Red and Black Fajitas

ryan had fajitas for dinner tonight. i fried up 1 red onion and 1 red pepper in olive oil, heated up organic refried black beans, shredded spicy jack cheese rolled into a warm flour tortilla. ryan had five of these for dinner. i had two. yummy. i splurged and picked up amy's organic refried black beans. normally i just buy generic vegetarian refried beans. but wow what a difference. unfortunately for my wallet i won't be able to go back to $0.88 beans but me, ryan, and planet earth is ok with that. a perfect simple meal for a sunday, and it took about 5 minutes to make, which really is the real priority.

Belgian Waffles

in college i did a four month internship in brussels, where i fell in love with belgian waffles/gaufres. they are unlike anything you've ever had, unless you've had them. when i left belgium, i was pretty convinced i'd never eat one unless i return to belgium someday. i gave up, scoffing at anything calling itself "belgian waffles." six months after i got home, i was in salt lake city and there was a man selling "bruges waffles" out of a food cart and i had a pretty good feeling about it. i could smell it. i could hear the accent. sure enough, he was a legit belgian, and his waffles were too. i was so happy and incredulous. he opened an actual little restaurant a year or so later on 300 south in salt lake, and i hope everyone in the area is partaking regularly. ryan and i loved getting waffles there and would anytime we were in salt lake. such a treat that i imagine most areas do not have.

like. central pennsylvania.

i keep coming across recipes online claiming to be the real thing and some actually sound like it. and i tried my first one for dinner tonight. it was better than i expected it would be, but it's not quite right. but it was close enough that i will continue searching. i think i'll try a recipe every month or so until i find something close. real close. the pearl sugar is definitely a must and i am going to try to track that down for next time.

so, to answer your question, ryan had buttery sugary waffles for dinner. stay tuned for a healthy detox meal tomorrow. or pizza.

Pan Fried Dumplings

i found a really great looking recipe for dumplings, which someday i will make. when i have a slow day and ryan wants to help me, because he lived in hong kong for two years and is the chinese food expert. since he is also the expert, he says that buying good frozen dumplings, while not as good as homemade, is very cheap and very easy to make. prove it? we have a really great asian market near us, and we buy tofu there because it is cheaper and we buy melon popsicles there, which i can't recommend highly enough. unless it is also 15 degrees where you are, then give it a few months.

and ryan proved it, he cooked them! how lucky am i.
obviously i do not know what these popsicles are called, but this is what they look like.

Mushroom Spinach Quiche

for dinner tonight ryan had something i've never made before - quiche. i think quiche is just one of those things you never think to make but when you eat it you are sure glad to be eating it. originally i was planning on using this recipe, it sounded really rich and buttery. and difficult. and expensive. so i opted for this recipe instead, as it used less expensive ingredients and is healthier (no butter and crustless).

the quiche turned out delicious and ryan liked it a lot. i thought we'd eat like maybe half of the quiche but i think it was more like 3/4. i substituted the gruyere for swiss, and that worked great, although i'm sure the gruyere would be phenomenal. that's why it's $13 an ounce. for dinner ryan also had the special treat of bacon. ryan loves bacon. and i love ryan. but i made ryan cook it for himself because i do not love bacon. i would make this quiche again, maybe in a few months. maybe if there's ever a breakfast potluck or something?? do those exist?? maybe i'll have to invent it in order to introduce this goodness into people's lives. and they will make me their king.

