Left Overs Taco Salad

My mother-in-law Twila Byrum made this for us when we were at her house one time and I thought it was the weirdest thing ever...until I tasted it! Just dump whatever you want into it! Cant think of anything else to do with all those veges that are going to go bad in your fridge?? This is perfect. I will try to give some exact measurements but its really whatever you want to throw in it!
Also great for parties i.e. Super Bowel!

around 1/2 lb left over taco hamburger meat give or take
1 can ranch style beans don't drain
1/2 bag of Doritos (regular or spicy nacho), broken up into about bite size pieces
1 head of lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup cheese give or take, grated
1 can olives, drained
whatever veges you want! Cucumber, bell peppers, jalapeno, carrots, and etc.!

Just mix everything together! Easy as that!

Red Chile-Honey Glazed Salmon

Serves 4 Recipe from Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook

Red Chile-Honey Glazed Salmon

1/3 cup of honey
1 tbsp Ancho Chile Poweder
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
four (8-ounce) skin on salmon fillets
2 tbsp canola oil
Jalapeno Crema (optional)
1 can of black beans (optional)

1. To make the glaze for the salmon, whisk together the honey, ancho chile powder, and mustard in small bowel (I actually just whisked it right in the measuring cup to save on dishes! ) and season with salt and pepper

2. Preheat a Grill or large nonstick saute pan over high heat. Brush the salmon with the oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper. Place the salmon on the grill or in the pan, skin side down, cook until golden brown and a crust has formed, 3 to 4 minutes. Brush the top of the salmon fillets with some glaze, flip over the fillets and continue to cook until a crust has formed and the salmon is cooked to medium about 2 more minutes. The salmon will be pink in the center

3. Seve with black beans and Jalapeno Crema (recipe follows)


Jalapeno Crema

1/2 cup crema, creme fraiche, or sour cream
1 large or 2 small jalapeno chiles, roasted, peeled, and chopped
salt and pepper

Combine everything in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth season with salt and pepper and refrigerate for 30 min before serving. This can be made up to one day in advance


I also served this with Aspargus with Balsalmic Butter and cheddar bay biscuits and those recipes will be coming soon :)

Sweet and Sour Pork (or chicken)

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1/2 cup apple cidar vinegar
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup of water
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup canned diced pineapples
1/2 cup sweet pickles
1 pork loin (you can also substitute chicken if you wanted)

1. Mix vinegar, sugar, and water together and bring to a boil.
2. while that is boiling mix corn starch with water to make into a thick wet mixture
3. Once the sauce is boiling slowly mix in the thick cornstarch to thicken the sauce.
4. Bring back to a boil then reduce heat and add pineapples and pickles
5. Bread and fry chicken any way you like and deep fry (I usually just use a flour and egg batter) and serve with sauce or on the side



We can never have sweet and sour pork without fried rice (just the instant stuff works great!) and a salad called a Wop Salad so here is the recipe for that and dont worry if it seems like a lot of food because I think it tastes even better the next day! lol



1/2 cup vege oil
1/4 cup lemon
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp garlic
1 head of lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup colby cheese, grated
1/4 cup onion

Mix all ingredients together and shake until blended....taste test and add more of whatever ingredient you think until it tastes right to you (thats how I do it anyways lol!) chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes...toss remaining ingrediants together and then pour the dressing over the top and mix well

Slow Cooker Country Style Ribs

Country Style Pork Ribs

1 lb country style pork ribs

1 cup of BBQ sauce 

1/4 cup Italian Dressing

1 med. onion or 2 tsp onion salt

seasoned or accent salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

and again pretty much anything else that sounds good for seasoning or marinade

Slice onion into rings and place in bottom of Crock pot or sprinkle onion powder on bottom. Layer Ribs on top of onion. Sprinkle ribs with garlic powder and seasoned salt. Pour BBQ sauce and Italian dressing over ribs making sure to coat them well. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. They will be fall apart tender.

Chicken Penne Gorgonzola

Chicken Penne Gorgonzola

1 pint heavy cream

1 lb chicken, seasoned any way you want

1 lb mushrooms, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

pinch of italian seasoning

1 tbsp butter

1/4 cup of milk

1 pkg Gorgonzola cheese

1 jar of alfredo sauce

1 lb penne pasta

 

Heat butter in skillet over medium heat and sautee chicken until cooked through. Take chicken out of pan and let rest for 5 min. Put mushrooms and minced garlic in skillet and sautee until translucent.

while mushrooms are cooking bring water in large pot to boil to start cooking the pasta

 add chicken and cook together for 1 min; set aside. Heat heavy cream, pepper, garlic powder, and milk in large pot; once heated add chicken and mushroom mixture stir and cook for 1 min. Add gorgonzola cheese and cook until melted and then add jar of alfredo sauce

Last add penne past and let simmer for 10 min.

