Black Bean and Corn Salsa

I guess that I'm on a side dish/BBQ kick and this is probably because it's hot and I'm not heating my kitchen up for dinner so we grill a lot! I have made this salsa 4 times since I made the recipe up and each time I make it, it gets devoured! If you really don't like beans, like my husband, I guess that you could leave them out but you really can't taste them! I also have to note that you are welcome to add as much or as little of things as you would like to this recipe. The heat level is different each time I make it because of how much spice I add to it! Happy BBQing!

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Makes about 4 cups of salsa

2 cans of corn

2 cans of black beans

8 oz. mild chilies, diced

2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

2 teaspoons cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 cup chopped green onion

1 medium seeded tomato, chopped

1 red onion, chopped fine

1/2 cup lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and chill for 4 hours. Serve with tortilla chips.

Ice Cream Pie

I think I've said it before but I love ice cream and I love brownies! And together they make the perfect dessert. But add in some berries and you have taken dessert to a whole other level! And that is just what this dessert does. This is the perfect dessert for a warm summer night! This would also be the perfect dessert for a 4th of July BBQ, just add in blueberries instead of raspberries to make it patriotic. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Ice Cream Pie

1 box of brownie mix (and ingredients to make it)

1 carton of vanilla ice cream

1 carton of raspberry sherbet

Raspberries

Make the brownie mix according to directions. Spray a round spring form pan with cooking spray and pour prepared batter in. Bake according to package directions and let cool, completely. Soften the vanilla ice cream. While the ice cream softens, rinse the raspberries and mash them with a fork. Add them to the softened ice cream and layer over brownies. Put in freezer until ice cream is frozen again. Soften the sherbet and layer over the vanilla ice cream layer. Put back in freezer to harden. When ready to serve, let unthaw until you can slice it and serve with fresh raspberries and if you really want to, drizzle with some chocolate syrup!

Mini Oreo Fudge Creme Brownie Bites

I have loved Oreo Cookies ever since I was a little girl and now that I am "grown up" I have found the "grown up" Oreo Cookie-the Oreo Fudge Creme! It's an Oreo cookie, with the regular creme patty on it, covered in fudge creme and oh my, it is delicious! We have had a lot of them in the past few weeks!

I knew that these Oreos would be amazing in a brownie and I had a new mini cupcake pan to try out so I whipped up some mini brownie bites with cut up pieces of the Oreos in them! They are pretty much amazing and you should make them now! Right Now! Go!

Mini Oreo Fudge Creme Brownie Bites

1 Brownie Recipe (I listed my favorite one below)
1 cup of Oreo Fudge Creme cookies cut into small pieces
Frosting if desired

Make your brownie batter and gently fold in the Oreo pieces. Generously spray your muffin pan and fill 3/4 full of the batter. Cook according to brownie directions. Let cool (or not) then frost if desired!

** I tried this recipe with a homemade brownie recipe and a boxed brownie. You really need to make them with a homemade brownie recipe so the Oreos stay in chunks and don't melt. I'm not sure why but when I used a boxed brownie mix, the Oreos all melted into the brownie.

Brownie Recipe:
4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 9X13 pan with foil, making sure to extend the foil over the edges by an inch. Spray the foil with cooking spray and set aside.

Chop the chocolate and the butter into chunks and place in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals , stirring in between, until just melted and smooth. Set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla for 2 minutes. Measure out flour and baking soda and stir to combine. While mixer is running, slowly add the melted chocolate/butter mixture to combine. Turn mixer to slow and add in flour by big spoonfuls. Mix until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cowboy Baby!

We love burgers in our house so I'm always looking for a great new burger idea. A lot of restaurants are coming out with more gourmet burgers and I've seen the idea for Cowboy Burgers on a few commercials so I threw some ideas together and made my own! This burger has great flavor and is different from any burger I've ever tasted. And the hubby said it was a do over, which means it's really good! I really hate posting recipes without pictures but I was giving my hubby his burger and had a crying, hungry child in the other hand, sorry!

Cowboy Burgers

Makes 2

2 Hamburger Buns

2 hamburger patties

2 pieces of cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you like)

4 pieces of fully cooked bacon (2 pieces for each burger)

BBQ Sauce

2 Tablespoons Miracle Whip or Mayo

1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

Lettuce

Tomato

Throw your burgers on the grill to cook. While your burgers are cooking toast your buns. Combine the Miracle Whip and Worcestershire Sauce. When your buns are toasted spread the Miracle Whip mixture on them. Right before your burgers are done put the cheese on them until it gets melty. Put your cheesy burger on the bun then put the bacon on the burger. Squirt it a couple of times with the BBQ sauce. Layer with the lettuce and tomato. Devour!

