I was recently checking Sarah’s blog, and asked her if I could post this recipe from it. It sounds delicous.

“I’ll share my latest bean adventure which came thanks to a last minute dinner date with a vegetarian friend of mine. In the midst of the last-week-of-school craziness, we crashed at my apartment for a brief respite from the mounds of projects, tests, and papers. We created this recipe by modifying my mom’s recipe for chicken in a spicy black bean, tomato, and corn concoction. I love the sauce part more than the chicken, so I thought it would fly solo as a delicious dish. I tweaked some of the measurements, added fresh garlic, and we topped it with shredded cheese for a little extra protein.

Fiesta Black Bean Skillet

1 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can black beans (drain for a thicker consistency)
1 can diced tomatoes (do not drain!)
1 small can mexicorn
1/4 c. cilantro
3-4 garlic cloves, finely diced
3/4 t. chili powder
2. c. dry rice
8 oz. shredded chedder cheese

In large skillet, heat oil and add onions and garlic. Cook at medium temperature until slightly soft (just a couple minutes). Add corns, beans, tomatoes, and spices. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Turn down heat and simmer 5 minutes. Serve over rice, top with shredded cheese.
*note: Always use the juice in the tomatoes. You can drain or not drain but the black beans, depending on how thick you want it.

Though we ate the beans over rice for dinner, I ate the leftovers in multiple ways - as a salad-topper with lettuce, as a dip dumped over tortilla chips with a dollop of plain yogurt, and as a soup (simply add a little water and some more chili powder). Next time, I’ll try to have some avacodo on hand.”

Laura made these for our LIFE group last week, and they were delicious!! Thanks for the recipe, Laura.

Raspberry Oat Bars - submitted by Laura Buhl (from Allrecipes.com)
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1(10 ounce) jar raspberry preserves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Combine the oats, flour, salt and baking powder; stir into the creamed mixture. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the preserves over the crust. Crumble the remaining crust mixture over the raspberry layer. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light brown. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

laura said: “I made several changes to this recipe. I substituted in one cup of whole wheat flour, used only 1 cup of jam, and added 2/3 cup chopped dates and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts to the dry mixture. Also, don’t spread the jam all the way to the edges to prevent burning. The recipe says to bake it up to 25 minutes, but I felt even 20 minutes, which I did, verged on burning.”

Easy Coffee Cake from Marianne Whitehill
 
Two 8-ounce cans refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup sugar
Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg, separated
1/2 cup chopped pecans
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread one can of crescent rolls in bottom of 13×9 inch pan.  Cream together 3/4 cup sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, and egg yolk.  Spread mixture over rolls.  Top with second package of crescent roll dough.  Beat egg white until frothy and spread on top.  Sprinkle top with remaining sugar and nuts.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

Here are a few tips from my experience: Don’t use reduced fat cream cheese or crescent rolls.  It does not turn out great.  If available I like the butter flavored crescent rolls. 

 I had this coffee cake at a baby shower recently, and it was delicious (and a huge hit with everyone else, too.)  Thanks for sharing the recipe Marianne!

Chicken Enchiladas from Dianne Webb

1 whole chicken (2 lbs) cooked and chopped up
1 can mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
3 cups chedder cheese, shredded
2 cans chopped Ortega chilis
½ cup chopped green onions
9 or 10 flour tortillas

Mix all the ingredients except tortillas and 1 cup cheese. Roll ½-1 cup of mixture in a flour tortilla and place in 9×13 pan. Spread remaining mixture over the top of the enchiladas. Sprinkle with other cup of cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Cheesy Potatoes from Karin Bradley

2 lb frozen hashbrowns
12 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint (16 oz) sour cream
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup melted margarine/butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Topping (mix together):
2 cups crushed cornflakes
¼ cup melted butter

Mix all ingredients except for topping and put in 9×13 pan. Put topping on. Bake at 350 for one hour.