Taco Tuesday- Black Bean Salsa

So I feel bad that I didn't post this last week as planned, but Tuesday was out of control.  My class does thanksgiving and between Monday and Tuesday I had already spent 16hrs in the kitchen cooking/cleaning and the last thing on my mind was posting this recipe.  

Minnie this one is for you and Drew, 
BLACK BEAN SALSA!

Ingredients:

1 Can Black Beans

2 Cups Frozen Corn

1 med size Red Onion

1 Green Pepper

4 Jalapenos

1 med size Tomato

Fresh Cilantro

Juice of one Lime

1 T Cumin

Salt and Pepper

Use a large bowl, this makes a lot, place drained beans and corn in the bowl, add vegetables as you chop them. Remember I like it spicy so use fewer Jalapenos if you're not a fan of the heat and make sure you de-seed the jalapenos. If you love spicy you can also chop the Jalapenos with the seeds in (Yummy!)  Stir together with some cilantro the juice of the lime and salt and pepper.  The secret ingredient is hidden in the next photo, you as little or as much as you like!

This can be eaten as a salad, with chips, or on a tortilla.

50 X 30

I feel like all my recent post have been on turning … 30 .  This is one of the things I meant to write about in September, but if you read the “dark truth about thirty” you’ll remember that I was a bit under the weather that month and also went back to work, so needless to say I’m finally getting around to writing this.

Bryce Canyon, Utah

So 50 by 30 is in reference to a bucket list item Joey and I crossed off our list this summer.  Seven years ago I was privileged to marry an amazing man who had many of the same passions as I yet also balances my weakness and shortcomings

 Hounaunau Bay, Hawaii

Growing up, I had always dreamed of taking road trips and I’m not talking about an 8 hour drive to grandmas.  I dreamt of driving across the country not knowing when or where you were going to stop/sleep and being in a new place each day.  

Glacier National Park, Montaina
 (not my photo, some how we lost all our Glacier photos)

Well the summer before Joey and I met, he had done a road trip covering the states west of the Mississippi River.  Needless to say, it wasn’t right when we got married but shortly thereafter we started taking road trips… longest 9000 miles in 3 weeks shortest 300 miles in 5 days.

Calf Creek, Escalante, Utah

It took us three years to visit the 48 contiguous states and I was ok with ending there, but in 2010 Joey’s mom took us to Alaska for our birthdays and although it wasn’t a road trip we did take a cruise which meant we were in a different place each day.

Honolulu, Hawaii
(Hanauma Bay, Diamond Head Crater,  Pearl Harbor, Luau)

So, we couldn’t stop now we had one more state till we hit all 50!  So this summer we went to Hawaii, visiting Oahu and doing our shortest road trip around The Big Island. 

Savannah, GA

 The 50 is referring to visiting the 50 states and 30 is in reference to the fact that we did it before either of us turned 30!

Arches National Park, Ut.
(notice the little arch beneath) 

My top 10 places in the United States are represented by the Photos! Although this list is not quite fair, by far my favorite states are Utah and Hawaii, they both offer so much beauty but there are some really amazing places, both city and scenic, in the United States.

Volcano National Park, HI

Needless to say I feel very blessed to live in such a beautiful and fun country.

Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, AK
(the glacier is 7 miles wide and it is 300 ft above water, equivalent of 30 stories)

Also, like any girl my favorite city is New York, it just doesn’t seem to count as a “road trip” since we usually just go there.  Oh and trying to find photos of the top 10 I realized I love Sana Monica, CA.  Also some romantic New England areas are the Thousand Islands, NY,  Bar Harbor, ME, and New Port, RI. 

Seattle, WA

PS. I wouldn't recommend doing 9000 miles in 3 weeks; all you do is Drive J

Taco Tuesday: Guacamole

This is one of my favorite Taco Tuesday staples.  Avocados are so good for you, full of omega 3’s and other good fats.  Defiantly something you can feel good about eating, and even more so when you make it yourself.  You can find some good pre-made guacamole in your local market, but I have never found one I like as much as this recipe.  It is so easy anyone can make it!  Now some times Avocados are a bit pricy, I only make guacamole when I can find them for around a dollar or less.

