Caesar Salad Dressing

My friend, Margie made this dressing and I found it to be exceptional. I'm kind of a caesar dressing snob. Usually they are just too benign for my taste. Or complicated/messy (the traditional one calls for raw egg). This one is from Epicurious and I adapted it slightly. Ingredients: 2 (make that 4) cloves garlic 1 tsp anchovy paste 2 T fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard 1 tsp Worchestershire sauce 1 cup mayonnaise 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese Directions: In bowl combine all ingredients and add fresh ground pepper to taste. Serve over romaine lettuce and add croutons.

A friend of mine made this for a girls' get together, and it was delicious!

Hot Corn Dip

• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 2 T. chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced
• 1 small can (4 oz) green chiles, undrained
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 - 11 oz can corn, drained
• 1 small tomato
• 2 T. cilantro, chopped
• 2 T. green onions, sliced thin

- Mix all ingredients together except tomato, cilantro & sliced green onions.  Pour into oven safe dish.  Bake 20 minutes or until brown and bubbly.  Top with diced tomatoes, onions, and cilantro.  Serve immediately with tortilla chips.

Zucchini Casserole

Last summer Amy Bennett made this for us. It's was really good and a nice way to use the surplus zucchini from the garden.
Ingredients:
6-8 small zucchini, diced
4 slices bread, diced
15 oz can tomato sauce
1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
¼ cup shredded parmesan
2 cups shredded cheddar
1 cup onion, diced
Directions:
Boil zucchini in 1 cup water until tender, drain. Saute beef and onion, drain. Combine all except cheeses. Place in 9X13 oiled baking dish. Top with cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Amber Flenniken posted this recipe on her blog. I made it for a shower and loved it! Ingredients: 6 slices bread (white is recommended), cubed 1 pound sausage (spicy is recommended), browned, drained 2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese (I used Kroger's casserole cheese) 8 eggs, beaten 2 cups milk 1 tsp ground mustard 1 tsp salt pepper to taste Directions: Cube bread and place evenly in greased 9 by 13 pan or baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with sausage and then cheese. Mix eggs, milk, ground mustard, salt, and pepper. Pour over ingredients in pan. May cover and chill overnight (if left overnight, remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before baking). Bake 45 minutes at 325 degrees or until set. Cut into squares to serve.

Sweet Summer Smoothie

I made this smoothie today and really liked it. Ingredients: 1 cup Dannon Oikos Greek Vanilla Yogurt 1/2 cup frozen strawberries unsweetened 1/2 cup frozen peach slices unsweetened (I didn't have frozen peach slices so used 1/2 cup frozen blueberries instead.) 1/2 medium banana, peeled 1/2 cup low-fat milk Directions: Place all ingredients in a blender, process until smooth and serve immediately.

Paula Deen's Gold Medal Sizzling Fajitas

My husband found this recipe on the Food Network's website.  It is wonderful.  My children even asked for it weekly...that's big deal for us! 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• Dash hot sauce
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds meat (boneless, skinless chicken breast, skirt steak or peeled and deveined shrimp)
• 1 medium onion, halved and sliced lengthwise
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
• 1 lime, juiced, for topping
• Sour cream, for topping
• Salsa, for topping
• Guacamole, for topping
• Cheddar cheese, shredded, for topping

Directions

In a heavy duty resealable plastic bag, combine 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, hot sauce, salt, pepper and your choice of meat. Seal and toss the bag around to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator. *Cook's Note: 15 minutes for shrimp, 20 minutes for chicken and 1 hour for skirt steak.

Preheat your cast iron servers in a preheated 400 degree F oven for at least 20 minutes, to get a good sizzle when you plate the fajitas.
Heat the outside grill or a large indoor grill pan to medium-high heat. Remove the meat from the marinade and place it on the hot grill, discard the marinade. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side, skirt steak about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare and about 2 minutes for shrimp. Slice the chicken and steak into strips if you are using.
In a large skillet heat up the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and fry the onions and bell peppers until crisp-tender with some salt and pepper.
Wrap the tortillas in foil and warm them in the oven with the servers for 15 minutes.
When you are ready to serve, remove the cast iron servers from the oven and quickly arrange the meat and peppers and onions on it. It will immediately start to sizzle from their fat and moisture. Serve sizzling immediately with the warm tortillas and other accompaniments.

Honey Mustard Salad

I know a recipe for salad is lame because hey... you just throw a bunch of stuff in a bow. But I stumbled across this doing just that. And I think it's really good. I like making my own dressing because then you aren't getting a lot of high fructose corn syrup (kinda defeats the purpose of eating salad, no?) And I'm not going to tell you how specifically to chop your veggies because you know how you like 'em:)

Ingredients:
Iceberg lettuce, chopped
Romaine lettuce, chopped
Carrots, chopped
Celery, sliced
Tomato, diced
Roasted/salted almonds

Dressing:
1T oil (I used flax seed oil with lignans)
2T honey
2T deli-style mustard (kind with seeds ground up in it-I used Boar's Head)

Italian Sausage Rigatoni

1 pkg (19 oz) Italian Mild Sausage Links , grilled and coin-sliced
1 lb rigatoni pasta
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large red pepper, chunked and sauteed
1 jar pasta sauce
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Cook sausage and rigatoni according to package directions. In a large pan, place olive oil and garlic, saute lightly for 30 seconds. Add peppers and cook until tender. Combine cooked sausage and pasta sauce with peppers and heat until warm. Mix with the pasta or serve separately. Sprinkle with parsley and grated Parmesan cheese.

Congo Squares

These are part blondie and part chocolate chip cookie. Completely yummy!

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 stick of butter
2 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 12 oz package of chocolate chips

Mix sugar, eggs and butter together in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients and mix. Then add vanilla and chocolate chips. Spread into a 13x9 dish - the batter will be VERY thick. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Blueberry Sour Cream Waffles

I shared these over at my site Simply Homemade Chef--they are a new favorite at our house!

Blueberry Sour Cream Waffles {adapted from FoodieWife}
Makes 12 4-inch waffles

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat your waffle iron.  Lightly oil the grids.

Whisk flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl to combine.  Make a large well in the center.

In a separate bowl, whisk melted butter, milk, sour cream and eggs until well combined.  Pour egg mixture into well of dry mixture.  Stir until just smooth but do not over mix.

Before adding blueberries, toss them in a little flour {this helps prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the batter}.

Gently fold blueberries into batter.

Spoon 1/4 cup of batter onto hot waffle iron.  Cook until waffle is golden brown; about 3-4 minutes.

*Can freeze up to 1 month.  Just place in toaster oven to crisp up straight from freezer.

Enjoy!

No-Bake Energy Bites

I got this idea from a blog called Smashed Peas and Carrots via Pinterest. I changed it a little. These are oh-my-gosh-these-can't-be-healthy good!
Ingredients:
1 cup oatmeal (quick cook)
1/2 cup peanut butter or other nut butter(I used raw almond butter and sunbutter mixed together)
1/3 cup honey
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (you can get these without hfcs, but be prepared to pay twice as much)
1/4 cup pecan pieces -chopped to medium fineness
Mix everything in a bowl and roll into small balls
Store in covered container (in fridge for longer shelf-life)