Fajita Marinade

My mother-in-law and I were recently shopping at Costco on a Saturday. She asked me what I'd like for Sunday dinner and I quickly answered "fajitas!"
As we walked through the store, testing all the samples we came across a lady sampling beef. It was delicious! I asked the lady what kind of seasoning she used and she told me that she had been marinading the meat in 7-up and McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning. The 7-up tenderizes the meat and the steak seasoning gives it a lot of flavor.

My mother-in-law marinated the steak while before church on Sunday so it was nice and tender by dinnertime. My hubby cooked up the meat while we got the rest of the fajita fix-ins ready. I like sauteed red peppers & onions, sour cream, homemade guacamole, shredded cheese and, of course, freshly cooked tortillas. By freshly cooked I don't mean that I made the dough, but I like to buy the raw tortillas at Costco and cook them up right before we eat.

So good! Everybody went back for 2nds & 3rds!

Honey Chicken

I got this recipe a few weeks ago and have already made this chicken 3 times!  My kids LOVE it and it's SO easy!

Honey Chicken
1/2 C honey
1/2 C melted butter
1/4 C mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder
Mix together and pout over an 8x8in pan full of chicken breasts.  Bake on 350 for 50-60 min or until chicken is cooked through.  Serve on rice.

I have to double this for my family and use a 9x13 pan of chicken, and I use chicken tenders instead of chicken breasts.

Grilled Salmon with Veggies

So I almost feel like this is cheating for the weekly ingredient, but it does have cilantro in it, so here goes. By the way, we LOVE cilantro at our house! We use it in a lot of things, but this is what we had tonight, so I was thinking about it when I saw the ingredient of the week.

I buy frozen salmon at Costco or Sam's Club and they come prepackaged in serving sizes. I just defrost the meat, then put it on a piece of tin foil. We add whatever veggies we happen to have in the fridge, but tonight's was especially yummy, so here's what was in it:

Salmon
One chopped zucchini
One lime (squeezed over the salmon before cooking)
One diced tomato
Cilantro, diced up small
One small chopped onion (whichever kind you like)
A few cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Just defrost the salmon (if you get frozen like me), put it all together in the tin foil and roast it on the barbecue for a few minutes on each side. It's really tasty! Even my husband will eat this, and he's not real big on fish.

I paired it with mashed potatoes and asparagus, but it is also good with rice and broccoli or your favorite veggie.

nothing new....

.....but still delicious! My favorite way to do potatoes is roasting them with the lipton onion soup mix. I love it this way, I especially love using the leftovers as hashbrowns the next morning!

Oh, one other thing I like to do with potatoes is to do "baked" potatoes in my crockpot. I wash them off, pile them in the crockpot, sprinkle with a little salt (it helps the skins get a little crunchy) and cook them on low until they are nice and soft. This is a great way to have baked potatoes in summer, you don't heat up your whole house! I make a whole bunch and then I can use them in other stuff for a few days, once again, they make awesome hashbrowns the next morning!! Just dice them up, put them in a fry pan with a little olive oil, or butter, and salt. Then let them get brown and crispy! This is the only way my three year old will eat potatoes, and it is SO SO easy!!

Pasta Salad

This is perfect for summer and I am always asked for this simple recipe.

1 16 oz box tri-colored rotini pasta
1 large crown broccoli, chopped
2 thick slices Provalone cheese, cubed
2 thick slices hard salami, cubed
1 can large black olives, sliced
1 16 oz bottle Ken's Italian with Aged Romano salad dressing

Cook pasta till al dente. Rinse with cold water, drain, and pour into large serving bowl and add everything but the dressing. Chill till ready to serve(chill dressing separately). Take dressing bottle and do not shake. Pour off half the oil at the top of the bottle, then shake the rest and pour on pasta till well covered, about half a bottle. Add more dressing if necessary or on leftovers.

This is a very colorful dish and easy to pick stuff out or add stuff in.

Pasta!!

We had this at a friends house recently and it was SO yummy, I'm planning on making it for dinner tonight!

CHICKEN, GARLIC & SUNDRIED TOMATO PASTA   

INGREDIENTS

1 (16 ounce) package farfalle pasta
1/2 cup butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cooked skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces (what I usually do is 2 or even 2 ½ large chicken breasts – a little more chicken than what this asks for, and a little less pasta – maybe 12-13 ounces pasta so it is more meaty but the “sauce ratio” is still the same)
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated in water and chopped into pieces
2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese (I use more, probably about ¼ cup or so)

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot with boiling salted water cook farfalle pasta until al dente. Drain.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan. Add garlic cloves and cook until garlic browns. Add the cream of chicken soup and milk, stirring until smooth. Stir in the dried parsley, salt, and ground fresh pepper. Let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Add bite size chicken pieces and hydrated sun dried tomatoes. Simmer for 6 to 8 minutes. Mix in grated Romano cheese.