Taco Scoops

I think that we have tacos at least once a month at our house, they are quick, easy and yummy. So I decided to spice things up a little and made Taco Scoops, bite size tacos! Dress these babies up any way you want-salsa, ranch, guacamole, refried beans or whatever your tummy desires! These Taco Scoops are perfect for kids, game night or any party!

Tostito Scoops Chips

1 pound ground beef

1 package Taco Seasoning

Cheddar Cheese

Salsa

Ranch

Chopped Olives

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the Tostito Scoops on the pan. Brown the ground beef with the taco seasoning. Fill the Scoops with the ground beef and top with cheddar cheese and olives. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with salsa and ranch.

If you like refried beans, before you fill the Scoops with ground beef put a little scoop of beans on the bottom of the Scoops and then fill with ground beef.

Steak Sandwich For Dad

We have a great neighborhood and great neighbors! And because it's Summer in Utah (Kind of) we have been grilling with them. At one of our BBQs my neighbor make some steak sandwiches but I didn't get to try one because I was eating a bigger steak! So I thought I would try making my own and it was great! The steak was so thin and seasoned nicely, the bread was slightly toasted and the lettuce gave it a nice crunch. This sandwich would be great for Father's Day or for any BBQ!

Steak Sandwiches

(Makes 3)

3 Thin slices of round steak

Lawrys Steak Marinade

3 Ciabatta Rolls

Lettuce

Tomato

Miracle Whip

Provolone Cheese

Put the steaks in a ziploc bag and marinate with about 1/2 cup of the marinade for 30 minutes. Throw those babies on the grill. While they cook (which takes about 5 minutes) toast the rolls. Spread the Miracle Whip on the rolls. Top with a slice of the steak and put the cheese on top of the steak so it melts a little bit. Top with the lettuce and tomato. Serve with some chips, fruit, potato salad or whatever you want!

Happy Father's Day and Happy Grilling!

Easy Stuffed Shells

So I posted that I would be making Stuffed Shells and using a recipe by Kneaders Bakery to make them. I decided to tweak a few things in the recipe to make it work for my family. I actually made the shells for some friends and they loved it. They were surprised at how I made the sauce and said it tasted home made! This is the only way that I make spaghetti sauce because it is the way my hubby likes it. This recipe makes a 9X13 pan which fed 4 adults and 2 kids and we had some leftover.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of large pasta shells
• 2 c. Ricotta Cheese
• 3 c. Mozzarella Cheese (plus extra for sprinkling on top)
  
• ½ c. grated Parmesan Cheese (plus extra for sprinkling on top)
• 2 eggs
• 2 T. dried Parsley
  
• 1 tsp. Salt
• ¼ tsp. Pepper

• 1 lb. Ground beef
• 1 package McCormick Italian Spaghetti sauce (you will need 1 can of tomato paste to make this sauce)

Method:

1-Cook ground beef and drain the grease. Make the spaghetti sauce according to package. Follow the directions for the meat sauce.

2-In a separate pot bring water to a boil. Add shells and cook according to package directions.

3-In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley salt and pepper.

To Assemble:

1-In the bottom of a baking dish (9 by 13) put ¼ cup of the meat sauce mixture.

2-Stuff shells full of cheese mixture and place in the baking dish.

3-Pour the rest of the meat sauce on top of the shells.

4- Sprinkle the extra cheeses on top.

5-Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted on top.

The Perfect Sunday Roast

I love a Sunday Roast! There is nothing better than putting the roast in the crockpot, going to church and then walking back into your house and smelling the aroma that fills your entire house! And you can't beat putting everything in the crockpot and having dinner without doing any work! I have tried several recipes for roasts, but found my version the best! I had 2 friends that were talking about roasts one day and how they couldn't find a recipe they liked. One of my friends tried my roast recipe and loved it!

Sunday Roast

1 Roast (whatever size you need for your family or whatever size will fit in your crockpot)
1 bag of baby carrots
1 onion, quartered
5-6 Potatoes, cut into small pieces (or how ever many you can cram into the corners)
1 packet of Roast Seasoning (comes in a packet with a bag but I don't use the bag)
1 cup of water

Put the carrots, half of the potatoes and half of the onion pieces in your crockpot. Place the meat on top. Cram the rest of the potatoes and onions in around the roast. Mix the roast seasoning with the water and pour over the roast. Turn the crockpot on low and cook for 8 hours! You can cook it on high for 4 hours, but I really recommend that you cook it for 8 hours. It makes the meat more tender and it truly tastes better!

Daring Pizza!

This months Daring Bakers was hosted by Rosa of Rosa Yummy Yums and she chose to have us make pizza like the pros. That meant tossing the pizza by hand! I made the dough but just couldn't get the courage to toss it, so I rolled it instead. I know, I'm a chicken! The hubby and I love a place in Utah called The Pie Pizzeria and our favorite pizza from there is Chicken Ranch so I re-created that pizza for us. The dough was super easy to make and freezes really well for later use! And the pizza was excellent and came together really quick!


