The Heart of the Home

Jacob has lived in our house for 5 years, and he never liked the kitchen.  It was a deep purple with a wine border around the top.  Neither of us drink and neither of us liked the color.  It was first on BOTH of our lists to re-do.

It took some time to pick the color but we both really like the blue.  Getting it together with all our new wedding gifts was also so fun!

Now this is a place I can create some love on a plate.

Beans, beans the musical fruit.....

My dad would sing me this song every time we had beans....it goes like this:

Beans, beans the musical fruit.

The more you eat the more you toot.

The more you tool, the better you feel.

Let's have beans for every meal!

 Sorry, I had to post that.  Sing it to your kids--they'll love it.

Anyway.....I love beans and always have.  It probably comes from my mom's side of the family.  When I was little, I would spend the day with my Nanny and Little Papa while my parents were at work.  Every day for lunch we had a pot of beans and cornbread.  I learned to like beans.   

It's not surprising that I made beans for one of the first meals for Jacob once we got back from the honeymoon.  Jacob grew up with "Mexican Fridays".....so I decided to combine our two histories by making black-bean quesadillas for dinner on Friday.

These are super easy to make and great for anyone on a tight budget.  

What you will need:

• Tortillas (I get the large ones)
• 1-2 cans of black beans
• Cheese (I use a 2% Mexican Blend)
• Cumin and Garlic Salt
• Butter (or spray oil)
• Toppings you like....we like tomatoes, green onion, sour cream, guac, salsa, and black olives
• Large non-stick skillet

How to make them:

• Drain and rinse the black beans.  In a small bowl, mash the beans until you get the consistency you like.  We like them where you still see some of the whole beans.  Add some water to the mixture--about 1/4 a cup or so.  Heat the mixture, add garlic salt and cumin to taste.  We like a lot of cumin.
• On one side of the tortilla, lightly spread butter (or spray oil).  (Butter taste better, but follow your own heart.)  Place butter-side down in a medium-high non-stick skillet.  Take the heated black bean mixture and spread on 1/2 of the inside of the tortilla.  Add cheese to your liking.  Fold in half.
• Press with a spatula until one side is golden and then flip to brown the other side.  Once it is browned, it is ready to eat.  I use a pizza cutter to size into wedges.  

These are super filling, yummy, cheap to make!  Let's have bean for every meal!  :)