Shredded Beef Tacos, Crockpot Style

photo and recipe bye Cheryl Keller


this is a wonderful recipe that i made tonite, really really good, its hard to make beef tacos any other way after this recipe, so il drone on no more and just give you the recipe. Here it is

Shredded Beef Tacos, Crockpot Style

Ingredients
1.5 lbs. beef chuck
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic
3/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon Ancho chile powder
2 dried bay leaves
1 Negro Modelo beer
12 small corn tortillas
1 Shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
1 Cilantro for garnish Recipe
Preparation
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
Add the garlic and onions and saute until onions are translucent.
Sprinkle the salt and pepper on both sides of the beef.
Place the chuck in the pot and let it sear for 3 minutes until a crust has formed.
Flip the chuck and sear the second side for an additional 3 minutes. until nice and brown, almost burned but not.
Transfer the seared beef, along with the sauteed onions and garlic, to a crock pot.
Add the cumin, Ancho chile powder, bay leaves and Negro Model beer to the crock pot.
Simmer the ingredients on low heat for at least four hours, or until the meat is fork tender and easily shredded.
Shred the cooked meat, , and place it in a hot skillet oiled lightly, salt and pepper and lil chopped onion,cook until crispy on ones side, dont let it dry out, and assemble a taco by placing a portion of the shredded beef on a corn tortilla, topping it with the sharp white cheddar and fresh cilantro.

Chicken Fried rice!

Fried rice, and i bet you just cant eat one bowl of this stuff, well, i cant,, anyhow, here's how i make it, but you must start out with a cooked cold rice, this makes it the best,

Cooked fried rice (my Version)

2 cups of cold cooked rice

2 tbsp peanut oil

4 carrots peeled and cut in 1/4in chunks

4 celery chopped,

1 white onion

garlic powder

3 eggs

salt, and white pepper

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup of chicken, pork, ham, or bacon, cooked

(*optional, 1 package of powdered fried rice seasoning)

sesame oil to drizzle after its cooked

chopped green onions, optional*

soy sauce *optional

Heat oil in a large skillet and toss in the carrots and cook for 5 min, then add the celery,and onion, cook till its starts to soften, then add rice, and package of seasoning, garlic powder. the important part of this is after you have stirred this all together, press down in the pan, and let cook on med low, for about 2o min, meanwhile in another skillet, spray with Pam and add your 3 beaten eggs you may salt this and use white pepper, cook till the eggs are set, add 1 cup of peas, and turn off the heat, just let it sit,

after the rice has cooked about 20 min, flip the crunchy rice over, in parts, then add the egg and chicken,pork,ham,or bacon, and stir in then press down and cook for about 10min, don't stir,,,,then just taste it and add some white pepper and drizzle on some sesame oil, you may add some green onions optional.

Hawaiian Stuffed Chicken Breast

Photo & Recipe By Lisa Rose

Hawaiian-Stuffed Chicken Breast
3/2 C. hot water
2 tablespoons butter
2 Cups stove top stuffing
4 Boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 5-6 ounce can crushed pineapple
Heat your water in a measuring cup in the microwave, when heated, add butter until it melts. In a separate bowl add the dry stuffing, water and butter mixture, half the pineapple mixture and some pepper. Stir it around to blend and cover bowl for a few minutes. Then taste to see if it needs more pineapple, if its too dry add a little more. Cover and set a side
Use a large zip lock baggie to pound each chicken breast, make sure the bag is zipped and the air is pressed out, and start pounding, I use a heavy cast-iron skillet, it seems to flatten more equally.
Sprinkle a little salt on top, place a heaping spoonful of stuffing mixture close to one end, and roll, securing the seam with 2 tooth picks.
Lightly salt and pepper the top.
Make remaining breast.
At this point you can do either two things, I used my GT Express because it is over 100 where I live, I just buttered the inside and cooked it for 7 minutes to perfection.
Or you can brown each side for 1 minute in hot butter in a hot skillet. You want them a little seared on outside with out over cooking them.
Then place in a greased baking pan, these loose a lot of juice so don’t use a cookie sheet.
Bake at 400 for 30 minutes, you can finish under the broiler for one minute. I served this with my New Indonesian Rice, cold and a quick salad with my Orange-sesame-cilantro dressing.

Pork Stew

Recipe and Photo By Lisa Rose

Pork Stew

I created this from leftover pork roast, too much in my fridge for 2 people. This is similar to beef stew, but the added Rosemary and chicken gravy give it a very good flavor.

2 cups cooked pork, I used shredded pork
2 carrots, diced
2 celery diced
½ chopped onion
5 potatoes
5 garlic, minced into a paste, you don’t want garlic chunks
2 bay leafs
½ teaspoon Rosemary
Salt and pepper
1 small jar of Turkey or Chicken gravy
2 cups pork broth or beef broth
¾ cup of water

In crock pot, place the carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary, bay leaf, mix well. Add the meat on top with a little salt and pepper. Pour in gravy, then pour water and broth over vegetables. No need to stir, cover cook on high until it bowls, about 3 hours, them turn down low for 1 hour.

New Indonesian Rice Salad With Orange Sesame Cilantro Dressing

Recipe and Photo By Lisa Rose
NEW INDONESIAN RICE SALAD WITH ORANGE-SESAME-CILANTRO DRESSING

1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks, drained
1/4 cup dry-roasted cashews or peanuts, choppe
1/3 cup raisins
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 small or half of a large green bell pepper, diced in 1/2-inch pieces
1 celery rib, cut in half down its length and thinly sliced
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1 tablespoon minced cilantro

Dressing1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon peeled, minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon grated fresh orange zest
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
Place the 1 cup of uncooked rice in a medium-size saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Cover the pan, lower heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Place the cooked rice in a bowl to cool.
When the rice is at room temperature, add the drained pineapple chunks, cashews, raisins, green onions, red and green bell peppers, celery, bean sprouts and cilantro.
In a container, combine the dressing ingredients and shake to mix. If serving immediately, drizzle all of the dressing over the salad. If the salad is to be served later, use only half of the dressing until ready to serve, and then at the last minute add the other half and stir to coat evenly (the rice will absorb the dressing). This dish can be served at room temperature or chilled.
Makes 6 servings.

Mini Taco Appetizers with Guacomole Sauce

Recipe and Photos by Lisa Rose (Guac. sauce By Cheryl)
Mini Taco Appetizers with Guacamole sauce

1 dozen corn tortillas, the mini ones
1 lb lean ground beef
Dash garlic salt
¼ can re fried beans
Little chicken broth or water
1 Tbls taco seasoning mix
½ chopped onion
¼ cup grated cheese
Little vegetable oil

If you don’t have mini tortilla’s, I cut mine with scissors, half of an inch, all the way around. I froze the cut strips for when I make tortilla soup.

Cook the meat with the onions and garlic salt, drain, make sure you mince the meat very fine. I put mine in the food processor to make it minced, then I return it back to the pan and add the taco seasoning mix, beans, cheese, broth or water to thin it out a little, heat for just a few minutes to blend all the ingredients. Set aside

Fry the tortillas in oil to make them soft, a few minutes on each side, then lay on paper towels to drain.

Place 1 Tb of mix on one side of the tortilla’s, fold over and press gently, they will stay closed, the melted cheese holds them to gether.

In a hot skillet, coat pat with little oil, I used a Panini press, you could use a grill pan too, cook the taco’s until they are crispy on the out side, it only takes a few minutes on each side, you want them crispy.

Cheryl’s Guacamole sauce

1 Avocado
A few pieces of white onion
1 or half of a jalapeno, seeded and deveined
Half of garlic, 1 will make it to garlicky
Salt and pepper
Small handful of cilantro
1 cup of water, you may need less

I used a magic bullet, but a blender will work fine. I also blackened my jalapeno a little. Uts best to blacken them totally for more flavor)
Put all items in the magic bullet and half the cup of water. Blend, add more water to make it a saucy, I add a Little at a time so as to not make it too watery. This gives you almost 2 full cups. Hint: cut the avocado seed in half and put it in your sauce, it will stay green. This sauce taste like the avocado sauce they have at El Pollo Loco and is great with chips, or a Mexican chopped salad or flautas, taquitos, the choices are endless

Cobb Salad like the Restaurants

Recipe and Photo by Lisa Rose

Cobb Salad like the Restaurants

(For 1 Large Salad)

Slice a quarter of an Iceberg lettuce head, chop fine
6 big leaves of Leafy green lettuce, chop fine and mix with iceberg
Half of a large tomato, diced
12 jumbo olives chopped loosely
1 cup cooked chicken or turkey
½ package of bacon, cooked and chopped fine
3 green onions, chopped fine
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped fine

Optional

¼ cup of cheese, either feta or blue or jack
Avocado slices

I did not put these items on for the picture, I put them on after.

