Books and Garlicky Bean Enchiladas

I'm still unemployed, but I'm officially used to it now.  I also know the right job will come along in due time.  Besides job searching and cooking I have been reading a ton.  So I'd like to talk about Goodreads. If you love to read and haven't checked out Goodreads you should.  It's a social network of readers and authors.  You can set up a profile and keep track of all the books you've read and all the books you want to read.  People review books, there are book clubs, reading challenges, author discussions, and even a giveaway section!  This year they added a section where you could set a reading goal for the year.  Feeling hopeful I decided to challenge myself and commit to reading 75 books by the end of the year.  Due to my recent layoff I'm actually almost there!  Today I finished my 57th book (The Healer's Apprentice) and have started the 58th (The Greatest Knight).  Victory should be mine by December!  Once I've reached my goal, I'm going to post a list of the books I read this year on The Hesitant Cook.  Those of you who are interested can check out what I read and how many stars I gave the books.  I'm hoping my challenge to myself will encourage all of you to take some time and read for pleasure, it really is very relaxing.

Reading might be relaxing, but cooking can still get my blood boiling.  A recent event really set me off and I was ready to throw in the towel.  When the weather started to get cooler, I started craving Chicken Pot Pie.  The anticipation was super high and I got as far as getting the pie over to the oven, when all of a sudden it just got to be too heavy (I blame my carpal tunnel for this, although it was probably just clumsiness) and the pie ended up face down on the floor.  The insides broke through the top crust, so there was no saving it.  Devastation is what I felt after that and I didn't have any more of the ingredients to start over.  When this first happened I didn't want to tell anyone, because it was so embarrassing and I felt terrible about what happened.  Luckily, I had a change of heart and decided to tell all of you.  Now that I've told you, if something like that happens to you or has you don't have to feel so alone.  Mistakes in the kitchen happen to everyone, some more than others!

Now on to a success!

Let's talk about Garlicky Bean Enchiladas.  This is a recipe that I use a lot.  In fact not long after making these for THC, I made them again for our supper club (the theme was garlic)!  If you don't like garlic, then you might be a little crazy and you also won't like these enchiladas very much.  Not a problem for me since I can eat garlic like candy (as long as it's cooked!)  The only part of this recipe that is a little bit of a challenge for me is the frying of the corn tortillas.  Frying and I are not compatible, but this is only mild frying so I can handle it.  Another suggestion I would make is to add 3/4 cup-1 cup broth (you can use chicken or vegetable broth).  According to the recipe you need 1/3 of a cup, but from my experience the beans are too dry without more broth.  One of the items in this recipe I really love is the salsa verde.  I can't get enough of that stuff!

                                                           

Bean Mixture

fried corn tortillas, all rolled up and ready to go

                                             and now all dressed up and to the oven they go

                                                                    Finished Product

and yes that red stuff is Sriracha!

Cost:  (I l already had the oil and garlic)

Veggie Oil:  $2.29

Garlic:  $0.50

(2) Cannellini Beans:  $1.58

Broth:  $0.79

Tortillas:  $1.19

Salsa:  $2.99

Cheese:  $2.99

Total Cost:  $15.12 (Note you will have extra broth, oil, and cheese to use for another recipe!)

Not as cheap as I thought it was to make these enchiladas, but there are leftovers for lunch for a few days.  So it's worth it!  You can also make a batch of these and freeze them before you bake for a busy night when all you have time to do is throw something in the oven.  

Next up:  Potato and Leek Pizza (this was super!) I can't wait to make more!

Some Meals I Thought Were Worth It

Getting into the kitchen doesn’t scare me very much anymore, but it does still annoy me. I can’t be the only one out there who just doesn’t have any desire to spend every night after work in the kitchen. Sometimes I really can’t get up the energy to cook, like Sunday night when we ordered sushi. Of course I had been in the kitchen for awhile at that point. I FINALLY bottled my beer Sunday. It’s a Nut Brown Ale and it smells really good. Lately I haven’t really cooked anything that felt blog worthy. I’m waiting for the next great idea. In the meantime I did manage to cook three meals that I would like to share with everyone.

The first meal is Arroz Con Pollo (Rice with Chicken). Awhile ago we watched Throwdown with Bobby Flay featuring Arroz Con Pollo and we both really wanted it. I finally decided to make it and I figured why not use the recipe that Bobby Flay used on this show, Adobo Seasoned Chicken and Rice. It looked tasty on the show, but sadly he didn’t win. I had to cut the recipe a lot, but in the end it worked out quite well. Season the chicken and then sauté the chicken until both sides are browned. Put the chicken in another pan, cover and let it cook through over medium heat. Meanwhile you cook the onions and peppers until they are tender, and add tomato and garlic and cook for another minute. Next up the rice has to cook with chicken broth and salt and pepper for about 10 minutes, then add the peas and cook for another 10 minutes. To finish it off you can stir in green olives, cilantro (parsley for us), oregano, and lime juice.

Final Product:

It was a nice meal, very filling. I just used chicken thighs, bone in and with skin, which gives the meat more flavor. I was scared that I would over season the chicken and I ended up not seasoning it enough, so I will season the thighs a bit more next time. Both of us really enjoyed this and we will be having this again soon. I loved the salt of the olives in the rice. Yum!

