Spring, New Life, and Banana Muffins, Zucchini Muffins

Depending on where I live, I love different seasons. In the Great North, I LOOOOOVED Winter!! I miss Winter, and even when I lived up north I longed for Winter all year long. Years ago when I lived in California, I loved the Summer -- I mean seriously, 75 degrees most of the time, right on the beach in San Diego? You've gotta be crazy not to appreciate that!! And, in our current state, more than loving Spring, I need Spring. The Winter here is sooooo depressing and the sweet green buds and flowers awaken my heart.

I also love babies. It seems that there are more babies born in spring, which makes the season even more delightful =)  One of my dearest friends just had her second baby. We've been pregnant at the same time with each of our children, first girls, now boys. We both lost pregnancies in between children  born, and both of our boys were HUGE surprises, pretty much a month after loosing our pregnancies. I love identifying with someone's story so closely. I hate that we've both been through these things, but I love that we are able to understand each other, and she's one of two people who really truly understand what I mean when I say I'm still having a hard time accepting that this child's coming soon - at 6 months pregnant!

And so, I was more than happy to cook food for her family when she recently had her son. I made tamales... which they've never had... (I hope I don't ruin them on them!) And banana bread, which turns out to be her favorite! That just makes my heart jump when I make something for someone and it turns out to be something they love so much!!

Hopefully she loved this one... I don't know if it's my pregnancy hormones and taste buds or what, but even though my husband told me it was the very best banana ANYthing I've EVER made, I really didn't like them that much. For me, there was just an odd after-taste. Oh well, if you wanna make them, you be the judge =)

I got this recipe from two separate recipes and mixed them up, changing them up. Here's what I got in the end:

Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Muffins

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup Ghirardelli 60% Dark Chocolate Chips

3/4 cup walnuts

1/2 cup Crisco

2/3 cup sugar

3 TBSP mayo

2 *rotten* bananas

2 TBSP fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Makes 12 muffins. Bake 350 degrees, 18-20 minutes. Cool in pan.

And then I actually found myself desperately craving more. Not so much the banana part, I think just the awesome mix of chocolate and walnuts. So today I tried the recipe again, a little different, and replaced the banana with zucchini (convincing myself that it's healthy if it's full of vegetable!) They still left a weird after-taste, but like I said, it might just be me... And here's what came out:

Chocolate Chip Walnut Zucchini Muffins

2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 oz. Ghirardelli 60% Dark Chocolate Chips
1 1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup Crisco
2/3 cup sugar
2 TBSP brown sugar
3 TBSP mayo
3 small zucchinis, shredded
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Makes 23 muffins. Bake 350 degrees, 18-20 minutes. Cool in pan.

These are FULL of chocolate chips, and I'm actually a little jittery writing this... Oops! The baby's doing a caffeine dance, too =)

Honestly, I want to learn how to make a really fabulous zucchini bread, especially one that's not loaded with sugar!! So, if you have a great recipe, feel free to send it to me =)

Fresas Con Crema, and the Passage of Time

It's amazing, the changes that can take place within a year's time. Since Easter last year we have decided to join a church, to leave a church. To have a baby, then lost the baby. To not have any more children, but got pregnant again. To never leave our wonderful city, and move away the next month. At times it scares me that I don't know my future. Not entirely, at least. I don't know what my life on earth looks like. But I do know that Christ Jesus has risen from the grave and I need not fear the things of this life. He's coming back to take me Home, someday. I hope it's sooner than later, but in the meantime I have children to raise, a husband to love, dreams to pursue, and food to cook =)

This year my husband's family had a big dinner the day before Easter, and my contribution was Fresas Con Crema. A great Mexican classic dessert. Even though I wasn't there for it. I was so exhausted and starting to get a horribly sore throat that I stayed home, eating Fig Newman's and some Fresas Con Crema I saved out for myself. It really was a great combination! ...but that could be pregnancy talking =)

WHAT YOU NEED:

2 pints Strawberries, sliced

1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream

1 (14 oz.) can La Lechera Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 (7.6 oz.) can Nestle Media Crema

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

HOW TO:

Beat the 3 creams and vanilla together until fluffy and soft and wonderfully enticing.

Add sliced strawberries.

