Janelle's Taco Salad

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground beef 

1 onion

1 pkg. taco seasoning (we only use McCormick's)

Diced tomatoes

Kidney beans

Lettuce

Cheese

Doritos

Robust Italian Salad Dressing

Sour cream

Avocados

Fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Brown one pound ground beef and diced onions.  

2. Add one pkg. taco seasoning.  Cool.

3. When cool, add:

    Diced tomatoes or halved grape tomatoes

    One can red kidney beans

    Head lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces

    1-2 c. Shredded cheese

    Combine and cool until ready to serve.

4. Right before serving, add lg. amount of crushed nacho-flavored Doritos chips and Robust Italian salad dressing.   The quantities are "to taste".  Can serve with sour cream, avocados and/or fresh cilantro.

Chicken Poppyseed

Mom requested I post this recipe, as this is a dish our family likes.

Ingredients: 

6-8 chicken breasts

2 can cream of chicken-mushroom soup OR 1 can chicken-mushroom soup and 1 cream of celery

16 oz. sour cream

2 Tb. Poppyseeds

2 cups Ritz crackers

½ cup melted butter

Directions:

1. Simmer chicken (Or bake it with olive oil, salt and pepper). 

2. Cool, break into bite sized pieces. 

3. Place in greased 9x13  pan. 

4. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. 

4. Combine Ritz Crackers and melted butter. Sprinkle over top and bake at  350° for 1 hour. 

Brianne's Citrus Cilantro Chicken

I have been browsing Pinterest for chicken ideas and combined two recipes that looked good. This was amazing and I think the entire family would love it!!! I surprised Adam and got a rave review! Serve in a quesadilla, as nachos, or on a salad.  I served mine with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, and tortilla chips.

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts (I used two)

1/4c. Olive oil

1 lime, juiced

zest from 1/4 of the lime

3-4 cloves crushed garlic

1/4 onion or 1 shallot, chopped

Cilantro, chopped  (I used roughly 1/8-1/4 cup)

1-2 tb. Honey (can be left out or substitute orange juice)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except chicken in a bowl. Wisk.

2. Add to ziplock bag with chicken.

3. Marinate 2-20hrs.

4. Grill.

Schrock Women's Chili

This recipe has brought me great comfort over the years. I learned to love it from Mom & Grandma. Each lady varies their recipe slightly and I also do the same. That's the beauty of this recipe, it can be easily tweaked to fit your tastes. You can add different types of beans, vary the type of meat, and/or add green pepper.  However, I feel that the base is there to provide a yummy chili recipe. If you're feeling like an Hoosier for a day, add pasta. I don't personally enjoy this, but it's an Indiana thing!

Ingredients:
3/4-1 lb. ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 lg. can tomato juice
3-4 cans beans, drained (I normally use kidney, but  lately Adam has had me use 2 Kidney, 1 black bean)
chili powder
salt
pepper
Optional:
1 can petite diced tomatoes (include juice)
diced green pepper, added during the meat browning.

Directions:

1. In a large pan, brown the meat. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add tomato juice, beans, tomatoes and chili powder (about 10 shakes).
3. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. Taste along the way and adjust seasoning to taste. 

Chad's Summer Salad

Jennie asked me to make dinner tonight so I made this one up on the fly.  It actually turned out really well so I thought I'd share the "recipe" with you all.  I was shooting for a salad to fit the weather here (80+ degrees and Cooper and Jen hit up the pool today).  As always, tweak to taste.


Ingredients

Salad
* Head of Romaine Lettuce
* Two chicken breasts
* 1/2 Granny Apple
* 1/4 Red Onion
* 3-4 Plum Tomatoes
* 1 small package of Honey Goat Cheese (we purchased ours from Publix)
* Salt
* Pepper
* Olive Oil
* White Wine Vinaigrette

Vinaigrette
* 1/3 cup Olive Oil
* 1/3 cup White Wine (we used a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc)
* 1 Tb White Sugar
* 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
* 2 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
* Ground black pepper (pinch or to taste)

Directions

1) Prepare the vinaigrette by combining all of the ingredients in a sealable jar and shaking well.  The vinaigrette can be used immediately or kept for 2 weeks in the fridge.
2) Cook the chicken.  I rubbed down the chicken breasts in olive oil, salt, pepper and a couple of splashes of the vinaigrette.
3) Chunk the chicken, toss in a bit more of the vinaigrette and set aside (or in the fridge) to cool.
4) Clean the lettuce, rip apart and dry.
5) Chop up the apple and the onion.
6) Dice the tomatoes.
7) Dice, to the extent possible, the cheese.
8) In a large bowl, add the lettuce, then the chicken, then everything else.
9) Toss and enjoy.

Janelle's Strawberry Pretzel Salad

It's been a bit since either of us have had the time to attend to this blog, so I thought I'd ask Mom to contribute the recipe from a dish she brought out yesterday for Mother's Day.  We had a very enjoyable time with Mom, Dad, Jennie, Cooper and I being joined by the Walski's, friends who - like my parents and though we met down here in the middle of last year -  also transplanted from Chicago.  The corn on the cob/grilled steak and chicken/pasta salad/etc./etc. was all very good, but this dish garnered the most attention, including stopping Dad mid-sentence to ask where I had procured my second batch (he had missed it in his first-go at the table).  The layered dish works as a sweet side or as a dessert.

