Oven Fried Beef Taquitos

Oven Fried Beef Taquitos

I can be a very outspoken and stubborn person. Not in a mean or spiteful way, but I grew up with a mother that made it very clear that I was not going to have the life that she ended up with. She spent hours taking me to chess club, dance classes and science camps. I never thought that I couldn't do something, I just had to try a little harder. My mother was one of the smartest people that I have ever known. However, she was also the oldest of 12 kids, so money was always tight and opportunities were few.

Growing up we oftentimes had little money. My dad worked as an aide in a nursing home and my mother sold Tupperware. Neither of my parents were fortunate enough to have gone to college and most of the jobs they worked were minimum wage. There were years my mother cried standing in line at the food bank, but we pulled through.

While I would never wish hardship on anyone, my mother was incredibly strong and passed this trait on to me. I worked my way through college and graduate school, paying my own tuition, rent and traveling to Europe twice. My parents weren't overly gushy with praise, but the day I graduated with my undergraduate degree my dad cried. He didn't have to say anything, I understood. Nine days after my oldest son was born my mother passed away of cancer 2500 hundred miles away from me. I called on the strength that my mother instilled on me to get through some of the hardest weeks of my life.

So whenever my husband jokes that I am stubborn and outspoken, I smile. Those aren't the worst traits that someone can have and I hope that my kids carry on the family tradition.

The last couple of weeks I have been trying to make more oven roasted recipes that use less oil. I try to watch my husband's diet due to health issues that run on his side of the family. That doesn't mean that we don't enjoy the occasional treat, but I try to use recipes that reduce the fat at least a couple of days a week. Last night I tried a new recipe for Oven Fried Beef Taquitos from the November/December 2013 issue of Eating Well Magazine.

Lake Vesuvius Ohio

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. I find it much easier to heat corn tortillas in the microwave with a damp paper towel. I do them in batches of 6 at a time, be careful they are really hot when they come out. The biggest change I made was to cook the taquitos for an extra 5 minutes. At 18 minutes they were still not fully browned.

Lake Vesuvius Ohio

My kids absolutely fell in love with this recipe, they loved it. I served the taquitos with sour cream and salsa, which were great sides. My husband and youngest son ate the left overs cold the next day. They both thought that the cold leftovers were even better than when the recipe was served hot. The one change that I would make would be to increase the amount of salt. As the recipe is written it is under salted.

For the recipe go to Oven Fried Beef Taquitos. 

Oven Fried Beef Taquitos

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

An easy oven fried beef taquitos recipe with 33 grams of protein per serving. Even better the next day!

Preparation Time: 0h, 20m

Total Time: 0h, 40m

Yield: Serves 4

Looking for a Use For Fresh Zucchini? Try Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake

My first tomatoes were finally ripe enough to eat this morning. So for breakfast I had a sliced heirloom tomato and an omelet with fresh basil from my herb garden. There is something about food that comes from your garden that always tastes so much better. Heirloom tomatoes are one of my favorite foods, they are sweet and delicious. Of course my kids woke up and eat half of the breakfast I had prepared for myself, but who could blame them, it was pretty on the plate and yummy. They also ate the majority of the heirloom cherry tomatoes that are going crazy right now. There are at least 50 of them about to be ripe enough to eat. I love growing fruits and vegetables in my garden and eating the results. This week I had a number of zucchini to use so I turned to dessert recipes. I tried a new recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake from the July/August 2013 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 1 hour of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 6 to 8 servings. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. First I used gluten free all purpose flour instead of wheat all-purpose flour. I left out the salt since the flour I use already has it in it. For the spice I used nutmeg. Make sure to squeeze all the water out of the zucchini it really does make a difference on how the finished cake turns out. I use paper towels and wring the water out over the sink. Finally, instead of using a 9 inch square pan I baked the cake in a round 9 inch pan. I prefer being able to serve cake as slices instead of squares.

The chocolate flavor in this cake really comes through. You really can't even taste the zucchini so it's a nice way to use zucchini without feeling like the entire recipe tastes like it came out of the garden. My kids loved this recipe and ate the majority of the cake by themselves. The texture is denser than many cakes, more like a dessert bread or torte. To me the texture was perfect.  It was nice with a cup of coffee for an afternoon snack or would also be nice for a dinner party.

For the recipe go to Chocolate Zucchini Cake.

