Fresh Pico (Pico de Gallo)

In a mixing bowl, combine:

• 3 medium/large tomatoes, diced
• 1 white onion, diced
• 1/2 large green bell pepper, diced
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 1/2-2 TBS lime juice
• salt to taste

HINT:  We can't keep this in our house...as soon as I make it - it is gone!  Try serving this with grilled white fish, scrambled eggs, with cooked rice.  The possibilities are endless.  Enjoy!

Kielbasa Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 pound kielbasa, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 cans (15.5 oz) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
• 1 medium tart apple, cored and diced
• 1 medium green pepper, diced
• 4 large green onions, chopped
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 TBS cider vinegar
• 1 TBS spicy mustard
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Brown kielbasa in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain on a paper towel, and set aside.
2. Combine in a mixing bowl: black-eyed peas, diced apple, green pepper, green onions, and kielbasa.
3. Mix the dressing ingredients in a cup or small bowl: Whisk together vegetable oil, cider vinegar, spicy mustard, sugar, and black pepper.
4. Pour dressing over salad ingredients, stir lightly.
5. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours, or overnight - prior to serving.

Hint: Next time you shop for groceries, grab a bag of frozen diced green peppers to have on hand *just in case*. Even better, if you find a good sale on fresh green peppers - buy several to prep and freeze when you get them home. This salad is a great meal for hot nights when no one wants to heat up the kitchen. Enjoy!!

I shared this recipe over at Whimsy Wednesday on The NY Melrose Family blog - go check it out!

Seafood Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb cooked shrimp, peeled & deveined
2 (6 oz) can crab meat, drained & flaked
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temperature
4 TBS butter, divided
1 large white onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (4 oz) can mushrooms, drained
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 hot sauce
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar or colby blend)
1 cup butter crackers, crushed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Gather all needed ingredients and utensils.
2. Combine the cream cheese with 2 TBS of butter in a small sauce pan over low heat, stirring until smooth.
3. In a separate large skillet: saute onion, celery, and green pepper in 2 TBS butter until tender.
4. Add the smooth cream cheese mix to the sauteed vegetables in the large skillet, mixing well. Add shrimp, crab meat, cream of mushroom soup, drained mushrooms, garlic powder, hot sauce, cayenne, and cooked rice. Mix well.
5. Transfer combined ingredients to a prepared (use cooking spray) baking dish.
6. Mix crushed butter crackers with shredded cheese. Cover the mixture in the baking dish with the crushed cracker and cheese blend.
7. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, or until center reaches 165 degrees F.
8. (Best served hot.)

Hints: I was first introduced to this dish at a work potluck dinner. The cook used seafood paella mix instead of only shrimp and crab meat. I prefer that combination, but my boys do not. (I'm sure it's a visual thing - but whatever.) Another way to up the nutritional value is to substitute wild rice for the regular white rice. Definitely, definitely one of my all time favorites!!

*Also linked up to Food on Friday over at Carole's Chatter - go check it out!!*

Mandarin-Cashew Salad

Ingredients:

• 12 cups of your favorite lettuce (or blend) torn
• 2 (11 oz) cans of mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1 celery rib, thinly sliced
• 1/2 small red onion, chopped
• 1 cup honey roasted cashews

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 tsp ground mustard
• 1 TBS lime juice
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp salt
• dash white pepper

Directions:

1. In a large salad bowl, layer the lettuce, green pepper, celery, red onion, mandarin oranges, and roasted cashews.
2. In a separate small bowl, or large measuring cup - mix the vegetable oil, honey, ground mustard, lime juice, paprika, salt, and pepper.
3. Drizzle dressing over layered salad, just prior to serving.

This recipe is linked up at the Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange over at Little House on the Prairie Living - go visit and link up your favorite recipe too!

Curried Beef Kabobs

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 bay leaves
• 16 whole peppercorns (I subbed 2 tsp ground black pepper)
• 2 lbs. beef tenderloin, cut into 1 1/4 inch cubes
• 2 large green peppers, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 3 medium onions, cut into wedges

Directions:

1. Combine olive oil, beef broth, lemon juice, garlic, curry powder, salt, bay leaves, and peppercorns to create marinade for beef cubes. Reserve 2/3 cup for basting, and refrigerate.
2. Add beef cubes to main marinade mix in a covered dish or resealable bag. Turn to ensure beef is fully coated. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
3. Prior to assembling kabobs, drain and discard marinade from beef cubes. Prepare kabobs on metal or soaked wooden skewers by alternating beef cubes, tomatoes, green peppers, and onions.
4. Grill or broil on high heat 3 minutes on each side. Baste with reserved marinade.
5. Continue cooking on high heat, turning and basting for 10-12 minutes - or until meat reaches desired doneness. (medium = 160 degrees F, well-done = 175 degrees F)

Hint: I think this may be my favorite new recipe - even me, the non beef fan...loved this dish! (Although, I am equally sure that it would be great using chicken too!) As it turns out, our propane for our grill ran out as we getting ready to put these on the grill - so we used the broiler in our kitchen oven to cook these delicious kabobs. The only complaint from my kids, why did I make more... I hope your family enjoys them as much as we did!!

