Taco Pizza

This is another recipe from my friend Stefanie. She tried if for the first time recently, and loved it. 

1 Store bought pizza crust (or do the mix and make, or make your own!)

1 lb ground beef

1 can 14 1/2 oz diced tomatoes (drained)
1 can of 6oz tomato paste
1 packet taco seasoning
3/4 cup water
2 cups shredded monteray jack and cheddar cheese (1 cup of each. Stef said she used more)
Lettuce, onion, olives, sour cream (all optional)
 

Preheat over to 400

Cook ground beef and drain. 

Mix ground beef, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, taco seasoning, and water in skillet. 

Bring to boil. Simmer, uncovered for 5 mins

Spread mix over pizza crust. 

Combine cheeses and sprinkle over meat layer. 

Bake at 400 for 15 mins or until cheese is melted. (Stef baked hers for 15mins and the last 5 mins she threw  chopped onions and black olives on top)

Top with desired toppings and serve

Tater Tot Casserole

Personally, I've never had Tater Tot Casserole. However, I've been hearing tons of people talk about it lately, so I thought I'd look up the recipe and share it with you guys. If you're looking for a healthy meal, skip this post altogether! This is definitely comfort food. 

1 lb lean ground beef

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 (10 1/2 ounce) can condensed cream of celery or cream of chicken soup (undiluted)

1 16oz package frozen tater tots

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Brown ground beef, season with salt & pepper. 

Add chopped onion, cook until tender. 

In a casserole dish, combine ground beef mixture & cream soup. 

Top mixture with tater tots. 

Bake , uncovered, for 30-40 minutes till bubbly and tots are golden brown. 

Remove from oven & top with cheese, return to oven until melted. 

Enjoy!

Pepper Steak

This recipe comes from my friend & neighbor, Timeka. She just made it a few days ago and it sounded really good, so I asked for the recipe. Enjoy!

1 lb beef (round or sirloin)

2 Tbsp. shortening or oil

1/4 cup Soy Sauce

1-1/2 cup Water

2 medium onions, cut into strips

2 bell peppers (I usually use green, yellow and red to make it colorful), cut into strips

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

cooked rice

Cut steak into small strips or cubes. 

Brown in shortening or oil for about 5 minutes or until tender.

Add the soy sauce and 1 1/4 cups of the water. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the onions and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the bell peppers. Cook until tender.

Mix the remaining 1/4 cup of water with the cornstarch. Stir until no lumps remain. Add to the beef mixture. Allow it to continue simmering until the sauce thickens.

Serve over a bed of warm rice.

Fried Ravioli

This dish works great as an appetizer or a main dish. Sometimes, my hubby and I will make it for dinner when we're having a low-key night watching movies or something. I always have him help me, because it can be time consuming to get all the raviolis dipped and cooked. It works much smoother when you have 2 sets of hands!

1 package fresh or frozen ravioli (We always use cheese ravioli)
italian bread crumbs
garlic powder (optional)
italian seasoning (optional)
shredded parmesan cheese (Not the kind in the green Kraft container. Make sure it's shredded)
1 egg
1 cup milk
vegetable oil, for frying
1 jar marinara or pizza sauce

Cook raviolis according to package directions
While ravioli is cooking, heat oil. There are a couple ways you can do this; I've tried both. You can take a small pot and pour a large amount of oil into it or you can take a skillet and use less oil. With the pot, you drop the ravioli in and don't have to worry about turning it, as long as there's enough oil. With the skillet, you have to turn the ravioli a couple times
Place milk into a small bowl and beat in egg
Place bread crumbs in a shallow pan. I always add garlic powder and italian seasoning for extra flavor. If you do this, make sure to mix the crumbs after you season them.
In small batches (5-6 at a time), dip the ravioli in the egg/milk, then the bread crumb mixture, then place in oil.
Fry until golden brown.
Once they're finished, put them on a paper towel to drain and sprinkle with shredded parm.
Serve with warm marinara or pizza sauce for dipping.

Spiced Sweet Potato

This is our first vegan recipe. It's courtesy of my friend Alicia W. and works great as a side dish or a snack. Alicia says this dish has a good amount of fiber and helps fight toxins. 

I would love to add other vegan or vegetarian recipes, so if you have any, send them my way! foodie5287@yahoo.com I take all other recipes too! :) 

Sweet potato

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp fresh cut ginger root

1 tbsp milled flax seed

honey

Put olive oil into a saucepan and heat over medium

Dice the sweet potato and add it to the pan, along with the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger root and flax seed

Fry until lightly browned

Remove from heat and drizzle with honey

Tomato, Avocado, & Grilled Corn Salad

I found this recipe on Pinterest, but it came from a blog called Within the Kitchen. The original recipe is huge, so I've halved it and it was still MORE than enough for my family of 3. This is a great summer side dish.

1 avocado
1 cup cherry tomatoes
3 ears of corn
1 lime
1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil
salt and pepper

The following ingredients are optional and I didn't use any of them. The salad was still good without them!
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
chopped cilantro
chopped parsley

Husk corn and place on grill over medium heat
Turn frequently, until cooked through. This only takes a few minutes, so keep a close eye on it! I used white corn and I knew it was finished when it started to turn golden brown. It's ok if some of the pieces turn black!
Chop the avocado or scoop it with a melon baller (I chopped mine)
Set aside 1/4 cup of the avocado
Cut the corn off of the cob and mix with tomatoes and remaining avocado
In a small bowl, mash the 1/4 cup of avocado
In another small bowl, juice the lime. (I also added some lime zest to mine)
Add the oil (and vinegar, if you're using it) Whisk until combined
Combine the dressing and mashed avocado until creamy and smooth
Add the dressing to the veggies.
Add salt and pepper, then mix.
If you're using the cilantro and parslesy, garnish and then serve

Teriyaki Pork Chop Bowls

This is a Paula Deen recipe sent to me by my friend Tennille. She said it's by far her favorite! This is a recipe for 2, so you would just want to add extra for more people.

