Balsamic and garlic hamburgers with Jalapeno and grilled mushrooms/onions.

Everyone who knows me knows that I LOVE a good burger. Lately though I’ve been bored with the same old toppings I always use. Luckily, I didn’t have all my normal veggies and cheeses to put on a burger, so I improvised, and it was PERFECT!

You’ll need:

Hamburger meat

Garlic salt

Balsamic vinegar

Jalapeno

Red onion

Mushrooms

Hamburger buns

Crushed red pepper (if you like, if not it’s not essential)

1 egg

Okay, there are no measurements on here because I didn’t measure, you can add as much or as little of the ingredients as you want to.

First, mix hamburger meat, egg and garlic salt/red pepper as well as balsamic vinegar into a bowl. The egg will help the hamburger stick together to prevent it breaking apart.

Place patties in pan on med/high heat until cooked through.

Place mushrooms/red onion into a greased pan on medium heat, with butter and some parsley. Cook until soft.

Diced up jalapeno J My favorite ingredient.

Place cooked patties on bun, then layer jalapeno, mushrooms and onions. Mmm Delicious! 

Pizza Balls

Pizza Balls

What you’ll need:

1 bag pizza dough

1 can pizza sauce

1 mozzerella cheese ball

Any toppings you want

This recipe came off Pinterest and was so YUMMY and a lot of fun to make with my “little chef”. It’s pretty simple, and you can really put whatever you want into them.

First, Roll out the dough into small balls, make sure you have some flour on your workspace or they will stick!

Then, place the sauce in the middle, and well as the cheese and then your toppings. Fold over the edges of the dough to create the ball.

On a greased cooking sheet, place balls seam side down.

Place in oven on 400 degrees, and cook until golden brown ( or whatever color you like them to be.)

Let stand for 5 minutes and enjoy!!!

Persimmon Bread

I was given a bag of persimmons on Saturday and honestly, had no idea what they were. I didn't want them to go to waste so I googled ideas and found this recipe! The bread turned out really well, and is perfect for breakfast! 

2 eggs

         1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

         3/4 cup white sugar

         1/2 teaspoon salt

         1/2 cup vegetable oil

         1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

         1 cup persimmon pulp

         1/2 cup chopped walnuts

         1 teaspoon baking soda

         1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Oil a 9 x 4 inch pan.

In a small bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt, nuts, and raisins.

In a large bowl, blend eggs, sugar, and oil. Mix baking soda into pulp, and add to sugar mixture. Fold in flour mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan. Cook for 60 minutes.

Tacos de Gutierrez

Tacos de Gutierrez

I am so proud of this next recipe! I was inspired by a taco plate I saw at a Mexican restaurant on a date with my hubby, and thought I could do it better, and I DID! =)

This meal took about 30 minutes from start to finish, and was super filling and NEVER boring.

You’ll need: (This served two adults)

2 Chicken breasts, cut up into cubes

Pita bread

1 Bunch of cilantro

¼ Of a red onion, cut into moons

½ Can of chunked pineapple

1 Tsp Chili powder

1 Tsp Oregano

1 TBSP EACH Lemon and Lime juice

In a pan, place your cubed chicken and some olive oil. Then add in your seasonings and your lemon and lime juice, stir on medium/high heat until cooked through.

Dice up the cilantro, red onion and combine with pineapple then set aside.

Warm up your pita bread and cut into triangles, place around plate.

Mix ALL ingredients together, grab some forks, and dig in! 

Baby, it’s cold outside… Chicken Pot Pie.

Today was a nice gloomy, cold day. Whenever it’s like this I get inspired to make comfort food. This evening, Chicken Pot Pie was what I decided to cook.

I got to learn everything the hard way with this recipe so you don’t have to! The recipe is one my mother gave me, but since she does not measure ANYTHING, I followed her verbal directions and created a recipe (with measurements!) all my own. The potpie turned out delicious, I now have a very full husband & a new blog post! Stay warm. – Ashley

You’ll need: MEASUREMENTS FOR 9X13 PAN

1 Large can Cream of Chicken Soup

½ Small can of Chicken Broth

4 Sticks of celery

1 bag of FROZEN peas & carrots

6 Red Potatoes (or whatever type you prefer, but I liked the red ones.)

4 small chicken breasts (or 2, if you have larger ones, we used the thin sliced so I used 4)

5 Cups of bisquick

1 ½ cup of milk (If you need more ADD IN SLOWLY!!)

1 TBSP Oregano

1 TBSP Garlic salt

1 Tsp parsley

Salt & pepper to taste

In a pan, brown your chicken on medium/high heat. Make sure you cook it thoroughly! Once cooked, chop up and set aside.

