What's Cookin'?

[Jacob Petersheim]

I've gathered ingredients for something I'm not sure how to name.

Maybe "New Mexico Lasagna" or "Southwestern Dinner Pie?"

I plan to layer a pan with yellow corn tortillas, and in the layers I have:

• Chopped broccoli florets
• Petite-diced tomatoes
• Diced yellow onion
• Chopped red sweet bell peppers
• Chorizo sausage (I look for the type marked "no glands" - bleh)
• Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• Hormel "Chili No Beans"

I haven't made this before, and I don't want it watery or too heavy. I'll probably "cook down" the onions and peppers first and be sure to drain the canned tomatoes. I might intermix the cheddar with drained cottage cheese in the middle layers. I may top with some sliced pickled jalapeno slices, though this is "hot" chorizo so maybe just some onions with the cheese on top.

I guess I'll see how it goes when I do this (probably tomorrow). I'm hoping that the veggies keep it from being "too rich." However I eat smaller meals these days, so I'm not as worried as I might otherwise be. I can probably freeze leftover squares in sandwich bags. But as this is an experiment I'll make a smaller batch. I just hope that it "glues together" rather than becoming a sloppy mess.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

Sounds like you have your own version of Mexican Tortizza. Are you going to bake it?

 

[Yvonne Smith]

That sounds like an interesting dinner, @Jacob Petersheim ; is it from a recipe or just something you came up with doing ? Looking forward to hearing how it turns out , for sure !
It is another of those 90+ days. We are supposed to have another week of this heat, and then it is supposed to cool a little once we start into August.

I have another loaf of bread in the bread machine. This time I added/replaced one cup of whole wheat flour to the Red Mill bread flour recipe , and a half cup of kefir for that much of the water. It looks like it is rising just as well as the last one did. I am making it in the bread machine that i already had since it makes the larger loaves, and those seem to work better for slicing.

To go along with it, I am making some minestrone soup. It is hot weather for soup, but it will go good with the fresh bread, and is easy to make.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

Our dinner turned out great ! The whole wheat bread was delicious, and went perfectly with a bowl of the minestrone soup. I had a small piece of bread and butter with some of my blackberry jam for dessert, and it was good also. Now we have plenty of fresh bread for sandwiches when we want some.
I left the bread machine in the storage room, took the basket out in the kitchen and added all of the ingredients, and then let it all do the rising and baking in the storage room, so I did not have to move the bread machine at all this time.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

Sounds like you have your own version of Mexican Tortizza. Are you going to bake it?

Yes, that's more or less the plan.

It stemmed from coming across a deal on the beanless canned chili that I couldn't pass up. This isn't something that I normally buy. 12 medium cans for $3 and not even close to its date.

After using it in a little macaroni and tomatoes casserole I decided some cheese would be good. But I wanted to thin it with more veggies to dilute the fats and salt. That led me to the idea of layering, using masa rather than wheat pasta. I picked red peppers over green because I got some at the same price as green and the red are supposed to carry more healthy compounds. The broccoli should add some color and be good in there in itself.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

Today, I am making chicken and stuffing in the crockpot. It is one of my favorite meals, and easy to do; except that you have to get it started first thing in the morning.
So I browned the chicken, made the stuffing, and added the potatoes and green beans, and it is all in the crockpot for this afternoon’s dinner.

I used the last of my whole wheat bread (it was only one slice left), so next i am going to start another loaf of bread in the bread machine. I am trying to decide if i want to just make another loaf of the whole wheat, or maybe try making a raisin and cinnamon breakfast kind of bread this time.
Decisions, decisions…….

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

I guess things did cool a little for you, motivating some cooking.

My chili casserole worked out well. I set some aside and froze it. But I do want to tweak it a bit. I think I'd prefer it with some browned ground beef in there instead of the sausage.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

It is pizza day here ! I got one of the frozen pizzas from Walmart, loaded it up with more pepperoni, mushrooms, red and green peppers and onion, and more mozzarella cheese on top, and it is in the toaster oven.
After working outside this morning, I am ready for a nice pizza lunch !

 

[Don Alaska]

We are eating mostly from our garden now. We had a wonderful broccoli salad with sides of cucumbers, and fresh tomatoes. The main dish was ham, potatoes and peas. We didn't raise the pig, but the rest was all ours. Wife is at church this morning, but will be canning and drying and freezing when she gets home. We have 27 salmon waiting at our son's home when we can get around to going to his house to get them as they are in his freezer. We may not take them all since there are only two of us here.