Cinco de Mayo Breakfast Sandwiches

It's Cinco de Mayo on a Taco Tuesday?  That is just too much.

I decided that in honor of Cinco de Mayo, I would share this recipe for Mexican Breakfast Sandwiches.  I made some homemade guacamole, toasted some whole wheat English Muffins, found my favorite salsa at the store and I was ready to go!  Oh, and I almost forgot: THE CHEESE!  Holy moly this cheese was perfect.  I was searching the crazy, overwhelming cheese section at my local grocery store when the nice employee pointed me in the perfect direction.  Pico de Queso Cheddar.  It has the perfect amount of spice and it melted really nicely on these sandwiches.  This is such a yummy recipe and you end up with tons of extra salsa and guacamole for leftovers or to go with the tacos you will naturally want to make later.  I made four sandwiches for me and Bri, but you can make as many as you want with this recipe.

Cinco de Mayo Mexican Breakfast Sandwiches

Cinco de Mayo Breakfast Sandwiches

Ingredients:
4 Whole Wheat English Muffins
4 eggs
Your favorite salsa
4 slices of Pico de Queso Cheddar
Guacamole:
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed
1 avocado
3 tbsp cilantro
3 tsp lime juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
1. Make the guacamole: food process the avocado with the cilantro, lime juice, half the black beans, and half the corn.  Add in the salt and pepper.  Once creamy, pour into a bowl and stir in the rest of the black beans and corn.
2. Toast the English Muffins and melt the cheese on one slice of for each sandwich.  Spoon a few tablespoons of the guacamole on the other slice of the English Muffin.
3.  I made my eggs over easy in a frying pan and then placed them on top of the cheese.  You can scramble, fry, or whatever.
4. Spoon some salsa over the eggs and then place the guacamole slice on top.

Enjoy :)

White Bean Verde Enchiladas

Today is one of my bestie's birthday!!! Happy birthday, Caryn!  To celebrate, we are going to dinner at this fun BYOB Mexican restaurant and then were probably gonna end up doing Karaoke after! I am so excited to celebrate with her and I even made a special birthday dessert!  I can't tell you about that because it is a surprise, but here's what I had going on in the kitchen last night:

Friday night cake baking :)

Last night was pretty chill and it was amazing! I baked, had a glass of wine, and whipped this yummy concoction up for dinner!  I mashed up an avocado with a few squirts of lime juice and some salt and pepper.  Then, I cooked a couple eggs to perfection and put everything on top of some toasted whole wheat toast.  Finally, a few dashes of Frank's Hot Sauce and I was ready for one amazing meal.  It was super simple and I know everyone really into this "toasts" craze.  This is a great recipe to try! 

Avocado Toast with an Over-Easy Egg

Finally, in honor of my excursion to a BYOP Mexican place, I am sharing with you a yummy Enchilada recipe! I am a huge fan of Enchiladas. We make them all the time over here.  This recipe was really easy, totally vegetarian, and super yummy.  Since I am in the mood for some Mexican food, I figured this was the perfect thing to share! 

White Bean Verde Enchiladas

Ingredients:8 large corn or flour tortillas

1 can verde enchilada sauce

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup of your favorite guacamole

1 red pepper, sliced

1 cup shredded, light Mexican blend cheese

1 cup non-fat, greek yogurt (I love Chobani :))

2 tsp lime juice 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and pour some verde enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch pan.

2. Dip each tortilla in the sauce so that it is mostly covered, then spread some beans, guacamole, a few pepper slices, and a sprinkle of cheese down the middle of the tortilla.  Wrap the tortilla and place seam down in the pan.  Repeat with all of your tortillas and filling ingredients.

3. Pour the rest of the verde enchilada sauce over the finished enchiladas and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese. 

4. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Serve with a little greek yogurt and lime juice.

Enjoy :)

Vegetable Fajitas

Well, I just enjoyed some good ol' TGIT time with Grey's and Scandal.  I don't want to give anything away, but I am a little bit in shock...which is basically how I feel at the end of every Thursday after watching these shows.  I am also pretty pumped that tomorrow is FRIDAY.  And I can finally sleep in and enjoy some relaxation after a LONG week of school.

I am so excited to tell you about another great weeknight meal I have cooked up!  This recipe is so simple and you can make it with whatever you have in the kitchen.  It is a great recipe when you don't have a ton of time, but you want something delicious and healthy.

One of our favorite places to go to is Garcia's in the Lincoln Square area.  It is super yummy, they have great margaritas, and it is super reasonable.  Plus, you end up with leftovers for days.  One of my favorite dishes there is there Vegetarian Fajitas.  They throw in a ton of different vegetables and it is unpredictable every time!

Today, I was at school all day, took an hour train home, ran 4.5 miles and then just about crashed into the couch because I was tired, and I had to watch Grey's Anatomy and Scandal (of course).  Homemade Vegetable Fajitas were easy, quick, and absolutely perfect for dinner!

Vegetable Fajitas

Ingredients:
About 3 cups of vegetables
Here is what I used:
Squash, Zucchini, Mushrooms, Onions, Whole Kernel Corn and Red Peppers
4 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp cumin
pinch cayenne
olive oil
salt and pepper
corn or flour tortillas
Toppings:
Guacamole
Sour Cream/Greek Yogurt
Salsa
Shredded Cheese

Directions:
1. Chop vegetables and heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
2. Add in the onions and garlic first and cook until the onions become translucent.  Add in the rest of the veggies and the seasonings and cook until they also become soft and translucent.
3. Create your fajitas with your tortillas and any toppings you want.

