Meatless Monday: Cornbread and Pinto Beans

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Cornbread for Meatless Monday

Cornbread for Meatless Monday

You never know what you will learn when you listen to the radio, right?

Today we were listening to NPR whilst doing errands, and heard about a new marketing plan for better health: Meatless Monday’s

The announcers made a lot of good points about how much fat and cholesterol you could avoid adding to your diet by not eating meat on just one day a week. Whose diet would not benefit from a little cut in fat, cholesterol and calories? So we decided to give this a try.

Our Meatless Monday Meal: Cornbread and Pinto Beans

For the cornbread we used the Trader Joe’s Cornbread Mix and make a few additions of Pepper Jack Cheese & Green Onions before baking.

Cornbread with Pepper Jack Cheese and onions

Cornbread with Pepper Jack Cheese and onions

We followed the Trader Joe’s box directions and then added ½ cup of pepper jack cheese cubes and about 1/3 cup sliced green onions just before we slid the pan into the oven. WOW the whole house smelled wonderful for the 30 or so minutes that this baked…

Trader Joe's Pinto Beans

Trader Joe's Pinto Beans

For the Pinto Beans, we just opened up a can of Trader Joe’s Pinto Beans, and heated them up with a teaspoon of Trader Joe’s Taco Seasoning, onions and a clove of garlic. (you could add any your favorite spice blend too) You could also serve baked beans if you like…. We wanted to serve the beans up, but if we wanted to make a quick bean soup- you could add water and Trader Joe’s vegetable stock to the pan….some leftover veggies….yum…. Maybe we will try the soup in the fall?

This was a wonderful inauguration to Meatless Monday for us! The whole place smelled great, and we had a delicious meal. We also nibbled on some carrot sticks and some cherry tomatoes- as well… YUM! This is going to be a tasty new tradition around our house!

Cornbread hot from the oven

Cornbread hot from the oven

Oh yeah, the cornbread… here is a small warning… the cornbread smelled wonderful and we dove right into the pan just as it came out of the oven…. If you could wait a bit (yes I know nearly impossible, right?) your slices will look a bit better. Our pieces were all crumbly and just about fell apart on us… but when we went back for a second piece, the squares held together much much better.

What did you serve on Meatless Monday?

Vitamix

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We have had a Vitamix for YEARS!

If you are considering investing in this wonderful machine, you will be so happy you did.

Yes, they are quite an investment, but WOW! do they work!

Here are just SOME of the awesome foods we have make with our Vitamix:

  • Soups
  • Smoothies
  • Babyfood
  • Nut Butter (I LOVE almond butter)
  • Drinks (best grasshoppers ever!)

AND I love that it will chop up items that I don’t always love to chop for recipes (I am thinking here of onions & garlic).

What’s your favorite recipe to make in the Vitamix??

 

How to Make Easy Coleslaw

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Trader Joe's Shreadding Cabbage for Coleslaw

Trader Joe’s Shreadding Cabbage for Coleslaw

We enjoy coleslaw almost year round in Tucson. Maybe it is the heat (yes… very likely) but it could be because we just love all the contrasts: crunchy veggies and creamy sweet-tangy dressing.  And we also like how flexible the salad is (you could eat it regular style, or experiment with stuff like apples or celery – whatever you liked).

Shopping at Trader Joe’s makes it easy to love coleslaw. They have the cabbage already sliced up in the bag, ready for what every dressing you wish.

Also when you make the dressing from scratch yourself, you will be amazed at how wonderful it tastes and you will not have another bottle in the fridge with some half-used up dressing for who- know- how- long!  (Then you have to guess if it is still fresh?? Eeks! This stuff is so simple to make you will just love it.

Here is a recipe for an easy, basic, Coleslaw Dressing (all measurements are guessed as I was just tossing them in the bowl…. Sorry….)

