A Hometown Recipe

Recently my mom sent me a cookbook from where I grew up in WI called Taste Of Pierce County Cookbook. There are some great sounding recipes in the book so last night I decided to try one. Every Sunday night one of my husband's friends comes over after work and I cook for him. Since I normally make chicken I decided to try a recipe with beef in it for the boys to enjoy. I found a recipe that was submitted by Lisa Bench called Taco Stuffed Shells. Let me just say, it turned out amazing! And it was so easy to make! They boys ate it up and even had seconds. It took me about 45 minutes from start to finish, including prep time.

Taco Stuffed Shells

1 box Jumbo pasta shells (the bigger the shells the better)

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 red onion chopped small

1/4 C. water

1 packet of taco seasoning (I use the lower sodium kind)

1 large jar of your favorite salsa

1 C. cheddar cheese

Tortilla chips, crushed

Sour cream for serving, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x13 inch pan with tin foil. Coat the bottom of the pan with a little bit of the salsa and set aside. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until almost done. They will finish cooking in the oven. In a large skillet brown the meat with the onions over medium-high heat. Once the meat if browned drain the grease and add the water and taco seasoning to the meat and onion and stir. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 3-5 minutes. Once the pasta is done reserve 1/2 c. of the pasta water and drain off the rest. Rinse the shells briefly under cool water so they will be easy to handle. Stuff the shells with the taco meat and place in the pan in a single layer (you should be able to get 3 rows). Pour the rest of the salsa on top of the shells. Pour some of the reserved pasta water over the shells. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover with cheese and crushed tortilla chips. Continue baking until the cheese is melted. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with sour cream if desired.

Tuna Salad

Lately I've been on a tuna kick. It seems like at least once or twice a week I make tuna salad. It's so easy to throw what ever you have on hand to take a packet of tuna from boring to WOW! So below is my favorite recipe for tuna salad. I make sure to keep these ingredients on hand because I never know when a tuna craving will strike. :-)

Tuna Salad

1 pouch tuna, in water (any size)

1/4-1/2 C. miracle whip or mayo (Use just enough hold everything together)

2-4 tbsp. red onion finely chopped

2-4 tbsp. celery chopped into small piece but not minced

1/4 - 1/2 C. dried cranberries

1/4 - 1/2C. chopped walnuts/pecans

salt & pepper

Mix everything together being careful not to mush the tuna to much. You want to keep it flakey. Put on bread with lettuce and enjoy!

A Sweet Treat!

I was browsing through a cookbook that my mother-in-law gave me as a gift and I came across a recipe that resembles chocolate turtles. And with only 3 ingredients, you can't beat that! You can make as many or as few as you want at a time. So you can make a small treat for yourself or make a big batch to share with friends. So I hope you enjoy these tasty little treats that take less than 8 minutes from start to finish!

Chocolate Pretzels & Pecans

Mini pretzels

Rolo candy (unwrapped)

Pecans

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Put the pretzels in rows. Place an unwrapped rolo on each pretzel. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and press pecan halves in each chocolate piece to flatten it. Let cool and harden. (Note - if you stick the whole pan in the fridge they harden in about 5 minutes or so.) Store in an air tight container in the fridge or freezer.

I Don't Like Shrimp....Or Do I?!

I've never been a shrimp fan. Unless, of course, it's breaded and fried in fat. But most people will eat anything cooked like that! Wanting to add a little variety to our weekly dinners I decided to try a healthy shrimp stir fry. I really liked this dish but I'm still not a huge fan of the shrimp. It's a texture thing for me. I did eat all of the shrimp in my bowl though! And my hubby LOVED it! He kept saying, "You need to make shrimp more often." , and "WOW! This sauce is amazing!" And by the next afternoon he had all of the left overs gone!

The great thing about this recipe is that 1) if one person you are cooking for doesn't like shrimp they can pick it out and still eat all of the veggies and rice with out the shrimp flavor and 2) you can substitute the shrimp for scallops or chicken. This dish is very versatile. I don't like mushrooms so I left those out and added more yellow squash. You can add what ever veggies you like and have on hand.

