Clam Chowder

I think I may have posted this one already, but it is really good.

Clam Chowder

2 8-ounce bottles clam juice
3 cans chopped clams
2-3 large baking potatoes, peeled and well chopped
½ cup butter
1 large onion, minced
¾ cup flour
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 ½ cups milk
salt & pepper

1. Sauté onion in butter in a large pot. When onion is browning, add flour and cook 2-4 minutes.
2. Add clams and juice to the pot and bring to a boil.
3. Meanwhile, boil potatoes until just tender.
4. Add cooked potatoes to the clam pot when it is boiling.
5. Reduce to simmer and add milk and cream. Season to your liking with salt and pepper.
6. Serve hot with bread or crackers.

Serves 4-6

And in case you don't know how to make cocktail sauce, here's one for that:

Combine all ingredients:
2 Tbsp horseradish
½ cup ketchup
1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp lemon juice
½ cup chili sauce
Salt and pepper

When well mixed, cover and chill.

Makes about 1 cup

Use this for fried shrimp or cooked shrimp. I always make a bunch before we go to Rocky Point cause all we do there is eat shrimp!

Jalapeno Jelly

I'm not a huge spicy fan and I'm not a Jalapeno fan at all, but every Christmas my mom makes this jelly and we eat it with crackers and cream cheese until every last drop is gone! It's delicious and addicting! So try it! I helped her make it last year and was surprised at how easy it was. I always thought jam was hard!

Jalapeno Jelly

1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cups green bell pepper (about four) seeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup canned chopped jalapeno chili peppers
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup white vinegar
2 bags liquid pectin
green food coloring
Ritz crackers
Cream cheese

Blend together lemon juice and both kinds of peppers in a blender. Add sugar and vinegar and blend some more until it's mixed. Then in a large pan (this bubbles up high so make sure your pan is big!) boil mixture for 5 min. Then mix in pectin and food coloring (enough to make it green) and pour into jars and seal. Let it set overnight on a counter top.

Now this part is crucial. After it's set up take a Ritz cracker, spread on some cream cheese and then some of this jelly and pop it in your mouth! YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM!!!!!!
It does have a kick to it so don't forget the cream cheese!

And I don't actually know how to seal a jar. I just put the tops on and let the jars sit on my counter overnight so the jelly sets up. But then we eat it after that so we never have a real need to seal it! But if anyone knows how to seal a jar feel free to teach us! :)

Homemade BBQ sauce

I may have posted this before, so if I have, sorry! We eat this bbq sauce on everything, it is delicious, and easy! We use it for pulled meat (chicken, pork) sandwiches, with beans, liked baked beans, on pizza (bbq chicken pizza), meatball sandwiches, and it can even be frozen.

BBQ Sauce

1 32 oz. bottle of ketchup
1 cup water
1/4 cup prepared mustard (I like to use spicy brown, but any kind works)
1 c. brown sugar, packed
1 TB dried minced onion
2 TB liquid smoke

Mix all together in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a simmer for a few minutes (I usually do like 10 minutes or so). Sauce can be stored in the refridgerator for weeks or may be frozen.

PS - when I make Cafe Rio salad, I do a pork roast, shred it, and then put this bbq sauce on it. It is delicious!!!

Mexican!!!

I LOVE Mexican food. I've also been really bad at posting recipes lately, sorry, but I've been out of town. So, I decided to post two of my favorites. Anyone who is from or has been to Utah, knows about Cafe Rio, right? Well, I love it, so I like to make Cafe Rio salad all the time, here's a recipe for their rice and their creamy tomatillo salad dressing. We even use the dressing as chip dip, we like it so much! I'm also posting a recipe for my favorite chicken marinade. The recipe says to marinade it then grill it, but I don't have a grill, so I just put the marinade and the chicken in my crockpot, cook it all together, then shred it for tostadas. Most of the time, I double the chicken so I can freeze a bag... this is by far my most favorite way to eat chicken and mexican food!!!!!