Mix your lettuce together and put it on a Big plate, I used a big pasta plate like they use in restaurants.
Place all chicken in the middle of the salad.
Line tomato’s on each side of chicken.
Line bacon on each side of tomato’s.
Finish with olives down the side.
Top with green onions and optional items

You can line up your veggies anyway you like to for presentation.

Chicken Colorado, Spanish rice and Light Creamed Spinach

I just came back from Mazatlan Mex, Mexican food really wasn't available, funny ha, lots o lots o seafood, I'm shrimped out you might say, lots of shrimp and lobster but not allot of Mexican food. So of course its down to the kitchen to whip up some of my own favorite Mexican delights. Whats pictured here is really not a recipe at all, it is some chicken legs i cooked in the crock pot the other nite with some BBQ seasonings, i cook them for about 5 hours on high, they are ready to fall apart by then. I had made some Red Chile Colorado sauce, the recipe is in my blog somewhere, anyhow, i just shredded up some of the meat, put it on a corn tortilla that was warmed, poured some sauce over the chicken, topped it with some Gorgonzola cheese shredded cause that's all i had, made some authentic Mexican rice, and the spinach was easy, chop some bagged spinach up, put it in a bowl, and put some Fat free cottage cheese, cumin, onion powder, salt and pepper and a little bit of water in the magic bullet blender, whip it up, pour over the spinach, heat in the microwave 1-2 Min's, pour out any liquid and add to your plate, microwave it, serve with guacamole and radishes and a few chips, yumo is all i can say, well double yumo!

Light Chile Verde Eggs with cream sauce

Light you say with cream sauce, give me a break, OK, here's your break! just

break out your Fat free cottage cheese, a little cumin, salt and pepper,onion powder,and a lil water or fat free milk, and there ya go, whip it up in the magic bullet or little blender and you got a great light cream sauce for your eggs.

Yes that's what i did here, I'm trying to watch the calories and fat in my food lately, not really on a diet, just keeping the creams to a minimum, but i found a way to have my rich looking food with out the poundage, anyhow, if you have some green Chile Verde in your fridge, heat it up, cook a few eggs on the grill, no butter or oil of course, heat up a corn tortilla, no butter or oil of course, and if you have left over rice, i just heated up a 1/4cup right in my measuring cup,serve on the side, add a little lettuce for color and that's pretty much all there is to it, and of course the cream sauce, here is my recipe

Cottage Cheese Cream Sauce

2 tbsp ff cottage cheese

1tsp cumin

tsp onion powder

salt n pepper to taste

garlic (optional)

little water for thinning

whip up all these ingredients in your magic bullet with the whip blade and that's it!

Chicken and Corn Casserole

Chicken and corn casserole

I have been making this dish for 25 years and my hubby never gets tired of it

Serving Size: 6


1 can corn ; drained
2 cups cut up ; cooked chick
1/2 cup sliced olives
1 can cream chick soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 ts salt
1/2 ts cumin
1 can chop green Chile's
1 jar pimentos
1/4 cup Jack cheese ; grated
1 cup tortilla chips ; crushed

Place corn in greased 2-qt casserole or square baking dish, 8x8x2. Top with chicken and olives. Mix remaining items except chips in a bowl; spread over chicken mixture. Top with cheese, sprinkle with chips. Bake uncovered in 350* oven until hot, about 45 min.

top with green onions

The Red Tomato and House of Lamb

The Red Tomato And House of Lamb

68784 E Palm Canyon Dr
Cathedral City, CA 92234
(760) 328-7518

This place is a must if your in the Palm Springs Cat City area, no one really ever mentions this but the pizza is to die for, its really is good, if your in the mood for lamb i recommend any thing lamb on the menu, they also have the best, i mean the best bread at any place, im always trying to get the recipe, maybe if i go in there with a hundred dollar bill in my hand, someone might give me the recipe, wink wink!

Taco Salsas Cathedral City CA

TACO SALSA's
Cuisines: Mexican
Address: 69020 E Palm Canyon Dr, Cathedral City, CA 92234
Phone: (760) 321-6612

Ok i must say that out of all the Taco Joints in this town, i have to say this one is good, its hard to find great mexican food in the Palm Springs and Surrounding areas, but so far this one is good, theres even a salsa bar! the beer mugs are large and cold, i cant say ive had anything that wasnt good here so far, this place gets 5 salsa cups a (5 stars) from me.

Wendy's Type Chili

Photo and Recipe by Lisa Rose

Wendy’s Type chili

1 lbs. fresh ground beef
1 qt. tomato juice
1 (29 oz.) can tomato puree
1 (15 oz.) can red beans drained
1 medium onion (1 1/2 c.), chopped
1/2 C. celery diced
1/4 C. green pepper diced
1/4 C. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin (if you like real flavor, add more)
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. each: black pepper oregano, sugar
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions
In a frying pan, brown the ground beef; drain. Put the drained beef and the remaining ingredients into a 6-quart pot. Cover the pot; let it simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes.

Chicken Flautas From Serrano's Cafe

Photo and Recipe By Lisa Rose

Chicken Flautas from Serrano*s Cafe*

This is our secret recipe for Flautas, the secret is Parmesan cheese, I know, you are saying *huh*, that*s not Mexican, well after you taste them, then you will see how good they taste, you can also add other things inside, but I would make them like this first so you can see what might go good with them for next time. You can also add more cheese, I am a very light cheese eater now, so I always use less. To make these even more wonderful, add some sour cream and a dollop of guacamole and some shredded lettuce.

6 Medium Flour tortilla*s
2 med sized chicken breast
1 ts garlic salt
* yellow onion
* cup grated cheese or more if you would like
Oil and butter for frying
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese for rolling flautas in

I fillet the breast with a knife, each breast in 3 slices so that they cook quicker, put salt, pepper, garlic salt on each fillet.

Cook chicken breast in a heated saute* pan with butter, oil,. Let cool, save juices

In food processor, put in onion, and process until minced, set aside in a bowl, then cut chicken in pieces and process them as well until minced, you may have to do a few batches. Once they are minced, add them to the onion, add any chicken juices to the mix, then add your cheese and mix well, add some salt and pepper and taste, it should bond together like meat loaf, that is the perfect consistency.

Take your tortillas and heat them on open fire, both sides, get a few brown spots on there, that is good for flavor, line up your tortillas and divide your mix among the 6 tortillas. If you have extra then just make another one.

On a separate plate sprinkle a good portion of Parmesan cheese for rolling.

Roll up tortilla faily tight without breaking them, when they are all rolled, keep them seam side down on counter until you are ready to cook*.heat your oil and butter up in a saut* pan, high heat and cook 3 at a time, use 2 spoons to roll them as they cook, you can lean them up on each other as you cook them on all sides, its very easy, you want them brown, not burned, so just kind of keep rolling them, when they look fantastic, take them out and set them in the parmesan cheese and roll them, covering them generously, put them on a serving platter. You can heat them in the micro if you need to keep them hot.

Cold Chicken Salad With Veggies

Recipe and Photo By Lisa Rose
Cold Chicken salad with vegetables

This is great on good quality toasted wheat bread, or my husband likes triscuts and uses it as a dip
2 cans flaked white chicken
quarter cup Relish or more if desired
3 celery diced fine
3 green onions diced fine
1 carrot shredded
2 hot rep peppers diced, or mild
Juice of half of a small lemon, this is the secret ingredient
Dash salt
Half cup of mayo
2 tbs dried craisins
Dash pepper
Drain chicken and rinse off liquid with cold water, drain, add items to the bowl, then add the mayo and mix to coat all veggies….use a good quality mayo or a light mayo.

