Back In No Time

We are moving and with that comes packing and no time to cook. We will be eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pizza in the coming week. So in about a week or so we should be back up and running.

Utah here we come.

Chicken, Rice and Black Bean Salad

For the salad:
1 cup brown or white rice
1 cooked chicken (I use the Costco rotisserie), shredded
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
6 plum tomatoes, seeded, and sliced
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

For the dressing:
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. ground cumin

For the salad:
Cook rice according to package directions. Mix together all salad ingredients including cooked rice.

For the dressing:
Mix together all ingredients and toss with salad.

Makes 4 servings. Total time 40 min.

Verdict:
We eat this a lot at our house. It is easy and fresh. We like it by itself or wrapped in a tortilla with some sour cream. You will like this too. I promise.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

For the corned beef:
1 package of corned beef from Costco
1 cabbage, cut into 8 pieces

I made a Reuben for me if you want that you will also need:
rye bread (I like Jewish rye)
Swiss cheese
sauerkraut
Dijon or thousand island

For corned beef:
Place corned beef in crock pot fill with water so that it is not quite covered. If the corned beef has a seasoning packet don't forget to add that. Cook on high for 8 hours or more. The longer the better. Right before you are ready to serve the corned beef steam cabbage for 10-15 minutes.
Remove corned beef from crock pot and trim off fat.
Slice thinly and serve.

Verdict:
Mmmm. Salty goodness.

Fish Tacos

For the fish:

1 lb. tilapia fillets (or other firm white fish)

blackened seasoning (I like Zatarain's- you can find it at Walmart)

For the filling and sauce:

1/4 c. sour cream

2 Tbsp. lime juice

1/4 red cabbage, thinly shredded (about 2 1/2 c.)

4 green onions

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

8 flour tortillas

For the fish:

Coat fish in blackened seasoning. In a large skillet heat vegetable oil (about a half inch deep) and cook fish in oil until cooked through and slightly brown.

For the filling and sauce:

Combine in a small bowl sour cream and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Combine in a large bowl cabbage, green onions and jalapeno.

Add half of the sauce to cabbage mixture.

Warm tortillas over gas burner until blistered in spots.

Serve in tortillas with fish, cabbage and extra sauce if desired.

Serves 4. Total time 45 minutes.

Verdict:

I love fish tacos. Love them. They are tasty. Yum.

Menu

Mon: Fish Tacos

Tue: Corned Beef and Cabbage

Wed: Black Beans, Chicken, Rice and Tomato Burritos

Thur: Beef Stroganoff

Fri: Blackened Shrimp and Hearts of Palm Salad

Huli Huli Pork with Pineapple and Peppers

For the sauce:
1/4 c. ketchup
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 Tbsp ginger, minced
1 Tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

For the pork:
4 boneless pork chops
2 red bell peppers, stemmed and seeded
8 pineapple slices
8 green onions

For sauce:
Combine all ingredients in small saucepan and simmer until sugar dissolves. Use some while cooking the pork and reserve some for serving.

For the pork:
Preheat grill.
Season pork with salt and pepper. Grill pork, basting meat with sauce while cooking. Cook until done. Grill peppers and pineapple until lightly charred, 2-3 minutes per side. Slice peppers when cool enough to handle.
Serve pork with peppers, pineapple, green onions and reserved sauce.

Makes 4. Total time 30 minutes.

Verdict:
We served this with rice. It was yummy. I liked the roasted peppers and pineapple. We used pineapple from a can and think that it worked out just fine. However, I am sure it would taste better with fresh pineapple. The sauce was good and had a slightly spicy flavor. Blake liked it and the kids didn't seem to mind.

Picture and recipe from Cuisine at Home grilling

Meat Lovers Pizza Burger with Provolone

For the burger:
12 oz. ground Italian sausage
6 oz. hamburger
6 oz. sliced pepperoni, chopped
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
4 slices provolone cheese
4 hamburger buns
3/4 c. jarred marinara sauce

For the burger:
Preheat grill.
Combine sausage, hamburger, pepperoni and Parmesan. Shape into four patties and coat both sides with nonstick spray.
Grill burgers, watching to make sure that no flare-ups occur. Cook until done.
Top each burger with provolone.
Toast buns.
Heat marinara sauce in small pan or microwave until hot. Place burgers on buns and top with 3 Tbsp. marinara sauce.

