Recipes for Ashley

Remember last week when I started, “Recipes for Mom?”

Well, while I was in Telluride, my mom prepared a guest post, with a recipe for ME!  I thought this was incredibly cute + clever and I obviously had to share it with you guys!!  Plus, it looks delicious + easy!

She even took food photos!! 

….

From my mom:

I decided to "healthify" my burrito recipe which I got from a friend back in 1975, when Ashley's dad and I lived in Fort Collins, after we got married.  So, ground chuck was removed and TJ's tempeh was substituted.  After getting some tempeh cooking advice from Ashley, on her way to Telluride, here's how it came down:

I browned a package of TJ's original flavor tempeh (sprinkled with garlic powder, Lawry's seasoned salt, and TJ's Mexican seasoning mix) in 2 tbs EVOO.  Then added a cup or more of fresh diced tomatoes, and soon after 1/2 cup corn, and 1/2 cup diced onions.  Cooked this on medium, until most of the tomato liquid was absorbed.

I microwaved 1/2 can of organic "black" refried beans (1st time used) and then spread some in the middle of 2 *flour tortillas.  After, put several spoons of the tempeh mixture on the beans, and sprinkled with shredded **Mexican 4 cheeses.  Rolled up the tortillas and turned seam side down on a baking pan, and baked for about 8 min. at 325, just until edges start to brown.

Removed from oven and sprinkled on more cheese, along with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sliced black olives, mild salsa, and a few dollops of light **sour cream.

All I can say is "delish", and we didn't even miss the meat in it.  Also, have enough leftover for 2 more burritos!  Tempeh score!

*Note: If Ashley was here, I would have used GF or brown rice tortillas.

**Note: Mama Pea might enjoy this recipe too, with soy cheese and sour cream!  (-;

I could go for one of these right about now!  [The little waffle stack is an oven timer, in case you were wondering. ;)]

Mmmm…the cantaloupe also looks delish!

Thanks for this post, Mom!!   I haven’t made tempeh burritos in way too long.  Can’t wait to give this a try!!

Off to finish catching up + get in a good workout at the gym.  We’re headed to Illinois on Thursday, for a wedding.  Never a dull moment!

Ashley

dinner pie fit for a crowd

Today I had the most amazing ice cream.  Ever.  And I forgot my camera.  Shame on me!

Despite leaving my camera, I can still tell you a little about it.  It’s called Jeni’s Ice Cream, and was started in Columbus, OH.  The business has expanded to almost 1 dozen locations, all around Ohio.  You can order it online, and I also found it at our local Whole Foods.  Jeni has created some of the most creative ice cream flavors I’ve ever seen.  The stores offer signature + seasonal flavors.  You must check out the flavor list!!  I had about 6 samples [including a chocolate cinnamon cayenne pepper!] and was blown away by them all.  I decided on salted caramel and Ugandan vanilla bean.  I’m a sucker for vanilla ice cream. :)

This was the creamiest, milkiest + most perfectly sweetened ice cream I’ve ever eaten.  The milk is fresh from Snowville Creamery, in Ohio.  The quality of this ice cream surpasses all others!  If there is a location in your area, you must check it out!!  I’m hoping to get there one more time before I leave.  I’ll bring my camera next time, as I love promoting outstanding small businesses!

In other delicious news….

I didn’t forget to take photos of Mama Pea’s Tamale Pie, that I made last week.  I figured this would be a great recipe to stock the fridge with for Chris, while I was away.  I think I ate 1/3 of it before leaving.  In 1 day.

It just has that delicious, comforting, can’t-stop-eating, kind of thing going on.

It’s like a Mexican taco filling with cornbread on top.  I mean, what could be bad about that??

Nothing!

Oh, and there’s cheese on top too.  Are you making a shopping list yet?

With prep and initial cooking, it took about 20min to throw in the oven and then only 20min of baking. 

I made only a few changes + additions for what I had on hand and was trying to use up!

The recipe calls for cornmeal + whole wheat pastry flour.  I needed to make it GF, so I used a mix of corn flour + masa harina for the flour, and the hot cereal instead of some of the cornmeal.  I thought the hot cereal mix would add a little texture, similar to cornmeal.  It worked! 

At the end of baking, I broiled the cheese, because what is better than melted slightly crusty cheese?  Okay, salted caramel ice cream, might be better. ;)

I’m a sucker for cornbread and loved it as a topping for this meal.  Definitely a crowd pleaser!

Head over to Mama Pea’s site for the full recipe + details. 

my changes/additions:

• 25oz can black beans instead of 15oz pinto [I figured I would just use the whole large can]
• used 1, 15oz can organic corn + used added what was left after making the cornbread to the filling mixture – delish!
• added chopped red + yellow peppers [was trying to use them up!]
• added 1/2t cumin
• used 1/3c Mighty Hot Tasty Cereal + 1/3c corn flour + 1/3c masa harina

I made this the day I was leaving and ate it all day long!  Even right out of the fridge.  I almost packed it in tupperware to take on the plane, but it would have had to be out of the fridge for a little too long. :)

My craving was satisfied again tonight, when I made it for my family!

More cheesy goodness!

This time I made the cornbread mixture with 2/3c corn flour + 1/3 corn grits.  It’s what was available in the bulk bins at WF and worked perfectly!!  I also used the roasted frozen corn, Mama Pea mentioned finding at Trader Joe’s.  I didn’t add any peppers or cumin but did add about 1/4-1/2t smoked paprika, which gave slight smoky flavor. 

The family loved it!!  It was everyone’s first time eating tempeh, and no complaints.  It’s pretty well hidden in this recipe, but add delicious texture + tons of protein.

Can’t wait for leftovers!!  Or maybe a midnight snack….

Relaxation time!

Ashley