Chicken Tostadas

MARINADE:
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 to 4 limes)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil (plus more for brushing the tortillas)
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
TOSTADAS
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 4 ounces each)
8 small corn tortillas (5 to 6 inches in diameter)
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack, or more if desired
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
Optional toppings: salsa, guacamole, sour cream, cilantro, green onions

CAFE RIO DRESSING
2 cups mayonaisse
2 cups sour cream
10 sprigs of cilantro
3 tomatillos (green tomatoes looking things. They have a husk on them, you just peel it off, half the tomato and throw it in the blender)
2 green onions (washed and chopped)
2 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeno pepper (seeds and all - if you like it spicy. Sometimes I leave this out completely, or I add a can of green chilis)
juice of 1 lime
1 or 2 tsp. of salt (depends on how much salt you like)

Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Dressing lasts for 2 weeks in refrigerator.

Cafe Rio Rice:
4 tbls butter
2 1/2 cups rice
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp salt
juice of 4 small limes or 4 tbls lime juice
4 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp cumin

Put in a pot, bring to a boil, and simmer until rice is done. I had to add a little more water, and at the very end, I take it off the burner and I put the lid on to let it steam a little, that seems to make it just right. We eat this with any mexican food, put it on salad, and eat it with our tostadas.

Buen Provecho!

Buttermilk Syrup

Our easy meals (besides going out or ordering pizza) usually end being grilled sandwiches or spaghetti. Chicken Bundles and Tortilla Casserole are also pretty fast. But since I've already posted recipes for those then our other fall back dinner is pancakes! My kids LOVE pancakes so this is always a hit even if it's for dinner instead of breakfast. And I usually cook some bacon to go with it.
But here's the BEST part of our pancakes! Buttermilk Syrup! And I've always been a box pancake mix with store bought syrup mom before but then my mom gave me this recipe and it is SO SO SO SO good! And it's good for more than just pancakes! I think it would be good as a fruit dip or on ice cream! Yum... and it's easy to make! So here it is:

Buttermilk Syrup
1 stick butter
1/2 C buttermilk (or make your own by adding 1/2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar to 1/2 C milk)
1 C sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
Melt butter in saucepan. Add milk and sugar and stir to a boil. Remove from heat and add baking soda and vanilla. It will be runny at first but let it cool for a little bit and it will thicken. Make sure to lick the spoon!!!

Spinach Dip

Since we're on the topic of eating our veggies, and using Sour Cream is our weekly ingredient, I thought this was fitting. This is definately a way I eat more veggies, I love making this dip because it is easy, and often I don't even include the spinach - just depends on how fancy I want to be!

What you do:

• buy a packet of Knorr Veggie Soup/Dip mix
• follow the directions on the back
• serve with cut up veggies (I also like to dip toasted baguette bread in this... especially when I add the spinach)

It is a great tasting dip, great with veggies, toasted bread, or even pretzels. Plus it is easy and you don't really need to have anything weird to put in it. I usually always have sour cream and mayo in my fridge, so I love making this dip.

Homemade ginger ale and pumpkin butter

I know, I know...I have not posted my welcome profile posting yet....but I will soon, I promise!

I made two recipes this evening for our gathering tomorrow and they are so tasty that I had to quickly share them!

HOMEMADE GINGER ALE

2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 lb fresh ginger, cut into 1/4 inch thick "coins"
1 cinnamon stick
pinch of cayenne pepper
sparkling water

1. Bring sugar, ginger, cinnamon stick, and 2 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan. SImmer 5 minutes, then remove from heat, and stir in cayenne pepper. Let cool.
2. Strain liquid into small pitcher, and discard ginger and cinnamon (I kept the ginger, cut off the outside peel and made it into candied ginger instead of throwing it away). COver, and refrigerate until ready to use.
3. To serve, ladle 1/4 cup ginger syrup into tumbler filled with ice. Top with 3/4 cup sparkling water (6oz), and stir.

PUMPKIN BUTTER

2 1/2 cups pumpkin, cooked and mashed (or 1 can)
1/2 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 cup Apple cider, orange juice, or apple juice concentrate
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Cover and chill. Makes 3 cups.

Enjoy!

~Heathere