Tuesday with Tierra! (Saltine Cracker Snack)

Can you believe it is already Tuesday again?! How time flies! Well this particular post has been a snack that I have loved for years. When I lived in Rigby a very close family to me made this snack all the time. It is the perfect combination of salt but yet sweet.
Now i dont quite know the exact name of this snack so I just call it the Saltine Cracker Snack. Now dont hate this snack right off the bat cause it may seem weird and you might be thinking how could I possibly like that... Give it a chance! Trust me you will not be let down!

Saltine Cracker Snack
By: Denise Bowcutt

You will need:
1-2 pkgs of saltine crackers
1 C butter
1 C brown sugar
1 Bag Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees
Grease cookie sheet and lay out saltine crackers
In a medium sauce pan boil together brown sugar and butter together for 3 minutes.
Pour over the saltine crackers so that all the crackers are covered equally.
Bake for 5 minutes or until bubbling.
Melt chocolate chips in a small saucepan and then pour over the caramelized crackers. Spread evenly.
Cool until the chocolate has become firm. (You may put this in the freezer for 5-10 minutes if you just cannot wait any longer for this yummy goodness!)

Enjoy!!

Sweet Poppy Seed Dressing

This is the other "element" I added to make our green salads . . . . . . . . . . desirable. I just have to tell you, this dressing is fab. If I do say so myself. I'm a salad lover anyway, but this dressing kept me eating green salad two meals a day for almost a week! It's just that good.

Now, there is actually a funny story to go along with this dressing. This story is my example of how anyone can have kitchen disasters relating to just about anything. This dressing was my kitchen disaster. Silly, I know, but hear me out.

I knew exactly what I was making for dinner. This poppy seed dressing was supposed to go with dinner. It was also supposed to be amazing. I had received a poppy seed dressing recipe for a dear old lady I clean house for. She loves to cook and she is always sharing recipes with me. Actually, if she's made something new and she has leftovers, she'll always heat some up for me when I come cleaning. She's sweet like that. Anyway, she shared this recipe with me with one caveat: she hadn't made it herself. She got it from someone else who said it was just like the local University makes. "Hm, sounds worth trying," I thought to myself. I love the dressing from the school. So I finally pulled the recipe out and whipped it up. It looked a little funny but I just figured I must be remembering wrong. So I gave it a taste. It was honestly the worst dressing I had ever tasted in my life!! Oh dear. Of course, I couldn't blame the little old lady I clean house for. She hasn't even made it for crying out loud! But the ingredients should have been a serious clue to me that something would be wrong. Learn from my mistake - a 1/3 cup sugar will never over power half an onion. I promise. Dressing #1 = down the drain.

So then I looked up some recipes online. I wanted to know where I had gone wrong and hopefully find something that would be better than what I had just made. I figured that couldn't be too hard. I finally settled on a recipe I found and whipped it up. Taste test #2.  It was the second worst dressing I had ever tasted in my life!! Seriously, people. Is there not a good poppy seed dressing out there? Dressing #2 = down the drain.

By this time, my baby was getting impatient about waiting for her dinner. And who could blame her? It was about an hour past when she usually eats dinner. Prepping and whipping up those dressings {plus looking for another recipe} was really taking up some time. This was supposed to be a 15 minute deal, here. *sigh* I hurriedly searched for one final dressing recipe for one last attempt at making what I desperately wanted to be on the kitchen table. I found a recipe. I was instantly unhappy with some of the measurements. I used it as a base and made up my own measurements. I whipped it all up. Taste test #3. Success!!!!

You will never know how happy I was to have a dressing that didn't taste like mustard or onions. Or both. Blech. {Now, I like both mustard and onions, but seriously, when you're looking for a sweet dressing, neither of those ingredients fit the bill.} My hubby came home to an upset baby and no dinner on the table, but his wifey was a happy one. :)

Sweet Poppy Seed Dressing
Adapted by Jessica Harwood

1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
5 Tbsp. white vinegar
2 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds
1 tsp grated onion {you want it as small as possible}
3/4 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix the sugar and vinegar together until the sugar was dissolved. Add poppy seeds, onion, ground mustard and salt. Stir well. Slowly add oil. Cover and refrigerate. Serve over green salad with candied almonds, mandarin oranges and mozzarella cheese. Or try on a fruit salad.
Yum!

