseroles. One problem though. Most call for cream of chicken soup. Being a vegetarian, I'm not one to dig into a casserole if I know there's something in it that contains meat/fish/poultry. I decided to alter a recipe to see how it would turn out.

I'm a fan of the Kraft Foods website. Not because the food always turns out great, but mostly because the dishes are pretty easy. I'm all about easy recipes.

These are the substitutions I made. I didn't use store bought Southern Style Hash Browns. I opted for organic Russet potatoes, and left the skin on (easier and healthier). I substituted Cream of Potato soup. It seems like a good sub since I was making a potato dish. I didn't use any butter on the topping. I'm sure it would taste great, but do we really need it? Not really. Also, my original recipe called for cheesy crackers for the topping (like Cheez-Its). On the website it calls for Ritz. I just used a natural cheese cracker.

In making this recipes, I followed the measurements exactly. If I was going to make this again, I'd bake it for less time and add either more soup or sour cream.

Overall, a tasty side dish that would be great to take to a pot luck or holiday meal.

Side note: Son wouldn't eat it. So picky!

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/cheesy-potatoes-95131.aspx