I do not claim to be an outstanding cook or by any means gourmet, however, I do a lot of cooking in my household and make up a lot of recipes that my family seems to enjoy. Of course, I think my family would eat almost anything so I may be getting lots of false praise!! Regardless, I make a lot of stuff!! If I’m looking for something new, I typically find a recipe…..read over it a couple of times……and then make my own version of it. In most cases I don’t like buying new ingredients for new recipes so I try to use what I have stocked. Of course, that is not always true, but most of the time.
With the inception of Pinterest my brain has been overflowing with recipes ideas that I am waiting to try. It is hard to choose and even harder to choose one that can be prepared on a weeknight. And here is the opportunity to introduce my little piglet………..Reese “Landon”.
I am sure there are all kinds of mommy rules that say I should not refer to my child as a “piglet”. And I don’t……well………I don’t out loud……well, most of the time. This child can eat!! She is not really in to patience at the tender age of 13 months especially when it comes to getting food on her highchair. On a typical afternoon, she is going to fuss (with no interest in playing) until dinner is served. Therefore, I am trying to fast forward my steps of dinner preparation while singing silly songs in a silly voice because I feel like I should always be doing SOMETHING when my child is fussing. Otherwise the “proper mommy” feelings of guilt will emerge.
You may wonder my husband’s role in this afternoon ritual. Well, he will not participate in anything involving meal preparation. Apparently, it is his worst nightmare……..he hates to spice, chop, stir, mix, etc. His culinary practices stop at pouring a bowl of cereal…which he is great at by the way…..he does it about 5 times a day. Yes, he can eat as well. Like father like daughter.
Back to dinner………finding something that I can prepare on a week night that resembles a somewhat reflection of healthy food groups with a nutritional value is a continuous challenge. Sometimes I succeed……………sometimes I just slap some frozen pizza on plates/highchairs. Because sometimes…….I just don’t WANT TO COOK!! I love it…I really do…..I’m just sayin…
So this blog is created to serve as a record of the meals I have prepared, how I made them, and the rating from my family. I really just need a record for myself, otherwise I forget successful meals and they disappear into the Good Food Bermuda triangle.
Soooooo let’s roll……..
Friday 1/27/12 NACHOS!
Soooooo let’s roll……..
Friday 1/27/12 NACHOS!
As I mentioned, I like to use ingredients that I already have which was my intention for this recipe. I thought I had a whole bag of chips, which is obviously the backbone to this recipe. Nope…..the father/daughter team strikes again. So, the chips had to be purchased. Moving on.
Below are the ingredients I used. Since I am new to the blogging, I haven’t quite discovered how to arrange things so that they look like those Pioneer Woman type bloggers…..so that will be a goal I achieve later in life……maybe when I’m 33.
First I browned the meat. I use lean or deer meat. At the same time, I will sauté the green peppers and onions. I don’t always put these on nachos, but this is what I had and I needed some color. Presentation is always important! My method for sautéing changes everyday…..depending on what I have available. Today I will use – butter (I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter b/c I way over-use butter, it’s REALLY good, AND there have been coupons lately), Worchester sauce (say that 5 times real real fast), Natures Own, and Pepper. Usually, I will let the veggies soak for a while and then drain the liquid out so that it will actually cook. One thing I must mention is that I am never ever afraid to season. Speaking specifically about the veggies, I will season with the pepper and natures own about 5 different times until they are tender.
The meat is seasoned with Natures Own, Pepper, and Cumin. Cumin gives it the Mexican Restaurant kind of taste although the scent is a little bit nauseating (flashbacks to first trimester and the all types of Mexican food boycott).
How I put it together:
Chips
Can of black beans – spooned directly from the can
Meat
Onions and peppers
Cheese – lots and lots of cheese
Oven on 350 and CAREFULLY place it in oven. The mound of chips easily shifts on the cookie sheet and it could be a tremendous disaster! Or if you have a dog…or piglet (hehe)….it could be euphoric!
In the mean time, I decided to make some homemade salsa. I have never attempted this feat, but I saw it on pinterest, it didn’t look to challenging and I had almost all of the ingredients. Here is the original recipe. I started out following it with the exception of using minced garlic and sliced jalapenos.
I blended it all together and tasted. It did not have much of a taste so it was time for the randomness of how I make things. I took every ingredient (besides the toms) and doubled at least. I added ALOT more cilantro, ALOT more cumin, and ALOT more honey. Stirred and pulsed. It honestly is best suited to your individual taste, but it is definately a great easy starter recipe. I also added corn once removed from the blender because we like corn.
Finally, everything is prepared and it is time for the family test. RL (formerly known as "piglet") randomly went to bed at 5:30 so she missed out. The husband was in awe. He stated that this meal does not fall under his summer wieght diet, but I convinced him that it wasn't THAT bad. Lean meat and black beans have to be better than the alternatives! It didn't take long for him to plant himself in front of the mound of bliss and forget his previous statement.
Results = A TEN!!! No suggestions for improvement and the salsa was the best he ever tasted!! This meal has definately exceeded expectations! It can surely be a weeknight meal if you skip the homemade salsa.
And thats it!! Until next time...........
No comments:
Post a Comment