Ingredients:

• 2 ears of fresh corn
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 2 ounces queso fresco
• salt

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil.
2. Peel the husk back and remove the silks.
3. Fold the husk back.
4. Boil the corn for fifteen minutes.
5. Drain.  Allow to cool for a few minutes (until you can touch the husks and not burn yourself).
6. Meanwhile, mix the butter, chili powder and cumin.
7. Preheat your grill to medium.
8. Smear half the butter on each ear of corn and fold the husks back into place.
9. Grill the corn for five minutes a side.
10. Peel the husks back for good this time.
11. Sprinkle with salt and more chili powder.
12. Sprinkle with crumbled queso fresco.

Printable version.

Ingredients:

• pulled pork
• 2 8 inch tortillas per quesedilla (for gluten free folks, La Tortilla Factory makes a very nice gf option)
• 1 ounce of queso fresco per quesedilla
• 1/4 cup roasted red peppers per quesedilla
• mango salsa
• cooking spray

Directions:

1. Turn your oven to warm.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
3. Spray with cooking spray.
4. Lay in one tortilla.
5. Sprinkle the queso over the top.
6. Add the pork and peppers.
7. Top with the other tortilla.
8. Cook until the bottom is toasted, then carefully flip to toast the other side (I find a REEEEEEALLY wide spatula helps with this).
9. If you’re cooking more than one quesedilla, shift the first one to a cookie sheet in the oven.
10. Repeat.
11. When ready to serve, use a pizza cutter to slice the quesedillas into wedges.
12. Serve with mango salsa.

Printable version.

Ingredients:

• large baking potatoes
• pulled pork
• butter
• barbeque sauce of your choice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 475.
2. Bake your potatoes for an hour and fifteen minutes.
3. Open the foil and slice them open, sort of squishing them to open a cavity.  Leave the foil on to kind of hold things together.
4. Pop in a pat of butter and top with pulled pork.
5. Pour on your barbeque sauce.
6. Pop back in the oven for 10 minutes or so, until the meat is warmed through.
7. Enjoy!

Printable version.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs kosher salt
• 1 tbs ancho chili powder (you can use regular chili powder, but I prefer ancho)
• 1 tbs cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbs garlic powder
• 1 package apricot Jello
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• pork shoulder or picnic roast

Directions:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients and whisk together.

2. Cut any excess fat or skin off the pork shoulder (sometimes they have it, sometimes they don’t).

3. Massage the dry rub into the pork shoulder.

4. Wrap the pork shoulder tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least overnight, preferably for 24 hours.

5. Preheat your grill to about 350 degrees.

6. Cook the pork shoulder for approximately 15 minutes per side.  We’re just getting a little caramelization and smoky flavor here.

7. Remove the pork shoulder to your crock pot and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the meat falls off the bone.

8. Remove the bone and discard.

9. Use a pair of forks to shred the meat, then let it hang out in the juice for a while, so that they reabsorb into the meat.

10. Serve on buns, in quesedillas, in fried rice, or however you wish.

Printable version.

In other crazy crazy news we have SOLD OUR HOUSE after more than a year on the market and we move in T minus 21 days (over Memorial Day weekend).  EEP!  Because, we didn’t have enough going on, right?  The home inspections are over and now we’re just down to the nitty gritty of packing, which means that things are rather chaotic.  Perhaps not the best time to be thinking about getting into food blogging, but I MISS YOU GUYS!

My latest obsession this week is freezer cooking.  This goes by many names.  Once A Month Cooking.  Freezer Meals.   There were others, but anyway the gist is that you pick one day and prepare a whole bunch of meals.  Not necessarily cooking a bunch of stuff from start to finish, but getting all the prep work done up to a point and freezing them so that all you have to do is grab a bag or a container out of the freezer the night before and throw it in the fridge to thaw, then the next day throw it in the crock pot/on the grill/in the oven.  It’s a big thing among busy and/or soon to be moms who aren’t going to have time to get inventive while juggling kids.  I’m thinking it’s going to be a marvelous idea for those of us who are about to have a kitchen packed up (well not until that last week) and in semi-chaos for some period of time because we are MOVING.  I admit, I went a little crazy on Pinterest when the idea occurred to me.  You can see my Freezer Meals board here.

It’s something I’ve always wanted to try.  And I did a small version of this when I was single and had more room in the fridge and freezer, just by doubling up whatever I was cooking and freezing half for another meal down the line.  As I will actually have room for a deep freeze in the new house (or rather in the new garage with a DOOR), this is something I intend to get back into, as it’s a great way to have something ready on those nights you just don’t feel like thinking about cooking something new.  It keeps you from ordering pizza or chinese or some other unhealthy take out.  Or, you know, when you’re gluten free, it keeps you from having to come up with something anyway.