Recipe for Tuscan Turkey Burgers with Fresh Basil

Tuscan Turkey Burgers with Fresh Basil and Tomatoes

I was so happy that tonight I was able to use fresh herbs from my herb garden for my dinner recipe. My herbs are doing better than I expected and will save me so much money this summer. Growing my own basil is one way that I know that I will save money since I use basil at least once a week for dinner. The herbs available at the grocery store are over priced and start to brown by the time I am able to use them. Being able to just go out and cut the amount that I need is so nice. Plus the flavor is noticeably better than store bought. One food I love adding fresh basil to is burgers. It can take a regular burger from ordinary to something memorable. Last week I tried a new recipe for Tuscan Turkey Burgers from Redbook magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First since I eat gluten free I made gluten free biscuits and then made bread crumbs in my food processor. I also used my indoor grill to cook the burgers, which helped to reduce the fat without reducing the flavor. For my serving I ate the burger between two gluten free biscuits, for the rest of my family I made homemade hamburger buns.

These burgers have a tendency to crumble when you try to flip them over so be careful. I actually waited until the next day to take the photo. After sitting in the fridge the burgers were much firmer and easier to deal with. It might be a good idea to place the burgers in the fridge to firm before cooking them. I thought these burgers were great without lettuce so if you are unable to find Boston lettuce you can leave it out. Overall these burgers turned out very moist and were enjoyed by my whole family.

For the recipe go to Tuscan Turkey Burgers.

Easy Enchiladas Suizas with Ground Turkey and Zucchini Filing

Enchiladas Suizas with Ground Turkey and Zucchini Filling

Salt is always a battle in my household. My husband and two boys could literally eat it straight from the shaker while I would be fine never salting anything. I know your thinking how can a self proclaimed foodie and food blogger hate salt. I seem to be a little bit of the odd one out. Chefs and foodies love salt. It adds flavor and substance to dishes and many chefs claim that over salting if always better than under salting. I salt all my recipes. I just don't add more than is necessary. Salt is absolutely essential for dishes to taste correctly, but I also believe that most Americans overuse salt, sometimes to an extreme. There is a happy medium where the flavor of dishes come through while keeping my blood pressure nice and low. It's also all about moderation as it should be with all food. If I make a dish high in salt one day I try to compensate and make something low in sodium the next. That way everyone is happy and we will all still live until we're at least 90. This week I tried a new recipe for Enchiladas Suizas from the April 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 60 minutes of total time, 40 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First for the turkey I used 93 percent lean, I substituted non-fat half and half for regular and mild salsa instead of medium since my kids would be eating it. Instead of heating each tortilla individually on the stove, I heated them in two sets in the microwave in between a moist set of paper towels for 40 seconds. I also skipped the step of heating the salsa mixture before adding the cheese, I was in a rush and needed dinner of the table as quickly as possible. Finally make sure to squeeze out the water from the zucchini. The recipe doesn't state this step and it is essential. Place the grated zucchini between paper towels and squeeze. A large amount of water will come out. Without this step the turkey will never brown and your enchiladas will be soggy.

I really like how easy this recipe is to prepare. The spices used in the turkey mixture were delicious and my whole family really liked the filling. I do think that there wasn't enough sauce to fully coat all the enchiladas. I would recommend making a double batch of sauce (you won't need it all you can freeze the extra). If you are a big cheese lover I would also suggest adding slightly more cheese to the top. The magazine picture shows more cheese than would actually be there if you only used 3/4 of a cup like the recipe suggests.

For the recipe go to Enchiladas Suizas (registration required).

