Cilantro Lime Rice

I have made an effort to start eating better. I will still make things for my family that they love to eat, but I won't be eating it with them. I've been looking at different recipes that has ingredients I will eat. It's not been hard finding things to replace some of the things I like but it's worth it. Of the many foods out there to eat rice tops the list as one of my favorites, so when I seen this recipe for Cilantro Lime Rice I was thrilled. I can use this rice along with almost any meat, chicken or fish dish. When I first tried cilantro lime rice it was with green beans and chicken. I made this as a side dish to my Black Bean & Avocado Quesadillas. Lime lovers Enjoy!

 

This is all you need for this amazingly yummy rice! It's so simply to make.

 

Cilantro Lime Rice

 

What Ya'll Need:

1/2 tbsp. butter( you could use vegetable oil)

2/3 cup Jasmine rice
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
Juice of 1 Lime
Cilantro use fresh or dried

What to do:
In saucepan add butter, heat stirring occasionally until melted. Add rice and lime juice, stir till rice is coated. Add water and salt, bring to a full rolling boil. Once it's boiling, cover with lid and turn down to a simmer until rice is tender and the water is absorbed, takes about 20-25 minutes. Then remove from heat fluff rice with a fork. Place in a dish immediately.. taste and add extra lime if needed then add the Cilantro and serve.

*Cooking Note: My husband is not a big fan of Cilantro so I use the dried, but if you want to use fresh just chop and add to liking. Once the rice is done place in serving dish this keeps rice from still cooking and getting sticky.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies are Yummy in almost any flavor. I decided to make mint chocolate chip cookies since I had some of my nieces and nephews visiting me and they wanted to help make a dessert. I did the easy way and used the Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix recipe and I did a slight change nothing real major. l really enjoyed my time with the kids and we had fun making cookies.

What you need for this fun yummy cookie!

Here my niece Layla pouring the mix and getting ready to make cookies.

This is what it looks like mixed up. I didn't get to take a picture of it before we stirred.

Layla changed clothes. Cracked an egg went all over her, first time in the kitchen!

She did a great job! They tasted really good.

 Evan decided he would write the recipe down so that I wouldn't forget. He wanted to help out.

 

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies  

 

 

What Ya'll Need:

1 pouch (1 lb. 1.5 oz.) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix                 

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/4 teaspoon mint extract

6 drops green food color 

1 egg

1 cup Andes crème de menthe baking chips                

3/4 cup  Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

 

What to Do:

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, extract, food color and egg until soft dough forms. Then stir in crème de menthe baking chips and chocolate chips. Using small cookie scoop I got mine from Pampered Chef drop dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10* minutes. Let cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack or wax paper. Serve warm or cool completely!

 

Cooking Tip: I cooked mine for 9 minutes they turned out great. Test a cookie first in your oven  to check what time is best. It always helps from ruining the whole batch of cookies. I use less chocolate chips and more mint chips and very little mint extract. I like the flavor of the mint chips.

 

{Southern Style} Dirty Rice

Southern Style Dirty Rice is my take on a New Orleans traditional dirty rice which is often made with chicken gizzards and livers, which gives it the brown color and that gives this recipe its name. However I do not eat either of those two meats. I have tried them but, they are not for me. I have had dirty rice cooked for me by a friend from Louisiana and I've tried the boxed dirty rice by Zatarain's. The seasonings in dirty rice full of flavor. Then one day I thought why not try and make it from scratch. I got as close as I could on taste. If you like dirty rice you will like this. Give it a try!

{Southern Style} Dirty Rice

What You Need:

2 lbs. ground meat

3 cups uncooked long grain white rice(used uncle ben's) 

4 tbsp. Creole Seasoning (used Zatarain's)

1 1/2 tbsp. of Zatarain's Dehydrated Sweet Bell Peppers

2 tbsp. minced Onion(used McCormick's)

1 tbsp. minced garlic

2 tbsp. soy sauce

6 1/2 cups water

2 tbsp. of butter 

*dash of paprika on top for taste

Directions:

Brown ground beef in large skillet on medium-high heat, make sure you ground it up in very small pieces, then drain and set aside. In a large saucepan bring water to a boil add all the seasonings and butter stir until mixed. Then add the meat and rice; return to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 25 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with fork before serving. Dash with paprika and enjoy!

*Cooking Note: You could use fresh peppers and onion.

This make's 8-12, 1 cup servings. We like left overs in my house!!

