I made these delicious cheesy vegetable quesadillas in both the sandwich maker and in a nonstick skillet to compare the two. Both were delicious, however, the sandwich maker quesadilla came out very crispy, faster, and less messy than the skillet quesadilla. Watch me make both.

Ingredients:

-2 tablespoons of olive oil

-1 tablespoon of butter, plus more softened butter for tortillas

-1 small red onion, chopped

-1 medium jalapeño, membranes and seeds removed, diced

-1/2 extra large red pepper, diced

-1 large green pepper, diced

-1 teaspoon of ground cumin

-1/2 teaspoon of chili powder

-4 large baby Bella mushrooms, sliced thinly

-1 cup fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped

-2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley (fresh cilantro would be great too, if you have it), plus more for serving

-1 15.5 ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed

-Lime juice (one fresh lime), plus extra lime wedges for serving

-1 teaspoon of garlic paste

-Salt, to taste

-2 fajita sized flour tortillas for each quesadilla

-Cabot’s seriously sharp cheddar cheese, 8 ounces, shredded

Instructions:

Sauté your vegetables, spices, and herbs in the olive oil and butter on medium high heat in your skillet.

Add in the black beans when the veggies begin to get soft. Add fresh lime juice to the pan. Season with salt to taste.

Meanwhile, grate your cheese.

Butter the tops of your tortillas.

Heat up your sandwich maker, or skillet, whichever you choose to use.

Place the buttered tortilla, buttered side down, in the sandwich maker, or the skillet. Put the shredded cheese on top. Then add the sautéed veggies and beans. Then add more grated cheese. And then place the second tortilla buttered side up on top. If using the sandwich maker, clamp the lid down an timer for two minutes. In two minutes, it is ready! If using a skillet, flip the tortilla when the underside is golden brown. Don’t overfill the tortillas like I did, ha ha! Although it was messy, it was still delicious!

Top with fresh parsley or fresh cilantro. Serve with sour cream, sliced grape tomatoes, and lime wedges. Guacamole, avocado, salsa, or pico de gallo would be great accompaniments as well.

Please let me know in the comments if you make this recipe.

Enjoy!

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The fresh veggies, fresh herbs, and fresh lemon juice really make this salad irresistibly delicious. The feta cheese takes it over the top. I couldn’t stop eating this salad! Do yourself a favor and give this one a try.

Salad Ingredients:

-English cucumber, I used 3/4 of one, diced

-Grape tomatoes, colorful medley, I used the full container, halved

-Red onion, 1/4 of a small onion, finely diced

-1 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

-Feta cheese block, 4 pieces cut and diced into cubes

Dressing ingredients:

-Garlic paste, 1/2 teaspoon

-Chopped fresh rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon

-Chopped fresh parsley, 2 tablespoons, plus more for garnish

-Lemon zest of one lemon

-Lemon juice from one lemon

-Olive oil, 3 tablespoons, or to taste

-Salt, to taste

-Pepper, to taste

Place all salad ingredients in a salad bowl. Put dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Pour on top of salad and toss together. Garnish with additional parsley and serve. It keeps well in the refrigerator as well.

Sometimes you need a quick and easy meal. Pizza is my favorite food, so I made a fast vegetable pita pizza in my air fryer. It is done in minutes, has a lot of flavor due to the vegetables, sauce, and cheese, and is healthy compared to regular pizza.

Ingredients:

-Joseph’s pita bread

-Pizza Sauce, however much you like, I used Don Peppino’s pizza sauce

-Mozzarella cheese, I used deli sliced thin mozzarella

-10 – 12 leaves of Fresh baby spinach, I use prewashed, torn into pieces

-Provolone cheese, sliced thin

– 2 Fresh Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced thin

-Green peppers, sliced thin

– Kalamata Olives, pitted and sliced

-Locatelli Romano Cheese

Instructions:

Toast plain pita bread in air fryer mode for 3 minutes. Then top the pita bread with the thin sliced mozzarella cheese. Next, top with pizza sauce. Then add a layer of the thin sliced provolone cheese.

Next, top with the fresh torn spinach. Then the sliced mushrooms and the sliced green pepper. Add the Kalamata olives. Top with grated Locatelli Romano cheese.

Cook the pita pizza in the air fryer mode for 4 minutes at 425°. Then cook at 365° for at least 5 more minutes or until your vegetables are tender to your preference.

Enjoy!

See what I purchased at the Grocery Outlet Bargain Market. It’s one of my favorite places to shop, especially with grocery prices going up!

Starbucks has raised their prices THREE times since October 2021. I need to come up with a more adorable option. Here I am making my usual Starbucks drink order at home, a skinny vanilla latte with whipped cream, using my Keurig latte maker. Hopefully this will help me save some money!

See how I make my money saving latte on YouTube

See how I make my money saving latte on Instagram

Enjoy!

I was out of my favorite sauce to make Baked Ziti on Sunday, so I made my own. I used various types of canned tomatoes to make a delicious sauce! I will be doing this again because the sauce turned out even better than I expected. I let it simmer on low heat most of the day while I worked on house things, it turned out fabulous!

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons good olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

6-8 shallots, diced

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 cup diced carrots (I used frozen coin carrots that I had in the freezer)

1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes

2 14.5 ounce cans of diced tomatoes (one had olive oil, garlic, and basil flavors in it)

1 14.5 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes

2 cartons of tomato puree

1 can of tomato paste

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning (or use fresh basil, if you have it!)

2 tablespoons sugar (optional)

2-3 tablespoons of salted butter to finish sauce, optional

Instructions:

Heat olive oil at medium high heat in a stock pot. sauté onion, shallots, and carrots, until soft, but not brown. Add in crushed garlic.

Next, add in all canned tomatoes. Then, add in your salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings, and add in the sugar, if you choose to use sugar.

Cook until sauce is bubbling, then turn down heat to simmer. Once sauce is simmering, use an immersion blender to blend your sauce to the consistency you prefer. Then add in your butter to finish the sauce. The butter gives the sauce a flavorful, rich, smooth and velvety finish.

I simmered my sauce on low for most of the day while I did house chores. Then, I made some homemade baked ziti with it. It would be perfect for any pasta, chicken parmesan, pizza, whatever you would like to use it for! You could even morph it into some yummy tomato soup.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Leave a comment letting me know what you put in your favorite homemade tomato sauce.

Until next time,

Carla XOXO