Grilled Baja Bowl

Recipe and Picture by Lisa Rose
Grilled Baja bowl

This recipe came from a combination of Rubio’s and Baja freshes bowls. Its easy to put together and you can make it your own by putting in whatever you like. Fresh salsa works the best, but jarred will do.
2 cups cooked rice in chicken broth, little chile powder
2 zucchini, cut in rounds or bite size pieces
4 green onions, sliced 1 inch on the diagonal
1 red pepper, seeded, deveined, cut in thick strips
3 jalapenos, seeded, deveined, cut in strips
1-2 cups cooked rotisserie chicken, cut up
Some home made salsa or jarred
Shredded lettuce for the bottom of bowls
Cheese for topping
Cilantro diced for topping
Grill zucchini, green onions, red pepper, jalapeno in a grill pan or cast iron skillet. Grill in butter and oil. Salt and pepper once while cooking. Set aside
In a large pot, mix rice, grilled veggies, salsa to make it moist and chicken. I use my paula dean 3 quart cast iron enamel stove top/oven pan. Once it is all mixed, you can heat up in a 350 oven.
Put some shredded lettuce in bottom of bowl, top with your rice and veggie mixture, top with a little cheese or a lot if you prefer, and Cilantro. Throw a dallop of sour cream or guac on top if you prefer.

Dinner Sampler Platter #3

OK yes this is beginning to be a habit with me, but hey when the DH wants it, he gets it, all he has to do is ask, this time i got a little more creative, this sampler platter has, Shrimp Ceviche with chunks of avocado, with baked corn tortillas, Chicken that i purchased stuffed with Spinach, sliced, with a Chile Colorado sauce i had, a Cheese plate with a few different cheeses that i had purchased served with Orange blossom Honey and crackers, there's also some chunks of turkey ham that i purchased and put on tooth picks with a mustard sauce, and for dessert i had some blueberry muffins made in my sandwich maker, served with a blueberry sauce and fat free whipped cream, this really is a simple dinner to throw together when your not in the mood for cooking, this is just more creating then cooking, plus its easier to make a few sauces and put together a pretty platter then cook a whole darn meal ay!

Ok now here's a question, What is your favorite platter that you have put together?, i need some ideas, Please Id like to here some comments on this one

White Chocolate and Banana Chimmi's

Now here's a very easy and quite tasty dessert that i had made for my DH (dear Husband). It really is quite easy and you don't need a recipe all you need is: a Banana, white choc chips, flour tortillas, cinnamon and sugar, butter and a pan or a Gt express 100, just warm your tortillas in microwave for 3o or so secs, just so there pliable, slice some banana, lay out some banana on your tortilla then some choco chips, fill it like you would be making a burrito, roll it up burrito style, and add it to your buttered pan or gt express 100, turn them till they are brown on all sides, and add them to a bag with cinnamon and sugar and shake um around till covered and serve hot with vanilla ice cream, i dint because i dint have any. I dusted these with hazelnut powder and drizzled chocolate syrup over them

Creamy Burrito Casserole

Recipe and Photo By Lisa Rose

Creamy Burrito Casserole

= Ingredients =-1 lb ground beef 1/2 medium yellow onion ; chopped 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package taco seasoning with a little water or chicken broth6 large flour tortillas 1 (16 ounce) can re fried beans 2 -3 cups shredded taco cheese or cheddar cheese (I only used one cup ) 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of mushroom, or low sodium cream of chicken 4 ounces sour cream Olives sliced Green onions on top optional -

Instructions =-Brown ground meat/turkey and onion; drain. Add taco seasoning and stir in re fried beans. Mix soup and sour cream in a separate bowl, Lisa added cumin and some green verde sauce to it Spread 1/2 sour cream mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish. Tear up 3 tortillas and spread over sour cream mixture. Put 1/2 the meat bean mixture over that. Add a layer of cheese. You could put some hot sauce on this now. Repeat the layers. Sprinkle cheese over the top and bake, uncovered, at 350°F for 20-30minutes.

Cumin Cilantro Vinaigrette

Recipe and Photo by Lisa Rose

Cumin Cilantro Vinaigrette
To dress up your Salad when having Mexican food, here is a great dressing, I made this for a Mexican dinner party in which I brought the salad. I also brought a bottle of ranch dressing….i made a half a cruet of the Vinaigrette and it was gone after everyone got their meal….Next time I will make more, so here is the recipe for a full Cruet of Dressing.
1 clove garlic
1 and a half teaspoons of cumin
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons red wine vinegar…don’t use balsamic, it will overpower flavor
10 tablespoons Olive oil or Vegetable oil
Dash of Agave nectar (like simple syrup) or dash of sugar
Everything except the oil goes into the food processor, process well until cilantro is minced fine. Then put the dressing in a cruet or shaker bottle and add the oil, then shake well….you must shake this before using. Season to taste, you want to taste the cumin and the cilantro in balance.

Photo and Recipe by Lisa Rose

Moist and Tender Mexican Pork Chops

I refused to eat a chewy pork chop, the trick to these is low and slow, then broil to crisp
4 Pork chops with bone inSalt PepperGarlic saltSome green taco or chile verde sauce
Preheat oven to 350, generously salt and pepper chopsPlace in baking dish and cover with foilBake for 1 * hours, take out, drain broth and fat, leave a little bit in for pan juices, sprinkle with a little garlic salt.
Turn oven on to Broil, place rack under broiler, and put chops in over for 15 more minutes, you have to keep an eye on them even leaving the door ajar. Turn over once in the 15 minutes, swish around baking dish with tongs picking up pan juices and bits, and finish out the broiling, you want them a little brown and crunchy on top. When finished, take out, let set for 5 minutes, then spread on some green sauce, you can omit this step because the chops can stand on their own with flavor, I just like to add a little spice whenever I can.

Chile Verde and Chicken Mexican Casserole

Photo and Recipe by Lisa Rose

Chile Verde and Chicken Mexican Casserole
Dozen corn Tortilla’s
1 28 oz can Green Chile Verde sauce or green Enchilada sauce MILD
1 can Corn
1 can Olives, sliced, save a few for topping
1 Chicken breast cooked, cut in small pieces or shredded chicken
2 small cans of Diced Green Chiles
1 cup Cheese, jack or cheddar, save some for topping
Salt
Pepper
Cumin
Little oil to grease pan
Preheat oven to 350*
Grease baking dish generously, the tortillas will absorb, this casserole will stick if you don’t grease well.
Layer bottom with Tortillas, spread half the sauce, ½ chicken, ½ can Corn, ½ can chopped Olives, ½
Salt, pepper, cumin Chiles and half the cheese.
Repeat layers. Top with some sauce, cheese and olives, salt pepper, cumin. This recipe needs salt because none of ingredients, besides the cheese is salty, I use Sea Salt and salt the layer and the top.
Bake uncovered for 30 min. then uncover for 10 minutes

Moist n Tender Pulled Pork Crockpot Recipe

Photo by Lisa Rose (recipe by Lisa)

Moist and Tender Pulled Pork (crock pot in summer, oven in the winter)
1 whole pork butt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1/4 cup Mustard
1 teaspoon cayenne
6 dashes Liquid smoke
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, stir, rub all over pork, place in gallon size baggie
Add mustard and liquid smoke in baggie and mix all, close bag and swoosh around
Refrigerate 24 hours, starting in morning
Place in crockpot 10-12 hours on LOW....or...
Roast on rack uncovered in oven at 250-275 degrees until tender from 7-8 hours (slow and low) or until temp reaches 200 in meat
Discard bone and fat from Pork, place in serving pot and shredd meat, add favorite BBQ sauce and a few more dashes of liquid smoke
You can make a spicy BBQ sauce by adding Cayenne pepper and Tabasco to your favorite BBQ sauce, put in a squeeze bottle, mine was almost gone, people put it on their pork and there beans
You can adjust the sesoning in your rub or add more to make it your own.
I served this with KFC coleslaw, potato salad, corn, BBQ beans mixed with grilled onions and kielbasa, steak fries shaked in a bag with parmesan, paprika, garlic powder and salt, accompanied by a white sauce made with ½ cup mayo, ½ cup white vinegar, 1 ts black pepper, salt, a little milk to thin out if too thick….put in squeeze bottle. I also used potato hamburger buns/rolls and spread garlic butter on them and put them in the oven to warm, some ate pork alone, some made sandwiches

Mexican Food, Tacos and Red and Green Rice

No real recipe here, i just had to show off my last nites dinner, Doesn't that look scrumptious, well it was let me tell you, these are beef mini tacos, the real shredded beef, slow cooked then sauteed in olive oil with garlic and white onion, done in a skillet, so it gets real crunchy at the bottom, that's the way to make taco meat, will work with chicken and Swine, i mean Pork also, and the rice is red and green only because, i had some red Chile Colorado sauce and some tomatilla sauce i poured on each half of the rice and put some cheese on top zapped it in the micro and there ya have it, looks good enough to eat ay,,it was, it was, this was just another Mexican recipe idea from Cheryl Keller's Kitchen, hope you make it, let me know how it turns out when ya do.

