Mexican Rice Bake

Yeah, I'm on a rice and beans kick! What can I say? It's good, it's cheap, that's about all! :)

There is some chicken in this, and I used the rotisserie chicken from Safeway. It was on sale, AND it was already cooked! BONUS! I am busy this week doing 2 cakes, one of them being my own sons! :) So, what I am saying is I need SUPER easy and fast! ;) This for sure falls in that category! ;)

I put my rice in my rice cooker and let that go. Then I got all the ingredients around and then threw it all in the oven for about 20-30 minutes! Viola, it was done AND good! It passed my hubs taste, even with the beans in there, so, BINGO! It was a winner! :)




Mexican Rice Bake

•1 1/2 cup chicken breast, cooked and shredded
•4 1/2 cups cooked white rice
•1/2 bag of frozen sweet corn, somewhat dethawed
•1 can (15.5) ounce can black beans, drained (or I used the black beans I had soaked and ready in the frig)
•1 tomato, diced
•1-2 tsp cilantro
•1/2 cup sour cream
•1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
•1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
•red pepper flakes, as much or little as you like, it just gives it an extra delish flavor

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare the rice. While you are waiting for the rice to cook, mix together the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Once rice is done, add to bowl and stir to combine. Place in a 9x13 inch pan. Place in oven for 20-30 minutes until warmed all the way through.

Enjoy! Easy and good! That's how to do it! :)

Ranch/Onion Dip/Dressing Dry Mix

YUMMY!!!! :D


I love ranch dressing, so does everyone else in this house! But I don't like all the extra ingredients you find in the dressing, AND the dry mix! I ran across a recipe that I REALLY wanted to try, but it calls for the dry ranch mix... So got that my wheels turning and doing some research online at different recipes and came up with this one. I am sure I am not done "tweaking" it, but I like it, so do the kids, and the hubs! So it's a win-win for me! :)

So seriously easy!!!! :)



Ranch/Onion Dip Dressing Mix


1/2 cup dry minced onion
2 teaspoons parsley flakes
2 teaspoons paprika
2 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2-1 teaspoon salt (I used sea salt)


Combine in a bowl and stir to combine. Store in an airtight glass or plastic container.

Good for up to 3 months! ;)


I kept one of those frappuccino jars (like the Starbucks sells, the glass jars, only mine was Aldi's version! ;)) and I just keep it in there. It fills it up about half way. I just shake to combine before using! :)


To make a dip, you can use 1 tablespoon mix to 8 oz yogurt.

To make dressing, you can use 1 tablespoon, 1 cup mayo, and 1 cup buttermilk. Shake to combine. Keep both the dressing and dip in the frig.

Another way I made the dip was 2 tablespoons dry mix to 1/2 cup sour cream. :)
(sorry, can't find the pics! :\)

Sopapillas (UPDATED, FOUND my camera!!! :))

These are soooooo good!!!!!!!!! I let my kids eat 2 and then after they went to bed, my hubs and I ate a few more! He really liked them cold too, it almost tasted like a cinnamon sugar covered pretzel! ;)

These are really easy too! I took pictures, but I can NOT find my camera! But I didn't want to wait any longer to post this recipe! I've had too many people ask for the recipe since I posted the one picture on Facebook! ;)


Roll part of your dough out


Cut into squares with pizza cutter, then into triangles.. As you can see, these are by far NOT perfect! ;)


Drop into the frying pan (I used coconut oil in my cast iron skillet!)


Here they are out of the frying pan!


Dump into cinnamon and sugar! Use a spoon to cover them completely!


Here they are!


Sooooo good!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Betcha just can't eat one! ;)




Here's a picture of the finished product, the only one I have! :)





Sopapillas

1 ¾ cup plain flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup milk
Hot vegetable oil for frying
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
Honey – optional
Mix dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Add the milk and knead for 1 minute on floured surface. Let dough set for one hour. Roll dough into large rectangle 1/8” thickness. Use a pizza cutter to cut 2” wide strips of dough, then cut strips into 2” squares, then cut squares diagonally in half.
Mix sugar and cinnamon in a shallow baking dish and set aside.
Heat 4 cups vegetable oil in deep fryer. When oil reaches 375 degrees, drop dough triangles into hot oil. They should rise to the surface, and puff, then brown on the bottom very quickly. Use tongs to quickly turn sopapillas over. When dough is golden brown on both sides, remove from oil carefully, and place on paper towels. While sopapillas are still very warm, put them in the cinnamon and sugar mixture and spoon mixture over sopapillas to thoroughly coat them.


