A whole lot of Stuff

While most individuals had a short work week, I worked and didn't get to luxury of enjoy the Labor Day sunshine. But just cause I wasn't relaxing didn't mean I couldn't have good food. I decided to try another Pinterest recipe: Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers.

Now to add fuel to the fire. Not only was I working on Labor Day but I also had a cold. Yeah, that was fun. Well my cold affected my taste so it was hold to determine just how tasty it was. But after eating some leftovers a few days later I determined this dish is a definite must for my recipe arsenal.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, diced

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

6 oz. fresh baby spinach

3 carrots, grated (1 1/2 cups)

3 or 4 large bell peppers

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cans (15 oz) diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 Tbsp cumin

1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican or pepper jack cheese

Directions

Rinse and cook quinoa according to directions. Meanwhile, prepare veggies.

In a very large skillet, saute onion for 5 minutes over medium heat.

Add cumin and garlic, saute 1 minute.

Stir in spinach, drained tomatoes (pour tomato liquid into bottom of 9x13 baking dish). Cook 5 minutes.

Stir in black beans, cooked quinoa, carrots. Heat for a few minutes.

Stir in 1 cup cheese. Season with salt/pepper.

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise (remove inner ribs with a spoon). Fill each pepper with heaping amount of quinoa mixture, packing it down, and place in baking dish.

Cover with foil and bake 1 hour.

Uncover, sprinkle peppers with cheese. Bake uncovered 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.

Drizzle with pan juices before serving.

** I did make some adjustments to this recipe.

-added fresh lime juice to my cooked Quinoa. (I used the tri-color blend at Trader Joes)

-I used diced tomatoes that were roasted and had peppers to add some spice.

-added fresh cilantro, roasted corn, and Trader Joe's beef-less ground beef to my filling.

-opted out of the carrots since I did not have any.

**I also realized after stuffing the peppers that I made way to much filling. So during the week I ate the filling just like one would eat chili and topped it within sliced avocado, some shredded cheese, corn chips, and salsa. It's a super tasty alternative and because of the quinoa, very filling.

Vegan Fiesta!

Finally, I am back to cooking. I have been pretty busy with work and life in general but this weekend I was determined to cook myself something nice. I was feeling in a Mexican mood, maybe it was because of the long weekend and warm weather, so I swung by Trader Joe's to see my options. Now in the past I have made tacos with black beans & chickpeas as my "meat" and have even used veggie "meat" crumbles but I found a recipe on Pinterest that use tofu so I wanted to give it a try.  But first with any Taco dish, I had to have some guacamole. I whipped up a batch from a recipe that my mom always uses and it was simple and delicious. Seriously, this recipe never fails.

Mom's No Fuss Guacamole

Ingredients

-3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded, and peeled

-1 lime

-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

-1/2 ground cumin

-1/2 teaspoon cayenne

-1/2 medium onion, diced

-2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

-1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

-1 clove garlic, minced

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice, toss to coat. Drain, and reserve the lime juice, after all of the avocados have been coated. Using a potato masher add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash. Then, fold I'm the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice. 

I like my guacamole spicy so I also add a little bit of Mrs. Renfro's Jalapeño Green Salsa and mix to taste.

Once the guacamole was all set I placed the pits back in the dip so it would stay nice and green and put it in the fridge to keep cool. I then started slicing sticks of tofu to pan fry up as my "meat". I heated a little oil in a skillet, then placed in the tofu and seasoned with a little taco seasoning and let them fry up until crispy. While the tofu was cooking I also sautéed up some roasted corn, black beans, onions, tomato, and jalapeño in another skillet to have as my side dish. Once the tofu was crisp, I place them on a paper towel to drain and fried up 2 Corn & Wheat Trader Joe's tortillas, if you haven't tried them I highly recommend-soft with a tiny hint of sweet. After the tortillas were done it was time to eat. I filled the tacos with some chopped red cabbage, tofu, and topped with guacamole.

