Puerto Rican Mojo Pork

1 boneless pork shoulder roast
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons crushed dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
Blend the mojo together and let sit with the pork overnight or up to 24 hours. Roast the Pork with the Mojo, adding water during roasting as needed. Score any fat on the outside of the roast in an X pattern, but do not remove.
Roast at 350 degrees for 6 or 7 hours. Cover with foil for the first 3 hours and uncovered for the last 3. Cook until the roast is falling apart tender.
Serve with black beans, rice and mojo sauce.

Mojo Sauce:
8 cloves garlic
1 Serrano chile
3 T. cilantro
Salt
½ c. orange juice
¼ c. lime juice
¼ c. olive oil
Combine together in the blender and serve alongside the pork.

Quick & Easy Yeast Rolls

1/2 c. butter
2 T. sugar
1 t. salt
2 pkg. yeast
2 c. flour
- Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl & cut with pastry cutter.
2 eggs - beat in 2 c. measuring cup, fill cup to 2 cup mark
with hot water. Pour over dry mixture.
Slowly add:
3 c. flour
Cover. Let Rise 20 min. in warm oven. Pour onto floured surface.
Knead. Flatten with hands into large pizza shape. Cut with pizza cutter into16 slices. Roll up from wide end to point. Place in greased pans leaving space for rolls to double in size. (can shape like crescent or lay on side where swirl shows.) Cover. Let rise in oven at least 20 min. Remove from oven. Preheat oven to 375. Bake 20-30 min. depending on how dark you prefer. Immediately brush with 1 stick (1/2 c.) melted butter.
Yields 16 Rolls in 2-9”x13”

Squash Browns

A bumper crop of Summer Squash necessitated some creative cooking. I can only eat grilled squash so many times a month....So I whipped up this recipe on the fly.

Ingredients:
4 medium sized Summer squash
1 yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp fresh parsley
2-3 tsp fresh basil
1 tsp fresh oregano
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
3 eggs
2 tsp sour cream
2 tsp sea salt


Shred squash and onions in food processor. Let sit on a paper towel in a colander for 15 minutes. Squeeze out squash to remove as much moisture as possible.
Chop garlic and fresh herbs in food processor combine with squash onion mixture in a large bowl.
Add cheese, eggs sour cream and salt.
Mix well.

Heat skillet with olive oil.
Form the squash mixture into small patties. When oil is hot, carefully drop the patties into the oil. Flatten with spatula. Brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

**I made these in advance then arranged them in a single layer on a greased cookie sheet and warmed them up in the oven at 200 degrees for about 15 minutes**

Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Basil Chicken Packets

Basil Chicken Packets

• 4 chicken breasts - I use boneless skinless
• Heavy duty aluminum foil - 4 sheets approx. 12x18"
  
• 2 T. chopped parsley
• 2 t. grated lemon peel - I use fresh lemon zest
• 2 t. dry basil leaves - I use fresh chopped basil
• 1/2 t. each salt and pepper
• 2 medium yellow squash, sliced
• 1 medium red pepper, cut in rings

Center 1 chicken breast on each foil sheet. Mix parsley, lemon peel, basil, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle over chicken. Top with squash and red peppers.
Bring up sides of foil to make a packet.  Leave room for heat to circulate inside.
Place packets on grill over medium hot coals. Grill for 11-13 minutes or until chicken is cooked and vegetables are tender.

Cajun Sausage and Beans

Cajun Sausage and Beans

• 1 lb turkey sausage, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
• 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and onions
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 2 t. cajun seasoning
• 4 sheets of aluminum foil, 12x18"

1. Mix sausage, beans, tomatoes, green pepper and seasonings
2. Center 1/4 of the bean mixture on each sheet of foil
3. Bring up foil sides to make packets; leave room for heat circulation.
4. Grill packets over medium hot coals or until thoroughly heated.

Greek Chicken and Vegetables

Greek Chicken and Vegetables

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups fresh or frozen cut green beans or 1 can of cut green beans, drained
• 1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion
• 2 t. dried oregano leaves
• 1 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 4 sheets of aluminum foil approx 12x18"
• 1 pkg crumbled feta cheese

1. Cut chicken in stripes. Toss with beans, tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper.
2. Center 1/4 of mixture on each sheet of foil.
3. Bring up sides of foil to make packets; leave space for heat circulation.
4. Place packets on grill over medium hot heat. Grill 10-14 minutes or until chicken is cooked and vegetables are tender crisp. Open foil packets; and sprinkle with cheese.

