Foods! (lots of recipes!)

So I've done plenty of cooking and baking in the past month or so, and here are a few recipes that I've altered to suit my needs. Remember, I have limited baking ingredients (and accessories), so sometimes things are left out that I would like to have in, or they are adapted with another ingredient. These recipes reflect things I am able to buy--some things are available, but expensive (like chocolate chips), so I don't buy them.

Also of course many measurements are estimated.

Let's start with some recipes everyone should have their own version of, since it's so much cheaper to make these than to buy them.

Hearty Black Bean Salsa
Ingredients
1 medium green bell pepper (called sweet peppers here)
1 medium red or yellow or orange bell pepper (I only get the reds here, since they aren't as expensive. they're still more expensive than green, since they're imported.)
1/2 medium onion, chopped (yes I am cooking and eating onions now!)
1 garlic clove
1 can diced tomatoes (leave some of the water out)
1 cup cooked black beans (I cook them with a bay leaf, cumin, black pepper, salt, oregano, and basil)
1 cup corn kernels
(1 jalapeno, chopped. I didn't include this since I don't have regular access to them here, and if you don't like very spicy food you should leave it out.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp chili powder

Directions
1. Dice peppers, onion, and garlic, saute briefly with some salt.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients over med-low heat. Stir occasionally. Cook for at least 10 minutes.
3. Serve. If you want to serve it with tortilla chips, chill it a little first. It also goes great in quesadillas. For this, use my tortilla recipe and some cheese of your choice. Personally I prefer Monterrey Jack or Pepper Jack, although just about any mild cheese will work. Heat two tortillas briefly on one side over low heat in a dry skillet, turn over and add cheese to both tortillas and about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of the salsa. Put the only cheesy tortilla on top of the salsaed one, heat for 2-3 minutes, flip, heat for 1-2 minutes (the longer they cook the crispier the tortillas become). Remove from heat, let set a few minutes, then use a knife or pizza cutter to cut into quarters. Serve with

Guacamole
Ingredients
1 medium avocado pear (or most likely 2 avocados if you're in the states with wimpy avocadoes that are only the size of your fist)
1/4 cup diced onion
1/2 med green pepper, diced
1 small tomato, diced, seeds removed (the best way to remove seeds from a tomato only you will be consuming is to cut it in half lengthwise, and suck them out!)
lime juice from 1/2 a lime (or one key lime)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne

Directions
1. Get your avocado meat into your medium mixing bowl however is easiest for you, and mash it up with a fork.
2. Add everything else, mix it up real good. Be careful not to add too much lime juice, or the guac will be runny, not good for speading or dipping or ANYTHING :-[
3. Enjoy! I like to use it in tacos or as a sandwich spread. It's very good at neutralizing spicy sauces.

Now for a couple reciped that worked really really well, from a conglomeration of recipes I found online.

Awesome French Toast
Ingredients
4-6 slices of nice loaf (not sandwich) bread (depending on size)
3 eggs
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 tsp salt
a couple dashes cinnamon
a few gratings of nutmeg
2 Tbsp cooking oil

Directions
1. Combine eggs, milk, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg in a flat-bottomed dish (I used a small casserole dish). Mix everything together well.
2. Put bread slices in mix one at a time, making sure both sides are well coated, even soaked a little.
3. Heat some oil in a saucepan, medium-high heat. Cook bread w/ egg mix on each side for 1-2 minutes each, or until they are nice and crispy, nicely dark (even black in spots).
4. Transfer to plate with paper towels. When not so greasy, plate them and add toppings:

Topping 1 (savory)
Ingredients
1/2 medium bell pepper, diced
1 smallish tomato, diced,
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup shredded mild cheddar (or other mild cheese)
a little hot sauce

Directions
1. Saute pepper, tomato, garlic. Remove from heat, add cheese and hot sauce. Mix well.
2. Spoon onto half the number of french toast slices.

Topping 2 (sweet)
Ingredients
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup honey
1 fresh banana, cut into 1/2 inch slices

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients in small bowl, mixing to coat all raisins and banana.
2. Spoon onto remaining bread slices, be sure to use all the honey.

Seriously, this french toast is awesome. The nutmeg and cinnamon on the crunchy toast eaten with the warm, juicy, slightly spicy topping is an amazing experience.

And finally,

Monstar Cookies
Ingredients
4 1/2 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (or so) peanut butter (I used creamy since it's cheaper, but use crunchy if you want!)
3 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 medium bag of M&Ms
1/4 cup chopped almonds (I probably would add more if they weren't so expensive and if I didn't have to chop them myself)

Directions
1. Combine oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder in a medium or large mixing bowl.
2. Combine butter, sugar, and honey. Mix well. Add peanut butter, eggs, vanilla. When this is a soft, grainy, well mixed consistency, add dry ingredients a little at a time. Mix thoroughly, add M&Ms and almonds. Refridgerate at least 45 min, if not much more.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Remove cookie dough from fridge, drop rounded 2-inch diameter balls onto ungreased cookie sheet, pat them down a little, but don't flatten them completely. Bake for 10 minutes (or longer if you like them harder, you cretin). Remove, let cool for a couple minutes, then eat them up!
(the picture was sort of the mistake batch--no baking powder, not enough flour. Those were crunchy--if you want that, subtract the backing powder and 1 cup of flour)

This recipe makes about 4 dozen, so if that's not how many you want, freeze the rest. These cookies (like most) get hard after about 4 days, so don't make too many unless you only want to eat them with something to dip them in (I never understood why people would want to eat hard cookies without dipping them in milk or coffee or hot chocolate).

In addition to these recipes I also made dinner for friends a couple times. First pizza, with two kinds. One had eggplant and spinach, the other had chicken and bell peppers.
Then I made an eggplant parmesagne, with a homemade pasta sauce that included spinach and bell peppers. The bread wasn't that great with it though :( The rest was delicious!
Well that's my long overdue recipe post. I hope you enjoy the recipes if you try them! Happy eating :)