Fiesta Pasta Salad

I've made about every version of pasta salad out there, but this southwestern version includes one of my favorite ingredients - avocados!  It was yummy, but has to be eaten the same day, otherwise the avocados turn brown.  Darn those (yummy, delicious) avocados!  Add them very last before serving.  

1 pkg. pasta (use your favorite type/shape)
1 can olives, sliced
1-2 small Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 can black beans or kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can sweet corn, drained
1 ripe avocado
2-3 green onions, chopped
1 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup salsa, drain off extra juice
1 pkg. taco seasoning (won't use the whole thing)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Boil pasta in salted water according to pkg. directions.  Drain and cool.  Add olives, tomatoes, beans, corn, green onions and mix well.  Mix the ranch dressing, mayo and salsa.  Sprinkle in some taco seasoning (according to taste) and mix again.  Toss the dressing mix in with the salad ingredients. Stir in the shredded cheese, but save a little to garnish on top.  Finally, cut the avocado in half.  Cut one half in chunks, add to the salad and gently stir in so it doesn't get "mushed".  Cut the other half in slices and use to garnish the top of the salad.  If the salad seems like it needs more dressing, I usually just stir in more ranch dressing or mayo and sprinkle in a bit more taco seasoning.

Cheesy Green Bean Casserole

This ain't yo mama's green bean casserole! It's got lots of extras like cheese whiz, mushrooms, almonds, and a dash of Tabasco. It's so flavorful and hearty, once you try it you'll never make the old "mushroom soup" version again.

1/4 c. butter

1 (2 oz.) can mushrooms

1 small onion

1/3 c. flour

1/4 c. cheese whiz

1/2 c. milk

1/4 c. light cream

pinch Tabasco sauce

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 c. slivered almonds

2 cans green beans (regular or french cut)

French's French Fried Onions

In a skillet, saute the onions and mushrooms in butter until tender. Add the flour and stir for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Add the milk, cream, and cheese whiz. Heat and stir until mixture thickens, but don't boil for long or it could scorch. Remove from heat and add Tabasco sauce. The mixture will be thick. Open and drain the green beans, but reserve the liquid. Stir in the green beans, salt and pepper. Use alittle of the liquid from the beans to thin the sauce mixture if it seems too thick. Pour mixture in to a casserole dish and sprinkle slivered almonds on top. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven, sprinkle Frenches Onions on top and return to the oven until fried onions are browned (about 5 minutes).

Sweet and Salty Cucumbers

Vinegar soaked cucumbers take me straight back to days on the farm with grandma. It's funny because I hated these as a child, but now I love them. My sister-in-law, Melissa, shared the secret of throwing in a little sugar with the salt - YUM!
**You can use any kind of cucumber for this recipe, but recently I've been LOVING those English Cucumbers that come shrink wrapped and have the little ridges on the skin. They are the BEST.

Sliced Cucumbers
White Vinegar
Salt
Sugar
Water

Slice cucumbers and place them in a bowl. Pour vinegar all over the top (maybe about a half a cup or more). Sprinkle the whole thing with salt (1-2 tsp.) and then with sugar (1-2 T.) Pour freezing cold water over the top till it just covers the cukes. Let sit for several minutes before serving.

Sweet BBQ Chicken Skewers w/Rice Pilaf

We fired up the grill for the first time last week. These kebobs were tangy and sweet. Pop the rice pilaf in the oven while you make the rest of the meal and it will all be ready at the same time.



Chicken:
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks
6 T. ketchup
2 T. honey
2 T. soy sauce
grated rind and juice of 1 lime
2 tsp. freshly grated ginger
2 T. brown sugar

In a saucepan place the ketchup, honey, soy sauce, lime, ginger and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Once sauce has cooled, place chicken in sauce and marinate for at least an hour. Soak skewers in water while chicken marinates. Place chicken on skewers and grill on grill, brushing chicken with additional sauce during cooking.

