WIC Cooking Class

Today I was blessed to have Sarah (a representative from the local WIC office) come over to share with me a few recipes and show me how easy it is to cook something new. When they called and offered me the class I made sure they knew I 'do' know how to cook and it's more of I don't know 'what' to cook and we eat the same 3-4 meals over and over and over. She said that was not a problem and asked what protein we prefer. I told her we purchase ground beef at a rock bottom price from my Dad's work so we always have TONS of ground beef and we like to stock up on chicken when it's on sale. She said we'd focus mostly on beef and chicken then. Perfect! She asked a few more questions and came up with Chicken Stir Fry and Beef Quesadillas. Then for something sweet she decided we'd make Pumpkin Pancakes and Black Bean Brownies. She ran down the ingredient list on the phone with me and anything I didn't have she brought! How cool is that!! She also brought her own pans and griddle but I told her she didn't need to drag them in the house we had those clean and ready for her. We got to cooking right away!

Black Bean Brownies

Ingredients:

1 box brownie mix
1 can black beans
1 cup water
*optional* cinnamon, chocolate chips, nuts, vanilla, powder sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven as directed on your brownie mix box. Drain & rinse your black beans. Add black beans and water to your blender. Blend until smooth (you'll still see parts of the black beans outer shell but it won't be chunky). In a mixing bowl mix the brownie mix & the blended mixture together. Stir well. At this point you can add some texture/flavor to your brownies if you'd like.

My kids chose to add about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and a small handful of chocolate chips.

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and pour mixture in. Bake as directed on your brownie mix box. Top with powder sugar if desired.

Our finished product:

These were sooo yummy! They have kinda like a fudge texture but aren't nearly as sweet as fudge is. I hope David likes these because I could see myself making brownies like this from now on. Plus they are healthier for you because you are eliminating the eggs and oil.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 TBSP baking powder
2-3 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 TBSP canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBSP water
*optional* chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix all the above ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Cook desired size of pancake at 300 degrees on a griddle or medium heat in a frying pan. Add a few chocolate chips to each pancake if desired. Flip when tops are bubbly.
*Since these are freezable we made a double batch so we didn't waste any pumpkin.

Our finished product:

We made about 1/2 of the batch with chocolate chips and 1/2 without chocolate chips. The kids were eating these plain right off the griddle and calling them cookies LOL!! They were so tasty they didn't even need syrup!

Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breast cut into strips
1 bag frozen veggies of your choice
(2) 1 1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp garlic
salt & pepper to taste
(2) 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce or soy sauce (or any other Asian inspired sauce of your choice)
*optional* 1/4 cup cabbage, 1/4 cup onions, 1/4 cup celery, sesame seeds, nuts
(2) 2 TBSP oil
1/3 box spaghetti

Directions:

Cook & drain spaghetti. In a pan heat 2 TBSP of oil. You want your oil HOT so the chicken sizzles when you place it in. Once hot add chicken and season with salt & pepper to taste. When chicken is almost completely cooked add 1 1/2 tsp ginger and finish cooking. In a wok (or a large frying pan) heat 2 TBSP oil (again you want this HOT). When hot pour in your veggies (we used onions, cabbage, celery and green beans) and 1 1/2 tsp ginger. Stir until cooked thru (approx 3-5 mins). Add up to 1/4 cup sauce (we used teriyaki) and mix with the veggies. If you'd like to add sesame seeds or nuts you would do so at this time. Add cooked chicken and 1 tsp garlic. If it seems too dry you can add a bit of chicken broth or if you have the opposite and it seems too runny you can add a bit of corn starch to your mixture. Turn heat off and add your spaghetti and mix well. Once mixed add up to 1/4 cup more of your desired sauce and serve.

Our finished product:

This is probably the best looking dish that has come out of my kitchen in a LONG time. It was so easy to make and tasted great! We're having this for dinner tonight and I can't wait to eat even though I'm stuffed from all the taste testing.

Beef Quesadillas

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 pkg taco seasoning
1 tsp garlic
shredded cheese
tortillas

Directions:

Preheat broiler to high. In a frying pan brown ground beef and drain. Add taco seasoning and garlic to your ground beef - heat and stir for about another minute. On a cookie sheet lay out tortillas. Top with about 1/4 cup meat (depending on the size of your tortillas), sprinkle with cheese and top with another tortilla. Place under broiler for about 3 mins (keep a close eye on them). Flip quesadilla and cook an additional 3 mins. Remove from broiler, cut and serve.
We served them with a side of salsa and sour cream.

Our finished product:

Quick & simple!! We ate these for lunch today and the kids enjoyed them so much they even had seconds :)

Sarah from WIC took my email address and said she'd email me additional recipes in the next week! I can't wait to try more recipes and I'll share them as I get them! We also did a lot of chatting about being frugal while cooking and I was able to share some tips with her. She was thrilled to learn about homemade dishwasher soap and took my recipe down for herself :)