New Recipe Resolution: Mexican Lasagna

Casseroles are a good idea for our household because we can have leftovers that don't have to last all week. I can get down with leftovers, but I don't really want to eat the same thing for days and days. 

I had looked up a few recipes for a Mexican-style casserole and kind of combined different ones to make this Mexican Lasagna, which was simple to put together and a good choice for a Friday night. 

What you need: 

- 1 package of corn tortillas

- 1 lb. of ground beef 

- 1/2 onion

- 1 can of refried beans

- 1 can of salsa verde

- 1 package of shredded cheddar cheese

- 1 can of corn

Spices to use: taco seasoning, salt, pepper, chili powder

First, add a little oil to a pan and dice up the onion and saute. Add ground beef and cook all the way through. Add spices to the meat mixture and set aside. Make sure it is seasoned well. Taste it and add as needed.

Spray non-stick cooking spray on the inside of a baking pan. Cut tortillas in half and place in single layer along the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of salsa verde, then layer of refried beans, layer of the meat mixture, layer of corn, and shredded cheese. Repeat the assembly with more layer. 

Bake in oven preheated at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Serve with chips and salsa. 

Next time I make it, I will probably add Monterey Jack cheese and or the Queso Blanco Velveeta for extra spice, flavor, and cheesiness. Also, you most likely aren't going to use the entire package of tortillas, so save the extra for breakfast tacos made with scrambled eggs, veggies, and salsa!

For this recipe...I forgot to take pictures! Gotta get better at that.

Side food note: I've realized I love vegetables roasted. Add olive oil, salt, and pepper to pretty much any veggie and it's delicious. Last vegetable used: cauliflower. I added thyme, seasoned salt, and a little bit of cinnamon. YUM!

New Recipe Resolution: Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

In the days when I used to eat at Olive Garden, I always ordered either the Ravioli di Portobello or the Chicken Con Broccoli. Then, for whatever reason, I didn't order alfredo-based sauces anymore for a long time. They were too heavy. And when reheating leftovers, the amount of oil that had separated out was kind of eye opening.

Well, I decided to give it another whirl. At home. Since one of my 2015 goals is to make one new recipe a week, I figured that Chicken Broccoli Alfredo would be easy and tasty, and it was!

I used: 

- 1 package of uncooked chicken already cut up in small, thin strips
- 1 package of uncooked broccoli
- 1 package of penne noodles
- 1 jar of Alfredo sauce

Four ingredients! Woo! I sauteed the chicken in a little bit of oil and added salt, pepper, and garlic salt for added flavor since chicken is so bland. I steamed all the broccoli and boiled the penne. Once everything was cooked, I drained the noodles, then added the broccoli and chicken to the pot. 

Finally, I poured the Alfredo sauce over everything and mixed well. I filled up the sauce jar halfway with water and put the lid back on, shook it up, and poured in the pot to get every last drop out. My mom taught me that trick when cooking with jarred sauces. Top with parmesan cheese and serve with garlic bread. 

Bonus of making this meal: Although I could have made my own sauce, the kind I used only had 4.5 grams of fat per serving, so I was able to make the pasta broccoli heavy and light on sauce. Just like I wanted it.

Mikey told me it was excellent! Then again, he says that about everything I cook. Smart man. His only request for next time: use bowtie pasta. 

As you can tell, I'm a fan of the quick and easy recipes that aren't too expensive. The whole meal came to about $15 for two people with leftovers. Later on in the year, I will try to attempt to be more ambitious with recipes that contain more than four ingredients, but in the meantime, it feels good just to be cooking at home.

Bonus kinda-sorta recipe: I enhanced my leftover rice and veggies from the other night by heating them up and adding a perfectly fried egg on top, soy sauce, then doused it all with sriracha. Everything is better with that stuff.

I'm learning to use what's in the fridge and cabinets, which isn't much, but it's helping me get creative and planning out the exact groceries I need when shopping. So far, so good. 

Enjoy the eats!

50/50 Challenge 2015: I'm at It Again

Yes, I am trying the 50/50 Challenge again! I was so, so close in 2014 that I think that this year is my year to complete it. After hearing raves about Goodreads from fellow book lover friends, I've decided to update my book progress through the site, which hopefully will help me keep better track. 