Rice Pilaf:

In a 13 x 9 pan place 4 1/2 cups hot water and 2 tsp. chicken bullion. Add 2 cups rice. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes to an hour or until all moisture is absorbed. You can add chopped green onion before baking as well if you like a little green in your rice.

Light Fruit Salad

Guilt-Free recipes are rare on my blog, but this one comes close. You can make it with sugar-free pudding and lowfat milk if you like it healthier.

1 pkg. vanilla pudding (could use lemon or white chocolate flavored too)

1 lemon

fresh fruit (I used apples, bananas and strawberries in this batch)

1 cup milk

Cut up fruit and place in a bowl. Slice lemon in half and squeeze fresh lemon juice all over fruit and toss. Mix the pudding with the milk and stir well. Allow pudding mixture to stand for 3-5 minutes. Gently stir mixture in with fruit and toss to coat. Serve immediately. Refrigerate leftovers.

Upside-Down Baked Potatoes

Another recipe to get excited about! These are going to be a new favorite around here. Who doesn't like to cook a delicious baked potato in half the time? These were cheesy, flavorful, creamy inside, crispy outside and looked great on the plate.


4-5 T. butter (I use real)
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese (I used the powdery kind in the green container from Kraft and liked it better than the real, grated Parmesan cheese)
4 medium sized Idaho baking potato's

Place the butter in a 13x9 pan and place in an oven that has been heated to 400 degrees. Watch the butter and when it starts to melt and bubble, remove it from the oven. Swish the butter around, cover the butter with the Parmesan cheese. Wash potatoes and cut them in half. Place them, cut side down, on top of the butter/Parmesan mixture. Return to oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.

BBQ Pork Spare Ribs & Homemade Baked Beans

These pork spareribs are so tender they melt in your mouth. This is one of Korry's favorite meat recipes. The sauce is easy to prepare and the dish can simmer for several hours in the crockpot or cook a couple of hours in the oven. Boneless pork spareribs are often on sale at the grocery store so this makes an affordable meal.

For the Boneless BBQ Ribs:

1 pkg. country style boneless pork ribs (you can also use 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast)
1/2 c. catsup
1/4 c. vinegar
1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. water
6 T. butter
2 t. salt
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
2 t. dry mustard
2 t. paprika
1 t. chili powder

Place ribs (or chicken, or both) in the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan; set aside. Mix remaining ingredients together; spread over meat. Bake at 300 degrees for 2-3 hours.

For the Baked Beans:

1 large can pork & beans
1 (15 oz.) can chili beans
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans
1 lb. bacon
1 medium sized onion
1 large green pepper (optional)
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 c. ketchup
1 c. brown sugar

Cut bacon into pieces and fry in the bottom of a dutch oven or oven proof pan. Add the onions and peppers and saute slightly. Add all the other ingredients and stir well. Cover the dutch oven and place in a 300 degree oven. Bake for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. When I'm in a hurry, I just let this simmer on the stove top for about 30-45 minutes OR I put it in the crockpot on low all day.

Fried Rice

This recipe is great to whip up when you have leftover rice.

1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1/2 c. frozen peas
1 egg, scrambled
1 clove garlic (minced)
1/8 c. cooking oil
2 slices ham, diced
2 bunches green onion, diced
1/4 tsp. grated fresh ginger root
Soy Sauce

Heat oil in wok. Add green onion, garlic and ginger. Cook and toss until onions are tender. Remove from wok. Add the ham and toss until lightly browned. Add all ingredients back into the wok including the onions, peas, egg and rice. Cook and stir until mixture is hot and lightly browned on the edges. Before serving, stir in desired amount of soy sauce, cook and toss in hot wok.

Roasted Veggies

This is one of our families favorite side dishes. You can use any of your favorite veggies. We like carrots, potatoes or sweet potatoes.

veggies
olive oil
Kosher Salt
pepper

Cover a cookie sheet with tinfoil. Chop veggies into small strips or squares. Spread on cookie sheet. Sprinkle olive oil all over veggies and toss to coat. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the top. Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until nicely browned and fork tender.