Mom's Enchiladas

for dinner tonight ryan had my mom's enchiladas. that i made. i think they are my dad's favorite food and it was always a special day when my mom made these. i don't make a lot of my mom's recipes. she uses meat as the centerpiece in most dishes, so most do not translate well to vegetarian. this one does pretty good. recipe:

warm up one small can of enchilada sauce with one can golden mushroom soup in a skillet over low heat. soak a corn tortilla in the mixture, roll jack cheese, chicken, green onions in the tortilla, place in pan. do this 12 times. pour any leftover sauce on top. pour any leftover cheese on top. 20-30 mins at 325 degrees. yes that is how i write recipes. what, you want to see tabbed in ingredients? with measured amounts? well, then it wouldn't sound like a recipe your mom told you over the phone in college 5 years ago now would it.

my changes are as follows. no chicken. if i am feeling extra nice i will put in chicken for ryan or guests. i like them spicy (if anyone reaches for salsa, i've failed), so i will put chili pepper in the sauce or use spicy jack cheese instead of just jack. and sometimes if the tortillas are cracking as they are prone to do, i heat them up in hot oil for a second before the sauce dip.
brown rice and refried black beans on the side. wish i had sour cream and avocado for the side too. i would probably make this every few months if ryan didn't mention over his dinner tonight that his ex-girlfriend's mom made the best enchiladas he'd ever had. this will probably be it for us and enchiladas for a while...

Zucchinie Summer Pasta

this is one of my favorite dishes but i think it is a little light for ryan, so i have to make a lot of it (with whole wheat pasta -- more filling) and promise to make dessert. this recipe is from the inspirational nie nie, she has a food blog with some really great vegetarian recipes with simple ingredients. this is one of my favorites because it so light and refreshing.

here's the recipe in brief: saute minced garlic in olive oil until garlic turns light brown. add sliced zucchini with 1/2 c water. cook for 5 mins until zucchini is tender. add sliced tomatoes and red onion and cook for a few minutes until heated through. season with s&p serve over pasta and under fresh parmesan cheese. the fresher the veggies the better!
and here is dessert. i used normal oats instead of instant, so i had to wait an hour until they softened up. but i'll take it over driving to the grocery store.

Potato and Goat Cheese Pizza

ryan had this pizza for dinner. i think it is probably the best pizza i've made, the flavors are really simple and nice. ryan really likes sauce and missed it a little with this pizza, but i did not miss sauce for a second. the recipe calls for fingerling potatoes, i don't know what those are so i just bought potatoes that look like fingers. the goat cheese and thyme were what brought it home. also, has anyone been enjoying the throwback sodas as much as ryan? ryan doesn't like soda because of the high fructose corn syrup, so we usually have mexican coke if anything, but it is nice to branch out to pepsi and dr pep. i even like the pepsi throwback, it does not taste like toilet cleaner like it normally does!

Crockpot Taco Soup

ryan gets soup for dinner at least once a week in the winter. warms his soul.

if you want a crockpot recipe, the first place you should go is here. what i love about finding recipes on the internet is being able to read through people's comments and see how they altered it and any problems they ran in to. it helps me realize that you do not have to follow a recipe exactly in order for it to work out, you just have to know what works. one helpful comment i read is to double spices in crockpot recipes if you are cooking on low. this was really helpful to me because my crockpots kept coming out bland. anyway, this was the easiest crockpot recipe ever. i basically just opened cans and dumped them in. i like using the c.p. but it is hard because i don't eat meat and most crockpot recipes are for twelve to one thousand people, and i think the main benefit is softening up meat, which i don't have use for. so i am making them for two. with preferably no leftovers because we both seem to have this obscure allergy to leftovers. so weird. so i just try to put in as few things as possible. anyway. i basically just dumped in what i had. a can of beans beans, tomatoes, corn, taco seasoning. and surprise, it is great. well it was great for how easy it was. i think that was the amazing part.

Thai Coconut Curry

when ryan has a hankering for thai or indian food, we normally go out because i have done nothing but fail at making curries. but i have learned a cheat which might be the closest i ever get to making successful thai curry for ryan, which is the taste of thai sauces. you just cook up whatever meat and veggies you like, add coconut milk and the mix, put over noodles or rice and you're done. my favorite combination with this peanut sauce mix is tofu, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, and raw cashews. i fry the tofu and boil the potatoes and carrots until they are soft first. you can find the sauces and coco milk in the asian food area. you'll khob-kun-ka me later.