You will need the following:
2 Avocados

½  a small red onion finely chopped

1 small tomato finely chopped and de-seeded

2 Jalapenos de-seeded and finely chopped (you can do less or more depending on your heat preference)

1 garlic clove pressed

1 Tbsp of Cumin

½ a lime

Basically you mix all these together then take a fork and mash, be sure to add salt and pepper to taste or it will be rather bland.

Here are three tips that I find helpful:

1. To cut the Avocado, once you have the two halves take you knife and whack the seed then pull the knife back, the seed should come right out.  Use a spoon to scrape the avocado off of the skin.

2. Chop the onion last, so you don’t have to smell it (cry) while you cut the other ingredients.  

3. When following the recipe adjust for your “spice” level.  I love spicy so I put the jalapenos in seeds in all, but normally you would de-seed before chopping, the seeds are where much of the heat comes from.  You may want to try it the first time with just one.

I served it with leftover chicken and black beans that where re-heated together and then seasoned with gluten free Old El Paso original taco seasoning mix.

YUMMY

Taco Tuesday

Mexican food, traditions, and alliteration!  

Who would have ever thought one day could bring so much.  About 5 years ago Joey and began celebrating Taco Tuesday, the best part is we get to participate every week.  It has been exciting to find how many others celebrate too, even The Simpson’s!  This point was only driven home when my friend Carrie and I traveled to LA for spring break and discussed our love of Taco Tuesday before we even arrived and decided that the most important part of the trip was celebrating this day.   We both were so excited about Taco Tuesday that we had breakfast at a Taco Truck and when we made new friends from Switzerland we insisted that they join us for dinner so that they could experience Taco Tuesday.  Yeah I am that serious.  

the usual Taco Tuesday culprits! 

Now Joey and I don’t always take it literally, sometimes we do a quesadilla or tortilla soup, but usually we have turkey burger, black bean salsa, and guacamole.  So my hope is to do a few posts about my favorite Taco Tuesday recipes and post it early enough that you can make it at home!

I love tortilla's that are warmed like this, about 5 sec on each side

So this week is just a teaser… in the next few weeks I will post guacamole, black bean salsa, and chicken tortilla soup.  Perhaps I might post some other foods as well, but I wrote these three recipes, all the other things I make are written by others. 

Yummy!

Next Week: Guacamole 

Shenk Farms

This fall I had the privalage of taking some kids to Shenk Farms. The day I announced the trip the class squelled with delight (literally) Ms. Katrinka was so nice that she make a picnic for the whole class.  So here is a short recount of our fun day!

The day started with a sceinic trip through the Shenandoah Valley to arive at the farm where we were greated by Mr. Shenk, owner of Shenk Farms.  While he and I talked the kids enjoyed some time playing in the farm's play area and some photo opps with the cutouts.

Soon the kids migraged to the animals, some chickens, goats and a cow! 

Mr. Shenk explained the differences between the animals, how they live and what they eat.

Mr. Shenk even let us feed the goats some corn out of our hands, but if you wern't carful the goats may have attemped to eat your cell phone!

Some weren't as interested in the animals and went back to playing and taking photos with the cutouts.

I belive these are the cutest farm animals I have ever seen!  Can any one say MOOO!

Next we entered the Maze and enjoyed a farm fact worksheet that was answered by finding the clues hidden in the maze.

The kids broke into four groups with an adult in each one, but occasionally we caught up with each other.

It was a bit chilly but the energy amoung the kids as they looked for the clues and completed the maze kept us warm, or maybe it was the fact that they wanted to "run" the whole time.

The first group to find all the clues and make it through the maze.

After everyone completed the maze Mr. Shenk of Shenk Farms took us on a senic wagon ride around the farm.

We saw the beautiful Mountains with all the fall foliage!

We all had lots of fun!  For more information about the farm visit http://www.shenkfarms.com/ , this is the last weekend they are open