Spooky Mini Pizzas

To watch this Video Recipe click HERE!!

I got this idea from a magazine picture. however I didn't read the magazine, so I don't know what kind of ingredients/products to make this. I'm just recreating the picture I saw. I'm using ingredients I already have in my pantry-refrigerator.

Ingredients:

1 package Pillsbury refrigerated Grands Biscuits (You can use pizza dough if you prefer son)
1 Jar Prego Italian Sausage and Garlic Pasta Sauce
String Cheese (I used cheese slices cut in very thin strips)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Black olives for garnish

Preheat oven to 400ºF

Combine the olive oil with the Italian seasoning and garlic powder, mix well, and set aside.

Flatten up the biscuits,press them down with your hands, a plate or a rolling pin.
Once all the biscuits are flat, brush them with the garlic oil.
Using a fork, poke each circle to prevent them from rising. Bake at 400°F for 5 minutes just to brown them a little bit.

If they do end up rising in the oven, just press them down with a plate.

Spoon the tomato sauce over each circle. Add as much or as little as you want.

Slice the black olives in half to make the eyes. Place the eyes wherever you want them to be. Add the cheese bellow and above the eyes. Add as much cheese as you like.

And that's it, bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

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Another great alternative for this tomato and cheese mini pizzas is a "Mollete". A Mollete is a Spanish, (also Mexican) appetizer made with a garlicky bread topped with beans and cheese. Very simple and delicious.

Ingredients:

Pillsbury refrigerated Grands Biscuits
Seasoned oil (the one with made with the olive oil, garlic and Italian seasoning)
Shredded cheese (any kind)
1 can black beans
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon of olive oil
String cheese for garnish
Black olives for garnish

Season the beans with the salt, garlic powder, dry oregano and ground cumin. Add in the Olive oil and blend until smooth. (add water if needed)

Flatten up the biscuits, just like we did for the mini pizzas, brush them with the season olive oil and poke each circle with a fork. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 400ºF for 5 minutes. Just to brown a little bit.

Spoon the bean mixture over the melted cheese and garnish with string cheese, place the cheese in a spider web design. Top the web with a whole black olive. Slice a second olive into strips to make the spider legs and that's it, bake for 10 minutes or until the beans are warm and the cheese has melted. Drizzle or brush with a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy!

Homemade Taco Seasoning

pic courtesy of allrecipes.com

Mmmmm. My taco seasoning was expired and I was craving tacos tonight. So, I got on allrecipes.com and searched for the highest rated homemade taco seasoning, mixed it up, and crossed my fingers. And, wow- let me tell you- I will never buy another packet of taco seasoning! The flavors were so much more defined and intense. I loved it and so did my family.

Homemade Taco Seasoning
from allrecipes.com

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I subbed cayenne pepper to bring down the heat)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

1. In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.
2. Mix with approx. 2 pounds of meat, beans, or whatever your heart desires.
   

Brazilian Lemonade

Photo courtesy of Our Best Bites

My friend Andrea made this for us and it tastes so good!  The recipe sounds add--adding a whole lime into the blender--but trust me, this is so good and unique!  Tastes just like the drink from Tucano's!

Brazilian Lemonade

Recipe from Our Best Bites blog

4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they’re the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
1 c. sugar
6 c. cold water
6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk

Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use. This step can be done ahead of time.

Wash limes thoroughly with soap (I just use hand-dishwashing soap or regular hand soap); you need the soap to get the wax and pesticides off of the limes because you’re using the WHOLE lime, baby. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.

Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.

Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you’ll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water. Add sweetened condensed milk; DO NOT leave this step out unless you will die of a horrible sweetened condensed milk allergy because this is the secret ingredient! You may want to taste test it at this point; I used giant, thick-skinned limes tonight and didn’t test it and it came out a little bitter. If it’s bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more milk.
Serve immediately over lots of ice. This does not keep well, so don’t make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance). Serves 4, although I can pretty much guarantee you that people will want more; I usually plan on 1 1/2 servings at LEAST per person.

Chicken Fajitas

To Watch this Video Recipe please click HERE!

Hi Everyone! I hope you are all doing great!

Today's recipe is another Mexican Dish! I know two in a row? Well, I am Mexican after all and I love Mexican food! Anyway, today's recipe is Chicken Fajitas!


