Breakfast Tostadas

In the mood for something different for breakfast? This is a little something I cooked up back in May, I took pictures of it, then forgot to blog about it.  This was actually for Cinco De Mayo and it was so good, I will not be waiting for May 5 to come around to eat it again!

Here's what you'll need:
1 small onion
1/2 Green Bell Pepper
1 Clove of Garlic
1/2 Can of Corn (Drained)
1/2 Can of Black Beans (rinsed)
1 Can of Tomatoes/Green Chilis
1 packet of Sazón Goya
1/2 lime (optional)
1 avacado (optional)
Tostada Shells
4 eggs (optional, but highly recommended - 1 egg per tostada)
Fresh Cilantro

Start by Sauteing the Onion, Garlic and Pepper

Once tender, add in the Corn, Black Beans, Tomatoes and Chilis

Next, add the Sazón Goya

Continue to cook until everything is done.  While it is cooking, get out another skillet and cook up some eggs any way you like it.  We use Fisher Eggs from Fisher Farms right here in Oklahoma, I've never tasted a better egg in my life.

For Michelle, I scrambled her eggs (1 egg per tostada) I did one scrambled and one fried.  There's something wonderful about a fried egg over this mixture (if you like fried eggs, it's a must try) Top it off with fresh salsa (another blog post coming soon), avocado and fresh cilantro.  Enjoy!

My Favorite Meal

Falafels have become one of my favorite meals to make at home.  They are healthy, tasty and just so good! I decided I wanted to try something a little extra I'll show you at the end of the post.  Today was a good day minus all the tragedy over in Joplin. It's so crazy to think about! We drive through there quite a bit when we go to Branson, so to see what you see on TV just doesn't seem real.  May God's presence be seen through this calamity.  We truly are blessed to have a home where we can make food, stay warm/cool and dry.  I write this laying on my bed just listening to the thunder roll and the rain drops fall. So relaxing.

So here is the deal with the felafels, let's get started! Super easy! You will need:
Pita Bread
1 can Chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
3 tsp Fresh Parsley
1 tsp Lemon Juice
3 cloves Garlic
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Coriander
1 tspBaking Powder
1 tsp Flour
2 tsp Olive Oil

Sauce:
1 small container Greek Yogurt (Plain)
2 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
10 Peppercorns


Put the can of chickpeas in a food processor (Drain them first) get them as mashed up as possible. Put them in a mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients.  Form them into little patties. You want them to be firm, but not dry, so make sure you have that consistency. It makes 8 patties all together.

Michelle is a hater on frying things, so we bake everything... lame but healthy. (I've been begging for a fry daddy for 3 years...) These are just fine baked.  Heat your oven to 375 and place these patties on a greased baking sheet and bake them for about 20-25 minutes, flipping half way through.

Have some toppings as well. Tomatoes, Spinach, Cucumbers, Hummus, Red Onion, whatever sounds good on it.

The sauce is simple but you will need a mortar and pestle for the best tasting sauce.  This was my own recipe, so change it if you must.  Take the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and peppercorns and put them in a heated skillet on the stove.  Keep them moving around, you want them to warm up so you can smell the fragrance. DO NOT OVERCOOK them.  A few of the seeds will start jumping and popping, that's about the time I removed them from the skillet and put them in the mortar. (this was a gift from the Dominican Republic SDA Union Office, otherwise we probably wouldn't have one) Anyways, grind these seeds up and put about half of the mixture in with the yogurt and mix well. That's it! Easy!

Now for that something different.  As a kid I hated cauliflower, I loved broccoli, but thought that cauliflower was just a gross white piece of broccoli, so I've always avoided it.  However recently, I've been trying different things with cauliflower. Well we were at Aldi yesterday and I saw some and decided I would make some roasted cauliflower. 


Here's what I did.  I cut the cauliflower up into bite size pieces. Put it in a large mixing bowl and coated them with olive oil.  I sprinkled the rest of the seed mixture onto the cauliflower and added a little salt and turmeric (just a sprinkle). Stir it up so you have an even coat on all of it.  Place it on a baking sheet and put it in the over with the falafels.  They should get done about the same time.  You want a little brown on the cauliflower, but most importantly you want it tender.

Now comes the best part, assembling your falafel sandwich! Have fun and enjoy!

Lions, Tigers and Bulls...

What a great trip to Chicago! Michelle had a week off of school, so we took full advantage of it.  We flew in last Sunday to stay with Mark, Stephanie and Monroe.  Throughout the week, we made it to the zoo, watched the Bulls play (on tv of course), went to the park and even cooked a few meals in the process.  We wanted to make life easier on Steph than adding pressure to entertain guests.  Yes, there were some exciting moments like this one.

1st Chicago Style Hot Dog!

Chicago Style Hot Dog - Vegetarian just for Michelle!

Now that I got that out of my system, check out this super easy Thai Peanut Pasta dish I cooked for everyone. 

First start out with a few broccoli crowns, carrots, scallions and garlic. We even threw in some Tender Bits as a protein.  Also, grab a Peanut Sauce from Target and select Wal-Mart's.  They are pretty easy to find.  Boil up some Penne Pasta and throw the veggies in a large skillet with some oil.  Once everything is nice and hot, take about 1/4 cup of water and add it to the skillet and put a lid on it to steam the veggies.  Keep doing this if necessary, you can also put a few squirts of soy sauce over it with some sesame seeds.

