South-Western Pasta Salad

Glenda, bless you forever for sharing this recipe with me! It is DELICIOUS!!!!

Sorry for the lack of a photo. Pasta salad isn’t really photogenic. So I didn’t even try. Just know that is one of the best pasta salads I have EVER had! Try it out. You won’t be sorry!

 

Ingredients:

1 box/bag of Rozini Pasta (the curly noodles)
1 Green Bell Pepper
2 Roma Tomatoes
1 can Black Beans
1 can Kidney Beans
1 can Corn (I used a bag of frozen corn)
1 can Olives
1/2 Red onion (give or take depending on how much you like onion)

Dressing:
2 cups Mayo (Do NOT use Miracle Whip)
2 cups Butter Milk
1 dry packet Hidden Valley Ranch – Fiesta flavor

1. Get your noodles cooking.

2. Meanwhile start washing and cutting your vegetables. Rinse the canned goods. Once your noodles are done put everything together in one pot.

3. In a small mixing bowl measure out your Mayo, then pour in your Buttermilk. Add your Fiesta packet and whip together. Pour over the top of your salad and mix.

 

You should be able to find the Dressing packet in the same area as your other salad dressings. I was not able to find it at either of the Kent’s Marketplaces here. It was at the Ridley’s though. Next time

I’m in Walmart and Smith’s I will check there. It seriously is the best dressing though. The flavor reminds me of Bajio. I ended up adding some celery to mine because my bell pepper tasted bad and I needed some crunch in it. Feel free to add or subtract any ingredients that you feel would make it better. Just think of what you usually have with your Mexican dishes and you won’t be able to go wrong. I think next time I make it I might try adding some grilled chicken.

Anyway, try it out. It is awesome! Don’t bring it to any events that I’ll be at though. I will already be making it!

French Toast

Ingredients:

Bread
Eggs
Milk
Cinnamon/Sugar
Toppings

1. Estimate 2 eggs per person. This will give you enough extra to feed the extra hungry and probably have a couple slices for leftovers. Mix your eggs and 1/4 cup of milk for each person together. Add the amount of cinnamon/sugar you’d like. Remember you’ll probably have more sugar in your toppings, so not too much.

2. Oil your pan and let it heat up. Cook each side of your toast until done. I usually cook on a med heat so about 3-4 min. each side. Every stove is different though.

Try some different toppings if you’re stuck in a rut. Strawberries and whipped cream was delicious. Peanut Butter and Jam, or Honey is always good. I think I’m going to try a non-sugary one next time and do ham and cheese with some peppers or something. More like an omelet sandwich I guess. There is always just syrup too.

Teriyaki Tenderloin

A BIG thanks to my wonderful Aunt Nikki for sending me a bunch of her favorite recipes. I’ve been so excited to try them out.

In her email to me she explained that this recipe is amazing with all sorts of meats. She has used it a lot when cooking with deer and elk. Even the family members who are picky eaters when it comes to the game meat loved the taste that this marinade gave it.

One word of advice that Nikki offered was to use Aloha Shoyu Soy sauce. She said it is amazing! I haven’t had a chance to pick any up yet, but I’m planning on it! She said she found some at Winco and online Walmart says that their stores carry it. Anyway, here we go!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Ketchup
1 pork Tenderloin or any other meat of your choice
1 plastic bag or sealed container that can be flipped onto it’s top.

1. Combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, and ketchup together and place in a plastic bag. Then add your meat. Seal the bag and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Flip the bag or container every couple of hours so all of the meat gets marinated very well.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place meat in a greased 13x9 glass pan uncovered. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes then let stand for 5.

When cooking Steaks put the meat in a frying pan with the marinade. Cover the pan and let the meat cook. The marinade will start to boil and cook the meat. Cooking time depends on how you like your steaks done and how thick they are. This method will really make your meat tender.

*Side Note: Yes those are Nachos on the plate. When I think Teriyaki it makes me think of jerky, which then makes me think of South-Western cooking. I think they fit together great. I only wish I had remembered to start some rice sooner. It would have at least made meat stand out better in the picture.

HELP WANTED!!!

Hey Everyone,

As you can see I am trying to bump up my amount of posts on here. I put up a TON at first and then kind of burnt out. Now I'm sticking to one or two at a time. My main goal is to keep cooking away and to TAKE PICTURES! I guess most of the time I'm just in a hurry and want to eat it! YUM! Anyway, (Ah-hem) my vision for this website is needing a little more of your participation. I would really like to see this become a site where we have a large group of people coming together to share recipes and seek advice. I would absolutely LOVE it if you would all share this site with your family and friends. I think there are lots of things that we can learn from each other.

Next item, I would love to help you with your questions and searches for good recipes. So PLEASE send me some! I have a huge collection of recipes that I would love to dive into while searching for the perfect solution. If there is a food that you would love to learn how to cook, or a certain recipe that you find a little time consuming and would like it simplified, if you have a picky eater that needs something creative and a little persuasive, PLEASE ASK ME!!!! You are welcome to put your questions up as a comment to one of my posts, or even just email me! kellishimek@gmail.com

So here we go:

1. Share this site with your friends and ask for their participation!

2. Share your recipes and tips!

3. Let me help you! Contact me with your questions and things you'd like me to look into.

4. Offer your own creative critisism to me so I can improve myself and this site!

Thanks so much for your help!

Stir-Fry

Obviously pictured on the left .

This was kind of an experiment tonight. I will get the exact one from my mom later, but until then, this worked well.