This recipe is being shared at Everyday Mom's Meals for Church Supper #35. If you haven't stopped by to check at a Church Supper - please do! This is a great exchange of wonderful recipes!!

Polynesian Sausage Kabobs

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 lbs smoked kielbasa or Polish sausage, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 small pineapple, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 small cantaloupe, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 medium green peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
• salt & pepper to season as desired

Directions:

1. Making the marinade: In a large bowl, combine lemon juice, soy sauce, water, honey, and salt. Divide in half. Half will be used to baste and half should be put into a resealable bag or covered dish to marinade the sausage.
2. Refrigerate reserved marinade, and marinading sausage separately in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
3. Remove the marinading sausage from the refrigerator - drain and discard the marinade.
4. On soaked wooden skewers or metal skewers, thread alternately sausage, pineapple, cantaloupe, and green pepper.
5. Preheat grill to medium heat.
6. Grill skewers uncovered over medium heat for 10 minutes while turning and basting with reserved marinade.

Hint: Grilled cantaloupe did not sound appealing to me - but OMGoodness it is delicious! We keep a blend of *house* seasoning, (equal parts salt, pepper, garlic powder, and red pepper) on hand to add a little extra punch. Sparingly. On these kabobs, it was delicious!! Even on the pineapple chunks - it worked very well! Maybe next time we will add some chunks of red onion. Maybe!

This recipe is linked up over at Grateful Belly for this week's What's New Wednesday post...go see what other AWESOME and AMAZING ideas are being shared!!

Pork-N-Veggie Pockets

Ingredients:

• 1 small boneless cutlet per person (5 for us)


• 1 bag frozen California mix veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)


• 1 (8 oz) can sliced water chestnuts, drained


• 1 med. green pepper, sliced


• 2 green onions, sliced


• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce


• 4 tsp. sesame oil


• 1 tsp. ground ginger


• cooked rice, optional


• chow mein noodles, optional

Directions:

1. Using foil pockets, (homemade or store bought....the Schwans driver gave me ours), place 1 pork cutlet in each pocket.



2. Evenly divide vegetables (California mix, green pepper, and green onion) amongst the pockets.



3. Combine soy sauce, sesame oil, and ground ginger in a small dish or measuring cup. Divide and drizzle over pork and vegetables in each pocket.



4. Fold foil around meat and vegetables to form a tight seal.



5. Grill over medium heat on a covered grill for 10-12 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the meat is no longer pink.



6. Serve with prepared rice and garnish with chow mein noodles, if desired.

Hint: These can be prepared and frozen ahead of time as single serving meals, or for campfire meals. Let the kids help: whether it is loading the pockets, or sealing them - get everyone involved! If you buy from Schwan's, ask your delivery person about foil grill pockets, my salesman/driver has been very generous to share plenty foil pockets with our family. Enjoy!

This recipe is linked up over at Friday Foods on MomTrends - go see what other recipes are being shared today!

Mom's Spanish Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice, prepared as directed

1/2 medium white onion, diced

1/2 medium green bell pepper, diced

1 can stewed tomatoes (Mexican seasoned)

3 TBS butter or margarine

1 small can of tomato paste

1 1/2-2 cups of chicken broth

1 1/2 tsp southwestern seasoning

3 dashes of hot sauce

2 tsp taco seasoning

* Melt butter in a deep skillet, then saute onion and green pepper in butter.

* Add stewed tomatoes with juice to onion and green peppers and stir until well combined.

* As vegetables begin to simmer, add tomato paste and chicken broth.

* Add cooked rice, and seasoning and continue to stir until well combined.

* Simmer on low for an additional 5-8 minutes. Add hot sauce (if desired) just prior to serving.

HINT: When I was still living at home my mom would make this rice for us when we had tacos for dinner. Another comfort food from my childhood! Occasionally she would brown ground beef and add it to the rice for serving as the main dish. If there are any leftovers...it is even better the second day! Enjoy!