BlueBerry Muffins, Sandwich Maker Recipes

Here's a real easy recipe for your sandwich maker, just plug in your sandwich cooker and heat it up, spray it with Pam, get your favorite blueberry mix out, get it ready, i add extra blue Berry's to my mix,,its a little bit more messy but there extra good that way,
So just mix it to the box instructions, and pour the batter, not to much in your sandwich makerclose the lid and cook for about 6 min, don't open the lid, and when your done you got some yummy little blueberry treats, i cut them in half and sprinkle them with Powdered sugar, they are great with coffee

Turkey,Gouda, Sandwiches In The Sandwich Maker

For all of ya out there that have one of those sandwich maker contraptions, here's yet another idea for lil Sammy's or sandwiches, if you have on hand some deli style turkey, Smoked Gouda or really what ever kind of sandwich meat you have or cheese will work. Plug in your sandwich maker, let it get hot, spray it with Pam or what have ya, add your bread slices like so,

Then add your meat and pickles and cheese or what ever you want,not to wet of a sandwich though meaning tomatoes probably wouldn't be a good idea,,but hey try it if you must

then add your second slice of bread to the top, you may butter them or spray with Pam. I cook these for about 5 min in my lil sandwich maker, the fun part is eating them, oh and wrapping them up after they cool and making labels for them on your computer, i make these for my husbands lunch, and since i make breakfast ones as well with egg and ham and cheese, its nice to label them up so you know whats what!

Southwest Penne Pasta Dinner

Penne Pasta with Meat Sauce Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil Ground beef (1 pound) (1 tsp)2 tsp ground cumin 3 Bell peppers, chopped in cubes (1 red, 1 green, 1 orange). (Optional)1/2 Onion2 Tomatoes (chopped and diced)1/2 can tomato paste1 cup chicken broth 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce Fresh cilantro. penne pasta
Directions: Brown the beef and drain off the extra oil.In a skillet over medium heat, pour 1 tbsp of olive oil and then add the onions.After the onions are golden brown, stir in 1 tsp ground cumin .Next, stir in the tomatoes.after the tomatoes are soft, add the browned beef.Stir in the remaining cumin and then add the tomato paste, chicken broth, and Worcestershire sauce.Add salt and pepper to taste.Cook for about 10-12 mins on medium heat or till the sauce has thickened. (This depends on how much sauce you like on your pasta).Add the chopped bell peppers about 5 minutes before you are ready to take the beef off the stove. Boil the pasta.Drain the pasta and serve on a platter with the meat sauce on top of the pasta. Garnish with cilantro. Don't forget to sprinkle it with fresh pepper and grated Parmesan Cheese and serve this with your Favorite Red Wine and a salad, this recipe is really good, its the first time that i have made penne pasta.

Heres the Dinner Photo's From the Step by Step Beef Colorado #2

Chile Colorado

The Menu for my surf and turf meal was

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Baked chips and Three Salsas

Smoked Chicken and Mango Quesadilla's

Lisa Puerta Nuevo Shrimp Recipe over Rice

Beef Colorado

White Chocolate Cookies and Creme Banana & Carmel Quesidilla

with Orange Tequila Liqueur

BBq Chicken Quesadillas With Mango Salsa

Close up BBQ chicken Quesidilla's with Salsas

Two pictures of Puerta Nuevo Shrimp (Lisa's Recipe)one has Tomatilla sauce


White Chocolate cookies and cream and banana's Quesadillas The Recipes:

Mango Salsa
1-2 ripe mangos, cut in chunks
1 quarter chopped white onion, blackened opptional
1 blackend Jalapeno
1 half Red Bell Pepper
juice of 1lime
Cilantro
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Just Chop to the in to nice small pieces all the ingredients, add the lime and cilantro last, let the flavors marry for a few hours, chill in the fridge

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BBQ Chicken Quesidillas
1-2 chicken breasts, chopped, i buy whole chicken cooked at the store, \(bbq style or add bbq sauce to flavor it 3 tbsp)
1 half red bell pepper, chopped
1 half white onion chopped
any cheese you like, i like provalone or pepper jack
black olives
cilantro
cumin and or mexican oregano for seasoning
butter for grilling or olive oil
flour tortillas

To Assemble:
mix all the ingredient in a bowl except butter and toritillas
divide the chicken mixture between your tortillas, how ever many your going to make
grill them on grill or pan in olive oil or butter till nice and brown
serve with Mango Salsa
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Beef Chile Colorado #2
1 beef roast cooked in crock pot
1 recipe of chile Colorado sauce #2
cheese
soften corn tortilla

after your meat is cooked in the crock pot put olive oil in pan and sear your cooked meat till crunchy on both sides, place tortila and beef on your plate and pour colorado sauce over it and cheese any kind you like zap in the micro or hot oven til cheese melts, serve with beans and rice and salad
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Puerta Nuevo Shrimp Recipe
(check in Lisas Corner for the recipe)

**the Recipe for the White chocolate Cookies and Cream Banana Quesidillas Coming Soon!**

Coffee drinks that came in the Desert sun, low cal!

Here is a great recipe i found in the paper, you have to try this its amazingly yum!

Caramel-Chocolate Coffee Cooler

(Start to finish: 5 minutes. Serves 2)1 double shot espresso 1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half 1 cup coffee ice cubes 1 tablespoon vanilla flavoring syrup 1 tablespoon caramel flavoring

syrup

Whipped cream, to topCaramel sauce, to drizzle

Instructions:In a blender, combine the espresso, half-and-half, coffee ice cubes, and vanilla and caramel syrups. Puree until smooth, then transfer to a tall glass. Top with whipped cream and drizzle with caramel sauce.

Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 164 calories; 40 calories from fat; 4 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 20 mg cholesterol; 25 g carbohydrate; 3 g protein; 0 g fiber; 102 mg sodium.

Enjoy, check back soon i have an orange one to give ya, i have to try it first!

Beef & Chile Colorado #2 step by step Recipe

Crock pot Roast Beef & Chile Colorado Sauce #2 by Cheryl Keller

photos by Cheryl

OK were going to make this recipe i little different then the previous recipe of beef Chile Colorado, get your self a nice roast, this is the one i found, a great price to at Ralph's, what ever your favorite is will do just fine,
Add some salt and pepper to the meat and place it in a plastic bag with flour

and give it a little shake shake shakethen heat up a skillet, this is what i had, should of used a Skillet,,lol



add a lil olive oil or what ever you have and when its hot add your meat to brown it on both sides

don't handle it to much, just want to seal in the juices before you put in in your crock pot
grill it til its nice and brown

then add it to your oiled crock pot with a few cups of beef broth onion and garlic, whipped in your magic bullet if you have one, and maybe toss some onion slices on top, and cover it, and cook it on high for about 6 hours and turn it down if you like to low and just let it cook until your ready to pull it out, see how yum that looks,,and it just got put in the pot, it just needs to cook most of the day for some of the most tasty meat ever that can come from a home kitchen.

Now for the

Chile Colorado Sauce #2

Pick out your Chile's, i have new Mexico red Chile's and another named one i cant spell, but its here in the package, for you to see your self. (the above package)

Now heat up a pan with a smidge of olive oil, turn the heat to med low, you don't want to burn these, just toast um til you can smell them releasing there aroma's, after there cooked, place them in a picture of 2-3 cups chicken broth, and let them soften about 15-21 min.

