Butternut Squash Black Bean Enchiladas- A Real Recipe

Now that it's getting cooler, I've been drawn towards warmer foods and keep wanting people to cook for me.  Since we can't go out every day and I'm the cooker around these parts, I settled on making enchiladas this Sunday.

The only problem?  I have never made enchiladas in my entire life, but I was going to do it one way or the other.  I made some simple cilantro rice to go along with the meal, and then got onto the main event.

Ingredients:

• 1 can enchilada sauce
• 5 whole wheat tortillas
• 1/2 pound ground turkey
• olive oil
• salt, pepper, paprika
• 1 can green chiles
• 1 cup mixed shredded cheese
• 1 cup cooked butternut squash 
• 1/2 can black beans
• Lime and avocado to garnish

1. Brown the turkey in a skillet with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika, and set to the side.

2. Mix in the turkey, chiles, shredded cheese, butternut squash, and black beans in a bowl

3. Pour a layer of enchilada sauce at the bottom of your baking dish

4. Stuff each tortilla with 1/3 cup of the stuffing and roll up- repeat until finished

5. Pour remaining enchilada sauce and sprinkle with cheese

6. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until the cheese is melty and everything is warmed through.

7. Enjoy

Friday Night Date Night

Oh, look!  Another post from me.  It's been a week since I came back from my last work trip and my first real, live weekend in two weeks.  We kicked off the weekend with dinner at Lark Creek, a local restaurant that we have walked by hundreds of times but never went into.  The place prides itself on local, mostly organic cuisine and we sat down to some warm bread and ordered our starter, a tamale pancake.  The shredded chicken, avocado, and tortilla strips made this a perfect, unique starter.

 For our entrees, we decided to roll with a lamb special for the husband, who said it was perfectly done.

 I went with the seared scallops accompanied with butternut squash risotto and roasted kale.  It was perfectly prepared, salty, creamy, and full of flavor.

Just to prove that although I don't always blog, I still can't stop the picture habit, hubby caught me taking this one of my food.  Goober :)

We are off to enjoy the rest of our real weekend- we have a hike and movies on the agenda.  I am also going to be spending time with this little buddy.  (Another photo taken by hubby, don't be jealous of my glamorous outfit).

Goofy Gourmet

This past Tuesday we were lucky enough to host our very first guest in the new kitchen.  This guy has made an appearance before and has pretty refined tastes in both his dining preferences and ambience.  I should say that I think we met his needs.

On the menu tonight was grilled cheese (on whole grain bread with Irish sharp cheddar), chicken nuggets (organic), and monkey chips (baked plantain chips).  We tried for a veggie, but it wasn't happening that night.

There were wild discussions over flavors and condiments.

And whether pumpkins could float or not (they totally can).

Auntie came to join to eat her own grilled cheese and apparently couldn't keep her eyes open through a meal, but we still decided to have some fun with our food.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Hope you liked another sneak peak at our new kitchen.  I'm loving it and love our new island/seating area.

I'm off on a jet plane to Jersey City for work.  Please contain your excitement!

Oh Yeah - October

In the words of the pop princess, "Oops I did it again."  A whole month without blogging and now here I come crawling back.  In the last month I've been on a travel spree with almost a week in Atlanta, and just working away. 

Oh, and food- there has been food along with it all, because a young lady has got to eat!  I needed a lot of energy to focus on my trip.

Pumpkin yogurt in the airport

Ceasar salad in the hotel at midnight

Hotel room all to myself

In the last weeks since being back, we have been working away on the kitchen.  It's not quite 100% done yet- but here is a sneak preview.  I am 1000% in love with it and I'll post some good before and after pictures once we are all done.

Another couple of things that I am 100% in love with are my boys.  We went to an enormous dog park today and walked around and let the beast run free.  It was a fabulous day.

What are you loving these days?  If I have any readers left, tell me what's new in your lives.