Tamale Casserole

I already know that I'm going to make this again VERY soon! This tastes pretty damn near just like an actual tamale! And it only took 30 minutes (and like an actual 30 minutes... not the kind of 30 minutes that those professional cooks say, when in reality it actually takes double that time!) and well, minus the meat though. But that's what the crock pot is for!

All you need is your favorite meat, shredded, and this:

2 cups shredded cheese

an 8.5 oz box corn muffin mix

1/3 cup milk

1 egg

14 oz can cream-style corn

4 oz can green chilis

1 tsp cumin

salt & pepper

also a can of enchilada sauce 

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix the muffin mix, milk, egg, corn, chilis, cumin, and salt & pepper, and HALF the bag of cheese (about 1 cup) and pour into a sprayed 13x9 pan. 

Bake for 15 minutes.

After the first round in the oven, poke the "cornbread" and pour the enchilada sauce over all the holes, top with your desired shredded meat (chicken, pork, or beef) and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese.

** for the pork, I used a pork tenderloin and cooked it in the crock pot all day with simply root beer :) Also, I was able to shred the meat during the first round in the oven... major time saver!

Toss back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

Top with sour cream, for sure! 

P.S. I also just got the husband approved, "this is good babe!"

Burrito Bowl w/Chipotle Sauce

Wow! It's been over a month since I've blogged a meal!? And I had no excuse because it was summer vacation... hmm... well I'm quite disappointed in myself. 

Hopefully this easy burrito bowl will make up for it!

For the Bowl:

rice

salsa

tomatoes

onions

corn

black beans

lettuce

cheese

(and anything else you can think of!)

I've yet to find the perfect Spanish rice recipe (although I did skim through one earlier on Facebook that I might use next time!) However, for this, I simply made white rice in my handy dandy rice cooker, and mixed in salsa, corn, tomatoes, and onions. 

Then, for the homemade chipotle sauce, all you need is a Magic Bullet or a small blender and:

1/2 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream 

1 tsp adobo sauce (from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce)

2 gloves garlic

juice from 1 lime

dash of cumin 

Throw it all in the mixer, and that's it!

I'm kind of a baby when it comes to spice, so you can actually throw a chipotle pepper in there... I couldn't hang though. 

I made guacamole and had chips with this meal! Can't wait for the hubby to get home so he can try it out!

Taco Pie

This is a perfect meal for a family of 4-6... it's a fun twist on taco night!

You'll need:

1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)
6 flour tortillas
1 lb ground beef 
1 onion
1 red pepper, chopped
1 small can green chilies 
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C cheddar cheese

1. Brush a 9" pie plate with olive oil, and spread 1 spoonful of the diced tomatoes on the bottom. Then place 4 tortillas so that it creates the bottom layer (they will overlap.)

2. Now cook the meat mixture! In a large skillet, brown the beef, and add the onion, pepper, and chilies. Drain the fat, and add the chili powder and cinnamon (I know, cinnamon?) Then stir in half of the remaining tomatoes, and cook for about 2 minutes. Pour onto tortillas in pie plate. 

3. Cut the remaining tortillas into strips, and layer over the pie. 

4. Sprinkle with cheese, and the rest of the tomatoes.

5. Bake at 400 degrees, uncovers, for about 20-25 minutes. 

Top with cilantro for that extra touch! Serve with sour cream/guacamole! 

Cobb Salad with a Garlic Herb Vinaigrette

Just a slight twist on the traditional Cobb...


For the Salad

lettuce
chicken
bacon
blue cheese
tomato
green onion
avocado










Garlic Herb Vinaigrette Dressing

3/4 C extra virgin olive oil
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 tsp sugar
1 big or 2 small garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper

Homemade French Fries

These were actually pretty easy... Slightly time consuming, but worth it! And the whole bowl of fries was only ONE potato!

All you need is:
1 russet potato
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp garlic salt
1 tsp onion powder 
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika 
Water
Vegetable oil 

First, peel the  potato. Slice into french fry pieces and soak in water.

Sift the flour, garlic salt, onion power, salt and paprika. Add water until it's a batter consistency.

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet. I used my electric skillet and I had the temperature set at 375°. Coat them in the flour batter, and set them in hot oil, NOT TOUCHING. Once there browned, set them on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. :)

Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches

Craving something sweet? Try these Hawaiian chicken sandwiches! :)

You'll need:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 Tbsp honey

4 garlic gloves, minced

1 can crushed pineapple with juice

juice from 1 lime

Combine all these, and pour over chicken breasts in the slow cooker

Shred chicken in big pieces once cooked. Place on rolls.

