Monday night: California Tortilla - yum!

Tuesday night: pan fried potatoes with onion, garlic, and collard greens.

Wednesday night: sauteed garlic, carrot sticks, onions, mushrooms over brown rice, with a fried egg. Topped with your choice of sesame oil, gomasio, tamari, sriracha, chili paste.

Thursday night: avocado-chickpea tacos with homemade tortillas. Topped with cheese, sour cream, salsa, and a squeeze of lime.

Quick, easy, and so much tastier than anything you can buy in the store, homemade tortillas form the basis of many quick-and-easy meals around here. That tortilla press, added to the wedding registry on a whim? Best.Decision.Ever. Seriously.

Avocado and chickpea tacos made based on this recipe from Vegetarian Times.

Fresh From the Freezer

After a late night return from the mountains on Saturday and a day playing tour guide on Sunday an easy dinner pulled out of the freezer - butternut squash and swiss chard lasagna with steamed broccoli.

Butternut Squash and Swiss Chard Lasagna. This was much better after a couple months in the freezer, allowing the flavors to mingle and deepen. However, I would have undercooked the gluten free noodles even more than I had. They were a little mushy, not too mushy, but mushier than I would have liked. I wonder if I can leave the noodles uncooked? Would they cook enough in the water given off by the squash or would they end up crunchy surrounded by dry filling?

Chili Night at the G's B&B

Carried out in an effort to fill the G’s freezer.

Beef chili made with one box of Carrol Shelby Chili Mix. Served with Fritos, shredded cheddar, diced green onions, cilantro, avocado, and sour cream.

We even documented the different ways we all composed our chili bowls.

We also made Giada’s White Bean and Chicken Chili. Made with only one pound of chicken, instead of two; without a few spices (fennel seed, cumin); and with the addition of two bay leaves. Served with avocado, parmesan, cilantro.

No pictures of the white bean and chicken chili, but it was delicious.

We also made simple roast chicken and potatoes one night and chicken enchiladas another.

The final freezer tally for the week included:

1 pan chicken enchiladas,

3 2-cup bowls of beef chili,

3 2-cup bowls of chicken and white bean chili,

3 cups shredded chicken (for making Southwest King Ranch casserole),

as well as 2 containers mashed potatoes, 2 containers chicken Marbella, and one container green beans left in the fridge. Phew. At least she'll be eating well for the next month or so!

Chicken Marbella

We’ve eaten this dish before, but hadn’t cooked it until recently. We made it for company while visiting family. I knew it was easy, but was impressed at just how easy it was (and it still turned out great, even cooking at almost 10,000 feet!)

Marinade made the night before (measurements loosely followed, until it looked “right”). Chicken baked at 380 for about 50 minutes. Served with simple mashed potatoes (butter, milk) and green beans sautéed with garlic, onion, and topped with a squeeze of lemon.

Sausage and Potatoes with Spinach (Or, Cleaning Out the Fridge Before a Trip)

An improvised dinner, the likes of which we’ve been making for awhile. I don’t remember where we first saw this idea, but it’s a good one, with lots of variations.

2 medium potatoes

2 spicy Italian Chicken sausages (from freezer), sliced in rings

last of a bit of onion in the fridge

last 3 mushrooms from the fridge

Brown potatoes with a bit of olive oil. Remove to a bowl, brown sausage. Remove to a bowl, sauté onion and mushrooms until soft. Add back to pan potatoes and sausage, and stir in the spinach. Cook until wilted, and season as needed with salt and pepper.

Somehow, I forgot the garlic. We didn’t this time, but it’s also delicious with an over-easy or runny fried egg on top and/or topped with sriracha (or other hot sauce).

Mexican Eggs

A quick and easy dinner, made of things we usually have on hand.

Serious Eats recipe for Mexican Eggs

We served it with a can of Whole Foods refried pinto beans with chili and lime, roasted potatoes with a dash of cayenne, and lots of cheese, cilantro, tomatoes, and sour cream. I have to try and remember that those refried beans are not spicy, even though the label says they are.

No photo, because we had company over.

Guess who has the coolest insulated lunch bag in town?

This post is a little late, as this was a Christmas present from the husband.