WET BURRITOS

                                                          Wet Burritos

Wet Burritos are easy to make and can be made with so many different fillings. These are stuffed with my precooked pinto beans and brown rice.

Preheat your beans-
two cans of pinto,black or re fried beans
1 tsp cumin
1/4 diced onion
1 clove diced garlic
saute' the onion and garlic in some oil or butter.
add the beans and cumin, heat until hot. Set aside.

Rice
Make your rice ahead of time since it takes longer to cook.
2-Cups brown rice
4 Cups water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oil
Cook on high with a lid until it begins to boil. Turn down to med/low and simmer for about 30 min. or until your rice is tender. Do not let water evaporate out. 4 cups should be the perfect amount, but if needed add a little more. Turn off heat and keep covered until you use it.

Making the burritos

In a 9"x13" glass baking dish pour 1/4 jar of a large jar of salsa.Make sure bottom of the baking dish has sauce on it or your burritos will stick. I use my homemade salsa. You can use any salsa. If you prefer just a sauce..Mix one large can of crushed tomatoes with 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp chili powder.

Begin filling large or small white or whole wheat 
tor teas with half the bean and half the rice. Roll each one up and place into the baking dish. It should hold about 12. You can squish them together to make them fit or cut them in half if needed.

Pour the rest of your sauce over the burritos. Make sure the sauce gets down the sides of the dish so the burritos do not stick. Add more as needed. Cover with your favorite cheeses. I used
1 cup Shredded Mozzarella
1 cup Crumbled pepper jack.
Cover with foil and bake for 45 min. at 350 degrees.

Serve with toppings
Shredded Romain lettuce
sour cream
Avocado smashed with some sea salt and lime juice.
Black olives
Diced tomato
Diced jalapeno

ENJOY!

EGGPLANT PARMESAN

EGGPLANT

Start with 3-4 large eggplant.
Wash, cut ends off and slice about 1/2 inch thick.
Drizzle with a little olive oil and pinch of salt and dip into
a bowl of seasoned bread crumbs. Place on sprayed sheet pan.
Bake at 400 for approx. 25 min. turning once at the half way point.
Remove when they are golden brown.

Breaded and ready to bake

SAUCE

Saute two diced garlic cloves with 1/4 chopped onion
in a large pan with a TBSP of olive oil. on med-low heat

When onion and garlic are tender add two large cans of whole tomatoes.
Break up tomatoes with your hands.

Add tsp of Italian seasoning, tsp oregano, 2 TBSP fresh chopped basil.
salt and pepper to taste,. Let it simmer on low until sauce reduces for about 30 minutes.

Simmering marinara sauce

MAKING THE CASSEROLE

Begin with spooning some sauce in the bottom of a glass casserole dish 9x13.
Layer your breaded, baked, eggplant on top the sauce.
Add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese.
Keep layering the sauce,eggplant and cheese about 3 times. Ending with cheese on top.

Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly at 350 degrees.

CHERRY CHEESECAKE

CRUST

Mix one yellow cake box mix with 1 egg and 1 TBSP oil.
Put this crumb mixture into a greased glass baking dish 8x8 or 9x13.
Bake for 50 minutes/300 degrees

FILLING

Mix 2- 8 oz cream cheese (room temperature softened)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
2 TBSP Lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar

Feel free to substitute with Tofui Cream Cheese or Tofu



Blend until creamy with an electric mixer

Pour into baked crust, bake again at 300 degrees for about 1 hour.
Cool and top with 1 can cherry pie filling.

any topping can be used

KALE CHIPS

We were eating Wasabi Seaweed Snacks this week and the taste of seaweed is not our favorite but super healthy. A healthy snack to make yourself. This is so easy and very good for you. A good way to eat a lot of kale. Kale is a belly fat blast. Kale will help reduce belly fat.

Tear leaves into one inch pieces off washed kale stems. The stems are too thick to toast.
Rinse kale leaves, use a salad spinneror towel dry them really good.

                        Then place in bowl and toss with olive oil and sea salt.

Place on a baking sheet and spread them out. You do not want them on top of each other. However, they will be overlapping a bit since the leaves are curly.

                             Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Remove the crispy kale and put the softer leaves back into the oven for only a minute or two. They will cook fast. I prefer them a little softer than too crispy, You might not like that burnt taste.

Delish snack instead of an unhealthy one.

