Dorm Food

A few years ago, while attending a small Catholic university in the middle of Nowhere, Oklahoma, I began to experiment with cooking. It's actually when I really started to enjoy cooking. Senior year, my roommate decided to not have a meal plan. She never ate int he cafeteria, so why pay for it? As a way to avoid eating in the cafeteria as often as possible, I offered to do the cooking for her. She paid for the food, I chipped in when I could, and I cooked. We had some really awesome meals cooked in our microwave and various contraband cooking instruments (rice cooker, toaster, Express Cooker).

We ate cakes and muffins, fajitas and filet mignons, soups and chili. Thankfully we were smart and didn't advertise to everyone in our dorms what all the smells coming from our tiny room were otherwise we might have gotten in some serious trouble (see above with the contraband items). I still sometimes get a craving for red velvet cake made in the Express Cooker or Hamburger Helper made in the microwave. But by far, our favorite meal we ever made was White Chili.

Originally, the recipe came from the back of a can of beans. The brand no longer features that recipe on their cans so I had to improvise when I made this. I've since found the recipe on their site, but I think I like my version just a little better. It's considerably better for you then the version we used to eat in college (canned chicken, anyone?). We always topped ours with cheese, sour cream, and Frito chips, but feel free to use whatever toppings you like. I'm guessing freshly sliced avocados would actually be really good with this one. Enjoy!

White Chili
Recipe inspired by Bush's Beans

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 can (4-ounces) chopped green chilies
1 can chopped jalapenos (this is optional and depends on your preferred heat level; I used the whole can cause I love spicy food, but definitely cut it back to half if you use any at all if you're not so big on spicy)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 cans (16 ounces) BUSH'S BEST Great Northern Beans (the original recipe called for Navy beans, and that's what I use)
1 can (14.5 ounces) chicken broth
1 ½ cups finely chopped cooked chicken breast (about 4-5 breasts should do it)
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese (optional)
Sour cream (optional)
Salsa (optional)

1. In large skillet, cook onion in oil for 4 minutes or until transparent. Add chilies, flour and cumin; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add beans and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened. Add chicken; cook until hot.
2. Garnish with cheese, sour cream and salsa, if desired.

Aye Carumba...

I'm sorry. I know that I said that I'd post this several days ago, but I keep passing out. You see, my dr. gave me this great medicine for morning sickness that also puts you to sleep. My new best friend is phenergan, and it is amazing. I don't feel sick, and I get to sleep all night. Anyway, I'm sorry again. And just to make it up to you, here is a picture of my latest sonogram. The baby is growing!!! 2 inches, people! Or 5cm for those of you across the pond.

I made this meal last Monday night after a really rough day at work. It had popped up on All Recipes main page as the recipe of the day and looked too tasty to pass up. Of course, because the original featured chicken, which I can't stomach at the moment, I substituted fajita steak. It was delicious! I really can't wait to start liking chicken again because I'm sure it'll be even better.

There were a couple of other changes made. We diced the onion and pepper instead of left them as strips. I used monterey jack instead of cheddar. I also used a full loaf of bread, sliced it down the middle, and put all the toppings across the two halves instead of cutting the bread into individual pieces. It actually worked out pretty well that way but was kind of messy when we went to cut it into individual slices. If none of that sold you on trying it out, then keep in mind that my hubby ate four pieces. He loved it.

Steak Fajita Melts
Recipe from All Recipes, adapted by me

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, thinly sliced/1 lb fajita steak (obviously I used steak, but I wanted you to be able to have the option of chicken if you so chose)
1/2 cup sliced onions
1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper
1/2 cup tomato juice
2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix (that's one packet, roughly)
1 cup salsa (we didn't use this because I didn't know that I didn't have any on hand so I hadn't bought any)
8 (1/2 inch thick) slices French bread
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (use any cheese you like here)

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken/steak, and cook and stir until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the sliced onions and red peppers, and cook and stir for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the tomato juice and taco seasoning, and mix well. Cook mixture until the juice has thickened and the chicken/steak is well coated with sauce, about an additional 7 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source.
4. Spread 2 tablespoons of salsa over each slice of French bread. Evenly spoon the chicken mixture on top of the salsa topped bread. Sprinkle each sandwich with 1/4 cup Cheddar cheese.
5. Place sandwiches under the preheated broiler and cook for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

Chile Rellenos: A Tutorial

A few weekends ago, I was at my cousin's house. She has begged me to make her chile rellenos like she grew up eating in Colorado. Smothered in green sauce and stuffed with queso blanco (white cheese, I used Monterey Jack because I couldn't find authentic Mexican cheese at the particular store I went to; they can also be stuffed with meat), chile rellenos are actually pretty simple to make. The problem is that they can be time consuming.

Look at that sweet little thing, helping her auntie Nina

You have to roast the peppers and then let them sweat til they're cool enough to handle to get the skin off. Then you have to remove the seeds without completely tearing the chiles apart. Stuff them with cheese, dredge them in flour, and then coat them with a puffy batter. Fry 'em up and keep them warm while making a sauce for them. I'd rather just go to a Mexican restaurant and little the abuelita make them for me. Anything I make isn't going to be nearly as good as an actual Mexican grandma's rellenos.

Boy was I wrong! These things were fantastic! And well worth the trouble. My only complaint was that I had to use about 100 toothpicks to keep them together before battering and frying them. It was my own fault for not being extremely gentle with the roasted peppers though. Next time, I might not even remove the seeds since that's what gives them the heat. Unfortunately, I forgot to make sauce to put over the top so it wasn't exactly what my poor cousin had wanted, but she still loved it. We ate them so fast, I wasn't able to get a picture of the finished meal on a plate. We had the chiles with refried beans and flour tortillas, but next time I'll do some cilantro-lime rice, black beans, and corn tortillas. Enjoy!

