Mango chicken tacos

This recipe was adapted from $5 dinners: Mango Chicken Lettuce Wraps. I made several changes to make this a little more "do-able" for our situation - GF, no grill, and cheap! *BIG GRIN*

If you could see me, you would know I am on my knees begging you to go make these. You won't regret it. Go!

INGREDIENTS:

- 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
- 1 cup mango marinade (READ THE INGREDIENTS!!! PLEASE!! If you are not 100% sure...contact the company. I use Bronco Bob's Roasted Mango Chipotle Sauce. It is incredible! If you are NOT gluten-free...KC Masterpiece apparently makes a yummy one as well.)
- 1 large mango, diced
- 2 dashes of garlic powder (to taste)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- 1.5 TBL mango marinade

DIRECTIONS:

- Marinate chicken for a couple of hours (place in gallon-sized Ziploc bag, pour in the 1 cup of marinade, and set in refrigerator)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Place chicken in baking dish and pour marinade on top
- Cover the pan with foil and cook for approximately 40 minutes (every 10 minutes I took the chicken out and redistributed the sauce back over the chicken)
- Remove chicken from pan, dice, and place it back in the pan
- Cook for an additional 15-20 minutes

While chicken is cooking, create mango salsa:
- Combine diced mango, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and 1.5 TBL of mango marinade


I served the chicken on top of corn tortillas and topped the chicken with shredded lettuce, mango salsa, and black beans. I ate mine as lettuce wraps. YOU CHOOSE!


I'd like to point out that the response to these was: "Wow. This is restaurant caliber. Can I have three more?" Toot! Toot! :D

Huevos Rancheros

 A GREAT way to save a little on your grocery bill is to occasionally cook breakfast for supper. "Huevos Rancheros" enter stage left. Talk about a yummy, cheap, incredibly easy breakfast, lunch, OR supper! Right up my alley (and I know it's up yours too!). This recipe is a combination of one used by my sister-in-law with a couple of random additions of my own.

INGREDIENTS:

 - Corn tortillas
 - Oil for frying tortillas
 - Eggs
 - Shredded cheese
 - Ranchero sauce
 - Black beans, corn, or whatever else you want (optional - I did not add any of this during this go-around, but give it a whirl!)

Ranchero sauce:

- Bacon (I use turkey bacon)
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 can Rotel

- 1 can tomato sauce 

- Garlic powder (to taste)

- Cumin (to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

- Cook bacon. Remove from pan and place on plate (covered with paper towels to soak up grease!)

- Saute onions (in the bacon grease) - YUM! I'll admit that there is very little grease if you use turkey bacon, but a little bit of cooking spray / butter will do the trick.

- Add the Rotel and tomato sauce to the onion and cook until warm

- Crumble bacon into the sauce and VOILA! (as my sweet sister Doni says in her version of the recipe)

- Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet and brown the tortillas (approximately 1 minute per side).

- Remove each tortilla as you brown it and place between paper towels

- Fry an egg/egg white

- Immediately place the egg on top of a tortilla already topped with shredded cheese (this is the sneaky way to melt the cheese!)

- Top each egg with a few tablespoons of the sauce

- Now get to work!!!

Random note from the kitchen:

This sauce is great on the eggs without the tortillas and cheese (this was breakfast for me this morning). Moreover, it makes a SPECTACULAR way to spice up a plain ol' baked potato (this was lunch for me today) *GRIN* Have at it!!

Fried 'Nanners

New favorite dessert. Period.

And talk about cheap!! YES! You can't beat a dessert made with something you can get for less than 45 cents a pound!

So easy. So yummy. So absolutely necessary. *GRIN*

The following recipe came about because I thought these three ingredients thrown together and cooked this way would be yummy. Boy was I wrong. It is INSANELY YUMMY. Oh m' goodness gracious me (for translation, see the explanation of this exclamation at the beginning of my Cajun Cabbage Rolls recipe).

I made this dessert one banana at a time. Make as many as you want *GRIN* but the recipe is set to make only one.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 banana (still firm), peeled and cut in half
- 1/4 - 1/2 TBL butter (depending on how bad you want to be!)
- 1/2 TBL brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:

- Melt the butter in a pan over low-medium
- Place the banana in the butter and cover it well on both sides
- Increase heat to medium
- As the butter and banana begin to fry, top the banana with the brown sugar
- Continue to cook the concoction until the banana is golden on both sides (and your kitchen smells DELICIOUS!)

