Carmelized Carrots

These are the carrots shown in the picture in the previous post. Preheat oven to 475. Combine 1 lb baby carrots, 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce, 2 tsp brown sugar, 2 tsp olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and bake for 15 minutes, or until tender. (This also came out of my Cooking Light cookbook)

Pork Tenderloin Studded with Rosemary & Garlic

Aunt Victoria was nice enough to share some of her yummy rosemary, as ours is still growing. Excited to have so much of it at my disposal, I decided to make this delicious dish out of my trusty ol' Cooking Light cookbook. 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 (1 lb) pork tenderloin, trimmed 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper Combine rosemary & garlic. Make several 1/2-inch deep slits in pork; place about half of rosemary mixture in slits. Rub pork with remaining rosemary mixture; sprinkle with slat & pepper. The recipe is to cook it in the oven, but Joe cooked it on the grill. I will post recipe for the carrots shown seperately.

Deep Dish Taco Pie

I don't know where this recipe originated, but my Mom made it a lot when I was little and it's requested a lot in my house these days. It's not an exact science, I change things up every time I make it, but this is how I made it tonight. BTW, this recipe makes two pies, but the leftovers are AWESOME! We'll eat on this for days and days and days...

Heat oven to 350, once heated pre-cook deep dish pie shells until lightly browned.

Make rice. (I used Knorr's Sides Mexican Rice. I prefer their Taco Rice version, but it's difficult for me to find)

Make 1 lb of taco meat, mix in 1 can refried beans. (I used the fat free variety) Heat through.

Layer into each pie shell (Use your judgment on amount):
Meat/bean mixture, handful of crumbled tortilla chips, rice, shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, meat/bean mixture, handful of crumbled tortilla chips.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until crust is done. Sprinkle with cheese and stick back in oven for a couple more minutes to melt cheese.

Let stand several minutes before cutting.

Muy Bueno!

Banana Ice Cream

I read this recipe somewhere, I cannot remember where, but I committed it to memory because I knew it was something we needed to try. Although, the recipe I read did not mention adding milk, it seemed like a good addition to me and really made it come together and be "creamy."

I peeled and chopped up 1 bunch of bananas, stuck them in a Ziploc freezer bag and there they sat for a couple days. I actually think it would have turned out better if I wouldn't have left them sit in the freezer so long.

I then slowly added them to my food processor and let it mix for a few minutes, basically until it became so thick I knew I needed to add a little milk. I added 2 ounces of milk and let it mix a bit more until it was the consistency of creamy ice cream.

Ours turned out a little bitter. Again, I think it was due to the bananas possibly being a bit freezer burnt. Next time I will try using freshly frozen bananas and I have a sneaking suspicion it will be even better. It was still yummy. We topped ours with a little chocolate syrup.

What a yummy, healthy way to give your kids ice cream!

Arroz Con Pollo

ME: Any suggestions for dinner this week, Joe?

JOE: I would like arroz con pollo.

I scoured my trusty Cooking Light cookbook and did not have a recipe for it. Drats! So I Googled it and came across this incredibly easy recipe: Arroz Con Pollo Recipe

NOTE: I did not have any fresh green pepper, but I did have a small can of diced green chiles that I used.

Hominy Saute

Yet another yummy recipe out of my Cooking Light Cook Smart Eat Well cookbook. Jenno was nice enough to pick up another awesome Cooking Light cookbook for me the other day that I cannot wait to delve into!

Note: The picture below is this recipe doubled using a can of yellow hominy as well as white.

2 tsp butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 minced garlic cloves
1 can white hominy, drained
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Melt butter in large nonstick skillet. Add onion and garlic and saute 2 minutes until tender. Add hominy, green onions, salt and pepper and cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Courtney's Skillet Chilaquiles

When Joe and I vacationed in Mexico years ago, I discovered a love for chilaquiles and recently stumbled upon a great recipe that I will share at some point. Joe and I also share a love for frittatas, so this morning I decided to combine the two using random ingredients I had on hand. Here's what I used and did (The measurements are approximate):

1/4 cup diced bell pepper
1/4 cup diced onion
Four corn tortillas cut into one-inch strips
1/2 cup of pinto beans rinsed and drained
A pinch of cilantro, chopped
Garlic salt
Pepper
Two eggs
3 egg whites
1/4 cup salsa
Fresh jalapenos, diced
*1/4 cup cheddar-jack cheese
*Handful of mozzarella cheese (I ran out of cheddar-jack)

*I always use 2% milk cheese

I heated the oven to 350, sprayed a 10-inch skillet with cooking spray and sauteed the bell peppers and onion for a couple minutes. In a small bowl I beat the eggs and egg whites and then stirred in everything but the mozzarella. I poured the egg mixture over the onions and bell peppers, stirred to mix and then let it cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat until the egg was almost set. I sprinkled the mozzarella on top and put it in the oven for another 5-8 minutes until cooked through. Then I let it sit a couple minutes, slid it onto a cutting board, used a pizza cutter to slice it into four wedges...

and served it with fresh jalapenos.

Yum!