You can track my progress and become a book friend here. 

Also, by using Goodreads, I can leave all my reviews in one place to help things be more streamlined. For movies, I'll probably update this blog after every five or so movies I see. 

Here's to a new year of literature and film!  


Rooms by Lauren Oliver

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


As someone who is fascinated with ghosts, I thought the idea of writing a story from the perspective of ghosts was interesting. However, there are several narrators throughout the novel, both alive and deceased, which can cause some confusion. There is a lot going on in the history of one house.

A family has returned to settle the affairs of their father/husband who has died. The Walkers definitely is a family with issues and "ghosts" of their own and the whole story is depressing and quite melancholy. The mom is an alcoholic. The daughter is nymphomaniac who may have a daughter that is also maybe (*SPOILER:) a spirit. And, the son is contemplating suicide. If the story relied on their tales alone, it would be kind of deflating to read, but the voices of the house ghosts, Alice and Sandra, add another element of story as it relives their pasts and how they came to haunt the house.

The writing is vivid and descriptive, but there just might have been one too many characters. When discussing a story that spans over decades of years and more than one family, it can be hard to keep track of who's who.

I wanted the story to be more eerie, but it read more like a family history, which began to lose its intrigue over time. In fact, it had the book had a slow start. I like the theme the author used of traveling from room to room within the house and reliving memories that happened there and what it meant for the people involved. I also thought the end was a perfect wrap up to the story and didn't leave the reader feeling unsatisfied. There was closure.

If you do not have any interest in reading about ghosts, then this book may drag for you for reasons mentioned above. Getting the "other world" insight was what kept me reading.

*I'm not sure that this part is actually a spoiler because I am not sure if my interpretation is true or not. It'd be a question up for debate.



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Bye Bye, 2014!

Here it is, the end of another year. And it's been a great one, a prep one, I've been telling people. You know how you feel like you're preparing for something big? Maybe how an athletic team feels in a rebuilding year? That's how I feel about 2014. 

There was a lot of great things that happened this past year. I got engaged for one! How about that? I had never thought about marriage in a real way. Not that I didn't want it, but it was not on my 'things to do.' I thought it would happen or it wouldn't. 

I got to travel to some awesome places I've never been: San Antonio, Nashville, and revisit a few favorites: Chicago, NYC, and the Emerald Coast. There is something to be said about travel, the necessity of it and the fact that the more I travel, the more I want to travel. 

I barely missed my 50/50 Challenge goal, but feel OK about it because it's closer than I've ever gotten before. If you want the truth, this year in movies was kinda crap with a few gold stars. This is how my year ended: 

Movies

#46 - Mockingjay

#47 - The Big Wedding

#48 - Wall Street

#49 - Wild

#50 - The Pelican Brief

#51 - The Gambler

#52 - Big Hero 6

#53 - Unbroken

Books

#40: Mother, Mother - Koren Zalickas

#41: The Myth of Happiness - Sonja Lyubomirsky

#42: Still Alice - Lisa Genova

#43: Swim Back to Me - Ann Packer

#44: Not That Kind of Girl - Lena Duham

#45: Yes Please - Amy Poehler

#46: The Woman I Wanted to Be - DVF

#47: Flawless - Jan Moran

#48: The Happiness of Pursuit - Chris Guillebeau

In the coming year, I will probably be more active on Goodreads as that's an easier way to keep track of progress, but really, there are so many good books out there! I hope more people decide to read in 2015. I'm so happy to be part of a fun book club that makes reading even more exciting. Is that a geeky statement?

As it is now, I'm spending my final hours on a plane from the East Coast (Florida) to the West Coast (California) and thinking about the year ahead and how fantastic it will be. Tomorrow I will meet with my friends as they create vision boards and I create a specific list of goals of all the things I want to achieve in 2015. One of which is to update this blog more often and write more, in general.

So with that, I hope that your NYE is full of everything you want it to be. My personal goal is to stay awake until midnight, but why break tradition?

I write this in the air, after some Pinot Grigio, and a free viewing of "The Social Network." I hope 2015 treats you well. I'll be talking to you soon.