Sweet Potato Casserole

This casserole is heavenly! You can use fresh sweet potatoes that you boil and mash, or keep it simple by used canned Yams that are ready to go.

3 c. cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (or canned yams)
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup milk

Peel, slice and boil sweet potatoes for 20-25 minutes. Mix other ingredients in a bowl. Drain potatoes and mash them up (allow to cool for a few minutes). Mix sweet potatoes in with other ingredients and beat until smooth (it will seem a bit runny, but don't worry). Pour mixture into a 13x9 pan. Sprinkle with the following topping:

Topping:
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Smash all of these ingredients with a fork until well blended and crumbly. Sprinkle on top of casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Kelly's Zucchini Casserole

Kelly B. gave me this recipe. It is creamy and crunchy and the perfect way to use up all of those zucchini's from your garden.

6 cups zucchini, peeled and chopped into chunks
1-2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
16 oz. container sour cream
2 cubes butter
1 pkg. Stove Top Stuffing (chicken flavor)

Melt butter in saucepan. Pour in dry stuffing mix and saute for a few minutes until slightly browned and crispy. Set aside. Fill another saucepan with hot water and bring to a boil. Add zucchini, carrots and onion. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and drain veggies. Stir in the soup and sour cream. In a 13x9 pan, pour half of the stuffing mixture, top with veggie mixture and then sprinkle rest of the stuffing mixture on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

*To make this a little less fattening, I have used only one cube of butter for browning the stuffing and have used low fat sour cream. It still tastes great. Low fat cream of chicken soup could also be used, but doesn't taste quite as good.

Jill's Melon Cups

This is a BUNCO recipe from 2005. My friend Jill made it with fresh fruit and poured the glaze on right before serving. It was so GOOD!

4 cups watermelon balls
2 cups cantaloupe balls
2 cups honyedew balls
2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
2 cups fresh raspberries

Glaze:
1 cup water and 1 cup sugar (melt in microwave for about 1-2 mintues)
Add:
1/2 cup pink lemonade concentrate
1/2 cup orange juice concentrate

Mix well and toss over fruit. Refrigerate leftovers.

Real Garlic Bread

Try your hand at roasting garlic for this recipe. You won't regret it!

1 head of garlic
olive oil

Cut the top off a head of garlic, exposing the tops of the cloves. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Wrap the entire head in a small piece of tinfoil and place on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove from oven. Squeeze the roasted cloves out and mash them up with a fork.

Garlic Bread Spread

In a small bowl, mix:

1 cube butter
mashed, roasted garlic
Dash of salt
Dash of pepper

Split a large loaf of French Bread in half. Spread the garlic butter mixture on both sides. Place both halves on cookie sheet and roast under broiler until bread is browned and bubbly.

Cheesy Green Bean Casserole

This is a family favorite Thanksgiving dish. It trumps the mushroom soup/French's onion recipe any day

1 (2 oz.) can mushrooms
1/2cup Cheese Whiz
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 cans cut green beans
1/4cup butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup milk
Dash of Tabasco
1/4 cup half & half
Slivered almonds

In skillet, saute butter, onion and mushrooms. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Add milk, half & half and Cheese Whiz. Heat to a boil. Add the green beans (drained), salt, pepper and Tabasco (optional). Stir well. Pour into casserole dish. Top with slivered almonds. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

Mexican Rice (like La Casita)

This dish is pictured with the recipes for carne esada. My family loves it because it is simple and doesn't have big chunks of onion and pepper in it.

3 T. 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 pot. Add rice and cook until puffed and golden brown. While cooking, add salt and cumin. Stir in onions and cook until tender. Add the tomato sauce and chicken broth. Bring to boil, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Fluff with fork.