Toss cooked and drained pasta with chicken sauce. Serve warm.

Easy Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

I have married a big kid. Frequently when we go out to eat, my husband will still order macaroni and cheese. He loves it. He is always asking me to find a good homemade mac and cheese recipe. I've tried several.

I think this one is one of his favorites. And I made this for the missionaries last time we had them over for dinner and they loved it. (I tripled the batch, and it was ALL gone by the time they were done with it.) This recipe is from Kraftfoods.com.

It is easy, and really good, if you like mac and cheese...

1 can (5 oz.) evaporated milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

1/2 lb. (8 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut up

1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

2 cups (8 oz.) elbow macaroni, cooked, drained

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Mix milk and eggs in large bowl. Add butter, red pepper, prepared cheese product and Cheddar cheese. Stir in macaroni; mix lightly.

POUR into 1-1/2-quart casserole.

BAKE 20 minutes or until heated through.

Enjoy!

Ham Tortilla Roll Ups

This is a great left over ham recipe. We like to have it with our leftover baked ham, or even deli sliced ham also. It is easy, we usually always have the stuff on hand, and the WHOLE family likes it!

Make a medium white sauce:

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

1/2 t. salt

1 c. milk

-melt butter over medium heat, add flour, salt, and a dash of pepper, mix well. Add milk all at once and stir constantly until the mixture thickens and bubbles. Once it has thickened, add a handful or two of cheese (we like swiss, but I use whatever I have on hand).

For the Filling:

Tortillas

Ham (cubed, shredded, sliced)

fresh diced tomatoes (we have used petite diced canned and it works too)

Cheese

Any other toppings you want, we occasionally add diced green chilis, but other veggies would be good too, maybe some bell peppers or olives?

-lay out tortillas, sprinkle with cheese down the middle, then top with ham and other toppings. Add a little spoonful of sauce, then roll up tightly and place in a 9x9 baking dish. Once the pan is full of tortillas (I think I usually do 6-8) pour the rest of the sauce over top and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. I like to turn the broiler on for the last five minutes, it makes the tortillas a little crispy. Enjoy!

Shredded Chicken Enchiladas

* uber kid friendly *

4 c. cooked shredded chicken

1/4 c. flour3

cubes chicken bouillon

2 c. shredded cheese

1 can chopped green chilies

1/4 c. butter

2.5 c. boiling water

8 oz. sour cream

10 tortilla shellschives (to taste)

*I also add 5 oz. finely minced frozen spinach -- we love the texture, and I like to squeeze in as many veggies as possible*

*Boil water, add bouillon and dissolve.

*Melt butter, add flour -- add into water & bouillon, stir until thickened. Remove from heat, put into bowl, add sour cream.*

Set aside two cups of sauce.

*Add chives, chicken, cheese *& spinach*

*Roll into tortillas.

*Top with sauce, sprinkle with cheese.

*Bake at 350 for 25-35 min.

We love it

*This reheats well, too. I use this on busy days -- I like to make it early in the day, and then pop in the oven when we get home from whatever events we have. Enjoy! *

Martha's

Here is my pasta recipe, it is our favorite way to "lasagna" - the recipe is one I've had since college, so it doesn't really give specific measurments, you can just make it up, make more or less as you go. Good luck!!

Brown some hamburger and season with salt and pepper or whatever you want. Garlic, basil? Add some tomato sauce (probably about an 8 oz can) In a big bowl mix cream cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream - equal parts of all, it is usually small tubs of sour cream and cottage cheese and an 8 oz cream cheese. Oh, don't forget to be cooking some noodles at the same time.

Now, start to layer. Noodles, cream cheese mix, noodles, meat, olives, and grate a little cheddar or parmesan cheese on top. I promise your family and hubby will love this. We can eat almost a whole 9 x 13 pan in one night for dinner!!!

Chicken Danielle

This creamy, wine infused dish makes a romantic dinner. Served over pasta, and filled with tender chicken and sauteed mushrooms, it is a great all in one meal when served with a salad. It takes a bit of work, but tastes restaurant quality.


