Lupe Tortilla

One of the great things about moving to a new place is trying out all the new restaurant options!  This last weekend we had a short trip to Katy, Texas which is a suburb of Houston.  We had dinner one night at Lupe Tortilla.  This restaurant has a great atmosphere.  There is a sandy area for children to play while the grown-ups eat.  There is a bar with sports games to watch, if you like that.  But the food and the service are the highlight.  We had the fajitas and they were excellent.  They bring you everything and you can create your fajita just how you like it.  I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!  Go early or plan on a wait.  This place is popular!

Chicken Zucchini Casserole

from sixsistersstuff.com

Ingredients
6 ounce package of boxed stuffing mix (I used Stove Top) 
1⁄2 cup melted butter
4 cups of zucchini, diced
2 cups of cooked chicken, cubed
10.75 ounces Cream of Chicken Soup 1⁄2 onion, chopped
1⁄2 cup of sour cream

Instructions
1. In a large bowl, combine the stuffing mix and melted butter. Set aside 1⁄2 cup of the mixture for the topping. In a large bowl add the zucchini, chicken, soup, onion and sour cream to the remaining stuffing. Place the zucchini mix into at greased 9x13 glass pan and spread out evenly. Sprinkle reserved 1⁄2 cup stuffing mix on top and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes or until golden brown. 

This sounded like it would be a winner with the boys but it was just okay.  That being said, it was easy and inexpensive.  And definitely better than a bowl of cereal for dinner!  

3 stars

Slow Cooker Honey Soy Chicken

from sixsistersstuff.com

Ingredients:

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup rice vinegar

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon chili sauce

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon pepper

1 (8 ounce) pkg. Soba Noodles, cook according to package directions

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions:

Place chicken in slow cooker.  In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, garlic, chili sauce, mustard and pepper.  Pour prepared sauce over chicken.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours.  Shred chicken and return to slow cooker.  Add in cooked noodles and stir until combined.  Garnish with sesame seeds.

Husband rating:  3 stars

Boys say:  thumbs up

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Follow the instructions on a your favorite pancake mix, such as Bisquick.  Once the batter is made add 1/2 a finely chopped apple and 1 tsp ground cinnamon.  Mix.  Pour about 1/4 cup of mix onto hot griddle and cook until lightly browned on each side.

I love these pancakes, but my kids didn't like the apple chunks.  So this time I actually used a food processor to chop the apple into even smaller pieces.  This time they didn't even notice them.  Now I can eat the pancakes I like and they don't complain!

Remember to remove the skin from the apple.

Husband rating:  4 stars
Boys say:  thumbs up

Hello again!

Hello Blog Readers!

My last week of posts was the end of May.  You probably thought I'd given up cooking or blogging or both!  Here's what happened:  At the end of May my husband and I took a trip to Austin, Texas to see if we might want to move there.  We loved it!  So, between then and now we've been selling a house (try keeping a house clean with four boys running around during the summer-that's a fun challenge!), packing up and moving, saying good-bye to friends we dearly love, and unpacking again in Texas, getting kids started in school, getting lost every day trying to figure out this new city and basically having one great big adventure.  It's a strange feeling to turn your entire life upside down and move to a new place after living in Utah for 18 years.

I'm back to the kitchen and computer now and looking forward to adding new recipes and ideas to this blog that will hopefully help you and your family.

Melanie

Garlic Chicken with Orzo

from allrecipes.com, submitted by VBRAUER671

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup uncooked orzo pasta 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 cloves garlic 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast

halves - cut into bite-size pieces salt to taste 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 2 cups fresh spinach leaves grated Parmesan cheese for topping

DIRECTIONS:

1.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add orzo pasta, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.

2.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the garlic and red pepper 1 minute, until garlic is golden brown. Stir in chicken, season with salt, and cook 2 to 5 minutes, until lightly browned and juices run clear. Reduce heat to medium, and mix in the parsley and cooked orzo. Place spinach in the skillet. Continue cooking 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until spinach is wilted. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

I added one can of italian stewed tomatoes, chopped in the blender for a few seconds, instead of the parsley.  It just sounded good!  And it was good.  The only complaint was the spinach.  I used baby spinach so the leaves were smaller than the regular kind, but I didn't break them up into even smaller pieces.  And when they are wilted they are long and slimey, really.  The boys didn't like that one bit!  I'd probably decrease the amount of spinach by half and chop the leaves a little before adding it to the dish.

Husband rating:  3 stars

Boys say:  mixed reviews

Fruit Dip

from allrecipes.com, submitted by RNACSHHS

INGREDIENTS:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup brown sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a medium bowl, blend the cream cheese, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Chill in the refrigerator 1 hour before serving.

I followed some suggestions from other reviewers.  I added a little lemon juice and wish I'd added some of the zest from the lemon.  I also added two spoonfuls of strawberry yogurt.  I thought the strawberry yogurt was a little overpowering for the flavor I was expecting.  

The kids loved this!  As if you couldn't make fruit any better, give the kids something to dip the fruit in and it kicks things up a notch!  

This does make a lot of dip.  I would cut it in half for personal use or use the normal amount for a party.  

Boys say:  thumbs up