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Due to an excessively hot Wisconsin summer, the electric bills at our house have been sky high for the past couple of months. High enough that our monthly budget plan was blown straight out the window along with the hot air! For Brian and I, that meant some budget adjustments were in order.

After winning a civilized debate round of rock, paper, scissors, Brian decided that we should remove Nutella and bacon from our household. Oh wait… that was the nightmare I had last week. Disregard.

All kidding aside, the most sensible place to make cuts was in our grocery budget, so I spent a little extra time cutting and using coupons, and price matching advertised sales from local grocery store ads over at Wal-Mart. One problem area is protein. It's just so freaking expensive! When it comes to good sources of protein, Brian and I are both big carnivores. Chicken, turkey, beef, pork, fish… you name it. The idea of consuming legumes (dried beans, lentils, etc.) never really pops into my head as a first choice for protein…until I think about adding cheese to the dish. Glorious cheese! I was born and raised in the Dairyland state and one of the major reasons that I still live here despite my disgust with 6-month long winters is due to my love of great dairy products...and the Green Bay Packers.

This recipe is so economical, if you find items on sale and use coupons, it's possible to feed a family of 4 this hearty dinner for around $10. What's better is how easy it is to prepare. I used my Panini maker to grill these up. Seeing the hatch marks on the tortilla makes for great eye appeal. If you don't have one, you can use a skillet to grill them in, or you can even make them on a grill outside. It's a fun dish to use to get your kids cooking with you, too.

Quesadillas are SO versatile! You can fill them with nearly any ingredients you want and they'll taste fantastic. Heck, I used to babysit for a little boy who loved peanut butter and banana quesadillas.

Here's what you'll need to make my variation of this recipe:

Corn and Black Bean Quesadillas

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

8 medium, taco-sized flour tortillas

2 cups of shredded Taco blend cheese

5 ounces (1/2 of a can) of green enchilada sauce

1 cup corn    
1 cup black beans
1 jalapeno (chopped)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup green onions (chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro (chopped)

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix the enchilada sauce, corn, black beans, diced chiles, chili powder, cumin, lime juice, green onions and cilantro. Stir occasionally until mixture is heated through.
   
2. Cover one tortilla with a sprinkling of cheese and 1/2 cup of the mixture. Leave approximately 1/4" edge to avoid the cheese from oozing out of the quesadilla. Top with another small handful of cheese and the other tortilla.
   
3. Brush the bottom plate of the Panini maker and the outside of the top tortilla with vegetable oil.
   
4. Preheat a Panini maker. Once preheated, place the prepared quesadilla between the plates and grill until the quesadilla is golden brown on both sides and the cheese is melted.
   
5. Garnish with sour cream and salsa. Serve with Spanish rice and garden salad with this delicious cilantro-lime vinaigrette dressing from Eating Well.
   

* If you prefer to make this recipe even healthier, you can use low-fat or non-fat alternatives for the cheese and sour cream.