From Mom: My version is a little less sweet than the original...
(Brianne and Konnie's favorite salad)

STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD

LAYER ONE:
2 c. crushed pretzels
1 1/2 T. sugar
     Mix together, then add:
3/4 c. melted butter
      Press into 13x9 baking dish. (Can use a slightly smaller dish - can also cut in half for an 8x8 or a 9x9 dish.)  Bake for about 8 min. at 400.  Cool.

SECOND LAYER:
8 oz. pkg. lower-fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. sugar
Sm. carton Cool Whip (8oz.)
      Mix or beat cr. cheese and sugar well.  Mix in Cool Whip, then spread over pretzel base.  Refrigerate until firm.

THIRD LAYER:
One lg. or two small boxes strawberry jello, dissolving in 2 c. boiling water.  Add 16-20 oz. frozen strawberries.  Refrigerate until slightly set.  Poor over cr. cheese layer.  Refrigerate.

I personally like it better if I don't use all the jello.  I pour the extra into another dish to eat later.

Brianne's Black Bean Brownies

I was feeling adventurous yesterday and decided to try brownies with black bean as the main ingredient. I decided that it needed chocolate icing instead of just the powedered sugar for two reasons. #1 Icing makes every brownie better, especially potentially icky brownies. #2 powdered sugar is not an acceptable subsititute in our household. I just made the amount of icing less than our normal recipe calls for. 
I made these while Adam was at work. I then asked him to try them, stating it was a new recipe. After he tried it, I told him the main ingredient. He was very surprised, as it was actually moist and you couldn't tell it had black beans.  We both agree, with the icing these brownies weren't bad. Without the icing, they were a bit to cocoa-y. It was a fun test after all. Something new that wasn't awful. I think if you're looking for a way to incorporate more beans, and make a slightly healthier brownie. This is worth a try. You could also substitute applesauce for the oil. 

I got the recipe from Melissa d'Arabian on the food network. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/black-bean-brownies-recipe/index.html 


Ingredients
Butter, for greasing pan
3/4 cup cooked black beans
1/2 cup vegetable oil, or olive oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon instant coffee or espresso
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, divided
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, for dusting OR chocolate icing. 

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Grease a 9 by 9-inch square baking pan.
3. In a blender, puree the beans with the oil. 
4. Add the eggs, cocoa, sugar, coffee, and vanilla. 
5. Melt half the chocolate chips and add to the blender. Blend on medium-high until smooth. 
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the blender and pulse until just incorporated. 
7. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips. 
8. Pour into the prepared pan. 
9. Bake until the surface looks somewhat matte around the edges and still a bit shiny in the middle, about 20 minutes. 
10. Let cool at least 15 minutes before cutting and removing from the pan. Note: if using icing, put on while still warm. Otherwise wait until cool and dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.

Life's Little Oddities and Mom's Chocolate Pretzel Rings

Have you ever had one of those interactions with someone you do not know that leaves you wondering if that was simply a random encounter with someone riding a two-wheeled tricycle or if the interaction was intentional and, as crazy as it sounds, meant to happen to send you a message?

Personally, I believe the latter do occur but that we shouldn't get lost in searching or hunting for them.  To put it another way, we are not to hunt for road signs in the middle of the forest, but we should head them when we do happen to run across them.

This past Tuesday, I filled my car up with gas after getting off the train at the gas station within sight of my train station.  Yes, my daily commute is just a plane ride away from a John Candy movie.  I pulled in, started pumping and walked away to check my email.  I noticed a couple of people leaving the store and heading for their cars, but thought little of them until one of them, a gentleman in a red SUV, pulled up behind me as he was heading back for the road.

The following is a rough approximation of our ten-second interaction.

"Sir?" I turned around, phone in hand, curious look on face.  I gave him a small smile to recognize that he had my attention. "Don't forget Sic Parvis Magna." Pause. "It's Latin." (really? who knew!) "It means 'great things come from small beginnings.' Have a good day."  Polite, and somewhat confused, smile.

I, quite literally, didn't say a word.

I have no idea which of the two categories discussed above to place this interaction in.  Frankly, it doesn't matter.  Sane or not, the sentiment is sound - everything has to start somewhere and beginnings are rarely grandiose.

I'm not sure if my beginning was small, large or otherwise, but it was a beginning none-the-less and one of my fonder food related memory relates to a certain dessert my mother made during the holidays - chocolate-filled pretzel rings.  Beyond addictive, not overly healthy (hence why she only brought them out during the holidays), these drug-like tokens rarely lasted long in our home.  I've tried to make them a few times lately but I have been unable to locate pretzel rings on the east coast (which either means: i) they no longer make them; ii) the East Coast is sadly missing out and should be educated quickly; or iii) I should avoid ever becoming a detective).


Ingredients:

• Roughly four dozen pretzel squares or rings
• Roughly four dozen chocolate or striped chocolate kisses
• 1/4 cup milk chocolate M&M's

 Directions:

• Place the pretzels on greased baking sheets; place a chocolate kiss in the center of each ring. Bake at 275° for 2-3 minutes or until chocolate is softened. Remove from the oven.
• Place an M&M's candy on each, pressing down slightly so chocolate fills the ring. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes or until chocolate is firm. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. 

Source: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chocolate-pretzel-rings