Cinnamon Rolls

Rolls
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
4 cups flour

Filling
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/3 cup butter softened

Icing
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 (4 oz) cup cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powedered sugar
1 tbsp whole milk
1 tsp vanilla

1. For the rolls, dissolve yeast in warm milk in large bowel.
2. Mix together the sugar, margarine salt, and eggs. Stir in the milk and yeast solution, then add flour and mix well
3. Knead the dough into a large ball on a lightly floured surface. Put in a covered bowel and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour
4. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough flat until its apprx. 21 in long 16 in wide. It should be 1/4 in. thick
5. For the filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowel. Spread the softened butter over the dough and then sprinkle on the cinnamon-brown sugar mix.
6. Working carefully roll the dough from top to bottom
7. Cut the rolled dough into 1 3/4 inch slices and place 6 at a time, evenly spaced, in greased pan. Let Rolls rise for 30 min-1 hour. Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown
8. make the icing by mixing butter and cream cheese together then add powdered sugar mix well then milk and vanilla extract.
9. When rolls come out let cool for 10 min then coat with icing

Rolls can be frozen after baking and then microwaved for 20 to 30 sec when ready to be eaten
6.

Italian Mushroom Tomato Sauce (Spaghetti)

• 1 lb italian sausage or hamburger
• 1 lb mushrooms
• 1/4 cup butter
• 4 (6.5 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (8 ounce) package spaghetti

Directions

1. In a large skillet, brown sausage over medium heat; drain and set aside.
2. melt butter in saute pan and add mushrooms and saute until soft
3. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, bay leaves, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt, pepper and Italian sausage; mix well.
4. Simmer over medium-low heat for at least one hour; it is best if simmered all day.
5. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain

Pineapple Rum Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust

Choco Graham Cracker Crust

1 pkg graham crackers

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips melted

preheat oven to 400 degrees. crush graham crackers in blender. mix all ingredients together and press into a greased 10 inch springfoam pan and bake 10-15 min 

• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp Pineapple Rum such as Malibu or Parrot Bay

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Wrap the outside pan with foil.
2. Place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour in a mixing bowl and cream until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.
3. Add vanilla and Rum to cream cheese. Pour mixture into the prepared springform pan.
4. Place cheesecake pan in a water bath filled with warm water. Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 50 to 60 minutes, or until center of the cheesecake is just firm. Cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Refrigerate until set before removing from pan
5. serve with warm chocolate syrup and whipped cream 

Best Chicken Fried Steak

Ingredients

4 (1/2 pound) beef cube steaks 
2 cups all-purpose flour 
2 teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon black pepper 
3/4 teaspoon salt 
1 1/2 cups buttermilk 
1 egg 
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™) 
2 cloves garlic, minced 
oil for frying 
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Pound the steaks to about 1/4-inch thickness. Place 2 cups of flour in a shallow bowl and Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, pepper, and salt with flour. Put buttermilk, egg, Tabasco Sauce, and garlic in a seperate bowl. Dredge each steak first in the flour, then in the batter, and again in the flour. Pat the flour onto the surface of each steak so they are completely coated with dry flour. 
Heat oil to 375 degrees fry steaks for about 10 to 15 min on each side or until golden brown and no more blood 

Oriental Chicken Salad (like Applebees)

I found this recipe on topsecretrecipes.com and so I tried it out because the Oriental Salad is one of my personal favs and it tastes pretty darn close to the real thing! So Good!


serving for 1 dinner portion

Oriental Dressing'
3 tbsp honey
1 1/2 rice wine vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/8 tsp sesame oil

Salad
2-4 cups vege oil for frying
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup corn flake crumbs
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 skinless boneless chicken filet
3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup chopped red cabbage
1 cup chopped napa cabbage
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 green onion
1 tbsp sliced almonds
1/3 cup crunchy chow mein noodles

1. Blend all ingredients together for dressin in small bowel with electric mixer let chill in the fridge while making salad

2.Preheat oil in deep fryer or deep pan to around 350 degrees

3. In a small shallow bowel beat eggs and milk together

4. In another bowel combine flour, corn flake crumbs, salt, and pepper

5. Pound chicken breasts pretty thin and cut into 4-5 strip pieces. Dip each strip in flour mix then egg then flour mix again. Fry for about 5 min or until golden brown

6. toss remaining ingrediants together except almonds

7. toast almonds in butter in small skillet over med heat for 3-5 min or until light brown

8. cut chicken strips into bite size pieces and place on top of sald. Serve with dressing on the side