Spinach and Cheese Enchiladas (Vivi)

Wow, it's been so long since I have posted anything that i feel kind of bad. In apology, I will try to cook and blog about the food as much as possible~

I learned this recipe at work. I work in a convalescent home kitchen, and there's so much to learn during lunch time! My imagination for cooking has reached new heights because of lunches here ^_^

Ingredients:

Salsa-

• 8 tomatillos, (the green mini-tomatoes) husked
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• half a large onion
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, or just one handful
  
• 1 fresh jalapeno pepper (Roll it around a little bit against the counter with the heel of your palm if you want the salsa hot, My coworkers call this "pissing the jalapeno off")
  
• salt to taste
• two large green Chile peppers

Filling-

• 1 average sized pack of Queso Fresco (literally "fresh cheese" in Spanish but good luck trying to find it with the English name. It should be in most dairy sections) sliced into thin strips
  
• 1 box fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
  
• 1 large bag of fresh spinach
• Monterrey Jack cheese
  

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
   
   
2. Begin by placing the tomatillos, chili peppers, and jalapeno in a skillet on medium heat. This is to bring out the flavor of the veggies more and make it easier to blend later. Leave for a few minutes, turning them every now and then so the skins don't burn completely black. (A little is OK, just not too much or your salsa will carry a "burnt" taste)
3. Meanwhile, heat a very small amount of oil or margarine in a large skillet, then leaving the mushrooms and spinach to cook until spinach is very soft. add a little salt and pepper to taste as it cooks.
   
   
4. By now your salsa ingredients should be ready for blending. There might be a bit of juices from the tomatoes in the pan, so just pour all that into your blender, adding in the cilantro, onion, and garlic. Blend to your hearts content, and add salt to taste. Set aside.
   
   
5. Using the same pan you used for the salsa, heat more oil, this time for your corn tortillas. I'm not sure about the exact number of tortillas, but brown enough of them up in the oil to fill with half of the sliced queso fresco and spinach filling. About fifteen seconds for each tortilla.
   
   
6. Oil up a baking dish
   
   
7. fill each tortilla with one slice of cheese, and a bit of the spinach, mushroom mixture, roll them up and place them seam side down on the baking dish until you've used up all your spinach filling, but making sure you still have enough cheese to sprinkle over the top of the enchiladas
   
   
8. Slather some more of the salsa over the enchiladas ad sprinkle over the fresh cheese and as much Monterrey Jack as you want.
   
   
9. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the sauce is bubbling and cheese is lightly browned at the edges.
   
   
10. Serve with some rice of your choice, and enjoy~
    

Hamburger Helper ala Vivi (Vivi, of course)

Alright... I don't have any pics of this because my camera ran out of batteries. HUge bummer, but at least i can post up this recipe.. if you can call it that.

Ingredients:
2 boxes of macaroni and cheese (whatever brand. I just use the cheapest available)
1 lb+ of ground meat (depending on how much meat you like and what kind of meat you like)
3Tomatoes
Parmesan cheese
Sour cream
Butter
Oregano
Garlic powder/salt

Directions:
1. Follow the instructions on the boxes, meanwhile cooking up your ground meat. Season it with garlic, and oregano. After the meat is mostly done, chop up your three tomatoes and throw them into the meat. Put on low heat to keep warm while you take care of your macaroni.

2. Once macaroni is done, rinse and return to pot. Mix in the meat mixture.

3. Mix in a scoop of both sour cream and butter.

4. Mix in the cheese packets, and fill one of the now emptied cheese packets with the Parmesan, then mix in as well.

5. Serve and enjoy~

Hope you guys enjoy this. My family liked it to bunches.

Sushi [Rana]

So I made Sushi quite a while ago. It was my attempt at California Rolls, and I went a bit crazy and put fried spam in its own roll. So in this case I'll give you the spam recipe, to get Cali rolls all you must do is trade the spam for crab. :]

The story behind this is... I felt like making sushi. My littlest brother wanted to take some to school, so I pulled out two bento. The other brother hates the idea of a lunchbox...



That was my brothers. He had a little Mudkip shaped sauce container. Soy sauce, of course. I smeared wasabi on the bottom of MY bento, because he doesn't like wasabi. He didn't like the Spam rolls, so I made him avocado rolls instead.



That one is mine. It isn't two tiered, I know, but it holds a whole lot. I love my little Pikachu sauce container. Very cute. Alright, here's the recipe:

Spam preparation:

Half a cube of spam, cut into slender rectangles.
One teaspoon of olive oil(or any except motor).