Now while these are soaking, get your self a white onion, slice it up with some garlic and heat up another skillet with a few drops of olive oil, and saute them til there cooked about 5 min

after your done sauteing the onions and garlic put them in the pitcher with the Chile's and broth, and when your 15 min are up, from softening the Chile's, cut the Chile's with scissors, in to pieces, and put them in your blender or magic bullet with some of the broth , salt and pepper to taste also, and a little bit of Mexican oregano, and blend

after you blend the mixture, put it in a hot skillet with a little fat, or olive oil, and cook it for about 10 min and you have some really good Chile Colorado sauce for your meat that is cooking in your crock pot, when you are done cooking your meat, let it cool, tear it in chunks or shred it it,add salt and pepper if needed to taste, and cook it in a lil fat or lard or olive oil til crisp and serve it with your Colorado Sauce and with tortillas, invite a few friends over and they will love you forever!

and dont forget the margaritas

Beef Chile Colorado Dinner

Photo's and Recipe by Cheryl Keller

Here's a real tasty recipe that i made for dinner tonite, its real easy to make, you need to cook a roast in your crockpot, any of your favorite roast will do. and of course make your beans and rice, and now for the sauce recipe

Red Chile Colorado Sauce

6-8 new Mexico red dried Chile's, toasted, just till you get a toasted smell,

(don't burn them or your sauce will be bitter)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

half of a white onion chopped

2 cups chicken broth

salt, pepper to taste

may use a smidgen of Mexican oregano

Directions:

wash Chile's, pour out the seeds, unless you like it hot, toast Chile's in a pan, you may use a little oil, use low heat so they don't burn, cook just until they smell really good toasted, but don't burn them. After they are cooked, cut them in pieces and throw them in the blender with the chicken broth, chopped garlic, white onion chopped, salt and pepper and oregano if you are using it.

blend it in the blender until its bright red or close to that, when your done blending it, heat a lil olive oil or lard or what ever you want to use for some fat, this makes your sauce wonderful, now pour your sauce in the oil, and cook it for about 10- 15 min, you may add a roux to thicken it or just cook it down and reduce it. ***Tip***{Strain this sauce in fine strainer and it will be smoother}, this step isnt necessary, but i like a smooth sauce. Don't forget the Margarita

To put it all together: pull some of your cooked meat apart either shred it with a fork or cut it in chunks, heat up a skillet with a little bit of olive oil, get it hot, put in your meat with some salt and pepper, let it get a little crunchy on one side, then the other, pull it out plate it and add some red Chile Colorado sauce, top with some cheese, beans and rice and small little salad, you've got yourself restaurant quality Chile Colorado plate.

Breakfast Pizza Delivers!!!

Breakfast Pizza

I know with all my breakfast recipes, i should open a breakfast joint, Naw, to much work, tried that once with a Mexican restaurant, too much like a job! but i do come up with some interesting breakfast ideas, only because i get bored with making my sweety the same ole breakfast, so this is what i did, i took all the things that i was gonna cook for breakfast and instead of putting it all on a plate as usual, i put it on a pizza bread. Hey theres an idea, you know you can really get creative with this, say instead of making an Denver omelet, make a Denver omelet pizza, instead of biscuits and gravy, use the gravy as a pizza sauce and pile on the gravy, cheese, eggs, bacon or ham, cheese, and any thing else and just bake it or grill it on your griddler. This is what i did, i cooked up some potatoes on my grill that were left over, and some turkey bacon,

I got a pizza crust, and grilled it on my griddler, or you can put in toaster and toast or in pan and toast that way,

at this point you can spread some gravy or pesto or what ever your theme for breakfast is, if its Spanish spread on some salsa, if its Italian, spread on some pesto or tomato sauce, the sky is the limit, but i put on some left over gravy, and cooked up some scrambled eggs, added cheese and some olives and tomatoes, put it on my griddler and sprayed both top and bottom of grill with olive oil or you may use butter, then i closed and cooked both top and bottom at the same time, and here's the final product ,,yumo is all i can say,, it wont last, so you better make 2

are you getting hungry yet,

what about now?

Remember, be creative, there are so many possibilities with this breakfast, easy to eat to while driving to work and you can make these the nite before and toast um in the morning in your toaster oven.

I also served my crab cakes with homemade cocktail sauce, and an Angus top sirloin and rosemary mashed potatoes

Paula Dean's Maryland Crab Cakes Recipe

Ingredients 1 pound crab meat1/3 cup crushed crackers3 green onions chopped1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper1/4 cup mayonnaise1 egg1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce1 teaspoon dry mustard1/2 lemon, juiced1/4 teaspoon garlic powder1 teaspoon salt Dash cayenne pepper Flour, for dusting1/2 cup peanut oil

Directions

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, except for the flour and peanut oil.
Shape into patties and dust with flour.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
When oil is hot, carefully place crab cakes, in batches, in pan and fry until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes.
Carefully flip crab cakes and fry on other side until golden brown, about 4 minutes.
Serve warm.

This is what i served for an appetizer, it was store bought Pate i spread mustard and fresh black pepper on it and sliced some pickles and served it with toasted bread.

Enjoy, let me know if you try any of my recipes how they turn out

Simplest,Pan Free Breakfast in 1,2,3 or so minutes

OK here is the most simple breakfast that you can make and its good too!

Here's what you do, you get a plate, spray it with Pam,

take one flour Tortilla, lay it on the plate, break one, two, or three eggs right on the tortilla

make sure that you poke the egg yoke with a toothpick a few times, just in case so it dont pop.

if you have one egg: cook 1 min, if 2 eggs: 2 min, 3 eggs: 3 min. its that simple. You may add some cheese if you like, i did.

after your egg is set, add some of your favorite Salsa to the eggs and surround with some fresh spinach.

How simple is that! i think that i was brave trying this method

hope you like it, the best part there is no pan to clean after, just your plate.

Photo's by Cheryl Keller

Time To Make Salsa!

Its that time again, the salsa pitcher runnith under. We have chips but no salsa, that's not a good thing around here, boy i must be slipping, that's usually the main condiment that is always in the fridge, so what am i gonna do about it you ask? Make salsa of course, so here's what i did

I got some red jalapenos, some white onion cut, (Must be white) for salsa i think, that really gives it the Mexican flavors, and 2 tomatoes cut. i roasted them on my Griddler till they were nice and blacked as you can see in the pics (below)

then let them roast till they were blackened some

After they were done on the griddler, i used my tongs and tore off the stems (Threw them out)( and through all the ingredients in the blender with a can of tomato sauce, some Chile arbol powder (very hot) some long dried red Chile's that i also toasted, California Chile's they are called, some oregano, cumin and salt, a lime if i had one,lol, and of course some cilantro

oh yeah and some garlic powder, cant forget that, not to much, i don't use precise amount of measuring in my salsas, then i put it all in the blender add a cup or so of water maybe a little more for that right Constancy and blend, and taste of course and correct the flavors this one is gonna be hot, so add more tomato sauce or water to lessen the heat, Chips Ahoy!

Now don't that look tasty, i think so, bet ya wish you had some ay!

Alabama White BBQ Sauce, Say What?

No Really, its true there is such a thing as White BBQ sauce, and no its not ranch dressing. No you will be amazed at how good this is with chicken, you can not only brush this on your chicken when you are grilling it but you can also bring it to the table with you, and whats really fun is to make a few other sauces to go with it like at your favorite BBQ place. Well anyhow here is the recipe.

White Barbecue Sauce

"This sauce is popular in the south. INGREDIENTS **1/2 cup cider vinegar **3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper **2 tablespoons white sugar **1/2 cup mayonnaise

DIRECTIONS In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, ground black pepper, sugar and mayonnaise and mix well. Use on your favorite meat.

Chicken Piccata at Home, No need to dine out

I just happened to be in a mood for Italian food last night for some reason, but good thing cause it got me off my duffer and in to the kitchen to cook my favorite Italian meal. I thawed out some chicken thighs for this dinner, boneless skinless of course, usually i would use breast, but this seemed to turn out way better and juicier. Here's a Tip when battering any food, Just remember
the word (FEB) Flour, Egg, Breadcrumbs, that spells FEB, Now you will never forget what order to batter in, unless you forget the word Feb, OK enough of that, here's the recipe, hope you love it, i did so much that i threw away all my other recipes for this, oh yeah and i got this from Rachel Ray's food page, but altered it a bit so its mine now! Enjoy!



Chicken Piccata

6 boneless chicken thighs OR
2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 extra-large egg
1/2 tablespoon water

1-1/2 cups panko bread crumbs (i use both, you may pick one)
3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
Good olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemons), lemon halves reserved
1/2 cup dry white wine or Sake
Sliced lemon, for serving
Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of Wax or parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.
For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

might want to serve this with a nice salad and some good french bread

And dont forget the wine fool! lol. Now heres what i did the next day with a piece of left over Chicken Piccata, i took a peice of pita bread cut it in half stuffed some chicken, mustard, lettuce, and a half of piece of swiss cheese inside and pressed it in my panni maker or griddler, it was yum o and it had no chance of lasting but a few minutes alive, hope you try these recipes you wont be sorry.

