Black Bean Burgers with Corn Relish and Creamy Avocado Sauce

This recipe came from Elizabeth's Dutch Oven, a food blog by a friend of mine from high school. We have very similar tastes - she makes a lot of mexican-inspired dishes, which obviously John and I like too!  This is one of the first ones I've actually recreated myself. There are many more of her recipes on my "to-do" list!

These black bean burgers weren't my favorite that I've made (that goes to the ones I made from Budget Bytes), but part of that may have been that I left out the chipotle in adobo sauce. John isn't a fan of their smoky flavor.  However, the corn relish and creamy avocado sauce were fantastic! The only change I made was to roast my corn (directly on a cob) in the oven, rather than getting it from a can. Oh my, roasted corn is heavenly!

Applesauce in a Rice Cooker

Today, I made another batch of one of John's favorites: applesauce! He loves to eat it as a post-run recovery snack between his hour drive home from work and when dinner is ready.

Pasta alla Vodka

Today's recipe came from Annie's Eats. This is the first time I've tried a recipe from her site, and it certainly won't be the last! She's got lots of fun stuff there.

I've cooked with wine plenty of times before, but this is my first time venturing into the liquor cabinet for vodka! I think it gave the pasta a nice extra bite (although John says he didn't really taste any difference).

I gave this meal a 4 star rating, but John said he would only give it a 2½ or 3. Too bad for him, I'm the one writing this blog! :)

Freezer Burritos

You know those cheapo-reapo frozen burritos that you can buy at the grocery store and then just nuke in the microwave for a quick snack? I used to love those things. I ate a lot of them in high school and college, even though they are terrible for you and half the time made me feel gross. But they're so easy!   

Enter: Homemade Freezer Burritos, a brilliant idea from Budget Bytes!

Shredded Mexican Beef

When I was grocery shopping this weekend, I had a craving for some red meat. I remembered recently coming across a recipe for shredded taco beef on my favorite food blog (Budget Bytes), so I went ahead and picked up a roast so I could try it out. 

Spicy Baked Kale Chips

Last night, John and I spent the evening playing some rousing games of cards. (Our current favorites: UNO and Kings on the Corner, a really fun, solitare-like game for 2-4 people that his grandma taught me over Christmas.)

Stuffed Peppers, Carrots, and Potatoes

I made this meal without really using any recipe. Go me! It included stuffed peppers with ground beef and rice, steamed carrots, and blue cheese potatoes.

Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese

Recipe from Closet Cooking

I made these a few days ago, but I forgot to post about it. I made it again tonight (need to use up the blue cheese - still have a bit more to go!), and it was still a bit hit. John couldn't stop raving about it.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Since the winter season is upon us, I decided to use the rest of the chicken from my whole chicken in a crockpot along with my homemade chicken stock to make chicken noodle soup. It is still too warm here in North Carolina to really need soup to warm you up, but I like to have it on hand in case either of us get sick.

Freezing Cilantro

One thing that I'm working on for 2012 is to eliminate food waste. With only two of us in the house, it is not uncommon for us to not be able to finish something before it spoils. (Despite the fact that I work from home and cook and eat almost every single meal right in this house!)

Spinach Lasagna Roll-ups

Recipe from Budget Bytes

I had high hopes for this one, but it turned out pretty bland. I had some cottage cheese on hand to use up, so I used it instead of ricotta. I'd always heard it was a decent substitute, but I have a feeling it contributed to the "meh" factor. I also used the cheapo-reapo Kraft parmesan cheese in the cylindar. Some fancy Parmigiano-Reggiano would have also made a huge difference.  And some more spices! I can't believe I made something with tomato sauce and didn't sprinkle in any red pepper flakes. 

Sriracha Chicken Strips

Recipe from Budget Bytes

As soon as John saw this recipe over my shoulder as I was browsing the Budget Bytes website, he went crazy for it. He's basically a sriracha-holic...puts it on almost every meal I make. So obviously, he got excited when he saw that these would be marinated in a bath of the good stuff!