​Breakfast Veggie Quesadill

Sometimes I just find a recipe out there I really like and repost it :D This is one of them, and this is where you can find it (2) Facebook

Ingredients:

1 ​Tomato, sliced

Handfull ​Spinach, chopped

2~3 ​Eggs, whisked with salt & red pepper flakes

1 ​Flour tortilla

​Red onion, sliced

Handfull ​Shredded mozzarella cheese

​Chili oil (or your favorite hot sauce)

​Fresh herbs (optional garnish)

​Instructions:

​Sauté Tomatoes: Heat a pan over medium heat with a little oil. Add the tomato slices and cook until slightly softened.

​Add Greens: Add the chopped spinach to the pan over the tomatoes.

​Pour Eggs: Pour the whisked eggs (seasoned with red pepper flakes) over the tomatoes and spinach.

​Add Tortilla: Place a flour tortilla directly on top of the cooking eggs. Press down gently to help the egg adhere to the tortilla.

​Flip: Once the eggs are set, carefully flip the tortilla and egg mixture together.

​Add Toppings: On the cooked egg side, layer on the red onion slices, shredded mozzarella, and a drizzle of chili oil.

​Fold and Melt: Fold the tortilla in half like a quesadilla. Continue to cook until the cheese is melted and the tortilla is golden brown.

​Serve: Remove from the pan, slice in half, and garnish with fresh herbs if desired.

CookieandKate's Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

I found this recipe on the net when we'd purchased an artisan pumpkin marinara from Wegmans' and as delicious as it is the price was a bit high for my budget. It got me to thinking, as I read the ingredient label, that I realized I was sure I could make this for less.

Meet CookieandKate's Pumpkin Pasta Marinara

https://cookieandkate.com/creamy-pumpkin-marinara-recipe/

This recipe was easy and fast and that was the first time around! I will be doing this again but in the meantime let me share the things I DID to make it the way we loved it :D

INGREDIENTS:
 
    * 2   Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    * 1    Yellow onion, chopped
    * 1    Red bell pepper, chopped
    * 1/2 Teaspoon

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped ( i forgot the peppers lol)
• ½ teaspoon salt, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced ( i used jarred minced)
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon dried tarragon ( i used basil)
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 can (15 ounces) diced or crushed tomatoes
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin purée
• 1 to 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 to 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Finely grated Parmesan and chopped fresh parsley, for garnish (both optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once it’s shimmering, add the onion, bell pepper and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onions and pepper are very tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, oregano, tarragon, and cinnamon. While stirring, cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for 1 minute, while stirring. Add the pumpkin purée and stir to combine. Continue simmering for 5 minutes, then remove it from the heat.
3. Carefully transfer the mixture to your blender. Add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 teaspoon vinegar. Blend until very smooth and creamy.
4. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper and additional salt (I usually add another ¼ teaspoon salt). For a more luxurious sauce, add another tablespoon of butter, or for more tangy complexity, add another teaspoon of vinegar. Blend to combine.
5. Stir into warm pasta. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan and chopped parsley on top.

NOTES

MAKE IT DAIRY FREE/VEGAN: Omit the butter or blend in olive oil instead. Use vegan parmesan or omit it.

MAKE IT GLUTEN FREE: This sauce is gluten free. Just serve it over gluten-free pasta.

VEGETARIAN STUFFED PEPPERS

 

2 green bell peppers  

½ red bell pepper, diced 

1 pkg riced cauliflower 

1 pkg Don’t Have a Cow (meatless beef style crumbles) 

1 can black beans, drained 

1 c. frozen corn 

½ onion, diced 

Siracha to taste (for heat, can use also cayenne) 

Taco sauce of choice (we used Ortega. Mild) 

Garlic powder 

Onion powder (if desired) 

Cumin 

Dark chili powder (can use any kind of chili powder, we prefer dark) 

Salt 

Pepper 

Lime juice, to taste 

Mexican style shredded cheese (8 oz bag is enough) 

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

1. Slice the top of the green peppers off and remove the interior of seeds and pith. Dice up the pepper from the stem, add to the red diced pepper and microwave, medium to soften. Set it aside. 

2. In small pan, boil water to cover peppers and place them in the boiling water to par cook. About 5-10 minutes depending on desired ‘par cookedness’. Place in a baking dish lined with parchment paper (for easy cleanup).  

3. Heat the cauliflower per directions. 

4. Heat the crumbles per directions. 

5. In a large bowl, mix everything together except cheese and taco sauce.  

6. Now you can add the sauce, mix 

7. Add cheese for binding, eyeballing the amount. 

8. I microwaved all of this to warm it up before stuffing my peppers 

9. Stuff peppers, top with sauce and cheese  

10. Bake 20 minutes  

 

I set the pepper in a pasta bowl, sliced it right down the middle and laid it open and slid the cheese to the top then piled more cheese overall. Pair with Wegmans brand Xochitl chips or you can use any tortilla chip you like.

You have left over stuffing? So did I! We used it for appetizer and scooped it up with chips which makes this a great appetizer dip as well as stuffed peppers! 

Bon apetit!

 

Spood Life

 Day one. Three weeks ago. I am in the kitchen when I got home from work, taking off my shoes when I see it. I was looking at the clock and above it was a small black spot. I knew exactly what it was, glanced at my husband, Bill, wondering if he caught where I was looking and hoping he didn't. 

It was a small baby jumping spider that, I'm guessing, crawled up out of the elephant plant sitting on the stool below that had been outside all summer long. 

Had him in a small enclosure for a bit until he accidentally got loose into the abyss that is my crafting room. He disappeared. :( 

Fast forward two weeks, where upon my husband, when I got home from work frantically beckoned me to the basement to show me what he'd found. The window down there was covered with plastic film for the cold months to keep cold out, but inside that between the plastic film and the window was a bold jumping spider! 

We rescued him, I placed him in an enclosure I had already set up for that day I might get a jumping spider. That day was now. 

Two days later, my husband, Bill, texts me at work, "you're never going to guess what I found!" I figured it was the baby sling escapee. I come home and he's caught another jumping spider from the basement at the OTHER window! My poor hubby, who is scared of spiders (not as terrified as he used to be) caught this guy by himself. When I got home, he was in a deli cup, inside a plastic bowl with a jar on top of it. Just in case the spider was super strong and could pop the deli cup lid off 😅

So, to update: Here it is almost May and I still have the two of them, Onyx (the first caught) and Fang the one he caught all on his own.