Mommin’ it Up: Monday

As I’ve referenced earlier, I’ve been spending this summer working on some of my lifelong goals. One of those finicky little bastards was cooking. Baking has never been an issue for me, but cooking isn’t something I’ve ever really taken too. For a long time, I thought it was like softball: I didn’t like it because I sucked at it. But, it turns out I’m not actually shitty at it. In fact, in an surprise twist, I’m actually good enough to not kill anyone. And I like it, which is even better, because it calms me down and it’s relaxing, which is wesome because I’m really high strung. It’s also productive, which is good. I hate hobbies that you put all of this work into it, and what do you have to show for it? Kind of like golf.

Anyways, I can make a lot of stuff, because anyone that can read can make a lot of stuff. But, I’ve noticed that mothers always seem to have a schedule, like they make this dish on this day for whatever reason. So I’ve made sure I can make five dishes that I reallllllly love and that are also kid friendly, so someday when I have kids, I can feed them. I hear that’s key. I guess some people would claim that you shouldn’t feed your kids the same five meals a week, but I don’t have kids, so I’m not going to argue with them. EXCEPT to say that my parents did it and my brother goes to Harvard. So, we win. Here’s to you, Pizza Thursday!

I’ll publish a receipe each day this week, as well as some of my favorite disserts and explanations as to why I chose that day. Even if you don’t have kids, learning how to make super duper easy and yummy meals is important so that you can eat. Eating makes me happy anyways. But I’m also secretly an obese person just dying to make an apperance.

Fiesta Monday: Black Bean Chicken Salsa

I decided to make Monday a fiesta! because everyone hates Monday. This way, at least you can come home from work, have a shot of tequila, and not have to work about operating a hot oven. Crockpots are king, yo. In fact, in my singledom, I would happily make this on Monday and eat it all week. But, I plan on, in the long future, making it on Monday and then taking the leftovers for work the next day. Yummy and delicious!

Ingredients:
-1 jar black bean and corn organic salsa
-1 jar organic mild salsa
-1 can black beans
-2 lbs chicken breast, cut up, fat trimmed

Directions:
In the morning: Open jars, dump into crock pot. Dump in chicken. Stir once. Put on low.
In the evening: Come home and eat.

I reckon (apparently I’m Southern today) the calories to be around 150/cup, after comparing online recipes, but I also don’t use tortillas for myself. With kids, I’d use the lower calorie tortillas (you can get 50 calories/whole grain tortilla in the Asian section of grocery stores) since they can use the extra carbs to go outside, play tag, and let me drink my Skinnygirl Margarita in peace.

For Dessert:
I think I’m going to be one of those moms who don’t give their kids dessert until way after dinner, which is what my mommy did for me. She gave us “bedtime snacks” and at 22, I still ask my boyfriend to take me to QD at midnight because I need a bedtime snack. I’m sure a lot of peole argue that eating at night is bad, but since none of the people who make that argument have degrees in nutrition, I’m going to ignore them and say make it! Eat at night! And on Mondays, make this:

This is a recipe adapted from Skinnytaste.com, one of my favorite healthy and low-cal websites. I’d totally recommend you waste some time on her site. Everything is easy, healthy, and the pictures are this foodie’s version of porn. I chose this particular treat for Monday because I’m a weekend shopper and I didn’t want my berries to go bad before I got to impress everyone with this easy and yummerific treat!

Ingredients:

For the filling:
-4.5 cups of your favorite berries. Divide evenly (1.5 each) or play favorites. This isn’t Playgroup, no one’s judging you if you like a berry more than another. Frozen works too. Whateve.
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
-2 teaspoons cornstarch
-1/4 cup sugar

For the topping:
-1 cup natural oats. I used Meijer. You can use whatever is cheap.
-1/2 cup whoe wheat flour
-3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
-half a stick of butter

Directions:
-preheat oven to 375
-Combine all filling ingredients except cornstarch in bowl. Mix them up and then toss with cornstarch. Put in pie bowl.
-Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle over pie.
-Bake for 35-40 minutes.

The original recipie, including calorie and weigh watchers info, can be found here:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/search/label/Dessert%20Recipes

If you have kids, I’ll probably serve this with ice cream, since not all kids (including this 22 year old kid) love berries.