Chili's Fajitas

Marinade:
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup canola oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 Tb. vinegar
1 Tb. + 1 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. liquid smoke
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chili powder (I like to use half regular and half chipotle)
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. onion powder

1 - 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 sweet yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 Tb. canola oil
1 tsp. soy sauce
2 Tb. water
1/2 tsp. lime juice
dash salt
dash black pepper

1. Combine marinade ingredients in a gallon size ziploc bag. Add chicken. Marinade for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
2. Grill meat until juice run through. Let sit for 5 minutes and slice in 1/4 inch strips.
3. Heat 1 Tb. canola oil in large pan over medium heat. Add onion and peppers and cook for 5 minutes, until lightly browned and translucent.
4. Add 1 tsp. soy sauce, 2 Tb. water, 1/2 tsp lime juice, and a dash each of salt and pepper. Cook until crisp-tender. Add grilled chicken and cook until heated through.
5. Serve with salsa, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole on tortillas.

Cinnamon Rolls

This is a recipe from Nancy Butterfield that has been slightly modified to make it even tastier.

Cinnamon Rolls
1 cube margarine (melted)
5 tsp. yeast in 1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups flour

1. Beat above items vigorously with an electric mixer until smooth. Add 3 -4 cups flour and knead for 10 minutes until dough is well mixed and soft. Raise for 1 -2 hours or until dough doubles.
2. Roll dough out on floured surface until dough is about 1/4 inch thick. Spread dough with a thin layer of softened butter or margarine (1/4 - 1/2 cup). Next sprinkle about 1 cup brown sugar over the butter. Sprinkle with 1 - 2 Tb. cinnamon.
3. Roll dough up. Cut into 1 inch rolls (tip: use dental floss to cut so the cinnamon rolls maintain their shape). Place rolls on greased jelly-roll pan and let raise for 1 -2 hours or until doubled in size.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Cool completely and frost with cream cheese frosting (recipe below).

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cube margarine, softened
2+ cups powdered sugar
a little milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract

Beat cream cheese and margarine until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, almond extract, and a little milk. Mix until desired consistency.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I got this recipe from my cousin Lori at my bridal shower, and it's been a staple in our menu ever since. It's simple but amazingly tasty. I hope you enjoy it!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Meatballs:
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
1 egg, slightly beaten
dash of pepper
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup chopped onion
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup oatmeal (quick cooking is best)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Sauce:
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. mustard
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup barbecue sauce (we prefer Bulls-eye brand)

Combine all ingredients for meatballs. Mix well with hands and form into 1 - 1 1/2 inch balls. Place in a 9 x 13 pan. Mix all sauce ingredients with a whisk and pour over the meatballs (make sure you cover each meatball so the sauce bakes into them). Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle. Serve with rice and stir fry vegetables or broccoli.

Dinner Club?

Hey Guys!

This isn't a recipe, just something I wanted to find out. I know we have talked about the dinner club thing a lot and I wanted to know if it is just me who is really interested in it or if you guys really are. It doesn't hurt my feelings either way, I just want to know for sure. If we each took 1 day per week who would want to do it? I am interested in doing variations on any type of food to make it more healthy. It wouldn't be cooking for too many (probably only 7 or 8 for your turn) and then on your day you would also drive and drop the food off to everyone (this would take a while because we are spread out), but I think it would be fun to see everyone too.

Obviously I am considering moving w/in the next 6 months and would like to be closer to family. If we did do the dinner club and each person cooked 1xper week how far would you be willing to drive that 1x per week and still have it be worth it to you? Is South Jordan too far?

Leave a comment to let me know your level of interest and how far you might be willing to drive because this does affect where I might live. Thanks guys!

Raspberry Spinach Salad

This was an experimental salad that turned out fantastic. It's one of those meals where you can mix and match ingredients depending on what you have. Here is the basic recipe:

4 cups fresh spinach, washed and dried

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

3 scallions (green onions), thinly sliced

1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced

1 cup fresh raspberries, sliced

1/2 cup sugar snap peas, sliced in half diagonally

1-2 cups grilled chicken breast, sliced or cubed (optional)

dressing of your choice to taste (raspberry vinagerette, poppy seed, or citrus vinagerettes are good)

Toss all ingredients together and serve. You can also substitute fresh oranges for the mandarin oranges, thinly sliced red onions (soaked in cold water to lessen the strong taste) for the scallions, add a handful of toasted nuts (walnuts, pecans, or almonds are good), or omit the peas if desired. It makes a great main dish or omit the chicken for a side dish. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Roast Beef

This is Corey's all time favorite food. It's super easy, even for those of us *cough*me*cough* who don't know how to make mom's tasty gravy.

3 lbs. roast (more or less depending on what you want, just make sure that there is at least 2 lbs. so the gravy will turn out right)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope lipton dry onion soup mix

1. Brown the roast in a pan, just to seal the juices inside. (If you are Corey, you would first need to cut off every tiny little bit of fat on the roast, but then it would make lousy gravy, so don't be like Corey!)
2. Mix the cream of mushroom soup (straight out of the can, don't add milk or water) and the dry onion soup mix in a medium crockpot.
3. Add the roast to the crockpot and cover with the soup mixture. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. The soup mixes with the juices from the roast while it cooks and it turns into a wonderful, flavorful roast. Serve with mashed potatoes and veggies, and yorkies if you're really feeling adventurous!

Strawberry Castle

Braeden wanted to submit his recipe to the family blog for his special Rice Krispy Yogurt Parfait.

Hi,

My name is Braeden. You should try this recipe out because it's really good. Really you should try it.

This is how you make it.

Put Rice Krispy's in a bowl, "oh, actually mom it's not rice krispy's it's krispy rice" (yeah, I'm too cheap to buy the name brand, thanks for that Braeden). "and actually it's with a 'C mom." "C-r-i-s-p-y".

and then you put some "I need to think" "Heyyyy *giggles*" as he reads what I am typing. Ok, you put Sunrise Strawberry Yogurt "what is it called mom? I told you not to write that". "Did you spell write wrong? *giggles*"

Then you put MORE Rice Crispy's "I don't care if it's Rice Crispy's or Crispy Rice." "Y
ou're making this funny....I want you to write what I just said."

You put yogurt again and more yogurt. Make sure it's a swirl please. Then top it off with a Strawberry.

From Braeden