Beef and Kale Tacos with Homemade Tortillas

I've missed posting my cooking adventures.  I still am exploring and cooking new and interesting things as always.  Trying to stay away from processed foods and slowly moving my family to an organic diet.

I have a list of a few meals that are always my 'go to' meals that I know my family love and will eat without much complaint.  So if I've been experimenting and my family needs something simple I put one of my 'go to meals' in my menu plan.

My family loves tacos.  I often make my own Mexican rice and my homemade re-fried beans.  Today however, I had a busy day and had not soaked the pinto beans and I'm out of rice, waiting for an organic order to come in.

I have found a fantastic and EASY tortilla recipe.  I've used it numerous times and really love it.  The tortillas are super easy to roll out and cook up fast.  

Today I used coconut oil in the recipe.  I melted it and added the 3 tablespoons and returned the unused melted oil to my jar.  Coconut oil can melt and return to solid with out compromising the integrity of the oil.

 I do suggest that you roll out the tortillas one at a time as you cook them.  One time I rolled them all, stacked them and then had to re-roll it all as they all stuck together and I could not get them apart.  Roll them thin and stretch them if you need to.  Be sure to have a hot pan.  You will see them bubble up nice and fast.  I never worry about a nice round shape.  We really love these.  The recipe makes 8 nice size tortillas.

And in my quest to get as many veggies in my family as possible.  I cooked up the grass fed ground beef and added a plethora of organic veggies, including; kale, celery, onions, garlic, mushrooms and carrots.  This not only gets more vegetables into my family, but it saves on having a big meal of meat and as a result, makes the meal go further.  I also to not believe in hiding the vegetables.  I want my kids to know what they are eating and be aware that they do like all sorts of vegetables.

I garnished the tacos with lettuce, tomato, cheese, avocado and Greek yogurt.  Super super fantastic and yummy.  Yes, Greek yogurt.  I stopped buying sour cream.  Greek yogurt is a better choice and my kids are fine with it. 

We had cut carrots and cucumber on the side.  Everyone loved dinner and we have lots of leftovers for lunch this week.

Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joes
you may not think
healthy
so I wanted to try

I was making enough
to also bless a family
so it was a large batch
these veggies
yes every single one
was included in the
sloppy joe mix

just the mix

not the salad
can you tell from
the picture at the start?

This is when
I love my food processor
so handy
here are those veggies again
I sauteed them
in a bit of grapeseed oil

I added about
3 pounds of uncooked ground beef
and a can of crushed tomatoes

mixing everything together
I also added
ketchup
mustard
a bit of brown sugar
BBQ Sauce
salt and pepper
I didn't measure
I guessed
sorry about that

I cooked this for
a good long time
minimum of an hour
to ensure the beef
is cooked all the way
I simmered it for at least
2 hours to meld the flavours

the kids and I
had this for lunch
and we all had it for dinner
it was yum
my husband found it
a little sweet
but took it to work
and ate it all
my kids loved it
it was a very easy
meal to double
you could top it
with cheese
pickles
anything you want

Lentil Stew

This was going to be a soup
but it turned out thick
so I'm calling it a stew

Lentil Stew

2 cups Green French Lentils
1 bunch of Kale, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
broccoli, finely chopped
28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
seasoning salt
pepper
cumin
dash of red pepper
2 tblsp coconut oil
4 cups vegetable stock
4 cups water, more if needed


I had a rough recipe
but basically
I ended up doing
my own thing

Saute the onion,
celery and carrots
in the coconut oil
add the vegetable stock
to the sauteed veggies


rinse the lentils
and pick thru
just to let you know
when I see those instructions
it totally annoys me
I always think I should
be looking for something
and it's time consuming
however when I do it
I often don't find
much to pick out
so I'm over it
it's easy and fast to
do this step
enough of my vent
okay
add the lentils
and the additional
4 cups of water


Kale
I know it scares
some of you
it shouldn't
it's so healthy for you
rinse the kale
and destem it
the easiest way
fold the kale leaf in half


then run your knife
down the spine of the leaf
this is the fastest way
that I found to do this


