Melissa's Cooking!

This is my first attempt at making enchiladas. I had no idea how easy these were to make and they turned out to be really delicious. Nothing too out there, as far as how spicy they were or with any extra veggies or meat added…which leaves lots of room to experiment next time!

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• Grapeseed oil (or another high smoke-point oil such as peanut or canola oil)
• 6-8 whole wheat 12-inch tortillas
• 2 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup of salsa (Choose your spiciness! I used medium…)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup of canned crushed tomatoes (preferably fire roasted)
• Olive oil
• 1 lb of jack cheese
• sour cream (garnish)
• cilantro (garnish)
• guacamole (garnish) Whole foods has absolutely wonderful guacamole that they make in the store there that I highly recommend.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large fry pan at high heat add 3 Tbsp of grapeseed oil. Add a tortilla to the pan. Cook for 2-3 seconds, lift up the tortilla with a spatula, add another tortilla underneath. Cook for 2-3 seconds, lift again, both tortillas, and add another tortilla underneath. Repeat the process with all the tortillas, adding a little more oil if needed. This way you can brown and soften the tortillas without using a lot of fat. You do this process to develop the flavor of the tortillas. As the tortillas brown a little, remove from the pan one by one to rest on a paper towel, which absorbs any excess fat.

I used the same pan I had just used for browning the tortillas. Sauté up the chopped onion and garlic, then turn off the heat. Add 1 cup of salsa. Dissolve 3 Tbsp of tomato paste into 1 cup of water, add to pan. Add 1 cup of crushed fire roasted canned tomatoes.

Put some olive oil on the bottom of a large casserole pan. Take a tortilla, cover 2/3 of it lightly with the shredded cheese, then roll up the tortilla and place it in the casserole pan. Continue until all tortillas are filled and rolled. Add sauce to the top of the tortillas in the the casserole pan. Make sure all are covered with the sauce. If not, add a little water. Cover the whole thing with the rest of the grated cheese. Put the casserole in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Garnish with cilantro, sour cream and/or guacamole. Enjoy!

This will be plenty for a family, but  if it’s just for the 2 of you, it should last for 2 dinners and a lunch, at least. 

With the sweet potatoes and apple cider stewed together with the juicy diced tomatoes and veggie broth, and with the addition of Italian sausage, it seriously tastes what Fall should taste like. A bit on the sweeter side, but again, very seasonal and delicious. I found this recipe online, made my own adjustments and it turned out to be super yummy. Needs a tad of tweaking, but what I made is quite good!

Again, like the Burger Soup, feel free to use animal sausage…but I used the Field Roast Grain Meat Italian Sausages…which added a nice flavor to the overall soup.

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• 1 box of Veggie Broth (4 cups)
• 1-28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of black beans
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1.5 tsp of cumin
• 2 tsp of paprika
• 1.5 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of pepper
• 1 package of Field Roast Grain Meat Italian Sausages (or 1 lb of lean ground beef or turkey)
•1 large (or 2 small) sweet potatoes chopped in small cubes)
• 2 cups apple cider

Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes…Enjoy!

Note: This is plenty for a family of 4 to 6, but if it’s just the 2 of you, you will have enough for lunch and dinner the next day

This recipe is SO good on a chilly fall or winter day. It’s a slow cooker recipe so you can prepare everything early in the day, and then enjoy it hassle-free with some yummy gourmet bread in the evening. That’s what we did Sunday

So the original recipe I found called for 1 pound of lean ground beef…so if you like ground beef, by all means, use lean ground beef (but please make sure it’s from a happy cow that once roamed the open fields and was fed yummy grass and not yucky corn products, okay?) Same goes if you’d prefer to use lean ground turkey meat, which is what we used before I went total vegetarian. NOW I use Field Roast Grain Meat Italian Sausages. I cut/dice up the sausages small enough for it to seem like burger meat. And the flavoring of the Italian sausage is simply perfect for this soup!

Also, I’ve diverted from the original recipe quite enough, that I feel like it’s almost my own, so I will give you the details of what ingredients I used instead of what they call for. I use more whole ingredients than what they suggested anyway, which is totally better for you

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• 1 package of Field Roast Grain Meat Italian Sausages (or 1 lb of lean ground beef or turkey)
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 green bell pepper chopped
• 1 TBS of Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1/4 tsp of black pepper
• 3 cups of boiling water
• 1 – 16 oz can of italian seasoned diced tomatoes
• 1 – 8 oz can of tomato sauce
• 2 TBS of soy sauce (reduced-sodium)
• 1 cup of sliced celery
• 1 cup of thinly sliced carrots
• 2 cups of cooked macaroni
• 1/4 grated parmesan cheese

Crumble up your sausage or ground meat and heat it up on the stove. (Please make sure you brown the beef/turkey. This particular sausage is already precooked. I just heat it up to put heated sausage in the stew pot.) Chop up your vegetables.

Add your ‘meat,’ onion, garlic, bell pepper, italian seasonings, salt and pepper to slow cooker. Stir in the boiling water, tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce and soy sauce. Add celery and carrots.

Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. (Set timer!)

About a 45 minutes before you want to eat, cook up your macaroni. Increase your stew pot heat to HIGH and stir in your cooked macaroni and Parmesan cheese. Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes more.

Dish some soup into your bowl, shread some more Parmesan cheese on top, serve with a side of sliced gourmet bread and enjoy! Oh, and this is plenty for a family of 4 to 6, but if it’s just the 2 of you, you will have enough for lunch and dinner the next day

This is a favorite and easy recipe to make during this awesome season of Fall. (I love Fall! I couldn’t imagine being anywhere that doesn’t get to enjoy the colorful leaves and crisp cool days…)

Anyway, in addition to random days making this, I made this dish last year for my family’s Thanksgiving dinner and for a Fall Harvest potluck we just went to over the weekend.

Ingredients include:
(Make sure you try to use all organic!)
• 1 (2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 cups couscous
• 1 1/3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries (I used Eden Organic Dried Cranberries.)
• 1/2 cup pecans, toasted (I didn’t use in case people would be allergic to nuts.)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley (I used dried organic parsley.)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine butternut squash, onion, olive oil, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until squash and onion brown slightly, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool.

Combine squash and onion mixture, veggie broth, butter and cranberries in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add couscous and cover. Take from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in pecans and parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. Fluff with a fork and serve.

There will be plenty for a family gathering or expect to have leftovers if it’s just a couple people eating.