Chicken Ranch Pizza
By Amber

Dough Recipe
2 grilled chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces (nothing special, just cooked it on the grill)
5 pieces of bacon, crumbled
1 garlic clove, minced (use more if you like)
1 cup ranch
1 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese
2 Tablespoons parsley (fresh or dried)

Roll or toss the dough, cover with ranch dressing and add toppings. Bake for about 15 minutes or until dough is slightly browned and chicken is warm.

Drumroll....Thanksgiving Bundles

I have wanted to "create" my own recipe for awhile. I'm not quite sure what constitutes making-up a recipe though. Is it throwing random things from your pantry together or following a recipe but tweaking a few things? I don't really know. But it is hard, how do you all do it? As far as I know I've only made a dip recipe before. But I'm pretty sure that I haven't heard or seen anything exactly like this before.

For any of you that know me, I have an addiction to bread! I love it! But I especially love Crescent Rolls. So when I saw the new Crescent Dough Sheets, I knew that I had to use it for something. So I concocted Thanksgiving Bundles! I made the recipe for dinner one night and the hubby loved it (that takes a lot)! Then I took the leftovers to work and they loved them too! One of my co-workers even dreamed about them, so they gotta be good!

Drumroll... here is the recipe:
Makes about 16 bundles

2 rolls of Crescent Dough Sheets
6 oz. Turkey Flavored Stove Top Dressing (plus ingredients to make)
2 Celery Stalks
3 cloves garlic
1 pound ground turkey
.87 oz Gravy (pick your style)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350. Follow the directions to cook the Stove Top in the microwave. While the Stove Top is cooking, ground the turkey until browned. Cut up the garlic and celery into small pieces. Cook the gravy according to package directions. Combine the ground turkey, celery, garlic, salt and pepper and half of the gravy in a large bowl. Roll out the dough and cut into 2X2 inch squares. Place about 2 tablespoons of the mixture into the center of each dough square and fold edges to meet at the top. Place in muffin cups and cook about 13 minutes or until dough is golden brown on top. Serve with remaining gravy, mashed potatoes and a veggie of your choice. You could even grab and apple pie to complete your "Thanksgiving" meal!

Ambers Tortilla Pie

It's not pretty, but it's darn good!

I have never had Tortilla Pie but have heard of it and wanted to try something different. I looked at several different recipes and liked different parts of them, so I combined them to make my own version! My recipe makes a 9 inch pie, which was way too much food for just the hubby and I! We each had 1 piece and were full!

Ambers Tortilla Pie

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 can of green chilies
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 10 oz. package frozen corn
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar Cheese
1 T. chili powder
Black Olives (as much or as little as you would like)
8 oz. Tomato Sauce
Tortillas

Brown the meat with the onion and garlic. Add the seasoning,olives, tomato sauce, corn and chilies and heat through. Cut the tortillas to fit your pan. Place a tortilla on the bottom of the pan and put a heaping amount of the meat mixture on the tortilla. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Repeat until at the top of the pan. For the last layer, I put a tortilla on the top and sprinkled with cheese. Cook for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until the cheese on the top is melted.

I stored the leftover pie in the fridge, but because of the liquid in the pie, the tortillas became soggy. Now I don't like soggy tortillas, so most of the pie was wasted. So either cut the recipe in half for your family or invite the Army over and feed them!

Ribs My Way

I am definitely no grill master, but this summer I have been working on it. I have only made ribs twice, but I think I've got the hang of them now. I like to buy my ribs at Costco or Sams Club. They come in a vacuum sealed pack and usually have 3 racks in them. All of the ribs I have purchased have not had a lot of fat on them, which is great.

After I buy the ribs I buy the biggest foil pan that I can find. Although I like doing the dishes, this is not one I want to clean, so the pans are great because you just throw them away. I get the foil pans from the grocery store, they are usually located on the baking isle. Make sure you get one that comes with a lid.

So you have your ribs and your pan. Now you need seasoning and BBQ sauce. While I was getting the ribs at Sams Club, I came across Weber Grill Rub. This seasoning is amazing! It is tangy, spicy and sweet all at the same time. You can use it on ribs, steak, chicken or whatever your little heart wants. I also grabbed some BBQ sauce at Sams Club. For a great BBQ Sauce we love Chris N Pits, but use your favorite.

Now you are home with your ribs, pan, BBQ sauce and seasoning. Take your ribs, one at a time and put them in the foil pan (you may need to cut you racks to fit them in the pan). Cover the rib with BBQ sauce and then sprinkle a generous layer of seasoning on top. Repeat until all racks are done and then put the lid on. Let sit at least 4 hours, but for moister ribs let them sit overnight.

