Southwestern Sloppy Joes with Sliced Avocado

Southwestern Sloppy Joes with Avocado Slices:
Adapted recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net
Original recipe by Cuisine at Home Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef (I used 93/7)
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 small jalapeño, seeded and diced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp coriander
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
5 small pearl tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup of ketchup, more if needed
1-2 tsp brown sugar
3/4 cup frozen sweet yellow corn, thawed
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
Hamburger buns, toasted
Avocado slices

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the red onion and cook for 2-3 minutes or until softened. Add the lean ground beef, making sure to break it up into crumbles as it cooks. Add the chili powder, paprika, oregano, cumin, garlic powder, coriander, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Mix the ingredients so the spices are evenly coating the beef and onion. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until the beef is cooked through. Add the minced garlic and diced tomatoes and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the ketchup, brown sugar, sweet yellow corn, and cilantro. Cook for 2 minutes. Taste and re-season if needed. Scoop the filling onto a toasted hamburger bun and top with avocado slices. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Easy Homemade Crescent Rolls

Crescent Rolls
From This Week for Dinner

- 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast, dissolved in 1/4 cup very warm water (let yeast sit in water until it’s all foamy and dissolved)
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 4-4 1/2 cup flour

Mix all the ingredients except the flour in your KitchenAid mixer with the paddle attachment or with your beaters. Slowly mix in the flour. Knead dough or mix on speed 1 or 2 with the dough hook on your KitchenAid (when I knead with the KitchenAid I let it go about 5 minutes). Let rise to double in size in a bowl, about an hour or so (cover the bowl with a light, clean towel and let rise in a warm/non-drafty place).

Punch dough down. Divide into two. Roll each piece of dough into a large circle, that is quite thin (1/8″ – 1/4″). If you like a buttery flavor, brush melted butter onto the dough at this time, although they are great either way. Cut the dough like pizza into 16 pieces (you will end up with 32 rolls total). Roll each piece from the large end of the triangle and place on an ungreased cookie sheet or a silpat-lined cookie sheet with the tip tucked down and under the roll. Let rise again until about double in size, or about an hour or so (cover the rolls with a light, clean towel and let rise in a warm/non-drafty place).

Bake at 375 for 12 minutes or until browned on top and bottom.

Reese's Quiches (Cookies)

Make Your Own Reese's Quiches:

From Lolly Jane Boutique

Note: You need a mini cupcake pan!

Ingredients:

1/2 C. butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 C. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. sugar

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 C. peanut butter

24 Reese's peanut butter cups (mini size)

Step 1: Making

• 
  
  Mix butter, vanilla, brown sugar, and egg.



• Add dry ingredients- mix well.



• Fold in Peanut Butter.



• Roll into small balls and place on greased mini-cupcake pan.



• Make a small indent with a clean thumb into each cookie.



• Bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes.

Step 2: Baking

• Pull out cupcake pan
  


• Push frozen pb cups into each cookie.
  


• Bake for 1 more mintue, no longer!
  


• Let cool for 1 whole hour {be patient!}
  


• Pry out with plastic fork and set on cute plate to show your church pals that you too can bake! ;)

Helpful Tips:

*Freeze Reese's cups beforehand=when you press them into the cookie they are less likely to melt.

*Let cool completely or the finished product WILL fall apart.

*You'll need TWO bags of pb cups if making more than 2 dozen! Yah they're a little pricey...but remember we're thinking win-win! ;)

*Double the recipe... this recipe makes 2 dozen with just enough left over to make a half dozen of plain jane pb cookies.

Lime Chicken Fajitas

From Dana Made It:
* This recipe uses chicken. You could also try steak or shrimp but I haven't tested those out.