Simply fry the spam in the heated oil until it starts to brown and crisp on the outside. Let cool on a paper towel to drain the moisture.

Spam Rolls:

Steamed rice, however much you like, but it must be cooled.
Two sheets of Nori seaweed.
Your prepared Spam.
Thinly sliced cucumbers.
Thinly sliced carrots.
Thinly sliced avocado.
Wasabi paste.

Lay the nori flat out on plastic wrap, which is laid on a chopping board. Spread a thin(or thick, depending on preference) layer of rice on the nori, then proceed to layer the other ingredients one at a time close to the edge closest to you. When done, if you wish, put some wasabi paste on the rice. Very little, overdoing it could be a dire mistake.

Grab hold of the nearest edge to you, and the plastice wrap, then begin to roll up very tightly. If stuff falls out the side, it's okay. Just keep rolling up tightly, and it should automatically stick in that shape. Keep it in the plastic. Begin to cut into rounds, and make them any size you like, but I kind of like them pretty thin. More rolls to share.

Enjoy with some soy sauce and storebought pickled ginger!

Scrambled eggs, tomatos with mozzerella and aoli, and wheat toast[Rana]

The breakfast of kings! Bwahahaha! Well, not really... but it was just fine for me. I'll be full all day. x3 Funny thing is, I accidentally deleted the first 4 pictures, but I'd already eaten it all... so here's my second take(I fed this to my mother). :]



Scrambled Eggs are quite simple, though, but I'll give you the recipe anywho. :]

Scrambled Eggs
Ingredients:
-2 Large Eggs
-1 tbsp. Margarine

Just melt the butter in the hot pan and crack the eggs directly into it, then immediately begin to stir around. Scramble to your liking, whether you like them runny or not. You could also make sunny-side-up eggs. :]

Tomato and Mozzerella Salad w/ Balsamic Aoli
Ingredients:
-1 tomato
-1 handful of cube chopped mozzerella
-1 pinch dried Oregano
-1 pinch dried Parsely
-1 pinch dried Basil
-1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
-1 tbsp. lemon juice
-1 pinch salt
-1 shake pepper

It's really easy. Take a bowl to set the salad in. Chop the tomato into relatively large chunks, then if you just have a block of Mozzerella(like I did) just cut a thick slice or two, and chop that up. Mix that up and set aside. Grab another bowl and place all spices(Oregano, Parsely, Basil, Salt and Pepper) inside of it, then pour in the lemon juice and vinegar, stir just a bit. Begin to drizzle the olive oil in, all the while stirring quickly to create and emulsion. When that is done, just drizzle it over your nummy tomato and cheese. Set it next to the eggs, or eat alone.

As for the wheat toast, it's just from my local grocery store. Just toast it and spread a dab of butter along it, or eat it alone.

Hope you enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup[Rana]

Okay, so I created a wonderfully sweet and creamy butternut squash soup today. It's very simple, took approximately 45 minutes including preparation time, and was very fun to make!

Here's the recipe:

The Ingredients include:

1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1-inch chunks
Nutmeg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
1 onion, chopped

1 potato, chopped into same size as squash

1 tbsp. baking powder
6 cups chicken stock

Directions:

Melt butter in large pot. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add squash, potato and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until squash is tender. Remove squash chunks with slotted spoon and place in a blender and puree. Return blended squash to pot. If not thick enough, then you can sprinkle baking powder in. Stir and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Enjoy!

Remember, the consistency all depends on you... x3

Sour Cream Pasta With Tomatoes and Onions (Vivi)

I dont usually take measurements when I do experiments like these, and usually it's because I just use what I can get in the kitchen. This is just as a guideline as to what I used.

Ingredients:
7 oz. long macaroni pasta (or whatever Pasta you like)
1/2 large red onion chopped in little pieces
1 large tomato chopped in same sizes as onion
1 tbs. olive oil
Chosen amount of sour cream
sea salt to taste
oregano or Italian Seasoning to taste

Instructions:
1. Follow the instructions on the package of your chosen pasta. >.> some first step.. I guess it cuts down on time. hehe.

2. Place the oil in a chosen pan, and heat. Fry up the onion until it is translucent and smells good, then add the tomato. It might become somewhat saucey, or it might not... depends on how long you leave the tomato and onions cooking. So depending on your taste... Add salt and chosen spice to taste.

3. Mix in the onion concoction with the now made pasta, until its evenly distributed.

4. Add in the sour cream to taste, and.. Enjoy~