Ingredients:

Spaghetti Noodles
1/2 cup Chicken Broth
1/2 Can of Pineapple Tidbits
3-4 stalks of Celery
1 Red Bell Pepper
1/2 lb Carrots

1. Start your water boiling and prepare your noodles according to the box.

2. Meanwhile, start chopping. You want everything in nice bite-size pieces. Once they are cut up, put them in your wok (I had to use my large skillet), along with your chicken broth and half of the juice from the pineapple (use the other half to store your pineapple, unless you want all of the pineapple). I think I could have put some water in there…., but I’m not totally sure. Cover and let simmer.

3. Once your noodles are done, drain, coat with a little olive oil to help them not stick together, and add them to your veggie pan.

My mom would go ahead and add chicken to this growing up, but I really wanted to do the Sweet and Sour Chicken tonight, so I didn’t. The sauce from the chicken was also really good on this stir-fry.

So yeah, go ahead and try it. Good stuff!

Sweet and Sour Chicken!

Thank you to the Ladies at http://sistersstuff.blogspot.com! Check out their great blog. They’ve got tons of wonderful recipes and craft ideas. They also put out a weekly menu.

Small Disclaimer: This was not a ‘Quick’ recipe. I took a longer time because I cut up my meat so it took longer to coat it. Also, I used the baking time to prepare the stir-fry. So overall it was a little more time consuming, but WAY worth it. SOOOO GOOD!!!!

Just a few more words before I delve into the recipe. First off, the picture isn’t the greatest. I had to take it with my phone, so no judging. Also, I doubled the sauce recipe because I always like having extra (it was good over the stir-fry and would be great on rice). The Hubby and I decided that we are both ‘Sauce People’. Also, I cut my chicken breasts in strips so I ended up needing to use two eggs and about double the flour when coating.

Ingredients:

3 pounds chicken breast
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 beaten egg
4-6 tablespoons flour or cornstarch
3/4 C. sugar
1/2 C. vinegar
1/2 C. chicken broth
3 1/2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt and pepper. Let stand for 5-10 minutes. Preheat 325 degrees. Dip chicken in beaten egg, and then in flour or cornstarch. Place in baking dish.

Create your sauce: Mix sugar, vinegar, chicken broth, ketchup, soy sauce and 2 TBSP cornstarch. Pour directly over chicken breasts. Bake uncovered at 325 for 1 hour, or until sauce is thick and dark in color.

Quesadillas!

One of our favorite quick meals that we like to do is a ‘Deeah’ (as our little boy likes to call it). These have a plethora of options. We throw it together and then nuke it in the microwave for one minute. Here are some of our favorite toppings!

Cheese (obviously)
Lunch Meat (Ham, Turkey, or Chicken)
Ranch Dressing
Crumbled Bacon
Olives

We haven’t played around much past that yet. I can see it happening though. Mix and match to your hearts delight! We like to put a light layer of cheese, add the meat, and then put a little more cheese to help it stick. You can also heat them up in a frying pan to give it a little more crunch (probably more authentic, too).

Orange Chicken Lo Mein

Thank you Pampered Chef!

I saw a commercial for P.F. Changs and decided I needed to get this recipe up. It is amazing! And really not as hard as you might think.

Ingredients:
2 oranges
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 TBSP Asian Seasoning Mix
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 egg
1/2 tsp each salt and coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 TBSP vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, pressed
2 pkg (3 oz each) ramen noodles, any flavor, split into halves
1 bag (12-16 oz) frozen stir-fry vegetable blend such as broccoli, carrots and pea pods, thawed
3 cups thinly sliced green cabbage

1. Zest one orange using microplane to measure 1 TBSP. Juice both oranges to measure 1/2 cup. Combine zest, juice water, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and seasoning mix in small batter bowl; whisk well. set aside.

2. Cut chicken into 1-in. pieces. combine egg, sale and black pepper in classic batter bowl. Add chicken; stir to coat. Combine flour and cornstarch in large colander bowl. add chicken mixture; toss to coat. Heat oil in (12 in) skillet over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Remove chicken from flour mixture, shaking off excess, and place into skillet. Cook 8-10 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and centers are no longer pink, stirring occasionally. Remove chicken from skillet; set aside and keep warm.

3. Add pressed garlic to skillet. cook 30-60 seconds or until fragrant. Omitting seasoning packet, add ramen noodles and orange mixture to skillet. cover; bring to a simmer and cook 3-4 minutes or until noodles are softened. Add stir-fry blend and cabbage; cook 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are hot and cabbage is crisp-tender. Add chicken to skillet; mix well to coat chicken.

yield: 6 servings

I’ve never added the cabbage, but I’m sure it’s delicious! I’ve also tried making it without coating the chicken. It was still good, but taking the extra time to coat really adds to it.

Pasta Salad Creation

I’ll admit it, I love to experiment with food. I am more brave when I’ll be trying it by myself first, but will subject my hubby to my creations often too. I had a hankerin’ for some pasta salad tonight, but knew I didn’t have everything that I would normally put in it. I decided to poke around my food storage and see what I could come up with.

Ingredients:

1 box pasta (I used a box of Garden Delights)
1 can Olives
1 can mushrooms
1 can water chestnuts (a little crunch!)
1 can chicken
1 tomato
Dash of Olive Oil (probably 1/4-1/3 cup)
Your favorite seasoning to taste

1. Get your water boiling for your pasta. Prepare the pasta according to directions.

2. While noodles are cooking start opening those cans, draining, rinsing, and chopping. I have a manual food processor that worked great in speeding up the process. You can easily have everything chopped before your noodles are done though.

3. Once your noodles are finished toss them with the olive oil. This helps them from getting dry and is also acting as our dressing. Normally I would have just thrown in a little Italian Salad Dressing, but I didn’t have an open bottle in my fridge and didn’t feel like getting one out. That’s why I added my own seasoning. I picked one with a little kick for fun.

4. Throw in all of the chopped stuff and enjoy!

I ate this warm (really good), but it was also be fantastic cold. Do what you want!