Chile Rellenos

6 poblano chiles (figure about 2 for each person)
A block of white, melting cheese, cut into 1-inch rectangles (Oaxaca or Chihuahua are preferred, but Monterey Jack or even just plain queso blanco work well too; no hard cheeses)
Flour
3 eggs, separated (you want one egg for every 2 peppers)
Salt
Vegetable oil

1. Preheat broiler. Wash and dry your chiles. Place on a baking sheet and put on the top rack of your oven. Allow to broil until the skin is blackened on one side, about 8 minutes. Turn chiles over and cook until the other side is blackened. Remove from oven and place the chiles in a ziplock bag. Allow to sweat for approximately 30 minutes or until cool enough to handle (alternatively, you can use the flame on your gas stove or you BBQ grill; it's quicker and won't cook the peppers all the way through).
2. Cut a slit near the top of each pepper and remove the seeds and the white pith (it's easiest to cut all the way through one side, but then you'll have to use toothpicks to close it back up). Stuff the pepper with two or three pieces of cheese (you want enough cheese to make it full, but not so much that the pepper won't stay in tact). Dredge the chiles through the flour making sure all sides have been evenly coated. Shake off any excess and set aside.
3. To prepare the batter: whip the egg white to stiff peaks. Whisk the yolks with a pinch or two of salt ad then slowly mix in with the egg whites (you should have a very fluffy, light yellow batter; use it quickly as it will begin to breakdown and become runny pretty quickly).
4. In a large frying pan, heat the oil until very hot. Coat on chile at a time int he batter and place in the hot oil (my pan was able to hold two peppers at a time so I cooked one side of the first one, and when it was time to turn it over, I added the second one; this made the process go by pretty quickly). Allow to cook until the first side is golden brown. Turn and cook the next side. Remove to plate with paper towels to drain (feel free to stick them in a lightly wamred oven to keep them warm depending on how many chiles you're cooking). Serve with your favorite chile sauce.

What Do You Call This Thing?

Lately I've been feeling extremely tired. I don't know if I'm getting too much sleep or if it's because I've been eating too much rice. Tonight's meal certainly didn't help. I actually got this recipe from my sister who used to make this all the time for me when she lived with me. Nobody really knows what to call it. I just tell people that it's basically an enchilada bowl. White rice, black beans, chicken, enchilada sauce, and shredded cheese come together to make an easy and tasty dinner.

I bought the wrong enchilada sauce tonight which made it a more bland than I would have liked (silly mild masquerading as the hot). I also put way more cheese on it than normal, but that's because I had way too much shredded cheese lurking in my fridge that was gonna go bad (and that I kept digging into...WHAT??? Don't judge me). I'm off to slip into a food-induced coma. Please enjoy!

Chicken Enchilada Bowl
Recipe by Honey Mim

1-1/2 cups rice, uncooked
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
1 small can red enchilada sauce (we use Old El Paso's hot)
1 can black beans (sorry I forgot to check the size for this and the sauce; just use a small can)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or use one the fiesta/Mexican blends available at the grocery store)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Meanwhile get the rice cooking in a medium-sized pot (remember: 1 part rice to 2 parts water so 3 cups in this case). Bring to a boil while covered, lower heat and allow to simmer about 10-15 minutes until tender and no liquid remains.
2. Cook chicken chunks with the enchilada sauce in a medium-sized pan until chunks are completely white and fully cooked, about 10 minutes.
3. In an oven-safe baking dish, layer the rice on the bottom. Add the can of beans on top of the rice and spread out then add the chicken and enchilada sauce. Spread the chicken mixture evenly and top with the cheese.
4. Place int he oven and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is hot and bubbly.

Simple Meal Monday

So I just spent half an hour on this post and Blogger deleted it. I'll try again later.

Here we go again, round two. I had every intention of posting this yesterday but got distracted by other things (namely a hot bath because I smelled from running). Then I planned to post it this morning, but we all know how that turned out. Anyway, I title this post Simple Meal Monday because it truly is one of the easiest meals you can make.



In my family, we call them taco pockets (it's exactly what it sounds like). It's based off a recipe for Taco Ring from Pampered Chef that I had tried at one my mom's PC parties that she hosted years ago. We've been hooked ever since, but it's a bit time consuming to do the ring. That's how the pockets came around (I'm sure others have done this too). It only requires four ingredients, one of which isn't necessary. It can also be altered and suited to your own family's tastes. Enjoy!


Taco Pockets

Recipe adapted from Pampered Chef

1 lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
2 tubes crescent rolls
Shredded cheese (amount depends on how much you like; we love a lot but others could do without).

1. Preheat oven according to crescent roll package. In a medium-sized pan, brown the ground beef. Drain and add taco seasoning and any other ingredients the package calls for (mine called for 3/4 cup water). Bring to a boil and simmer until the juice has been soaked up by the meat.
2. Open crescent roll packages and place crescents on a baking sheet. Do not separate (you want a package of 8 crescents to make 4 rectangles). Place about 3 Tbl of the meat on one side of the rectangle. Top with cheese. Fold the rectangle over and pinch the sides closed.
3. Place in the preheated oven and cook according to the crescent roll package.

Thanks to PB Swirl and Meg for your words of encouragement. I really appreciate it.