4 boneless thick cut pork chops
2 green bell peppers
1 large sweet onion
1 can of pineapple rings
1 bottle of teriyaki sauce
butter
Aluminum foil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare the meat by cutting off all the fat
Pull off 4 sheets of aluminum foil to make a wrap for the food.
Cut up peppers and onions in rings (the thicker the better)
Place 1 pork chop in the middle of the foil. Place 2 or 3 pineapples on top of the meat, then put 2 or 3 rings of pepper and onion.
Put a teaspoon full of butter on top.
Fold the ends of the foil in the middle and then roll down, then take one end of the foil and close it. 
While the other end is still open, pour some teriyaki sauce in, and take some of the pineapple juice and pour it in. Wrap the end up.
Place this 'bowl' either on a cookie sheet or a cake pan.
Do this for the rest of the pork chops or until you have ran out of ingredients.
Place them in the oven for about 35-45 mins.
These are kinda difficult to check on, but to do this, you will need to unroll one of the bowls and carefully cut into the meat to make sure it is white.
Once finished, carefully open the bowl up, pour the juice into a 'real' bowl
Take the veggies and fruit off the top onto a plate and cut into bite size pieces. Place them in the 'real' bowl.
Take your meat out, cut into bite size pieces and put in bowl.

Tennille says the best way to eat this is to try and get pork chop, pineapple, pepper, and onion in each bite you take.
I think this dish would also be delicious served over white or brown rice.

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

In my house, we don't do seafood! My husband is a fan, and I've even offered to suck it up and make something for him, but he's luckily never taken me up on the offer. However, I'm sure a lot of my readers are fans of seafood, therefore, I should branch out with my posting.
I got this recipe from a blog called Cajunlicious that was recommended to me by my friend Miranda. You should check out the blog for some other great recipes, however, don't compare mine to hers! Remember, I'm a rookie and she's clearly been doing this awhile!! :)

1 pound of mushrooms
5 ounces lump crab meat
Parkay butter spray or 1 stick of butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped red bell pepper
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
2 garlic cloves, pressed
¼ teaspoon Cajun seasoning
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1-tablespoon cream
½-cup bread crumbs
1-tablespoon Parmesan cheese
1-tablespoon lemon juice + a wedge to squeeze on top
Lemon wedges for garnish
Hot sauce


Wipe mushrooms with a damp towel. Pop out the stems, chop, and set aside.
Spray mushroom caps with the parkay butter spray.
Spay a shallow baking dish with butter spray.
Pour 3 tablespoons of the butter into a saucepan; add reserved chopped mushroom stems, minced onion, garlic, and red bell pepper. Cook until vegetables are tender.
Combine cooked ingredients with breadcrumbs, green onion, Greek yogurt, cream, lemon juice, crabmeat, and seasonings.
At this point, I added a few dashes of hot sauce and a few dashes of Tabasco pepper vinegar. Fill each mushroom cap, piling up.
Sprinkle each mushroom with a little Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes, until hot and mushroom caps are tender.
Serve with lemon wedges & enjoy!

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

I ran across this recipe while I was browsing on Pinterest. (If you're not a member, you should be! Check it out!) Anyways, I thought it looked delicious enough and easy enough to share. So, here it is...

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle BBQ sauce (Some suggestions for ones I've used and love--Sweet Baby Ray's, Kraft Spicy Honey)
1/4 c vinegar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp. garlic powder

Place chicken in crock pot
Mix BBQ sauce with remaining ingredients and pour over chicken
Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours

Peanut Butter Cookies

I WISH I had come up with the recipe for these cookies! They are sooo good! I've made them quite a few times and they always come out great. I found the recipe online awhile ago, where someone reposted it. But I think the original recipe came from recipezaar.

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (After making them a couple times, I decided to up the peanut butter. It didn't affect they way they turned out, other than they tasted a lot better! I use about a cup.)
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda


Preheat oven to 375
Combine peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, milk, vanilla, and egg in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended
In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix until blended
Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto parchment lined baking sheet
Take a fork and dip into vegetable oil, then dip into a bowl of sugar. Flatten each drop lightly in a criss cross pattern with the fork. (I just do once horizontally and once vertically. You'll have to keep dipping the fork in the oil and sugar.)
Bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown.

As an added treat, you can dip these in melted chocolate! You could dip half, or the entire cookie. Allow to set 30 min to an hour before serving.

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

This yummy recipe comes from my friend Jessica B. I have to be honest and say that I had never heard of garlic pepper until she sent me this recipe. (I hope I'm not the only one!) It sounds like a seasoning that I definitely want to try.
As a side note, I'm ALWAYS on the hunt for good recipes to post here on the blog. So, if you have something, send it my way! Email it to me at foodie5287@yahoo.com

1 (12 ounce) package uncooked tri-color rotini pasta
10 slices bacon
1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons dry ranch salad dressing mix
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic pepper
1/2 cup milk, or as needed
1 large tomato, chopped
1 (4.25 ounce) can sliced black olives
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Stir in rotini pasta and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2.Place bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook until evenly brown. Drain and chop.
3.In a large bowl, mix mayonnaise, ranch dressing mix, garlic powder, and garlic pepper. Stir in milk until smooth. Place bacon, tomato, black olives, pasta and cheese in bowl and toss to coat with dressing. Cover and chill at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. Toss with additional milk if the salad seems a little dry.