Dill Vinaigrette

Here's a great dressing with just a hint of sweetness (due to the honey). Perfect for your next green salad. Enjoy!

Dill Vinaigrette

¼ cup cider vinegar

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons olive or canola oil

2 tablespoons honey

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp dill weed

½ tsp dried parsley flakes

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp celery seed

Salad greens and vegetables of your choice

In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the first ten ingredients; shake well. Serve with salad. Refrigerate leftovers; shake well before serving. Yield: 1 cup.

Treintenera pork

So easy, and so delish. I promise.

1. Get a pork shoulder or picnic roast, about 6-9 lbs.
2. Put it in a roasting dish or a pyrex or whatever you have that will fit.
3. Sprinkle adobo all over the top. (Again, Penzeys, or you can get lesser versions on any spice aisle)
4. Pour about 1/2 cup of Mojo Criollo** on top, and with the spicy paste that now exists, rub it in.
5. Flip and repeat.
6. Put in oven, uncovered, on 250 for 9-12 hours.
Eat all week.

**Goya makes the Mojo--you can often get it on the spanish aisle at Walmart, or at any Latin food stores. It is in a bottle and is an awesome marinade for anything.

Cowboy Cookies???

Does one (or more) of you have a good Cowboy Cookie recipe? I have to make some for a Girls Camp activity tomorrow!! Please post it if you do.
Thank you, thank you.

Grand German Chocolate Bars

I made these yesterday with my kids for our FHE treat. They are rich, gooey and yummy! Had to share the recipe.

Grand German Chocolate Bars

CRUST
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut up, softened

BARS
6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped toasted pecans

TOPPING
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped toasted pecans**
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Line 8-inch square pan with heavy-duty foil, leaving extra foil extending over edges. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In medium bowl, with fork, mix together all crust ingredients until crumbly; press into pan. Bake 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place chocolate and 6 Tbsp butter in medium heat-proof bowl; place over medium saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until mixture is melted and smooth. Remove bowl from saucepan; let stand until cooled slightly.
4. In small bowl, stir together 1 cup flour and salt. In large bowl, beat 2 eggs and 1 cup brown sugar at medium speed 1 minute or until well-blended and lightened in color. At low speed, beat in chocolate mixture and 1 tsp vanilla until blended. Add flour mixture, beating just until incorporated. Stir in 1 1/2 cups coconut and 1 1/2 cups pecans. Spread batter over crust.
5. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from edge comes out with moist crumbs attached (toothpick inserted in center comes out with thin fudge coating.) Top of bars may crack around edges. Cool completely on wire rack. (Bars may sink slightly during cooking.)
6. In medium saucepan, whisk together cream, sugar, 1 egg and 1 Tbsp butter. Cook over medium heat until bubbles form around outside edge, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in 1 1/2 cups coconut, 1 1/2 cups pecans and 1 tsp vanilla. Spread over cooled bars. Cool completely.
7. Using foil edges, lift bars from pan. Slide bars off foil onto cutting board; cut into 16 pieces.

TIP **To toast pecans, place on baking sheet; bake at 350 F for 6 to 8 minutes or until slightly darker in color. Cool.

Not Abuela's black beans and rice.

These are of my own making, and are, without boasting, the most delicious black beans that have ever been made. Please don't tell Abuela. Like most of my cooking, the measurements are imprecise and can be modified. Bear with me.

Step one: Put some rice in the rice cooker. If you are feeling sassy, add some lime zest to the water.

Step two: Pour about 1/2" of olive oil--MUST be olive oil--into the bottom of a pot. Cook on medium until the oil starts to get little wavy lines in it and smells pungeant.

While the oil is heating, chop some bells and onions and garlic and tomatoes. I use three or four each, but you can use whatever you have on hand, and can skip the bells and tomatoes if you have none.

Step three: Add the onions and bell peppers to the oil, and sautee for a few minutes. Then add the tomatoes and garlic. Turn heat to low to simmer.

Step four: Add two cans of black beans with the liquid. (You could use the dry, but you would have to prepare them early and I am not that prepared.) There will probably be a decent amount of liquid in there, so that it looks a little like a stew. (If you used dry, you will need to add about a cup of water)

Step five: These parts are the most important, so don't mess around with them:
1. Add two packets of Sazon con achiote y culantro. I use Vigo or Goya brand, but I know that Knorr makes is as well. Orange box. You can get it at Walmart, or at any Latin food store. I get it in the jumbo box at the PX.

2. Add a healthy soup spoon full of cumin. I get my cumin from Penzey's because it is the best spice store ever, and I use a lot of it.