Steak and Eggs Not Benedict, Smashed Brown potatoes

Tonite my husband got breakfast for dinner, we seem to do that alot around here, i certainly dint here any complaints from him on this one, just praise praise praise, i guess he loved it. Every time i make poached eggs i seem like I'm doing an experiment. I don't know what I'm doing and dint want to go and get my cook book to read over the recipe to see how to do it, so i just guess, but hey it worked, I'm always surprised when i guess and it works. (Recipe) OK for the eggs, all i did was got a small sauce pan, heated some water and some vinger, i read that somewhere, anyhow waited for it to boil and turned down the heat then i slid 3 eggs in the water and turned down the heat and covered it and waited about 10min, mean while i nuked a whole potato skin and all, chopped an onion and buttered my griddler, thru on the onions, chopped the cooked hot potato, and put in with the onions closed the lid on the griddler, meanwhile, i heated another small sauce pan, i had a package of cheese powder from a mac and cheese, mixed a few tbsp with half and half, and some garlic powder and pepper lil butter, and cooked till thick. I toasted some french bread, topped the bread with an egg then some sauce, lil grated cheese, i smashed my hash browns into a salsa bowl to mold them, made some pancakes and there ya have it, oh yeah, i cooked a steak and sliced it in pieces, any questions please feel free to comment and i will answer your comments.

Pancakeggs any one? Dont forget the Mimosa's

So, This is what happens in my kitchen when i cant decide what i want for breakfast. Hey at least its creative right! my grandson got a kick out of it that's for sure. It was really pretty simple, i just used my favorite pancake mix which is Hungry Jack, made a large pancake on my griddler, and took a glass and cut out a round shape right on the griddler whilst it was cooking, and dropped an egg right in the middle, wallah!, there ya have it a Pancakegg, OK so its not the best invention but it was tasty.

Cold Tapa's Anyone!

I have been turning lots of my pictures of my trips into movies this past week, and one of the movies that took the longest to make was of my Trip to Barcelona Spain. Well watching all those pictures of Europe really made me start to crave Tapa's (appetizers) i read somewhere that they were called Tapa's because they used to serve these little appetizers and they would top them with a card to keep the flys away, anyhow, no matter why there called that, there fun to make as being fun to eat. So heres what i came up with from what i had on hand. The first ones i made were Grilled Potatoes with Egg Cream, the second one i came up with was Grilled Tenderloin with Horseradish Cream, and the third one i came up with was Basil Sausage bites with Gorgonzola Cheese and green olives. The best thing about these recipes is i had all the ingredients on hand and they were to be served cold so i made them earlier in the day like about 3ish in the afternoon, and served um at 8ish. they made a easy light appetizer before going out dancing, no fuss no muss, sorta speak. So heres how easy these are to make.

Grilled potatoes with Egg Cream

Recipe: 4 potatoes, nuked till soft

4 eggs hard boiled, (tip) take pan of cold water put in 4 eggs,bring to boil, turn off heat, cover 15 min's and there done,

1 tbsp of Mayo

2 tsp Mustard

salt and pepper to taste

some cooked crumbled bacon bits or baco's

Capers (optional)

paprika for garnish

slice your potatoes after there cool in about 3/4 in slices, heat pan or grill, i have a griddler that i use, add a Lil butter or olive oil, cook potato slices until browned, put on plate in fridge to cool. Meanwhile, make the egg cream, mash the eggs, mayo, mustard, salt pepper together, if you have a magic bullet this works the best, whipped up in that until whipped good and creamy. after your potatoes are cooled off, put a dollop of the egg cream on each potato round, sprinkle with capers and bacon bits and sprinkle with Paprika, place back in refrig until ready to eat, serve chilled.

Steak Tenderloin Cold Tapas with Horseradish sauce

Recipe: 1 0r 2 beef tenderloin steaks, thawed

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook your steaks on med high heat with a Lil butter or olive oil, i think butter works the best, cook about 3-4 min on each side, i just keep turning but don't poke um the juice will pour out, let them sit for about 10min so the juices settle. Cut in slices, put tooth pics in them, make sauce,

SAUCE Recipe: a few spoons of horseradish sauce (i use the hot stuff)

then either add a few tablespoons of mayo or ranch dressing, mix it all together add pepper to taste, serve with steak pieces chilled.

Basil Sausage with Gorgonzola Cheese and Large green Olive bites

Recipe:

Cooked Turkey Basil Sausage (Trader Joe's)

Gorgonzola Cheese cut into Lil chunks

Large green Olives (Trader Joe's)

to Prepare: Cook the sausages in Lil olive oil, till browned all the way around and slice 1/2 slices

put on a plate, add Lil chunks of the cheese, put them in the micro, just long enough to melt the cheese, take them out. Cut your large green olives in half and place on on top of the melted cheese and stick in a tooth pick. serve with what ever kind of mustard sauce you might have on hand, or make your own, very easily,

Honey Mustard sauce, take what ever kind of mustard you have and add some to a small bowl, put in some honey or syrup, or spenda, and add a little bit of ranch dressing, or lite mayo. Mix and serve.

A Turkey BLT with a Twist

OK, i don't know how many BL T's Ive consumed in my life but there have been quite a few, i know, bacon isn't one of those foods that one should be consuming in large quantities, so i use the Turkey bacon, its a little more on the healthier side, and its a whole lot easier to prepare because you can just put it on a plate (a few slices at a time like 8) and cook it on high in the Micro. for about 6-7 min, and there's hardly any grease that comes out of it so just on that alone its got to be healthier for you. But anyhow that's not the twist part on my BLT, the twist is that i used french toast that i had left over in the frig, i had made some french toast out of some Texas toast bread that i had. Its just amazing what you can come up with when you don't have ingredients that you usually use. So anyhow that's how i came up with this idea, put your already made french toast in the toaster and toast it, and build yourself a nice BLT with all the usual ingredients, you will be surprised just how good it is, if you make this, send me a comment and tell me what you think.

This sandwich really went good with some of my homemade chicken soup! Yumm0

Here's another Take on your BLT, try this, mix a little brown sugar and a little butter together, make sure the butter is soft, now brush your cooked bacon with the mixture, and cook it in the micro for about 30 sec, don't let it burn, then take it out and let it sit the bacon gets sweet like candy, and this is also good to crumble on salads,

Try this one to: if you have a magic bullet mixer, this recipe is super easy, just put a few hard boiled eggs in the small blender cup, add some salt and pepper to taste and a few drops of milk or water, and a tbsp mayo and spoon of mustard, kind of like your going to make deviled eggs, whip um up in the bullet till smooth, then spread it on your toast instead of mayo for your BLT, i made these Lil sandwiches one time and for the bread i used black olive foccacia, spread on the egg cream and layered the bacon lettuce and tomatoes, this was one of the best BLT'S Ive ever had, no serious. hope you try some of these ideas.

Top Sirloin Steak With Honey Mustard Scallops

Its my favorite night of the week, Well Friday was, that's my Surf and Turf Night, I think that's my husband favorite cooking night also, no, I'm sure it is. Anyhow, i was craving steak and i dint want to serve shrimp with it tonite, so i decided on scallops, there quick and easy to cook. Any how dinner turned out to be really good and it was easy because i had some Angel hair pasta in the fridge so i dint have to bother cooking that up, the scallops were Large, il i did was rinsed them off, drizzled them with Sake, and Toni Chatchacher's Seasoning. When i was ready to cook them i dabbed them dry with paper towels, and just put them in a lil butter with high heat, I like my Scallops crunchy. You only have to cook these about 2 and half min if there LARGE, on each side. I cooked my steaks on high heat about 3 min on each side, and they were salted and cracked peppered also. I cook them in a small pat of butter also. I heated up my Angel hair pasta, and tossed in some parm. cheese and some mixed veggies and capers all in a baggy mixed then heated them up, i served my Scallops on top of my Pasta and drizzled some honey mustard Dressing that i served on my salad (Recipe included in bold lettering) i served my dinner with a simple salad of lettuce, tomatoes and lil cheese sprinkled on, oh and what made this salad good was the dressing, I took a few tablespoons of bottled ranch a few squirts of mustard, and some onion powder,splenda for sweetness or you may use honey or sugar. garlic powder and black pepper and mixed it in my magic bullet blender, YUMMMMMMO. If you make this let me know what you think, I'm all for comments! have a great day, oh and get some sleep so your not to tired to cook.

