Cooking as a Habit

I have decided that as a foodie, if I want to be authentic, I need to make cooking a habit. I have always wished I cooked meals on a regular basis, and haven't done much to make that wish a reality. If wishes were horses, I'd have a whole stable full of them, or however the saying/nursery rhyme goes...

So, anyway, I decided to make dinner, and I also decided to go with tried-and-true things (i.e. something I have successfully cooked in my life) that I knew Mike would like (not that he's picky, but I know there are things he definitely likes), that called for as many ingredients already on hand as possible. This greatly reduced my options since, as I have already indicated, I do not cook on a regular basis (unless you count eggs and turkey sandwiches, not at the same time).

Still, undeterred, I looked through a binder of recipes I put together in 2003 or 2004 and have never used (NEVER used!), and voila! Mexican Lasagna. A super easy yet delicious recipe that Mom had given me, something I knew I had successfully made before, and something that called for many ingredients we already had on hand. I would have to go to the store for the ground beef and taco seasoning, but I was anticipating having to go to the store. So no biggie.

I also found a chocolate chip cookie recipe that Mom emailed me once, and made that too. Mike was surprised, and everything turned out delicious.

MEXICAN LASAGNA

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained (can substitute refried or black beans)
1 regular sized package of tortillas (flour or corn)
2+ cups of "taco" cheese (I used cheddar and monterey jack cheeses)

Directions:
1. Brown ground beef.
2. Drain off fat.
3. Add taco seasoning, tomato sauce and beans.
4. Spray/grease casserole baking dish well.
5. Slice tortillas in half.
6. Line bottom of the pan with half of the tortillas.
7. The next layer is half of the meat and bean mixture.
8. Follow the meat layer with a layer of half the cheese.
9. Repeat the three layers (tortilla, meat, cheese) with the remaining halves of the ingredients.
10. Cook in a 300 degree oven OR in microwave until cheese is bubbly and dish looks done. (This took about 25 minutes including a few turns of the pan to make sure it cooked evenly in our quirky oven.)
11. Let stand 10 minutes or so to cool.
12. Serve as desired. (Suggestions: Salsa, sour cream, black olives - I used all of the above.)





CHOCO CHIP BUTTER COOKIES

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Cream butter, sugars and shortening well, add two unbeaten eggs and 1 tbsp vanilla (3 tsp), beat well, blend in dry ingredients, stir in 1 large pck. chocolate chips (I used 15 oz. bag of semi-sweet/dark chocolate chips) and 1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts), drop onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8 min.