Goodies from Trader Joe's

Goodies from Trader Joe’s

What you need (for the dressing):

  • 1Tablespoon sugar
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup mayo
  • celery seed (optional, but AWESOME)
  • Salt and pepper

1 bag shredded cabbage.

How to:

1. Add the sugar and the vinegar into a bowl and whisk together until the sugar dissolves, 1 minute. Then add the mayo and some salt and pepper. Whisk again until smooth and creamy.

Whisking the sugar and vinegar for a minute

Whisking the sugar and vinegar for a minute

Add mayo and whisk until smooth

Add mayo and whisk until smooth

2. Toss ¾ of the dressing with the cabbage in a large bowl.  Then see if you need more dressing for your taste. (I usually add all of it). Taste some cabbage and see if you need more salt or pepper.

WOW that is it!!  We like to make our Coleslaw up a few hours before we serve it, just to allow the flavors to blend together.

Variations:

  • Add a teaspoon (or more) of Trader Joe’s Taco seasoning for a SW coleslaw
  • Add grated apples or sliced celery to the cabbage
  • Add grated carrots or sliced sweet onions to cabbage for color and sweetness

We hope you enjoyed seeing how easy it is to make coleslaw from scratch- how do you like to eat coleslaw? Do you add any wild ingredients or are you a classic coleslaw person??

Leave us a comment below and tell all!

Easy Strawberry Shortcake

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Easy Strawberry Shortcake

Easy Strawberry Shortcake

I always love to see ripe berries when I go to Trader Joe’s.  There is just something so “summery” about seeing all those containers of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. Recently our Trader Joe’s in Tucson had the nicest looking strawberries. We even purchased two containers thinking…wow the look sooo good!

One plan that was starting to form in my mind on the way back from the store… strawberry shortcake!  While we did not have all the ingredients on hand for traditional strawberry shortcake, we think you will agree that the ones we made were, in their own special way, just marvelous.

Great items from Trader Joe's

Great items from Trader Joe's

What made our strawberry shortcake so unique? Well, we started by using the Trader Joe’s Baking Mix to make our shortcakes (great and easy shortcut!), and then we substituted Vanilla flavored thick Greek yogurt for the whipped cream (a decadent tasting substitute that is for sure!)

What you need:

Scones:

  • 1 ½ cups Trader Joe’s baking mix
  • 3 Tablespoons Sugar + extra for sprinkling (Trader Joe’s granulated Sugar)
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter (cold)
  • 1/3 cup milk (Trader Joe’s whole milk)
  • Dash Trader Joe’s pure vanilla extract

Trader Joe’s  0% Fat, Vanilla Greek Yogurt

Strawberries

How to:

Scones

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Measure baking mix into a bowl, and add the cold butter. Use your fingers to pinch and rub the butter into the baking mix, until it disappears. Add the sugar and mix lightly.

2. Measure out the milk and add a dash of vanilla extract to it. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until a soft dough forms.  Divide into 4 parts and spoon onto a foil lined baking pan (I sprayed mine with non-stick cooking spray first). Make sure you leave some room between these shortcakes- they really grew in the oven! Sprinkle the tops with sugar

3. Bake in the oven until fully cooked, about 10 minutes.  The next time I make these, I am going to leave them in the oven for a few minutes more- I would have liked them to be a bit more golden.   Let them cool to room temperature before you serve them

Strawberries

1. Wash, trim and slice the strawberries while the shortcakes bake.  Toss in a small bowl with a spoonful of sugar- and a dash of vanilla if you like (my secret ingredient).

To make your strawberry shortcakes:

Cut your shortcake in half, and place on a plate. Spoon some strawberries on top and then a spoonful of the yogurt. Add the top of the shortcake and more strawberries and yogurt.

Another way to serve these is to place some strawberries in a dish and crumble the shortcake on top and then add a scoop of yogurt.

These were simply fantastic- and the best part was that we had most of the ingredients in the house already – No special trip back to the store (Thanks Trader Joe’s!)

Give this easy recipe a try and let us know what you think!