French Fry Dipping Sauce

This is a recipe I created on my own, this is a more creamy and zingy dipping sauce for your fries. It doesn't take long to make and actually could be used as a spread for a hamburger.

Ingredients:
5 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 tablespoons A.1. Steak Sauce
1 tablespoon of minced sweet onion
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

In a small pan saute the onions on low hear until the are translucent. In a small bowl mix all the ingredients well and then refrigerate at least for an hour. The longer it has a chance to season the better it will taste. This will make about one cups worth of dipping sauce. 

Extremely Cheesy Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada's

I got the original recipe from a friend of mine but I added in some changes to make it for the better. This is a rib sticking enchilada recipe that will make you want to take a nap after eating a couple of these.

Ingredients:

1 lb. cubed chicken breast
1 sliced orange bell pepper
1 sliced green bell pepper
1 poblano pepper sliced 
1/2 medium sized sweet onion sliced
2 clove garlic chopped
2 blocks cream cheese
4 cups shredded Monterrey jack cheese
8 ounces sour cream
2 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
3 tablespoon Fiesta Brand Southwest Fajita Seasoning
1 dozen 6"-8" flour tortillas - I can get a flour/corn tortilla at my local grocery store which work great
Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a medium sized pot over medium heat add in chicken, seasonings and all the vegetables, cook until chicken is cooked. By the time the chicken is cooked through all the vegetables will be sauteed to perfection. Next take the heat down to low and add in both blocks of cream cheese, two cups of cheese, and sour cream. You will need to stir until all the cheese has melted thoroughly, this should take about 10 minutes. At this point the mix will be a real thick sludge, so you will want to slowly add in the chicken broth, a few ounces at a time. You will want to get the consistency to a nice thick gravy, if it's too thin it won't hold together once you have baked it. Next grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish and get ready to start rolling. On a small plate lay a tortilla and add in about a 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of the mixture, then roll it and begin your row in the casserole dish. Some of the mixture will fall out, it's will be fine. You will not be able to make two rows of enchiladas that are parallel to each other, to fill the void you will have to lay the last few enchiladas perpendicular  to the others. Once you have completed rolling the enchiladas, use the remains of the mixture and pour it on top of the enchiladas, be sure to cover any exposed tortilla so it wont burn in the oven. With the remaining 2 cups of cheese, sprinkle it on top and put it in the oven for 15 minutes. Once the time has finished you should see the mixture bubbling around the edges, then turn your oven onto the broil setting. I like to get the cheese on top nice and brown. But if you do this be sure to be standing by and watch it, it only takes a few minutes to get the cheese brown. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, serve with fresh sliced avocado!

Not Your Grandma's Pasta Salad

We have had all out share of pasta salad's at various different social gatherings, so I decided that I needed to take one to the next level. This is a great recipe for any gathering, parties, showers, and pot luck dinners.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs chicken breast cooked and cubed - I seasoned mine with Fiesta Brand Southwest Fajita Seasoning
4 slices of thick cut bacon cooked and chopped
1 orange bell pepper chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 cucumber chopped
5 cups of cooked pasta of your choice
2 cups homemade ranch dressing
6 ounces uncooked baby spinach
3 stalks celery chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large mixing bowl mix all ingredients except the ranch dressing. You can add all of the dressing if you would like or just as little as you please. There are some who like it swimming in ranch and others like it just be lightly covered in dressing. I also added in salt and pepper to taste. Serve chilled!

Homemade Garden Box for $50!

This blog is usually about posting recipes but I decided that this year I wanted to have a small garden.

I made mine 4' x 8', this is my first garden and I don't want to make one too big that I can't keep it maintained properly. But you can build one as small or as large as you would like. There is no right or wrong way to build it, it's whatever you prefer.

Materials needed:
3 - 2x8x8 - cut one of them in half
3 - 2x6x8 - cut one of them in half
1 - 2x4x8 - cut 4 13" pieces
Box of 2" wood screws
Bottle of wood glue

I started putting the short ends together, don't forget to glue before you screw. This will help keep it together longer.