Corn Chowder with Zucchini and Orzo

I love summer for so many reasons. One of my favorite summer things is fresh vegetables. Garden vegetables are absolutely delicious and I love cooking and baking with every single one of the them. In our area zucchini and summer squash seem to grow easier than anything else and I am always swimming in both of them for a good part of the summer months. I have learned to make great tasting brownies, cakes, bread and muffins that my kids love and they have never guessed that they contain garden vegetables. However, as much as I love baked goods I am trying to reduce the amount that my family consumes. So this time when I had a number of zucchini I decided to look for new savory and healthy options. I found a recipe from Everyday Food magazine for Corn Chowder with Zucchini and Orzo, which looked simple, low in fat and delicious.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. All the ingredients were easy to find at my local grocery store and I made no substitutions. I did find that I had to let my chowder cook for slightly longer than the 8 minutes suggested by the recipe. At 8 minutes it hadn't thickened well so I allowed it to cook an additional 5 minutes. Be very careful when using the blender with the hot soup. I always place a towel over the top opening in addition to the plastic lid insert. I have had soup splatter more than once and the towel prevents anything from leaking out the top. Another option would be to use an immersion blender. It would work just as well and you wouldn't have to worry about pouring hot liquids. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With 8 grams of fat and 9 grams of protein per serving this recipe is a great, light summer dinner option. I loved how sweet the chowder was and the zucchini and orzo on top was not only pretty on the plate, but created a nice texture difference. My husband wasn't as big of a fan of this recipe. He thought that the chowder would be great as a breakfast porridge, but not as a dinner option. My two kids loved it though, so he was the odd one out. Overall, this recipe was a great way to use garden veggies and I would use it again next summer.

Everyday Food currently does not have this recipe online. However, it can be found in the July/August issue or here is a link to a modified version.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This has been a very busy week for my kitchen. I have canned, baked, cooked and prepped just about every fruit and veggie that can be grown in our region. It has been a good year for gardens and my counter was literally overflowing with squash at the end of last week. It was a tad bit overwhelming, but I dove in and canned 15 pounds of squash and pickles and baked chocolate zucchini muffins. However, even after all this work I was still left with a number of zucchini. Never one to let food go to waste, I decided to make a loaf of zucchini bread, a family favorite. After searching through recipes online I came across a recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Bread from Allrecipes.com which looked delicious and easy to make.

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes an hour and 15 minutes to prep and cook and makes 20 servings. I made a number of modifications to this recipe. I am not a fan of using a cup of oil in baking, so I substituted the oil with unsweetened apple sauce. Growing up my mother was diabetic so I became used to substituting unsweetened applesauce in recipes from an early age. It is a great substitute for sugar and oil and keeps baked goods very moist. I left out the walnuts, I am not a walnut fan and my boys won't eat any baked goods with walnuts or pecans. Finally, instead of using two loaf pans I baked the bread in a bundt pan. I love using a bundt pan in sweet bread recipes, it makes a great shape and is easy to slice into servings. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was very pleased with how pretty this bread came out. I topped the servings with frozen berries and sprinkled the top with powdered sugar. Substituting the oil made for a moist bread that wasn't overly heavy. I used bittersweet chocolate for the chocolate chips, which was nice since it didn't make the bread overly sweet. This recipe is a great way to use zucchini and will be a recipe that I will use again next year when I am swimming in garden vegetables.

For the recipe Chocolate Zucchini Bread.

Here is a pic of the squash and pickles I was busy making. My boys love pickles and ate all 20 jars I canned last summer!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

My husband likes to tease me that I eat a lot of carbs. He's right, I would be a horrible person on a low-carb diet, I just can't live without bread, muffins, pretty much baked goods in general. I know that I have my dad to blame for this love of all things bread related. Growing up when my mom was out doing her tupperware parties my dad would take me to the donut shop down the street and we would literally eat a dozen donuts between the two of us. I was also so thin that the doctors put me on ensure to gain weight, which did nothing except make me hate the taste of vanilla drinks for the rest of my life. Needless to say I have been lucky most of my life that eating a large amount of carbs has never had the effect that my husband claims they have had on his waistline. However, now that I am in my thirties I have been trying to find ways to modify my favorite carb snacks into healthier versions. This week I had an abundance of garden veggies and thought that the Chocolate Zucchini Muffin recipe on Allrecipes.com would be a good starting point for a healthier muffin.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 35 minutes of prep and cook time and makes 2 dozen muffins. I made a number of ingredient modifications to this recipe. First I never have cardamon in my house, it's not a spice that I use frequently. Given that I didn't have the spice and I had no desire to run to the store in 100 degree heat I left it out completely. Second, the thought of using 1 whole cup of oil made me cringe. Instead I substituted 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce. The original recipe only uses cocoa powder. I also added 1/2 package of mixed bittersweet and milk chocolate all natural chocolate chips. Finally I ended up with 18 muffins total since I like my muffins on the larger size. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys ate the majority of this batch of muffins and had no idea that they were eating zucchini or that I substituted the fat with applesauce. I was very happy with how moist the muffins were with the applesauce and the taste was delicious. It was definitely a great way to use an overabundance of garden vegetables and is a recipe that I would use again in the future.

