Favorite Simple Recipes

I have a few questions from someone I will refer to as Madame Black (no relation to Sirius, sorry. He's alive, by the way.) Our first question from the lovely Mme Black is:

"What are some of your favorite, easy to make, few ingredient dinners/desserts?"

Great question! Like many people in the last year or two, I have a sincere appreciation of the bookmarking website, Pinterest.

*** Ahh!! I just got distracted by Pinterest's charms! Check out this awesome giveaway I just found! ***

That's how Pinterest works. Anywho, I have quite a few boards devoted just to food. (Don't judge me!) I'd have to say one of my all-time favorite dinner recipes would be these Oven Baked Chimichangas I found on Tasty Kitchen. I've personally modified the recipe so I can throw everything into a slow-cooker and forget about it for a while, and they end up DIVINE, plus I like how I end up with shredded chicken instead of ground. I also like to save some of the meat and make quesadillas the next day. Mmm. However, I think they're probably a little more ingredient-heavy than you had in mind. A simpler recipe would be these Baked Tacos from the blog One Good Thing by Jillee (which I would recommend checking out if you have the time.) She even includes a method of making your own shells from corn tortillas! Sweet, right?? Oh, and I definitely recommend using green salsa, preferably Herdez brand, on your tacos. It's legit.

Since I seem to be giving all Mexican-type food, I'll throw in one more recipe I like. These Skinny Tuna Melts from Skinnytaste.com are great too. They put in a bunch of superfluous ingredients - I really think you could add whatever you usually enjoy in your tuna and get away fat fab and happy. Their home page reminded me of one more thing I like to do: Salmon. I really enjoy salmon but fish is so expensive! I didn't even know how to cook it when I got my hands on some. Ultimately, I slapped some salmon on an aluminium foil-covered pan, salted and peppered them, and threw them in the oven at around 300 degrees, then waited to take them out until they were nice and flaky. Salmon is so flavorful it doesn't require much more than that salt and pepper, but feel free to try other things with it too, like my personal favorite, straight mustard. It also goes great with some steamed veggies, and then you also feel really good about yourself for eating veggies! Woohoo!

Before I get to desserts, I want to add a couple of my favorite snacks/lunch recipes. I love, love, love cottage cheese and tomatoes. Yum-E. There's a lot of wiggle room here, too. You could add cucumbers, carrots, eat it in lettuce, really anything which tickles your fancy. It's simple and great, and one of my all-time favorite quick munchies. Then there's these Ranch Oyster Crackers which are joyously delicious. I love to make a batch then eat some here and there when I want something salty or quick.

As for desserts, the hubbs and I love these Brownies from How to Cook Like Your Grandmother. They're simple and fast, totally tasty, and you probably already have most of the ingredients on-hand! They're dangerous, to be sure. I also love what I affectionately call Reindeer Balls, or Oreo Truffles. I've never actually used a "recipe," as my dad taught me how to make them, but this recipe covers your basics. I am a mint fanatic, so I like to substitute the regular oreos for mint oreos, and the baker's chocolate for mint chips, and they turn out fantastic. They're really easy, and oh-so-yummy.

There you have it! Some of my favorite recipes, most of which came from Pinterest. Speaking of which, if you'd like to follow me, click here! I would be giddy to have new followers. In particular, I have a board called Tested/Reviewed Recipes where you can read my reviews of each new recipe I try! As a special incentive, if you find a recipe you'd like to try but you're a little scared, let me know. I'd be glad to try something out for you, and I'm sure the hubster would love a new recipe for a good home-cooked meal!

Thanks, Mme Black! This was quite a fun question to answer. I'll get to your second one in no time!

Sincerely,
Lora.