The Survey Says.....

Here's the thing about these morning posts lately---my children are not getting up at 6:00am. They are sleeping in. Even Baby J. So I'm having a tiny piece of quiet in the mornings. Hooray! Or I should say Hooray!, because I don't want to wake them up.

I was just thinking that I would tell you about this unique experience I had on Monday evening. I made a new recipe and (drum roll, please), my children LIKED it. All three of them (yes, I know there are four now, but one of them isn't eating at my table yet). It was almost a surreal experience. Of course this means that their father ate it in silence with a weird expression on his face. If the whole family received a meal I made with enthusiasm, I would fall over dead and you'd never get to hear about it. (So if there's an abrupt ending to this blog, you'll know what happened.) I will be making these again!

Corn, Rice and Bean Burritos

(which is too long of a name for my kids
so we'll be calling these Veggie Burritos)

1 1/3 cups fresh of frozen corn, thawed
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp canola oil
2 garlic cloves,minced
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
8 flour tortillas (8 inch) warmed
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup salsa

In skillet, saute the corn, onion, and pepper in oil until tender.
Add the garlic, chili powder, and cumin.
Cook 1 minute longer.
Add beans and rice, heat through. Spoon 1/2 cup filling
off center on each tortilla. Top with cheese.
Fold sides and ends over filling and roll up. Serve with salsa.

Note that I didn't tell you what to do with
the yogurt and green onions. That is because I didn't
put them IN my burritos. I used sour cream instead
and served it on the side with the salsa. I forgot
about the green onions until it was too late. And I served
black olives with it too because I will serve
black olives with anything I can.

Then last night for supper we had
roasted veggies and sausage with pasta
---I know I have shared the recipe for that with you
on more than one occasion.

This picture really doesn't do it justice.
This is it IN the oven. This is where you get excited
about eating it because you haven't made it lately and you
remember, as you see it coming together, how good it is.

It's not so much a hit with the kids because they want to just pick out the pieces they like and we make them eat whatever lands on their plate. Some of them want to throw out the mushrooms (they can just slip those onto Mama's plate because that's the BEST thing in this dish) and all three of them hate the zucchini. Maybe this is better appreciated by adults. The secret is going heavy on the seasoning (especially the ground coriander---you just have to lay it on) and then going heavy on the Parmesan cheese when you serve it.

Here it is out of the oven.

Again, the pictures just don't do it justice.
Trust me. It's great. You see it here with the pasta stirred in
and some Parmesan cheese. It needs more cheese because
that just makes it over the top.

I need to get some more attractive baking dishes.
I'm never going to get my own show on TV if I keep using
the clear glass Pyrex dish. Which reminds me of a question
I wanted to ask: Am I the only adult in the world
who doesn't enjoy watching cooking shows?
Once in a blue moon I might sit down and watch somebody
cook a dish on TV, but to sit and watch the Food Channel
every day.....Not my cup of tea.
This is probably why everyone else
knows so much more about
all the little secrets of cooking than I do.
Oh well.
I'd rather watch Richard Dawson kissing every woman
on the set of The Family Feud anyway.