Organic Spicy Queso Dip

Doesn't that picture make you drool? Mmmm....well I'm drooling whether you are or not! This is so good! Make it along side my Copycat Baja Salsa and you have some awesome dipping action going on! Movie night, company, or just a fun dinner...try it, you'll love it.

Ingredients:
1 TB organic coconut oil or evoo
2 organic tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2-2 jalapenos (1/2 has a little spice, 2 has A LOT)
1 organic onion, diced
Pinch of good salt
8 oz block organic jack cheese, shredded

Directions:
Heat oil in a skillet. Add tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until all the veggies are soft. Stir in cheese until melted. Scoop into a serving bowl. Serve immediately with some organic tortilla chips.

Copycat Baja Salsa

There are many things I miss about living in California....My family most, my friends, Trader Joes, Year round farmers markets....AND BAJA FRESH!!!! When I was pregnant with my oldest there was NOTHING else I wanted to eat except bean and cheese burritos from Baja. Literally I ate at Baja 5-6 times a week during that pregnancy....poor hubby! He was such a great hubby and indulged me...most of the time. There were times when he put his foot down and said I had to get some other nutrition into my body...which I am thankful for. So sometimes I would get a tostada from Baja ;) In all seriousness, I did have a smoothie and carrot juice for breakfast, and would limit myself (most days) to only eating at Baja once. That being said, we referred to our oldest as "Our little pinto bean" for quite a long time. Most women who crave something so much during pregnancy don't ever want to even smell that food again...yeah, not me. I would probably still eat there "almost" every day given the chance. Sadly for me the closest Baja to us is 5 hours away. That's actually probably a good thing for my waist line and overall health considering the white flour tortillas and most likely gmo corn tortillas =( Not to mention they probably also use canola oil which is highly gmo'd also. Soooo, now that I've talked myself into thinking it's a good thing I don't live near a Baja....I think I've nailed copy-catting the brown Baja Salsa! I did a lot of research into this recipe and kept finding copy cat recipes where the author would say "Well I've never actually eaten at Baja Fresh, but here's a recipe for the salsa...." Um, you've never eaten there but you're going to say this is a copy cat recipe? Weird. I found several recipes that included chicken broth. That too was weird to me. Granted, Baja could totally use chicken broth in theirs, I have no idea. But to me, salsa should be vegetarian. I also truly hope they do not put it in theirs since I ate it for years while a vegetarian =/ Either way, it doesn't matter. I combined several recipes I found and tweaked it myself and I really think I nailed it! This is in NO WAY the recipe Baja Fresh uses (though wouldn't it be hilarious if it was and I totally made it up??? HA!) But it VERY much tastes like theirs and satisfies my craving! Not to mention, I  know I'm using organic ingredients, Score! So if I haven't lost you after all this rambling, and I hope someone is still reading because this recipe is AWESOME....Here goes....


Copy Cat Baja Fresh Salsa (Organic Ingredients are ALWAYS recommended)
7 tomatoes, 1 diced, 6 sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
1 jalapeno
2 garlic cloves
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 onion
1/2 cup water
Handful cilantro
1 ts salt

Preheat broiler to High. Place the 6 tomatoes you sliced into rings on a baking sheet along with the jalapeno, stem removed. (Most recipes I saw actually did this on a grill. Well it's freezing outside, so I used a broiler =) I also tried a cast iron gridle once....didn't go that well and set off the smoke alarm one too many times while the kids were napping, so I axed that idea too) Place baking sheet under broiler and broil until blackened (about 20-30 minutes). Flip tomatoes and pepper, add one clove of garlic, and place back under the broiler again until blackened on the other side (Probably another 20 minutes but check often) Pull them out of the broiler and cool. Place tomatoes and pepper into blender with the other ingredients except the one diced tomato, and blend. Place diced tomato in a bowl and pour blended mixture over it, stir.
Go ahead and taste it if you want. I highly recommend letting the flavors blend for 6-18 hours in the fridge. The first batch I almost nailed tasted MUCH closer to right after sitting in the fridge for 18 hours. The 2nd batch (recipe above) tasted almost perfect right away, and tasted completely awesome after sitting in the fridge for awhile! Enjoy with some organic tortillas chips or on a burrito!

