Veggie Tostadas

Corn tortillas
Refried Beans

Toppings:

Cheese, shredded
Lettuce, shredded
Tomatoes, diced
Red onion, chopped
Salsa
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Avocado, chopped
Fresh lime juice

1. Turn on the oven to broil. Spray both sides of the corn tortillas with cooking spray. Place tortillas on a baking sheet. Broil for 5-7 minutes. Turn them over once. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t burn. Remove from oven and let cool.
2. Prepare your toppings. Heat up the refried beans in a microwave safe bowl. Stir.
3. Take a corn tortilla and spread refried beans over the top. Add whatever toppings you like.
4. Enjoy!
*Note-you can add meat if you want extra protein. Also, feel free to add other toppings like olives, jalapenos, diced green chilies, corn, etc.

Caribbean Black Beans

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 10 minutes ~ Yields 5 servings

Ingredients:
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 t vegetable oil
1 medium papaya peeled, seeded and diced (about 1 1/2 cups) I substituted with mangos
1 medium red bell pepper, finely chopped (1 cup)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion (about 1/2 medium onion - I left this out since Matt isn't a huge fan of red onions)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 t ground red pepper (cayenne)
2 cloves garlic, minced
(We also added some grated ginger - about as much as the minced garlic - this is optional)
5 cups hot cooked rice

Directions:
In 10 inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook all ingredients - EXCEPT the black beans and rice - in oil for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until bell pepper is crisp-tender. Stir in beans. Cook about 5 minutes or until hot. Serve with rice.

Mango Chicken and Rice

4-5 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 C. Frozen corn
1 Can black beans, drained & rinsed
3 C. Mango salsa (Costco)
Cumin to taste
Lemon pepper to taste

Put chicken breasts in crock pot. Add spices. Cover and cook chicken until tender. Shred chicken on a plate and return to crock pot. Save juices in separate bowl.

Add corn, beans and salsa. More salsa can be added to taste. If mixture seems dry, add some of reserved juices.

Serve over coconut jasmine rice( Jasmine Rice, made with all or part of the liquid being coconut milk)

*You can also use regular salsa for a Mexican taste and serve over regular rice or even with tortilla chips...ENJOY!

Chicken Pasta Bake

Ingredients sound funny, but my family ranted & raved.

1 reg. sized bag rotini pasta (cooked & drained)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
2 cans canned chicken (it called for 3 c. chicken shredded I chose to use canned for time)
2 c. mozzarella cheese grated
1 cube bullion (put in hot water)
1/4 c. hot water

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Mix chicken, cream cheese, mozzarella, hot water with bullion dissolved. Pour 1/3 bottle spaghetti sauce into 9X13 pan, to cover the bottom. Pour in noodles. Spoon on chicken mixture, pour remaining sauce on top. Sprinkle with a little mozzarella. Bake for 30- 45 minutes.