Crock Pot Sweet Shredded Pork for Tacos

This is so yummy :)

1lb Pork Tenderloin
1 C Brown Sugar
1 C Worcestershire Sauce
1tsp Oregano
1 tsp Powdered Ginger
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder
2 TBL Dried Minced Onions

Cook all ingredients in a crockpot on low (8 Hours)

One Hour before serving, remove meat & shred it.

Dump out all cooking juices and place shredded pork back into crockpot.

Add 1cup brown sugar & one cup of green enchilada sauce.

Let simmer for 1 hour.

And your ready to eat - serve over salad or tacos - yummy with cilantro lime rice , corn & sautéed onions, avacado & salsa

Enjoy!

Red Quinoa and Black Bean Vegetable Salad

Light, fresh, and packed with protein and healthy fats, this tangy salad will have you dreaming of Spring and Summer.

Yield: ~5 cups

For the salad:

1 cup uncooked Red quinoa
1 (14oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red pepper, chopped
1/4 cup fresh Cilantro, finely chopped
2 Green Onions, chopped
1 cup fresh corn (optional) *see note
1 small avocado, chopped into 1 inch pieces


For the dressing:

4-5 tbsp of fresh lime juice (Juice from 2 small limes)
1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp Freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup fresh Cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin, or more to taste


Directions:

1. Cook 1 cup Red Quinoa according to package directions.

2. While quinoa is cooking, prepare the chopped vegetables and whisk together the dressing.

3. Allow quinoa to cool after cooking for about 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Add the beans and vegetables and toss well.

4. Drizzle dressing over salad and toss well with salt and pepper to taste. Bring salad to room temperature before serving. Keep fresh in a sealed container for 1-2 days. Makes about 5 cups.

Note: I defrosted and drained frozen corn before adding it to the salad, but the result was rubbery corn. I would suggest using fresh corn only, if the season applies, otherwise I wouldn’t bother with the frozen stuff.



Grab that beautiful cup of Red Quinoa and cook it according to package directions.




Red Quinoa is so much more fun than the regular kind!




Chop your vegetables and rinse and drain the black beans…
Assemble the dressing ingredients:




Juice the limes to make 4-5 tablespoons.




Add all dressing ingredients into a bowl.




Whisk away!
When the quinoa is cooked, add in the chopped vegetables and beans and stir well.




I just dumped everything into the cooking pot, but I supposed you could transfer it to a bowl if you wanted to!
Pour on the dressing and mix. Serve at room temperature.




This salad is irresistible! It is light, fresh, and has a wonderful tangy kick from the lime juice. It also makes a great lunch and has a lot of staying power thanks to the protein-rich black beans and quinoa and healthy fats from the avocado and olive oil.
Store in the fridge for up to 2 days.




Recipe via " Oh She Glows "
http://ohsheglows.com/2011/01/21/red-quinoa-and-black-bean-vegetable-salad/

Apple Berry Pie with French Crumb Topping

Sister Draper's Cobbler

Grandmother's Apple Crisp

Pumpkin Surprise!

Preheat Oven to 350°F

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix

1 (29oz) Can of Pumpkin

4 Eggs (Beaten)

1 Can of Evaporated Milk

1 1/2 Cups of Sugar

1 tsp of Salt

1 1/3 tsp of Pumpkin Spice

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 Cup of Melted Butter

1 Cup of Chopped Nuts (optional)

Mix together Pumpkin, Eggs, Milk, Sugar, & spices in a bowl

Pour into an ungreased 9x13 Baking Dish

Sprinkle 1 package of Yellow Cake Mix right over top of Pumpkin Mixture

Pour Melted Butter over top of Dry Cake Mix

Sprinkle Nuts over Top if desired

Bake in a 350°F oven for 1hr & 15 mins or until a knife comes out clean

Serve warm or Cold...

Yummy with whipped cream

or Ice Cream on top!!

Enjoy!

Avocado Relish

I must be on a dip kick, I got this recipe off the food network. It is supposed to be a relish that goes on top of your hamburger. I made it when we camped this weekend and there was barely any left for the hamburgers because everyone was eating it with chips like it was guacamole. Since I'm not a big guac fan, I didn't eat it but everyone LOVED it.

