Monica - Café Con Monica

Currently: April

April 18, 2018

I haven’t done a currently since Feb so this is more of March-Mid April!

Currently I am…

Reading || I just finished Cruel Prince (FML the next book doesnt come out till 2019) and started Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman. This counts as my non-fiction for the month!

Listening To || Lollapalooza 2018 playlist on Spotify! I was so excited to find this, they even have playlists by day!

Watching || Scandal…and I recently decided to rewatch Buffy from the beginning so I am about 6 episodes in!

Hoping || This weather starts to cooperate because its effing cold in Chicago. We saw a day of decent weather before it decided to rain & snow for a few days.

Loving || the meetup group I started is really growing and I’ve been having some really fun times with the new girls I’m meeting!

Planning || Blog posts and figuring out if we are indeed going to Europe this summer or not…and some other life changes that I hope to go into here soon!

We are mid-month!! Pushing through to summer time!

Cooking Adventures: Enchiladas!

April 17, 2018

I adapted my a chicken enchilada recipe when my sister first became a vegan and I had them over for dinner. Since then I have made it again and tweaked it a bit (both with and without meat) and I love it! For me the tortilla definitely matters because I am just not a big fan of them. Here is the recipe along w/the Vegan Jalapeno Sauce (That IS A MUST) to go with it!

Ingredients for Enchilada:

1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 red onion diced
1 clove garlic minced
1.5 tsp cumin
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
4 oz can diced green chiles
1.5 cup green enchilada sauce (I like to just buy a big can so I can pour more ontop at the end)
salt and pepper to taste
Jalapeño cream sauce (*See below)

8 flour tortillas

1cupgreen enchilada sauce

cilantro to taste

2-3 Medium Chicken Breasts(Optional) (if you use chicken you will need to boil and shred before making the enchilada filling)

Ingredients for Jalapeno Cream Sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 red onion roughly chopped

2 tsps minced garlic

1.5 tsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

1 jalapeño roughly chopped

8 oz vegan cream cheese*

1/2 bunch cilantro

1/4 – 1/2cupwater

Make the Jalapeno Cream Sauce First: Place a pan on the stove over medium heat. Add olive oil, onion, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper. Saute until onions begins to soften, stirring regularly. Add jalapeño and cream cheese to the pan and saute for an additional until cream cheese is softened and everything is combined. Add the contents of the pan to a blender with cilantro and 1/4 cup of water. Pulse until combined. Add additional water if needed and taste to adjust seasoning. Pour into a bowl and place in the fridge until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350

Next the filling: Place the same pan back on the stove over medium heat. Add olive oil, onion, garlic, cumin, black beans, green chilies, salt and pepper. *Add chicken if you are using meat* Saute until onions are soft and translucent stirring regularly. Halfway through cooking the filling, add 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce to keep mixture from sticking. Once onions are cooked, add 3/4 Cup of the jalapeño cream sauce. Stir to combine. Set filling aside.

Make those enchilads: Wrap tortillas in a damp paper towel and steam in the microwave for 30 seconds. Cover the bottom of a baking dish with 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce. Fill each tortilla with about 1/4 cup (or more if you like big full enchiladas). Place each filled tortilla seam side down in the baking dish. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese if you choose to add cheese. If you have time let the dish sit for about 30 minutes, if not pop it right in the oven for 10-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow enchiladas to cool for 5 minutes. Top with additional cream sauce and cilantro.

**I found that if I prep the enchiladas the day before, put a good amount of sauce on top and let them sit covered in the fridge over night they are amazing when cooked the next day**

The end result!!

Hello Monday!

April 16, 2018

I slacked so hard last week on posting so this week I am hoping to catch up and get back in a groove!

This past weekend was busy but cold and gross out so I feel like it might have put a damper on everything. I barely took photos even though I was out and about the whole weekend!

Friday night I was in the mood for italian (which never happens) so we headed down to a place I like and it was packed. Instead of waiting 2 hours we walked around the corner to Piccolo Sogno and got a seat right away. It ended up being an expensive dinner but it was all delicious and cutesy and romantic. Then we went home and watched Doctor Strange! We are about 4 movies behind in our Marvel countdown to Infinity War.

Turns out if you want great pictures of your food you shouldn’t let me take them!

Seafood Mix (Calamari, shrimp, fish, scallops)

The best gnocchi I have ever had!!


Wild Boar spaghetti

Saturday was a cold and rainy day! I headed out to Target later in the day after Thenewguy told me there were defnitely some cute things from Hunter that I might want. Unfortunately the backpacks were gone immediately. Though you can probably thank the assholes on ebay selling them for 2-3x the price they were in store for that.

Saturday night I hosted a “girls night out” meetup and so many people bailed because of weather but it ended up working out anyway.
We went to City Social for dinner…I won’t even bother sharing the picture becuase the food sucked. They also let me make a reservation even though they were supposed to close at that time and then called me 2 hours before trying to get me to change the reservation. Which since I had a group was not possible. They rushed us through our meal, while half the staff stood at the bar talking to each other and waiting for us to finish.

Headed out to Hubbard Inn…for some drinks and ended up dancing the night away there! I love the atmosphere and look there!