Note: Baja Fresh makes their salsa much more liquidy. If you would like it to be more like theirs, add more water, a little at a time until it's the desired consistency. I left mine not so liquidy so it would scoop on chips better. (Darn spell check really doesn't think "liquidy" is a word....seriously??? Whatever, ha.)

Cheesy Tex-Mex Casserole

I'm not usually a big casserole making fan...but it had me at "tex-mex" =) This is a variation of Emerill's Ooey Gooey Tex Mex Casserole. His recipe calls for stew meat AND ground beef (among several other variants)....in my opinion that's just too much beef! But if you're a big beefy fan, go ahead and try it. Or add some beans instead like I do and have a great well rounded meal, not too beefy. This is the first recipe with beef in it that my 2 year old has EVER eaten! AND she had seconds!!! Granted, I slathered it in organic sour cream...but still, I've never been able to get her to eat beef before. This is one of hubby's favorite meals. He once came home from a long day and had eaten a burger on the way home but didn't want to tell me (I hate it when he eats right before coming home when I've made a yummy meal!!). I had made this meal that day and he still had 2 servings of it because it's just THAT good. He JUST told me tonight about the burger, and that was like 2 years ago! So even if you're anti-casserole, try this, it really is THAT good!

Ingredients:
1 lb organic ground beef
2 cups organic black beans, cooked
1 organic onion, chopped
4 TB organic tomato paste
2 large tomatoes diced
1 veggie boullion cube
2 cups of water
(or instead of water and boullion you could use 2 cups veggie stock, or beef if you must be that beefy, ha)
Approximately 6 whole wheat tortillas
2 cups organic jack cheese, shredded
2 cups organic cheddar, shredded

In a large skillet, saute onion in a little oil for 3 minutes. Add ground beef stirring constantly until cooked through. Add beans, tomato paste, tomatoes and boullion/water or stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off burner. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large baking dish, pour a couple ladles full of beefy/bean mixture. Top with a layer of tortillas. If using small tortillas, place two side by side. If using large ones, place one whole one and a strip of another to cover the remaining space. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, and cover with beefy/bean mixture. Follow with another layer of tortillas, cheese, and beefy/bean mixture. Keep layering until beefy/bean mixture is done or you're at the top of the dish. Your last layer should be tortilla covered with cheese. Bake for about 10 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Top with a dollop of sour cream and some hot sauce

Mexican Stuffed Poblano Bake

This is so yummy, I could eat it all the time. Well...almost all the time...I have to leave room to eat enchiladas and french onion soup =) This turned out to be totally family-friendly. The first time I made it just for hubby and I because I thought it would be too spicy for the kids. They kept asking for bites and ended up eating a ton of it. Though, here's a disclaimer, some poblano peppers are spicier than others so if I had really spicy ones it wouldn't be so kid-friendly. But I've made it many times since then and they still gobble it up. So maybe cooking them for so long makes them less spicy, I don't know. Either way, we love this recipe!

Ingredients:
24 oz organic crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
2 organic onions, chopped, divided
1 jalapeno, chopped
Sea salt and pepper
3 cloves organic garlic
2 cups organic beans, black or pinto
1/2 cup organic cornmeal
1 cup pepperjack cheese
1 ts organic cumin
4 large poblano peppers, organic if you can, I can't find them =(

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a blender, puree tomatoes, 1 onion, jalapeno, 2 garlic cloves, and a dash of salt. Pour into a 9x13 baking dish.
Mince remaining garlic clove. In a large bowl combine garlic, beans, cornmeal, 1/2 cup cheese, 1 diced onion,  cumin, 3/4 cup water, 1/2 ts salt, pepper to taste.
Slice peppers in half and remove stems and seeds. Place in baking dish and stuff with bean mixture. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.
Invert another baking dish to cover the dish and place in oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes until cheese browns.
Enjoy!

Crockpot Organic Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is such an easy recipe, yet so yummy!  Enjoy!

