Arroz Mexicano

That's Mexican Rice you to and me! :) I don't know how traditional or authentic it is, but it tastes good! My brother showed me the recipe, which is Mexican Rice II from www.allrecipes.com. I'm in the process of making it for the 2nd time this week. Eat it as a meal topped with some sour cream and cheese, or wrapped up in a tortilla with your favorite burrito fillings. I sauteed some vegetables the other day (zucchini, mushrooms and bell pepper) and added those, along with sour cream and guacamole. I loved it. My son did as well...in a time where we're lucky if he finishes anything, this he gobbled up!

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 C uncooked long-grain rice

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 C chopped onion

1/2 C tomato sauce

2 C chicken broth

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add rice. Cook, stirring constantly, until puffed and golden. Or just golden, depending on your rice. While the rice is cooking, sprinkle with garlic salt and cumin.

Stir in onions and cook until tender. Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20-25 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Fluff with a fork.

A Tale of Two Roasts

I love a deal, really. Garage sales are the best! But, that's not where I get my food. When the grocery store has a BOGO sale on packages of chicken, I'll get as much as I can. It's really a treat when their beef roasts are BOGO. The last time I got BOGO roasts, I asked my dad if he wanted the second one, and he said no. His freezer was stocked. So, I got two roasts for myself and thought about ways to best use them. Fast-forward to a week ago Monday. I had one of those "crock pot cookery" seasoning packets. I mixed it with water, put some carrots, celery and onions in the crock, added the seasoning and the meat and set the crockpot to GO. Then I turned it off and reset it, because I'd put it on the wrong setting. Fast-forward to 8 hours later, I walk in the house and smell the delicious...wait, what is wrong here? I don't smell that wonderful aroma coming from my crock...oh crap. It's off. It's usually on "warm" when I get home. Open the lid to see almost-completely-raw meat. Operator error, I'm sure. I was able to make tacos for dinner that night and pitch the roast. We'll call that one the "Free" one, since it was BOGO and I still had the 2nd one in the freezer.
THIS Monday would be a different story. First, because I forgot to buy the seasoning packet. Improvise...I'm trying to get better at that! So, I looked up some recipes and ideas, and came up with this:

4 celery stalks, rinsed and roughly chopped
4 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 3lb beef roast
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 Tbsp Tastefully Simple Onion Onion (i'm sure you could use raw onion, onion powder, dehydrated onion, anything onion)
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 package Lipton Beefy Onion Soup Mix

Put the celery and carrots on the bottom of the crock. Lay the roast on top of it. Mix together the cream of mushroom soup and onions, slather over the roast. Pour the can of stewed tomatoes around everything. Set on low and cook 8-10 hours.

Use the recipe on the side of the box of soup mix to make gravy. Pull the roast out of the crock and let it rest 10 minutes or so. Slice for sandwiches, and add to the prepared gravy. Let simmer on low until ready to serve. Serve on hoagie rolls for a delicious sandwich that will be devoured. Even my "I don't like roast" husband REALLY liked it!

Where's the food!

I was looking at another food blog (one that is far superior to mine!) and realized I hadn't posted here in a while. I've got some recipes waiting for me to try, but it seems like lately all I've gotten to do is cook up some smoked pork chops (I bought them smoked from Woodman's, so there was no real cooking involved!) and mashed potatoes, or maybe spaghetti with sauce from a jar. You don't need to hear about any of that! But I think things are calming down a little bit...I guess we'll see. OOH, here's a good thought...YOU tell ME what you think I should cook. Give me some good ideas. Maybe a recipe you want to try but haven't yet, or a new idea for chicken that you love. Or beef. Or whatever. I'm up for (almost) anything.

Tonight it's chicken nuggets. I know, so inspiring! <3

Double Cinnamon French Toast

I think I first got this one from the Food Network. Emeril to be exact. I guess I could look it up...but I don't feel like it. I'll give credit to Emeril! This is my go-to French Toast recipe. I haven't found another one that sounds as good. Unless you get into stuffed French Toast, which I haven't done yet. This is the best basic recipe I've seen. And use real maple syrup here, not pancake syrup. It makes a difference!

I usually use cinnamon bread with this one. SO yummy!

1 C maple syrup
3 Tbsp butter
2 tsp cinnamon
3 lg eggs
1 C whipping cream or half-n-half
2 tsp vanilla extract
cinnamon or egg bread

Bring syrup, 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp cinnamon to a boil; boil 2 minutes. Whisk eggs, cream, vanilla, 3 Tbsp syrup mixture and remaining cinnamon in bowl. Place bread slices in baking dish. Pour egg mixture over; turn to coat. Pierce bread. Let stand 5 minutes. Melt 1 Tbsp butter in large skillet. Add bread and cook until browned. Add 1 Tbsp butter to skillet. Turn bread over and cook until browned. Serve with remaining syrup.

Citrus Ginger Dressing

I love watching Ellie Krieger, so I picked up a couple of her cookbooks. I love ginger and citrus, so this looks fantastic. I'm looking really forward to trying it!

1/4 C fresh orange juice

3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

2 Tbsp canola oil

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp grated ginger

Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together until well blended

Buffalo Chicken Dip

This is absolutely DELICIOUS. My brother-in-law had it at his house for a family gathering one year, and I've been making it as often as possible ever since. My brother has now started requesting I make it for family gatherings as well...including this Easter. It's so easy and so good. It's pretty hard to mess up. But it's a lot hotter when you switch the amounts of hot sauce and ranch dressing because you think you remember in your head what to do instead of looking at the recipe :)

I've adjusted it to the way I make it...and what I serve with it

• 2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup Ranch dressing
• 3/4 cup pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot®)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 
  Put everything in the crock pot. Heat on high for about an hour, stirring occasionally to mix well. Switch to low and keep it there until ready to serve, stirring occasionally. Turn it to warm if it starts to burn. :)

Serve with crackers (the pretzel flips are really good here!) or tortilla chips.

Turkey Tater Hot Dish

There are so many versions of this, it's really up to you what you put in it. I used what was in my cupboard, which happened to be Penzey's Mural of Flavor. We'd gotten some as a gift, so I thought I'd try it. I also added pizza sauce because there was some in a bowl in the fridge. I'd opened it on accident when I meant to open tomato sauce. Add any veggies you like, and you've got a really tasty comfort meal! I'm not going to list the ingredients and then a recipe, because with the way my mind is (not) working right now, it seems like to tough a task. So, here goes.

Make mashed potatoes. I used two large baking potatoes to top an 8x8 dish. Brown 1 pkg lean ground turkey (I used Jennie O) in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste, and about a teaspoon of your favorite seasoning blend. Italian seasoning would probably work really well here. Add 1 small can pizza sauce and about 1 cup of frozen vegetables. Pour into an 8x8 baking dish. Top with mashed potatoes and 1-2 cups of shredded cheese (I used monterey jack). Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Turn the broiler on high and broil about 3 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Enjoy!