Monday Meals: Fajitas and 5 Layer Dip

Ryan loves dips and chips and I love to cook for him. So I decided to make him one of his favorites- a 5 layer dip. We had picked one up at Earth Fare that was tasty, but it was expensive and gone within a couple of hours. My solution was to make a similar homemade version.

Here is what I did:

Layer One:
Amy's Organic Refried Beans (Seriously the best beans EVER!)

Layer Two:
Mix in a small bowl: 2 ripe avocados, 2 tsp lime juice, pinch of salt
Layer over the beans.

Layer Three:
Salsa (We used some acquired from the local farmer's market- YUM!)

Layer Four:
Sour Cream with Taco Seasoning sprinkled on top.

Layer Five:
Mexican Cheese Blend

Don't judge a dip by it's photo:


Because we cannot just eat dip alone, I stayed with the cuisine theme and made fajitas.


Is it wrong for me to be in love with my new cutting boards? One for meats and one for veggies. *swoon*


Tasty goodness.

Monday Meals: Cherry Cobbler

Last Monday Ryan came home with a big bag of fresh, handpicked cherries. His boss handed him a gallon Ziplock bag of super tasty cherries from his parent's property. I immediately started thinking about ways to incorporate them into our weekly menu.



So, I scoured the internet for a healthier cobbler recipe than the one I grew up knowing, Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa. As said in my best Southern (Read:Dolly Parton) voice:

"Oh hell, Clairee, you don’t need a recipe. It’s just a cup of flour, a cup of sugar and a cup of fruit cocktail WITH the syrup, stir and bake in a hot oven ‘til golden brown and bubbly. I serve it with ice cream to cut the sweetness."

I couldn't find a recipe that I loved so I took bits and pieces from several different recipes and came up with this:

As many cherries as you can stand to pit.
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups rolled oats (old fashioned)
1 cup all-purpose flour (I used two the first time around, I will probably cut it back to one in the future.)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/8 cup maple syrup

Step One: Pit the cherries. Since this was last minute and I've never had any reason to own a cherry pitter, this was a tedious task.
Step Two: Recruit a loved one to help with the pitting process.
Step Three: Have said loved one tell you that they are tired and taking a break. Resume pitting said cherries.



Step Four: Preheat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Including half of the blue million tiny cherries you have pitted (not pictured).



Step Five: Layer the other half of the cherries as a bed in your baking dish. Spoon the oatmeal mixture on top of the cherries. Bake for about 45 minutes. You'll smell it when it's ready!




Happy Monday!