This recipe is linked up to Church Supper #31 over at Everyday Mom's Meals...visit to check out more recipes from this week's Church Supper!

We're also posting this week on Sweet & Simple at Cups By Kim....go check it out!

Pasta Sauce Plus

Tonight we are eating Spaghetti for dinner. Spaghetti like my Mama used to make!

Since we are going to cook a batch of pasta sauce, I decided to go ahead and cook enough to have sauce in the freezer ready for the next time we want to eat pasta.

We put a lot of vegetables in our sauce, and when in doubt - we add more tomatoes.

Making a double batch of pasta sauce to use half now and freeze half for later is a wonderful way to make the kitchen a more productive place in our home.

Ingredients:
1-2 lbs ground beef, browned and drained
1 large green pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 TBS minced garlic
1 (4 oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 (26.5 oz) can prepared spaghetti sauce
1 (14.5 oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with onions & green peppers
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1/2 cup red cooking wine
2 tsp Italian seasoning blend
1 tsp sugar

- After browning ground beef and draining, combine with all other ingredients in the crock-pot.

- Stir occasionally while cooking on LOW for 3-4 hours.

- Divide prepared sauce. Use half for dinner and freeze the other half in a freezer safe zipper bag or freezer safe container with a lid. (Don't forget to label!)

Chicken Con Queso Pizza

We are trying different recipes at our house this month. Breaking out of our rut so to speak...

Tonight we made pizza. Pizza? Yes, pizza.

We make pizza here usually about once a week.

Tonight however, we made pizza with Queso in place of the traditional pizza sauce.

And it was good! Really, really GOOD!!


Besides the Queso, the other *secret* ingredient in our pantry tonight was Southwestern Seasoning. Personally, I am a fan of the Pampered Chef bled. It's awesome! But I haven't placed a Pampered Chef order for over a year...and lucky for me look what McCormick is making now and selling at my local grocery store - Southwest Seasoning. Woohoo!!

Now let's talk pizza:


Ingredients:

1 pizza crust, (we used a homemade crust tonight, I like the ones you can buy in the refrigerator section of the grocery store too)
1 cup Queso dip
1 (13 oz) can chicken breast, drained
1 small red pepper, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
2 TBS Southwestern Seasoning
1/2 cup bacon crumbles
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

* Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Prepare pizza crust according to recipe or package directions.

* Combine chicken breast, red pepper, green pepper, red onion, and Southwestern Seasoning in a mixing bowl. Mix well.

* Spread Queso dip over pizza crust.

* Top Queso with chicken and vegetable mixture.

* Add bacon crumbles to top of chicken and vegetables.

* Cover pizza top with shredded Mexican cheese blend.

* Bake for 17-20 minutes at 450 degrees F, or until crust has browned and cheese is golden brown.

Breakfast Pizza...for Dinner

Ingredients:

* seamless crescent roll dough
* 2 cups hash brown potatoes with onions and green peppers
* 1 lb cooked, drained pork sausage
* 6 eggs, slightly beaten
* 1/2 cup half and half
* 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* 1 cup shredded colby jack cheese
* salt & pepper to taste
* hot sauce........if you dare!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Unroll crescent roll on to prepared baking sheet, stretch gently to desired length and width.

Spread hash brown potatoes with onions and green peppers evenly over crescent roll.

Top potato mix with crumbled cooked sausage.

Mix half and half into eggs and pour over potatoes and sausage. Combine ingredients well.

Top with cheeses and add salt and pepper if desire.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until cheese is completely melted and eggs are thoroughly cooked. Use a fork or knife to test doneness.

**Tonight we served our breakfast pizza with a side of mandarin oranges....no leftovers!! Score!**

Sweet & Tangy Chicken

Another crock-pot recipe we tweaked a bit - it was a hit here!

Put in crock-pot first:

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice (we used Pampered Chef Cinnamon Blend)
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 TBS soy sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
**Juice drained from 20 oz. skinny fruit pineapple slices - save the pineapple to add later**
2 TBS quick-cooking tapioca
1 TBS sugar

Cook on low 5-6 hours, stirring occasionally.



About one hour before you are ready to eat, add to crock-pot:

reserved pineapple
1 1/2 green peppers (diced, large chunks)
1/2 medium red onion (diced, large chunks)



We decided to go with rice on the side tonight. Noodles would be good too but the resident 16 year old was fussing about "pasta, pasta, pasta"...so we switched it up a bit. Yep, we're sneaky like that!