Strawberry and Chocolate Nachos

from ourbestbites.com

Step 1

flour tortillas
melted butter
cinnamon sugar (3/4 c sugar, 4 tsp cinnamon)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brush one side of tortilla with melted butter.  Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on tortilla.  Cut into wedges.  A pizza cutter is a great tool for this.   Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.

Step 2

Dice strawberries and mix with a little sugar.

Step 3

1 12 oz package chocolate chips
1 tbsp cooking oil

Melt in a double boiler or microwave.  Mix to desired consistency.  If using a microwave start at one minute and check.

Step 4

Place cinnamon chips on a plate.  Top with strawberries.  Drizzle chocolate over that.  Then top with some whipped cream.

Honestly, this is one of my new favorite desserts.  I couldn't wait to share it with you.  Yum!

Husband rating:  4.5 stars

Boys say:  Give us more!!!

Chinese Orange Chicken or Beef

Found on ourbestbites.com

Recipe slightly adapted from ATK Quick Family Cook Book

Ingredients
2-3 teaspoons grated orange zest (I just zest 1 whole orange)
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons Asian chili sauce
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons cornstarch
vegetable oil for pan
1-1/2 pounds flank steak, trimmed and sliced thin across grain and lightly sprinkled with salt and pepper (to clarify: that’s one steak, that weighs about 1.5 pounds)
3-4 green onions, sliced
hot white or brown rice for serving

Instructions
Whisk orange zest and orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, chili sauce, ginger, and cornstarch together in a bowl.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Drizzle pan with oil and tilt to coat.  Add half of beef, breaking up any clumps and let cook without stirring for one minute.  Stir beef and continue to cook until browned, about 2 minutes; transfer to a bowl and cover.  Repeat with remaining beef and transfer to bowl.

Whisk sauce to recombine, add to now-empty skillet, and cook over medium heat until thickened, about 2-3 minutes.  Return cooked beef, with any accumulated juices, to skillet and toss to combine.  Serve over rice and garnish with green onions.

Serves 4 main dish servings 

I used sriracha sauce for the asian chili sauce (only half the amount called for) and it was spicy!  I have a new sauce to try next time.  This was a tasty meal.  I would like to try it with steak too.

Husband rating:  4.5 stars

Boys say:  thumbs up if it weren't so spicy!

Ghidotti's Italian Restaurant

One of the keys to a good marriage is to be supportive of the interests of your spouse.  My good friend Angie supports her husband's fishing and hunting trips.  He loves to get out in the great outdoors and she's willing to watch their cute kiddos and help him get a little time away from the burdens of work and honey-do lists!  Her husband, Chris, knows Angie loves to have down time to put her feet up.  So he used some points from all his business travel and booked a posh hotel room in Park City, Utah for Angie to have a girls weekend.  And I was lucky enough to be invited along for this little getaway!

Now that I've given you all that you're wondering what does this have to do with food?  Can you imagine a weekend in Park City without food?!  No!  Neither can I!  We ate dinner at Ghidotti's Italian Restaurant.  Angie is pregnant and she was craving Italian and I wasn't about to argue with a pregnant woman's craving!

We ate outside so I didn't take in all the decor of the restaurant, but it seemed very nicely done.  The service was good.  The bread and dipping sauce was super tasty.  We had to keep sending the servers back for more bread!  I had the grilled salmon piccata with a white wine butter sauce.  It sounded so good, and the salmon was good, but I didn't love the sauce.  I actually didn't even eat more than a few bites of it.  Angie, on the other hand, ordered the same thing and she liked it.  The prices start about $18 for an entree.  My dinner was just over $30 with tip and I had water to drink-just to give you an idea of pricing.

Next time I'll try to remember to get a picture!

Chicken or Steak Fajitas

from ourbestbites.com

Measurements of meat and vegetables are approximate.  Adjust depending on your preference and the number of people you’re serving.  This will serve about 4-6.

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or steak

2-3 bell peppers, stem and membranes removed and peppers quartered

1 large onion (any color/variety) sliced into 1/2″ slices

Marinade:

1/4 C fresh lime juice

1/3 C water

2 T vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced

3 t vinegar

2 t soy sauce

1-2 t liquid smoke

1 t salt

1/2 t chili powder, or chipotle chili powder

1/2 t cayenne pepper

1/4 t ground black pepper

1/4 t onion powder

Place meat in a zip-top bag or shallow dish.  Place vegetables in another.  In a medium bowl, combine all marinade ingredients and whisk well.  Reserve 3-4 Tablespoons of marinade for later use.  With remaining marinade, add a splash to the vegetables (enough for a light coating) and the remaining to the meat.  Marinate for 4-6 hours and up to overnight.

Preheat bbq grill (my preference), indoor grill pan, or large skillet.  If you’re using a grill, place everything on at the same time.  If using a skillet, slice peppers and onions first.  Cook chicken for a few minutes on each side until cooked through and remove from pan.  Cover with foil to keep warm.  Add vegetables and cook until crisp tender.

I cut the beef and the veggies before I put them in their bags.  So when I was ready to make dinner I just cooked the beef, put it in a dish with foil to keep it warm.  Then I cooked the veggies.  Then I tossed the meat back in the pan to make sure everything was warm and served it on the tortillas.  Obviously this looks a little dry.  Toss on your favorite cheese, sour cream, guacamole or whatever sounds good that night!

Husband rating:  3 stars
Boys say:  meh (they would rather I just cover the tortilla with cheese and toss it in the microwave for a minute for their dinner!)

