Quick blender salsa

Good. Easy. Convenient. Fairly cheap.

Recipe from: http://www.mountainmamacooks.com/2012/01/quick-and-easy-blender-salsa/

INGREDIENTS

1- 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1- 10 oz can orginal Rotel (I used off brand with no problem)
1/2 small onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2-1 jalapeno, seeded or not (depends on how spicy you like it) (I used Serrano, less than half)
1 teaspoon honey (sounds weird, I know, but it works)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (no cumin, no problem)
small to medium size handful of cilantro, washed
juice of 1 lime
INSTRUCTIONS

Put all the ingredients in the base of a food processor or good blender and pulse to combine for 30 seconds or so until all the ingredients are finely chopped and salsa is desired consistency. Taste for seasoning and adjust to taste. Serve with chips or over tacos

Quick no bake granola bars

I only had large chocolate chips, but still turned out pretty good. Kids and hubby liked them. I cut and wrapped them in plastic wrap.

Recipe from Laurens latest blog:

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats {not rolled oats!}
1 cup crispy rice cereal
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, stir oats and rice cereal together. Set aside. In a small pot, melt butter, honey and brown sugar together over medium high heat until it comes to a bubble. Reduce the heat and cook 2 minutes. Pour in vanilla and stir. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients. Pour into lightly greased pan. (fit perfectly in square glass pan)

Chalupas!

I LOVE tacos. And I love fry bread. How can you go wrong putting the two together? You can't. These were so good, I just ate three and only stopped because I literally couldn't fit any more in my stomach.

(recipe from stolenmomentscooking.com)
Ingredients:
4 c. Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk (original recipe uses evaporated milk. I didn't have any but whole milk worked just great)
1 cup water
3 tablespoons oil
Additional oil for frying

Directions:
Combine dry ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients until ball forms. Knead until well combined. Let rest at least 15 minutes. Pour about an inch of oil into a frying pot and heat up oil. Separate a small section of dough and roll into a thin circle.  Fry for a couple minutes on each side. Bend in half immediately when placing on plate. Stuff with your favorite taco fillers and enjoy!

I used taco meat (mixed with kidney beans before seasoning), cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet peppers (my favorite addition), sour cream and salsa. Yummmmmm....

Oh! A side note....unless you have a big family, this will make more dough than you need. I only fried up about half of it for chalupas then later for dessert we used the rest for fry bread! Roll and fry the same as before, then top with butter and powdered sugar or honey.

Simple Chicken Curry sauce

Here is a recipe for when you need chicken curry but don't have any coconut milk or a lot of time! (like me tonight) Serve with Jasmine rice.

Ingredients:
-A few Chicken tenderloins
- about 1 tablespoon curry paste, more or less to taste (or powder will do, amount will be different I believe...)
-onion, chopped
-garlic
- chicken broth/bullion, start with 1 cup, add more later if needed.
-milk, opt.
-corn starch (opt.)
-any variety of seasonings that you fancy. I Used: spoonful of sugar, splash of lime juice and soy sauce, a touch of ginger, cilantro and red pepper flakes.
-would be great with potato chunks and garnished with peanuts!

Directions:
Saute onion in oil and cook the curry paste for a few minutes. Add a little garlic at the end.

Salt and pepper your chicken then add to pan. Add chicken broth. Let chicken cook, flipping halfway.
Remove chicken as soon as it is no longer pink. Chop when cool.

Season the sauce to taste. Add milk if you want it creamy. I also added about a tablespoon or two of corn starch (mixed with a little cold water) because I like my sauce a little bit thick. Personal preference.

Return chicken to sauce and serve over hot rice. Mmmm.

Chicken Soup/ Dumplings

This recipe is pretty versatile. Can be made with noodles, dumplings or even rice I suppose. In this picture, I used a little noodles and dumplings. I will add the dumplings recipe at end.

Ingredients:
-1 or 2 chicken breasts (depending on size and how much meat you want. I sometimes cook extra to use in a casserole another night.)
-couple cups of vegetables (carrots, potatoes, celery, onions..)
-chicken base/stock (I use "better than bouillon")
-garlic, parsley, thyme (go easy), 1 bay leaf, salt, pepper, onion powder (if not using fresh onion) all to taste
- about 1 or 2 cups medium egg noodles (depends on how much broth you have...) or dumplings

Directions:
1. Boil your chicken and vegetables together in pot of water. (start chicken first) Season while cooking. Check chicken and vegetables often to avoid over cooking. When chicken is done, remove from pot to cool on plate.
2. Add chicken base a little at a time and play with seasoning, tasting the liquid until it's just right!
3. When vegetables are almost done (but not quite!) add noodles or dumplings.
4. While that is cooking, chop the chicken, cutting out gristle and fat.
5. When noodles are tender, stir in the chicken and serve!

Dumplings
Ingredients:
-1 cup flour
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-1 teaspoon sugar
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 Tablespoon butter, melted
-1/2 cup milk

Directions:
Combine dry ingredients, gently stir in milk and butter, just until moistened.
Drop by spoonful into boiling soup. Cover pot and cook for about 15 minutes without lifting lid.

If you like a lot of dumplings, you can double recipe. I found that making 1 and 1/2 this recipe was just right for my average pot of soup.

Zucchini Bread

This recipe is awesome. I like to make miniature loaves out of it. for some reason, they taste better smaller...

Recipe from allrecipes.com by V Monte
With my adaptations.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 t. Salt
1 t. Baking soda
1 t. Baking powder
2 t. Cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 t. Vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
1/4-1/2 cup applesauce (honestly, I never measure)

Grease 2 8x4 inch pans. (or if you are me 1 8x4 and 2 mini pans) preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix flour, salt, baking powder, soda and cinnamon together. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, apple sauce and sugar together in large bowl. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well. Stir in zucchini until combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for a few minutes then finish cooling on wire rack.

Best eaten within a day. If you plan on keeping it for more than 2 days, it should probably be refrigerated.

Banana Banana Bread

You read that right. Double bananas equals double flavor.

Recipe from allrecipes.com by Shelley Albeluhn

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 t. Baking soda
1/4 t. Salt
1/2 cups butter
3/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cups mashed over ripe bananas
( I never measure my bananas. that would be messy. I just add them until it looks like the right amount. I haven't seen it make a big difference)
chopped walnuts, optional

in a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture, just until moistened. pour batter into greased 9x5 loaf pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 60-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.