Corn Dogs Off The Stick

This is a recipe I made a while back but just haven't gotten around to posting. I will need to make these again soon. They weren't much to look at but they were TASTY!

8.5 oz corn muffin mix
3 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp liquid egg
Flour
1 pkg beef franks

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together muffin mix, milk and egg.

Spread out on a floured surface into a 6" x 6" square.

Cut into eight strips.

Wrap each strip around one frank. Bake for about 15 minutes.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce and enjoy!

Chicken Alfredo Grilled Pizza

It has been a while since I made these. They were VERY yummy but since the move I have not been doing any grilling. Need to start back up and these pizzas would be a great place to start! Something I'm sure everyone in the house would enjoy.

3 slices of bacon
1 lg chicken breast, cubed
olive oil
garlic powder
3 thin individual sized crusts
alfredo sauce
Italian seasoning
red onion slices, rings separated
jalapeno, sliced
mozzarella
shredded parmesan

In skillet cook bacon till nice and crispy. Drain on paper towels. In grease remaining in skillet cook the chicken. Remove from pan and place on small plate. Preheat grill to med-high. In small bowl mix together 3 Tbsp olive oil and about 2 tsp garlic powder.

The peaches were for our salad. They were very yummy grilled!

Assemble all ingredients together on cookie sheet or other pan or platter to make easier to carry out to the grill. Brush one side of each crust with the oil/garlic mixture.

Place crusts, oil side down, on grill. Grill for about two minutes. Brush the other side with more of the oil/garlic mix and flip the crusts over.

Once you have flipped them over, top each crust with desired amount of alfredo sauce, sprinkle with Italian seasoning.

Then top with bacon, chicken, onion, jalapeno and cheeses. Close lid on grill and continue to cook until cheese is melted and crust nice and crispy, about five minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

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All My Bloggy Friends

Honey Bourbon Steaks

We do not eat a lot of steaks but I could not resist the sound of these. This is a somewhat modified version of these Honey and Bourbon Steaks. They turned out tender and super yummy, I will have to make these again soon!

1/4 cup honey bourbon
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dried thyme
3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 steaks, 1 inch thick

In a large plastic baggie combine all ingredients except steak. Mix in bag until well combined.

Add steaks and marinate  for six to eight hours, turning every couple of hours. Grill over medium heat to desired doneness (best method) or pan sear in a small amount of olive oil to desired doneness.

Serve and enjoy!

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Thursday Favorite Things

Freedom Fridays

Three Cheese Rice and Chicken

One thing I am definitely going to miss, here in Early/Brownwood, is HEB! More specifically I am going to miss the HEB brand Texas Rice. I have made several dishes using this rice and will have to find an equivalent or come up with my own spice blend to add to my rice. This is one of the yummy dishes I made using that rice. Cheesy, spicy chicken with rice!

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups chopped chicken breast
1 jalapeno, chopped
10.7 oz box Texas Rice, Deep in the Hearty Texas flavor
3 cups water
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded habanero jack cheese
1 sm tomato, chopped

In large skillet, heat oil. Add chicken and cook till done.

Stir in the jalapeno and cook for an additional two minutes. Stir in the rice, setting the seasoning packet aside.

When rice begins to brown, add the water and the seasoning packet, stirring well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. When rice is done stir in cream cheese and heat until melted. Add cheddar cheese, habanero jack cheese and tomato. Stir until mixed in. Remove from heat.

Serve and enjoy!

Sausage-Rice Skillet

I had planned on making this recipe a few weeks ago but ended up using the rice in This Recipe and making sausage wraps with the sausage. Well, I finally got around to making what I had originally planned. Turned out yummy, I like this much better than the Texas Rice!

2 Tbsp olive oil
3 sausage links, sliced (links should be about the length of a hot dog bun)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
11 oz box of Texas rice, Texzest flavor
2 1/2 cups water
cilantro

Heat oil in skillet.

Add the sausage and onion and cook over med-high heat until sausage is browned and onion is tender.

Stir in rice and continue to cook until rice begins to brown (similar to how you would cook rice-a-roni) Add the water and seasoning pouch from rice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cove and cook for about 15 minutes, until rice is done and water absorbed.

Top with cilantro leaves. Serve and enjoy!