Ingredients:

4 large chicken breasts
1 white onion
1 red onion
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
2 jalapeño peppers
2 limes
1 lemon
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
3 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon dry oregano
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1/4 tablespoon ground cumin
flour or corn tortillas
1-2 avocados for garnish (1 is enough for 2 persons)
lime wedges for garnish
more cilantro for garnish

Mince the garlic place in a big plastic bowl (big enough to marinate the chicken)
Slice 1 jalapeno pepper (lengthwise), remove the seeds and mince 1 half of the pepper, combine in the same bowl with the mince garlic.

Slice the rest of the jalapeno in thin strips, also slice the second jalapeno, place in another large container.

Finely chopped the cilantro and mix it in the same bowl with the minced garlic and jalapeno, cut the lime and lemon in half, and add the juices to the garlic mixture, also add in 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with 1/2 tablespoon of each salt, ground black pepper and dry oregano also add a 1/4 of a tablespoon of ground cumin. Stir all together, give it a taste, add more seasoning if needed.

Slightly cut the chicken breasts, Do NOT cut all the way through, just cut enough so the marinate can get into the whole breasts, and not only on the surface.
(If you prefer, you can cut the chicken in thin strips, Fajitas are usually served on a tortilla, so to serve the fajitas we will eventually cut the breast in thin strips.)

Marinate the chicken in garlic mixture for about 30 minutes, longer if you have time. The flavors will only get better by the minute. The longer you marinate, the better it will taste.

Slice the rest of the ingredients. Cut the onions in half and then into 1/4 inch slices.
Also slice the bell peppers, lengthwise, remove the seeds and veins, and slice into 1/4 inch slices.

Combine all the vegetable in a large bowl, and marinate with the juice of 1 lime plus 1 1/2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, season with 1/2 tablespoon of each: Salt, ground black pepper and dry oregano. Mix everything together and refrigerate until ready to use. (for aobut 15 minutes or until the chicken is ready to be cooked.)

Preheat the oven to 400ºF, 20 minutes before baking the fajitas.

This recipe is great for grilling so if you have a grill, grill the chicken for about 4-6 minutes on each side. Grill the vegetable until they become somewhat tender.

I'm going to be baking my chicken at 400°F for about 15 or until the chicken is cooked.
Bake the peppers for about 12-15 minutes.

Let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes before you slice it. Heat up the tortillas and you are ready to eat! You can serve with corn tortillas or flour tortillas, serve with avocado, garnish with fresh cilantro and lime wedges.

If you prefer, you can serve the whole chicken breast over a bed of bell peppers and a side of white rice, garnish with avocado, lime wedges fresh cilantro.

And that's it! Enjoy!

Never Fail Pie Crust

Photo from recipesfromhome-online.com

Even I didn't fail at this so it must truly be "never fail".  It made me get all kinds of flutters inside to make a pie crust.  Makes me feel like one of those perfect mothers from the 1950's...until I started yelling at my kids and realized I am totally from the 2000's!

Never Fail Pie Crust

From: Andrea Tanner

1 cup shortening

2 ¾ cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

5 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon white vinegar

Cut together shortening, flour and salt with a pastry cutter. In a separate bowl, beat together egg, water and vinegar. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and cut together.

Cheese and Veggie Twist

Dagmar's last...for a while. :) Enjoy!

courtesy

Cheese and Veggie Twist

Dagmar Jewkes

2 large eggs

1/2 c. tomatoes

1/2 c. mushrooms

Shredded Cheese

1/4 c. green onions

Bacon, crumbled (optional)

2 cans reduced-fat crescent roll dough

Mix all ingredients except crescent dough. Season with salt and pepper. With the dough, separate all the triangles and fan them out in a ring, with the narrow sides on the inside of the ring, 1/2 overlapping, corners of the long side pointing out (so it looks like a sun or star). Spread mixture over the inner portion of the ring. Fold the outer tips over to the inside and push edges together. Cook at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Watch the dough so it doesn't burn- if necessary, cover dough with foil until inside of twist is thoroughly cooked.

Tortellini with Tomato-Zucchini Sauce

Here's a great, easy pasta for your weekly rotation...thanks again, Dagmar!

courtesy

Tortellini with Tomato-Zucchini Sauce

Dagmar Jewkes

1 lb. cheese tortellini or cheese ravioli (refrigerated section of grocery store)

1 lb. zucchini, cubed or shredded

Salt

1 jar garlic, mushroom, or cheese pasta sauce

Cheese for sprinkling (parmesan or mozzarella)

Boil the tortellini and zucchini together with a hint of salt until fully cooked (or al-dente). Drain and place in serving dish. Add your jar of pasta sauce, toss, and sprinkle with cheese, if desired.