MARINADE:
Juice of 2 Limes
2 Tbl Rice Vinegar (substitute Apple cider vinegar if you're out)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
2 tsp Cumin
optional:
1-2 Tbl finely chopped jalapeno pepper
1-2 Tbl finely chopped cilantro

Fajitas:
Appx 8 boneless chicken tenders or 4 chicken breasts, thawed and cut into bite-size pieces.
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 onion (or less if preferred), cut into rings/strips

Toppings:
Cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce or cabbage, salsa, cilantro

Okay, start by preparing your vegetables, chicken, and marinade. Cut up one onion and two bell peppers into strips. I prefer using one red and one green pepper but if red peppers are out of the budget for the week, just use green. Still tastes great.

And, if you're not a big onion person (me), it's best to still include them for flavor but you can pick some out later when done cooking.
For the chicken I either:
* buy frozen chicken tenders because they're easy to thaw and use when I need them.
* buy a large pack of boneless chicken breasts when they're on sale. I cut them into pieces that day and freeze it all in 3 or 4 separate bags of chicken labeled "fajitas". Then I'm all ready to go!

You need approximately 8 chicken tenders or 4 breasts, cut into small strip-like pieces.
Place the peppers and onions in one bag together and the chicken in another bag. Something my mom taught me: use the produce bag that the veggies were wrapped in. You're recycling and it's free!
Leave those aside and prepare the simple marinade.
Squeeze the juice from two limes. When in a bind you can substitute store-bought lime juice from a bottle, or lemon juice as well...but fresh limes are best.
Mix the lime juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, and cumin. The cumin is what makes this dish. I absolutely love the smell.

For added flavor and heat, add 1-2 Tbl of finely chopped fresh jalapeno.
And if you're a cilantro person (people either love it or despise it), add 1-2 Tbl of finely chopped cilantro.
Mix everything together and you have a simple marinade.
Now pour half the marinade over the pepper/onion mix,
and the other half over the chicken.
Fill each bag with air and shake it all around to make sure everything is coated. Do this over your kitchen sink in case anything leaks or pops.
And place both bags in in a bowl to marinate for 30 minutes or longer. If you're going to cook them soon, they can be left on the countertop otherwise place them in the refrigerator.
Now let's start sizzling!

Using a large frying pan, heat a small amount of cooking oil. Pour in the contents of the pepper bag (it's okay if the liquid goes in too) and let everything cook for about 5 minutes. If there are too many peppers, do it in two batches. I usually let the liquid help steam the veggies for a few minutes and then drain the liquid off in the sink so the veggies will brown in the pan. The key is to cook them enough that they're not raw, but not too much so they still have bite. Similar to al dente.
Put the cooked peppers and onions aside on a plate. And clean your pan slightly with water in the sink to remove any black residue from cooking the peppers.
Now let's cook the chicken. Just as you cooked the peppers, heat a bit of oil in the pan and then add the chicken. I try not to let the marinade liquid get into the pan because the chicken tends to release it's own liquids. But no big deal if some slips in.
Let it all cook for a few minutes.
Then drain off any liquids in the sink and add a bit more oil (if needed) so the chicken can brown in the pan.
yummy, yummy.
Finally, add the peppers and onions back into the mix and warm for a minute.
And you're done!
If you're a good multi-tasker, prepare the toppings while the fajitas cook.
You'll need taco-size flour tortillas. If you can find fresh baked tortillas from your bakery or local Mexican restaurant do it. They're divine.
Chop up some tomatoes. If you're a pico de gallo person, mix some on up and use that for your salsa.
I love using cucumbers on my tacos. They add such a refreshing bite.
Chop up cilantro for the cilantro lovers.
and grate your favorite cheese. I go back and forth between Sharp Cheddar and Colby Jack.
Chop up cabbage or lettuce, pour salsa in a bowl, and get out the sour cream.
Your toppings are ready!
Cut up fresh mangos or oranges as a side dish and call everyone over to the table.
Time for fajitas!
Of course, cheese is my favorite part of any meal, so we also throw some cheese crisps in the oven (tortillas, cheese, and bake).
Now who's jealous?
Not you! Your pan is sizzling.
Enjoy!