"That Green Sauce" Dip

Mexican food.. Need I say more? It's yum and my favorite! Going to try different Mexican food restaurants is something I get to do a lot with my husband and father In-Law Lonnie. Both of them would eat Mexican food for all three meals if they could. At most Mexican Restaurants they bring a "green sauce" with the chips and salsa. I love most of them and some are not so great. This is a dip that is always a hit or miss. So when we were walking threw the HEB shopping and a lady was giving samples for a "green sauce" Brian and I of course were like YES we're trying this! It was so darn good and has been something that we have at most of our dinner party's. Its a favorite, easy to make and goes with most types of food.

This is all you need for this amazing and very tasty dip.

 Mix it all together and chill for at least 30 mins. to an hour.

This is the base of the dip and when mixed with sour cream and Avocado. It's Perfect!

 

That Green Sauce Dip

 

What Ya'll Need:

1 jar of H-E-B's That Green Sauce

4 Avocados

16 oz. Sour cream

1 tsp. Lime juice

Dash of Oregano or Cilantro(I use oregano) 

Salt to taste

What to Do:
In a bowl mix the all the ingredients. Cover and chill for 30 minutes to an Hour. Remove and Enjoy!

Cooking Tip: We like to use Julio's Chips. But, using a tortilla chip makes this dip taste the best.

Cowboy Hash

Hash brown Casserole is a favorite of mine as a side dish or as a meal all on its own. I got the idea for Cowboy Hash from another dish I make Cowboy Pasta. It's a pasta dish and I was out of pasta and only had potatoes. So the idea came to light for Cowboy Hash. I made it for my husband and a few of his friends for a dinner party that we were having a few weeks ago. They liked it so much its been a request since then. I guess its now a new family favorite.

The sour cream and cheese potatoes are so yummy on top of this dish.

 

Cowboy Hash

 

What Ya'll Need:

1 pound of hamburger meat

2 cans of ranch style beans(I used one can original and one with jalapenos)

1 table spoon of  Jess Hall's Serendipity Seasoned Salt

1 table spoon of McCormick® Chili Seasoning package

1/2 cup of water 

6 medium potatoes peeled and diced up

12 oz sour cream

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese(I uses Colby)

Salt and Pepper for taste

 

What you Do:

Brown meat in a skillet; drain and return to pan. Add both cans of beans, serendipity salt, chili seasoning and water. Stir till mixed, cover and simmer. Then mix the potatoes, sour cream and cheese in bowl. Salt and pepper it to taste. Take a 13x9 cooking dish add meat mixture to pan. Then spoon potatoes on top once done, sprinkle with cheese. Place dish in a preheated oven to 385 cook for 45 minutes. Remove and let sit for five minutes. Serve up and Enjoy!!

 

Cooking Tip: If you want to save sometime use a bag of frozen potatoes, I used them the second time I made them. Tasted just as good. I let them thaw out why I cooked the meat mixture. Then stirred them in with cheese and sour cream.   

 

 

 

 

Birthday Cake Fudge

My family does it up every year at holidays with different sweet treats. It’s a tradition in my family for Grandma Norma to make the peanut butter and chocolate fudge. So I loved the idea for birthday cake fudge. I made this fudge for a family gathering and it was a hit. My daughter keeps asking for more. So commencing now on I will be making this for every birthday, holiday and family get together! A very trouble-free recipe so give it a Whirl!

 What you need to make Birthday Cake Fudge

Mix 2 cups cake mix and 2 cups confectioners sugar in microwave safe bowl

Add 1 cup butter, 1/4 cup to dry mix.. Don't Sir, Microwave 2 minutes

Then sir the mixture well, add the sprinkles at this point.

Place in a 8x8 or 13x9 pan, mold to shape pan then let sit in fridge 1 hour 

Remove, then cut in to small pieces and enjoy! 

Birthday Cake Fudge

What Ya'll Need:

2 cup yellow cake mix (I used a confetti mix)
2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 stick butter or margarine, cut into small squares
1/4 cup milk (no less)
Sprinkles

What to do:
Put your confectioners sugar and cake mix into a microwave safe bowl, mix up. Then add your milk and butter. DO NOT STIR YET. Microwave for 2 minutes.  Remove and stir until completely combined.  Then add your sprinkles. Put into an 8×8 or 9x10 pan I lined mine with non-stick foil. Then refrigerate for an hour. Remove and cut in to small pieces and Enjoy!

*Cooking Tip: Using the foil makes it easy to remove and flip on to a cutting board, allowing it easy to cut the fudge a lot better and keeping fudge in one piece.

Avocado Deviled Eggs

Deviled Eggs! Tell me who doesn't like a deviled egg.. Okay I'm sure there might be a person who don't but my family is full of people who do. My husband Brian and sister in-law Amanda love deviled eggs. We also have a love for avocados so when I seen a recipe for avocado deviled eggs I knew this was going to be something I was trying immediately. I'm glad I did cause they are AMAZING!! Very easy to make so I hope that you try these cause they are worth the taste test.

