Spanish Rice

1 tsp. garlic powder (or one clove crushed)

6 Tbsp. oil

2 cups rice

2 tsp. salt

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

1 can tomatoes

4 cups chicken broth

* I also like to add a dash of cumin and a little cilantro. Season to taste.

-Brown the rice in oil. Blend the onions, peppers, garlic, salt, tomatoes, and broth in blender. Add to rice when rice is browned. Wait until boiling, then cover. Cook on low for 20 minutes.

Pasta Salad

1 lb. pasta

1-2 cans tuna

onions, chopped

pickles, chopped

olives, chopped

miracle whip

celery seed/salt

black pepper

garlic to taste

-Cook a box of pasta per box directions (I usually use salad or macaroni noodles) and rinse them under cool water when they're done cooking. (Better they're slightly more firm than cooked.)
-Dump a can or two of tuna into a bowl, chop up a can of olives and add them, chopped onion to your liking (if you use dehydrated onion, add to tuna water), and as many chopped up pickles as you can handle.

-Add a couple of scoops of miracle whip, a couple of dashes of celery seed (or salt), a pinch of black pepper (you can also add garlic, or any other such spice to spice it up)- mix it all together and add the noodles. Stir and chill.

My kids would eat this everyday if I let them. We scoop it with wheat thins for lunch.

Cheese cake ball

Ingredients
1 - 8oz pkg softened cream cheese
1/2 c. Softened butter (no substitutes)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c confectioner's sugar
2 T. brown sugar
3/4 c. mini chocolate chips (must be mini)
Graham crackers or graham cracker stix

Directions
1. In mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add sugars, beat until just combined. Stir in Chocolate chips.
2. Cover and refrigerate two hours
3. Place cream cheese mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap and shape into a ball.
4. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
5. If you choose, just before serving, roll cheese ball in pecans, chocolate chips, or peanut butter chips. Serve with graham crackers (you can even add flavors such as toffee chips or butterscotch)

Enjoy,
Jessica

Garlic and Soy Grilled Pork

This recipe seems so easy and obvious and plagiarized (from here: south beach blog) that I almost didn't add it. But i need more recipes like this. Quick, healthy, in stock ingredients. I thought if I shared one of mine, you might share one of your favs??

(ps, my kiddos love this, but then again, they're easy to please;)

Ingredients
Grill up chunks of fresh vegetables alongside these lip-smacking pork chops for an irresistible outdoor feast. Bell pepper, sweet onion, and zucchini would work quite nicely.

2 boneless center-cut pork loin chops, trimmed of all visible fat
1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Fresh herbs, for garnish

Instructions
Sprinkle the pork chops all over with soy sauce, garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper. Cover and refrigerate at least 20 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Coat a grill rack or broiler-pan rack with cooking spray. Preheat the grill or broiler.

Cook the pork chops 4" from the heat, turning once halfway through cooking time, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the center of a chop registers 155°F and the juices run clear. Garnish with the herbs.

Recipe from The South Beach Diet Cookbook.

VODKA spaghetti

Did the title get your attention? ahem.

So when my sis in law said she was making spaghetti for me, I was a little underwhlemed. Usually she drums up something really fabulous and spaghetti sounded rather mundane. But then, I tried this stuff. Stunningly good. Trust me. Try it.

(warning, I got the directions for this while driving, so hopefully they are right. if not, i'm sure bust u up will correct me;)

Ingredients:

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

1 white onion

1 pckg hot ground sausage

1 small conatiner half and half cream

1 bottle Bertolli Vodka Spaghetti Sauce

1 can diced tomatoes drained

1 pckg spaghetti noodles

Directions:

Cook 1 pckg of noodles as directed. Sautee peppers and onion. Add Sausage. Cook until browned. Drain grease. Add Half and Half. Simmer for a while (sorry-not very exact). Drain excess cream. Add Spaghetti Sauce and heat through. Add tomatoes and spaghetti. Enjoy.