Then next comes the tricky part of securing the long sides to the short one, it helps to have a friend help you. But once you get one done then it comes together pretty quickly.

Once I got one long board attached I stood it up on its side to make it easier to attached the rest of the boards.

Then I moved the box to the location in the yard where it would get the most ample amount of sun. I also put in landscaping cloth to help keep those pesky weeds out.

Now to fill it you will spend more than $50, but it will cost you $75-$100 to fill it with dirt and plants. Again it all depends on what type of plants you choose to fill it with.

I waited until my local hardware store had their spring garden sale so I saved a lot of money on dirt. I don't like to buy the expensive Miracle-Gro brand because you're paying for name in my opinion. I was lucky enough to get dirt that has pretty much the same stuff in it as a $7.00 bag. I also mixed in a bag of cow manure which cost me $1.50, in my opinion the original fertilizer is the best. But again it's up to how much money you want to spend on the dirt and fertilizer.

My plants cost me a little more because I bought tomato and bell pepper plants already growing. I hope next year I will be ahead of the curve when it comes to getting seeds in the ground earlier. I also planted potatoes, squash, zucchini, carrots and cucumbers. Below is what my garden looks after 10 days of being planted, everything but the tomatoes and bell peppers where planted as seeds.

Roasted Vegetable Soup

I looked at multiple different roasted vegetable soups, but I couldn't find one that I really liked. This is one that I came up with on my own taking ideas from other recipes.

Ingredients:

2 lbs tomatoes sliced into wedges
2 red bell peppers sliced
4 carrots pealed and quartered
1 medium onion quartered 
1 butternut squash quartered
1 T butter
Garlic
16 oz sour cream
1-2 cups of chicken broth, this will depend on how thick you want your soup
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Heat oven to 400 degrees

Place cut vegetables in a backing pan, add salt and pepper to taste, then drizzle with olive oil. Then mix the vegetables around to be sure they are well covered. With the amount of vegetables it actually took me 3 separate pans to put everything on it. If you are comfortable of trying to fit everything onto one sheet then be sure to stir about every 20 minutes or so. It will take about 1 hour for everything to roast properly in the oven.

Then once the vegetables are done roasting you then will want to put them all into a pot and then emulsify them. 

Once that is completed add in the sour cream and the chicken broth. Again the amount of chicken broth will determine how thick or thin you like your soup. Then let it simmer for at least 30 minutes on low, tonight I served mine with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Bacon weave pork backstrap

Who doesn't like pork on pork......heck I don't know. This is a pretty easy recipe that will make your guests think you're fancy chef.

Ingredients:
1 lb bacon thick cut bacon
1 lb pork loin - I used back strap from a wild hog
Cheesy spread of your choice - cream cheese works great, this time I used pimento cheese

Lay out the bacon in a weave, don't be scared it's not as hard as you think!

Then spread your creamy cheese of choice.

Then add your pork loin seasoned to your likings.

Roll it up tight, I used the skewers because I cooked it over a mesquite fire. So when flipping it I didn't want it to fall apart. You can cook it in the oven which is easier since you won't need to worry about flipping it. Cook it in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour, it also depends how done you like your pork and how crispy you like your bacon.

When it's done be sure to let it rest for at least 10 minutes to let the cheese cool down.

Smoked Croc Pot Pulled Pork

This is a great simple recipe that only take a few hours of your time opposed to multiple.

Ingredients:

6lb Pork shoulder/butt
1 large sliced sweet onion
2 cups chicken broth
Your favorite pork rub

Rub the pork down with your favorite rub.

Smoke the pork at 200 degrees for 2 hours.

Once the pork is done smoking cut into cubes and put it into the croc pot.

Add the sliced onions and chicken broth, cook on high for about 3.5 hours. Once it was done I drained as much liquid out as I could so that it just wouldn't be floating around in liquid fat. I then pulled the meat apart so that it wouldn't be in large in chunks.

Serve over your favorite bread, tortilla, eggs, or even make nachos! The possibilities are endless with this meat dish.