2 chopped Hass avocados

1/2 diced small onion

1 minced jalapeno

juice of 1 lime

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

salt and pepper

Cowboy Caviar

I've had variations of this, but someone brought this to a party the other night and it was delicious. People were practically licking the bowl. Had to share it with you.

2 T red wine vinegar

1 ½ tsp. hot pepper sauce

2 tsp. olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

Ground black pepper to taste

1 firm, ripe avocado

1 (15 oz) can each of black & pinto beans, drained & rinsed

1 small (11 oz) can corn kernels, drained

2/3 cup sliced green onion

2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

½ lb. Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped

Salt to taste

Tortilla chips for accompaniment

In large bowl mix vinegar, hot sauce, oil, garlic and pepper. Peel, pit and cut avocado into ½ inch cubes. Add to vinegar mixture and toss lightly. Drain and rinse beans and corn. Add beans, corn, onion, cilantro, and tomatoes. Mix gently to coat. Add salt to taste. Refrigerate, well sealed. Serve as an appetizer with tortilla chips or add 2 cups shredded lettuce and some shredded cheese to make a salad. Makes 12 appetizer portions or 6 salad portions.

asparagus gruyere tart

Excuse me, but I must share.  It is not my recipe, very few are.  But I thought that this was worth sharing.  I made this to bring to my in-laws for Easter dinner, and it was a serious hit.  I only wish that I'd made 3 or 4 of them.  It was delicious, I can't wait to make it again! 

Asparagus Gruyere Tart

Serves 4.


Ingredients:

Flour, for work surface


1 frozen puff pastry


5 1/2 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded (2 cups)


1 1/2 pounds medium or thick asparagus


1 tablespoon olive oil


Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured surface, roll the puff pastry into a 16-by-10-inch rectangle. Trim uneven edges. Place pastry on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife, lightly score pastry 1 inch in from the edges to mark a rectangle. Using a fork, pierce pastry inside the markings at 1/2-inch intervals. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

Remove pastry shell from oven, and sprinkle with Gruyere. Trim the bottoms of the asparagus spears to fit crosswise inside the tart shell; arrange in a single layer over Gruyere, alternating ends and tips. Brush with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until spears are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Now go make it, would ya?  You might just want to hug me.

Veggie Pizza

Ingredients:

2 cans of crescent rolls

2 8 oz packs of cream cheese

2/3 C Sour Cream

2/3 C Mayo

1 Dry Pack of Ranch Dressing Mix

Cauliflower

Green Onion

Broccoli

Red Pepper

Yellow Pepper

Shredded Cheese

Open 2 cans of crescent rolls and place in bottom of cookie sheet.

Pinch seams together, add more dough if needed to fill bottom of pan.

Cook at 375 until golden brown and set aside.

Mix together 2 8oz cream cheese 2/3 C sour cream 2/3 C mayo and 1 dry packet of ranch dressing - spread mixture on top of crescent rolls and add chopped cauliflower, green. onion, broccoli, red pepper, yellow pepper and add shredded cheese

THis is so so so so so YUMMY - & a definite MUST TRY!

Potato Parcels

most graciously borrowed from hostesswiththemostess, this is what i'm havin' for dinner tonight!  not just this, but it will most certainly be adorning my dinner table.

brooke

Potato Parcels

Serves: 24 bite-sized parcels

Prep time: 30

Cook time: 20

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes, peeled, boiled, and mashed

12 large spring rolls wrappers, cut in half to make 24 strips

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/4 tsp garam masala

salt, to taste

light cooking oil, for frying

water, as needed

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Directions:

MIX mashed potatoes with salt and spices, and set aside to cool.

PUT about a teaspoon of the potato filling on a cut-in-half spring-roll wrapper. Fold it up to form a tiny parcel. Seal the edges with water. Set aside on a platter covered with a damp cloth to keep them from drying out. Repeat for remaining strips.

HEAT oil in a non-stick frying pan and shallow-fry parcels a few at a time so as not to crowd the pan. Remove parcels when they turn crisp and golden on both sides. Drain excess oil by placing parcels on paper towels. Serve warm with ketchup or chutney of choice.

Eat!

The BEST Pumpkin Bread EVER!

Oh wow, this stuff is good! I have loaves in the oven right now and am so excited to hear the dinging of the timer!! Seriously, it really is that good! I found the recipe on Crazy Mom Tats. Thankfully she was willing to share!

