If you couldn't tell, my life has been hectic! Summer always involves many get-togethers, barbeques, and in my family's case birthdays. Very little of this involves me cooking things, let alone eating my own creations. And I still have to try to be good when eating elsewhere. Its very tiring!
In an effort to relax, I treated my mama to a spa weekend this last weekend. She'll be 55 this month (sorry Ma)! And she'd never treat herself to anything so impractical...so I must do it for her. We each had a detoxifying jacuzzi bath, a seaweed body treatment, massages, facials, and a hot stone sinus treatment. And that was just Saturday...phew! Sunday we were up bright and early for manicures and pedicures. Should have been super relaxed and rested by Sunday afternoon right? Sadly, no. For one, when you've become accustomed to sleeping next to a man-shaped space heater (AKA Hubby) for 9 years, it is very difficult to sleep in a large King bed all by yourself. And second, it took us 3 hours, THREE HOURS, to go approximately 30 miles from Breckenridge to Idaho Springs Sunday afternoon. We were a little tense by the time we cleared that hurdle. And it meant that I got to sit down for all of 20 minutes when I got home, before I had to whisk off to Hubby's back to back soccer games. By the time we got home, got Pixie bathed and into bed, ate, and had our own shower, it was 11:30 PM! How did that even happen?! So now...all this week I have felt that I am playing sleep catch-up. Not a great feeling.
Anywho....I have managed to cook a couple of times this week, and I think you'll like it!!
Monday night I experimented, and came up with a Quesadilla Casserole. It was quick, easy, and cheap to buy ingredients for!! If you are feeling lazy, or don't care about Paleo, you can substitute the homemade tortillas for regular store-bought ones.
Quesadilla Casserole
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried minced garlic
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
16 oz tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (4 1/2 oz) green chilies, undrained
6 tortillas (in my Archive...or the lazy way as noted above)
2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese
Directions:
Brown beef and onion in a large skillet on medium-high. Add tomato sauce, beans, and green chilies. Mix well.
Stir in all of the spices except the red pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat low and simmer 5 minutes. Add red pepper to taste if desired.
Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 9x13 pan (sprayed with non-stick spray). Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed. Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef and cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Then tonight, I made an old favorite - that was once an experiment itself. I call it Cheesy Stuffed Chicken. It is not always the prettiest thing, but it tastes so so good...and you can tweak it all sorts of ways too!
Cheesy Stuffed Chicken
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts (or 1 breast per person)
8 oz. flavored cream cheese of choice (I used Garden Vegetable)
1 1/2 cup fresh spinach, loosely packed
1/2 medium white onion, thinly sliced
1/3 C. milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Slit chicken down the middle longways, making a pocket. Careful not to cut all the way through.
In a medium oven-proof skillet, over medium heat, cook chicken until about half done, 5-6 minutes each side (depending on thickness).
In the meantime, heat milk in a pot over medium-low heat. When warm, add the cream cheese in pieces, letting each bit melt before adding another. Once all cheese is melted in, add spinach and onion and cook, until spinach is sufficiantly wilted. Make sure veggies are mixed in really well.
Separate 2/3 of this cheese sauce from the rest. Stuff into chicken breasts.
Return chicken to pan, and place in oven to cook the remainder of the way; again, about 5-6 minutes each side.
When chicken is fully cooked, place on plate and top with 1/2 remaining cheese sauce.
I serve with steamed veggies of choice (whatever I have hanging around), maybe topped with more of the sauce.
FYI...really zoomed in pics is what you get when Hubby takes them...lol
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