Food Porn | Jefe's Plethora Pie

Can you tell that my husband came up with the name? We love "The Three Amigos." ;) This is another crockpot meal - it went over great with the Silas man! It may be our favorite recipe thus far!

Jefe's Plethora Pie Ingredients: 1 cup salsa 2 garlic cloves (we use the kind in the tube) 1/4 cup fresh cilantro (we used the kind in the tube again lol) Lazy! 1 16 oz can of refried beans 1 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained 1 diced tomato 7 medium whole wheat tortillas 2 cups of shredded mexican blend cheese (Toppings: salsa, sour cream, and extra cilantro)
Directions: 1. The first task at hand is to prep your crockpot. Line the entire pot with aluminum foil and then spray with non-stick cooking spray.  2. In a small bowl - combine the refried beans, 3/4 salsa, and garlic.  3. In another bowl - combine 1/4 cup salsa, cilantro, black beans and diced tomato.  4. Take one tortilla and spread 1/4 of the refried bean mixture on it. (Try to leave a 1/2 inch of space around the edges) Place it in the crockpot! Sprinkle it with 1/4 of cheese, then slap another tortilla over it. Add 1/3 of the black bean mixture over the new tortilla. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese over the black beans. Top it with yet another tortilla! (It's madness, I know) Repeat layers! You will end up with the refried beans on the very top. Sprinkle your finished creation with the remaining cheese.  5. Then you are going to cover it and cook on low for about 4-5 hours. (2-3 hours on high) Slice and serve with sour cream, salsa, and cilantro. It is soooo delicious! We are looking forward to eating it again tomorrow. 

Food Porn | Elephant Soup

This is the 2nd installment in my new "Food Porn" series. :) I hope you guys are enjoying it so far! Like my last recipe - this one also incorporates ye ole crockpot. I actually mixed all the ingredients (minus the vegetable broth) in a ziploc bag and froze it the night before. Then - when I got up the next morning all I had to do was cut open the baggy and toss (gently) in the block of soup (lol) and turn the crockpot on low. Done!  It was very satisfying to come home to a hot bowl of this soup after a long day of working in a building with no heat! NOM & BRRR. Here she be...

Elephant Soup

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion - diced

2 green onions - chopped

2 red bell peppers - chopped

4 cloves minced garlic

1-28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

8 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon of chili powder

1 teaspoon of black pepper

1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon of celery salt

1 cup uncooked brown rice

1 cup peanut butter (add very last)

sour cream (topping)

Directions:

Add all the ingredients into the crockpot minus the peanut butter and sour cream. (Yes - I said peanut butter) Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. When the soup is done stir in the peanut butter and cook on high for 20-30 additional minutes. Lastly - put some sour cream on top yo! 

Food Porn | Vegetarian Lasagna Soup

Oh lawd - I have been gone for a while now. :/ How embarrassing! I've been so busy working, taking care of kids, cleaning house, going to weddings (seriously - so many Fall weddings), and keeping a regular exercise routine lately. I'm going to make a special effort this weekend to come up with a weekly blogging schedule. (I promise this time) So...as Sir Elton John always says...the bitch is back. ;)

Earlier today - Mr. Cherry and I decided to invest in a nice crockpot. We found a Hamilton Beach crockpot at Target on sale for $24.99. It says $29.99 online...so I guess we got a good deal! We have decided to collect some good recipes from Pinterest and cook them in the crockpot during the day while we are at work. Crockpot + easy online recipes = saving time and money! (hopefully lol) The batch of food I made tonight will probably last us several days. Silas was not very pleased with it though - he says next time he doesn't want cheese on top. What kind of kid doesn't like cheese? Ugh.

Anywho! Here is the recipe y'all...

Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 bag of vegetarian crumbles (We purchased the Quorn brand)

3 cups of vegetable broth (this ended up being 1.5 cans)

1 cup of water

1 tbsp of garlic paste (it's in the refrigerated produce section)

1 tbsp dried parsley

1 tbsp dried basil

1/2 cup chopped onion (this annoyed me - I hate chopping onions!)

1 - 28 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 - 6 oz can of tomato paste

1 cup of V8 juice

2 cups of uncooked shell pasta

pepper and salt to taste (I'm not a huge fan of salt, so I used it sparingly)

Directions:

First I dumped the can of tomatoes and the tomato paste into the crockpot. Then I poured in the broth, veggie crumbles, garlic paste, parsley, basil, chopped onion, V8, and salt & pepper. 

This meal can be cooked quickly (the method we chose tonight) or slower. (if you need more time)

So this means you can cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours...or on high for 4-5 hours. Our lasagna took 4 hours to cook tonight. 

Around the 3 hours and 30 minutes mark - we added in the water and uncooked pasta. I then covered it back up and let it simmer 30 more minutes.

Lastly, I sprinkled a healthy amount of cheese on top lol. Next time I will refrain from doing this to Silas' bowl. ;)

I hope everybody is having a wonderful weekend! We are finishing painting our bedroom tonight...so I'm off to paint! Oh...and happy Doctor Who day!

Gardein Review & Giveaway!

Watch-out-now! It's a fat-mcfatty-food-post! I've been a vegetarian since early 2007. It is seriously one of the best decisions I've ever made. (Now - if only I could convince my husband to join me lol.) Today I'm going to talk about Gardein. They are the maker of deliciously meatless foods, and you have to give them a try! (Even Matt likes their food!)

Mmm...what a tasty Kroger haul. I'm a little sad though, because I couldn't find the classic style buffalo wings or the crispy chick'n sliders. (Bummer) Their food is just phenomenal, it's really better than most meat substitutes I have tried. (I have tried a lot.) I would have to say that the little burger sliders are probably my favorite so far. 

(Does this remind you of crabby patties from Spongebob too lol?)

These little things are only 150 calories! That makes me pretty darn happy, considering I'm currently on a diet. They also make great healthy snacks for your little ones. Some people might try to whine about the price - but you have to consider that each package contains multiple servings. The only thing that disappoints me about Gardein is the limited selection in my area. There are so many drool-worthy options on their website...and like 4 different kinds at the grocery stores. (Boo-hiss-boo) I will just go ahead and blame all that business on Kroger and Publix. I should probably just be thankful that I can find them at all. (Where to buy?) I also have to recommend their chipotle lime crispy fingers. (Not pictured) I cooked some of those in the camper on our recent beach trip, and my entire family thought they smelled amazing. 

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Now onto the really exciting part! You can give Gardein a try for FREE.

It's a giveaway y'all! All you have to do is follow the steps below to enter. The lucky winner will receive this snazzy neoprene lunch bag with 3 free product coupons! Fancy!

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