Menu Plan 080513

Had plans to go out of town for the weekend to help friends move. When I made last weeks menu plan there was a chance that those plans might fall through. So I planned meals that could easily be moved to this week for Friday (Cashew Chicken) and Sunday (Pork Carnitas). We had plenty of leftovers in the fridge for Sunday when we got back home. However, after arriving in Lake Jackson Friday afternoon and working for about five to six hours, we were called back to San Antonio for work. So we had the pork carnitas Saturday night and still had the leftovers on Sunday. I don't know of anything coming up this week that should change our plans but you never know. Change is what keeps life interesting! For now this is the plan:

Monday
Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken (reduced for two) with Egg Rolls

Tuesday
Burgers with Fries

Wednesday
Black Bean and Chicken Pizza

Thursday
Brats with Grilled Corn

Friday
Pork Carnitas with Chips and Salsa

Saturday
Dinner Out or Leftovers

Sunday
Chicken and Rice Skillet* with Green Beans

*New Recipe

Peach Habanero Slaw

I made this yummy slaw to go with/on our fish tacos earlier this week. I had planned to make the slaw using Cilantro Cotija Sauce like I did here for fish tacos. When I went to get the sauce at the store, next to it was this Peach Habanero Splash. How could I not give it a try? The flavor of yummy peaches and spicy habaneros on slaw sounded perfect to go with/on fish tacos! It turned out super yummy!

Both of these sauces are HEB brand dipping sauces that come in little 3 oz containers and sold in their fish market area. I don't know what other stores have that would be comparable or a name brand sauce that would compare to these. They are sooo yummy.

1 3 oz container peach habanero splash
2 cups slaw mix

Comine in medium sized bowl. Refrigerate for about an hour before serving.

Enjoy!

Whoopie Cookies

No, not whoopie pies but whoopie cookies! These cookies were the "test" for my oven after it's most recent repairs. It seems like this time they got it right. Yippee! Anyway, back to the cookies. I bought a roll of pre-made cookie dough for this test and decided to jazz them up a bit and make Whoopie Cookies! Super Yummy! Can't wait to make these again!

1 16.5 oz roll of chocolate chip cookie dough
1/2 cup whipped cream cheese
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk

Divide dough into 16 equal portions and bake according to directions on package.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. While cookies are cooling combine remaining ingredients in medium bowl and mix well.

Once cookies are completely cooled spread two tablespoons of peanut butter mixture on eight of the cookies.

Top with the remaining cookies. Enjoy!

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Menu Plan 072913

So far the oven seems to be working, yippee! The cookies were great!! Now for a week filled with more great food:

Monday
Chicken Alfredo with Salad

Tuesday
Fish Tacos with Cilantro Slaw and Beans

Wednesday
Southwestern Crusted Shepherd's Pie with Salad

Thursday
Corn Dogs Off The Stick* with Fries

Friday
Cashew Chicken over Rice  (reduced for two) with Egg Rolls

Saturday
Dinner Out

Sunday
Pork Carnitas with Chips and Salsa

*New Recipe

Texas Rice

I had started out to make a skillet version of Hot Rice Casserole. Only to realize that I was out of plain rice. All I had was a box of Texas rice. Similar to rice-a-roni, it has rice and a seasoning packet and comes in a variety of flavors. In this recipe I used a flavor call Texzest. The spices being a blend of brown sugar, cumin, chile peppers and other seasonings. We really liked it and will be having this again soon!

1/2 lb ground turkey or lean ground beef
1 serrano pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter
11 oz box Texas rice, texzest flavor
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheese
2 Tbsp cilantro

In a large skillet cook the ground turkey and serrano pepper over med-high heat. Stir in salt. Add butter. When butter is melted, stir in the rice.

When rice begins to brown add the water and the seasoning packet from the rice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook for about 15 minutes. Stir in sour cream, top with shredded cheese, cover and heat until cheese is melted.

Top with the cilantro.

Serve and enjoy!

Menu Plan 072213

Well, we take the RV in to get the oven fixed on Thursday. Hopefully this time it will actually be fixed. I'm going to bake some cookies to test it out. I've been craving some home baked cookies and that would be a good test for the oven, that way I'm not depending on the oven to get dinner done. This is the plan for this week:

Monday
Tex-Mex Sloppy Joes with Onion Rings

Tuesday
Grilled Chicken Alfredo Pizza* with Salad

Wednesday
Steaks with Salad

Thursday
Seafood with Stuffed Jalapenos ? Not 100% sure of what we will be doing here - depends on what time we get the RV back ?

Friday
Buffalo Chicken Nuggets with Grilled Corn

Saturday
Dinner Out ? Depending on what happens Thursday, the two may be switched ?

Sunday
Spicy Chicken-Peanut Fried Rice with Egg Rolls

*New Recipe

Peach-Cilantro Vinaigrette with Spinach Salad

This month's Improv Challenge, hosted by Kristen at Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker, is to make something using peaches and herbs. Almost immediately a recipe for a Peach Vinaigrette Salad Dressing began taking shape in my mind. I made a few notes, but had to do some thinking on what herb I wanted to do. Finally it dawned on me - Cilantro. I use this stuff in everything, so why not in a vinaigrette with peaches? The hubby is not a big fan of vinaigrette dressings in general. He likes a combo of ranch and french dressing. Well, he added this as a third and said it was really good! I think it was super yummy!

