Beef and Bean Chimichangas with Avocado Fries

Both were awesome. Seriously, you all need to make these. I would definitely recommend two hands in the kitchen for this meal. The chimichangas were courtesy of myself and the hubs made the avocado fries. So in love.

Found the recipes on Pinterest. I'm madly in love with Pinterest as well, but I'll leave that for another time.

Recipes:

http://adventurescooking.blogspot.com/2011/03/avocado-fries-with-cilantro-lemon.html

http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2009/12/beef-and-bean-chimichangas.html

SCRATCH!!!

I'm not sure if I posted this before or not. Greyson and I were watching home videos yesterday and I forgot how cute this was.

Homemade Granola Bars

I made these yesterday and they are oh so good. Enjoy!

Prep: 30 min

Bake 15 min

Yield 2 dozen

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

1 cup chopped almonds

1 egg beaten

2/3 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sunflower kernels

1/2 cup flaked coconut

1 cup of any fruit mixture

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Combine oats and almonds in a 15x10 pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 15 min or until toasted, stirring occasionally.

2. In a large bowl, combine the egg, butter, honey and vanilla. Stir in the sunflower kernels, coconut, fruit, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir in oat mixture.

3. Coat pan again with cooking spray. Press mixture into pan. Bake at 350 for 14-15 min or until edges are brown. Cool on wire rack.

** I will probably decrease the brown sugar to 1/4 cup next time. It is really good, but I think I will like it just as well with a little bit less sugar.

Bacon-Blue Cheese Stuffed Burgers with Quinoa-and-Bean Salad

I don't have a picture of the burgers but they were amazing. Probably the best burgers that I have ever had. The Quinoa-and-Bean salad was great as well.

Quinoa-and-Bean Salad

1 20 ounce can of kidney beans

2 cups cooked quinoa (3/4 cup raw)

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 bunches basil, chopped

Juice of 2 lemons

1. In a large bowl, mix together the kidney beans, quinoa, onion and basil. 2. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and 1/2 cup evoo; season with salt and pepper. 3. Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat. Serve

Bacon-Blue Cheese Stuffed Burgers

1 lb ground beef

1 pkg (3 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese

4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

salt, pepper and garlic powder

1. Shape beef into eight thin patties. 2. Combine the cream cheese, blue cheese and bacon bits. Spoon onto four patties. Top with remaining patties and press to seal. 3. Grill for 7 minutes or until 160 degrees.

Mother's Day

We had a picnic in the park on Mother's Day. I wasn't sure how Greyson would do, but it ended up being pretty relaxing. We took Jimmy John's and spread out on a blanket. Greyson was more interested in playing than eating, but he finally calmed down a bit and ate. We will definitely have to do it again.

Cheesy Baked Pasta with Vegetables

This was very simple and delicious. Just thought I would share.

Serves 8

Active: 15 min

Total: 40 min

Ingredients:

12 oz bowtie pasta

1 bag (12 oz) broccoli florets**

1 Tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for the dish

2 shallots, chopped**

1 package (8 oz) sliced mushrooms

4 cups whole milk

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 bag (5 oz) baby spinach

5 oz fontina cheese, grated (about 1 1/4 cups)

1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp grated parmesan

1. Heat ove to 425. Butter a shallow 3-qt baking dish.

2. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, adding the broccoli during the last 3 minutes of cooking; drain and return to pot.

3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and mushrooms and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, flour, salt and pepper. Pour into skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes; stir in spinach. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of the fontina and 1/3 cup of the Parmesan.

5. Pour sauce into pot with pasta and broccoli and toss to coat. Transfer to the baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheeses.

6. Bake about 10 min or until beginning to brown.

* Adapted from Women's Day Magazine. November 2010

** Instead of the bag of broccoli, I used two fresh heads.

** Instead of the shallots (which I couldn't find), I used 1 small onion.

Serve it later option (Which I did and it worked great):

1. After completing step 5, let casserole cool for 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

2. On the night you'd like to serve it, remove casserole for refrigerator and replace plastic wrap with foil. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes; uncover and bake until beginning to brown, 10 minutes.