Pumpkin Spice Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups canned pumpkin

3 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 tsp. ground cloves

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, sugar, water, vegetable oil and eggs. Beat until well mixed.

2. Measure the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and ground cloves into separate bowl, then stir until combined (a great job for kids). Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, beating until smooth.

3. Grease two 9- by 5-inch loaf pans and dust them with flour. Evenly divide the batter between the two pans. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Then remove from pans by inverting them onto a rack and tapping the bottoms. Slice and serve plain, buttered or with cream cheese.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

makes about 45 sandwiches

1 cup of peanut butter (creamy works best)

2 Tbsp softened butter or margarine

1/2 cup powdered sugar (you may need more)

3/4 cup brown sugar (you may need more)

Pretzels (the waffle shaped ones)

1 bag good quality chocolate (I like milk)

Using a mixer, combine peanut butter and softened butter and beat until smooth. Add the sugars and stir to combine. At this point if the filling will roll easily into balls without sticking to your hands you’re ready to go. If not, add more sugar ( a little bit of each) until you reach a consistency that is easy to roll. Use a teaspoon measure to scoop the filling. Roll each portion into a small ball and set on a cookie sheet. I like to roll all the balls and then sandwich them between two whole pretzels. When all the balls are rolled and successfully sandwiched, stick the whole tray in the freezer for about half an hour.

Pour the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and heat at 30-second intervals, stirring occasionally until completely melted. Remove the pretzel sandwiches from the freezer and quickly dip each half-way into the melted chocolate. When all are dipped, return the tray to the freezer to set up completely. Store the sandwiches in the refrigerator until serving time.

Quick Apple Kuchen

YUM & Easy -- Can't loose! Try it!!! Thank You WELLsphere.com

1 box yellow cake mix
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sweetened coconut
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 large apples, peeled and sliced thinly
1 egg
1 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Combine first three ingredients together in a bowl. Mix with your hands or beat slowly with an electric mixer. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Pat mixture into pan. Bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix cinnamon and sugar together and toss with the apples. Remove pan from the oven and top with the apple mixture. Whisk egg and sour cream together and drizzle over the apples. Return to the oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve immediately.

Frosted Pumpkin Bars

Its that time of year again!!!

Cool days make me want fall - time desserts!

We have already made PUMPKIN CRISP & it was Delicious!!

Made me a happy girl! Yay for fall!

I love pretty much all things made with pumpkin --

here is a yummy one! EnJoy!!

Frosted Pumpkin Bars

4 eggs beaten

1 c. oil

2 c. sugar

1 c. pumpkin

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 c. flour

Cream eggs, oil, sugar.

Add pumpkin and rest of ingredients.

Bake @ 350 for 20-25 mins.

Frost with cream cheese when cool.

Frosting

3 oz cream cheese

6 tbsp butter

3/4 lb powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp milk

Italian Wedding Soup

1 lb frozen Italian meatballs (Costco's are good)

6 cups chicken broth

2 (approx 15-oz each) cans Italian-seasoned diced tomatoes

1 cup bowtie pasta (mini or regular)

5 oz spinach l eaves, finely chopped

Grated fresh parmesan

Combine broth and tomatoes in soup pot. Bring to a boil and add pasta. Cover and cook 5 minutes (until pasta is al dente). Add meatballs and simmer for five minutes more. Turn off heat. Stir in the chopped spinach a few minutes before serving (until just wilted). Garnish with grated parmesan.

Baked Ziti Casserole
I found this recipe here because I had never tried eggplant before. I didn't know how my family would like it, so I just didn't tell them what was in it until they were finished. They loved it! Great way to disguise veggies and get your kids (and husband) to eat them! It also makes two pans, one to eat and one to freeze or give away.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
2 medium eggplants
Salt
2 large zucchini
1/2 cup olive oil
1 lb. ziti or penne
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 28-oz. cans diced tomatoes (recipe calls for whole, but I like diced)
1/4 cup basil leaves, in strips
1/4 cup chopped parsley (I didn't have this and it turned out fine)
Pepper
4 tbsp. butter
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup grated Parmesan

1. Peel the eggplant. Cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices, sprinkle with salt and put in a colander to drain. Pat dry. Slice the zucchini.

2. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil (I think it needs less oil than this) in a large skillet and fry the eggplant and zucchini until browned on both sides. Take them out of the pan and drain on paper towels.

3. Cook the ziti or penne in boiling salted water. Drain and set aside.

4. In a saucepan, heat the remaining 1/4 cup oil. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Pour into the bowl with the drained ziti.

5. Rub two shallow baking pans with olive oil. In the first pan, add 1/4 of the ziti, then 1/4 of the eggplant and zucchini. Dot with butter, add 1/4 of the mozzarella and then 1/4 of the Parmesan. Repeat the layers in that pan and do the same in the second pan.

6. Bake one of the pans in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes until the top is brown and crusty. Cover the other pan tightly with aluminum foil and freeze. Defrost before baking. Each pan will make 4 to 6 servings.

Chicken Sausage Soup with Lentils and Artichoke Hearts

I have been meaning to post a recipe for a while now! I just made this great soup and it was something different for our family, but very good! I have never cooked with lentils before, but I've always heard that they're healthy (tons of fiber) and wanted to try them. (And they're really cheap!) This was a great, healthy soup!

I got this recipe from hotgarlic.blogspot.com . Here is her link for it: http://hotgarlic.blogspot.com/2008/05/soup-as-promised.html

Here is her recipe with some of my own edits:

4 chicken sausages-get the flavored ones, I used garlic and herb flavored ones, check the link for her recommendations
1 onion, chopped
1/2 head garlic, chopped or pressed (I used 3 really large cloves)
3 or more carrots (I used 5)
1 cup dry lentils, (you will cook them before you add them to the soup)
1 can of quartered artichoke hearts
1 c. egg noodles (I used Healthy Harvest whole-wheat and was surprised by how yummy they were)
3 cans chicken broth
1 cup half and half (not in her recipe, but I got afraid it would "look" too healthy if I didn't add something to disguise it! I think it would have been good without it.)

In a large pot, slowly cook the onion until is starts to turn clear. At the same time, in another pan saute the sausages to brown up the casings nicely. Also put the lentils on to boil and cook for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the carrots.
Once the onions are clear, add in the garlic, the carrots, and the mushrooms (I didn't use mushrooms.) Saute it around for a minute before turning up the heat to high and adding a can of broth. Reduce for 1-2 minutes.

Add in the rest of the stock, and when the sausages are browned, slice them and add them in too. After about 10 minutes, add in the noodles. Once the lentils are done, drain them and add them in as well as the artichoke hearts and the remainder of the garlic. Simmer for another minute before serving. Garnish with minced parsely and grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

I know, this seems like a lot of ingredients, but you seriously just throw them in, walk away and 6 hours later have a fabulous meal. That's my kind of preparation. Sooo good on a cold day.

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken (I use 2-3 Costco chicken breasts)
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (10 oz) can green enchilada sauce
1 med. onion, chopped
1 (4oz) can diced green chili peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced (I just use garlic powder)
2 cups water
1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder (I just used 2 tsp. taco seasoning instead of cumin and chili powder)
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 oz) package frozen corn (you can use canned corn too)
1 can black beans
1 T. chopped cilantro (don't skip this ingredient...it totally makes the soup)
Corn tortilla chips

Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn, beans and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours. 1 hour prior to the end of cook time, shred the chicken then continue cooking it. Serve in bowls over crushed corn tortilla chips.

Can garnish with:
Sour cream
Shredded cheese
Lime wedges
Cilantro

Yummy Yummy Vegetable Basil Soup

5 strips bacon (diced)
3 carrots (peeled & diced)
3 sticks celery (diced)
1 onion (diced)
1 green pepper (diced)
1 red pepper (diced)
2 garlic cloves (diced)
6 basil leaves (chopped)
28 oz can of chopped tomatoes
2 chicken bouillion cubes
1 C half & half

Cook bacon in a large soup pot. Drain all but 1T of drippings. Add carrots, celery & onion & cook for 2 minutes. Then add peppers, garlic & 1/2 of the basil. Cook for 2 minutes. Then add chopped tomatoes & let simmer for 5 minutes. Then put the soup in groups into the blender & blend it until smooth with small chunks. Return it to the pot & add the bouillion, the rest of the basil leaves & the half & half. Cook over low heat for 45 minutes & eat, eat, eat!