Green Chili Burritos

{Ingredients}

1 to 2 lbs ~ Ground beef 

1 small can ~ Green Chili's

1 to 2 cans ~ Cream of mushroom soup

shredded cheese

 flour tortillas

1 can ~ potatoes (optional) 

1 small can ~ sliced mushrooms (optional)

{Directions}

brown ground beef in frying pan. add green chili's & saute for 5 minutes or so. then add cream of mushroom soup & potatoes and stir it all together. Heat until heated through.

Put into tortilla with cheese and wrap it. Warm in Microwave to melt cheese. Serve & enjoy!

Candace Cameron Bure's Chopped Salad

I haven't tried this yet, but it looked great on Twitter. Seems like a nice healthy, fast summer lunch or dinner! Some variations include switching the lunchmeats with grilled chicken or leftover broiled turkey or chicken breast, adding drained and rinsed black beans and adding pretty much any veggie you can possibly think of!

Chopped Salad Recipe
This salad is SO easy to make and it's incredibly healthy and delicious! There's no right way to do it- just get chopping. If you're making it for yourself, chopped about 1/2 cup of each thing. If you're making it for a group- go up to 2 or 3 cups of each ingredient!

Here's what I used: Ingredients
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Spinach leaves
Yellow Bell Pepper
Tomato
Corn (raw from the cob)
Avocado
Egg Whites Only (Hard boiled)
Ham (deli sliced)
Turkey (deli sliced)
Salami (deli sliced)

Chopped everything into bite sized pieces and mix! Add pepper to taste. I drizzled a teaspoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil after it was plated. I suggest doing so, incase you have leftovers. This way it won't get soggy in the fridge.

Here's the Key: The Avocado adds it's own oil- keeping everything together and flavorful. You really don't need any dressing because of it.

I only added pepper to taste because the ham and salami have enough salt on their own. Remember, salt in excess isn't good for you.

If you're a vegetarian, skip the meats!

Hard boiled egg whites are pure protein!! If you're needing more protein in your diet, this is a great way to get it.

Aside from the meats and eggs, everything should be chopped raw. No cooking required! How easy is that?

Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

Oatmeal Breakfast Bread
Topping:
¼ c. chopped nuts
¼ c. light brown sugar
¼ t. cinnamon

Bread:
2 eggs
1 ¼ c. unsweetened apple sauce
1/3 c. canola oil
¼ c. whole milk, buttermilk or plain yogurt
1 ¼ c. AP flour or whole wheat flour
½ to ¾ sugar (by preference)
1 ½ t. baking powder
¾ t cinnamon
½ t baking soda
½ t salt
¼ t ground nutmeg
Pinch of cloves
½ c. dried fruit - figs, apples, raisins
1 c. old fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour (and parchment the bottom of if you’re so inclined) a 9 “ loaf pan or two 8 “ pans (loaves won’t be as tall, but if you try to put it all in an anything smaller than a 9” it will overflow during baking. Trust me :))
Mix topping together in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, applesauce, oil and milk. Set aside.
In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, cloves and oats. Toss dried fruit in flour mixture just to coat. Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture and fold with a rubber spatula just until combined.
Pour the batter into prepared pan(s). Sprinkle with topping. Bake 9” loaf 50-60 minutes. Smaller loaves 45-55 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out on a rack to cool.

PB&J Muffins

PB&J muffins
I found this recipe on a blog somewhere, sometime. I made a few tweaks and now I am sharing with you! Completely yummalicious. As anyone who knows me knows, before 9 AM is still the night before. Morning is not offically here until 9:01 AM. And I like to sleep in. Sooooo...I made a batch this afternoon for breakfast tomorrow morning. The muffins did not survive the hour.. I had to make more tonight after everyone went to bed!

• 1 1/3 c. flour
• 1 c. oats
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. applesauce
• 1/3 c. peanut butter
• 1 1/4 c. buttermilk
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• jelly or jam

In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar and sugar. In a medium bowl, combing egg, applesauce, peanut butter, buttermilk and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Fill greased muffin cups half full. I use a larger silverware spoon and pour a heaping spoonful into the muffin cup. This is usually about half of the muffin cup. Put 1 teaspoon of jam or jelly in the middle of the muffin batter. Spoon more batter over the jelly. Make sure the jelly if completely covered. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 18-20 minutes.

Tips:

• To make buttermilk, add 1 T. of vinegar to a measuring cup and then fill the milk to the desired amount.
  