Refrigerate overnight, IF you can wait that long =)

COST:
$9 for about 8 cups = $1.13/serving

Cheater Crepes

Already feeling very shut-in, being pregnant and sick, living in a community that is far-removed from ...everything... we are also surrounded by hills that allow nothing other than three PBS stations to come in on our TV. (THANK GOD FOR THE INTERNET OR WE'D BE CRAZY BY NOW!!!) At least one of our three magic stations is Create, a fun channel that is varied in topics and styles. One of the best shows on Create is Pati's Mexican Table. My husband and I look forward to Pati's show because she shows how to cook real Mexican food, the real Mexican way. I love watching primarily to reminisce about the times I had in Mexico, and of course, lust after real food.

Sometimes she does something really different. Last night she made Dedos Gitanos, "Gypsy Fingers". I don't know why they call them this, but pretty much anything named Gypsy sounds fun though =)  I was starving, so as soon as she showed how to make them, my husband ran to the grocery store to get eggs and bread to cook for me! (Isn't he the sweetest?!?!?!) And then today for lunch, I couldn't take it, I had to have more!!! So, I cooked them up, a little different yet, and took pictures for you.

These are basically rolled up French Toasts. My husband described them as "cheater crepes" - very accurate! They are thin and light, sweet and eggy. If you like breakfast anytime of day, you'll love these =)

Roll out 4 pieces of a great country white bread between layers of plastic wrap.

Mix 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, pinch of sea salt, and 1/2 cup heavy cream in baking dish.

My little "helper" sneaking some of the filling -- Chocolate Nougat from my last post =)

Roll bread up.

Roll in egg mixture...

...and leave in dish for baking.

Only 4 fit into my casserole, but if you have a larger baking dish and are making this for more people, just double or triple the recipe proportionately.

Top with small bits of butter; bake at 350 for 28 minutes. You might want to check on them after 20, depending on your oven.

I made whipped cream to top mine. I don't believe in adding sugar to whipped cream when it's topping something that's already sweet, so this is just cream and vanilla.

Whip until it forms waves in the bowl and sticks to the beaters.

It should be a golden brown when done.

As soon as it comes out of the oven, top with more Chocolate Nougat...

...it will melt into a creamy blissful goo =)

Decorate to your heart's content =)

If you want to see the original recipe:

http://www.patismexicantable.com/2012/10/mexican_french_toast_rolls/

The Versatile Chocolate ...Nougat?

Nougat's not really something you would think of making at home... or even ever really think of... The word Nougat makes me think of a 3 Musketeers candy bar, but I never think of it otherwise! And then an experiment in the kitchen produced just that - Nougat.

I am a Chocoholic. My drug of choice is caffeine. I'm not interested in ruining my body with drugs and chemicals, even though I loved Brazilian and Swiss cigarettes during my high school foreign exchange stint, but caffeine? Completely different story! I would trade real food for for chocolate, coffee, and tea if I was asked to choose. It wouldn't be a very long life, but I would die high and happy and jittery =)

So, you can imagine my dismay when I discovered that chocolate, coffee, and tea repulsed me the first 5 months of this pregnancy. I hated them all. Especially chocolate. And then in the past few weeks I started to like it again, little by little. And now I can't get enough. Apparently, my son in my womb feels the same way, and does a great big happy dance every time I feed him anything chocolate =)

A few days ago I was trying to make a chocolate mousse, and it went a bit awry. At first it was fluffy and creamy, but after refrigeration it ended up a bit harder and drier. It was still creamy, it just wasn't a mousse. But this has turned out to be one of the best things I've eaten in a long time, and it goes with everything! After a couple of days in the fridge it got a bit drier and drier, so I decided to heat it up and see what happened -- it turned out to be the best hot fudge sauce ever! My husband stuffed chocolate tamales with my chocolate nougat. And, I have my sneaking suspicions it would be the most glorious filling in a cake or topping on brownies... Hmmm... Now I want to make both just to try it out!!

WHAT YOU NEED:

8 oz Mascarpone

4 oz Cream Cheese

8 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

1 1/2 bags (15 oz) Ghirardelli 60% Dark Chocolate Chips

HOW TO:

Let mascarpone, cream cheese, and heavy whipping cream warm to room temperature, about 20-30 minutes. Beat together in a mixing bowl. Mix in sugar.

Heat chocolate chips in bain-marie until well melted. Pour over cream/cheese mixture, and beat together immediately.

If you aren't going to use it right away, store in an air-tight container. 

IDEAS:

Form into balls or squares directly after making, refrigerate, and cover with melted chocolate to make candies. YUM!

Dip strawberries!!

Heat up later and pour over ice cream, brownies, or both, as a fudge sauce.