Chili's Monterey Chicken

Jon and I LOVE this recipe. It is super easy to throw together and it only has 5 ingredients! If you want to be extra healthy, you can wrap your chicken in bacon like some recipes call for... but I like it without. I know!! You never thought you would hear me pass on bacon! It is a rare occasion, but it in this case it is too hard to get your chicken cooked right and your bacon crispy. Nobody likes soggy bacon. :(

If you shred your chicken before you garnish it, this recipe also lends itself well to quesadillas, enchiladas, and pizza! And I think they actually serve it on a bun as a BBQ Chicken Sandwich at Chili's.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 c. BBQ Sauce (i.e. Bull's Eye)
1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, grated (or whatever you have on hand)
1 fresh tomato, diced
chopped chives (you could also use green onions, if you don't randomly have fresh chives laying around your kitchen)

Directions:
1. Pound chicken breasts until somewhat flattened, season with salt and pepper if desired (if your chicken breasts are really thick, slice them in half horizontally so you have longer, thinner pieces; that way you don't spend 30 minutes pounding your chicken to death to get it thin enough)

2. Place chicken in greased casserole dish and top with BBQ sauce and shredded cheese.

3. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, or until your chicken is cooked throroughly and your cheese is nice and bubbly (varies depending on thickness of chicken).

4. Sprinkle with a generous amount of fresh chopped tomatoes and chives. Serves 4.

Double Tree Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are by far my favorite cookies. They always come out looking thick and chunky because of the ground oatmeal and nuts. I am not a huge fan of big nuts in my desserts, so I love how I get the nutty flavor in these cookies without running the risk of chipping a tooth! If I don't have walnuts on hand, I have used almonds and pecans. I also think these would be delicious with cranberries or raisins instead of chocolote chips!

Ingredients:

1 c. softened butter (TIP: you can soften butter without melting it by using the defrost setting on your microwave for 30-60 seconds)

3/4 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. white sugar

2 eggs

1/4 tsp. lemon juice (can be skipped, but really adds alot!)

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/4 c. flour

1/2 c. chopped oats (I use my food processor, but you could simply chop with a sharp knife until it is the consistency of coarse sand, but not flour)

1 1/2 c. chopped walnuts (or whatever nuts you have on hand; again I use my food processor and chop them into small pebble-size, but you could go bigger depending on your preference)

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon (my sister-in-law always puts less, but I like the strong cinnamon flavor)

3 1/2 c. chocolate chips (about 1 1/2 bags)

Directions:

1. Combine butter, brown sugar, sugar, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla in your mixer.

2. Mix flour, oats, nuts, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in another bowl.

3. Slowly add flour mixture to your butter mixture until well blended, then stir in chocolate chips.

4. Drop in 2" balls on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 11-12 minutes, or until lightly brown. TIP: If you take the cookies out just as the underside is set but the top is still a little gooey, and then immediately transfer them off the pan to a cooling rack, the cookies will set as the cool and come out super soft and chewy instead of hard and crunchy.

Easily makes 4 dozen decent-sized cookies. You can freeze the batter or half the recipe if you don't need so much all at once, but I like saving some of the cookie dough to sample through out the week. :)

Breaded Pork Tenderloin

I love all things breaded, and this recipe is a nice twist on traditional pork chops. You wouldn't think to use mustard and Stove Top for breading, but this dish has a lot of flavor! Prep is a snap and the mustard flavor is a nice undertone without being overwhelming.

Ingredients:

1 pork tenderloin (1 pound), cut crosswise into 1-inch medallions (or you can use boneless Pork Chops)
¼ cup butter, melted
¼ cup mayonnaise
4 to 5 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 ¼ cups crushed herb-seasoned stuffing mix (i.e. Stove Top Stuffing)

Directions:

1. Flatten pork tenderloin pieces to ¼-in. to ½-in. thickness (if you are pressed for time, you can skip this step!)

2. In a shallow bowl, combine butter, mayonnaise and mustard; dip tenderloin pieces, then roll in stuffing crumbs.

3. Place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan.

4. Bake, uncovered, at 425 degrees F for 13-16 minutes or until juices run clear. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.