                                Even the kids will like them. Enjoy and eat right away, they do no save well.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH LASAGNA

PUREE THE ROASTED SQUASH WITH EGGS & SPICES

USE BUTTERNUT SQUASH

USE OVEN READY LASAGNA NOODLES

LAYER WITH COTTAGE CHEESE AND ROASTED SQUASH

TOP WITH MOZZARELLA

THE COMPLETED LASAGNA

MADE SOME MUSHROOM RISOTTO TO GO WITH IT.

SERVED WITH SAUTEED GREEN BEANS AND ALMONDS

Roasted Butternut Lasagna:

Slice and peel & de seed one large butternut squash enough to cover a large baking sheet.

drizzle olive oil,garlic powder salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 30-40 min. until tender.

Remove and cool

Roasted squash

2 eggs
two heaping TBSP sour cream
salt pepper
1 garlic clove
1 tsp sage
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup cream or milk (consistency should be like a creamy soup) add water if needed to thin it a bit if it seems too thick.
layer:
Butternut mixture first then oven ready lasagna noodles (i use the whole box and break them to make them fit. one layer right to left, next layer top to bottom. so it holds the casserole together better.
and ricotta or cottage cheese (I used small curd low fat cottage cheese, the whole tub.) I would have used ricotta if I had some.
1 layer of shredded mozzarella cheese in middle
alternate layers
mozzarella over the top(fresh Parmesan would taste good too.)
bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes covered with lid or foil.
My lasagna was a little dry to make sure you have a lot of the butternut puree mixture and drizzle a couple of TBSP of water over it when you check it if it seems dry.

Process in food processor: 

In 8x8 or square casserole dish

test noodles with a knife to make sure they are done. Check it half way through the cooking time to make sure its not too dry.

AN APPLE A DAY-PIE AND SAUCE

Apples have negative calories!! You burn more calories eating a raw apple than there are in the actual apple. 

I love fall! The colors, the leaves burning and the smell of them drying. We went camping in October and the woods were beautiful. I love sleeping with the window open in the fall and squeezing my cold pillow all night. I love fall apples, pears, grapes, squash, pumpkins. I love making soups and one pot meals. Roasting vegetables and going to the farmers markets. I love taking pictures of fall.

We got our apples from Shipshewanna this year. Apples in Michigan were just too expensive. 

I have made three apple pie, two pumpkin pies, and apple sauce twice now. Here is how I do it.

WASH YOUR APPLES

IF YOU HAVE A FOOD MILL.......NO NEED TO PEEL OR REMOVE THE CORE, JUST CUT IN HALF

OOPS....HERE'S SOME APPLES PIES GOING IN THE OVEN

COOK YOUR APPLE HALVES IN WATER UNTIL THEY ARE SOFT. REMEMBER IF YOU HAVE A FOOD MILL, THERE IS NO NEED TO PEEL OR CORE THEM.

CHOOSE YOUR FOOD MILL SIZE....SMALL FOR SUPER CREAMY BABY FOOD APPLE SAUCE. MEDIUM FOR REGULAR APPLE SAUCE (THIS IS THE ONE I USED) LARGER HOLES FOR A CHUNKY APPLE SAUCE BUT THE SEED MIGHT GET THROUGH.

FOOD MILL, STRAIN COOKED APPLES AND PUT THEM HOT INTO THE FOOD GRINDER.

GRIND APPLES INTO PAN. THROW AWAY THE SKINS

IT LOOKS SO GOOD

ADD CINNAMON AND SUGAR

PLACE INTO CANNING JARS, LET IT COOL.

COVER JARS AND FREEZE.

HERE IS MY PIE. IT HAS A HOMEMADE CRUST AND A GRANOLA, BROWN SUGAR TOPPING.

IT GOES FAST!!

MAKING CARMEL APPLES

CARAMEL APPLES 

ANY TOPPINGS CAN BE USED

CHOPPED UNSALTED ALMONDS AND PUMPKIN DECORATING CANDIES

YUMMY RED DELICIOUS APPLES AND CARAMEL KIT

KEEP STIRRING AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS UNTIL CARAMEL IS THICK

COAT APPLES AND IMMEDIATELY SPRINKLE TOPPINGS ON. WE ALSO ADDED A BIT OF COARSE SEA SALT SINCE THE ALMONDS WERE UNSALTED.

REFRIGERATE AND THEN WRAP APPLES WITH WAX PAPER AND TIE INDIVIDUALLY
IF YOU DON'T HAVE A KIT, USE THIS SIMPLE RECIPE AND CRAFT STICKS.

1 cup butter (no substitutes)
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
8 -10 wooden sticks
8 -10 medium tart apples

http://www.food.com/recipe/kittencals-caramel-apples-73274