In a microwave safe container with a lid, place your chopped up red potatoes in water. Microwave for 6 minutes. When done, drain them and set aside.

Next, in a large saucepan, place your cream of chicken soup, and CAREFULLY pour in your chicken broth. Then, stir in your chopped celery and your peas and carrots and seasonings. Let simmer while you prepare your crust.

In a mixing bowl, pour in 5 cups of Bisquick. Slowly add in milk and stir until you’ve created nice dough.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In your pan, add potatoes, chicken and soup mixture and stir together. Then take your crust in small pieces and use your hands to make 1/2inch thick patties. Place dough over whole mixture, then place in the oven.  Cook in oven for 20 minutes or until your crust is golden brown and cooked all the way through. Once it’s done, enjoy that warm food in such cold weather!

My mom's macaroni salad

 I do not like mayo. It is horrible to me, and therefore, I NEVER eat any type of store bought salad. No macaroni salad, no potato salad. Nothing. 

This distresses me, because I am a pasta lover. However, lucky for me I have a mom who managed to change my feelings for mayo into a love hate relationship by making her AMAZING macaroni salad. It was one of the first things I made her teach me how to cook before I moved out at 18. I make it for potlucks, superbowl parties, fourth of july and in todays case, because it was all I had left in my cupboards! 

Even if you aren't a fan of macaroni salad, I urge you to try this recipe out, and let me know if you're a fan because of it!

 You'll need: 

1 package of ditalini pasta

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of mayo ( you can add more if you prefer, this is just my preference.) 

4 TBSP Dill relish

3 hard boiled eggs

2 TBSP mustard

a pinch of salt

First, boil your pasta, then drain out the water. Place into a mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients. CUT UP YOUR EGGS :) then mix all together, let chill in the freezer ( preferably overnight or for at least 4 hours) and it's really that simple! Happy eating! 

Fajitas and homemade tortillas!

Shredded beef, Poblano chili, sweet potato and lime-marinated red onion fajitas with homemade tortillas

This recipe  was one I found through a friends blog, and it looked so pretty I just couldn’t resist. The lime marinated red onion is FANTASTIC, DON’T SKIP IT!

I also decided to  make my own tortillas, since I’m super snobby about them ( I hate store bought ones) and my favorite tortillaria was closed. If you have a little time, this a perfect dinner for everyone in the family!

Tortillas:

You’ll need:

 4 cups All Purpose flour

2 Tsp Baking Powder

2 Tbsp margarine ( or lard, or shortening)

¼ Tsp Salt

1 ½-2 cups Water

Whisk together all dry ingredients. Then place margarine in bowl and mix together with fingers ( the batter will resemble corn meal, slightly). Then add water, and work the dough until it comes together ( I started mixing with a spoon, and when it was a little thicker kneaded it with my hands).  Roll into tiny ball sized pieces ( however big you want your tortillas). Roll with a rolling pin, then place in a greased pan on medium high heat. Cook on each side until bubbly. Viola! Your own tortillas!

Now, on to the fajitas. I made adjustments from the recipe on my friends site, to tailor to my families tastes.

You’ll need:

Feeds 4-6

1 large red onion, cut in half and sliced into paper thin half-moon slices

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (should take about 3 limes)

2 good sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch thick sticks

1 package shredded beef ( or really any meat you prefer!)

3 fresh poblano chiles, stemmed, seeded and roasted*, and sliced into thin strips

Queso Fresco cheese

Salt

First, slice your red onion in half, and then cut into little half moons. Place in a bowl, and pour lime juice over them ( you want it to cover the onions). Then add in salt. Let this marinade while you make the rest of the recipe.

Cut each pepper in half and remove stems and seeds. Place on a baking sheet, cut side down, and place under broiler until skin is bubbly/blistered and black. Remove from oven and place pepper halves in plastic bag. Let sit in steam for about 20 minutes. Peel skin from peppers and slice into thin strips.

Place sweet potato sticks and about 1/4 cup of water into a microwave safe dish with a lid. Microwave, covered, on high power for 6 minutes or until tender. (This was what the original recipe said to do and it’s an AWESOME time saving tip!!!) Also, I used 1 potato instead of 2, but it’s really preference.

For the meat, place into a skillet on medium/high heat. I used garlic salt, paprika and taco seasoning on ours, and it turned out great. Cook through.

Now, place onions and peppers along with the marinade from the onions in with the meat and stir together. I did this to soften the onions, because I didn’t want them to be too cruncy.

Time to make your fajitas, layer on your meat, peppers and onion as well as your sweet potatoes. Crumble the queso fresco over it ( this will crumble in your fingers, YUMMY and EASY!)

Now you’re ready to eat, enjoy!