Todd Mangel's Streusel Cake

I made this for book club and it was delicious. Thanks Todd and Nellie for lending out the recipe!!:

Directions:

• Cream: 1/2 cup butter with 1 cup sugar.
• Add 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, 3/4 cup milk, and 2 eggs.
• Mix and spread into a cookie sheet w/ sides.
• Topping: 1/2 cup cold butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour.
• Mix the topping with your hands until small clumps form, then form a gentle ball and crumble it on top evenly. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown.
• Enjoy!

Pioneer Woman's BBQ Meatballs - Freezer Meal

Seeing Colby's claim to fame about freezing rice reminded me of some of the yummy freezer meals I've tried making lately. 

This recipe in particular was DELICIOUS!  Even my super picky 5 year old ate 3 meatballs...which is just AMAZING.  (I got this recipe (and picture), as well as many of my other freezer meal recipes from A Bear in the Kitchen)


Pioneer Woman's BBQ Meatballs - Freezer Meal


Meatballs:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
3/4 cup quick oats
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons finely chopped onions (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
ground black pepper (as much as desired)
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup canola oil

BBQ Sauce:
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Meatballs Assembly:
In a large bowl combine beef, oats, milk, egg, 3 tablespoons finely chopped onions, salt, and ground black pepper. Mix with hands until well combined. Roll into medium-small balls (could use a medium cookie scoop to keep the meatballs of uniform size) and place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Place cookie sheet with meatballs in the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove from freezer and immediately dredge meatballs in flour and place back on cookie sheet.

In a large skillet heat 1/3 cup oil or enough to coat the bottom of your skillet. Brown the meatballs in batches in the hot oil, making sure to brown all sides of the meatballs. Place browned meatballs onto a cookie sheet. You do not need to cook the meatballs through, just brown them on all sides. Place cookie sheet of meatballs in the freezer until meatballs are frozen solid. Transfer meatballs to a gallon size freezer bag, label with cooking instructions and freeze.

BBQ Sauce Assembly:
Combine ingredients for BBQ sauce in a small bowl, whisking till blended. Pour into a quart size freezer bag and freeze flat.

Cooking Instructions:
Thaw sauce in fridge overnight, but keep the meatballs frozen till ready to cook. Place frozen meatballs in a 9x13 baking dish and bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Pour thawed sauce over the meatballs using a spoon to toss the meatballs in the sauce. Bake for an additional 30 minutes uncovered at 350 degrees.

freezing rice

Did you know our blog is practically famous??

I got the cafe rio recipes from freezerdinner.com and linked to that site. The author of the site, Jenny Stanger, followed the link and commented under the cafe rio post. She said if we had questions about freezing meals to ask her, so I asked her about rice (I always thought it would come out gross if frozen) and she responded the day I asked.

So go check out her site. She has lots of tasty looking recipes and tips on how to freeze them. And I just think it's so cool to ask an expert a question about freezing and to get an answer back so quickly!! Plus you can see the answer to the rice question and my comment which regretfully involves the word "eek"!!

so click on it and check it out: freezerdinner.com

Bow Tie Spinach Salad

I was cleaning out my recipe box and found this. This is one of the first things I officially learned to make. My dear friend Aleis gave it to me after I had John and decided since I was home more, I needed to be the one who made dinner. She was sweet and helped domesticate me!! The original recipe makes a lot a lot of food. To feed my family, I half it and it's still way too much.

Directions:

Cook 6 oz Bow tie pasta. Marinate in dressing for 2 hrs.

Dressing:

1 C vegetable oil

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbs sugar

2/3 C white wine vinegar

2/3 C teriyaki sauce

1/2 tsp pepper

Mix all the following ingredients and refrigerate:

6-8 chicken breasts cooked and cut up

3 small cans mandarian oranges (drained)

1 or 2 cans water chestnuts (drained)

1/2 c finely chopped fresh parsley

1 bunch of green onions chopped

1/2 to 3/4 C honey roasted peanuts

When ready to serve, combine chicken ingredients and pasta with one bag already washed and cut spinach.