Again, SUPER easy to make! And so very good!! :D

Pad Thai Wraps

This is a Whole Foods recipe. ;) Super easy and pretty good! Not my favorite, but will make it again! ;)



The 3 older kids ate 2 of these wraps! My youngest ended up digging out the noodles and eating them with his hands! ;) I don't want to say he is getting picky and only eats certain foods, but he kinda is! It could be certain textures too, I dunno. He does eat, so I am not complaining! :)

Take your tortilla


Place a nice big lettuce leaf on top...


Place your peanut sauced covered noodles on top of the lettuce....


Then add the peppers, bean sprouts and crushed peanuts...


Roll up and cut in half, dip in peanut sauce if desired!

Make as many as you need/want! :)




Pad Thai Wraps


1/4 pound angel hair pasta


1/4 cup prepared peanut sauce (plus more for dipping if desired)


1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (I didn't have, so I used rice-garlic vinegar)


4 whole wheat or white tortillas


4-8 large lettuce leaves


1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper


1/4 cup chopped, roasted, salted peanuts


2/3 cup bean sprouts


2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves


Make pasta according to package directions. Drain and pour peanut sauce and vinegar over top, mix to combine. Top each tortilla with lettuce, then divide pasta mixture on each tortilla, arranging it in the center. Top with peppers, peanuts, sprouts and cilantro and then roll up each one snugly, tucking in the ends halfway through. Serve with peanut sauce on the side for dipping.


*I didn't have the bigger tortillas, so I didn't tuck my end in! ;) Let me know what you think! It really is good! I didn't measure my pasta or my peanut sauce, I just dumped! ;)

Cilantro Lime Rice/Mexican Rice Bowl

Trying to come up with some really good, easy adn tasty recipes! But yet, cheap! We are trying to save every little penny around here and what better way by eating beans and rice, right? ;) But not just the normal beans and rice, tasty ones!

Ok, well, the kids and I could eat beans and rice all the time, but my hubs, he needed some extra spice for it! But it's all good! ;)

I think next time I make the cilantro lime rice, I will add a bit more limes, I didn't have enough, so I just used what I had! And maybe a bit more cilantro... ;)

I already had some black beans ready to go, so I just added all the other things to make a Mexican Rice Bowl... So you are getting 2 recipes in 1!!! :)

I thought I took pics of the rice and the Mexican bowl, but I guess i didn't!





Mexican Rice Bowl

Cilantro Lime Rice

Black beans

Diced tomatoes

Chopped cilantro

Avocado slices (I just took an avocado and mashed it up)

Fresh lime juice

Directions:

1. Add cilantro lime rice to a bowl or plate. Top with black beans, tomatoes, cilantro, and avocado slices. Squeeze fresh lime juice over the entire dish. Serve warm.

Note-I didn’t include ingredient measurements because I never measure. This recipe is that easy! I like to make individual bowls so everyone can have add their favorite toppings. Enjoy!



AND here's how to make the rice! :)




Cilantro Lime Rice


1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
1 teaspoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 (15 ounce) can vegetable broth
1 cup water
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
4 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

Directions:

In a a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 2 teaspoons of lime juice, broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, sugar, and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice. Serve warm.

Makes about 3 cups cooked rice

(I tripled this recipe! And I didn't have any vegetable broth, so I just used all water.)
Going to be making this one again for sure! ;) Just a different flavor, but good! I also used jasmine rice for this. It's all I get anymore! :)
Enjoy!
Again, sorry that they aren't any pictures for these recipes! It's very colorful! :) You can also use chopped red onion in the Mexican Bowl! :) Really, for the Rice Bowl, anything could go! It's whatever you like and what you have on hand! :)

Pizza Wheels

These were a HIT and so good! They weren't really hard to make, and the bonus, you don't have to wait to let your dough rise! :) I am always a bit unsure of making a dough that doesn't need to rise for my pizza, it just never turns out right, the dough seems too heavy. But this stuff was PERFECT!!! I doubled the recipe, but think for next time, I will have to triple it! ;)



You can still make whatever flavors you want! I did a ham and cheese, a ham, cheese and mushroom, and then I did a spinach and cheese, oh, and I did a cheese one by itself. They all were so good!