I had these with shredded lettuce, cilantro, and onion.

Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is not your typical chocolate chip cookie :) the steps are slightly different, and it requires separating one egg yoke (i know, difficult right?) but as long as you've got cornstarch on hand, and the patience to chill the dough either all day, or overnight... you're golden! Golden brown... like the cookies will be! ;)

Ok, enough chit chat... let's get started. Here's what you'll need:

2 & 1/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 & 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt

3/4 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C white sugar
3/4 C unsalted butter, melted
1 egg + 1 egg yoke
1 Tbsp vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips
(I've used both milk chocolate chips, and jumbo semi-sweet chips... use jumbo semi-sweet chocolate chips for sure!) 

You'll need one large bowl, and 1 medium bowl for this... and NO HAND MIXER! :)

In the large bowl, sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt.) 

In the medium bowl, melt the butter. Then add the sugars, and whisk.

Add the whole egg, and then 1 egg yoke, whisk. Then add the vanilla. Whisk. 

So you've got the dry, and the wet. Pour the wet sugar mixture into the flour mixture.

Stir with a wooden spoon.

It'll turn to dough eventually ;) Then fold in the chocolate chips.

Now, the hard part. CHILL THE DOUGH... for at least 3 hours, but I chill it overnight. 

Now, the dough gets very hard in the chilling process, so I take the dough out at least a few hours before I want to form the balls. (See, I told you, patience is needed) This cookie sheet shown is a 16 x 12. So as you can see, they are big balls of dough! About the size of a lime maybe... 2-3 Tbsp of dough. 

Then the key to making them LOOK like bakery cookies (because they will taste like them!) is placing a few chocolate chips on top of the raw dough before putting in the oven. 

The temp for these delicious cookies is 325, at about 10-11 minutes. You cant them SLIGHTLY browned when pulled out.

This recipe makes about 16 bakery style cookies! 

Peanut Butter Heaven

Again, made this for my mom for Mother's Day. She LOVES peanut butter... and lemme tell you, I wish I could have recorded her reaction to this pie.

I think the key is the pie crust. It's not your typical graham cracker pie crust.



Also, this requires an overnight chill.



And by the way, she's already requested this for her birthday dessert..... her birthday isn't until October.





Crust:

1 1/2 C vanilla wafer cookie crumbs
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp peanut butter
2 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter and peanut butter. Add in the cookie crumbs and sugar, and form into the pie pan like a crust. If you can, chill before baking. Bake for about 10 minutes.


Filling:

8 oz package whipped cream cheese
1 C creamy peanut butter
3/4 C powdered sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
12 oz THAWED cool whip (whipped topping)

Blend cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add in cool whip and mix more, until light and fluffy looking. (If the cool whip is not fully thawed, the peanut butter mixture will do a weird clumping together thing... just let it sit.)

Pour into crust.... and enjoy it the next day!

Shrimp Enchiladas w/ Jalapeno Cream Sauce

I made this amazingly delicious recipe for my lovely mother for Mother's Day... I doubled the recipe that I will put here, and there was enough for 6 people, and a bunch of leftovers! It's a little involved, so prep to help yourself out!  

And also, I apologize for no pictures... I originally was not going to blog this one... but was convinced to put it up ;)

Here's what you'll need:

1 lb shrimp, peel and deveined

olive oil

salt and pepper

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 C chicken broth

3/4 cup sour cream

2 jalapenos, minced

1/2 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper

1/4 C cilantro

2 gloves garlic

1 small onion, chopped

2 cups shredded green cabbage

2 carrots, peeled and grated

2-3 cups baby spinach

1/4 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

12 small corn tortillas

2 cups monterey jack cheese

Ok, first get the shrimp ready. Peel and devein, and toss in olive oil and salt & pepper. I cook mine in the cast iron skillet, but you can cook them however. Roasting in the oven is probably easy (400 degrees for about 7-8 minutes.) 

After they're cooked, and ready to handle, chop them into thirds (bite-size pieces.)

For the sauce (which is key to this recipe!) Melt butter in a large saucepan. Whisk in the flour until lightly browned. Gradually whisk in the chicken stock, and cook until incorporated (a few minutes.) Stir in the sour cream. Add Jalapenos and garlic powder, and simmer for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper and remove from heat. Then add the cilantro in.