Use as a frosting or layer between cakes.

And if you're like me, you probably want to fill your bathtub and roll around in it. 

Leave me a comment and let me know how any of these ideas turn out for you ...except the bathtub one. I was just joking. That you can keep to yourself, thanks =)

Salsa Verde

I promised you Salsa Verde to go with your tamales =)

WHAT YOU NEED:
A blender, or food processer, because it's not a proper Mexican kitchen without one =)
1 Lime
2 Jalapeños
1 Serrano
1 bunch fresh Cilantro *Picking really good Cilantro is easy - smell the stems in the grocery store. If it brightens up your day, that's the one you want to buy*
5-7 Tomatillos (depending on size)

About 1/2 TBSP. Sea Salt

HOW TO:

Rinse tomatillos under warm water. Cover with water in sauce pan. Bring to a boil, only a couple of minutes, until las cáscaras (the peels) start to fluff a little, and the flesh of the tomatillo starts to change color. Seriously don't leave in the pot more than 3-5 minutes. They'll be gross and mushy.
In blender, squeeze juice from the lime.
Cap jalapeños and serrano.
Seed peppers, depending on how much/little spice you want in your salsa. Serranos are hotter than jalapeños, but I tend to seed the jalapeños and not the serrano. It's just my personal taste that I like the heat from the serrano seeds and not really the extra flavor and bite of the jalapeño seeds.
Blend peppers and lime juice.
Wash cilantro really well and cut the stems off. Blend into mixture. Add salt.
When tomatillos are done cooking, rinse under cold water for a couple of minutes. Pull off las cáscaras, and toss into blender as well. Blend to your heart's content. Some people like chunky salsa. I like it ... saucy =)

DISFRUTE!!!!

A Comforting Little Packet O'Joy

Our culture is built on "Me"... "What do I want?" We go to a restaurant to eat with family and friends and take half the time pouring over a menu with more options than any human needs. Then we stuff our faces, complain to the staff, stiff our server, and head home to stare at a tv.

In most cultures the experience is in the people. Women spend all day in the kitchen together pouring their heart, soul, and sweat into making a meal that, unlike ours, doesn't last 5 minutes, but sometimes 5 hours. The best meals I remember from my time in Mexico are the ones I helped make, learning so much language in the kitchen, and spent hours at the table conversing about the day, the country, politics that I really didn't understand, and the way they feel about life, love, and God. And of course, food.

Food is the manifestation of the cornerstones of some cultures. Other factors are already built in. Say, family. Mexicans don't even question whether family is important. Your entire family is going to be at every single event in your life. But what's going to be at the center of the celebration? Mole? Tamales? Tia Tere's special tamales wrapped in banana leaves? One's culture is wrapped up in a nice little packet of food. I could go on and on, but I'm going to leave it at that.

I would like to say thank-you to that friend who spent hours in my kitchen today making tamales! I hope I didn't confuse you too much with my mistakes =)

Ok... Want to learn how to make tamales? Let's get one thing straight first... Many tamales, one TAMAL. It's not a tamale, I don't care how the menu at your local TexMex place spells it =)

So with tamales, you can fill these little packets o'joy with a lot of different ingredients - meat, cheese, sweet fillings - but today I'm sharing with you how to make them with meat. I would say pork is most popular in Mexico, but I don't eat pig anymore, so I went with beef.

WHAT YOU NEED:
For the meat:
1 lb. roast pulled [beef, pork, chicken] per 3 dozen tamales
1 bag of Especies Para Tamales (a bag of tamal spices) easily found at any good Mexican tienda
1/2 cup dried minced white onions
1 TBSP. sea salt
Organic Celery, rinsed well and the ends cut off

For the dough:
2 batches of Masa Para Tamales (special corn flour for tamales), made according to the directions on that package (each one differs a little)
*Note that for the Masa you will need lard/butter/or oil, water, and salt
Corn Husks, soaked for 30 minutes prior to making tamales, also easily found at the local tienda

HOW TO:
**I'll warn you now -- these take 3-4 hours to make, IF you know what you're doing! If it's your first time, allot for more time... Maybe all day** Enlist a friend so it's more fun =)
Make roast ahead of time, say the night before. Pull meat the next morning. I always use my crock pot, because I think it produces a better roast than I can achieve in my oven =)
Fill bottom of crock pot with one layer of celery.
Place meat on top. Salt meat, then add dried onions and packet of tamal spices.
When you go to pull the meat, save the juices and spices.
**Here's another cultural tidbit -- no Mexican kitchen would run at all without two main tools, a skillet and a blender!**
Heat the juices and spices in a skillet and let reduce. Then blend well, and strain out any left-over chunks that your poor old crappy blender (like mine) just didn't get.