Ingredients
4 tb organic olive oil
4 large cloves organic garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 organic onion chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
6 cups organic chicken broth
2 organic bay leaves
1 tb organic chili powder
4 tb organic cumin
1 ts organic garlic powder.
1 1/2 ts good salt
4 shakes cayenne pepper
2 cups cooked organic chicken, I used 3 thighs, diced or shredded


Toppings
chopped green onions
dollop organic sour cream
tortilla strips (a couple corn or wheat
tortillas cut into strips, brush with oil and bake for 10-15 min)

Optional: Before starting to put everything in the crockpot, you could saute the garlic, cilantro, onions and tomatoes first. I personally don't like dirtying pans when I'm using the crockpot, but it would give it a deeper flavor...I think, I don't know though, since I don't do it =) Otherwise:
Heat your crockpot to high and add oil. Chop garlic, cilantro, onions, and tomatoes and stir into oil. Let these heat up for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Cook on high 4-6 hours or low 6-8 hours.

Mexican Chicken and Beans

You had me at "mexican" =) Quick, easy, and yummy!

Ingredients:
1 lb organic chicken thighs or breasts, diced
2 cups organic corn
1 cup organic black beans
1 ts oil for cooking
1 TB cumin
1 ts chili powder
1 ts garlic salt
1/2 cup water

Optional:
Tortillas (fajita or burrito)
Sliced jalapeno
Organic sour cream
Salsa

Cook diced chicken over medium in a skillet with the oil. When fully cooked, add the beans, corn, water and seasonings. Cook about 10 minutes until sauce thickens and flavors are mingled. Serve with or with a tortilla if you wish and top with sliced jalapenos, salsa, and a dollop of sour cream!

Vegetarian Nachos

Nachos are such a well rounded meal! So grab a tray of them and head to the living room for movie night with the kiddos! That's what we do! (You can even throw on some meat if you must for those meat eaters!)

Ingredients:
1 bag organic tortilla chips (important to get organic since a huge percentage of corn is GMO)
2 cups shredded organic cheese, jack or cheddar
1 can sliced black olives
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 organic onion chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped (optional)
1 cup organic black or pinto beans (already cooked)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay chips on a parchment lined large baking sheet. Scatter all the ingredients except the cheese all over the chips.

Top with cheese. (I like putting the cheese on top of the toppings because it holds them to the chips)

Cook for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve sour cream and salsa on the side, Enjoy!

Tacos - Make your own taco night!

I'm sure most people know how to make tacos. I'm not talking authentic Mexican tacos, I'm talking American-ized tacos. But, do you know how to make it without the little packet of taco seasoning? If not, read on! Make your own taco night is a favorite around here. Simply fill a bunch of bowls with taco toppings, hand out shells, and let the kiddos go to town! Garden of Eatin makes organic taco shells, which I was super excited about when my grocery store started carrying them!

Ingredients for taco meat:
1 lb organic ground beef (or more depending on size of your family, this leaves us leftovers)
1TB organic garlic powder
1 TB organic chili powder
1 TB organic cumin
1 TB organic all season salt
1/2 cup water

Brown meat. Add all the other ingredients and simmer while you chop everything else! So easy-no packet needed =) (If you have onion powder, add some of that too, I never have any)

Toppings:
Shredded cheese
Diced tomatoes
Diced onions
Chopped cilantro
Shredded lettuce
Diced jalapenos
Beans
Salsa
Guacamole
Hot Sauce
Sour cream

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

Let me start this by saying this didn't end up being kid friendly. Well, "my" kid friendly (it's not like it was spicy or anything). None of them liked it. BUT hubby and I LOVED it. We got seconds. To be fair, my oldest who generally loves everything I make, hates cheddar and sour cream. Yes you heard that right. I would think he was switched at birth if I hadn't had a homebirth =) I think part of the problem was when they asked "What's for dinner?" and I answered "Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas" all they heard was "Bla bla bla Enchiladas". So they were expecting my regular enchiladas which is their absolute favorite. You can get that recipe here. So anyway, back to these really yummy enchiladas that WE liked...I don't know what's wrong with those kids.
This fills two baking dishes
Ingredients:
1 lb organic chicken
1 cup organic chicken broth
2 cups cream of mushroom soup (I used this because I make my own, but you could use cream of chicken if you are buying it in a can)
16 oz organic sour cream
6 oz Trader Joes Salsa Autentica (don't have a TJ's? You need a thin not chunky salsa)
1 organic onion chopped
1 can green chilies
2 lb block of cheddar cheese, shredded
16 wheat tortillas

Boil chicken (you can bake but it's easier to shred if it's been boiled). After it's cool, shred it. In a big bowl, mix together broth, soup, sour cream, salsa, onion, and chilies. Set aside two cups. Add to the mixture (not the 2 cups) 2 cups of cheese and the chicken.