Shrimp Stir Fry

1 1/4 lbs. of medium, peeled and deveined fresh or thawed shrimp

Vegetable cooking spray

4 c. sliced yellow squash

1 c. sliced zucchini

2/3 c. chopped bell pepper (any color)

1/2 c. sliced celery

1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms

2 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tbsp. brown sugar

3 tbsp. soy sauce

1 can chicken broth

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. grated ginger

Cooked rice for serving

Coat a large skillet with vegetable spray and place over medium heat until hot. Add the shrimp and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Add all of the vegetables to the skillet and stir fry for about 6 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the skillet and set aside.

Combine the cornstarch, brown sugar, soy sauce, and chicken broth in a bowl and stir well.

Add the garlic and ginger to the pan and saute for 30 seconds then add the cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil. Stir constantly! Cook 1 minute or until thickened.

Stir the shrimp and veggies back in the skillet and cook for 1 minute. Serve hot over rice.

Entertaining

I love to have people over and put out an array of food for everyone to munch on while hanging out. Every week we get together with our small group and for the past month we have been meeting at our place. Can I just say that I LOVE hosting our small group! I usually don't have a lot of time after work to make anything big but I always try to put something yummy on the table. Below are a couple of recipes for my go-to, quick and easy entertaining foods. I hope you enjoy them!

This was last night's spread at group! We had fresh strawberries, strawberry lemonade, hot artichoke dip, and cute store bought cupcakes!

Strawberry Lemonade

1 container of frozen lemonade (thawed is preferred but I never have time for that)

5-7 ripe strawberries, washed with green tops removed

Using your hands, squish the strawberries into a large pitcher. Try to squish them as small as possible so you get a lot of the juice into the pitcher.

Next add the lemonade and cold water to fill the pitcher. Stir well to dissolve the lemonade. Add ice or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Hot Artichoke Dip

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1/2 c. sour cream

2 cloves minced garlic

8 ounces cream cheese

1 c. grated parmesan cheese

1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts, chopped

2-3 dashes of hot sauce

pinch of black pepper

Mix all the ingredients together. Put the mixture in a medium size dish such as a quiche dish, 9x9 pan, or large pie plate. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes. It should be a little brown and bubbly on top. Serve with crackers or chips and enjoy!

Garden Cake

For Easter we had brunch at some friends' house. I made my granola and bought some yogurt to put on top of it. But I wanted to make something fun! I had seen people make dirt cakes before and decided to make a garden cake. It was fun and easy to make! And everyone enjoyed it! This recipe makes 2 cakes and you can get 8 generous pieces out of each cake. (Pictures to come)

Garden Cake

1 box chocolate cake mix

2 clay pot bases that are 8"

2 large tubs chocolate frosting at room temp (you won't use all of the 2nd tub.)

16 Oreo cookies w/o filling (use an offset spatula or back of a butter knife to scrape off the filling)

"plants" for your garden (I used chocolate rocks, orange cry babies for carrots, and candy flowers, but you can use anything edible you can find to put in your "garden")

Wash the clay pot bases with hot water (no soap) and let air dry before using. Brush vegetable oil on the pots then line with tin foil and brush more oil on the tin foil. This makes the cake come out easily. Make the cake according to the directions on the box and pour into the prepared pots. Bake in the oven as directed on the box. Using a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake check to see if it's done after 35 minutes. Keep an eye on it after that. Mine took 45 minutes total. It will take longer than the box says because of the clay pots.

Once the cakes are done put the pots on a cooling rack until they are completely cooled. Once they are cooled frost thickly with chocolate frosting. Put the chocolate cookie pieces of the Oreos in a plastic baggie and seal tightly. Using a rolling pin, your hands, or a mallet crush the cookies very finely. This is your "dirt". Sprinkle the "dirt" evenly on the cakes and gently pat on to make it stick.

Now you're ready to decorate with your garden rocks and plants. That's it!