The next recipe was for an Italian meatloaf. This recipe was created by Giada de Laurentiis, Turkey Meatloaf with Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. I absolutely loved this! It was the moistest meatloaf I have had in a long time. Everyone should try this recipe! I’m not going to bore you with the details of how to make it since I’ve previously blogged about making meat loaf before, just get these ingredients and cook! Yes, I'm talking to you! Do it.

Final Product:
The final meal I’m going to share with you today is Stewed White Beans with Spinach and Bacon. I know it doesn’t sound very appealing. I’ve been on a bit of a health kick lately and I love to try any recipes with beans as they are so good for all of us. Cook up some bacon, I used 5 slices chopped and I think that was enough, the recipe calls for 8 that might be overkill. Keep two tablespoons of the bacon grease in the pan and add the potatoes and cook them until brown. Add the onion and cook until soft. Next the beans, chicken broth, and lemon juice is added and you let that sit until almost all the liquid is gone. Stir in the spinach and cook for about a minute. Add bacon on top and some scallions and parmesan cheese. And YUM!! It really was good. I swear to it. The bacon helped give it a little more flavor then it would have had without it, so if you are going meatless I would add some more spices or some hot sauce to this. This is also super easy and perfect for a weeknight meal.

Final Product:

Overall I’ve been having some pretty good luck with my cooking lately. Or maybe I really am learning. (I said MAYBE.) I’m looking around to try some new things that I can share with everyone. I finally have come up with one idea. I’m going to have another battle of the meatless vs. meatfull. This battle will be between a vegetable meatloaf and a regular old meatloaf. I might have to cook the meaty meatloaf with some sort of addition, because I can’t see it even coming close to this veggie meatloaf recipe that I found. So if you have any spectacular meatfull meatloaf recipes that you want to see pitted against the meatless meatloaf send them my way. (Comment below and I'll send you my email address)

Another item I need to discuss with everyone. MY MOM DID NOT USE MANWICH. I repeat my mom has never used Manwich, she was a bit offended that I even considered that possibility. So I asked her for the recipe for the Sloopy Joe’s she used to cook up when I was little and of course she no longer has it. She did tell me the secret ingredient might have been A1 sauce. A1 sauce? I was a bit dumbfounded as I’ve NEVER (apparently to my knowledge) liked A1 sauce! The quest is on to find a Sloppy Joe recipe that includes A1 sauce and is still a little sweet. Once I have found the right recipe I will be cooking up some more Sloppy Joe’s and hopefully finding a match for what my taste buds are craving.

Turkey Bean Chili

Day 23-Let me start out by saying YAY!! After my night of burning everything I really needed a win. We went out for dinner Friday night, so I got a break. Then Saturday I decided to make chili and invited a few people over for dinner. I’m always really nervous to invite people over for dinner if I’m cooking. As evidenced in the last post I have good reason to be worried. Something easy could turn into a complete nightmare. Since I felt pretty safe making a one pot dish, I felt okay about inviting people over for dinner. Also since I wasn’t cutting the recipe I knew I was going to have a lot of leftover chili if I didn’t have company over. Thank goodness everything worked out.

Chili is awesome. I love it. I like cooking it on the stove or in the crock pot. Using ground beef, ground turkey, or some other ground meats. One pot meals are also awesome for clean up purposes. Although at the end of the night our sink was over flowing with items that needed to be washed! One pot turned into a five. I got this recipe from a magazine cookbook called Taste of Home: Casseroles, Slow Cooker, and Soups. All of my favorite things to cook! The recipe is super easy and was a much needed break from the more involved recipes I have done recently.

The prep work included chopping an onion, green pepper, and jalapeño pepper. Also you have to open the 4 cans of stewed tomatoes and chop those up in smaller pieces too. Then you need to drain and rinse 1 can of black beans, 1 can of kidney beans, and 1 can of pinto beans. Next you sauté the onion, pepper, and 2 pounds of ground turkey. Once the turkey is no longer pink, you add all the rest of the ingredients. The three cans of beans you drained, plus a can of chili beans (not drained), the tomatoes, jalapeño, and all the spices. Then you let it simmer for however long you want. That part doesn’t have to be timed out. I was able to let it sit longer then I thought and the longer it sits the better it tastes.

I made corn bread from the Jiffy box. I decided to add the stuff that Anthony adds to the scratch cornbread he makes. So I mixed up the Jiffy with chopped red pepper, a teaspoon of Goya Sazon seasoning, and some chili powder. I used the whole red pepper and I probably only needed 1/2, but I didn’t want it to go to waste. Our guests arrived to see most of my chili and corn bread making. Then Anthony arrived home and decided that he wanted to make fried green tomatoes too! So we had quite the southern meal Saturday night. The only thing missing was the collard greens. Everything came out really well. My corn bread was a little crumbly from too many red peppers, but it was still tasty.

Final Product:

This chili will be made again, most likely in a smaller batch. Corn bread would have been even better if it was scratch, so I’ll try that next time. The tomatoes were also really good, I don’t really know how Anthony makes then, I only know that corn meal is involved. Great food, great time!

Next up, Squash Soup served in Acorn Squash bowls. This has to go well, it’s soup!

Don't forget if you want any of the recipes from this blog, click the link on the right side of the blog titled Recipes Used for The Hesitant Cook!