I also served this with an appetizer of stuffed chicken cheese and bread crumbs stuffed mushrooms heres my recipe:

1 pkg of Mushrooms (the stuffing kind)

1 cooked chopped boneless chicken thigh

4 large heaping tablespoons of seasoned bread crumbs

3 tablespoons of parm. cheese grated

oregono powder 1/4 tsp

thyme seasoning 1/4 tsp

Olive Oil for drizzling

Sake or white wine

Wash the mushrooms,take your stems off, disgard them, place your chopped chicken (chopped)

and all the rest of the ingredients in your magic bullet cup and whipp it up till its a good spreadable consistancy, if you dont have a magic bullet you may use your food processor.

i sometimes add some water just a smidge to the mix so it mixes to the right consistancy.

i just take a spoon and fill my mushrooms with the mixture, put them in an oven safe dish, drizzle some olive oil over them and a little bit of Sake, thats it. Place them in the oven for about 10-15 min on low broil. (not to close to the heating element) sprinkle with a little Parm. cheese for garnish if you wish.

Too Tired To Cook! Try This

Here i go again, with my whining, about being to tired to cook, This is getting to be a habit with me, Getting far away from the traditional dinners again and just going for the sampler platter. But im tellin ya, when you just don't want to get in that kitchen and tackle making the same ole dinner, this is what works for me. We drove over to our nearest Ralph's Grocery Store, and just started looking around at what would make a great dinner, so this is what we ended up with, 1lb of Extra Jumbo Shrimp, also we got a Boars Head Ham Sandwich on real good french bread, we broke the sandwich down and cut up the bread into bite size pieces, and put the ham around the platter and i whipped up some wasabi honey mustard to dip our lil mini treats with. We also got a variety of olives, this store as almost every kind of olive, and there all good, i had some veggie sticks in the frig already cut, and had some honey mustard dressing for dipping from the previous nites dinner. Oh yeah and i bought some garlic cheese spread and put some crackers around that, and i also purchased a Sun dried tomato Focaccia, I'm sure i spelled that wrong. Any how with a nice bottle of wine that turned out to be a pretty good sampler dinner, i think the best one yet! also i make my own cocktail sauce, i don't count making sauces cooking, i just call it making sauces,lol. Just remember that the trick to a good cocktail sauce is adding lemon or lime zest to your CATSUP, HORSERADISH SAUCE AND A FEW CAPERS AND YOU WILL HAVE A GREAT COCKTAIL SAUCE, OH YEAH AND FOR HEAT A FEW DROPS OF TABASCO SAUCE, ENJOY!

Cooked Oatmeal Smoothie, Brilliant, I say Brilliant!

Well I'm trying to keep my food pages updated as often as i can. Its is truly amazing how creative one can be when your cupboards are bare and your in definite need of a grocery shopping trip. Well that's when the creative juices start flowing, my husband wanted a smoothie and i had nothing, no fruit no yogurt nothing that was smoothie material. but i had a big tub of oatmeal which i cook in the crock pot weekly and i had some skim milk. Hey Creation! put a cup full of milk and a cup full of oatmeal in my magic bullet, if you dont have one of those, just use your blender, but the bullet works real good with the whipping blade. Oh and dont forget your gummy vites! (not in your shake).

You know this probably can replace your slimfast diet, just do the same thing drink 2 shakes

and eat a small meal, to sweeten this drink i use spenda but feel free to sweeten it with what ever you like, the great thing about this shake is that, its great! and its a good idea to keep your

oatmeal cold in the fridge. This shake certainly wont constipate you like slimefast does, this has more of an oposite effect.

Enjoy this recipe and if you have any questions please comment, i like to get comments.

Mc Donald's Angus third-pounder sandwich

Now I'm sure your wondering why I'm talking about this subject. Well, today i had a very busy day cleaning my carpets, which left me absolutely no time or energy for any cooking what so ever, and i remembered that i had a coupon for a buy one get one free third pounder hamburger.

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking Mc to it. We do have a Very nice, brand new Micky Dee's or Mc Donald's as some of you call it here in our city of Palm Springs CA, no its real nice, its not like your are in a Micky Dee's at all. Theres a nice rock wall inside with a nice flat screen TV. nice lighting, you feel more like your in a Starbucks or something similar. Any how, back to the burger, it was pretty good, for one of their burgers, i did have to scrape off lots o lots o mayo, and the cheese that was drippin off the thing, make sure you ask for a plastic knife, ive had better burgers,, they could really make a mean burger if they would char grill the thing, but this is not burger king and NO you cant have it your way!!!!! but with the coupon, it was one heck of a cheap date, 2 of them there third pounders and one small Fri and small coke, and a coffee came to under 8 bucks. Now this will probably be the last time i indulge in one of them, unless of course i see another coupon!...NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Later the Next Mc Morning:

uuurg!!!!!!, ok, now for the real Mc Nasty part, well, lets just say, i got a real bad Mc tummy Ache later! and yes i am writing about this the morning after My Mc Mistake of taking the easy way out of cooking, should i say i learned my lesson, YES Sirry Bob!

So dont leave the Mc light on, cause i wont be Mc Back!,,,,,,,

Chicken Teriyaki Kabobs and a great dessert

It was getting late and i haven't even thought of what to make for dinner tonite, and then i saw my Sake sitting on the counter, that's it, I'm in the mood for sake, your probably thinking, hmm, why does she have sake sitting on the counter, good question, well, it sits in my kitchen next to the salt and pepper shaker, and olive oil spray, i use it when a recipe calls for white wine. So that takes care of that, anyhow, i dint know what to make so i decided to go to the Ralph's grocery store at the end of my street, and just look around to see what would be interesting to make, i spotted some chicken kabobs already made, not cooked mind you, but they looked good, so i picked those up and brought them home, i decided it was gonna be Asian type food for us tonite it works with the sake, lol, anyhow, i made some teriyaki sauce, and soaked the kabobs in them for about 2 hours, heres the recipe.


My Teriyaki Sauce

1 cup of any teriyaki sauce that you have in your fridge
1/2 cup soy sauce
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar to 1/2 cup
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp. sesame oil
Chile sauce (to your liking)
white pepper (to your liking)
1 tsp. ginger fresh grated or powdered

mix it in your Magic bullet blender or your regular blender

pour about 1 half cup of sauce to set aside for dipping

poor the rest into a larger Ziploc bag and place in side your kabobs

make sure that your kabobs are covered completely

***when your ready to cook them, heat your grill, i use my Cuisinart grill for this, but you can use any grill, i cooked um for about 15 min turning them and browning them on all sides, i close my grill so its cooking from the top and the bottom.

*note: You can make these on your own, soak some kabob sticks in water for one hour, cut up some chicken breasts, onion and red and green peppers, thread them on your kabobs, and marinate them as suggested.

**I also marinated some tiger shrimp and turned this into surf and turf nite, i made fried rice pilaf to go with, and a cold peanut noodle salad

**and for appetizers i made some onion lavish with artichoke Parmesan spread.

Oh yeah and for dessert, i made Crepe Suzette Banana Flambe

This turned out pretty good, i made some crepes earlier in the day, then when it was time for dessert, i heated up 1 tbsp. butter in the skillet, cut up 2 bananas, threw them in the pan, when they started to brown i added some Coffee flavored tequila and some orange flavored tequila that i keep around just for occasions such as this, after i stirred it around i lit it, and it browned a little more, i heated up my crepes in the micro. and plated them, i put a scoop of Ben and Jerry's Strawberry cheese cake ice cream poured the Bananas on top and added some (fat free) whipped cream, oh like this is gonna help ay, hey ya gotta save the calories where ya can. This turned out wonderful, pretty good for just thinking of it if i do say so myself. Hope you try and make this you wont be sorry, its just that good!

Thin Crust Pizza, Mama Mia

OK, so you say you want pizza but you don't want to go out for it and you don't want to make the dough, well, Trader Joe's has the answer to your pizza dough needs, "Lavish" yes, that's what i used to make my pizzas at home when i need something to make in a hurry, now this pizza mind you, certainly doesn't look like i made it in a hurry!. This was kinda like things i had left from the weeks cooking, i had some Mole sauce and that's what i used for the sauce, so I'm going to give you my recipe, and you can alter it with what you have in your fridge.

