Pizza Cups

When I made this I became totally frusterated with the dough.  I was trying to get the dough to make a cup-like formation so I could fill it with cheese and sauce.  It kept shrinking back into the muffin tin like a scared little turtle.  No amount of stretching and pressing would keep it in place.

Halfway through I had decided that this was a fail recipe and that I wasn't going to repeat.  Then they came out of the oven and it dawned on me that I didn't need to try to form it so much.  It would have worked great if I just rolled the dough some more and put the dough in and let it be a pedestool for the cheese and toppings.

I'll give this recipe one more try. If it's another fail...I'll remove it from the blog.

Pizza Cups

Ingredients:

Pizza dough

Pizza sauce

Mozzerella cheese

Favorite pizza toppings

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.  

Roll the pizza dough out on a floured surface and divide into 12 sections.  Take one section at a time and line each muffin space in the muffin tin.  Add cheese, sauce and toppings.  Repeat for the rest. Bake 10-12 minutes or until crust is a light golden brown.  

Beef Teriyaki

Sometimes you are just in the mood for some beef! To me, this is a very lady-like approach to eating beef.  The pieces are small and the flavor is powerful.  Serve it with some veggies and rice and it's a complete meal! 

Beef Teriyaki 

Ingredients:

1 15 oz can pinapple chunks with juice

1 cup soy sauce

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger, minced

1 lb skirt steak, sliced thin (or carne asada)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together (except beef).  Set aside about 1/2 cup of the sauce; cover and refrigerate.  

Place beef in a plastic bag and pour remaining marinade over beef.  Press out the air and seal the bag.  Marinate for 6 hours or overnight. 

On a grill, preheat to a medium-high heat.  Grill the steak on each side until cooked to desired doneness.  

In a large bowl, pour reserved marinade over the cooked beef and stir until it is well coated.  Serve with rice or fresh grilled pineapple. 

Great to use as shish kababobs too!

Thank you Family Favorite Recipies cookbook!

Chicken Salad

When I was growing up, a friend of my mom would bring over chicken salad occasionally.  It was basically canned chicken, mayo, poultry seasoning and some celery.  I devored it everytime she brought it over.  So I always knew I liked "chicken salad"  

It wasn't until I was older and started going to my friends' baby showers, that I learned Chicken Salad is not the basic meal I had devoured as a kid.  Chicken Salad is a meal that can take on many different personalities with many different ingredients.  Even though no one has ever repeated the chicken salad recipe my mom's friend made, I have yet to find a Chicken Salad that I don't like!

I especially liked this recipe because of the cashews and cucumbers.  The salty nuts mixed with the cool crisp cucumbers....(MmMmm!)  And adding a pita instead of plain white bread gives it a fresh new approach.  

So good!

Chicken Salad Pitas

Ingredients:

Dressing:

1/2 cup mayo

1/4 sour cream

2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 ginger

2 cups cubed chicken, cooked

1 cup red grapes, halved

1/2 cup cashews

1/2 cup dice cucumbers

pita pockets

Romaine lettuce

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients together.  Fold in the chicken, grapes, cashews and cucumbers. 

Stuff each pita wiht a leaf of lettuce and the salad. 

Thank you Family Favorite Recipes cookbook!

BBQ Ribs

I never order ribs when I go out to eat.  I don't know why.  I LOVE RIBS.  Maybe it's because they are so messy and I don't need to be all "self-consious" about ribby sauce all over my face when I'm out in public.  

The first time I ate ribs was when my uncle made the most amazing dutch-oven ribs once at Girls Camp when I was a youth.  I clearly remember eating ribs for the first time and being surprised at how delicious they were.  I was actually amazed at the taste.  YUM.

These ribs are pretty tasty, but next time I'll get more.  The meat shrank during the cooking process so there wasn't much there to enjoy. 

BBQ Crockpot Ribs

Ingredients:

1 rack baby back pork ribs

2 cups water

bbq seasonings (you can purchase a bottle or just season with your favorites from your spice rack)

1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

2/3 packed brown sugar

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

Rub ribs with seasonings and place in your slow-cooker.  Cut to fit, if necessary.  Pour in water, cover and cook for 6-8 hours, until the ribs are cooked through and are starting to fall of the bone.  

In a medium bowl, combine BBQ sauce, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce.  

Heat grill to a medium-high heat and cook 2-3 sections of ribs at a time on the grill.  Coat with the sauce.  Cook 2-3 minutes on each side.  Allow the sauce to get cooked onto the meat. 

If you are using an outdoor grill, place the finished ribs on the upper rack to stay warm and get a smokey flavor.  If you are grilling indoors, cover with foil until ready to serve. 

Thank you Family Favorite Recipes Cookbook!

Grilled Chicken

Gone are the days where I would sprinkle my chicken with some seasoning salt.  When I discovered this combo of seasonings, I never looked back.  Now it's my go-to seasoning recipe and I use it practically EVERY time a dish calls for chicken.

It's divine!

Grilled Chicken

Ingredients

Equal Parts (I usually use about a Tablespoon of each)

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder 

Sugar

Directions

Mix and rub on raw chicken.  Grill to perfection and enjoy!

Manicotti

Is it even possible to get a good picture of Manicotti?  I've tried!  I keep making this meal so I can take a picture of it and everytime it looks like a hot mess!  So, I figured I'll just post this one and keep trying.  It's such a simple approach to a potentially complicated meal, that I just want to share with everyone!  You don't even have to cook the shells before you stuff!  Makes these puppies SO easy to make!  

Manicotti

Ingredients:

1 container cottage cheese

8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 egg

parsley flakes

salt and pepper, to taste

1 jar of spaghetti sauce

1 package of manicotti shells

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400º

Combine cheeses, egg and parsley flakes.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon about half of the spaghetti sauce onto the bottom of a 9x13 pan and stuff the uncooked shells.  Lay the stuffed shells in the pan on top of the sauce. Mix about a 1/2 cup of water to the remaining sauce and pour the mixture over the top of the shells.  Cover the pan tightly with foil. 

Bake for 50-60 minutes. 

BOOM! Easy!

French Onion Soup Sandwich

One of the first things I learned about my husband after we got married is that he loves French Onion Soup.  He'll often order it when we go out to eat, and he even loves the frozen kind that Costco sells.  So when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to give it a try!  It's a keeper!  Next time I'll double the recipe.  No leftovers makes me sad. 

Thanks, Tasty Kitchen

French Onion Soup Sandwich

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons butter, and some more to butter bread

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

2 whole medium yellow onions, sliced 1/4" thick

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon fresh Thyme leaves

3 Tablespoons of Beef Broth

1/2 cups grated cheese (Gruyere or Provolone)

Sourdogh bread, sliced

Directions:

In a large skillet over medium heat,  melt the butter and olive oil together.  Add onions and stir so they are all coated.  Cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes. 

Stir and add in the salt, pepper, sugar and Thyme.  Stir, cover the pan and let cook.  Stir occasionally until the onions are soft and deep golden color.  Reduce the heat if onions are browning too soon. 

Add in the beef stock and scrape any bits of the bottom of the pan.  Remove from heat. 

On a griddle or skillet, preheat and then place buttered bread (buttered side down) and top it with cheese.  Add some onion mixture and more cheese. Top with another slice of bread.

Cook and flip.  

Serve!