Tag Archives: favorites

Beef chipotle burritos

Oh my gosh. This is so. Good.

And if you try to stay away from red meat, I bet it works great with chicken too.

Thank you to Better Homes and Gardens for this one, and a hat tip to FlavorMosiac.com for the salsa topping.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 pounds boneless beef round steak
  • 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
  • 1/3 cup chopped onion
  • 3 chipotle peppers with adobo sauce, minced (come in 7 oz cans)
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 6 (9 or 10 inch) flour tortillas
  • 3/4 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (optional, seriously tastes great without it)
  • Pico de Gallo salsa*

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*Pico de Gallo salsa – this is the recipe I use, which I love, but by all means use a different one if you wish. Once again this is from FlavorMosiac.com, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite recipe sites.

Ingredients:

  • 3 roma tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Use your judgement here – keep your own personal preference in mind in terms of spiciness (remember, the beef has chipotle peppers in it, which is also spicy), and the size of the vegetables can of course vary greatly. The recipe calls for one onion but I didn’t end up using the whole thing. Also, you can omit the salt if you really want to.

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Chicken bacon Ranch casserole

This is the casserole recipe I used to win the Kick-asserole competition

As I mentioned there, clearly, chicken, bacon, and Ranch has always been a great combination. The secret here is in the sauce – it really brings this dish up several notches on the awesome dinners ladder.

Many many thanks to FlavorMosiac.com, who look like they have some other really awesome recipes I’ll definitely be checking out.

Ingredients:

  • 12 oz uncooked penne pasta
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 envelope Ranch salad dressing and seasoning mix
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 2 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, shredded
  • 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 12 oz frozen peas
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 cup shredded Mozzarella

Will also need cooking spray.

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Rosemary and olive oil chicken tenders with chipotle mayonnaise

I made this for dinner last night, and am planning on preparing it again for lunch tomorrow. Because, holy crap.

So, I’m shamelessly in love with the rosemary and olive oil Triscuit crackers with Muenster cheese – those specific crackers with that specific cheese is my favorite snack.

After staring at the chicken tender recipe on the back of the box for months and months and months I finally decided to try it. I found a simple chipotle mayonnaise recipe off AllRecipes, which I will most definitely be using for other things as well.

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 24 Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuits, crushed
  • 2 tbsp fresh parsley
  • 10 – 12 chicken tenders (about 1 pound)
  • 1/2 cup chipotle mayonnaise*

*Chipotle mayonnaise:

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
  • 1 tbsp adobo sauce

The chipotles in adobo sauce you can get in a 7 oz can. You’ll definitely have some leftover after this recipe. Which is good, because you’ll most certainly be wanting to make more of this mayonnaise.

You’ll also need cooking spray or butter for greasing.

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Cowboy spaghetti

This is a Rachel Ray recipe.

I’ve recently discovered that my husband loves Rachel Ray’s foods. He in fact bought me a subscription to her magazine for my birthday a couple months ago, and forgot to tell me about it.

“Well look at this!” I kept thinking as I got this free magazine.

I’ve taken the hint and I’m making her food.

This was quite excellent.

Ingredients: 

  • 1/2 pound spaghetti
  • 2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, fat reserved
  • 1/2 pound ground sirloin
  • 1/2 medium-sized white onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • salt and black pepper
  • 1 tsp hot sauce, or more to taste
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, or more to taste
  • 1/4 cup beer
  • 1/2 (14 oz) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
  • shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 2 green onions, chopped

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Cranberry muffins

My good friend Jenny was kind enough to bring me fresh cranberries straight from Cape Cod. Thank you Jenny, and Annie’s Crannies.

And of course, thank you to CrunchyCreamySweet.com, from which I obtained this recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup plus 3 tbsp sour cream
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt

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Ranch dressing

As with the Caesar salad dressing recipe I found, after this I never want to buy bottled again.

I found this Ranch dressing recipe on The Huffington Post, and I do recommend checking it out and not just going off of my post here, and I’ll tell you why.

This is one of those recipes where all of the ingredients are spot-on, but you have to play with the proportions a bit to get it to your personal preference; the author of the post says as much.

That being said, this is my interpretation, and everyone who has tried it has asked for the recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk*
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp sour cream
  • 2 tsp finely chopped fresh chives
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 tsp Dijon or spicy brown mustard
  • a few dashes Tabasco sauce

*This is the only problem with making Ranch dressing at home – you need buttermilk, which comes in this large container, and you’re never going to use the buttermilk for anything else.

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