I then put it in the food processor
to chop it up small
so it cooks faster
Kale is a bit tougher
than spinach
and takes longer to cook
add to the soup pot
along with the tomatoes


then add all the spices
I played with this for some time
I wasn't totally happy
with the spice blend
so I played with it
until it was decent
I brought it to a boil
then simmered it
for about 4 hours
this would be good
to do in the crockpot
at least I thought after
I started cooking
we all enjoyed this stew
we didn't love it
as an add in
I used greek yogurt
mixed with cumin and
fresh cut parsley
and we ate it
with taco chips

Brown Sugar, Honey Dijon Glazed Salmon

I think I have
shared my opinion
regarding Fish dishes

I strongly dislike
FISH
strongly dislike
as in
I dry heave
while eating it
However
it's good for you
and I want my kids
to learn to like
everything
so I need to make sure
that I expose them
to all sorts of things
even things
I STRONGLY DISLIKE
namely
FISH

So I figured
maybe if I add sugar
I might be able to stomach it

Brown Sugar, Honey Dijon Glazed Salmon

1/3 - 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
3 - 6 TBSP Honey Dijon Mustard
2 TBSP Lemon Juice


whisk it all together
adjust the amounts
depending on the
amount of Fish
I had 1 pound of Salmon


I coated the Salmon
both sides
then I poured
the remaining glaze
over the salmon
(I had the salmon
on parchment paper)


I baked this at 400
until it flaked easily
with a fork
15-20ish minutes
while this was baking
I cut up some asparagus
and sauteed with butter
I then added left over
Quinoa and Kale


I need to be honest
I don't get it
when it says
"flakes easily with a fork"
I had to call my husband
to check if it was done


I served this with
cut carrots and cucumber
along with
asparagus mixed with Quinoa and Kale


we had guests
for dinner
guests that I didn't
dare say "NO" to


My kids each ate
an entire fillet
they loved it
L O V E D I T


my husband
he ate his and
most of mine


I didn't dry heave
but I ate very slowly
I mixed my salmon
with the Quinoa and Kale
hoping to hide it
I'm so sorry
I just don't enjoy fish
B U T
my husband is an expert
he grew up eating salmon
he really loved it
and like I said
my kids loved it


If you enjoy Salmon
my family says to
try this glaze
you'll love it!

Quinoa with Kale, Tofu and Roasted Tomatoes

Our vegetarian dish this week
was based on
Heather's Quinoa Recipe
and then I made my changes
to suit my family
and my cooking

Quinoa with Kale, Tofu and Roasted Tomatoes

tablespoon of coconut oil
a pinch of fine grain sea salt
1 shallot, minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 cups cooked quinoa (or brown rice, or other grain)
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
1 1/2 cups kale, spinach or other hearty green, finely chopped
2 cups extra-firm tofu, browned in a skillet a bit
1 cup pesto
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
1 cup roasted cherry tomatoes (or chopped sun-dried tomatoes)

the first thing
is to cut the
cherry tomatoes in half
in a bowl mix them with
some grapeseed oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar
a bit of salt
mix them all up
place the tomatoes
cut side up
on a baking sheet
and bake at 350
for 45 minutes

once that is going
de stem your kale
and put it in
a food processor
at this point
I decided that I would
add some sweet peppers
to the dish a bit later
so I threw them in the picture
with the kale

in a sauce pan
add 2 cups of the rinsed quinoa
with the kale
and 4 cups of water
a bit of grapeseed oil
bring to a boil
reduce and simmer
15 minutes
while this is cooking
I roasted the nuts
in a pan
until I could just smell
the nutty flavour

melt the coconut oil
add the shallots
and the garlic
cook for a few minutes

add the cooked
quinoa and kale mixture
and the corn
to the shallot and garlic mixture

cut up the tofu
into nice sized cubes
cook it in coconut oil
and I added a bit of cumin
and garlic salt

I added the sweet peppers
to the quinoa mixture
then the cooked tofu

stir in the pesto
and the nuts
the whole mix
goes into a great big dish
top it with the
roasted tomatoes
along with some grated Parmesan cheese

I served this
with a salad
to my in laws
they are always
up for something
out of the normal

did we like it?
we
L O V E D
it
this was amazing
the tomatoes
were just the best
compliment
I really urge you
TRY IT

this was very filling
and just so
flavourful
with so many
healthy ingredients

we had amazing weather today
I sent the kids outside
with their cute hats
their auntie
in New York gave them
for Christmas
but they made sure
to come in and visit me
and to score some
fruit that we had
on the counter