This meal was really simple to make and even better, it was very filling. I only ate this plate and was done for the night. If you interested in trying an alternative to the traditional meat tacos I would give this recipe a try.

It's a Verde kind of night

Dropped by Target and bought a basket full of goodies, which included a brand new wok I mentioned in an earlier post. Tonight's meal focused on integrating a packet of Frontera Key Lime Cilantro Taco Skillet Sauce. I decided to cook some cilantro infused rice and sautée some green pepper, red onion, and jalapeño along with some shrimp. I then added the sauce to the shrimp mixture and ate it over the rice. It was super easy, really good, and made leftovers. If you ever want a quick easy and Mexican meal check this line of products out. They are by Chef Rick Bayless.

First Portland Meal

Today marked Day 1 of my Portland adventure. As soon as I arrived at my hostel I was starving. I ventured toward downtown and found a place that one of the hostel staff suggested called "Cha Cha Cha!" They had a lot of variety on their menu but I opted to keep it simple and get a few tacos. I ordered 2 veggie tacos and 1 fish taco, both of which were amazing. I can't wait to taste what else Portland has to offer.

2 veggie tacos -roasted poblano peppers, corn, onions, lettuce, black beans, and guacamole
1 fish taco- grilled tilapia topped with cabbage habanero salsa 

Good Call Michelle!

So, this week I got braces. As a result my mouth has been in a lot of pain and I haven't been able to eat any solid foods. Tonight I decided to take a break from my soup and pasta meals and go for the taco inspired rice dish Michelle posted a week or so ago. I stuck true to most of her recipe but did make a few tweaks to adhere to my diet.

-Substituted Chicken broth for Vegetable Stock to cook the rice in.
-Added two cans of diced tomatoes. One can was Texas roasted tomatoes.
-Added Morning Star Veggie Meat crumbs for protein. Seasoned it with Mexican Oregano, taco seasonings , and fresh cilantro.
-Substituted homemade guacamole for sour cream.
- I opted out of tortilla chips since my teeth are still really sore. In the future though I plan on incorporating them into this dish.

Overall I was really pleased with this result. Michelle was right, this meal is super easy to prepare, make, and tastes amazing!

Cooking Veggie meat with cilantro, garlic, and onions

Finished Product

Quick Lunch

I worked another busy weekend and decided to treat myself during my lunch break. My coworker suggested I try a torta from Monti Cristo, a local taqueria. Oh man, was it delicious! I ordered the Pollo Asado torta with their homemade tortilla chips. The whole thing was great but my absolute favorite was the bread on the sandwich. If you have never had a torta I would definitely suggest Monti Cristo because of their authenticity and great favors.

The beauty of a Berkeley mind

CREATIVITY!
Last time we were at Picante Josh ventured out and asked the waitress if she could make his burrito into a wet-burrito, which they don't have on the menu... and let's face it some restaurants can be real sticklers about special orders. But not Picante! It was no problem at all, no extra charges, and absolutely delicious (I recommend they make it a menu item!!)

So here's two quick pics of Josh's super carnitas (sans the sour cream) wet burrito.

Exploring the Neighborhood

Tonight Michelle and I decided to explore our neighborhood since there are a few restaurants nearby that we have heard good things about. We decided on La Taqueria de Familia as our restaurant of choice.

Wall Mural


Water pitcher


Famous Fish Taco Sign


Our dad has been telling us for awhile that this place makes a mean fish taco and boy was he right. Their fish taco is one of the best I have ever had. The ratio of batter to fish was pure perfection. But enough talking, I’ll show you some pictures so you can see for yourself.

My choice: Seafood Combo -- 1 fish taco, 1 shrimp taco, rice & black beans

Michelle’s choice: Carnitas Wet Burrito with refried beans

Tacos!