When ready to cook, set your grill to low heat and let heat up for 10-15 minutes. I cover the ribs again with a good coating of seasoning just before I put them on the grill. Put the ribs on the grill, BONE SIDE DOWN, very important!!! Let the ribs cook for 1-2 hours or until done. As the ribs are cooking, rotate them around the grill to get even cooking. Cooking time depends on how big your grill is. My grill is larger so they take about 1 1/2 hours. I used my friends grill the last time I made them and they only took 1 hour because his grill was smaller. So make sure you keep checking the ribs and rotating them.

When they are done, serve with the same BBQ sauce you used to coat them with, corn, salad, your favorite fruit and enjoy!

Oh, and I didn't get a photo of the finished ribs because we ate them too fast, sorry!

Grilled Pizza Take 2

So I decided to try grilled pizza again, but I did a few things different this time. I used the same recipe for pizza dough but added 1 T. of honey instead of 1 T. of the sugar in the dough recipe. I also used corn meal when rolling out the dough and that worked a lot better when rolling the dough out. I also sprinkled some corn meal on the baking sheet and that made it easier to get the dough off the pan. It was so yummy and I will be trying it again!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 Dough Recipe
1 Rotisserie Chicken, shredded and covered with 1 cup BBQ Sauce
1 small red onion, cut into thin pieces
1 cup cilantro, torn
1 cup Parmesan Cheese (or however much you want)
More BBQ sauce (about 1/2 cup) for putting on the pizza crust

Make the pizza dough and while it rests for 20-30 minutes, heat the grill, cut the onion and cilantro and let the chicken marinate in the BBQ sauce. When the dough and grill are ready, cook the dough on low heat, flipping once. When the dough is cooked, transfer to a baking sheet. Cover the dough with BBQ sauce, then layer the chicken, onions, cilantro and cheese (I like to heat the chicken back up in the microwave for 3 minutes and then put it on the pizza so it is warm). Put the baking sheet with the pizza on it on the grill and heat until cheese melts. Enjoy!

I Need Help Bobby Flay!

I have been wanting to try grilled pizza for awhile and finally tried it!

I made homemade pizza dough using the recipe from Stephanie's Kitchen. I made it in the morning and put it in the fridge until I needed it that evening. I decided to make an all meat pizza so while I was cooking Italian Sausage I rolled the dough out into a rectangle on my SilPat, which I thought was a good idea. When the grill was ready I oiled the dough and went to flip it. I thought it was just come off since I used the SilPat but it still stuck. So I quickly tried to pull it off while not ripping the dough, which didn't work so well. So I ended up with this horse shape pizza. I had the grill on medium heat but had to crank it way down because the dough was getting crispy. I flipped the dough and quickly put on pizza sauce, mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, pepperoni, Italian Sausage and Canadian bacon. The dough was done cooking, but the cheese had not melted so I turned the grill off and closed the lid and let the heat finish melting the cheese.

The pizza was really crispy, but really good! I plan to try it again. I had the idea to make a Mexican pizza and a BBQ Chicken pizza. Next time I will double the dough recipe to make it thicker and I am thinking it would be better to roll the dough out on a cookie sheet with some cornmeal on it so it won't stick. If anyone has better ideas on how to easily flip the dough onto the grill let me know. I really liked the pizza and want to keep making it.

Here is how to make the dough:
2 T. Sugar

2 1/2 all purpose flour

1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup warm water

1/2-1 tablespoon olive oil

cornmeal, for sprinkling

1. Mix the sugar into the warm water
2. Sprinkle yeast on top
3. Wait for 10 minutes or until it gets all foamy
4. Pour into a large bowl
5. Add flour, salt, olive oil
6. Combine
7. Knead for 6-8 minutes until you have a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (add a bit more flour if you need to)
8. Cover and let rest for 20-30 minutes
9. Lightly grease two 12-inch pizza pans
10. Sprinkle with a little bit of cornmeal
11. Divide dough in half
12. Place each half on a pizza pan and pat it with your fingers until it stretches over the whole pan
13. Try to make it thicker around the edge
14. If desired, pre-bake at 425 F for 10 minutes (I don't always do this)
15. Then spread with pizza sauce and use the toppings of your choice
16. Bake at 425 F for 10-20 minutes longer or until bubbly and hot
17. Makes 2 12-inch pizzas
18. If you don't want to use all the dough, you can freeze it
19. Take a portion of dough, form into a ball, rub olive oil over it and place it in a freezer bag (the oil makes it easier to take out of the bag)
20. When you want to make a pizza, take dough out of freezer and allow to thaw before using

Easy Dip

I was looking for a dip recipe one day and couldn't really find one that I loved, so I made this one up and it is requested all of the time.

2 cups ranch (which is 1 bottle)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
14 cup chopped green onion
1 package of Kraft real bacon pieces (or you can cook your own bacon)
1 small can of chopped olives
Pepper to taste

Serve with crakers and vegetables.