Enjoy :)

Ingredients:

Build Your Own Nachos with Crock Pot Salsa Chicken

Hi! I have so much to tell you all! I am on Spring Break and therefore I am able to seriously catch up on some of this blogging stuff :).  On Friday, I brought in lunch for Payday Friday for the math department, we had an early release, and then I was FREE! I have a week off from school to relax and finally catch up on sleep.  I am very excited about this.  My little brother ended up with the same Spring Break from college and so my whole family decided to go out to Arizona for the break.  We are staying in beautiful Scottsdale and having a great time.

Today I wanted to share some big news, as well as a "big" recipe.  My big news: I just registered to run the Chicago Marathon in October!!! It's something I've been dreaming of for a while and I am very nervous and very excited about running my first marathon.  I will be sharing my training experiences here and I am excited for the support and comments from all of you that helped me stay motivated when I was training for my half marathon.  I can't wait and I hope it goes well!

And now, my "big" recipe.  I had to cook lunch for a crowd this past Friday.  I went with a crock pot recipe and I doubled it so that I would have enough to feed at least 20.  This is half of the recipe and it will still make quite a lot of food, which is great because this is a recipe where you will want leftovers, its so good! I made a salsa chicken recipe in my crock pot, then shredded the chicken and served it on top of tortilla chips with all the toppings could could think of for nachos.  It was really yummy and a huge hit with my math department! In fact, it was all gone before I got any good photos! You will just have to use your imagination.

Build Your Own Nachos
(adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients:
Salsa Chicken:
3 lbs. chicken breasts, thawed
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
2 jars salsa (use your favorite)
1 8 oz block low-fat cream cheese
2 packets taco seasoning
Toppings:
shredded sharp cheddar cheese
shredded lettuce
guacamole
sour cream
tortilla chips

Directions:
1. Place chicken in crock pot.  Pour salsa over chicken.  Top with the black beans, corn, cream cheese, and taco seasoning.
2. Cook on high for 5-6 hours, stir occasionally to mix in the cream cheese and taco seasoning.  After 5 hours, shred chicken and let cook for an additional 30 minutes or so.
3. Serve on top of tortilla chips with all your nacho toppings.

Enjoy :)

Copycat Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls

Who needs Chipotle when you can make this? Okay, who are we kidding?  I need Chipotle once in a while.  However, I did throw together my very own Chicken Burrito Bowl and it was really yummy! I made Chipotle Chicken and Cilantro Lime Brown Rice and then added my toppings and had a great dinner!  Tamara and I decided to do this for Courtney's birthday when we found out that she was craving Mexican food and this was a lovely way to spend a Saturday night.  We had homemade Burrito bowls, ate mini cheesecakes and watched tv.  I love hanging with these ladies and we always find a way to get some good food into the picture!

Homemade Chipotle Burrito Bowls

Cilantro Lime Brown Rice

Chipotle Chicken

Homemade Chicken Burrito Bowls

Ingredients:
For the Chicken:
2 1lbs. chicken breasts
2 tbsp chipotle adobo sauce
3 1/2 tbsp lime juice
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 tsp chili powder
For the Rice:
canola oil
1 cup brown rice
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
juice of 2 limes
zest of 1 lime
fresh cilantro
1 14 oz can black beans
Toppings:
Mexican Cheese
Salsa
Guacamole
Sour Cream

Directions:
1. For the chicken, place in a ziplock bag with all the marinade ingredients   Place in fridge overnight or at least 2 hours.  Dice chicken and cook in a pan with a little bit of oil.
2. For the rice: in a medium saucepan, heat 1/2 tbsp of canola oil and saute the garlic and onion over medium heat until onion starts to become translucent.  Add in the rice, lower heat, and stir to combine.  Pour in the broth, juice of 1 lime, lime zest, and the salt, bring to a boil, then lower heat and cover and let simmer until rice is cooked, about 10 minutes.  Once rice is cooked, stir in juice of other lime, black beans, and fresh cilantro.
3. Build the bowls: Place rice and chicken in a bowl, top with whatever toppings you want!

Enjoy :)

Baked Wonton Appetizers

This is officially one of my favorite go-to appetizers!  My mom had a ton of extra wonton wrappers from my brother's graduation party.  We bought WAY too many.  So she froze a bunch of them and then I found some great ideas over at Ashlee's blog. I absolutely love Ashlee's blog, ABPetite!  She always has great ideas and this post gave me some great ideas for what to do with wontons! My mom didn't want to fry anything and we needed a good appetizer for a little weeknight get-together with some friends.  These were perfect!

I made guacamole, salsa with sour cream, and applesauce with cinnamon wontons and they were a big hit! All you have to do is drop about a teaspoon (maybe heaping) in the middle of the wonton, brush some water around the sides of the wonton, and then pinch all the corners together to create a little delicious bundle.  Then, just bake at 350 for 20 minutes!

Head over to ABpetite for some other fantastic flavor combinations and ideas!