Chorizo Nachos and Raspberry Angel Food Cake

Cost: $12

Prep: 15 minutes

We decided to redo the nachos that didn't go so well last week. We had leftover sausages from last night, and this time, I added enough cheese!

The only problem was that when we bought the cilantro, the store had actually labelled Italian parsley cilanto. Oops. So, the salsa was simply tomato, onion, sugar, and lime..not so great.

Because of our excursion to the raspberry patch today, we have (had) three pounds of raspberries in the fridge. We bought a little whipped cream and an angel food cake to compliment a few of these. What a great dessert. Raspberries are my favorite, but the ones sold in stores taste so wrong. Has anyone else ever noticed that? There is something about raspberries either eaten straight off the bush or saved for later that has so much more flavor than the packaged and shipped store-bought counter-parts.

Fajitas

I am wondering if I should exclude posts when it is something I made all the time?

There is not much to say.

Chorizo Nachos and Fresh Salsa

Cost: $8

Prep: 40 minutes

Another perfect summer meal, as this only needed to be ovened for about 10 minutes!

Matt made us a GIANT bowl of fresh salsa--the picture is of our large salad bowl and a serving spoon.. This is one of the best things he knows how to make, and is perfect for any summer day. It takes a lot of tomatoes, but when tomatoes are on sale, we eat as much of this salsa as we can. The other ingredients are simple: onion, cilantro, lime juice, bit of sugar. At times we add jalapeno, but not recently as we don't want to upset Charlie's belly.

For the nachos, I thinly sliced up the left over Chorizo from yesterday, as well as green olives and yellow peppers. The only downside to this meal was that I did not add nearly enough cheese to the Que Passo chips. The cheese was very finely grated, so I should have put a lot more than I did. I cooked it on parchment paper, which saved on clean up, as there basically was none.

Still, a bit of protein from the cheese and sausage, starch from the chips, dairy from the sour cream, and tons of veggies because of how much salsa we ate, I think this is a pretty decent meal.

Chili 2

Cost: $6

Prep: 10 minutes

This is the chili from last night with meat added to it.

I even cooked the beef last night. There was very little to do tonight except cut up some bread and grate some cheese.

The chili was significantly better the second day. I will have to remember that, because even though everyone else always loooooves my chili, I don't really care for it. Tonight though, I ate a large bowl.

Matt has a skewed view of how much everyone eats though. He served me 40% of a baguette (20% to Charlie). And, although he can easily eat 40%--probably even 100%--of a baguette, I need a much more minimal portion. Charli also does not need this much, and because of his issue with throwing food, mostly used it to pelt us with at intervals.

Chili Dogs and Jello

Cost: $10

Prep: 20 minutes

The only reason the prep for this meal was so long was because it included making chili.

Matt gave me some time to get things started in the morning, so I had the chili slow-cooking by 8AM. We called my grandparents and invited them over, as we have been so busy lately we haven't seen much of them.

I have only ate a chili dog one time. It was when I was pregnant with Charlie, and at Maude Hunter's. I don't think it is on their new menu. It wasn't too awesome, and everyone laughed at me when I ordered it with salad.

But, I say, screw you all, because here I am 2 years later eating a chili dog with salad again!

Anyway, I didn't add meat to the chili; just kidney beans, chick peas, black beans, tomatoes, and mushrooms with seasoning. No spice; grandparents can't handle it.

We barbequed the hot dogs (all beef) and served with marble cheddar. It was a hit all around.

I also made dessert. My friend Amanda was over, and I was saying I should make a dessert. She joked I should make Jello with fruit because that's what old people like.

And you know what?

That is what I made because we had the ingredients. Mixed fruit sugar free Jello with a can of fruit cocktail in it. Classy.

Fajita Buffet

Cost: $10

Prep: 15 minutes

We had a very busy today.

Charlie drove the car for a long time.

Then Charlie practiced on his bike for a while.

Then he chewed on a gross frozen banana for a while because he teeth really hurt :(

So, when it came time to eat, we ate simply. I whipped up some chicken (leftover from the other night when Matt barbequed a bunch of breasts) with peppers, onions, and seasoning.

We are these on little tortillas with salsa, sour cream, and mozzarella cheese.

Family Style Chili Night

Cost: $12-15 (?)

Prep: 20 minutes

We broke out the slow-cooker again. It has been awhile, but I really wanted to make chili.

There is something about this food that means that it needs to be made in a giant batch.

So, because my parents are doing a major home-renovation that has essentially left all of their furniture piled in their kitchen, we invited them over to join us.

I like to eat my chili with cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips. My parents are more "buns" people, but that is TOO BAD! My brother is more of a "nothing with anything resembling a vegtable person", so even though he tried a few bites so as not to hurt my feelings, he eventually ate Pizza Pops.

We aren't classy people, and we don't pretend to be, so I didn't even bother with side plates. Hey, at least we all had bowls and our own spoons. Regardless, it beats eating on top of your dresser.

Lazy Salad Night

We are still very full from our big day out, so we just whipped up a salad. We call it a "strange Caesar" because it is essentially a Caesar base with grated carrot, cheddar cheese, and tomatoes.

Tacos

Cost: $8

Prep: 20 minutes




It's tacos. Deal with it.

Soft ones to boot, yo.

Advanced Tacoing

Cost: $10

Prep: 15 minutes

This is not a post for taco beginners. No no. This is for extreme tacoers.

Look at the ingredients. Some of everything. Meat, cheese, salsa, sour cream, tomatoes, peppers, onions, refried beans, soft shells, hard shells.

When you are advanced (and kind of gross), you can put it together and make this.

However, when you are me, you still just make normal tacos. (And look, back in the world of being able to eat lettuce.)

No one is hungry...

Cost: $5

Prep time: under 5 minutes

So, when Charlie and I got home, Matt wasn't around for dinner and I was not at all hungry. Charlie sure didn't seem to be either, as the only way to entertain him in the car was to feed him (goldfish, puffs, etc).

We also slept until 5PM after getting home, so when we woke ourselves up, I whipped up a bagged salad (Thrify's, Compliments, Supreme Caesar). Delicious.

I also cut up some cheese (Kraft, havarti) and pickles (low-salt). Served that up with some vegetable crackers, and that was dinner.