Summer Pasta

Since I had leftover chicken (hello! beer butt chicken, and yes it was STILL moist) that was quickly approaching my 3 day use or toss rule this was born. Besides it's HOT and seriously who wants to cook?

*1 little (I think it is 6ozs) package dry spaghetti
*8 T butter
*2 garlic cloves
*salt to taste
*pepper to taste
*1 T parsley
*1 c grated cheese (I used Mozzarella)
*1 c retained pasta water
*Whatever chicken I had left (about 2 cups cubed ok I admit we liked the leftovers so I really only had 1 cup but I also had a can of canned chicken so all together I had about 2 cups)
*Diced tomatoes- my first pickings from my plant (so read NOT much lol)!

Boil pasta for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente.

Meanwhile heat a skillet over medium-low heat. Melt butter with garlic. Season with salt, pepper, and parsley.

Drain pasta (remember to retain 1 cup) and then toss in skillet until well-coated with butter. Add the retained water and chicken. Increase heat to medium, and cook until pasta is heated through and has absorbed some of the water/butter. Add cheese and tomatoes warm until the cheese starts melting.

Ta-da! 30 minutes to dinner. This was fabulous. Buttery and light, perfect for summer. Serves 4

I could also see this as a side minus the chicken. I think it would go well with, pork, chicken (obviously), maybe a grilled stake, or just as a meatless dish (mixed with different more veggies).

Lime Pie

OK so when I made this I was in the mood for something light and fluffy. It was Sunday so I wasn't about to go to the store and I couldn't find a recipe that used the ingredients that I had. Since desperation is the mother of invention. I borrowed a pie plate from my neighbor, since mine have all been thrown away and later took my creation over to share and get a second opinion. It got good reviews. So here you go. I hope that you enjoy it as much as everyone said they did here. There will be extra filling. I grabbed 5 custard dishes and made some more crust and divided the leftover among the custard dishes for individual servings. You could also make a second pie if you prefer. Just double the recipe for crust.


Ingredients:

crust
10 cinnamon honey graham crackers
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter

filling
2 1/2 8 oz packages cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 cup lime juice

topping
1/2 8 oz package cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
2 T vanilla
1/4 cup of milk

Directions:
In a food processor chop graham crackers until small and grainy(You can also do this by hand if you don't have a food processor). Add sugar and butter and pulse till mixed. Dump into a 9" pie plate and press to form crust.

Next I used my Kitchen Aid mixer with the whisk attachment. You can use a hand mixer for this however make sure the cream cheese has been softened first or it can burn out the hand mixer motor. In the Kitchen Aid cream the 2 1/2 packages of cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar on medium high(about 7 or 8 speed). Next slowly add the sweetened condensed milk while mixer is going. Once thoroughly mixed add lime juice slowly, continuing on a 7-8 speed setting. Once all ingredients are added. Stop machine and scrape sides. Once sides are scraped mix on medium high for 2 minutes. Once finished turn off machine and spread mixer into crust.

Last in a bowl I creamed the 1/2 package of cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar with a hand mixer. Next I added the vanilla and mixed well. Finally I added the milk slowly. Once completely mixed I put it into a Ziploc bag and cut a corner and piped topping around the edge of pie and onto center of pie.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Enjoy!

Beer Butt Chicken

This is totally unconventional but whatever it's really yummy. The recipe came from allrecipes.com with some modifications for my own taste.

You start with a full chicken in the 4-5lb range on the outside you baste
1/2 c. Melted Butter
3T Garlic Powder
4T Chicken Seasonings
1t Paprika
1/2t Cheyenne Pepper
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Let that sit for at least 3 hours but overnight is better. If you feel up to it you can loosen the chicken's skin and get some of that baste underneath. I didn't do that but it would definitely add to the flavor of the meat.

In a 12 fluid ounce beer can (we used soda cans as the beer we had was 24ozs) mix
6ozs of Beer (totally your choice)
2-3 Garlic Cloves
3T Chicken Seasonings
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
I used a can opener to take the top off completely.
I have heard that cherry cola and ginger ale work well to. I could see that since it's the boiling of the liquid that keeps the chicken moist, so really ANY liquid could work but the beer added flavor so keep that in mind when you choose a liquid.