For the vinaigrette:
1 large peach
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp red pepper
1/8 tsp coarse sea salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro

Using a vegetable peeler, peel the peach. Remove pit and chop. Place the chopped peach into blender. Add balsamic vinegar, garlic, brown sugar, red pepper and salt.

Blend until peach is pureed. Add oil and blend until smooth.

Pour into jar, add cilantro, top jar with lid and shake well.

Serve with your favorite salad and enjoy!

For the salad:
mix of spinach and spring greens
red onion strips
grilled peach slices
avocado slices
feta cheese crumbles
dried cranberries

To grill peach: take one large peach. Peel, cut in half and remove pit. Brush the inside of each half with olive oil. Place on grill, flat side down, and grill for about five minutes. Cut into slices.

Place desired amount of greens in bowl. Top with onion, peach slices, avocado slices, feta cheese and cranberries.

Serve with Peach Vinaigrette Dressing and enjoy!

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Thursday Favorite Things

Freedom Fridays

Grilled Pizza

I have been looking at grilled pizzas for a while, and with the oven on the fritz and temps in the upper 90s and low 100s, this seemed the time to give it a try. I really liked the way these turned out. Nice and crispy crust, topped however you like!

olive oil, mixed with a dash of garlic powder
3 thin six inch pizza crusts
pizza sauce
whatever toppings you like (just make sure to precook all meat)
we used:
     shaved parmesan
     pepperoni
     breakfast sausage cooked with about one Tbsp chopped cilantro
     shredded mozzarella cheese

Assemble all toppings together on cookie sheet to make them easy to carry outside.

Heat grill. Brush one side of each pizza crust with olive oil. Place oil side down on grill and cook for two to three minutes or until crust reaches desired brownness. *Remove from grill. Brush ungrilled side with olive oil. Turn over to side that has been grilled and top however you like.

Return to grill, close lik and cook for an additional two to three minutes until cheese is melted and bottom is brown and crispy. Remove from grill.

Serve and enjoy!

*Another method would be to not remove pizza crust from grill but go ahead and brush top side with oil and flip over. Add your toppings right there on the grill. You will need to do this quickly so that the crust does not burn. Once topped, close lid and cook until cheese is melted. Remove from grill, serve and enjoy!

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Menu Plan 071513

Finally getting my menu for the week done and posted. There have already been a couple of changes to this plan since I didn't cook all weekend. So some of last weeks menu is on this weeks menu, nothing too unusual there. Here is the plan for this week:

Monday
Grilled Jerk Chicken with Creamy Chipotle Corn

Tuesday
Grilled Pepperoni Sausage Pizza* with Spinach Salad*

Wednesday
Sausage Wraps with Fries

Thursday
Chopped BBQ Chicken on a Bun with Chips

Friday
Sausage with TX Rice*

Saturday
Dinner Out?

Sunday
Chili Dogs with Onion Rings


*New Recipe

Skillet Tuna Melt

I am not a huge fan of tuna but enjoy it every now and then. If I'm really going to enjoy it, it has to be spicy, imagine that, lol. This skillet version of a tuna melt came about because my oven is still on the fritz (hopefully it will be fixed the end of the month) and I liked it well enough to decide to keep the recipe. Loved the veggies in this! Yummm!

12 oz can white albacore tuna, drained
1/2 cup sour cream
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt or to taste
1 Tbsp dried chives
1 small avocado, chopped
1/3 cup chopped tomato
1/3 cup chopped red onion
Butter
3 slices of bread
3 slices of colby jack cheese

In medium bowl mix together tuna, sour cream, jalapeno, cumin, coriander, salt, chives, avocado, tomato and onion.

Set aside. Butter one side of a slice of bread and place butter side down in a small skillet. Top with a slice of cheese and 1/3 of the tuna mixture.

Cook over med-high heat until bread is browned and cheese is melted. Repeat with remaining two slices of bread.

Serve and enjoy!

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See Ya' In The Gumbo

All My Bloggy Friends

Thursday Favorite Things

Freedom Fridays

Buffalo Chicken Nuggets

Yes, more chicken. What can I say? I LOVE chicken! These are made very much like my BBQ Chicken Strips. As a matter of fact these came first, but I seemed to have missed the final photo, thought I had it but nope nothing, can't find it. I was making the nuggets and had planned on frying them in the usual manner and then coating them with the buffalo wing sauce. I had everything ready in front of me except for the egg to dip the chicken in to coat them for frying when I decided to skip the egg and dip them directly in the sauce. Turned out yummy and less messy than my original plan!

2 lg chicken breasts
1 1/4 cups garlic panko crumbs
2/3 cup buffalo wing sauce
canola oil

Cut each chicken breast in half as though you are going to butterfly it but cutting all the way through.

Cut into nugget sized pieces. Dip in the buffalo sauce.

Coat with the bread crumbs. Heat oil over med-high heat. When oil is hot add the chicken. Cook for three to four minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Serve and enjoy!