Smoky Honey Mustard Pork Chops

from ourbestbites.com

Smoky Honey Mustard Pork Chops

4 4-6 oz. pork loin or sirloin chops

Kosher salt and pepper

Liquid Smoke

3 Tbsp. Dijon or whole grain mustard

1 1/2 Tbsp. honey

2 cloves minced garlic

Sprinkle pork chops with Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Give them a liberal dousing of liquid smoke (you can usually find this either near the seasonings or the BBQ sauce/condiments in the grocery store). Set aside.

Heat oven broiler to high or preheat grill. Combine honey, garlic, and mustard. Place pork chops on broiler pan/grill and cook for 4-5 minutes. Turn and cook another 4-5 minutes. You want the internal temperature to be at least 165 (that’s a little pink inside), but you also don’t want to overcook them because they’ll become tough. So you may need to adjust your cooking times a little, bearing in mind that they have two minutes to cook after the initial 8-10 minutes.

Baste with honey mustard mixture and cook an additional minute. Turn and baste other side; cook for one additional minute. Remove from heat and allow to stand a few minutes to seal in the juices.

Husband Rating:  4 stars

Boys say:  thumbs up

Teriyaki Chicken

This dinner is similar to a few other teriyaki ones I have here.  I just marinade the chicken breasts in our favorite teriyaki sauce (Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki-I found it at Costco, of course) for a few hours.  Then I grill, bake or cook them on the stove top.  You can see the side dishes here were easy too.  With four boys, most nights it's easy or it's cereal!

Husband rating:  3 stars

Boys say:  thumbs up

Easy Slow Cooker Chicken

6 chicken leg quarters, skin removed

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tsp minced garlic

Cut leg quarters at joints, if desired (I just bought a package of legs and one of thighs so it was easier)

Place in 4-qt slow cooker.  In a small bowl combine tomato sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic.  Pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours or until meat thermometer read 180 degrees.

Husband rating:  3 stars

Tostadas

Tacos and burritos get all the attention when it comes to Mexican food!  Have you had a tostada lately? You can buy tostadas by the tortillas at your store.  Put refried beans, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese blend and tomatoes on top.  Maybe even add a hot sauce if you like that.  It's easy, inexpensive and relatively low in fat.  One tip a person showed me was to add some milk to your refried beans when you're heating them up.  Just a little will make them less dense and easier to spread on your tostada.

Husband wasn't home this night!
Boys say:  thumbs up

Kneaders

I live in a fairly small city.  We don't have many options for eating out.  When the new Kneaders opened just up the street I was excited for a healthy yummy place to take a break from cooking!  I fell in love with their Raspberry Chicken Salad.  Honestly, I eat this about once a week!  It's fresh, it's healthy and so tasty!  Give it a try if you're lucky enough to live close to a Kneaders!

BBQ Baked Chicken, Beans, Green Salad, Watermelon

For Memorial Day we had dinner with family.  My sister-in-law made a great baked bbq chicken recipe.  I'll post that when she sends it on to me.

I made my dad's baked beans.  We also had a wonderful green salad and watermelon slices.  Again, super easy!

Husband rating:  4 stars
Boys say:  thumbs up

Family Dinner

On Sunday night we had dinner with family.  We had ham, my favorite sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli and rolls.  For dessert we had ice cream and berries.  Easy!!

Taco Salad

This is a good recipe to feed a large group.  It's easy to add more and even divide it up if others are helping to bring something for a gathering.

ground beef, brown then add taco seasoning and water according to package directions

black or refried beans

lettuce, chopped

tomatoes, chopped

shredded blend of cheese

sour cream

guacamole

tortilla chips

favorite dressing-we often just use ranch

Husband rating:  3.5 stars

Boys say:  thumbs up

Tomato Shrimp Pasta

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces dry fettuccine pasta 3 cloves garlic 1/2 sweet onion, cut into wedges 3 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves 4 tablespoons olive oil 4 medium tomatoes, chopped

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil salt and pepper to taste 1 cup spinach leaves 1 pound cooked shrimp - peeled and deveined 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, diced

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, and cook for 8 minutes, or until tender. Drain.
2.	In the container of a food processor, combine the garlic, onion and oregano. Pulse until finely chopped. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion mixture; cook and stir until fragrant and almost golden. Mix in the tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 5 minutes while the pasta is cooking, stirring occasionally.
3.	Mix in spinach until it wilts, then just before the pasta is done, stir in the shrimp. Cook until heated through. Toss with pasta in a large serving bowl, and mix in mozzarella cheese.

I used shredded mozzarella and didn't use as much as the recipe called for.  I also put the mixture in the blender before I added the spinach and shrimp.  I was worried my picky eaters wouldn't touch it with the tomato pieces as they were.  I think I'd rather not do it that way again.  I love all the fresh ingredients.  I think I added too much spinach.

Husband rating:  3 stars

Boys say:  thumbs down

Foil Dinner

Idea from my friend, Rebecca

hamburger patties
tater tots
carrots, sliced
onion, sliced
broccoli
gravy
heavy duty foil

Spray a sheet of foil with cooking spray.  Place the hamburger patty in the center of the foil.  Top with about a desired amount of tater tots(I did about 12), carrot slices, onion slices and broccoli pieces.  The tater tots are genius because they cook more quickly than potato slices.  I topped this with a little gravy.

Fold the sides of the foil together, leaving a little room for steam in the packet (create a little tent basically).  Toss on the grill or coals.  I think ours took about 20 minutes.  This is one the kids will love!

Update: I made this again recently. For my foil dinner I used salmon, sweet potato fries, onion, salt and pepper, broccoli and carrots. I thought it was great and more to my taste than beef and tater tots. And if you omit the gravy this dinner is gluten free.

One son wanted to eat outside on the ground "like in the olden days." We spread out towels on the back patio and ate on the ground! We had a great time!

Husband rating:  3 stars

Boys say:  thumbs way up!