Make masa. You want it more wet-ish than dry! The directions on the packages never include enough water! Make it like it says, then add a little more water at a time, until it looks more and more like any other loose biscuit/cookie dough - smooth, not lumpy.

Take corn husk and fill with only a couple tablespoons of masa. You do not want to over-fill tamales.
Thin layer of meat on top of that.
Then add a bit of the spice/juice mixture.
Fold in half, tuck one side into the other. Then, from the top, fold husk down, and fold bottom up as well. (If you want to make them look even prettier, tear a corn husk up in several strips and tie one around each end of each tamal.)

Tamales are traditionally steamed. I have one tiny steam basket, so I fill that one up and get it going, then bake the others in casserole dishes. The trick to baking them is to cover the filled-up dish with a near-soaking kitchen towel, tucked INSIDE the dish, then foil covering the top really well. I bake this at 350 for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. And golden! In my opinion, these generally have a nicer texture to them, and taste a bit better than the steamed ones.

COST: Around $9.50 for 36. That's... 26c/each.

FEEDS: If all you're serving for dinner is tamales (with some good salsa -- maybe that's my next post!), one person might eat 4. My husband would eat 6 =)  That's only $1.04-$1.56/person!!

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mousse Strawberry Short Cake

Some things make the evening sun feel brighter, the warm glow almost ingest-able. Tonight we had a clear sky and a sunset that melted away a little bit of the depression settling in over me. No, I don't want to live here forever... or even much longer... but I will say that consuming a nearly-perfect-for-the-first-try scrumptious cake with my husband then singing and playing with our daughter before bedtime was a perfect way to end a day. Amazingly, it didn't give me heartburn, even though I ate half of it and no dinner. Pregnancy...

The short cake recipe I got from CupcakeProject.com - it's just her vanilla cupcake recipe.

The Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mousse, well I started out with a recipe but said "to heck with it" and just winged it. I would definitely do something different next time, but this was pretty good for the first time =)

Basically I just kept mixing ingredients together til it came to be what I was looking for. It was 8 oz. mascarpone, 4 oz. cream cheese, about a cup to a cup and a half of heavy whipping cream, and 1/4 cup (or so) of Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate powder from our local grocery store. It's what I had on hand. And it turned out delightful!

Cure for the Common Croup

Considering I blog primarily to remind myself what the heck I made for dinner last week that my husband loved so much, and I am by no means a professional nor even much of a great cook, I keep a journal of food and life to share ideas with whomever may pass by, and hopefully print out and give to my daughter some day =)

That being said, this is no actual cure for Croup, but it sure made my daughter (and family) feel a bit better through it. It's comforting, it's rich, it's warm, and it was mostly my bff's idea to begin with. She told me to help sooth her sore throat she had been drinking warm apple juice with honey in it. And that reminded me that when my husband and I lived in this random cabin on a river in the middle of nowhere a few years ago that we would bunker down on Saturday nights in the loft, playing Scrabble, trying really hard to get NPR to come in on our crapo radio, and drinking what we would call Apple Tea.

It's Simply Apple apple juice and heavy whipping cream heated up to not-quite-boiling with Celestial Seasonings Apple Cinnamon Spice Tea bags. I changed it up slightly for the Croup purpose, omitting the cream, and finishing it off with some organic honey. This paired quite nicely with a warm night playing with the wind chimes on the back porch and a good chunky slice of Irish Soda Bread. A good way to celebrate St. Paddy's Day weekend =)  I love my family.

Sláinte!

PS - If you notice the awesomeness of the mug, I would just like to say that this is one of the most meaningful gifts anyone's ever given me!! (And it came at the perfect time, too, Debs!) If you are looking for a FANTASTIC gift for a tea-or-coffee-holic you want to remind everyday that you care about them, this will do the trick =)

Go Home Now?

Although I am allergic to the coffe at Starbucks, it doesn't keep me from buying their food. Their awesome food.

I recently moved from a large city up North with many wonderful Starbucks stores to choose from, to the Twilight Zone Boondocks. So when I drove forty-five minutes to my nearest Starbucks to satisfy my pregnant cravings with a Chicken Sausage Wrap, I was highly disappointed. I was going to buy one to eat in-store, and several to take home with me.... and found none available.

