Tiffany Goes Travelling

I got a large folder of recipes from my mom-in-law Patti, and today I tried one called Veggie Quesadillas. I had decided to make this recipe the night before, and had therefore been fantasizing about it all night and the following day. So by the end of the day, I had envisioned this meal to be an explosion of flavour par none, thus leaving me with the worry that perhaps I had built it up to unreasonable standards in my mind, and what would have been an otherwise enjoyable meal, would not live up to the fantastic standards I had dreamt it to.

Not so! It was absolutely delicious; even better then I was expecting! This is the recipe:

Veggie Quesadillas

1 small onion, chopped

1 small zucchini, thinly sliced

1 small yellow squash, thinly sliced

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 can fat-free refried beans

8 large whole wheat tortillas

1/2 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese

1 cup salsa

low-fat sour cream (optional)

1. Coat large skillet with cooking spray and warm over medium heat. Add vegetables and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove vegetable mixture from heat.

2. Spread beans evenly over all eight tortillas. Spoon vegetable mixture evenly on top of the beans on four tortillas. Sprinkle cheese over the vegetables, then top each with one of the remaining tortillas.

3. Place one quesadilla in the skillet. Cover and cook over low heat, turning once, for 5 minutes or until heated thoroughly. Place in 200 degree oven to keep warm and repeat with remaining quesadillas. Cut into wedges and serve with a dollop of low-fat sour cream and salsa.

I had to change a few things. I could not find a yellow squash, so I bought what I presume is a turnip in its place. Turnips are vegetables and kinda yellow, so I think it works. Also, I could not find re-fried beans, so instead, I bought a can of brown beans, and mashed them up. After the first dose of mashing and spreading over the tortilla, it occured to me that perhaps these beans are not cooked. So every batch after that, I microwaved the mashed up beans before spreading them, just in case, and for the first tortilla, I left it to the skillet gods to cook the beans in the pan.

I also did not have sour cream or salsa. I really wanted sour cream, and I looked for it, but I couldn’t find any. I saw salsa, but I thought it was too expensive, so I didn’t buy any. I regreted it later, eating my salsa-less and sour cream-less quesadillas – which were very tasty – but would have been over the moon with sour cream and salsa. It is not too late, I have lots of leftovers, so I can grab some expensive salsa tomorrow.

Here are some pics of my adventures:

I have added some new pictures of Leiden.

http://s971.photobucket.com/albums/ae199/theturtlemachine/Leiden/

By the suggestion of my mom-in-law Patti, I tried a recipe called Macaroni and Tomatoes. Here was the recipe:

MACARONI AND TOMATOES

1/2 c. macaroni (well done)
1 med.-sized can tomatoes diced

Onion

Peppers/ red orange green whatever you like

I add HP sauce for a little spice. You could always add basil and oregano.

After macaroni is done, pour tomatoes over macaroni and heat well.
For my version, I used a fresh tomato chopped into chunks, some mushrooms, and some red bell pepper, and salt, pepper and oregano! (I found one in my kitchen). I couldn’t find any HP sauce at the supermarket, but I don’t think that will make or break it (though that would be interesting to taste). I boiled the pasta soft and set it aside, then using the same sauce pot I plopped in the veggies. With the help of some butter, I let them stew on the stove for about 5 minutes. Then I poured my veggies over my pasta and Ta-da! A tasty meal emerged. I will be making this one again in future. Thank you Patti for the recipe.

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I also updated my photo account. There are some new pictures of the rest of my house, and a new folder called “Leiden” with some pictures around my immediate community.