Day 39: Mexican Pizza with homemade tortilla chips

Family came into town for my surgery and Jimmy's graduation. I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to use my 90-something tortilla wraps. Going against everything my doctor told me not to eat after surgery, I decided to make Mexican Pizza and homemade tortilla chips.

Mexican Pizza

(Grandpa's pizza)

(Jimmy's pizza)

Ingredient

• 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans


• 1 pound ground beef


• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix


• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil


• 4 (6 inch) corn tortillas


• 8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese


• 8 tablespoons sour cream


• 2 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped


• 2 green onion, chopped


• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles, drained


• 1/2 avocado, diced


• 1 tablespoon black olives, sliced

Directions

1. Heat the refried beans.


2. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef. Stir in the seasoning packet.


3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).


4. Place a small amount of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Let the oil heat, then place one corn tortilla in the skillet. After 15 seconds, flip the tortilla over and let it fry another 15 seconds. Repeat this process with the remaining tortillas, letting them drain on paper towels once they have been heated. When the tortillas have drained, arrange them on a cookie sheet.


5. Spread a thin layer of beans on the tortillas, followed by a layer of beef, and cheese.


6. Bake the tortillas in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Slice the tortillas into wedges and arrange them on plates or a serving platter and garnish them with the sour cream, tomatoes, green onions, chiles, avocado, and olives.
   

What we thought:

When we made these, we forgot the lettuce but substituted it with cilantro and left out the olives. I think everybody came to an agreement that these were a 9/10. The only thing wrong with these were the tortillas. They were kind of hard to cut. We tried to come up with an idea on how to make the lower tortilla softer, and keep the crispiness of the top tortilla. We added some mango-peach salsa we picked up at the store. Since I was not allowed any "spicy" foods, Jimmy picked out the mango-peach because it was not that spicy. We all were pleased, and we are looking for suggestions on how to make the pizza easier to cut through.

Tortilla Chips

See my "What we thought" section to learn on how to make homemade tortilla chips! We all thought these were a 10/10! They were tasty with the mango-peach salsa!

Day 32: Ratatouille

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced

1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced

1 small eggplant, cubed

2 green bell peppers, coarsely chopped

4 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped, or 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes3 to 4 small zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 teaspoon dried leaf basil

1/2 teaspoon dried leaf oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried leaf thyme

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

In a 4-quart Dutch oven or saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onions and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add eggplant; stir until coated with oil. Add peppers; stir to combine. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep vegetables from sticking.

Add tomatoes, zucchini, and herbs; mix well. Cover and cook over low heat about 15 minutes, or until eggplant is tender but not too soft.

What we thought:

I would rate this a 8.5/10. Jimmy rated this a 10/10. I would have liked to add fresh herbs, next time I will. Other than that, it was a lovely to have a dish with pure vegetables and I will be making this again.

Day 1- Turkey Burger

This recipe is super easy, super healthy, and super yummy! What could be beter?! This recipe comes out of the book, Cook Yourself Thin.

What you will need:

1 1/3 pounds lean ground turkey

4 ounce can diced green chilies, drained

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2-3 spritzes, canola oil in a mister

To dress the burger:

3 ounces 50%-reduced-fat pepper-jack cheese, cut into 8 thin pieces

4 whole wheat kaiser rolls

Tomaine lettuce leaves

Tomato, sliced

Red Onion, sliced

1/2 avacado, sliced

Get the burger cookin'!

1. In a large bowl, mix the lean ground turkey with the diced chilies and season with salt and pepper. Shape into patties and refrigerate until ready to cook.

2. Heat a large grill pan or nonstick skillet on medium heat and sprtiz with canola oil. Form the meat into pattie shape and cook until brown on eat side (about 4 minutes) eat. Top with cheese and cook for an extra minute.

3. You can toast your rolls if you wish. Dress your burger with the onion, avacado, tomato, and lettuce.

Thats the "offical" recipe. On my burger, i skipped the onion, lettuce, and rolls and ate my burger the "Atkin's way" with avacado, tomato, and provolone cheese.

On a side note, the avacado takes the place of mayo, adds the texture you want/need compared to mayo, and is healthier! :)

My fiance Jimmy rates this 4/10 stars. He didn't care for the chilies in the turkey, the avacado, and he kept complaining about how the the patties wouldn't keep together on the skillet.