cook-eat-write

Okay, that's not super out of the ordinary since I typically go every Sunday, but today I had a mission! I was in the mood to cook something new and yummy, and so I needed the appropriate supplies. Today's meal was Southwestern Bacon Cheeseburgers and Tex-Mex Mashed Potatoes. Sooooo original for me, right? Okay maybe I do a lot of potatoes, but THEY ARE DELICIOUS SO STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT.

Okay, anyway. The potatoes! They were really frikkin' good! They were a cool twist on a standard favorite. The burger was great too, juicy and flavorful.

Tex-Mex Potatoes: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/tex-mex-mashed-potatoes-recipe/index.html

Burgers: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1926,147164-235200,00.html

Ease of Preparation: 1.5 Burgers / 1.5 Potatoes

Taste: 3 Burgers / 3.5 Potatoes

Feeds: 5 Burgers / 10 Potatoes

This meal is a cool way to incorporate southwestern/mexican food flavor into a typically very american dish. In order to turn the regular burgers from the linked recipe into super awesome southwestern burgers I topped them with Monteray Jack cheese, bacon and my delicious guacamole. I put some mayo with taco seasoning on The Parents' burgers but not mine since I have a strong distaste for mayo.

Overall very good. I think these burgers were about 500 calories total (which is pretty damn good for a bacon cheeseburger if I do say so myself).

The mashed potatoes were quite good as well. Just a little bit of crunch from the veggies in them, and very creamy and flavorful. 

Suggestions / Changes

Other than my southwestern additions to the burgers that I mentioned above, I did made several other changes - particularly to the potatoes. Instead of milk I used about 3/4 cup sour cream in the mixing of them. I find this yields a creamier mashed potato. Also, I mixed in about 1.5 teaspoons of Mexican seasoning (the kind you use to make taco meat). That gave them some really great Mexican food flavor and color. I didn't add any salt because the Mexican flavoring added enough on its own.

As for the burgers, the only change that I made to that recipe was that after 15 mins of cooking time I put the cheese on top of the burgers, then I let them cook for the last 5 mins. Nice and melty!

More pics of the yummy!

Awwwwwwwwww Yeaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Recipes property of: Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.com) and Anonymous of cooks.com (http://www.cooks.com)

What does Blair do when she is home alone and the kitchen is fully stocked? She cooks!

When I was doing the family grocery shopping today I bought some wanton wrappers on a whim. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with them, but I figured I could come up with something pretty easily some night. Little did I know, that night would be tonight!

I was initially supposed to make Teriyaki Chicken and Garlic Noodles tonight, but those plans were canceled when my parents were invited out to dinner. So I decided to experiment! We had a lot of leftover cheese slices from last weekend’s father’s day sliders, and some ground turkey in the freezer that I had picked up last week but didn’t have any plans for. I was thinking I wanted to try something pot sticker inspired, but baked instead of fried to keep it healthy!

These glorious little guys were the result:

Ease of preparation: 3
Taste: 2
Feeds: 5-6

I ended up getting adventurous and making three variations on these. I made meat and cheese, bean and cheese, and meat and bean and cheese. They were all quite good, but my favorites were just meat and just bean. I think the best way to eat these is with a serving of salsa and sour cream to dip them in!

I would say that these are an interesting twist on mexican food night, and definitely worth a try! Kids would probably love them because they’re little enough to be fun, and they are WAY less messy than most other mexican food varieties! Plus if you do bean and cheese only these are a tasty vegetarian meal!

Baked Mexican Ravioli

Ingredients:
One package of wanton wrappers (typically found in the produce section)
1lb ground meat (beef or turkey, dealers choice!)
1 can refried beans (optional)
1 packet taco seasoning
8 cheddar cheese sandwich slices
salsa and sour cream, to garnish

Directions (see accompanying images below):
1. Pre-heat oven to 350, line a baking tray with tinfoil and lightly grease
2. Cook meat through, drain excess fat. Add taco seasoning and cook to seasoning’s specifications
3. Slice cheese into 6-7 triangles
4. Lay out wanton wrappers, top with cheese then a small spoonful meat/beans
5. Wet edges of wanton wrapper, press closed
6. Place on baking tray, repeat until tray is full
7. Bake for 5 minutes, turn raviolis over and bake 5 more minutes
8. Eat with salsa and sour cream! 

Helpful pictures!

STEP 3

STEP 4

STEP 5

STEP 6

STEP 7

yummy yummy yummy!

This recipe was one of my first that I devised myself. I wanted to do Mexican food for a Family Dinner night (Little Sister’s only request was “cheesy”), but I wanted to do something a little different than just ground beef tacos, etc. This came out even better than I hoped it would, and I have made it again since (for another Mexican night, Mmm!).

Picture courtesy of google, spoiler - not my crock pot, not my chicken, haha.

Ease of preparation: 1.5
Taste: 2.5
Feeds: lots. 6-8 people, maybe?

The Boyfriend really liked this one a lot, in fact he ate the leftovers straight, without a tortilla or chips or anything else. Everyone liked it, and it was very simple and relatively inexpensive for how many it feeds. Great with tortilla chips or in tacos or burritos. I served it with refried beans and saffron yellow rice.

Crock Pot Mexican Chicken

Ingredients:
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into 4ths or 8ths
1 packet taco seasoning (I use the less sodium kind)
1 large jar of salsa (however mild or hot you want)
1 bottle of taco sauce
Any other peppers or onions or anything you want to throw in there
Cheese, lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes, etc. to top chicken with in the end.

Directions:
1. Toss everything into the crock pot.
2. Stir it all together so it’s all mixed up and hunky dory
3. Set crock pot to high for 4-5 hours or low to 7-8 hours (or basically all day)
4. Using two big forks, stick them in the crock pot and use them to pull the chicken apart. It should be quite easy to do. The end result is essentially shredded chicken.
5. Stir it all up to make sure all the chicken is well covered in the sauce.
6. Serve in burritos or tacos or nachos or whatever! Yum!