6 tablespoons butter, divided
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
¾ cup heavy cream
6 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
½ tsp chopped fresh rosemary
¾ cup Marsala wine, divided
¼ tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 (12 oz) box cooked linguini pasta

1. Melt 4 Tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to skillet. Cook until halfway done and golden brown on both sides, about 4-7 minutes each side. When browned, remove chicken to a 9x13 inch baking dish. Set skillet aside, reserving drippings.
2. In a separate skillet, melt the 2 remaining Tbsp butter over medium high heat and sauté mushrooms. Add ¼ cup of the wine and stir; let reduce over low heat for 5 minutes. Set mushrooms and drippings aside, keeping warm.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
4. Add both cream soups to reserved chicken drippings. Mix soups well with drippings till no lumps remain. Heat skillet back to medium high heat. Slowly add cream, stirring constantly. Add remaining wine and rosemary and thyme. Simmer till bubbly, then add mushrooms and stir.
5. Pour sauce over chicken breasts. Cover with foil and bake for 30-45 minutes.
6. Cook pasta according to package directions. Add a little butter or oil to prevent sticking.
7. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta.
Serves 4

Princess Pasta

I noticed the ingredient this week was parmesan and thought it's about time I posted something on here, so here we go. This is a really yummy dish that a friend mad and since it's simple to make I have loved it ever since. My husband and I enjoy it a lot and there are hardly leftovers. A good side dish for this is some steamed broccoli with lemon. On little side note is that I do not like mushrooms so I don't add them and sometimes I do not have minced onion or parsley on hand so I leave those out and it's still pretty good.

Ingredients:
2 T butter
1 T minced onion
4 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/8 t salt
4 oz. ham, cut in thin strips
1 T fresh parsley, minced
1 pound short pasta such as penne
½ pint whipping cream
1 c grated Parmesan cheese

Melt the butter in a skillet on medium heat. Add onion and sauté it until soft and white. Add mushrooms and salt. When mushrooms are done, stir in the ham and parsley. Remove the skillet from the stove. Cook the pasta and drain completely (do not rinse). Return the pasta
to its pot on medium high heat. Pour in the cream. Stir the pasta until the cream begins to bubble. Add 3/4 cup of the cheese. Blend well and remove the pot from the heat source. Stir in the ham mixture, holding some back for topping. Put the pasta in a serving dish, scraping cream from the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the pasta with remaining cheese and arrange the ham topping in the center. Garnish the pasta with parsley. Enjoy!

Chicken Supreme

Yum! I got this recipe from my mom a couple months ago and it's so good! And it's perfect for Sundays because you can have it cooking while you're at church!

Chicken Supreme
2-3 (2 oz) pkgs thinly sliced lunch meat ham
8 slices bacon
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups sour cream or plain yogurt
2 cans cream of chicken soup

Night before: Put layer of ham slices in a greased 9x13in pan. Roll strip of bacon around each breast and place on top of ham. Mix soup and sour cream together and put over top of chicken. Refrigerate overnight.
Bake covered (otherwise it will be dry!) 300 degrees 3-4 hours.
*Cook on top of a cookie sheet as sauce tends to boil over.

Chicken over Rice...with bacon

This is yummy!!!

In a 9x13 pan lay bacon in a single layer covering the bottom. Then add 2 cups rice top with enough chicken to cover. and add 4 cups water, then add 1 can cream of celery soup (without the water). However I like it with 1 can cream of..celery, chicken and mushroom. Yum yum yum!!! bake in a 350 oven for 1 hour or until rice is done and chicken is cooked.

Sloppy Toms

And, here's my oats recipe. This sounds like a really wierd way to use oats, and it is, but it is really yummy. Apparently the oats help to thicken the sauce, plus they are healthy! It is my favorite sloppy joe recipe, besides Manwich! :) I also love that the recipe calls for ground turkey which is much leaner. I've used hamburger if I don't have ground turkey, but you can get ground turkey at a really good price at Costco, and of course, I freeze it. I think I'm the freeze queen.

Anyways, here's the recipe, we really like to put swiss cheese on our buns and toast them (that sounds a bit scandalous) and it is YUM. This is a family fun recipe so, click here for the full recipe. Oh, one more thing, you can freeze this if you make double! :)

Harvest Chowder

Okay, I know this is super late, sorry! Here's my evaporated milk recipe:

Harvest Chowder

1 med. onion diced

1/3 c. butter

1/3 c. flour

1 can evaporated milk

1 c. water

1 t. basil

2 cans shoepeg corn (I used frozen super sweet corn from Costco, Shoepeg is really good small, white kernal corn)

4-5 cups grated zuchini (I used 1 zuchini, and added 1 grated carrot too)

1/8 t. pepper

3/4 t. salt

1 can chicken broth

1 TB parsley flakes

2 diced tomatoes (I used one can petite diced tomatoes)

Saute onion, carrot, and zuchini in butter. Add flour and evap. milk to make a white sauce. Let is thicken and bubble, then add water, spices, corn, and chicken broth. Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Add fresh diced tomatoes just before serving, or if you use canned, I add it when I add the corn.

Enjoy! It is a great time for soups, and this is super yummy, and has lots of veggies. I think it would be good with chicken too.