• Make sure that the jelly is in the middle of the batter and does not reach the edges of the muffin.
  
• Make sure the jelly is completely covered with the remaining batter.
  Do not use more than 1 t. of jelly. The muffin will not be structurally sound, and will collapse.

Hurry Up and Wait Beef Roast

So titled because you do everything in a flurry of activity and then wait while the slow cooker does all the hard work.

Ingredients:

one 3-pound top round roast, cut into four large pieces
flour
one onion, cut in half and sliced
six carrots cut into one inch chunks
three cloves of garlic, minced
one or two packages of whole mushrooms cleaned
2-3 tbsps vegetable oil
1/2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Thyme
2 Bay leaves
salt and pepper

Preparation:

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over high heat.
Dredge the pieces of beef in the flour and brown in the oil. Do not crowd the pan, you will not get good browning that way.

Put the browned meat into your slow cooker. Add bay leaves to slow cooker.

To the same pan add your onions and carrots. Saute 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic. Saute another 3 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper as desired. Add paprika and thyme. Mix all the ingredients well ensuring that you've deglazed all the pan drippings (add a bit of water if you need it) and add to the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low heat for 8-10 hours.
Serve with buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

Ridiculously good Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Icing

This has become a Thanksgiving staple for us over the past few years. (Um... also other times of the year... because I can't get enough...) It's so good it's ridiculous.

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

1 2/3 cups flour, plus more for pan

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup Pumpkin Puree

1/2 cup milk

Brown Butter Icing



Directions

1.Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-2-inch round cake pan. Coat pan with flour, and tap out any excess.

2.In a large bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

3. Beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, and beat until combined. Add pumpkin puree and milk; beat until combined. Add reserved flour mixture; beat on low speed until just combined.

4. Bake about 55 minutes. Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool. Let cake rest 20 minutes.

5. Let cake rest about 20 minutes and then ice.
 
I believe this is basically a Martha Stewart recipe.

Jaw-dropping Pasta!

Jaw-dropping Pasta!

Ingredients:

-Extra Virgin Olive Oil (for cooking pasta)
-Kosher salt
-3/4lb good linguine
-3 tablespoons Unsalted butter
-2 ½ tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (for cooking seafood)
-6 cloves garlic (minced or finely chopped – DO NOT smash with back of knife)
-1 pound large shrimp (I used ½ a bag of Jumbo Frozen Shrimp)**
- (Optional) - 4 large scallops (I used frozen scallops here as well)**
-1/4 tsp fresh black pepper
-1/3 cup fresh flat leaf parsley leaves (chopped up)
-1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons, seeds removed)
-1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (use as much or as little for added heat)

Directions:

In a large boiling pot, add 1 tablespoon of salt and a drizzle of EVOO. Once water is at a rolling boil, add the linguine and cook according to package.

Meanwhile, in a large (12-inch) pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium low heat. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Be careful as garlic burns easily and will ruin your entire dish! Next, add the shrimp (& scallops) to butter/olive oil blend (I season mine with a little salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lemon first), add 1 teaspoon of salt, fresh black pepper and sauté shrimp until they turn pink (scallops will also be ready once the shrimp are pink). Flip them over once. After about 5 minutes remove from heat and add the parsley, lemon juice and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine. (You will think this is a lot of parsley, but it's so subtle, you will hardly notice it.)

After draining the pasta, put back in pot and immediately add your shrimp and sauce. Toss well with tongs and plate it up! I like to add some fresh Parmesan on top!!!

**When using frozen seafood, be sure to thaw according to package instructions ahead of time for quick preparation.

If you prep the ingredients ahead of time, the whole process will only take you about 20 minutes to prepare. It is so good – I hope you try it!!!

Chipotle Basil Corn Chowder

This is delicious, so healthy, practically fat-free, and even vegan if you follow the recipe exactly (I don't since we're not vegan.) My extremely-meat-loving husband adores it, if that tells you anything.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, finely diced (1/2 cup)

5 small red potatoes, diced small (3 cups)

1 cup shredded carrots

1 tsp chipotle in adobo, minced (canned)-(This gives the soup a spicy "kick." I use some Hickory Farms chipotle ranch sauce instead because we always have it in the fridge.)