Makes 4 burgers. Total time 40 min.

Verdict:
Watch those burgers because they really do flare-up. Mine burnt a little around the edges. All in all I would say they were tolerable. I most likely wouldn't make them again. They were not bad just not good enough to go to all the trouble.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Deliciousness

For the filing:
1 package cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
2 c. thawed Cool Whip
1/4 c. chocolate chips, melted
1 package Oreos or Nutter Butters
3-4 Tbsp. butter, melted

For filling:
Beat cream cheese, sugar, and peanut butter in large bowl until blended. Gently stir in cool whip. Melt chocolate chips and add them to 1 cup of mixture in another bowl. Set aside.

For crust:
In food processor mix Oreos or Nutter Butters until fine. Add butter to mixture and mix until slightly chunky. Press into bottom of any shape small pan for crust.

Finish:
Place peanut butter mixture on top of crust and smooth. Then place chocolate mixture on top of peanut mixture and smooth forming two layers. Place in freezer until set. Serve right out of freezer.

Verdict:
Yum. Both ways. Yum.

Southeast Asian Pork Loin with Pad Thai Salad

For the marinade/dressing:

1/3 c. rice vinegar

1/4 c. ketchup

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. lime juice

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. fish sauce

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. chili garlic sauce

1 Tbsp. minced ginger

1 1/2 lb. boneless pork loin roast (I used 3 pork chops)

For the pad thai salad:

8 oz. dry rice vermicelli (these are the asian rice noodles)

2 c. napa cabbage, shredded

(you can choose any of the following ingredients to put on your salad)

sugar snap peas

diced tomatoes

bean sprouts

sliced cucumber

sliced red or yellow bell pepper

grated carrot

sliced green onions

basil leaves

cilantro leaves

mint leaves

peanuts, chopped

For the pork:

Preheat grill.

Whisk together all ingredients for marinade in medium bowl reserving some in a separate bowl for salad dressing.

Place pork in marinade.

Grill pork until cooked through. Rotating every couple of minutes and basting while cooking. Slice pork and serve with pad thai salad.

For the salad:

Boil water in pot and cook vermicelli according to package directions. Serve with any ingredients that you choose with pork sliced on top and dressing.

Makes 6. Total time 45 min. (or less if using pork chops)

Verdict:

I did a couple things different. I used pork chops instead of a roast because I wanted it to cook faster and I had pork chops on hand. I also only used the noodles, cabbage, basil, cucumber, and bell pepper. This was good. I like asian food and I tend to like when you mix cabbage and noodles. The dressing is good and you definitely need it for the salad. If you have never used fish sauce before don't be afraid. You can't taste anything "fishy." It will smell fishy when you first mix it into the dressing but once it is mixed in you won't be able to tell that it was there. I also liked the basil mixed into the salad. I normally don't use basil. Not because I don't like it, because I do, but because it is expensive. But it was a welcome addition to this salad. Fresh and light. The kids ate their ingredients separately and Blake ate with out complaint.

Recipe and picture from Cuisine at Home grilling.

Lumpia

For the filling:

1 lb. hamburger

2 carrots, chopped in food processor

3 celery stalks, chopped in food processor

1 onion, chopped in food processor

For the outside:

egg roll wrappers

1 egg, lightly beaten

For the filling:

Cook hamburger in large pan until cooked through.

Drain hamburger of juices. Place hamburger in food processor and chop until the pieces are small. Chop up all vegetables in food processor until minced.

Mix together vegetables and burger and cook in pan until vegetables are soft. Let cool.

Place egg roll wrappers on counter and fill each one with one large spoonful of filling. Following directions on egg roll wrappers wrap them up and seal with beaten egg.

Fry in vegetable oil until brown on outside.

Makes 12-18. Total time 40 min.

Verdict:

We love lumpia at our house. We eat it somewhat frequently.

Menu

Monday: Lumpia

Tuesday: Southeast Asian Pork Loin

Wednesday: Meat Lovers Pizza Burgers with Provolone

Thursday: Grilled Huli Huli Pork

Friday: Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Apple-Cucumber Slaw
We ended up not making this. We had pizza from Costco instead. But I will make this another day. So if you are interested stay tuned or let me know.

Update

I realize that I didn't post the last two days of recipes on here. I will be doing that soon. I have strep throat and we just got back from Utah so I am just behind. I will catch up soon.