Make sure you baste the outside of the can with veggie oil before you insert it into the butt of the chicken.

Place on a cookie sheet and grill over low heat for about 3 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C).

It is also possible to bake it (obviously we didn't do that). 350 for about 15 minutes per pound (or about an hour/ hour and a half).

Final meal.

I served mine with grilled corn on the cob, fresh home made rolls, and garlic cheese mashed potatoes. Yum, yum, yum.

Oh and the leftovers were moist the next day!

Marvelous Taco Salad

I tried this tonight for dinner and my husband loved it. It is a recipe that I copied from another recipe blog that my friend in my Ward runs. A barefooter's quest to find the better way. She is Vegan so there is no meat in it. However it is extremely tasty and you don't miss it. If you decide that you can't live without meat I believe that it would taste great with some browned hamburger and taco seasoning. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. We have decided to try eating a meatless meal more often. I don't know if it will be once a week, but it sure helps when the recipe is easy and good. Tonight though I cheated and used prepackaged salad and baby spinach. Also I used Corn Tortilla Chips instead of crisping up Flour Tortillas. Below I added pictures from what I made one without cheese and one with cheese. As she says Enjoy!

I've done a few different taco salad blends, but this one took the prize!

2-3 ripe avocados, diced
3 Roma tomatoes seeded and diced
approx 1/4-1/2 cup diced onion (I mixed yellow and red.)
1/4 red pepper, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
approx 3/4- 1 cup corn kernels
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
3-4 tbsp lemon or lime juice
sea salt to taste

Flour tortillas
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil

Fresh flat leaf or baby spinach
romaine lettuce, washed and shredded
baby carrots, chopped
broccoli, chopped into small pieces
shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

In a large bowl, combine first 9 ingredients. Stir well.

In large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. One at a time, brown tortillas in olive oil on both sides until golden and crisp.

Build taco salads per plate starting with crisped tortilla, spinach and lettuce, broccoli, carrots, avocado mixture and top with a sprinkling of cheese.
Delicious!!

My kids liked a little natural ranch on top. It think the avocado mixture does a beautiful job doubling as a dressing!

Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes (from my good friend Whitney)

Ingredients:
1 cup wheat kernels - straight from the bucket
1/4 oil
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tbl. brown sugar (opt)

Directions:
Blend wheat w/ 1 C. of milk in blender on high for three minutes. Add remaining 1/2 C. milk and continue blending for two minutes. Add eggs, oil, salt and sugar.
Add baking powder all at once into center of funnel of mixing batter. It will immediately begin to foam. Stop blending when funnel closes. Let batter rest for 10 minutes before cooking.

Pork Fried Rice

My sister the other night was making this for dinner and I happened to have all the ingredients so I made it to. It turned out really yummy so here is my version of it. We get our Pork loin chops from Costco and they are boneless skinless. Also the vegetables I used the other night were Carrots and peas. If I had it on hand but for some reason didn't have it the other night I would have used broccoli and onions but the carrots and peas were good by themselves. Also if you do frozen vegetables you may want to lower water amount because it will add water to the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 pork loin chops cut up into bite size pieces
1 T olive oil
1 T garlic
3 T soy sauce
2 T lime juice
1 1/2 cups rice
2 1/2 cups water
2-3 cups vegetables

Directions:
In a Frying pan heat up olive oil and garlic on medium high. Add pork. Once pork is completely cooked add soy sauce and lime juice. If you add onions this would be a good time to add them. Stir cooked pork in sauce in pan for a minute. Next add rice and water and stir. On the top of the rice add your choice of vegetables. Put lid on top. Bring water to a boil and then once boiling lower heat to low and cook until water is completely gone. Stir, serve and enjoy.

Cooking tip

So I thought I would share this because it has made my life a bit easier when making dinner. I have started my day by sticking Frozen chicken in the Crock pot. About 2-3 pieces. This way I have already cooked chicken that is easily shredded by the time I prepare dinner. This is great for Enchiladas, casseroles, chicken salad, anything you need shredded chicken for. All you need to do is stick it in the crock pot 3-4 hours before you plan on making dinner and your set. The best part is that you don't have to commit to any dinner specifically except that you are using chicken that night. Hope this helps. It can be used on any meat really. Happy cooking!