For many college students, tacos for dinner only come on Tuesdays as they attent Taco Tuesday events for cheap alcohol and tacos. Not me. Monique suggested that we have tacos for dinner to take advantage of the tasty guacamole my mom had whipped up so I got to cooking. One pound of ground beef and numerous fried corn tortillas later, this was the end product:


Not too bad if I do say so myself... and I'm sure Monique would agree.

Tostadas para todos

During a quick run to Picante Dani, my mom, and I all decided to go out on a limb and try something new... TOSTADAS PARA TODOS! Although we each got a tostada we all had a different meat to go with what was essentially a large taco salad on a deliciously fried shell. My mom and I both choose corn tortillas while Dani choose a flour tortilla which turned out to be the unanimous favorite.

Dani's Pescado Tostada


Mom's "Tablecloth-stainer" Mole Chicken Tostada


My Carnitas Tostada


We were all throughly pleased with our choices :)

Triple D featurette

During our road trip Francis has been testing out a new iPhone app called, DD&D. This app locates restaurants in your area that have been on Food Network's Diners, Drive Ins, & Dives (which is one of my favorite shows). It's pretty cool and Francis found a little hole in the wall place that sounded tasty, Gloria's Cafe : Mexican and Salvadoran Food.

Tasty chips and salsa





Appetizer--- Lorocco and herb pupusa


I ordered the Home Special Pescado, grilled tilapia covered with garlic sauce and served with a small salad, rice, and beans.


Francis ordered the Carne Adobada, tender carnitas covered with Adobada sauce and served with rice, beans, and tortillas.



Everything we got was great! The flavors were so amazing and tasted very authentic. We would gladly recommend this place to anyone that loves Mexican or Latin American cuisine.



See you next time we're in LA :)

Location:10227 Venice Blvd

Sunday Lunch

In the next coming months Michelle and I will be adding another roommate to our living situation. We decided to go out to lunch and chat to make sure that we are all on the same page. Michelle and I had just went running before this so we were feeling a little piggish. Anyways here are the dishes:


Appetizer: CHIPS AND GUACAMOLE


Michelle's Meal : CHEESE ENCHILADAS WITH REFRIED BEANS


Diana's Meal: CARNE ASADA SUPER BURRITO



My Meal : Sopa Azteca (similar to chicken tortilla soup) & 2 pescado (tilapia is the fish of choice) tacos with mango salsa

Oh, and it wouldn't be quality Mexican food without the Mandarin Jarritos ;)

WE’RE BBBAAAACCCCKKKK!!!!

With the school year winding down and the holidays around the corner we have had more time to make some delicious meals. Most of the meals were so good that we forgot to take a picture. lol :) Well today I came back home from my last Physiology lecture and decided to treat myself to a good breakfast. My initial idea was to make vegetarian tacos since we used all the ground beef earlier for tacos. But Michelle told me that for breakfast she made herself some delicious Fiesta Eggs. Then it hit me-- Why not make breakfast tostadas??!!

Here are my tasty results

Breakfast Tostadas

fried Guerrero white corn tortillas topped with mexican blend cheese, eggs, tomatoes, onion , and salsa verde

mi desayuno fue muy delicioso

Fiesta Friday

After a long week, a hearty home-cooked meal was in order. On tonight's menu was Michelle's Muy Delicioso Taco Casserole (as it is known in our cook book) with a fiesta salad as the side.

These were the fixings...

Fresh diced tomatoes

The diced onions responsible

for Michelle's many tears

and smeared make up

Crunched corn tortilla chips

And some black beans

Add these with spicy ground beef and cheese for...

LAYERS & LAYERS OF GOODNESS

For this tasty FINAL PRODUCT...

Taco Casserole hot out of the oven

-eventually topped with sour cream, salsa verde, and ketchup when served

Fiesta Salad

Ground beef, cheese, and a roasted garlic salsa

recommended by a lady at the grocery

store to make a good salad

dressing

(GREAT SUGGESTION!!)

One of our plates

Salad on the left, casserole on the right