Shredded Pork and Mole Thin Crust Pizza

2 lavish breads (Trader Joe's)

Some shredded pork, or chicken or beef

1 small can chopped black olives

2 cups mozzarella cheese

tomatoes, chopped, onion chopped,

avocado, chopped, lettuce- optional*

butter or olive oil for spraying lavish

Directions, heat your griddle or oven, i use a Cuisinart Griddler, if your doing it in the oven

turn on oven to 350, brush your lavish with butter or olive oil, both sides, and brown your lavish

just till its lite brown and not soft any more. If your using your griddler, brush your lavish with butter and place it in griddler, close the top, keep flipping it til brown and not pliable anymore, now when its brown, take it out of the oven, place it on a cookie sheet, brush your lavish lightly with sauce make sure your sauce is not to watery, lay some cheese down over that, then some pork, then some olives then some onion, then some cheese then some tomatoes, put it back in the oven turn down to 300. and just melt your cheese, cook it for about 10 15 min. you may put some avocados on there and some lettuce, slice with a pizza cuter and you got your self some tasty homemade pizza.

NOTE: lavish doesn't like liquid, so make sure you nothing is to wet, you can put hot sauce on after as you eat it, you can pick it up or eat it with a fork, enjoy. any questions email me.

Street Tacos, My way

Do you ever have one of those days when you NEED some good Mexican food, most of my days seem to be like this, i crave Mexican food. Well, searched the freezer to see what i had and low and behold, Pork loin, the other white meat, what ever that means, but anyhow, i thawed it out, sauteed it up in a little olive oil, salt pepper and cumin,oh and i poured about a 1/4 cup of sake, (that's what i use instead of white wine cause its convenient with a screw on cap) put it in a roasting pan, in the oven at 350 for about 3 hours. Then i took it out and added a few tomatillas whole, and half of a white onion

and some garlic cloves,just so they would cook, for my sauces, turned down the oven to about 250 for another hour and 1/2. you just want your pork to shred with a fork really easy so if its not there yet, cook it longer,
When your pork is shredable, shred it with 2 forks,that works the best.

For the sauce: All ya have to do is take the tomatillas that you cooked with the pork and the garlic and the onion and some of the juice from the pork and put it in the blender with some salt pepper and cumin and lil sprinkle of oregano, oh yeah and i splashed a few drops of habanero hot sauce for a little heat, oh yum is all i can say,

I also had some mole sauce left over from a previous dinner, so i used that on one of my tacos.

S0 this is how you make Lil street tacos, just buy some small tortillas, i got mine at a new store called Cardenas, they make um fresh, any how, grill up tortillas, Lil spray of oil, just cook um til their soft, put a little meat on, little cheese any you like, a Lil chopped white onion, and a little lettuce, that's it, add a Lil cilantro if you wish, and Lil sour cream or plain yogurt.

Drizzle a little of the sauces and your are there baby, with out having to run for the border.

OK so this is my recipe for soft street tacos

Now for my recipe for crunchy pork street tacos

OK, now that you have cooked and shredded your

pork, heat up a skillet, add a little oil, chop a half of white onion, real fine, mix it with some of the pork, add salt and pepper to the pork and onion, now add it to the hot skillet make sure its on med high heat, press it down and don't stir, just let it get a little crunchy on the bottom, when its a little crunchy, turn it over, turn off the heat, add a Lil cheese, and a Lil tomatilla sauce, so it doesn't dry out, heat up your tortillas on a grill, then when there soft, add the pork to them and fold them into Lil tacos, and cook till lightly brown, when there as crunchy as you like, take um and add some lettuce, cheese, tomato, onion, cilantro, and anything else you wish, serve them up with what ever sauces or salsas you have, the moe, the better, enjoy, below is the finished plate, if your aim is to please your significant other, this will do it,

Like Red Robin Seasoning,

OK we all know how tasty one of those Red Robin Burgers are. Could it be cause of the yummy fried onions they put on there burgers? possibly yes,,and could it be maybe the seasoning that they season there burgers with, well I'm going with that, so for all of you that want to clone that tasty burger, try this recipe you may be surprised how close your burger will taste to a tasty Red Robin burger, oh yeah and don't forget the crispy onions to top it off also,






here's the recipe, and a few others





LIKE RED ROBIN SEASONING SALT

3 TABLESPOONS SALT
1 TABLESPOON INSTANT TOMATO SOUP MIX; LIKE ( KNORR TOMATO WITH BASIL) THAT WORKS FINE
2 TEASPOONS CHILI POWDER
1/4 TEASPOON CUMIN
1/4 TEASPOON GROUND BLACK PEPPER Directions




COMBINE ALL INGREDIENTS IN A SMALL BOWL AND MIX WELL STORE IN COVERED CONTAINER
MAKES 1/3 CUP


Here's another seasoning that may come in handy if you run out of your favorite Old Bay type seasoning, this one comes pretty darn close to Old Bay seasoning for your seafood, great with shrimp, here's the recipe (below)

















Old Bay Type Seasoning
1 tbsp ground bay leaves



1- * tsp dry mustard



2- * tsp celery salt



1- * tsp black pepper



1-* tsp ground nutmeg



1-* tsp ground cloves



1-* tsp ground ginger



1-* tsp paprika



1-* tsp red pepper



1-* tsp ground mace



1-* tsp ground cardamom (optional)
Mix all ingredients together and place in your favorite shaker.















OK for you Cheese lovers and bread lovers, try this one out, Its like Claim Jumpers Garlic Cheese bread, this is the Bomb, ya better make lots of this one, and if you have left overs make panini sandwiches with the bread,,yummmmmmmmm!







here's the recipe,,





Garlic Cheese Spread
1/2 Cup butter
3/4 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 Teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 Teaspoon salt
Dash ground black pepper
Dash paprika
Bread
12 Slices Texas toast
or 1 large French bread loaf, sliced through the middle
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.Combine all ingredients for spread in a small bowl.Spread garlic cheese spread generously on one side of each slice of bread.Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cheese begins to brown and bubble.
Makes about 12 slices toast or two large halves of French bread.




Here's my favorite steak rub or chicken or really anything your going to grill, its also great on burgers to, its a must have on my spice shelf, come to think of it i need to make another batch, i think i better make 2 cause it goes fast, If you have ever had a steak at One of the Palms restaurants, this seasoning comes very close, the cornstarch in the mix gives your steaks and burgers and chicken a nice crunch. (the recipe is below)


STEAK RUB #1


You can use this on steaks, chicken, hamburgers*, its all good!Its like secret sauce, tell no one!
Ingredients


4 tbsp granulated garlic powder



2 tbsp kosher or sea salt salt



4 tbsp corn starch



2 tbsp paprika



3 tbsp black pepper* tsp white pepper* tsp thyme
Directions Mix all together and put into your favorite shaker Tell no one, keep this to your self, this is real good on steaks because the cornstarch seals in the juices, enjoy

Here is an easy Recipe for glazed Nuts, any will work.

Easy Honey Glazed Walnuts or Pecans
This recipe is so easy and these are so wonderful sprinkled on a salad, or pancakes or heck, just munch um, you will be hooked!
2 cups walnut halves or Pecans

1 tbsp. butter


1/3 cup of honey



1/8 tsp salt



1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper



1/8 tsp of cinnamon



Directions:Preheat a dry skillet over medium high heat, add the nuts, Honey and seasonings, stirring frequently, until the honey is caramelized and the nuts are toasted, about 3 min., let cool,

Great Filet Mignon Dinner with Shrimp Cocktail

OK so your probably wandering why I'm picturing a Skyy Vodka Martini, well because i can

no, really it helps me think what to make for dinner and after 2 of these and they do look pretty

i decided what i was gonna make with a couple of nice steaks i had in the freezer. I decided it was gonna be Surf and turf nite which i usually do on Friday, seems like a good day right!.. well i found some nice shrimp at Ralph's down at the end of my street. I brought them home and butter flied them and boiled them in water and Tony Chatchachers seasoning for about 3-4 min, cause they were not cooked and they were tiger shrimp rather jumbo size, I do not like squishy shrimp i like mine firm. anyhow after they were the right color i threw them in an ice bath, after they were cold i put them in a bowl and added some sake, and salt and pepper and a lil squeeze of lemon,

Now on to my steaks

I salted and peppered them and just let them chill for a bit

i made a sauce of broth i had in the fridge i think it was beef, i added some mustard, some sake

some pureed roasted garlic salt and pepper and cooked it, and reduced it down, i really dint follow a recipe but let me tell you it was like the best est steak sauce Ive made. really,

so then what to have with it, i decided not to do a big dinner, so i made some mashed potatoes and i also made some broccoli, and then mixed the 2 together and it was good, if i do say so. who knew ay! but anyhow its all pictured below hope this gives you some ideas to make some restaurant style food at home its so much better for you and you will surprise your self how good eating at home can be