it's a what now..?

That's right, Burrito Pie. I came across this on Yahoo and thought it just looked too good not to re-post. Submitted by Kathi J. McClaren.

Prep Time 30 min. Cook Time 30 min. Serves 16

2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 (2 ounce) can black olives, sliced
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chili peppers
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
1 (16 ounce) jar taco sauce
2 (16 ounce) cans refried beans
12 (8 inch) flour tortillas
9 ounces shredded Colby cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the ground beef for 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, and saute for 5 more minutes. Drain any excess fat, if desired. Mix in the olives, green chile peppers, tomatoes with green chile peppers, taco sauce and refried beans. Stir mixture thoroughly, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Spread a thin layer of the meat mixture in the bottom of a 4 quart casserole dish. Cover with a layer of tortillas followed by more meat mixture, then a layer of cheese. Repeat tortilla, meat, cheese pattern until all the tortillas are used, topping off with a layer of meat mixture and cheese.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is slightly brown and bubbly.

Yield: 16 servings

Nutrition info Per Serving:

Calories: 431 kcal
Carbohydrates: 33 g
Dietary Fiber: 4 g
Fat: 23 g
Protein: 19 g
Sugars: 2 g

Take your taste buds south of the border! Happy Experimenting!

(((03)))

Updates and More Gordon Worship

I've not made any new posts here for a while for one reason and one reason only. I have acute cervical lymphadenitis and have been in rough shape for about a week or so. Lymphadenitis is the inflammation of a lymph node and let me tell you is by far the most painful thing I've had to endure in my life...seriously. Anyway, I'll be back up and running hopefully in a week or two and then we can get back to the food.

In the meantime, a few tips:

This season of Hell's Kitchen is by far not the best (thus far I am rooting for no one to win, but have SEVERAL people I would prefer to lose).

The version of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares on the BBC is better than Kitchen Nightmares on Fox in my opinion.

It appears that Totino's frozen pizza's can no longer kill you (unless you eat 12 of them in one day).

I tried to make tilapia and noodles the other day and you can't pan fry fish without some kind of non-stick agent (butter, spray...etc.)

You're better off buying the store brand of frozen chicken breasts than you are buying the Tyson kind.

That's it for now...happy eating...and happy viewing of other people eating,

(((03)))

The Easiest Chicken Burritos and the first (and definitely not last) post about Ranch Style Beans

For the record, I like easy...VERY easy. So when I got hungry last night I pulled out two moderately sized frozen chicken breasts to thaw and started to wonder how I would prepare them. I wandered over to my pantry and looked for a side and spotted 2 cans I had left of Ranch Style Beans. I buy 2-6 cans every time I get groceries as they are versatile, cheap and they taste amazing.

When I was a child, my Uncle Matt drove a truck for Ranch Style for like a million years and I grew up on them. We didn't have a lot of money then either so out of necessity we ate them a lot, but I still never got tired of them. On the contrary, I eat a can at least once a week and don't see myself ever growing out of them.

Back to dinner. I'd made my burritos (recipe upcoming) many times but always with beef, would it work with chicken? It was time to find out.

I pan fried the 2 breasts with some butter, sea salt and pepper corn and that's it. While those cooked, I set the beans up on low heat and warmed my tortillas. After the chicken was cooked, I cut them into planks, loaded them on the tortillas, covered with the beans and sprinkled with cheese.

I have to admit they looked really good! I wish I had a camera to show how well they turned out. I sat down with a can of Diet Sprite, turned on The Last Mimzy and took my first bite. HOLY COW (eh...hmm, chicken), these were DELICIOUS!!! Cheap, fast AND REALLY GOOD?!?! You bet, and it was actually the first time I'd done up chicken so well with so little resources too.

2 small chicken breasts
1 can Ranch Style beans
4 flour tortillas
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
(pepper sauce optional, but really not needed)

All in all, I give this meal a 7 out of 10 as it was really tasty, really fast and really cheap! Try it yourself. It's good for bachelors, broke people and moms in need of something quick and easy.

(((03))) (photo by alaskaVeg*n)

Experto crede

"Experto crede's" literal Latin translation is, "believe one who has had experience". In the case of this blog, I hold that to be true in every sense as I will be writing about what I experience regarding food.

As a writer, I find myself in constant need of typing and I sometimes write e-mails never sent, and blogs never posted just so I can be writing. One thing that's often puzzled me (as well as people that really know me) is that I watch an absorbent amount of The Food Network which brought about the question, "Why should I not blog about food?"

The reason I hadn't yet was simple... I don't cook. Sure I bake the occasional batch of cookies, but the fact is that I have no patience for ultra complex menus and I most definitely don't have the money for them.

Why then do I watch so many shows about cooking and the subjects of food? The answer is simple, there is no drama in food (except for maybe your Ramsay element) and I could watch all day long, and often times do just that.

This blog will talk about places I go and have been, it will talk about what I actually try and succeed or fail at and it will be about shows I enjoy on the subject of food and cooking. Don't worry that I'm a critical snob. I have no training in the culinary arts, nor do I claim to have an extensive pallet. What I do have is taste buds, and this is my blog, my opinion and my chance to share some of what I think and feel about food.

More importantly though, it's yet another excuse for me to write. My request is that you not totally trust me as I mentioned in the beginning. Your pallet is your pallet and should be trusted above all others. You can trust that I'll tell you what works and doesn't work for me, but just as with any food critic, opinions that try to distract from individuality are nothing short of juvenile and ignorant when it comes to food. But then, that's my opinion...

(((03)))