spinach & mushroom quesadillas

I'm back with another super yummy 'Taco, err, Mexican style, Tuesday' dish for you and your family!

These Spinach & Mushroom Quesadillas are great for a quick week night meal or if you're into that whole 'meat free one night a week' kinda thing.

The best part about the way I make our quesadillas is that they're BAKED instead of fried.

Nothing pains me more than having to cook, serve, cook, serve x 6.  When you've got a big family like mine, by the time you get to frying up your quesadilla, the kids are already finished eating or asking for seconds... 

...Bake them.  I promise, they taste the same and you'll thank me when you're sitting down eating your HOT quesadilla along with your family ;)

(this recipe makes 4 quesadillas)

SHOPPING LIST:

8 ounces of slice mushrooms

4 heaping cups of fresh, baby spinach 

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

8 tortillas

An 8 ounce bag of Hot Pepper Blend cheese

Salt and Pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tablespoon of butter + more spreadable butter

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In a skillet, heat about 3 tablespoons of EVOO over medium heat.  Once your skillet has heated up, add your onions and saute until they begin to brown.  Add your mushrooms and saute until the water releases from the mushrooms and then reduce your heat to medium low.  Add your tablespoon of butter and your garlic cloves and constantly stir for about 30 or so seconds (basically until your house begins to smell of garlicky goodness..).  Add your spinach and stir until it wilts.  Take mixture off heat and set aside.

Butter 4 of your tortillas and lay out onto sheet pans with your buttered side facing down (we usually have to use 2-3 sheet pans!) spoon a fourth of your mixture onto each tortilla and top with your cheese.  Butter your 4 other tortillas and lay on top of your formed quesadillas, butter side up.

Bake for 6-7 minutes and then flip your quesadillas.  Place them back in the oven for another 6 minutes.

Serve with yummy homemade ranch (...recipe to come!) or sour cream.

Bam. Taco Tuesday, Meatless Monday, whatever you wanna call it, is served ;)

smokey egg salad

Got a bunch of dyed Easter Eggs that you don't know what to do with?

Use them to whip up a yummy batch of egg salad!

You can find us devouring these at lunch time on the weekends or if we're trying to rush off to a baseball game on a weeknight.

...or when you're quarantined at home with your family and you cannot take one.more.second. of hearing "I don't want another peanut butter and jelly sandwich!!"

...because how many times have you heard that lately?

(...and all the tired homeschooling parents said  'eat it or starve' 'amen'...)

Egg salad is a 'make to your liking' kind of dish, so usually, I just eyeball it - but, this is pretty darn close.

We usually eat these with some good ole Lays Potato Chips but I had some red potatoes I needed to use, so I roasted them up!

this batch makes about 8 sandwiches

SHOPPING LIST:

White bread (yes, white.. if you insist on using a healthier bread then go for it, but don't say I didn't tell you otherwise), toasted

8 hard boiled eggs, peeled

3  tablespoons of Mayo (we girls in the south use Dukes)

1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon of hot sauce (we use Franks!)

1 teaspoon of Spanish Smoked Paprika (you can use regular Paprika but the smoked paprika makes a HUGE difference)

1/2 tablespoon of soften butter
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

S&P

A handful of veggies (we use green onions and occasionally a little bit of chopped celery!)

DIRECTIONS:

Start by boiling and peeling your eggs

Once you've peeled the shells off, take a box grater and run the eggs against the grater - if you don't have a grater, finely chop the eggs

Put grated eggs into a mixing bowl and add your mayo, softened butter and a really big pinch of S&P and combine well

Add in your white wine vinegar, lemon juice, paprika and hot sauce and stir well

Fold in your chopped green onions (some of my family isn't a big fan of green onions on their egg salad so I usually set these aside and add to the sandwiches accordingly)

Place a big dollop on a slice of toasted bread or in a bowl to dip with crackers - and enjoy! 

Store leftovers for up to 2 days in the refrigerator 

Make this ahead of time for a lunch time change up or a quick weeknight dinner (it's better than a drive thru!)

Super simple, super quick - and NOT A PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICH ;)