3. Add a healthy soup spoon of beef soup base and seasoning. Also from Penzey's but the Utah Costco sell big containers of it. This is not cube kind, but it is a paste of real beef. I have not been able to find it anywhere in EP, so I get it online. (Cjane can omit this, but it adds the perfect touch. When I make it for the veg's, I just pull a few cups from the pot and set them aside, and add the beef to the rest of it.)

Step six: Let the whole thing simmer until it is thick and saucy and perfect. You can let it simmer for an hour if you want, or you can let it simmer for 15 minutes. Just until it is as thick as you want.

Serve over white rice. Please don't use Instant Rice--it hurts my soul.

I am going to go make some right now...

Easy summer salad (healthy!)

My husband and I don't care for many vegetables but I found this recipe we both liked very much and surpise, surprise...it includes broccoli! It is truly a miracle to see us eating broccoli. My young kids don't eat meat (due to pickiness) and so this recipe wasn't a hit with them but I hope as they get older, they will enjoy the recipe too. A mother can only hope. Enjoy this easy, healthy and very delicious salad for summer!

Chicken Vegetable Salad

1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt

1/4 cup bottled reduced-fat ranch salad dressing

1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken or turkey

1/2 cup chopped broccoli

1/4 cup shredded carrot ( to make this easy, I use the pre-shedded carrots that I store in my freezer)

1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt and salad dressing. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, broccoli, carrot, and, if desired, nuts. Pour yogurt mixture over chicken mixture; toss to coat. Cover and chill up to 24 hours. Makes 4 (small) servings. I suggest you double or triple the recipe.

Southwest Chicken Wraps

This is a recipe I have made several times and I just love it. They are delicious and pretty easy to make. And there's always a good amount of leftovers (for our family) to enjoy for lunch the next day.

Southwest Chicken Wraps

3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
8 ounces picante sauce
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
14 1/2-ounce can black beans, drained
8 flour tortillas
1 medium tomato
1 cup shredded lettuce
2 Tbsp chopped green onions (I've never actually added these)
1/2 cup guacamole
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro (I don't like cilantro, so I leave this out)

1. Combine chicken, picante sauce, chili powder an dgarlic powder in a large skillet and mix well. Cook over medium heat until heated through, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Add 3/4 cup cheddar and beans to mixture and mix well.
3. Wrap flour tortillas in a kitchen towl. Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute.
4. Spoon equal portions of th ehcicken mixture onto each warm tortilla.
5. Chop the tomato. Top chicken mixture with remaining cheddar, lettuce, tomato, geren onions, guacamole, sour cream and cilantro. Roll to enclose filling. Serve immediately.

**If you want a meatless version, replace the chicken with refried beans or red kidney beans, then add grilled peppers and onions and sliced black olives to the filling.

HoneyBaked Easter

I've never done the Easter dinner myself... so I enlisted HoneyBaked Ham for help.

YUM! The line was out the door and around the corner on Saturday. And once you got in... there were 7 more lines. The 20-30 minute wait was worth it.

It was dinner for my hubby, my parents, Kalea and myself - ordered the quarter ham combo with turkey. YUM! And I picked up some sides: ambrosia, mac salad, cranberry salad and stuffing.

I made my Mom's Crescent Rolls, a green salad... and we had mini-strawberry cheesecakes.

No fuss... no muss.... easy and got to hang with the family.

I had no idea how distinctly, delicious the HoneyBaked Ham flavor was. You can bet I'll be visiting there more often.

What'd you do for Easter?

Molly's Chicken

Since we have church from 2-5 p.m., I'm always looking for crockpot recipes so dinner is ready when we get home. I recently made this one and it was easy and good and the kids loved it. So I thought I'd pass it on. I got it from allrecipes.com.

Molly's Chicken
3 1/2 pounds chicken drumsticks, skin removed
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1. Place drumsticks in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and tomato sauce. Pour sauce over chicken.
2. Cover, and cook on Low heat 8 hours.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

As requested by Her Majesty, Queen Scarlet.

1 cup sweet cream, unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
Cream together.

Add:
2 large eggs
3/4 teas. salt
1 teas. baking soda
1 teas pure vanilla
Mix.

Slowly stir in:
3 cups all purpose flour

Dough should be smooth and creamy (yum!). Add chocolate chips to taste (I really like the Ambrose chocolate chips from Costco. They're not too sweet and not too bitter).

Bake at 350 for 11 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Let cool for 8-10 minutes before removing from sheet.

Molten Marshmallow-Chocolate Cakes

This is a recipe kids will have fun helping you prepare. Be careful to not overcook these or the hidden marshmallow surprise will “disintegrate”.

