What the doctor ordered

Chris and I some day.

 You know how we were hooked on “The Kennedy’s” on Netflix a few weeks ago, and became obsessed with Bobby Kennedy (so much so that we named a pie after him)? Well, there were only 8 episodes, so we had to move on. Yes, we still love RFK, but we had to find a new dinner-time show. Guess what?! I’m finally, 7 seasons later, on the “Grey’s Anatomy” train. Yep, it happened. (Although I do find it a bit odd that watching surgeries while eating doesn’t bother us…)

It all started because I had been watching the new episodes with Chris on Thursday nights, and curiosity started to get the best of me. Good thing we have Netflix, because over the course of six days now, I’ve been able to get half way through Season 2! Why didn’t I know it was THIS good?! Better late than never I suppose.

So all of this Grey’s has gotten me super fascinated with surgeons and surgery in general. I’m pretty sure I want to be and marry a surgeon now. They’re all that good-looking in real life, right?! On the show, each doctor has a different specialty. I thought about it, and I want to be the Chief of Surgery, and Chris wants to focus on Pediatric surgery. We’re currently researching possible financial avenues we could take to fund this career change. HA!

Other than our TV being stuck on Grey’s, it is also International Week at our house. My awesome Dad took me surprise grocery shopping the other day, so I took that opportunity to stock up! (We have WAY too much ice cream now…oops.) When we brought it all home, we hardly knew what to do with ourselves. Instead of going crazy and eating it ALL out of excitement, we decided to get creative and shake things up, all while conserving resources and stretching them as far as they can go. Check out our Meal Planning Google doc this week. Please notice the Food we have, Food we need, Katy needs, and Chris needs columns. It's beautiful.

Yeah, we like hot dogs on Fridays.

The 2^nd stop on the International Train was Mexican Lasagna! We discovered this recipe on Pinterest (duh), and loved it. We changed a few minor details to make it our own, and now it’s one of our faves. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a Mexican fanatic nowadays. Lucky for me, Chris is too!

Anyway, It took about 10ish minutes to prepare (with my handy helper), and about 20 minutes to bake.

This week is all about being efficient with our resources, which means not wasting perfectly good food. We find ourselves re-buying things that we forget we already/still have (CARROTS, anyone?), so we took this opportunity to use some of our Mexican surplus. I’m the anti-hoarder when it comes to the refrigerator, so I was extra excited about this purge. We had 5 different half-eaten jars of salsa, 3 packages of varied amounts of shredded cheese, and 3 half-bags of tortilla chips! By the end, we reduced the salsa to 2 jars, cheese down to 1 bag, and the chips down to 1 (full, unopened from Dad). Yesss! Oh, and we have leftovers for lunch AND dinner. Muy Bien!

Also, I think it’s time that I mention how I really hate the c-word. Absolutely hate it. I hate saying the word, and pretty much don't. Oh, and the way it sounds…not good. When I hear the word, I picture a nasty, gray, unidentifiable mush in a pan at a church picnic. Yeaaahhh, yuck. So you will never see such a thing on this blog. I know, it’s weird.

Mexican Lasagna

• Tortilla chips
• EVOO
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 Boneless Skinless Chicken breast
• 2 Tbs Taco Seasoning (We used this reduced sodium mix)
• 1 can Black Beans, drained
• 1 cup Salsa (We mixed 3 varieties)
• 1 cup shredded cheese

 

**We want to try adding other ingredients like corn or spinach next time**

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and garlic and sautee until soft. 

While that is cooking, cut the chicken breast into bite-sized chunks. Next, add meat and taco seasoning. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. 

Check out those great nails!

 Add beans and salsa. Mix well and continue to cook until salsa thickens.

Meanwhile, line the bottom of a large baking dish with tortilla chips, pressing down on them lightly to break them into bite-sized pieces. Next, add a thin layer of cheese. 

Spread the meat and bean mixture over the chips so that the pan is covered evenly. 

Top with another layer of slightly crushed chips followed by another layer of cheese. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and gooey. 

Top with guacamole or sour cream, or anything else you can think of, and eat up (while watching Grey’s Anatomy).

Favorite parts of this meal:

1. I felt like a surgeon while I was cutting up the chicken.
2. We had chips and salsa time while it was baking.
3. It freed up space in the fridge.
4. We have leftovers for 2 meals.
5. We hardly used our new supplies.

Once again, we were able to be gluten-free, have a delicious meal (3x), and save money! Cha-chiiiiinggg!