 

So good, I left a few chucks of avocado in the mixture.. Glad I did!

 

 

Avocado Deviled Eggs

 

What Ya'll Need:

7 medium eggs boiled 

1 avocado diced up

1 tbs.  of Lime Juice

1 tbs. of Mayo(miracle whip for me)

salt and pepper for taste

Paprika for topping the eggs

 

What to Do:

Take boiled eggs cut in half length way and put yolk in a small bowl. Then place diced avocado in the bowl with cooked egg yolk add lime juice, salt, pepper and mayo stir until it has a consentience of a normal deviled egg mixture. Add  the egg/avocado mix to the center of the eggs and sprinkle with paprika.

 

*Cooking Tip: Place the egg mixture in a small Ziploc bag. Cut one corner and squeeze in center of egg.. Makes this step very easy!

 

Turkey Melts on Yeast Rolls

I was enjoying a good chicken fried steak dinner and eating a yeast roll when the idea for this recipe came to light. I love a good sandwich and a warm one at that. I decided to try making turkey melts on the left over yeast rolls I had. I have made homemade breads but I like to buy Sister Schubert's® Dinner Yeast Rolls. You can cook one at a time or ten. Nice to have them on hand when my husband makes plans for a last minute dinner party. The yeast rolls are yummy, so adding turkey and cheese made them taste so good. It took no time at all to make. I will be doing this more often. I can think of many different sandwich creations that might just be a hit.

 

My husband added lettuce, tomato and spicy mustard.. Should have taken a Picture!

 

 

 

Turkey Melts

 

What Ya'll Need:

Sister Schubert's® Dinner Yeast Rolls

Turkey Slices of your favorite brand(Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Turkey Breast)

Cheese (I used provolone and Colby)

All the special condiments for topping(lettuce, tomatoes, mustard, mayo)

 

What to Do:

Place frozen yeast rolls place in preheated oven  375 degrees and warm them for 5 minutes. Take them out and let cool cut in half. Then place what condiments you want on the bread I added spicy brown mustard and cheese. On top of condiments place the meat even on each half of yeast roll keep apart on baking pan. Place back in oven for another 10 minutes. Remove, put each half together and Enjoy! That simple...

 



One Pot Chili Mac

I love to be messy and making things from scratch but, sometimes we just don't have time. So here is a recipe that my husband Brian came up with.. kind of! We were in a hurry to make something for dinner. We had been looking and naming things, nothing sounded good then he had the bright idea to mix the can of Wolf Brand Chili we had with a package of noodles. Glad he did because it was yummy! I know this isn't a master crafted dinner recipe but, it is a time saver that's warm and tasty.

 

Chili Mac

 

What Ya'll Need:

1 Can of Wolf Brand Chili ( with/without beans)

1 pound of pasta, I used elbow

1 cup of Cheese

 

What to Do:

Cook noodles as directed, drain. Then add the can of Chili stir till mixed. Top with cheese and Enjoy!

 

Cooking Tip: I drained the noodles and then added the chili to pot so it would get warm then stirred in the noodles. Hint to the name One Pot Chili Mac!

 

 

Pecan Brownies

Brownies, are a wonderful treat that very rarely disappoints. They can be made with many different flavor combinations and topped with almost anything. I like brownies with frosting on top, It's my favorite! I made these for my husband Brian who just happens to love brownies with out frosting.  He was being on his best behavior so I made this treat for him. I think this happens to be one of the easiest brownie recipes I have ever made. I can't wait to try it with frosting on top next time. 

 

 

I love how these turned out and they tasted Amazing!

Pecan Brownies

What Ya'll Need:

6 squares unsweetened chocolate

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter cut up

2 cups sugar

3 eggs at room temperature  

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

1 cup chopped pecans

Chocolate Frosting(Optional):
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 – 3 tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
pinch salt

What to Do:

Melt chocolate and butter slices together in microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes, or on stove top in heavy saucepan on very low heat. Whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Whisk sugar into chocolate until well blended. Mix in eggs one at a time then add vanilla. Stir in flour and 3/4 cup of pecans until well blended. Spread mixture into 9 x 13 glass baking dish & spread evenly. Top with remaining pecans. Bake in 325 degrees preheated oven for 27 to 30 minutes. Do not over bake. Remove brownies, place in a sink that has been filled with cold water and ice. Should be just enough to cover bottom of baking dish, let sit 2 minutes then place on rack to finish cooling completely, cut into squares and Enjoy!

*Cooking Tip: Putting brownies in "ice bath" helps cut the additional cooling time immediately. It also helps the brownies from over cooking in the baking dish.