Molten Marshmallow-Chocolate Cakes

1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup (1/8 lb) butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

6 large marshmallows

Powdered sugar (optional)

In a 3- to 4-quart pan over very low heat, stir chocolate chips and butter until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well blended. Stir in flour. Fill six buttered, floured ramekins (1/2 cup capacity) or muffin pans (1/2 cup capacity) about halfway. Press a marshmallow into the center of the batter in each ramekin. Spoon remaining batter equally over marshmallows, completely covering. Bake in the center of a 350 degree regular or 325 convection oven until tops are puffed up and crackly, 12-15 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes, then run a knife along inside of ramekins and invert to release cakes. Place right side up on plates. Sprinkle tops with powdered sugar, if desired. Serve warm.

Making it easy...

Yesterday Nicole and I went to Dream Dinners... check it out. I made 6 meals and had the Chicken Enchiladas last night... serves six people and we had my parents over ... delish... mmm yum. Leftovers for lunch today after it snowed in El Dorado Hills. Perfect.

There's also other shops that do this Dish It Up and Super Suppers...

No more... what the heck am I going to make for dinner...YAY!

Q: How can BYU mint brownies be any better? A: Dark chocolate ganache.

Yes, my friends, I have a gift. It is the gift of dark chocolate ganache. No longer are the BYU mint brownies too sweet; I have made them PERFECT. Please send your praise and money and join my cult of ganache.

Brownies (from BYU recipe):
1 c. margarine
1/2 c. cocoa
2 Tbsp. honey
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 c. chopped walnuts (or not.)

Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts, or not. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.

Now here is where I come in (Mwah-Ha-Ha.):
While the brownies are cooking, clear out a space in your freezer large enough for the pan.

As soon as they are done, put the pan in the freezer. Then

Mix together in a small saucepan:
3/4 c best quality unsweetened cocoa powder. (I get mine from penzey's spices)
1/2 c heavy cream
6 T butter, cut into bits
3/4 c powdered sugar
tiny pinch of salt

Cook over low heat until combined and thickened, about 10 minutes.

As soon as this is thickened, pour it over the pan in the freezer. Just a thin layer, you will save some in the pan. Close the freezer and make the mint icing

5 Tbsp. margarine, softened
dash of salt
1 Tbsp. dark corn syrup
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. mint extract, or more to taste.
1-2 drops green food color, or as green as you want it. You don't even need it if you are of the "Bryers mint ice cream with no added color" persuasion.
3 Tbsp. milk, or enough to make it the right consistency

In a bowl, use your mixer to blend together first 4 ingredients until creamy. Add flavoring and coloring, and the milk. You want the consistency to be as thin as the ganache, so you may need to add more milk, depending on how it all goes. As soon as it is done, spread it on the layer in the freezer.

Wait five more minutes or so, and then layer the last bit of chocolate and the last bit of mint in the freezer. You can make it all swirly like mine, or you can leave it with the scary green on top.

I am telling you, you will be sorely disappointed the next time you have the Cannon Center ones--you will cry "Why does Jen not work here?" And I will say "Because I finally graduated and do not need to be the office secretary any longer."

San Francisco Chops

I haven't been great at posting on here, but now that I'm approaching my second trimester and the thought of food doesn't bring me to the verge of "tossing my cookies" (to put it discreetly since this is a food blog), I'll try to include more recipes and comments! And hopefully be trying more recipes!

So here is one we really like. I usually double or even triple the sauce. My husband loves the sauce and wants plenty of it.

San Francisco Chops

4 bone in pork loin chops
1-2 T veg oil
1 garlic clove minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine or chicken broth
2 T brown sugar
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 T corn starch
1 T cold water

In skillet brown chops on both sides in oil (sear them). Transfer to crockpot. Add garlic to drippings in pan. Saute for 1 min or until golden. Stir in soy sauce, wine or broth, brown sugar and red pepper flakes. Heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour over chops. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 5 1/2 hours or until meat is tender. Combine corn starch and water until smooth; add to crock pot. Cover and cook at least 30 minutes more or until thickened. Serve with rice or potatoes. Yield 4 servings.

Cheesy Broccoli and Noodle Soup (Crock Pot)

Got this recipe from my friend Ginny Thuesen. It's yummy for a rainy day. (this time around I'm adding potatos and carrots...)

Cheesy Broccoli and Noodle Soup
(Crock Pot)

2 cups chicken broth
2 ½ cups broccoli
½ cup onion
1 can cream of chicken
12 oz evaporated milk
1 ¼ cups uncooked egg noodles
2 cups cooked chicken
½ tsp lemon pepper
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Spray crock pot with pam.
Mix chicken broth, broccoli and onion and cook on LOW for 3 hours
Stir in cream of chicken, milk, uncooked noodles, chicken and lemon pepper
Cover and cook for 2-3 hours on LOW
Stir in cheese until it melts and serve