Taco Bowls and Tostones with Cilantro Cream

Tonight's dinner was homemade taco bowls with Tostones. They were pretty good. I wanted to share them with you, so you could try them as well. :)

I just got fajita size flour tortillas and put them into muffin tins. Filled with refried beans, browned ground beef or turkey, Mexican melting cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and a little bit of chives. After that put them in a 400 degrees oven for about 15 minutes, or until tortillas get crispy on the tops.Then just enjoy!

Craving fries? Well, heres a recipe for a more healthy substitute.... Tostones. I baked slices of plantains, instead of frying them, but they're just as good. :) 

Tostones

3 med. to large light-yellow plantains
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cilantro Cream

1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, washed
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.Trim ends from plantains, then cut a slit down one side. Peel plantains, begining at the slit. Slice crosswise into 12 pieces, each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Place in large bowl. 
2. Toss plantains slices with oil and1/8 teaspoon ofthe salt. Transfer to a large nonstick baking sheet, laying slices flat. 
3. Bake plantain slices at 400 degrees for 15 minuets. Remove pan from oven. Place a few slices on a cutting bored, and press gently with bottom of a glass. Turn over and return to baking sheet.Repeat with all slices. Coat plantains lightly with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Return baking 5 more minutes, until crispy. Serve tostones warm with cilantro cream on the side for dipping.

Cilantro Cream:

Our dinner table. :)

in a food processor or mini chopper, combine cilantro, sour cream, milk, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper. Pulse until cilantro is chopped and sauce is smooth.

Egg Rolls

I helped my sister make egg rolls the other day. I always love this recipe. Cause I don't care much for Chinese food  anyway. But this is my moms recipe. I don't know where she got it, but I like it.The thing is we bake them instead of frying them. They are still delious baked. You should try them.

You can buy the egg roll wraps at any grocery store. Then fill them with cabbage and carrots that have been shredded in a food processor. Mix with browned grounded sausage. Bake in oven at 400 degrees.  Until browned and crispy. Serve with sweet and sour or duck sauce. Enjoy! :)

Giada De Laurentiis's Orzo Stuffed Peppers

I just love Giada. She is Italian and she went to the Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.I love to watch her cook, and her recipes are amazing and healthy. I have made two dishes of hers this week. Her Parmesan Chicken and Her Orzo-Stuffed Peppers. I made the peppers tonight. They were lovely. Here's the recipe:
Orzo-Stuffed Peppers
4-6 servings

1 (28-oz.) can whole Italian tomatoes
2 medium zucchini, grated
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano Cheese, plus more for sprinkling
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly grounded black pepper
4 cups low- sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
6 sweet bell peppers (red, yellow, or green)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Pour the tomatoes and their jucies into a large bowl and break them into pieced using a pair of kitchen shears or your fingertips. Add the zucchini, mint, cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir to complete.

Meanwhile, bring the chicken broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the orzo and cook for 4 minutes. The orzo will be only partially cooked. Drain the orzo, reserving the chicken broth, and add the orzo into the large bowl with the vegetables. Stir to combine. Transfer the warm chicken broth to a 3-quart baking dish.

Slice the tops off the peppers and remove all ribs and seeds. Cut a very thin slice from the base to help peppers stand up.
Spoon the orzo mixture into the peppers. Place the peppers in the baking dish with the warm chicken broth. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle each pepper with cheese, and continue baking until cheese is golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully transfer the stuffed peppers to serving plates. Garnish with basil, if desired. Enjoy!

My own fruit pastry

We had leftover filo dough from the spanakopitas. And we had fresh fruit that needed to be used before it went bad. And I wanted to make some kind of pastry. I didn't know what I was going to do. I made some mini muffins that morning and the pan was still out. So I decided to put the filo in the mini muffin pan. Then fill it with fruit soaked in sugar.  Then bake them until the dough is crispy. I did to different types. Some had just strawberries. Then there was some others with blueberries and kiwi mix. Unfortunately when blueberries get cooked, they get really juicy, so it kinda made the dough soggy, and went through. But I managed. :) Then I just drizzled some chocolate over the top of them. 

Spanakopita

I made Spanakopitas last night for dinner. I ended up not having enough spinich so it only made 7. When my dad came home, he saw that there were only 7 spanakopitas and he's like "I could eat all 7." lol :) So he ate a couple then we went out to eat. But they were fun to make. I use to make them all the time, but this is the first time in awhile that I have made them. I kinda just through some ingredients together. I didn't really measure the spices, so sorry that I don't have measurements. Hope you try them, they're pretty good!

Spanakopita
butter
fresh baby spinach
olive oil
salt
pepper
minced garlic
crumbled feta cheese
cottage cheese
basil
oregano
nutmeg
filo dough

Directions:
In a medium pan melt butter on medium heat. Put fresh spinach in pan with butter, then add some olive oil.Coat spinach slightly with olive oil. Spinach with wilt. When done, chopped spinach coarsely. Put in a bowl, mix together salt, pepper, garlic, feta, cottage cheese, basil, oregano, and nutmeg with spinach.

Take 1 phyllo sheet from stack and arrange on a work surface with a long side nearest you (keeping remaining sheets covered) and brush with some butter. Top with another phyllo sheet and brush with more butter. Cut buttered phyllo stack crosswise into 6 (roughly 12- by 2 3/4-inch) strips.

Put a heaping teaspoon of filling near 1 corner of a strip on end nearest you, then fold corner of phyllo over to enclose filling and form a triangle. Continue folding strip (like a flag), maintaining triangle shape. Put triangle, seam side down, on a large baking sheet and brush top with butter. Make more triangles in same manner, using all of phyllo.

Bake triangles in middle of oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool slightly.