Thursday, February 25, 2010

Pulled Pork Salad with Cilantro Dressing

This isn't exactly the quickest meal but it is really yummy! I have three different recipes for it and I usually just pour in a bunch of stuff so here is what I do:

Ingredients:
1 Pork Roast
1 Coca Cola bottle
1 Cup Salsa
1 cup brown sugar
1 Cup Ketchup
To taste:
salt, pepper, garlic salt, cumin

Put the pork roast in a crock pot. Season to taste with salt, pepper, garlic salt and cumin. Pour in 1 cup of the Coke, the salsa, and the brown sugar. Cook on low for 8 hours. One hour before it's done, put 1 more cup Coke and 1 Cup ketchup in a small sauce pan on the stove. Heat and stir. Shred the pork in the crock pot. Pour the coke and ketchup mix over the meat and let it cook the remaining hour.

Cilantro Dressing:
1 Jar Green Salsa Verde
Equal amount of prepared ranch dressing (we make our ranch or you can use Hidden Valley)
1 bunch cilantro

Place equal parts salsa verde and ranch dressing (I usually do a cup of each, can do more) in a blender or food processor with cilantro leaves and blend to smooth. Put it in the fridge til your ready to eat.

Other ingredients for salad:
Shredded lettuce (or I just buy the bagged lettuce)
Wheat, flour or corn tortillas
Black beans (I just warm up a can)
Cilantro lime rice (steamed rice with chopped cilantro leaves and fresh lime juice, to your liking)
Diced tomatoes (or I get really lazy and buy already made pico), onions etc
Shredded cheese (whatever kind you like)

After the meat is done, just layer a tortilla the way you like it and enjoy. It's so yummy!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Dinner Help For All!

Hi Ladies! Here is my problem, even though I've been feeding myself for nearly 16 years, and feeding Clayton for over three, I still get totally stumped when it is time to make dinner. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone here. So I am asking a big favor. I want everyone to bring out their go-to recipe and share. Post it here or you can e-mail it to me and I will post it for you. mariannemarguerite @ yahoo dot com. (No spaces.) Make sure to add the label of Go-To Dinner.

Recipes that you don't find terribly challenging, that your family likes and has often. I figure if we can get at least ten on here that would be a huge help for those days when we feel less than inspired. And it might get this blog back up and buzzing, it's such a good blog idea that I hate to see it just sit here. Thanks in advance for all of your input! -Marianne

P.S. I'll start! Mine is right below this post!

My Go-To Recipe: Chicken Enchiladas

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

Sauce:
1 pint sour cream
3/4 soup can of water
2 cans cream of chicken soup

Mix all together

Filling:
2-4 chicken breasts, (depending on the size of your family, we use two) cubed & sauteed.
1 small can green chilies, diced.
3/4 green onion (we often use white or whatever is on hand)
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese. (Optional in the filling.)

12 corn tortillas
1&1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Soften tortillas by lightly wetting them with water, then warming in the microwave. This keeps them from splitting.

Fill tortillas, placing the fold side down in a cake pan. (or casserole, or whatever pan)
Pour the sauce over the tortillas.
Sprinkle cheese over the top.
Bake at 325 F. for 30-40 minutes

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Crazy Awesome Caramel Brownies

Oh, and they are pretty easy too. Ingredients are in BLUE and directions are in GREEN.

For the Dough:
1 German Chocolate Cake Mix (I've tried other chocolate kinds, German really is best in this recipe.)
3/4 Cup melted Butter (that is 1 & 1/2 cubes)
1/3 Cup Evaporated Milk

Mix three ingredients together. It will be kind of like cookie dough consistency.

For the Caramel sauce:
1 Bag Caramels
1/3 Cup Evaporated Milk

Heat together the two ingredients in a sauce pan over low heat until melted, stirring well.

For the middle:
Chocolate chips, nuts, coconut or whatever strikes your fancy.

In a 9x13 pan (or a brownie pan, but no smaller.) spread out half of the dough.
Bake just that for 8 minutes at 350 F.
Take it out, drizzle caramel mixture over the top (it will make it puff up a bit) and then sprinkle the toppings over the caramel.
Then glop the rest of the dough on to the top of the caramel like dumplings or a cobbler. It won't cover it completely. That's ok.
Bake for another 15 minutes and then let cool completely. I keep them in the fridge. They are best when set, so be patient!