Vegetarian Mexican Sandwich

I invented this recipe about a week ago. As a vegetarian, I sometimes eat the same thing for quite a few days in a row. I get in food ruts. I was trying to use the last of these pinto beans and this idea came to me instead of the typical nachos or burrito. I'm kind of obsessed with this recipe now, it's soooo good and different from my usuals!

What I used:

• pinto beans
• cheddar cheese
• tomato
• spinach
• white onion
• whole grain roll
• Taco Bell's mild sauce 
• whole grain tortilla chips
• sour cream
• guacamole - shortcut recipe

All of these things are optional... it's just what I had on hand & taste preference. You can pretty much add whatever taco toppings you usually add. 

Since I had the leftover pinto beans in the refrigerator, I microwaved those with some cheddar cheese for a minute on high. I spread this mixture onto the roll and topped it with tomatoes, onions and spinach. 

I used my handy dandy sandwich maker to toast the entire sandwich.

I added 3 Taco Bell sauce packets afterwards, just so it wouldn't drip onto the sandwich maker & make a mess. I also added some tortilla chips because I like a little crunch on my sandwich. 

I finished it off with a side of guacamole & sour cream for dipping. 

Bon appetit! 

Do not fear the avocado!

Recently I've realized that some of my friends are actually afraid to use avocados... because they don't know how to prepare them. So here's how ya do it!

The most important thing is eating it when it's ripe. These are very time sensitive fruits. I usually buy 2 at a time from the grocery store: one that's pretty firm when you try to squeeze & another that has a little give, but not toooo much. Too much give will probably result in a lot of brown spots.

You can eat the one with a little give that day or up to about 2 days after. The other can last longer. Enter the avocado with some give (Note: I waited a little too long to eat this fellow... you'll see the brown spots later!)

Cut the avocado vertically, hitting the pit and just going around in a circle. This shouldn't be hard to cut. If it is, it's probably not ripe enough yet.

Now that you have 2 halves, you're going to want to take the pit out of it. Hack your knife into the pit, twist & it should pop right out. NOTE! If you only plan on eating half, SAVE the half with the pit. I've found that it saves better when the pit is still in it!

This next part depends on how you plan on using the avocado. If you want it in slices to put on a sandwich, slice vertically & then scoop out by putting the spoon against the skin. If you are just planning on mashing it, don't bother cutting it up. Just scoop it out!

The skin leftover should be pretty clean...

And you're done! Now wasn't that easy?

P.S. - If you do plan on saving half, I suggest putting a layer of lemon juice over the exposed part. This helps keep it fresh.

Baked Apples

During autumn, all I want to do is celebrate the season and the harvest. I saw this recipe on Pinterest and just HAD to make it. Here's how I adapted it to make baked apples just like they have at restaurants like Logan's Roadhouse!

What you need:

• 6 small apples
• cinnamon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp butter

I had 6 small apples that probably would've gone bad soon, but this recipe rescued them! Peel & core the apples and put them in the crock pot on a low setting. Add 6ish shakes of cinnamon, the butter, and the brown sugar. Stir everything together & let it cook for 2-3 hours, stirring every once in awhile. 

And you're done! Obviously you can leave them in there if you'd prefer a softer texture. Aaaand if you leave them in for a couple extra hours you can mash them up with a fork & make applesauce!