Enchiladas!!

These delicious enchiladas come from the Studly Hubby's mom who made it often when the Studly Hubby was growing up, and now it's a staple in our house too. It's also easy to freeze after it's cooked and re-heat later in the microwave (we do this often and NEVER get sick of it!).



Ingredients:
2 packages Frontera enchilada sauce
1 lb ground beef (or chicken, or whatever), browned, crumbled and drained
2 cups of grated Jack cheese
8 corn (or flour) tortillas

For filling, combine beef, 1 cup cheese, and 1/2 cup sauce. For each enchilada, dip tortilla in sauce, fill with 1/8 of filling, roll tightly and place, seem side down, in 6"x10" baking dish. Pour sauce over all. Top with remaining cheese. Bake in preheated 350F oven for 20-30 min or until well bubbly.

Green Tomato Apple Crisp

A delicious way to make use of an early frost that ruins your tomato crop - this is exactly what happened and our co-op found this recipe, whipped up the dish, and managed to sell all their green tomatoes with it (buyers got to take the recipe too).

Fortunately for ME the Studly Hubby was feeling adventurous and bought some to try for himself - and it was delicious!!! It was my first time eating green tomatoes and I was very impressed.

A slice of delicious green tomato apple crisp

Recipe can be found in The Rolling Prairie Cookbook by Nancy O'Connor.

Caribbean Squash Pork

Mmm Mmm Good!!

*Crockpot recipe*


1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 lbs pork shoulder, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 onions, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp minced gingerroot
1 Tsp Cumin seeds
1 Tsp Ground Allspice
1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp cracked black peppercorns
1 serrano chili, finely chopped
1/2 cup condensed chicken brother (undiluted)
4 cups squash, cubed and peeled, -acorn or butternut
1 Tsp lime zest
2 Tbsp Lime juice

1. Brown pork in a skillet with vegetable oil, and put in crockpot
2. Drain all but 1 Tbsp fat from pork and add onions to pan and cook until softened. Add garlic, gingerroot, cumin seeds, allspice, cinnamon, salt, pepper and chili pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil.
3. Add squash to crockpot. Pour contents of pan into crockpot and stir to combine. Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hrs or on High for 4-5 hours, until pork is tender.
4. Stir in lime zest and juice and serve immediately over hot fluffy rice.

*Note: my studly hubby and I found it very hard to cut the uncooked squash for this recipe. Any suggestions, let us know.

Recipe for a Google Bomb

My super awesome PhD advisor is part of an ingeniously devised Google Bomb. For details, see my main blog, Doctor Pistachio.

Bacon Salad with Swiss Dressing

This is fast becoming one of our favorite "quick and healthy" meals - and yes it is hardy enough to be a meal, esp if you have some bread with it. It's really easy, just cook up some bacon (or I suppose any other meat would work), throw it in with your favorite kind of lettuce, add avacado and tomato slices and whatever else you like, then whip together some dressing (I call it Swiss Dressing because a friend of mine from Switzerland told me about it):

1 part vinegar
2 parts olive oil
a glop of jam or jelly to taste, any kind you like

Green Beans

All the joys of green beans:

Here are two quick ways to prep green beans:

1. Minnesota hot-dish style (a favorite in my family, even though they're from Iowa):

Prep Time: 10 min (plus 30 min baking)
Feeds: 6-8

Ingredients:
1 can (10 ¾ oz) Campell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup
4 cups cooked cut green beans OR 2 (16 oz) cans French cut green beans
1 cup French’s French Fried Onions

Preparation:
Mix soup with beans in a casserole dish
Bake at 350 for 25 min or until hot
Add French Fried Onions over top and serve

2. D-style (a J-Funk favorite)

Ingredients:
A bag full of fresh green beans (kale is really good this way too)
Cooking oil (olive oil works too)
Hot chili sauce (we get ours from an Asian grocery store because we like it HOT)
OR hot peppers
(optional) garlic, salt and pepper

Preparation:
Wash green beans, pluck off stems, throw in pan with oil and fry. Once they start to look a little brown, service or add any of the following for added flavor: hot chili sauce, garlic, salt, pepper, and/or hot peppers.

Salmon Neapolitan

Salmon Neapolitan

This was my staple in college. It’s fast, and salmon is supposed to be good brain food. Also, all the ingredients are non-parishable or can be frozen (salmon is fine in the freezer for a good while) so it’s a good back-up meal when better things keep you from the grocery store. If you don’t like salmon, replace with your meat of choice (chicken is good). Bonus: it’s not too complicated either, you just need a big pan.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Feeds: 2-4 people, depending on how much salmon you use

Ingredients:

1 fillet of salmon (or enough fillets to feed all the
people you're making it for)
4 tbs olive oil
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
1 6 oz can of tomato paste
1/2 cup water
2 tbs Oregano
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbs thyme
Green pepper, or some other vegetable
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Saute the salmon with 2 tbs of olive oil on
medium-high heat until done. Remove the salmon from
pan and put aside.

