Fun Saturday

A few weekends ago, I got to spend some time with some college friends of mine.  The main activity of the day was chatting and catching up although we did manage to eat at Ashley Mac's (love their strawberry cake!) and La Paz.

Mr. Chef

JP's parents were in town one night this past weekend.  They offered to take us to eat, but since JP has been eating out daily due to his work schedule he decided he would rather cook instead.  I did the shopping but he did all the cooking so I'm not sure of the details plus - in true JP fashion- there is no recipe since he just made it up as he went.  So here we have crusted baked fish with an avocado cream sauce served on a bed of rice with asparagus.

King of the Hill

There are not many tv shows I can say I've seen every episode.  Like a large portion of my generation, shows like Full House and Saved by the Bell have a spot on the list.  Friends, Dawson's Creek and Home Improvement are also on my list.  In January, my list added one more show when watched the final episode of King of the Hill.

I can't remember the exact date when we started the first of the thirteen seasons on Netflix, but I think it was while JP was studying for the CPA exam.  JP was the one who started watching it.  I had my doubts.  I wasn't a big fan of cartoons and assumed it would be inappropriate like most adult cartoons are.  I mean for goodness sake, in every episode there are four men drinking beer in an alley.

I quickly learned though that compared to most tv shows these days, King of the Hill is clean.  Plus, like so many shows from my childhood, many episodes seemed to have a "lesson" that was learned at the end. 

We watched every episode together, and it gave us something to look forward to during some busy/overwhelming times or our life.  Pretty much every episode resulted in laughter.

Eventually we learned that a couple in our home group was also going through all of the seasons too.  It was fun to be able to talk to someone about it.  In January we realized that we were both at about the same point so we decided we would watch the last four episodes together. 

We had them over and had a great time ending the series.  To be honest, I am sad we have no more new episodes to watch!

In this post, I mentioned that JP would not consider a dinner an acceptable meal if it did not include meat.  Well I set out to prove this statement wrong, and I was a success.  This meal was incredibly flavorful and neither of us missed having meat on our plate.

JP commented several times how much he liked these Black Bean Patties with Corn Relish and Avocado Cream Sauce.  When he had cleaned his plate he stated, "My meal is gone, but I want some more."

Black Bean Patties with Corn Relish and Avocado Cream Sauce
followed this recipe from Annie's Eats-with a few modifications.


Ingredients
For the patties:

1 15oz. can black beans
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 chipotle in adobo, diced
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
2/3 cup panko bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

For the corn relish:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup corn kernels (I used frozen)
1/2 clove garlic
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro (I didn't measure-just guessed)
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the avocado cream sauce:
1 avocado, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lime juice
Salt and pepper, to taste


 Directions
Black Bean Patties
1. Place about half of the black beans into a food processor (what we use) with 1/2 bell pepper, egg, oregano, cumin, and chipotle.  Process until smooth.
2. In a large bowl, lightly mash the remaining black beans. Stir these black beans along with the remaining bell pepper and the onion into the smooth black bean mixtures.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3.  Stir breadcrumbs into mixture a little at a time mixing lightly.  The mixture should now be able to be formed into a ball.
4. Chill for 30 minutes - move on and make corn relish and avocado cream sauce while it chills.
5.  Form the bean mixture into patties (I got 5 patties).  Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the patties in batches, cooking until lightly browned and firm- about 3-4 minutes/side.

Corn Relish
1. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat.  Add corn to pan and saute briefly until lightly browned 2-3 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook for another minute or so.
2. Transfer to bowl.  Stir in tomato, lime juice, and cilantro.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Avocado Cream Sauce
1.  Combine all ingredients into bowl of food processor.  Process until completely smooth.


Plating it...
I gave JP three patties and me two.  Once you place the patties on a plate, top with corn relish followed by avocado cream sauce.

I will say that this meal did take some time to make, but I think it will take much less time the next time I make it.  Everything always seems to take a while the first go around.  Additionally, I did not know how the recipe was going to go over, so I made less than the original recipe called for- hence only 5 patties.  So, I do not know how leftover would reheat.  I did have leftover corn relish which was just as good the next day in a quesadilla.

Things that make me smile.

A few weeks ago, I met a few friends of mine at Whole Food's for their Tuesday pizza special- I mean you can't beat a large specialty pizza for 9.99.  While I was there, their beautiful selection of flowers caught my eye. So, later that week when I had a long day I decided to stop by and get some flowers to brighten my day.  Who says you can't buy flowers for yourself?

Turkey Legs

One of JP's favorite parts of Disney World was the turkey legs. According to him it was the best food option because it provided you with the most protein.

JP let everyone know his love for the turkey legs so a few weeks ago my sister sent him a turkey leg recipe she had found.  Of course, we had to try it!  Surprisingly enough we had no trouble finding the turkey legs to cook.

To go with the turkey legs I made cream corn using JP's mom's recipe.

It was a successful meal! JP's favorite was the turkey leg and mine was the cream corn (not surprisingly).  Although they were good, JP claims that Disney World's turkey legs are better (how could they not be- it is Disney World!), but since a trip to Disney World is unfortunately not a frequent occurrence, this is a good alternative.

Recipe: Zucchini, Black Bean, and Rice Skillet

My sister originally pinned this recipe on Pinterest.  I then repinned it and eventually made it.  Sarah and her friend actually came over while I made it.  Sarah then decided to make it as well.

We both loved it so much! Four reasons:

A) It is healthy B) It is really fast (I who never can make things in 30 minutes definitely did) C) It is really flexible D) Makes enough for leftovers/reheats well

The recipe is originally from ReadySetEat.com. 

Zucchini, Black Bean and Rice Skillet

1 tablespoon olive oil (I rarely actually measure- just but a little in the pan)

1 sliced zucchini (You can use squash instead or in addition to)

1 diced bell pepper (Whatever color you like works. I've used a different color each time I've made this)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

Note: The original recipe calls for fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic.  I usually just use plain diced tomatoes and add a little pepper and garlic.

3/4 cup water

1 cup instant or minute rice (I use brown rice)

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Directions

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.

Add zucchini and bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally

Add drained beans, undrained tomatoes and water. Increase heat and bring to boil.

Add rice; stir well

Cover; remove from heat or turn to low. Let sit until rice is down/excessive water is gone (a few times I have had to drain a tablespoon of water or so off)

Once done, add cheese

Flexibility

Try it with some feta cheese instead of cheddar cheese. My sister experimented with that and it was so good.

JP must have meat to count something as a meal. This is SO easy to add meat to.  I used some frozen shrimp and it didn't add any time to the process. You could also use chicken or... be creative!

On another note

This website is new to me but I was just looking around and they seem to have some good quick recipes.  Plus, if you type in your zip code it will tell you which items in the recipe are on sale in your area and where!  You can even tell it to just tell you items on sale at the grocery store you normally shop.