For the recipe go to Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.

Everyday Food Sauteed Zucchini, Peppers, and Tomatoes

I love really simple recipes. Sometimes the best dishes have few ingredients, letting the flavors shine through. I hate when vegetable dishes are smothered in too much cheese or have 20 ingredients virtually masking the actual taste of the vegetables. My favorite salads are basically vegetables, a little cheese and a light dressing, simple and delicious. This fall when Borders went out of business they had all their magazines on clearance and I picked up a copy of Everyday Food's summer special. I've used a number of the recipes and one that I have particularly liked is the recipe for Sauteed Zucchini, Peppers, and Tomatoes, which is simple, light and delicious.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes approximately 15 minutes to prep and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no recipe substitutions. I used cherry tomatoes since they are always easier to find than grape tomatoes. Instead of serving the vegetables on their own I stirred them into couscous and served it as a side dish. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I really liked the way this recipe tasted when stirred into couscous. By itself it was a little too soggy for my tastes., but it was great with couscous. The exact recipe isn't on-line, but the recipe that is available is almost identical except it lacks fresh oregano. This recipe is a great way to add more fresh vegetables into your diet and very easy to prepare.

For the recipe go to Sauteed Zucchini, Peppers, and Tomatoes.

Everyday Food Zucchini, Banana, and Flaxseed Muffins

My family loves to snack and I am the biggest snacker in the house. Instead of eating three large meals a day I eat 6 smaller meals, which are a balance of protein and a small amount of carbs. After battling low potassium and pneumonia for months I have been making sure to not skip my snacks; I really don't want to end up in the emergency room again with my heart rate too high. I would love to say that I love fruit, but honestly apples and berries are the only ones that I actually like. My boys on the other hand will eat more fruit than anyone I've ever met. They have already eaten two full bags of apples in less than a week. I have been experimenting with healthy snacking options for everyone in my family that include fruit and vegetables. The September issue of Everyday Food magazine had a recipe for Zucchini, Banana, and Flaxseed Muffins that claimed to be low in fat and have 5 grams of protein, which seemed perfect for my family's snacking.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes approximately an hour of cooking and cooling time and makes 12 servings. I already had most of the ingredients including the ground flaxseed from previous recipes. I actually prepped this muffins the night before and refrigerated until I baked them in the morning. Make sure not to over mix the batter, just stir until combined or your muffins will be less fluffy. I found that I had more than enough batter for 12 muffins and made three additional muffins. I also found that I needed to turn the pan halfway through the baking time to encourage an even browning, however, that could be due to my disco era oven. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys loved this recipe. They ate more than half the muffins for snacks and dinner. I liked that the muffins only have 2 grams of fat, but 5 grams of protein, making them a great snacking option. Recently, I have been trying to bake more with flaxseeds, they are a great source of nutrition. This recipe was a great way to add more flaxseed into my family's diet. Overall, a very family friendly recipe that is healthy and full of flavor.

Here is the recipe link Zucchini, Banana, and Flaxseed Muffins.

Everday Food Corn and Zucchini Orzo Salad

Pasta is a stable in my household. I never have to worry about having too many leftovers that won't get eaten if a dish includes any type of pasta, someone in my house will eat it. My love of pasta goes back to my childhood. Growing up my family didn't have a lot of money, so pasta was a common meal. Luckily my mother was a very good cook and almost every meal she made was delicious. I especially loved pasta and she invented a recipe for Asian noodles, that to this day is one of the best dishes I have ever tasted. My two boys have inherited my love of all things pasta and literally cheer when they realize a pasta dish is for dinner. Recently, the September issue of Everyday Food magazine had a recipe for Corn and Zucchini Orzo Salad, which looked delicious and a great way to use pasta as a side dish.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. I makes 6 servings and takes a total of 35 minutes, all of which is active cooking time. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Make sure to add lots of salt to the pasta water when cooking the orzo or the dish will be very under-salted. Even with the pasta water being adequately salted, I still had to add a decent amount of salt to bring out the full flavor of the zucchini and fresh corn. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

If your trying to feed a crowd this is a great recipe. The recipe states that this makes 6 servings, but they would be 6 very large servings. I would say that this salad could easily serve 12 or more people. This dish was light and delicious the day it was made, but was even better tasting after it had sat in the fridge overnight and soaked up all the flavors from the dressing. I didn't feel that the taste of the jalapeno was very apparent. I would suggest either adding another seeded jalapeno, or if you enjoy spicy dishes, keeping the seeds in for extra flavor. Overall, a light vegetable and pasta salad, that makes enough leftovers for another meal. 