When I told the barista that I had come so far, she offered me a free drink... Ok, that's nice... But she could have told me that the Chicken Sausage Wraps come in frozen and that I could buy some frozen to take home with me (which is exactly what I wanted to do). She didn't mention that, I had to find out later from a former Starbucks employee that they are shipped frozen. I didn't know it at the store, and the employee didn't mention it.

Then, when I asked for a Feta Wrap, they were out of those, too. So I got an Everything Bagel - YUM! But when I wanted a second, that was it. There weren't anymore.

I'm really sad I drove so far for so little. This ruined my day. My prego-cravings were not satisfied, and I still want my Chicken Sausage Wrap =(

I miss my old life so bad right now! ... And it doesn't help that twice in the past week my two-year-old has asked us "Go home now?"

A Week of Birthday

Even though his birthday is in the middle of October, my husband celebrates his birthday from the 1st til... well, til I say "Honey, your birthday seriously can't last more than a month, okay?" Every year =)  My birthday is one day in March, and I'm okay with that. But my husband stretched it out this year to over a week, telling my happy birthday like all the time, and doing many special things for me! He's so sweet!

The night before my birthday, I asked if we could go ahead and go out to dinner because I was craving Thai. So, we made the hike to the nearest thing we have to civilization in these parts, 45 minutes away, and ate at a great little Thai place. It was lovely, even though my daughter had a horrible cold and was fussy through the whole meal.

On my birthday, my husband stayed home with my sick daughter and took care of her so I didn't have to. I had a bit of a meltdown that night because I realized I now live in the middle of NOwhere and felt trapped =(

The next morning I couldn't stand it any longer! My daughter and I drove the 45 minutes (again) to the nearest town and ate some yummy food at Starbucks. Spoiled? Yes!

My husband was SO good to me this year and did EVERYthing for my birthday party! (He's good to me all the time, though =)  He made my Carnitas with Mango Chutney - a huge hit!!

Carnitas going into the oven to roast covered in the best peppers ever =)

We had several families coming to lunch but three fell sick. We still had several friends come, and though it was small, it was still really nice to hang out with them.  I forgot to take pictures until everyone had left...

My awesome family =)

My husband gave me exactly what I wanted - a men's electric razor. Something so simple to make a prego's life a little easier =)  My friends and family gave me thoughtful gifts, and I have to show off what my friend Candace painted for me!!! I LOVE IT!!!!

My best friend sends me possibly THE best gift boxes!!! In this year's birthday package, she sent me a maternity shirt, which is soft and lovely, and I really adore wearing it!! (Thanks, Debby, for always being so thoughtful!!)

Me, looking ENORMOUSLY pregnant....

After the party I took the afternoon to learn how to use the sewing machine I bought myself with birthday money, and made my daughter this pillow out of a crib bumper we never used. It made me so happy to see her so thankful to receive something so simple!

Overall, it was a good day, a good-ish week =)

Another Year to Celebrate!

Last year for my 30th birthday, instead of moping I set out to celebrate everything special in my life. I had some intentional and some random lists such as "30 Reasons I'm Grateful for My Husband", "30 Things I Love About My Daughter", and my favorite "23 Things Americans Should(n't) Do While Overseas", cause I made myself laugh writing it =)

This year I want to celebrate my family, and the fact that after this horrible year we're still family. My husband and daughter have helped me through this past year AND made it really, really special! I never knew we would experience so much crap together and come out stronger! My husband and I truly have a stronger relationship because of it.

15 Things I Love About My Family (with pictures!!)

1. My husband is super-committed to me and our family. I love that he is so involved with our daughter! Such a good Papa!!

2. My daughter is the most loving little soul there could be. She welcomes our little one on the way, kissing my belly and telling him she loves him every day =)

3. I have fun with my daughter! She makes me laugh! Even Mrs. Potato Head's angry eyes are beautiful to her. Here's Mrs. Potato Head dominating the world in the front and having a party in the back!

4. My husband is not one of those over-the-top-make-you-sick kinds of optimists, but he is good at taking something that didn't exactly turn out perfect and make it fun =)  Hence the crappiest, tiniest snowman ever built! We were missing our previous home farther north in the Midwest, so when we got this weird snow for one day at our new place in the Southeast.... Well, he made it fun for us =)

5. Christmas Eve, dreading the coming events of moving, etc, we found this meal to be a good escape. My husband and daughter and I can find something fun together no matter what we're doing, and our daughter made us laugh really hard!!