My suggestion:

Serve the banana (and as much of the carmel sauce as you can POSSIBLY scrape from the pan short of licking the scalding pan and burning your tongue) on top of some Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream. If you don't have access to Blue Bell, my heart hurts for you, but your favorite ice cream will do the job!

And for the record...I am sitting here typing this blog just to keep myself from using the two remaining bananas to make more. YEEESH.

Apple-cheese-turkeyballs

This recipe is (almost) directly from A Year of Slow Cooking. I just couldn't help but share! I made a couple of minor changes and did not cook these in the crockpot because I was too busy today to get started on time. It is an easy meal to make either way!


You read that right...turkeyballs. I figure that "turkey meatballs" is like saying Rio Grande River. *grin*

So most meatballs are made with breadcrumbs. Two issues with that: #1: breadcrumbs are made with...well...BREAD! (don't worry...there are gluten free breadcrumbs). The issue with that presents problem #2: that whole pesky yeast allergy.

These meatballs are a WONDERFUL change from the typical. The added fruit provides the best taste to counteract the onion. These are a phenomenal surprise. I can't get enough.

When my husband is super delighted with a meal, he'll often say "so tell me about these." Translated: "These are really good. What'd you put in these to make them so great?" (Granted, that may not be verbatim, but that's how I hear it! *BIG GRIN*) I was pleasantly surprised at how much we both liked this meal.


INGREDIENTS:

- 1 lb. ground turkey (I use 99% lean)
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and shredded (the easiest way to make this happen is with a cheese grater!)
- 1/4 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese (the recipe calls for sharp cheddar, but I use "ol reliable" - the same reduced fat Colby Jack I always use)

DIRECTIONS:

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Spray/grease a 9X13 baking dish
- In a bowl, mix the ground turkey with all of the ingredients (you can have as much fun as you want with this. I do! Use your hands - don't be afraid to get dirty!)
- Make golf-ball-sized meatballs and place them in the pan (I made 16 meatballs with this recipe)
- Bake the meatballs for 20-25 minutes (halfway through the baking I flipped the meatballs to make sure they were cooked evenly).

I served these up with some steamed broccoli and hoecakes. I ate my meatballs with nothing added, but a little ketchup does the trick for those that are "big dippers."

So, to be honest, I was blown away by these. As we sat eating I kept making that "uuuuuugh" noise of satisfaction with the food (okay...and myself). Several times I commented on how great the meal was. Finally, Sam said "You know, hon, you sure worked hard on this meal. How do you feel about the food?" The meatballs turned out to be mighty fine (and healthy) food...what can I say?!

Potato Skins

Welcome to Round #2 of the potatoes. To be honest, if the Overloaded Twice-Baked Potatoes and these Potato Skins got into a match to determine which was the best, it would be a barnburner.

I've always enjoyed the potato skins you can get at restaurants, but it's nice to make a healthier, nongreasy version and get to enjoy them in my pajamas :-)

The following recipe is based solely on the potato tops from the baked potatoes from the previous recipe. However, this recipes is EASILY adaptable to accommodate any number of potatoes and/or mouths to feed.

INGREDIENTS:

- 4 leftover tops of potatoes
- Canola oil
- Salt
- 1 cup of shredded cheese
- 3 pieces of turkey bacon, cooked, crumbled (SIDE NOTE: Bacon does really well in the freezer. We never eat enough of it at one time (don't get me wrong...we definitely COULD!), so I keep it wrapped in the freezer and use slices as needed)
- green onions/chives

DIRECTIONS:

- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
- Cover a baking sheet with foil (makes clean up so much faster)
- Brush both sides of each potato skin with canola oil
- Sprinkle with salt
- Place potato skins on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes
- Remove the baking sheet from oven, flip the skins, and bake for an additional 10 minutes
- Once baked, put ~1/4 cup cheese and ~1/4 of the bacon crumbles on each potato skin
- Return the potato skins to the oven for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted
- Top with green onions (you can add sour cream, etc. if you so choose)

TAHDAH! Easy way to use up the remains of another meal without it going to waste. I served the potato skins as a side with a meal of sausage and Ranch Style beans. That was about 30 minutes ago. Am thinking that I wish we had more...