For the recipe go to Corn and Zucchini Orzo Salad.

Martha Stewart Living Zucchini Salad

My two boys love any type of fruit they are given. However, vegetables are another story. There are certain vegetables, such as broccoli and asparagus, which they absolutely love and will eat willingly. Other vegetables such as cauliflower and lettuce they won't touch. I have been trying to find new recipes, that will taste delicious and encourage my family eat more nutritious vegetables and was intrigued when a recent issue of Martha Stewart Living had a recipe for Zucchini Salad.

This recipe has 7 ingredients, including salt and pepper. It takes less than ten minutes to prep and is very easy to prepare. I had to make a major modification to this recipe. For whatever reason my local grocery stores never seem to have fresh dill in stock, so I had to leave it out entirely. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My husband had never eaten raw zucchini before and was skeptical of this recipe. However, after tasting it, he thought it was delicious. I don't think that leaving out the dill made a major difference to the overall taste of the dish, it was still appetizing and my two boys ate it willingly. The best part of the recipe is the fresh feta, which when paired with the zucchini is a delicious combination. A great way to use fresh summer garden vegetables

For the recipe go to Martha Stewart Living Zucchini Salad.

Martha Stewart Living Zucchini Fritters

I try to incorporate a vegetable side dish with every dinner that I make for my household. Some vegetables are better received than others. My oldest loves cucumbers and will eat any dish that includes them, however, salads and other greens he turns his nose up at. Therefore, I have been trying to figure out ways that I can incorporate vegetables without my two children realizing what they are eating. Recently, an issue of Martha Stewart Living had a recipe for Zucchini Fritters, which looked like a great way to 'hide' vegetables for my family.

This recipe has 12 ingredients, including the salt, pepper and serving suggestions. The total time is approximately 25 minutes, all active. The ingredients are very basic, and I was easily able to find everything at my local grocery store. I did make one modification, instead of using store bought apricot jam, I substituted homemade raspberry jam, which I had canned last month. Additionally, I made larger fritter than those called for in the recipe, since I wanted to save time and not have to wait for 20 fritters to be prepared.

For whatever reason my batter turned out a lot thinner than I thought it should. The magazine picture has the fritters small and thick, but I found that the batter was way too thin to make small, dense fritters like the magazine. My fritters were much larger, but still tasted fine. I think if I made the recipe again I would only add one egg and see if that reduced the thinness of the batter. The homemade raspberry jam on top was delicious, and added greatly to the taste of the dish.

The recipe I used was from the August 2011 issue, I was unable to find the exact recipe on-line. However, a similar recipe (without the onion and oregano) is available here : Martha Stewart Living Zucchini Fritters.

Roasted Vegetable Pasta and Squash Bread

This must have been a good year for squash and vegetables in my area, because a number of my friends gave me a large amount of extras from their gardens. I didn't want anything to go to waste so I tried to come up with a menu plan which incorporated a large amount of the fresh vegetables I had available. I make zuchinni bread relatively often, so instead of relying on my old standby, I decided to make bread with yellow squash. For the remainder of the fresh veggies I made a roasted vegetable pasta.

For the pasta I used white eggplant, zuchinni, yellow squash, red onion, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and olive oil. I roasted all of the vegetables in the oven at 400 degrees for about 35-40 minutes. After the vegetables were roasted I placed them in a saucepan and added al dente whole wheat pasta, Parmesan, salt and pepper.

For the bread I peeled and shredded 2 cups of yellow squash. I then added

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups of sugar
• 2 teaspons vanilla 
• 3 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg

After combining the ingredients I poured the batter into a 9 by 13 inch pan and baked it at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Wait until the bread cools before slicing.

These two recipes worked well to use the abundance of fresh vegetables from my fridge and my two boys loved both of the dishes. The sugar in the bread can be reduced if you are watching your intake and the nutmeg and cinnamon can be modified depending on your tastes.