*Slow Cooker Beans & Rice

It is hot. H-O-T, hot. We're talking 100+ degrees outside, people. Welcome to summertime in Texas! As a native, I don't really mind it. Well, I don't love it, but I am used to it. Okay, okay, I'm as used to it as I can get. During the summer in Texas we sweat a lot, swim a lot, play in any kind of water a lot, own lots of shorts and flip flops and revive in the shade. This is the time of year when it's 95 in the shade and you cannot believe you hear yourself say, "Man, this feels nice!" When you've seen the outdoor thermometer read 104 several days in a row you quickly learn how to keep the inside as cool as possible. And since I like the inside of my house cold rather than cool, I've got a lot of tricks under my sleeve; keep the blinds closed, fans on high, lights off as much as possible, exhaust fan on when washing/drying clothes or showering and NOT TURNING THE OVEN ON! I don't know about yours, but my oven seems to heat my house in a heartbeat. It's probably because our kitchen opens into our living room, where we spend a lot of time. This time of year we eat lots of fruit, I make lots of sandwiches and salads - it's almost too hot to even care to eat! But I also lean on my crock pot quite a bit in the summertime when we need a hot meal. Mine doesn't give off much heat at all and not only do I not have to crank the oven, I don't have to slave over a hot stove either! So here's a yummy crock pot recipe:
3 c water
1 c dried red kidney beans
1 c chopped onion (I always cook with yellow)
1 c chopped green bell pepper
3/4 c chopped celery
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 (14 ounce) package turkey smoked sausage
1 bay leaf
5 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp salt
3 c hot, cooked long-grain rice
1/4 c chopped green onions

Combine first 12 ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover with lid; cook on high 5 hours. Discard bay leaf; stir in salt. Serve over rice; sprinkle servings with green onions. Makes 4 servings (1 cup bean mixture, 3/4 cup rice and 1 tbsp green onions)

I think a little cheese sprinkled on top would be delicious, but I am an over cheeser and I refrained.

*From that favorite cookbook of mine: Cooking Light: Cook Smart Eat Well

Ham & Cheese Twice Baked Potatoes

4 baking potatoes

1 tbsp butter

1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)

1 tsp garlic (minced)

1/2 cup shredded Pepper jack cheese (I used 2%)

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1/2 cup ham

1/4 cup chopped green onions

salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 500.
Poke holes on potatoes with a fork and cook in microwave on high approximately 15 minutes, turning them once. Let them rest a few minutes and them split them in half and scoop out the inside leaving about a 1/4 inch thick shell. Keep pulp in a bowl to the side.
In a small skillet, heat butter over med-high heat. Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add milk and bring to a simmer. Pour milk mixture over pulp and add 1/2 the cheese, parsley, ham and salt & pepper to taste. Mix well and stuff potatoes. Top with remaining cheese. Bake until cheese begins to brown.
Top with green onions

Turkey Mini Meat Loaves

Another great recipe out of my Cooking Light Cookbook!

1/2 c chopped onion (I usually cook with yellow)

3 tbsp dry breadcrumbs (I used Italian seasoned Panko)

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp salt (I used garlic salt)

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

8 oz ground turkey breast

1 lrg egg white, lightly beaten

3 tbsp ketchup, divided

1/4 tsp Tabasco

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Heat small skillet over med-high heat, coat with cooking spray. Add onion to pan and saute 5 mins or until lightly browned. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

3. Combine onion, breadcrumbs and next 7 ingredients in a lrg bowl. Stir in 2 tbsp ketchup. Spoon about 1/2 cup meat mixture into each of 3 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Place muffin pan on a baking sheet. Combine 1 tbsp ketchup and Tabasco in a small bowl. Brush ketchup mixture over meat loaf tops. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until thermometer registers 165.

I served this with a side salad and mock mashed potatoes. But instead of using sour cream in the mock mashed potatoes, I used some light green onion & chive flavored cream cheese I had on hand. YUM!



Notice the beautiful crystal wine glass paired with a

Solo paper plate? Now that's classy!

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!