Recipe: Layered Mexican Bake

1 pound ground beef

1/2 white onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 cup salsa

1/2 package frozen corn

2 toritillas

sour cream

3/4 cup cheddar cheese

green onions

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Brown meat with onions and peppers in large skillet on medium-high heat.

Stir in chili powder, cook 1 minute.

Add salsa and corn; mix well.

Simmer 5 minutes.

Spread 1 cup meat sauce onto bottom of 8 inch square baking dish.

Add 1 tortilla on top.

Add another layer of meat sauce.

Add tortilla.

Add remaining meat sauce.

Place layer of cheese on top.

Add green onions on top.

Bake in oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until heated through.

Add dollops of sour cream on each piece served.

Recipe taken from Kraftfoods.com and modifed to my own

November 2009

Recipe: Cheesy Hash Skillet

6 slices of bacon

1 small onion, chopped

4 cups frozen Southern-style hash browns

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

6 eggs

Cook bacon in large nonstick on medium heat until crisp.

Remove bacon from skillet, reserving 3 tablespoon drippings in skillet.

Drain bacon on paper towels.

Add onions and potatoes to skillet; cover.

Cook on medium-high heat 14 minutes or until potatoes are browned, stirring occsionally.

Stir in cheese.

Make 6 small wells in potato mixture; fill with eggs.

Top with bacon; cook, covered 3 to 4 minutes or just until eggs are set.

Let stand, covered 1 minute.

Kraftfoods.com

Kitchen Tip: No-Slip Cutting Board

Whether you slice, dice, or chop, cutting boards tend to slip around as you use them, which means you're more likely to accidentally cut yourself. To keep your work surface stable, moisten and fold a kitchen towel or a length of paper towels so that it's slightly smaller than the size of your cutting board. Place it on the counter, and then position your board on top.

Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine

Date unknown

Food Fact: Eggs

Because eggs are an excellent source of protein, they help you feel fuller longer, give sustained energy, and may also help build and preserve muscle strength.

Although the egg whites contain the majority of the protein, the yolks are actually the most nutrient-dense part of the egg. Besides protein, the yolks contain lutein, which is especially important for eye health, choline, essential for brain function, and folate, vital to cell production.

Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine

Date unknown

Random Picks: Quote

"When I walk into my kitchen today, I am not alone. Whether we know it or not, none of us is. We bring fathers and mothers and kitchen tables, and every meal we have ever eaten. Food is never just food. It's also a way of getting at something else: who we are, who we have been, and who we want to be."

-Molly Wizenberg,

From A Homemade Life

Recipe: M&M Blondies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

1 package plain M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line an 8 inch square baking pan with tin foil leaving a 2 inch overhang; butter foil.

In a mixer, put in butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.

Mix in eggs and vanilla.

Add flour and mix just until moistened.

Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top.

Arrange candies in 12 rows on top of dough.

Bake until top of cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.

Set pan on a wire rack and let cool completely.

Using foil overhang, lift cake from pan and transfer to a cutting board; cut into 16 squares.

To store: keep in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days)

Makes 16 squares.

NOTE: You can have fun and be festive with the M&Ms. For example: Halloween you could decorate top with brown, orange, green, and yellow M&Ms. Christmas you could do red and green. Valentine's Day could be pink and red...you get the idea!

Recipe taken from Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine and modified

Ocober 2009

Curried Chicken sandwiches

Serve 6 Prep 20 mins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cubed, cooked chicken
• 1 medium unpeeled red apple, chopped
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1/4 red onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 6 slices bread
• 6 lettuce Leaves
• Heart shaped cutter

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine the chicken, apples, cranberries, celery, red onions, almonds, green onions.
2. Add mayonnaise, lemon juice and curry powder, turmeric powder; and stir to coat.
3. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. Cut each slice of bread with a 3-in. heart-shaped cookie cutter; then fill with lettuce and chicken salad inside of the cutter to mold the shape; remove the cutter.

http://www.grouprecipes.com/104803/curried-chicken-sandwiches.html