I think next time I will add a bit of garlic salt to the dough. OR make a garlic butter dipping sauce, that would be soooo good!!! :D



This is a recipe that your kids could totally help you out with! The mixing of the dough, rolling it out, getting all the ingredients on the wheels and then rolling it up.


Oh, one thing to remember, I placed foil down on my pan, easier clean up, but I didn't spray the foil, you WILL want to spray your foil before placing your pizza wheels on it! It didn't stick too bad, but it would be easier to get off if sprayed! ;)


Take a part of your dough, in my case, this was a fourth of it... ;)


Roll it out into a rectangle, again, in my case, as best as you can! ;)


Spread some pizza sauce on it... I used spaghetti sauce, i had it on hand. :)




Lay out some ham
Sprinkle with cheese


Roll it up


And then cut! :)


Place on a foil covered pizza pan


another one i did was ham, mushroom and cheese...


And another that I LOVED was spinach and cheese! ;)


And then I did an all cheese one! :)


Here are all of them on the pan...


Here they are all done! They puffed up a bit and they were PERFECT!!! :) Super yummy if I do say so myself! :)



I ate most of the spinach ones, LOVED them!!! I think I will try and do spinach, mushroom, and cheese one! ;)




Pizza Wheels





2 2/3 cup all purpose flour ( I don't see why you couldn't use whole wheat too! ;)) You will need a little bit extra for rolling out


A dash of salt


1 1/2 teaspoons (heaping) active dry yeast


1 cup warm milk


2 tablespoons olive oil (I used coconut oil)


Spaghetti sauce, or your sauce of choice.. ;)


Ingredients to place inside your pizza wheels, like, ham, cheese, mushrooms (thinly sliced), onions, green pepper, diced small, baby spinach, etc... ;)





Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Combine milk and yeast, stir just a bit. Let sit for 5 minutes, your yeast mixture should be a bit foamy by now. Add oil and stir.


Add flour, and salt and stir until just combined. This is where the fun starts, you get your hands into the mixture and knead until no longer sticky.


Divide your dough into 2 equal parts. Roll out into a 12x18 rectangle and spread your sauce over the top. Place your pizza toppings of choice on top and then top with cheese. Roll up and cut into 16 slices.


Place on foil covered cookie sheet and bake 25 minutes, or until golden brown and done.



We love pizza around here, and sometimes doing the same old same old gets a little old. Not that I fix it alot, but still, I like to keep things fun and easy around here! This is for sure a hit and will be making it again! :) ENJOY!!!!

Strawberry Lime Sorbet

I just made this tonite, oh yummy!!!! :)

I found out last nite, which I knew, but I forgot, that I am lactose intolerant right about 9 pm and on and then if I have milk too early in the morning! My tummy hurt so bad last nite, I know, you REALLY wanted to know that didn't you? ;)

So, tonite we put the kids to bed, and my hubs and I wanted a snack, but obviously not anything that has milk! We used to eat ice cream almost every nite, but we haven't bought any for about 6-9 months! I've been making it in my Vita Mix, and I forgot about my little problem until last nite... Again, a bit TMI maybe? ;)

So, I was looking through my Vita Mix cookbook and found this recipe... SOOOOO good!!! FOR SURE going to be making this again!!! :D




All ingredients in my Vita Mix




All done, I didn't have quite enough strawberries, I buy them in bulk, so I didn't have exactly 1 pound.. But it still turned out, really good if I do say so myself! This would be GREAT after some supper on the grill, or a late nite snack, like I did! ;)


Strawberry Lime Sorbet

1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 lime, peeled
1 pound strawberries

Place all ingredients in your Vita mix (you can try this in a regular blender, if you think it will handle it! ;)) in the order listed. Select variable 1, then quickly turn to 10, then turn to high. Use tamper to press ingredients down into the blades. In about 30-60 seconds you will hear the motor change, and four mounds should appear. Turn it off because if you leave it going, it will turn to a sorbet shake and not just sorbet! ;)

Enjoy! REALLY easy and delish!!!
This is from my Vita Mix recipe book, I didn't write down the instructions word for word... ;)