Overloaded Twice-Baked Potatoes

Recipe adapted from Eating Well.

I have a confession. I could eat baked potatoes every day. In fact, one of my FAVORITE things to do this summer has been to meet my mamma at a local restaurant here for a big baked potato and a massive glass of iced tea. Oh man...if I could do that every day.... When I first got all of my food allergies figured out, I had to avoid potatoes for a while. CHAD (Crushed Hopes And Dreams). Need I say more? Potato was one of the very first reintroductions I made!

A good baked potato is just hard to beat. Here's the problem with them though...I don't like bites that include only dry potato. I like when everything is mixed up together so you get all the flavor AND it's not too dry. These twice-baked potatoes are the answer to the quandary created by regular ol' baked potatoes and those dry, tasteless bites! You're welcome! *big grin*

I won't lie...these do take a bit of effort; however, they are more than worth the time put in. The best part is that you'll have plenty of leftover "potato guts mix" (that's right...you read that right) to eat the next day!

INGREDIENTS:

- 4 medium baking/russet potatoes
- 8 oz. lean beef (I used 93% lean because it was on sale! That's BIG news around here!)
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or to taste...I just add until I think it's enough!)
- 1 cup broccoli florets, finely chopped (I used frozen)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup shredded cheese, divided (I use the same Reduced Fat Colby Jack cheese I use in all my recipes.) Don't forget to notice that it says divided. If you get trigger happy and start dumping it all in, you'll be FORCED to add more cheese later. And we don't want that, do we?! (SNEAKY GRIN)
- 1 container (6 oz.) plain, non-fat Greek yogurt (This isn't as crazy as it sounds...Follow me: this is a great substitution to use in place of sour cream (as called for in the original recipe). I used the Yoplait 2x Protein Greek yogurt - labeled gluten free!)
- Green onions (chives)
- Salt to taste (I use Lawry's Seasoning Salt)
- Pepper to taste (SOOOO good with course ground black pepper)

DIRECTIONS:

- Bake potatoes (You can do this in the oven in the traditional way if you'd like. For faster results (and food in your hungry tummy at an earlier time!), use that lovely piece of machinery: your microwave.) 
(1) Pierce each potato with a fork
(2) Place in microwave and cook at 50% power for approximately 20 minutes (until the potatoes are soft); turn once or twice during this time
NOTE: If your microwave has a "baked potato" setting on it....go that route.

- Brown meat in skillet with onion and garlic powder; place in large bowl
- Cook broccoli as directed (if using fresh, add broccoli and water to the skillet you used for the meat, cover, and cook until tender - no sense in cleaning TWO pans!)
- Drain broccoli and add it to the meat
- Cut off the top third of each potato (Save these for another use. Tomorrow I'll be using ours for baked potato skins as a side dish. YUM.)
- Scoop all the insides out of the potatoes and into another bowl.
- Mash the potatoes up with a fork to break up any big clumps (Though not called for, I used just a few sprays of zero calorie butter spray to add a little moisture. You could use water or even a bit of chicken broth if you wanted, or don't use a thing! It's all up to you!)
- Place the shells of the potatoes in a baking dish or on a plate and set aside (It's difficult to make twice-baked potatoes if you don't have anything to twice-bake the potatoes in! *GRIN*)
- Add cheese, yogurt, water, salt and pepper to the potatoes and mix it all together well
- Add the meat and broccoli mixture to the potatoes and mix again
- Finally, fold in the green onions
- Scoop the potato guts back into the potato skins (I would say divide the mixture evenly as the original recipe mentions; however, that would NEVER work. I only used about 2/3 of the mixture because there was no room left for the rest! Save the extra mix to eat for lunch tomorrow...that's my plan!)
- Top each potato with some of the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese
- Put the plate/dish of potatoes back in the microwave for approximately 3 minutes...until the cheese on top is melted (that should be a pretty good indicator that the insides are warm enough).
- Serve it up!

I didn't serve this meal with anything else. We had potatoes and potatoes alone :-) These potatoes are essentially a meal in an edible boat...how could you want for more?!