3 cups water

1 vegetable bouillon cube

3 cups sweet corn

1/2 cup soy milk (I use regular milk)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp lime juice

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

Black pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in large pot with a tight fitting lid. Add onions and saute until golden. Add the potatoes, carrot, and chipotle and stir to coat. Let them cook over medium heat for a minute. Add water and bouillon cube and mix well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover, cooking for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. If your corn is frozen, put it in a strainer and run lukewarm water over it until it has softened. Transfer all or half of the mixture to a blender (I transfer all but about 1 cup). Add half of the corn, soy milk, salt and lime juice and blend until smooth. Return to the pot and stir in basil and remaining corn. Add black pepper to taste. This comes from this great cookbook called Vegan Yum Yum.

S'mores Bars

TRUST me when I tell you these are better than you'd think. Quite a crowd favorite. For sure best when right out of the oven, and way better than you'd think for how easy they are. They are UN. BE. LIEVABLE.


1 pouch sugar cookie mix

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 bag chocolate chips

4 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

1.
Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and crumbs. Stir in melted butter until soft dough forms. Press into ungreased 13x9-inch pan.
2.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until set. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Let stand 3 to 5 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.
3.
Set oven control to broil. Sprinkle marshmallows over melted chocolate. Broil with top 4 to 5 inches from heat 20 to 30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted. (Watch closely; marshmallows will brown quickly.) Cool 10 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Serve warm. Store any remaining bars tightly covered.

Hamburger Ratatouille

Or as my daughter calls it: Ratatooty

You need:
1 lb ground beef
5 zucchinis, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 eggplants, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 red peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 small white onion, sliced
1 small red onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14 oz) of diced tomatoes, drained
olive oil
salt and pepper
2 bay leaves
1 tsp ground thyme
2 tsp dried basil
1.5 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In one pan, brown ground beef
In another larger pan heat up 3 tbsp olive oil. Brown eggplant and zucchini until crisp and lightly browned. (you may need to add extra olive oil, eggplant is a sponge!)

Remove eggplant and zucchini to a large mixing bowl. Add ground beef.

In same pan you used for the vegetables, add 2 tbsp olive oil and onions, garlic and red peppers. Saute until tender, about 5-6 minutes.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Add tomatoes and seasonings (salt, pepper, bay leaves, thyme, basil)to onions/garlic/peppers. Let simmer about 2 minutes.

Add to veggie-beef mix. Stir thoroughly.

Pour mix into 9x13 baking dish (rectangle)
Cover with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Make a tent with foil over the top of the casserole (so the cheese doesn't stick) bake covered at 300 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove the cover, bake another 15 minutes.

Serve with rice.

Claypot Chicken Rice (without the Claypot)

Instead of using a claypot, I made this in the rice cooker, and modified the real recipe and made this using whatever I had in the kitchen and it turned out pretty good.

Ingredients :

1 cup of rice (uncooked)
1 cup of chicken broth
4 drumsticks ( chop up 2 drumsticks into small pieces)
3 slices of ginger

Garnish :
Fried onions
Spring onions (chopped)

Marinate :
1 tbsp black soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp kicap manis (sweet sauce- can be found in the Asian market)
3/4 tbsp mirin sweet cooking sauce
3/4 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp ginger powder
Dash of pepper and salt

Mix all the ingredients for the marinate together.
Marinate the chicken for about 45 minutes.

Place the two drumsticks on a baking dish, drizzle with some oil and brush some marinate over.
Bake in oven 400 F for about 40 - 50 minutes or until chicken is cooked. (turn chicken over half way during cooking)

Put uncooked rice, chicken broth, ginger and marinated chicken slices in the rice cooker. Add a few spoonfuls of the marinate and stir.
Cook rice. (If your rice cooker is not an automatic one, cook for about 20 minutes or until rice is cooked)

Sprinkle spring onions and fried onions on top of rice and serve.

Note : To make it more authentic, you should add some chinese sausage, shitake/chinese mushrooms and salted fish into the rice. The two drumsticks I made in the oven is just an add-on to the meal and is optional.

Raw Gazpacho

This is the most yummy raw soup ever! Whenever I need comfort food, this does it!

Recipe taken from Natalia Rose's book The Raw Food Detox Diet

Ingredients:

• 6 tomatoes


• 1/2 to 1 cup fresh basil or fresh cilantro


• 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar


• 2 T. olive oil


• 1 t. soy sauce


• 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped


• 1 to 2 cobs corn, kernals cut off (during winter, I use frozen)


• 1 apple, chopped

In a blender, combine tomatoes, basil or cilantro, apple cider vinegar, olive oil and soy sauce. Process until desired consistency is reached. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl. Pour soup base from blender into bowl and mix well. Serve chilled. Tastes even better the next day.