Lay out a tortilla and spoon mixture down the middle.

Roll up tortilla and place seam side down in a baking dish.

Pour reserved sauce over the enchiladas. Cover (I cover mine with an upside down baking dish because I don't use foil in cooking) and cook at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese over them and cook for two more minutes for the cheese to melt. Serve with some rice and maybe my Mexican corn salad.

Mexican Corn Salad

This is a very light and refreshing salad. The flavors burst in your mouth! Impress your family and friends with this colorful salad.

Ingredients:

4 ears organic corn, cut off the cob (If corn on the cob is not available, organic canned corn can be used)

3 tomatoes, chopped. (Or one package of grape tomatoes, sliced in half)

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 handful cilantro, chopped

2 organic red peppers, chopped (If you can find organic orange peppers that would add another color)

Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

Juice of one lime

Juice of one lemon

2 TB chopped cilantro

1 ts parsley

1/4 ts chili powder

1/2-1 ts sea salt (start with less and add more if you think it needs it)

Blend dressing together and pour over salad, toss.

Cheese Enchiladas

I'm from California and my favorite food ever is enchiladas. Granted I like almost anything Mexican (or Mexi-Cali, since I guess I've never really had Mexican food in Mexico). I judge every single Mexican restaurant by their cheese enchiladas. If they aren't good, I don't go back. Harsh? Maybe, but enchiladas are super important to me =) So, since moving to NY there is a serious lack of Mexican restaurants so if I want enchiladas I have to make them myself. I came up with this recipe and in my opinion it's perfect. I've passed down my love of enchiladas to my kids. They always have seconds and sometimes thirds. So try this recipe, you'll be happy you did!!! And FYI I use small whole wheat tortillas for this. You by all means CAN use corn tortillas. I actually prefer corn, but the tortillas are a little trickier to roll. So warm them first. My husband prefers flour tortillas. I conceded since I've been unable to find organic corn tortillas. Since corn is highly GMO'd, I opt for the flour tortillas. I did make my own tortillas once, but that took a long time.

I make two pans at a time, cut in half if you only want one. But believe me, you'll want leftovers!

Cheese Enchiladas

18 small tortillas
16 oz. organic jack cheese

Sauce:
2 TB olive or coconut oil
1 TB organic chili powder
1 TB organic cumin
1 ts organic garlic powder
1 ts sea salt
36 oz organic tomato sauce

In a saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Toss in the chili powder. Cook for a few minutes. Pour in tomato sauce. I use bottled tomato sauce (which is actually pureed tomatoes) I then rinse down the sides of the bottles to get the last bits of tomatoes out, filling about halfway with water, then add to pot. You don't want  it too watery, but I find it a bit thick if I don't add any water. If you end of adding too much water and need to thicken it, it's easily fixed by adding a little tomato paste. Add cumin, salt, and garlic powder. Simmer on medium low for atleast ten minutes.

Let sauce cool for ten minutes (not totally necessary, but your fingers will thank you in a few minutes).
This is how I set up my work station:

Pour a spoonful of sauce in each pan and spread it around. Also pour a spoonful of sauce on the empty plate.

Take a tortilla, lay it on the plate, and rub it around in the sauce. Flip it over and do the other side so both sides are coated in sauce. Sprinkle cheese across the middle. (Now by all means you can add veggies, ground beef, chicken, etc...I'm just partial to just cheese)

Grab one end and roll up. Place in baking dish, seam side down.

Continue with all tortillas. Pour remaining sauce over the top and spread around. Sprinkle on remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until everything is hot and bubbly! I always serve them with a side of rice and beans, sour cream, and cholula hot sauce! Enjoy!