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.

Mom's Taco-Hut

Okay, since I am way behind, I figure I should write this post first, since it was what was for dinner.

Cost: inexpensive, like $6, because the meat was included a few nights ago

Prep: 15 minutes

Who wants to be stuck in the kitchen on a hot and beautiful day? Not me. Especially as our kitchen has two skylights and is always sunny and sweltering.

That was what this weeks meals were about: limiting the need to cook. Let me remind you of the progression:

1. Chili dogs (with veggie chili)
2. Chili (meat added)
3. Tacos (with meat not added to chili)

This worked great. I even cooked the beef late on night 1 when the house was cool, so there was not too much to do except heat and serve, as well as cut up other parts of the meals, on the other nights.

So, we did tacos tonight. Simple. I like to heat the beef and cheese inside the tacos in the oven. I use cooling racks to keep it upright.

I eat my tacos with cherry tomatoes, sour cream, lettuce, and salsa. Charlie, as you can see above, eats his deconstructed.

He tried to eat one whole. Ever wonder what it looks like when you give a baby a loaded taco? See below.

Teeny-Weeny Quesadillas

Cost: $5 (or less)

Prep: 15 minutes

This was an easy meal with the purpose of using up leftovers. Some of the quesadillas had steak from our patio night and some had chicken from fajita night.

We used very small tortillas, and each little segment is about 2 or 3 bites. I think this would be a good little contribution the next time we go to a potluck.

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.