Tostada Flatbread Pizza

This week I have the kitchen to myself to cook whatever I please. My husband is away for work and I get to eat all the foods that he isn't a fan of. This is great in many ways because I get to cook with ingredients I don't normally get to use. Although I'm really sad he is away, I am having a blast in the kitchen. 

Tonight's menu: Tostada Flatbread Pizza.

Who doesn't like the ring of pizza--then pair that with Mexican spices and it's a winner for all! This recipe is very simple and very quick. Because I was cooking for one, I have a bunch of leftovers, but the portions could have easily fed four people. 

Let me know what you think! Other variations include adding crumbled chorizo sausage, avocado, and diced tomatoes.

Enjoy!

Time 15 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 can refried beans

4 Slices of Flatbread (will be located near pita bread)

1 cup shredded cheese (I used a "Tex-Mex" blend")

Mexican Salad Dressing (You can use Ranch but I found a Lite Chipotle Ranch)

¼ Cup Chopped Cilantro 

Shredded Lettuce

1 Jalapeno (seeds removed)

1 Packet Taco Seasoning  (or see recipe below)

Oil Cooking Spray

Ingredients for Taco Seasoning

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp onion powder

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350◦F. In a bowl mix together Taco Seasoning and refried beans. Place flatbreads on a greased (cooking oil spray) baking sheet.  Spread the refried beans evenly over the top of the flatbread. Sprinkle each "pizza" with cheese. Place in oven for 10 minutes. 

Separately, chop up cilantro and set aside. Finely chop jalapeno. 

Remove "pizzas" from oven and place individual flatbread on plate, top with lettuce. Sprinkle jalapenos and cilantro on top. Drizzle with salad dressing. Serve!

Moroccan Kefta Meatballs with Honey and Mint

This past Friday, we got home from a 6-day vacation to Nassau, Bahamas. It was stunning. We stayed at a very small, boutique hotel that was on the west side of the island away from almost everything. One thing I missed while on vacation was cooking my own dinners. Sure, the Caribbean food was tasty but I actually got sick of eating out. 

When I got home, all I wanted to do was cook. The first day home, I made a wonderful egg souffle (I'll share recipes soon!) and then today was a full cooking day. Cookies and a fresh batch of iced-tea and pizza. For dinner, I took out an old cook book I haven't used in a while and yelled to my husband, "You want Moroccan tonight?" To which he replied, "Yea, okay...is that gonna take a while?"

And the answer is no. This is a one-pan dish. If you chop things ahead of time and even shape the meatballs before work, this could be really, really fast. I modified a recipe from Ghillie Basan's Moroccan Food & Cooking Cookbook. I highly recommend you purchase this book if you want more recipes. 

This turned out to be one of my favorite meatball dinners I think I've ever made. A touch of sweetness from the honey and a lot of flavor from the herbs. Enjoy!

Time 30 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 Ib lean ground beef
1/2 onion finely chopped
1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp finely chopped mint
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tab butter
16 oz can of diced tomatoes
3 tsp honey
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/3 cup of flat leaf parsley roughly chopped
salt and pepper

In a bowl, knead the beef with the onion, breadcrumbs, egg, cinnamon, mint, and salt and pepper. Take a small amount of mixture and shape it into a small ball about the size of a walnut. Repeat and form the rest of the mixture into meatballs. Makes about 16 meatballs. 

Heat the olive oil and butter on low in a large frying pan. Add meatballs and raise heat to medium-low. Fry the meatballs until nicely browned, turning them occasionally. I found that little bits of meat and onion stuck to the pan. This is okay and will add flavor to the sauce. 

Add tomatoes, honey, garam masala, cayenne pepper, garlic and most of the parsley. Bring sauce to a simmer, cook for about 6-8 minutes until sauce has reduced a bit and roll meatballs in sauce. Also, use wooden spoon to loosen bits of onion or beef that stuck to pan earlier. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Sprinkle with remaining parsley. Serve with side of cous cous and naan.

Here I go again

Art Blame
I don't know anything about painting. Which paint should I use? What do I paint? How do I make mine look like that?  I am going to blame the school system for not adequately providing art education. It was scrapped for me after 6th grade. From the age of 12 onward, I haven't needed to take any art classes. So now that I am a 20-something I want to paint and have no foundation to do so. 

Small Successes
Luckily, several months ago my husband bought me a Groupon to go to a painting and wine class. This has been something that I have been wanting to do for months. I have dreams of turning blank canvases into colorful and joyful works of art. And this September I was able to finally try my hand at it. 

Takeaways
The first dab of paint on the canvas was the scariest. Having never painted on a canvas before I was naturally nervous but it became easier as I went. I now want to actually learn painting techniques and such. I had a blast and I highly recommend this as a starting place. Plus, you get wine. Bold wine, equals bold decisions. 

 

Megan's May Makeover

There are several people partaking in this craft adventure and a few are already seasoned artists. Megan is an artist. She went to art school and now works at an art atelier, painting massive sculptures. See below at this massive Marilyn Monroe sculpture she painted. 

