Black Bean Salsa

I'm not one for posting a bunch of recipes and I've been hanging onto this one cause I wanted it all for myself. Seriously. But I figured hey, everyone else should be able to taste how awesomely delicious this is. So I give you: Black Bean Salsa

Main Ingredients:

2 cans black beans {drained & rinsed}

2 cans corn {drained & rinsed}

2-3 Roma tomatoes {diced}

1 packet Good Seasons Italian dressing mix

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp ground cumin

Drain & rinse black beans & corn. Set them aside in a glass mixing dish. I have a Pyrex bowl that comes with a lid. This is also what I use to serve it in. Chop up tomatoes and toss them in the bowl as well. In a measuring cup add vinegar & olive oil. Add the packet of dry dressing mix and ground cumin. Mix well. Pour this over the bean/corn/tomato mix. Stir everything together.

And now the hard part:

Store in the fridge for 3-4 hours for the flavors to mingle. Yes, you will want to eat this right away. Yes, I do it all the time. But trust me, wait. It's soooo much better. And if you can wait longer, yep, it gets even better.

The above is the very basic recipe and it's up to you to decide what you want to add to it. I'm not really big on tomatoes so sometimes I add less. Sometimes, not at all. For the most part, I always add extra cumin. I love the smoky flavor and kick it gives. I also add fresh chopped cilantro and finely chopped red onion. Really though, whatever you want to add to it is fine.

Here's some other options:

chopped olives

celery

jalapeños

green peppers

chili powder

cajun seasoning

I usually buy some Scoops tortilla chips but I've also used this salsa in salad, in a pita with grilled chicken and on burgers. It's very versatile.

I'd love to hear what you guys add and do with yours!

Quick & Easy Hashbrown Casserole

Thursday night we got home from work and couldn't decide on what to make for dinner. We ended up with hashbrown casserole and burgers for Mom & Bill and a veggie burger for me. Anyways, here's the recipe for the casserole.

One small block of Velveeta (or any other type of cheese that melts well)

Frozen hashbrowns

One small onion

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Oh yeah, and some milk.

Cube up the Velveeta and place in a pan on the stove. Add some milk and cook on low to medium, stirring every few minutes. You don't want the milk to scorch or the cheese to burn. Yuck!

Eventually, it will look like this.

Empty the hashbrowns into an oven safe crock.

Pour the melted cheese over the hasbrowns and mix until combined.

The onion is optional. I know a lot of people don't like them. I'm not crazy about them either but they really make this dish.

Bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. Just keep an eye on it. I accidentally spilled some cheese on the rim and the lid ended up getting stuck to the crock while it was baking. I had to get a knife and pry it off. Add salt and/or pepper to taste. And be careful! The cheese will be hot hot hot!

I ordered these little gems and they came in today. I can't wait to start using them.

My little veggie burger looks so lonely. I added some (ok, a LOT) of the creole seasoning before slapping it on the grill. It smelled so good.

I'm a bit of a burger snob. Ketchup, mustard, mayo, lettuce and two slices of cheese. And I like my bun toasted. I call my burgers doubler fisters because you usually need two hands to eat them.

You can't see it cause my hand and the burger is in the way but there's a huge smear of ketchup and mustard on the other side of the plate. Everything was oh so good!

I'm a Loser

A loser in a good way! I signed up for Weight Watchers yesterday in my quest to lose some weight. I'm doing the online program because with my ever-changing schedule, I just don't have the time to go to the meetings. I LOVE the way the program is set up online. You type in your height and weight and it determines a set number of points you can have per day. Currently, mine is 23. It doesn't seem like a lot but there is a silver lining. Each week you also have a set number of extra points that you can use for splurging on a dessert, drink or going out to eat. After you exercise you can log the activity and get points added which you can swap out each week. Not too shabby.

I ran to Wal-mart this morning and bought a blender since I'm the only person in the world that still doesn't own one. There was a smoothie recipe that I saw and wanted to try. Here's the recipe:

Strawberry-Banana Smoothie

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1/2 cup apple juice

1 banana

4 strawberries

ice

Add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth.

I made it when I got home. It was actually really good. And you could even swap out the fruit for another. I have a really tall pilsner glass and it filled it completely. I think next time I might half the recipe. The best part, this smoothie is 5 points!

Anyone else have any good WW recipes they'd like to share?