Some people get REALLY hard core about this and are cooking a whole month or more of meals (and by that I mean even breakfast, lunch, and dinner).  I doubt I’ll ever get THAT into things both because a) I do actually like to cook and will probably always do at least 3 days worth of fresh, from scratch, off the top of my head meals a week, b) a lot of popular freezer meals would not work well gluten free, as cooked gluten free pasta does not reheat well and gluten free tortillas have serious pliancy issues under those conditions, and c) I’m only gonna have one of the mini deep freezes, not the epic Prepared For The Zombie Apocalypse kind.  Also, a lot of the “dump” style freezer meal recipes (by which it’s everything you need in one bag that you then dump into a crock pot to cook–which has understandable appeal due to its ease) are not actually that good–at least not to a food snob.  A lot of vegetables in those sorts of recipes come out tasting entirely the same after being frozen in a marinade and cooked or the texture gets funky.

All that to say, I’ve been doing a lot of research trying to sort out what recipes I could prepare that would freeze well, be gluten free (a lot of these recipes aren’t by dint of stuff used in the sauces and marinades), that would be adaptable (I’m big into the idea of freezing meats in different marinades or making a base like browned grown beef with onions and peppers that I can then transform into another dish), and that my spouse would actually EAT.

So, while I don’t have any actual recipes to post for you today, I wanted to give you a heads up that I am alive! and I will be back soon with news of my freezer meal campaign.  And after we get moved and settled, as we move forward, I will probably wind up going back and gradually updating my existing recipes with instructions for how to turn it into a freezer meal (if it can be) because I think this is just a great idea for busy people everywhere to allow them to eat healthier and cheaper and HOME MADE.

If you aren’t signed up for the RSS feed or recipes by email, you might want to do that do you know when we’re back online.  Links are in the sidebar.

Thanks for being a fan of Pots and Plots.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 large bell peppers
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup raw quinoa
• 1 cup water (for the quinoa)
• 1 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 teaspoon Greek seasoning
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook the quinoa according to package directions.
3. Brown the ground beef.  Drain, rinse, and add to a medium mixing bowl.
4. Core the peppers.
5. Set a large pot of water to boil and submerge the peppers.  Boil for approximately 3 minutes, then remove and set aside to cool.
6. Drain the can of tomatoes, reserving the liquid.  Add the tomatoes to the bowl with the beef.
7. Add the quinoa when it’s done.
8. Add the spices and the feta.  Stir until all is well incorporated.
9. Stuff the peppers with the meat filling.  Set into a 9×9 baking dish (spray with cooking spray first).
10. Pour the reserved tomato juice over the top of the peppers.
11. Bake for 30 minutes.

Printable version.

Ingredients:

• 1 tuna steak
• 1 tablespoon tamari
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• white sesame seeds
• 1 tsp canola oil

Directions:

1. Mix together the tamari, honey, sesame oil, and ground ginger.
2. Place in a ziplock bag with the tuna steak and squish around.  Allow to marinate for 30-60 minutes.
3. When you’re ready to cook, pull the tuna steak out and dip in the sesame seeds.  Press to adhere.
4. Heat your skillet over medium high without the oil.
5. Add the oil and allow to heat for about 20 seconds, then add the tuna.
6. Cook for approximately 1 minute.
7. Flip and cook on the other side for 1 minute.
8. Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes (this is important).
9. Slice on the bias with a good sharp knife.
10. Serve on a bed of fresh spinach.

Printable version.

Ingredients:

• 7 corn tortillas
• 12 oz salsa verde
• 16 oz greek yogurt
• 8 oz. green chili peppers, chopped (2 4 oz. cans, drained)
• 12 oz rotisserie chicken, shredded
• 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese shredded

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cut your tortillas in half.

3. Mix the chicken and yogurt.

4. Spray a 9×9 baking dish with cooking spray and arrange 4 halves cut side to the outside with a 5th across the hole in the middle.

5. Pour half the salsa and spread.

6. Spread half the chicken and yogurt mixture.

7. Spread 4 ounces of the chilis.

8. Spread a third of the cheese.

9. Repeat with the next round of tortillas, salsa, chicken/yogurt, chilis and cheese.

10. Add the remaining tortillas (it’s okay if you have a hole in this top set) and top with the remaining cheese.

11. Cover with foil (you might want to spray the foil with cooking spray so your cheese doesn’t stick) and bake for 15-20 minutes.

12. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes or until cheese is melty and a little brown.

Printable version.

Ingredients:

• 6 chicken tenders
• 6 slices of deli sliced ham
• 6 thin slices of Monterey jack, cut from the block
• BBQ sauce to coat and for dipping (I prefer something honey or brown sugar based–remember, if you’re gluten free, be sure to check the label)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Coat both sides of the chicken with BBQ sauce (I used a silpat to bake mine on)
3. Bake for approximately 20 minutes.
4. During the last 5-10 minutes, fold the ham into thirds on top of each tender and top with a slice of cheese.
5. Serve with additional BBQ sauce for dipping.

Printable version.