It is no surprise then, that she also leads a creative life outside her awesome job. Recently she bought her first home and I've had the pleasure to see her turn the house into a colorful, vibrant, cozy home.

Her May 2013 contribution was taking an old table--very dirty and beat up--and turning it into a very fun and useful desk.

"I sanded down each piece to remove the wood stain and scuff up the surface. I then dusted off [any dirt] and applied a layer of sealer. I painted it, taping out the designs, and then painted it and repeated the process. When it was all done i sprayed it with a clear coat finish kind of like a car--very shiny!" 

Great work Megan! We look forward to your next awesome project!

My First Project: Banana Chips

For the past two weeks I have been desperately trying to complete an art project. Time, it seems, is never on my side. I initially went ahead and attempted to create a rolled-paper-art project. I went out to the craft store and bought very pretty colored paper and promised myself that I could create something really cool. On Sunday May 19, I woke up early and spent 2 hours cutting, curving and gluing paper together for my picture frames. My final creation was literally laughable. I mean my husband and I were laughing hysterically at my feeble attempt at paper roses. Apparently I don't have deft fingers. Who knew?!

On Tuesday the 28th, I was really coming down to the wire. I was feeling the pressure for sure. I even went to work and a co-worker asked how my project was coming along because hers was near completion. "Oh, you know, gonna go work on something tonight, heh heh."  (A big 'Oh No!' on my end) My time was up and I knew it. Cooking is easy and exactly what I needed for my first month--especially with the clock ticking.

Something I always wanted to make was banana chips. You know those crunchy, sweet snacks that you can eat all day. I got home from work and madly researched recipes and found that there were tons. I realized those yummy snacks you buy at the grocery store are normally fried or even freeze dried. I took a recipe for making sweet banana chips and kicked it up a notch with some super spicy cayenne pepper. The final product was more like "banana leather" but absolutely amazing and I ate it all that night with my hubby. 

Time 50 minutes

Ingredients 3 Bananas, 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, 2 tsp. Olive Oil, Cayenne Pepper, Salt

Coat the baking sheet (you can use parchment) with some olive oil.

Cut the banana in thin slices (the thinner ones turned out crunchier) and lightly coat each side with brown sugar. After all the banana slices are coated and arranged on the tray, lightly sprinkle with some cayenne pepper and a bit of salt.

Bake in the oven at 325°F for approximately 30-35 minutes. Watch closely, every oven is different, you don't want them to burn. Take out of the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes. Flip each slice and return the tray to the oven for an additional 15 minutes at 300°F.

Remove from oven, cool for 5-10 minutes and enjoy. They are nice and soft, a bit crunchy, and chewy like caramel. I think it would be awesome with some ice cream. Yum!

Creative Reading

Sometimes it's hard to get into the creative mindset. Long day, errands to run, clothes to wash--the daily tediums can take a toll. After all that running around, it's so easy to flop on the couch and watch mindless TV. 

Even still, there have been plenty of times where I find myself sitting at my kitchen table with pen and paper in hand and have no idea where to start. 

Kiran, a co-worker and food blogger, has this zen quality about her and always has cool ideas that she is exploring. She is taking ukelele lessons, makes fabulous dairy-free desserts and has created a list of things she finds annoying--wasabi and hypocrisy made the list. So it was very helpful when she told me about a book that coincided with my artsy experiment. The Artists Way by Julie Cameron explores creative expression and how to 'recover your creativity.'

The book essentially helps people tap into the creative side of their brain over the course of 12 weeks. 

Might be a helpful read for those who need motivation, direction, help, guidance, etc. What works for you to get into the creative zone?

One Week In

Biting fingers, I better think of a good first project. It's exactly one week into the month of May and I need to get started on something. A lot is riding on this for me. If I skip the first month, it'll be really easy to justify skipping the next 11-months as well. And then this whole experiment is kablooey. Already a few friends have told me about craft ideas they're pursuing. The pressure is on.

I was sitting on the metro yesterday, heading home after a very long day. It seemed like a perfect time to make a mental check-list of potential projects I could work on. I had approximately 30 minutes of uninterrupted artsy daydreaming.

My mind immediately turned to cooking. It's a easy road for me. There are so many tasty dishes that I am pining to create. However, if I wanted my first project to be easy, this would be the avenue I'd pursue. 

Then I went to the other side of the spectrum. The hard projects that would be awesome but would require renting an art studio or wood-shop. Okay, so building a canoe was out. 

Let's say for a second that I knew anything about painting. I would love to paint a watercolor landscape. 

Whoa whoa whoa. Settle down. Painting a landscape? I literally know nothing about painting. This may be a project down the road when I get into the swing of things. 

There had to be a middle road I could take. Nothing out of my comfort zone and achievable with moderately successful results. And then somewhere around the Crystal City Metro Stop I thought of the project: rolled paper art. It may sound dull but there are some really clever people out there that have taken this to a whole new level. 

I have these really great picture frames/shadow boxes from Ikea in my office. I plan to make some cool design and replace it with something more vibrant. Below is some inspiration. I'll post pictures of my final product later. Wish me luck!

Great inspiration from Apartment Therapy.