Now, for the filling. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large saucepan. Add the minced garlic and onion, and cook for a few minutes. Add cabbage, carrot, spinach, oregano, and cayenne. Cook until the spinach is not completely wilted. Remove from heat and add shrimp, stir. 

Now you're ready to assemble these little masterpieces! Pout a tiny bit of sauce to coat the bottom of a 13x9 pan. Roll tortillas with shrimp filling and cheese, and place seam side down. Repeat, repeat, repeat! Pour sauce over the enchiladas (saving some extra for after their baked!) and top with more cheese if you still have some. 

Bake at 375 for about 15-20 minutes... you're welcome ;)

Baked Chicken Tenders

Dredge chicken in a ranch/hot sauce mix, then dip in bread crumbs. 

Place on a cooking rack which is placed over a lined cookie sheet. I topped these with with salt, pepper, and rosemary. 

Bake at 350-375 for 20-30 minutes! :)

Beef Tips

Caution: These are not advisable for those hot summer days... These takes a while in the oven, so while it's incredibly easy to throw together and get in the oven... it has a tendency to heat the place up! 


...Now that I've got you excited about heating up your house... here's what ya need! ;)

2 lbs beef tenderloin tips/stew meat
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 packet brown gravy mix
1 cup water

Mix everything together and coat meat. Pour in a pan, cover with foil, and bake. 300 degrees for about 3 hours. This helps ensure the perfect tenderness! 

Lemon Crisp Cookies

This light and fluffy cookie recipe credit goes to my little sister, Tara! She so kindly included this with my recipe collection I received at my bridal shower!

It is probably one of THE EASIEST cookie recipes to make... and I have made A LOT of cookies in my lifetime ;)

All you need is 5 ingredients!

1 package lemon cake mix

1 cup rice krispies cereal

1/2 cup melted butter

1 beaten egg

1 tsp grated lemon peel

Mix cake mix, butter, egg, and lemon peel, and stir in the rice krispies.

Drop rounded spoonfuls on lined cookie sheet, and bake for 9-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Fish Tacos w/an Avocado Cream Sauce

My husband gets tired of endless chicken dinners... so I try'n switch it up (even tho I am not a huge fan of fish!) These are made with tilapia, but could also be made with red snapper. 

They are really easy to make! While the fish is in the oven, you can prep the avocado sauce, & lime slaw. 

Here is all of what you will need:

(yields about 6 tacos)

roughly 1 lb fish

1 avocado

2 Tbsp greek yogurt (or sour cream)

1 small jalapeno, diced thinly

1 Tbsp finely chopped red onion

1 Tbsp chopped cilantro

3 limes

1 small napa cabbage

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

tomatoes (optional)
Tortillas

1) Line a baking dish or cookie sheet with foil, and lay fish across. Season with salt and pepper, and bake. (Again, I used tilapia, and cooked them for 25 minutes at 375.)

Ok, now time to make the "guacamole!"

Mash together the avocado, greek yogurt, onions, cilantro, jalapeno, and juice of 1 lime. 

Slaw time!

I LOVE napa cabbage... it's SO EASY to chop!

Add vegetable oil and juice of 1 lime to chopped cabbage. (I might add a teaspoon or so of sugar to cut the citrus flavor next time.)

By this time the fish should be almost ready! Another easy thing here is that fish flakes apart PERFECTLY! 

My husband preferred to eat them as tostadas... but however you eat them, they're deliciously refreshing! 

Easy Yogurt Pie

This is your perfect "go-to dessert" for Spring/Summer! The one made for this post was key lime, but can be made with ANY yogurt of your choice!

All you need is:

a pie crust

8 oz cool whip

3 yogurts

Now... I am a sucker for a great graham cracker crust... and so if you don't  want to buy a store-bought one, here's an easy homemade one:

1/3 cup melted unsalted butter

1 1/2 cup crushed graham cracker

1/4 cup sugar

1) combine all ingredients, and press into a pie pan

2) chill for roughly an hour

3) bake at 375 for 8 minutes

Ok, so for the filling, all you do is mix the cool whip and yogurt, and pour into crust!

This was made for St. Patrick's Day, so I finished it off with green sprinkles.

Again, make this with ANY yogurt you'd like!