NOTE: There are SOOOOOOO many variations to this recipe that would be incredibly YUMMO.
- Sauteed mushrooms and onions
- Salsa, pepper jack cheese, and corn
- Beans
- Meatless (double the veggies and cheese)
- Barbeque sauce and pulled pork
- The sky is the limit!!!

I will absolutely be making more versions of this soon. Let me know how yours go...

Cajun-style Cabbage Rolls

In my house, we often use variations of one particular phrase (typically in reaction to some of the silly things Walle (our puppy) will do...the situations he seems to manage to create):

- oh my (surprise/exclamation)
- oh my goodness (super exclamation)
- oh m' goodness gracious me (reserved for the real serious stuff...you know it has to be serious when all you can muster up is a shortened utterance of the word "my")

For example, you walk in to this...

...and you say "oh m' goodness gracious me"

Well this meal is SERIOUS STUFF, folks. So oh m' goodness gracious me, somebody go make this! Please. Do it for me (just because I know you'll thank me later). Ugh. So good.

In my house, we seem to have some sort of rating system. Really, nothing gets rated unless it is in about the top five favorite dishes/meals of each individual in the household. Though he desperately wants to, Walle doesn't count, as he can no longer get fed from the table (sad day). Last night I made one of Sam's top meals: Ground beef sauteed with onion and seasoning and served with melted shredded cheese, cabbage, and beans (last night's beans were of the Ranch Style variety). YUM. So....here's the predicament: every time I make cabbage we have leftovers. Well, cooked cabbage tastes and looks alright reheated the next day, but any length of time after that and you're looking at a questionable dish. So I set out on yesterday's endeavor with a strategy: save some of the big leaves of cabbage and try to make cabbage rolls today. Rock on! I've come across several recipes in the last month, so I began today thinking that I'd combine a couple of the recipes and give it a shot. Well....I'm cheap, remember? Couple that with the fact that I want to make things as simple as possible, and you end up with a lady using whatever she has in the freezer and/or cabinet to make a new dish (BIG GRIN). So I had some frozen andouille sausage that I typically use to make Amy's New Orleans Chili (don't worry...will share this soon). Given the fact that none of the recipes I could find for cabbage rolls say ANYTHING about Cajun style, I decided I'd strike out on my own. The result: a PHENOMENAL supper. That's right *TOOOOOT TOOOOOOOT* (my own horn again!) The final point to this story: this dish (served with fried cornbread/hoecakes) is now in my top 5.

INGREDIENTS:

- 6 large leaves of cabbage
- 2 c. andouille sausage, chopped (I use HEB's Hill Country Fare brand, as it is labeled GF. Don't forget to remove the casing!)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic (or I use 1 tsp. minced garlic - even though I LOVE cooking, I HATE when my fingers smell like garlic for several days...even after washing and rewashing then scrubbing with lemon and washing again!)
- 1/2 c. cooked rice
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- 1 egg, beaten
- salt and pepper to taste (I use course ground black pepper)

- 1 tsp. Cajun seasoning

- 1 can diced tomatoes (I use the fire-roasted garlic kind)
- 3/4 cup water

DIRECTIONS:

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- In a large pot, boil the cabbage leaves for 3 minutes
- Remove from the pot, and set the leaves aside to cool
- Heat/brown the sausage with the onion and garlic
- In a bowl, combine the meat mix, rice, seasonings, cheese, and egg

- Place a couple of heaping spoonfuls (1/6 of mixture) in the middle of a cabbage leaf

- Fold in two of the edges....

- Then close up the roll (like a box or wrapping a present!)

- Repeat with the rest of the leaves and the remainder of the mixture
- Place cabbage rolls in a 2 qt (8x8) baking dish

- In bowl, combine the can of diced tomatoes and the water
- Once mixed, pour this over the cabbage rolls

- Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour
- Uncover and bake for 15 more minutes
- Remove from oven and let cool for just a few minutes before serving.

What's funny is that, before tonight, I had never once eaten a cabbage roll. If you look around, it is hard to find an appealing photo. Despite all that, these. taste. mmmmmm-azing. That's right. I will, without a doubt, be making these again...as soon as humanly possible.

YUM.