Crispy Potato Rounds

I saw these little gems on Pinterest a while back and have been playing with different combos. They are so easy and really tasty! I don't normally give much attention to recipes that are lengthy, but the only length to this recipe is the cook time. The prep is very minimal. But one caveat: you don't want to rush the cook time really. I did that with the taco rounds. The flavor was good, but texture was lacking because they weren't crispy enough. Here are the combos I have tried so far:

1) Cheddar & Bacon

2) Ham & Swiss













3) Taco   (No pic yet, sorry! Like I said, we rushed them!)

It's actually ridiculously easy to make these. You'll see, I promise!

* Wash potatoes. (I use red skinned, but I'm sure other kinds would work too.)

* Slice potatoes into circles about 1/4 of an inch thick. I use 3 or 4 potatoes depending on size to fill a cookie sheet. Place on cookie sheet.

Slice into small rounds then place on cookie sheet

* Drizzle potatoes with olive oil. (alternatively you could put the potatoes in a bowl and toss with olive oil before putting on cookie sheet, but I have no dishwasher, so the less dishes the better!)

* Bake @ 400 for 20 minutes. Flip potatoes over, drizzle with a li'l more oil (but not if you already tossed them in oil), and bake 20 min more.

See, they're already starting to get crispy!

* Remove from oven and top with your choice of toppings. Put back in oven for just a few more minutes to melt the cheese.

Voila! A super easy, super versatile, super tasty side dish.

Ham & Swiss with Bacon

Bacon, Cheddar, and Scallions

Tortilla Soup 2 ways

A friend of mine was having a really rough week last week and needed some girl time. I told her i was coming to spend the day and make dinner. I asked if she wanted Mexican (an easy fallback for me) or homemade noodles and she specifically requested my chicken tortilla soup. I made it once before at her house when we had a small personal shower :)


My other friend who was visiting, however, is vegetarian. So I decided to make it both ways: one Chicken Tortilla Soup and one Vegetarian Tortilla Soup. These are kind of non-recipes since I don't really measure but that's kind of the beauty of them!

Here they are:
Chicken Tortilla Soup

*Chicken Breast
*Black Beans, rinsed
*Corn (canned, frozen, or fresh)
*Taco Seasoning (or garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt & pepper)
*Chicken Broth
*Salsa

*Coat chicken with taco seasoning.
*Sauté chicken in a little olive oil on med-low heat in a Dutch oven. It doesn't need to fully cook at this point, it will cook more in broth.
*Add chicken broth- I used one 32oz box, black beans-one can, corn-one can, and salsa 1/2 small jar. Season with some extra taco seasoning.
*Bring to a boil on med-high heat. Reduce heat to med-low and cook until chicken starts to shred when you take a fork to it. (bad explanation lol). Then turn heat off and shred chicken.

Vegetable Tortilla Soup
2 servings
1 can vegetable broth
1/2 can corn
1/2 can rinsed black beans
2 Tbsp Salsa
Taco Seasoning
* Put beans and corn in sauce pan. Add seasoning. Add broth and salsa. Bring to a boil and reduce heat.

TOPPINGS:
Tortilla chips (duh! hehe)
Shredded Cheese
Avocado
Sour Cream
Salsa
Cilantro

Mexican Filled Biscuits

When I first got married, one of my biggest fears was knowing what to make for dinner every night without getting bored, so I'm constantly trying new things. I'm really grateful to my mom because she could always look in the cupboard or refrigerator and figure out what to make out of thin air, and a little bit of that wisdom was passed down to me.
I would love to be OCD about my organization, and it actually kills me that it's this messy, but I just have no time, as you can see from this picture of my refrigerator...

So this evening I was trying to decide what to make I took a little inspiration from this recipe I made a few weeks ago ----> Pillsbury Buffalo Chicken Croissants. I knew in my fridge I had some leftover soy 'ground beef', a thing of refrigerated biscuit dough, and always fixin's for Mexican food, so I pulled these things out of the fridge to decide exactly how I was going to throw it together...

Next I pulled out my Mexican seasonings : Adobo, Chili Powder, Cumin, and Coriander, plus salt & pepper and seasoned the 'ground beef'. Next I added the leftover black beans and corn mixture from the other day and a little salsa. I actually didn't end up using the bell pepper or onion yet. * You can use taco seasoning mix if you dont have these spices!

Then I put a little cheese with a little of the filling on a biscuit that I flattened out with my hands,

Then I pinched it toward the middle... This actually didn't work as well as I would have liked because the filling kept falling out, so I got out the rolling pin after the 1st few. You can see below, the one on the right was rolled out by hand, the one on the left was rolled with the rolling pin.

Topped with a sprinkle of cheese and baked in the oven, a little longer than the actual biscuit packaging suggested since they are filled biscuits

I needed a veggie, so I cooked some brussel sprouts... Ill blog about that another day! For now, I hope you enjoyed the first recipe! Keep checking back!

1 can of biscuits, each biscuit rolled flat

1/4lb leftover ground beef/ soy crumbles

Taco Seasoning: packet or homemade

1/2 can black beans

1/2 can corn

2 Tbsp salsa, plus some for serving

Sour Cream for serving

Shredded Cheese