Once the broccoli and carrots are tender, drain the pasta and add the peanut sauce and veggies into a big bowl.  Toss together and add a handful of cilantro.  It's pretty tasty. Michelle says it's in her Top 5 things that I make, which is an extremely bold statement - but Michelle means what she says.

Thai Peanut Pasta

 On another note, I understand that I am not taken seriously in the blogging world because I do not update on a regular basis. This is malarky... And I'm not sure what that word means, but my mom used to say it a lot when she tried to say something was bogus.  I am such a great blogger, I only have to do it once a month... okay, j/k. I will try to do better.  In fact, I have many things to blog about, just not a lot of time to do it, so I will try to do better.

On a completely unrelated note, I bought my first pair of Toms shoes this last week.  It took me a while to get used to them, but I think I am a huge fan now.  Extremely comfortable, and now I look like a cool kid. Here is a picture of one, yes, just one. 

To close, I would like to leave you with something I fell in love with while in Chicago - It's Garrett's popcorn.  This is the "Chicago Mix" (Cheddar Corn and Caramel Corn) The sweet, salty, crunchy goodness is just incredible - it is messy but worth it.  If you're ever in Chicago, it's a must.  We walked 2 miles to get some when we could've just gotten it at the airport before we left (which we did) Here is a picture to get your mouth watering. And this is also the end of today's blog. Good night!

Who Says Vegetarians Can't Grill?

Okay, I might not be a 100% vegetarian, but probably 98% of the time I am, especially when we grill.  Most people will ask us, what in the world do vegetarians grill? So here is my blog to answer.  We try to grill once a week (every Sunday) during the warmer weather, here is a small breakdown as to what we have cooking in the Carlile back yard!

Of course you can always choose a Big Frank, Linkette, Grillers, Boca Burgers, whatever to be the main subject, but those things don't really take a whole lot of skill to "warm up" so I'm going to focus on some extras. This time we did a veggie dog bar - consisted of Linkettes and a ton of toppings for them.  (inspired by Sonic's new hot dogs) I made special relishes and of course the staples.

For the sides we did grilled veggies.  First off we did grilled sweet potatoes - incredible!

First, boil the sweet potatoes until they are tender the slice them, brush on some olive oil and place them on the grill.  Once nice marks are on both sides, take them off and top with a mixture of sea salt, cilantro, lime zest and black pepper.  The taste is out of this world!

Next we did squash.  Webers makes a great seasoning mix for vegetables (check it at walmart in the spice section) 

Pretty basic, coat with olive oil and sprinkle the mixture on then grill until tender.

Last but not least, asparagus is probably the best things to grill.  A little bit of olive oil, fresh lemon juice and some fresh cracked pepper make these things pop.  They don't need to be on long, just enough to be tender, don't overcook!

When you add everything together on a plate! It's just great! 

Look at that color!

For desert, this time of year is great for strawberry shortcake! Get a pre made angel food cake, cut up some fresh strawberries and add some cool whip! It's light but fulfills!

Make Your Own Baked Pasta

This dish was inspired by one of the MANY christmas presents I got Michelle this year, a subscription to "Food Network Magazine"  A really great magazine and a great gift, plus I get to look at food...

The issue was based on italian, and there was an article talking about baked pasta, so we decided to give it a shot.  It was quick and it was easy.  First off, choose your pasta and get it cooking. We used bowtie, some say it's over rated, but it worked great for this dish.

Next choose your vegetables.  We used baby portobello mushrooms, green onions, spinach and garlic.  In the summer you could use squash, zucchini, even asparagus.

In a large skillet, add EVOO and fresh chopped garlic, let simmer, but don't let it brown - it can start to get bitter if toasted too long.  Add the green onions and cook down, next add the mushrooms (quick tip: don't season the mushrooms until they are fully cooked, if you do it early, they tend to be over seasoned)

Sautee that for about 5-7 minutes or until the mushrooms seemed to be cooked well.  While this is cooking, get a medium saucepan and add a jar or even a jar and half of pasta sauce - your choice.  If you have the time to make your own tomato sauce, I would recommend it.  I think it would be that much better. We used the jar, heat that up and maybe add some fresh basil if you have some.

Back to the skillet, take about three large handfuls of spinach and throw it in there and let cook.  It will seem like a lot of spinach but trust me it will cook down.

When the pasta sauce has heated up, add a big spoonful of ricotta cheese. It gives it a nice creamy texture to the sauce.

Drain the pasta and add a little pasta sauce to it and add it to the skillet mixture.  Next pour the mixture in a casserole dish and pour the sauce over it.  Move the pasta around so the sauce gets all over it.  Next, cover with mozzarella and throw it in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese it melted.

Let stand for 5 minutes, then plate it up and eat! Enjoy!

This Is Me

When it comes to blogging, this is me... just plain lazy.  But the real reason is my work schedule. I just haven't had the time to cook, take pictures and blog.  By the time I get home it's well after 8pm and I'm pooped, so I make up something quick and really not blog worthy, thus the week flies by.  We are getting ready to have a set of meetings at our church for three weeks, so you can count on this... after the three weeks, you might hear from me.  As for now, I have a few recipes that I have documented and I would like to share them so you can try them.  They may not be 100% accurate, since it was made over the last several weeks.  I'm sorry, but enjoy!