Manic Monday Meals ~ Left Over Brisket & Healthier Snack

Really is the weekend over? It was one heck of a weekend and I really need one weekend with down time. I need to find a way to ship off all the boys and get some me time ... hehe :).

My dad loves his smoker and for his retirement present mom picked him up a new one let's just say it was the granddaddy of smokers. He made some new brisket and of course brought over for us. I love brisket but wanted to find a way to put it in a meal. Thank you Google search and came up with this one from The Pioneer Womans Website. I've heard you've all talk about her recipes and loved every bit of it. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brisket Tostadas by The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• Beef Brisket Leftovers
• 1 package Small Corn Tortillas
• 1 can (about 16 Oz.) Refried Beans
• 1 can (about 8 Oz.) Hot Tomato Sauce Or Chili Sauce (optional)
• Pico De Gallo
• Shredded Cheese
• Lettuce
• Sour Cream
• 1 whole Avocado
• Vegetable Oil

Preparation Instructions

Heat ½ inch of vegetable oil in a small skillet. When the oil is hot, slide in a corn tortilla. To prevent the tortilla from puffing and browning unevenly, press down the center with tongs or metal spoon. After about twenty seconds, flip it over to the other side and hold down the center again. When golden, remove from skillet and drain on paper towels. Use 3 tortillas per tostada.

In a small bowl, mix the refried beans with just a bit of hot tomato sauce or other hot sauce to give a bit of a kick.

Peel and dice an avocado, finely chop some lettuce and get ready to assemble. Grab a crispy tortilla and set it on a cookie sheet. Now layer beans, cheese, corn tortilla, beans, cheese, corn tortilla, beans and cheese.

Place this in a 325-degree oven until the cheese melts. Pull it out and layer the top with a helping of lettuce, shredded brisket, pico de gallo, avocado and sour cream.

ALEXIS NOTES: I of course picked up some corn tostadas instead of making mine, I was being lazy. For the Pico I took a can of tomato w/ chilies drained all the juice added a little onion, green onions & cilantro and tada!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next was a treat that was a little on the healthier side

Chocolate Banana Granola Bars found on Wellsphere.com

1 Medium Banana

.25 cups of maple syrup

.25 cups of pureed silken tofu

1 c. oatmeal

1 c. puffed rice cereal (I used 365 organic brown puffed rice cereal)

1 c. Fiber One

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 TBSP cocoa powder

1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder

pinch of salt

Mix together oatmeal, fiber one, puffed rice cereal, cinnamon, cocoa powder, salt and protein powder. In another bowl rough chop banana and add in maple syrup. Heat in the microwave for about 1 minute and 30 seconds. Mash together to make a syrup. Stir in tofu. Mix with dry ingredients. Press down into a pyrex or any baking dish and bake in oven at 350 for about 10-15 minutes. They should be slightly crunchy and chewy on the inside. Let cool and cut into bars.

ALEXIS NOTES: I didn't have the silken tofu so I found online you can use sour cream. I had vanilla protein powder that was great addition.

Well it's Monday, that's the nicest thing I can say right now about it ... hehe. So we're trying out this name again for Monday. I was thinking of making a button for it, if I can figure that out we'll be in good shape .. :). Hope you all have a wonderful Week with yummy food :).