Put the remaining ingredients in the pan and cook on
medium heat until the sauce simmers. Then reduce the
sauce to medium-low heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Place the salmon on a plate and cover with sauce

Fish!

Girl Scout Cookies: Thin Mints

This is from www.topsecretrecipes.com (great website!):

Chocolate Cookie Wafers
1 18.25-ounce package Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix
3 tablespoons shortening, melted
1/2 cup cake flour, measured then sifted
1 egg
3 tablespoons water
Non-stick cooking spray

Coating
3 12-ounce bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
6 tablespoons shortening
1. Combine the cookie ingredients in a large bowl, adding the water a little bit at a time until the dough forms. Cover and chill for 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough to just under 1/16 of an inch thick. To cut, use a lid from a spice container with a 1 1/2-inch diameter (Schilling brand is good.) Arrange the cut dough rounds on a cookie sheet that is sprayed with a light coating on non-stick spray. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the wafers from the oven and cool completely.
4. Combine chocolate chips with peppermint extract and shortening in a large microwave - safe glass or ceramic bow. Heat on 50 percent power for 2 minutes, stir gently, then heat for an addition minute. Stir once again, and if chocolate is not a smooth consistency, continue to zap in microwave in 30-second intervals until smooth.
5. Use a fork to dip each wafer in the chocolate, tap the fork on the edge of the bowl so that the excess chocolate runs off, and then place the cookies side-by-side on a wax paper - lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm. Makes 108 cookies (3 boxes).

Roy's Beef

The sheer volume of food produced is impressive, but wait till you try it. This dish is delicious and makes me salivate just thinking about it. It's named after some guy we don't know from New Orleans (named Roy) who passed the recipe around until my hubby's parents finally got their hands on it and passed it on to us. He obviously knows his stuff!

3 Ibs Chuck Roast
1 Jar of Pepperoncini
1 package of dry Zesty Italian dressing

Place the roast in a croc pot and poor the pepperoncini and the juice, from the jar, over it. We also sometimes add carrots and potatoes (but add a little water if you do this, otherwise it will dry out). Cook on high for 8 hours. Remove the roast and the pepperoncini from the croc pot. Pick out the stems from the pepperoncini. Mix the dry zesty Italian dressing into the liquid of the croc pot. Put the roast and pepperoncini back into the croc pot and cook on low for 1 hour. Eat!

Baked Shrimp with Lemon

Baked Shrimp with Lemon

I know it's hard to think about baking this summer but this one is worth it. It's from O, the Oprah Magazine, which is actually pretty great for recipes.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 pounds jumbo shrimp, peeled and de-veined
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 small cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon zest and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 medium (about 1 1/2 pounds) Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 tablespoons capers

Preheat the oven to 450°. Wash the shrimp and pat them dry with paper towels. In a medium glass or plastic bowl, combine the shrimp, one tablespoon olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, one teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Toss together and refrigerate. Rub a 9-inch baking dish or gratin pan with olive oil. Place the potato slices, slightly overlapping, in the pan. Drizzle them with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, one teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast the potatoes in the oven for about 15 minutes, until golden and just tender. Remove from the oven, top with the shrimp and the marinade, and return to the oven. Cook an additional 10 minutes, until the shrimp is opaque and slightly roasted looking. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the capers. Serve at once with a green salad. Recommended variation: Add 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 3/4 cup diced tomatoes, and 1/2 cup feta when adding the shrimp. Or substitute peeled butternut squash (cut into 1/4-inch slices) for the potatoes, and sage for the capers.

Nutritional information: 303.5 calories, 11 grams fat, 5.5 grams saturated fat, 14 mg of cholesterol, 218 mg sodium, 47.4 grams carbohydrate, 1.5 grams fiber, 2.6 grams protein
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Kung Pow!

This recipe (and the picture) are from Cooking.com, but it is a meal we make almost weekly due to its ease in preparation and ultimate tummy satisfaction, so I have to include it. This is one of few recipes that my husband does not changed at all from the original.

Note: some of the ingredients can be used for a wide variety of chinese dishes, if you are a big fan of chinese like we are it's worth the investment.

Kung Pao Chicken

Prep time: 30 min
Serves: 3-4

1 1/3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sherry (or sake)
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1/2 cup peanuts
4 scallions, white bulbs and green tops cut separately into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

RECIPE METHOD
In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of the sherry, and the 1 tablespoon cornstarch.
In a small bowl, combine the sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, water, and the remaining 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sherry, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch.
In a wok or large frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderately high heat. Add the peanuts and stir-fry until light brown, about 30 seconds. Remove from the pan. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add the white part of the scallions and the red-pepper flakes to the pan and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the chicken with its marinade and cook, stirring, until almost done, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the soy-sauce mixture and the scallion tops and simmer until the chicken is just done, about 1 minute longer. Stir in the peanuts.
VARIATION
Cashew Chicken: Substitute the same amount of cashews for the peanuts.