6. I've got an aspiring cook on my hands!

 7. Christmas is the highlight of our family life!!! I can't describe HOW MUCH we love Christmas!!!

8. Every year we drive around looking for lights... before a lot of people have even decorated!! Folks in the Midwest sure did decorate their homes extravagantly, and we LOVED driving to the city to see Candy Cane Lane. This year our daughter was big enough to be excited about it, and talked about nothing else!!

 

9. We have healthy happy healing therapy sessions as a family ... by chasing rainbows!

10. We make and eat FABULOUS meals together!!!!!!

11. And what a better way to spend our meals than to the accompaniment of my handsome husband serenading my beautiful daughter?

12. My daughter is strangely creative for such a small tot, and the best pictures on my phone are always the ones she took! (Hey, I'VE never claimed to be a photographer!!) Of course, wrangling a cell phone back from a toddler isn't much fun... but I love seeing what she sees.

 

13. I've been treated to many a wonderful day alone or doing something I love with friends, but my favorite days are the ones I spend with my family.

14. My husband makes me laugh =)

15. Even if we can't take great family photos, we really do love each other! (This seriously should go on Awkward Family Photos!!)

I would NEVER trade my family for ANYthing!!!!!!

Thank-you, M & L, for being mine.

Tostadas de Queso Quemada

I like easy recipes, but I love experimenting and a good challenge even more. Unless I'm pregnant. Pregnancy Purgatory takes over and demands my complete lack of anything fun or good. I am a prisoner in my own body. I simply eat to survive. Save an occasional splurge out at a restaurant when Baby decides he wants a bit of flavor or -GASP- actual nutrition, 90% of the calories I consume are from toast because that's about all my stomach can handle. Cooking? Forget it! That dives my soul into the depths of Prego Hell.

WHO the crap has that bad of a pregnancy? That she can't even cook dinner??? I do, that's who!

This was a healthy dose of both ease and experimentation. That's why tonight, no matter how bad my feet hurt afterwards, when I got a sudden craving for a Veggie Queso Fresco Tostada I jumped at the chance to make it! I hadn't eaten much for 7 hours, so as soon as my husband got home from work and the grocery store I grabbed the ingredients and set in to work.

.....Did I even kiss you hello, Sweetie? *So sorry!*

Now, I can't cook without doing something out of the ordinary. And since my husband was taking a shower before dinner, I had a few extra minutes to experiment in the kitchen. I cut a couple chunks off my queso fresco and popped it in the oven under the broiler.

Let me explain, I am culturally schizophrenic when it comes to queso fresco! When I lived in Mexico, I was served queso fresco on just about everything. Fresh, crumbly, slightly sweet, super-mild, wonderful cheese! Then, each time my husband and I went to Nicaragua on mission trips with our church years ago, I fell in love more and more with their fried cheese, which is just really, really salty queso fresco fried up. But tonight I didn't want to be miserable with heartburn until 3 in the morning after eating fried cheese, so I just thought, "What the heck, I'll bake it and see what it does!"

Queso fresco is crumbly, but at the same time retains a lot of moisture. So, when I put it in the oven it took several minutes to even start to dry out. The moisture that leaked out at first then burned while I continued to bake it, leaving a blackened film on the foil-lined pan and an unpleasant sweet brunt smell, but the cheese itself turned out PERFECTLY!!! I think next time I will lay the cheese out on paper towels for a few minutes first to absorb the excess moisture previous to baking.

WHAT YOU NEED:
12 tostadas
1 package queso fresco
2 packages of your favorite frozen vegetable blends (But feel free to add whatever else you like, like corn or beans)
Olive oil infused with your favorite spices
Sea salt

HOW TO:
Saute veggies in olive oil and salt them well!
Cut 12 slices of queso fresco for baking. If you like salty food, salt the queso freso before it goes in the oven.
Crumble the rest for the topping.
In a foil-lined baking pan place sliced queso fresco. Broil on each side for about 3-4 minutes, ONLY until it starts to brown slightly. You really don't want it to burn, even though at this point I am calling it queso quemada (burnt).
On tostadas, place broken-up queso quemada (baked cheese), then veggies, and crumbled queso fresco.
Yum! Eat! (This would also be fantastic with a good slathering of salsa verde on top!!)

SERVES: 4 hungry adults 3 tostadas each!

COST: $11 for 12 tostadas (91 cents each)