New Recipe. . . . It's a Winner!

I tried one of my new recipes over the weekend, Mexican casserole, it was a big hit with the hubbs.  I used a recipe off of Pinterest but I tweaked it and made it my own.  I always like to tweak recipes to fit my taste and of course fit what I have in my cabinets.  No sense making extra trips to the grocery store.  This recipe is quite versatile and could be a dip, casserole or even used as a filling in an enchilada.  I have some left overs so I think I may try the enchilada option for work this next week.
Here is what I used to make Mexican Casserole:
2 cans black beans
1 can Mexican corn
1 can sweet yellow corn
1 cup rice (I used basamati brown rice) cooked
1 can rotel tomatoes
1 can enchilada sauce
1 lime juiced and zested
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 small sweet orange peppers chopped
2 sweet red peppers chopped
1 jalapeno seeded and chopped
1/2 block cream cheese,
3 tsp cumin
1 tsp caynne
2tbsp cilantro

cheese and sour cream to serve

Put olive oil in bottom of dutch oven and saute garlic, then add peppers and saute,  6 minutes then add corn and black beans, rotel tomatoes, enchilada sauce, and stir and cook on medium 10-15 minutes, add your seasonings, rice and lime juice, then add your cream cheese and cover.   I add my lime zest last stir and serve with cheese sour cream and chips or use it for enchilada filling.

This is the middle of the process of cooking this casserole 

This is the end result and it was yummy

We will have this again. 

What's Cooking. . . .

The Salmon last night was great!  It was even very good for lunch today.  The couscous recipe was from my new cook book and the lemon aoli was from pinterest.  Fixed another couscous recipe tonight for dinner, it was actually a mish mash of two different recipes that had a Moroccan flavor.  I really like this pearl couscous, it is larger than the traditional couscous that comes to mind.  I am also using the whole wheat couscous trying to keep it healthy.  The pearl couscous is a larger kernel than traditional. 
Here is my mish mash recipe for Moroccan couscous:
1/4 cup olive oil
2tbs balsamic vinegar
2 cups pearl couscous
2 cloves minced garlic
2 small red peppers chopped
2 green onions chopped
Mozzarella cheese cubed
2 bay leaves
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup water


Boil 1 cup chicken broth, 1 cup water and a splash of olive oil and 2 bay leaves,  after boil add couscous remove from heat and  cover for 15 minutes, 
mix together:  vinegar, oil, garlic and pour over couscous then add onion and pepper and cheese and toss and refrigerate.
I used Mozzarella instead of Feta. I do not particularly care for Feta cheese and I did not have any on hand. 
 Here is a picture of my lunch today with my Salmon and the other couscous from last night:

It was just as good as it was last night.  

I also made pumpkin muffins tonight, they were a little bland, I think it could use a little more spice maybe.  I am freezing some of them since I am the only one that will eat them.  Stay tuned for more recipe updates as I continue the "Real Food" adventure.                                                                                                                                                   

This and That. . . Random. . .

I started looking for a good planner/calendar to keep up with the kids schedule, the hubbs schedule, and my own schedule.   I, of course went to Pinterest to see what everyone else was using.  I found this thing called the bullet journal.  I was intrigued by it because you kind of created your own as you went.  I started this one with a notebook I had laying around the house, nothing fancy.  There are videos on how to set this up, like I said you can structure this one to fit your lifestyle and needs.  I am a fly by the seat of my pants kinda girl anyway so this really fit me.  I have been using mine for almost a month now and I have really been able to stay on top of everyone's appointments.   It has a place to write in a daily log what has been going on and it also has a spot for journal entries.  I love keeping a journal and I have a prayer journal that I keep but this journal is more about day to day things random thoughts and feelings.  I also have a blog section where I write blog topics that I might want to write on.  I do come across things during the day and think hmmmm, I might want to write on that later.  I have added a page dedicated to the things I love.  This is where I write down things that I love, just random words or thoughts.  You know that my journal/planner would not be complete without a section dedicated to saving money and keeping track of spending and saving.   So I have a couple pages dedicated to financial stuff.   I have days 1-15 listed and out beside the day I write down what bills are due, an average amount for that bill, and if it is something that is an automatic draft I make a note of that too.  On the next page I have the days 16-31 and I write out the bills that are due on those days.  This is really helpful when budgeting your paycheck, if you get paid twice a month.  I believe in keeping things simple and there is no reason to re-invent the wheel.  I found this on Pinterest and have adapted it to fit me.  This bullet journal gives you a jumping off spot to get you started keeping a journal as well as a calendar.  I mentioned above about my page dedicated to the things I love, the picture below is on the opposite page of my "my loves" page.  This is a drawing that Big T did for a poster at school.  It is the Campbell camel, my Alma mater.

What's in the Pot?

I love Pinterest.  I have found some really cool things on there.  I have pinned many slow cooker recipes and I decided yesterday I would put my new pot to good use.  I searched my pins for something yummy that was not chicken.  My poor family has eaten so much chicken lately.   I found a good one for beef tips and gravy.  I altered it just a bit and it turned out to be the best beef strogenoff (? Sp)   My mom used to make that when I was little.  I was a terribly picky eater so I did not eat the meat, only the noodles and gravy.  It was years later before I could eat it like you are supposed to. 
So here is my recipe for what we had tonight which, according to Sprat, was amazing.   Stopped by our local meat market and picked up 2lbs of beef tips, 1 can cream of mushroom soup,  16 oz of beef broth, 1pkg lipton onion soup put this in the crockpot  for 6 hours on high.  Once you are close to your time to eat you can start the gravy.  2tbs butter melted then add 2tbs flour, when your flour is mixed well woth the butter slowly add 2 cups of beef broth.  After the gravy is cooking slowly start your water for the noodles.  I served my beef tips over the noodles with the gravy over the top.   This taste just like I remember mom's.