Chicken and Wild Rice Salad with Strawberries

Okay, when you look at this recipe, you are going to think it sounds really gross. I thought that too. Then I tried it and I LOVE it. I ate this at a RS training meeting and everyone loved it so much they had to send out the recipe. They served it with a croissant, and it was delicious. It is a great summer salad or baby/wedding shower salad. I hope you enjoy it!

Chicken Strawberry
Wild Rice Salad
This serves about 6-8 people

2 cups cooked diced chicken
1 cup halved strawberries
¾ cup cooked wild rice
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
½ cup blanched (not cooked) broccoli (small) flowerets
½ cup chopped green onions
½ cup slivered almonds
½ cup crumbled bacon
1 tablespoon white onion, very thinly sliced (I don't add this, there are onions in the dressing and I'm not a huge onion fan, so this is a little overwhelming to me)

Dressing
Using a blender, blend the following together:
1 bunch of chopped green onions
½ cup sugar
¾ cup canola or vegetable oil
(do not use olive oil, it is too strong a flavor)
1 tablespoon prepared honey mustard
¼ cup white wine vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon orange zest (sometimes i don't have this so I just leave it out)
1 tablespoon lime juice

Once blended, add in:
1 heaping tablespoon poppy seeds
Pour prepared dressing over top just before serving. Pour to
moisten, do not drench.

French Onion Soup

I have never ordered French Onion soup at a restaurant, it just sounded like it would be weird. But Rob really likes it so I made it one day. It was a huge hit! We both loved it. So, here you go!

6 c thinly sliced onions (I know this is alot, but they are cooked and get so soft that you don't have to chew them or anything, they're so yummy!)

1 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
1/3 c vegetable oil
6 c beef broth
8 slices French bread (3/4 in thick), toasted
1/2 c shredded Parmesan or Swiss cheese

In a big sauce pan cook the onions, sugar and pepper in oil over med-low heat for 20 minutes or until the onions are carmelized, stirring frequently.

Add the broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Ladle the soup in ovenproof bowls. Top each with a slice of French bread; sprinkle with cheese. Broil 4-6 inches from heat until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

*I don't have ovenproof bowls for soup, so I just took the slices of bread, put them on a cookie sheet and put cheese on them. Then broiled them for 2-3 minutes and then put that on the soup when they were done, it was delicious!!

Cream of Broccoli Soup

One of the greatest things about colder weather is having a nice bowl of hot soup. Yummy. I really love to make this super easy soup and then put it in bread bowls. It is AMAZING!

1 c chopped broccoli (fresh or frozen)
1 c water
1 tsp chicken base
3 TBSP margarine
1/4 c chopped onion
3 TBSP flour
1 c milk
1 c heavy whipping cream

Combine water and chicken base in saucepan. Add broccoli. Cover and cook over medium heat until tender (about 5 min). Meanwhile, melt butter in a frying pan. Add onions and cook over medium heat until the onions are soft. Add flour and stir well. Cook over low heat about 3 minutes until the roux is well formed and light tan. (just in case some don't know, this is going to help make your soup a little thicker)

Remove from heat and add milk and cream, stirring constantly. Return to heat and cook until think, stirring well. Add the milk mixture to the cooked broccoli-broth mixture and heat through.

Makes: 4 cups

Really, this is so yummy when you put it in a bread bowl! Enjoy!!

Also... I made an awesome discovery. When Kara put on the yummy Cafe Rio recipes I got really excited. I noticed that she didn't have the pork recipe, which is my favorite. So I went a-looking. I came across this great blog. This woman has some great recipes on her blog! You should really check it out. And I made the Pork salad yesterday. It was pretty involved, but the end result was to die for! I haven't been to Cafe Rio in a long, long time so this was such an exciting thing for me. I've had it for every meal since then. It made tons! Rob loved it too! (of course, Rob loves everything)

Oh, and p.s. the tomatillo dressing Kara put on here, amazing. I even poured it on my pasta noodles we ate tonight, it was so good!!

Vegetable Soup with Vermicelli (Martha style)

I found this on Martha's website and I think that it is the same one my mom made last December...I pretty much ate the whole potful of soup by myself. It's that good. Call me crazy but I like that there is no meat in it (I'm not counting the chicken broth.) Sometimes I feel like every meal we have has meat in it and it is refreshing to have a veggie meal with a side of bread.

(Serves 10...unless I'm invited and then...well, it serves 1.)
Ingredients:
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large red peppers, cut into 1-by-1/4-inch strips
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 cups diced potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
8 cups rich chicken broth
2 pounds green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 small zucchini, cut lengthwise into quarters and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/2 pound vermicelli
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsley

Directions:
In a heavy 6-quart casserole, saute the onions in the oil until soft. Add the garlic, red peppers, and carrots. Cook 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and stock and simmer until potatoes are almost tender.
Add the green beans and zucchini and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in the vermicelli and continue cooking until the vermicelli is al dente. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with parsley. Serve piping hot.