Leftover Nachos

Nachos are one of our quick, easy meals. Here's an example of a recent nacho night that incorporated leftovers and fresh veggies.

Possible Ingredients
Tortilla chips
Meat and/or beans
Cheese
Assorted Vegetables
Salsa

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Add a layer of tortilla chips to a shallow dish or cookie sheet.

3. Prepare your toppings and layer on top of the chips.
*Chop veggies. (We have an abundance of tomatoes, so they're a must at every meal right now! Also included spinach greens, small green pepper and medium onion. I'll save half of this onion, pre-chopped, for another meal. Trimmings and tops go into the food scrap bucket for compost/chickens/pigs.)

*Re-heat and prepare leftover chicken and beans. (Since the chicken was put away with its broth after a crock-pot meal last week, we heated it so we could pull the meat out without too much juice. Chopped the chicken roughly. Also re-heated the last of the leftover butter beans.)

*Grate cheese. (We usually have cheddar in the fridge, but you could use any kind!)

4. Heat in oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese melts.

5. Top with salsa and enjoy! (Guacamole and sour cream would also be delicious to add.)

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

I have a sweet tooth and my husband Colby has several. This weekend's cookies were based on a traditional recipe with a few healthy additions to add nutrients to our sweet treats...

1 stick of butter (loving the new pastured organic butter available at La Montanita Co-op!)
1 cup of Sucanat (whole cane sugar)
2 eggs (cover with hot water for a few minutes before using)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup flour (had and used all purpose, but could do whole wheat or a mix of the two)
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 cup chocolate chips (could also use raisins or other dried fruit)
3/4 cup pecans (almonds also yummy!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream softened butter and sugar for a couple minutes.
Mix in the eggs, vanilla and salt.
Add the flour, oats, baking soda and cinnamon.
Add the chips/fruit and nuts.
Plop onto cookie sheets (Use parchment paper makes for easier clean-up!)
Bake for about 11 minutes.
After a few minutes, move to a cooling rack.

Enjoy with a nice glass of milk!

***

I often bake just a few cookies the first round and add more flour to the dough if they spread too thin.

With a mind for easy clean-up, I used only my mixer bowl to make these. Although I didn't pre-mix the dry ingredients, I did sprinkle them in slowly to ensure even distribution.

So Not meatball sauce...

...But high in protein.

We eat meatless most of the time and so we think about the protein in each meal.  Also Amy is pregnant and so we have to make sure she gets enough for the baby.  Everyone in our family  loves this recipe.

not so meatball sauce
1/2 c walnuts, ground.
1T olive oil
1c chopped mushrooms
1T garlic
1/2 c onion, chopped
1/2 c chard or spinach
1/4 c basil
1T oregano
1 c tomato sauce
2 c lentils, cooked.
1/2 c cream (or sub 1/4 c nooch if you are vegan or out)
1 lb of whole wheat pasta.

Start by sauteing the the walnuts onions, garlic and mushrooms in the olive oil until soft.  Add in chard and basil until wilted.  Add in oregano, sauce and lentils and let flavors meld for 10 min or so.  At the end stir in the cream and toss with the cooked pasta.