Candied Almonds

My hubby is not a huge fan of green salad. He enjoys teasing my by calling it rabbit food and pretending to put up a big fuss about eating it. I say pretending because he will eat it and he doesn't complain about too much. He's so amazing about things like that. Eating food he isn't super fond of. What a guy! Anyway, even if he eats it, I know he doesn't love it. Usually I can tell by the portions he eats. Or his willingness to drench it is something non-heart healthy just so he doesn't have to taste the lettuce. Well, okay, he buys low-fat ranch dressing just for that purpose. Apparently the dressing tastes better than the lettuce, though I cannot possibly fathom how that could be the truth. :)

We've been participating in a program called Bountiful Baskets {I think I've mentioned this briefly before}. In almost every single basket there is some kind of lettuce. Even for a salad lover like me, lettuce can get kind of old. So we stopped eating a lot of it . . . . . . . and then we ended up with a lettuce stock pile! Salad is the quickest way I can think of to use it up so we had to have salad. But how to convince the hubby that it really is okay to eat salad every single meal {minus breakfast of course .... I don't think I could do salad for breakfast} for a week? Well, the only thing I could think of was making it different. I'm not always known for my creativity and thus I decided to just add a couple of elements to the typical green salad.

The experiment begins!

And it's a success!

These almonds are so so yummy. In my hubby's own words: "These almonds make the salad edible."

So edible, in fact, I got him to eat salad for his birthday!! It must be good.

Ha! Okay, really, they do add a nice, crunchy sweet bit of deliciousness to your salad. Do you have a hard time getting your fam to eat the greens? Try putting these almonds on and see what it does. Maybe, like my hubby, it will be just the trick. :)

Candied Almonds
Adapted by Jessica Harwood

1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cup slivered or sliced almonds
5-6 Tbsp granulated sugar {depending on how sweet you want them - I used 6}

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. {You can skip that step if you don't mind having dishes to wash. ;) }
Melt butter. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix the sugar and almonds together. Pour melted butter over almond mixture.
Spread the nuts on your pan covered with foil. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until slightly golden. Allow the mixture to cool. Break up the nuts and store in a covered container.
Serve over green salad or anything else candied almonds sound good on!



PS - Check back later for the other element I added to my green salad to make it "palatable". :)

Tuesday with Tierra (Macaroni Salad)

Hello Again!! What a beautiful Tuesday! So today I am going to be posting a Macaroni Salad recipe. Now let me tell you this is not like any Macaroni salad you have ever had. Its not like when you go to the deli. No this salad has a sweet taste to it. I actually made it at Jessica's Baby Shower and it was such a hit! My cousin Brook actually said she thinks its a cross between a Potato Salad and a Macaroni Salad.
Now this salad is kind of time consuming but totally worth it! My husband can eat platefuls of it, no exaggeration!

Macaroni Salad
Originated from my husbands grandmother, and then my mother in law, and then again changed by me lol

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon ground mustard
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup vinegar
1 cup water
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
Dash celery seed
4 cups small or medium shell macaroni
⅓ cup sweet pickle, chopped
⅓ cup bell pepper, chopped (i do not use this)
⅓ cup green olives, chopped ( i do not use this)
⅓ cup sweet onion, finely chopped (i do not use this)
4 hard-cooked eggs, chilled
½ lb. meaty bacon, fried and crumbled
4 oz. chopped pimientos, drained ( i do not use this)
Mayonnaise ( i do not use this)
Paprika

Directions:
In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, combine sugar, ground mustard, flour, salt, vinegar, and water. Stir until thickened.
Meanwhile beat 3 eggs in a small bowl and pour part of the boiled mixture in with the eggs stirring briskly. Once mixed well pour back into the saucepan. Then stir in butter and celery seed. Chill. ( You want to cook the egg but stirring briskly makes it so that the egg wont chunk up, if it does slightly thats okay)

Cook macaroni according to package instructions. Drain. Rinse in cool water. Chill.

To chilled macaroni, add chopped vegetables. Chill until ready to serve.
Just before serving, combine half of amount of dressing desired with equal amount mayonnaise. Fold into macaroni mixture. Stir in three chopped eggs, pimientos, and the bacon, folding gently. Slice one egg for garnish. Sprinkle surface of salad with paprika. (Keep in mind i do not do that mayo part, I dont feel like it needs it. However, my mom in law thinks it makes it not as sweet. So try both and figure out what you like.)

So as you can see there are a few steps to this.. but if you work it out where you make the sauce and pasta in the morning (which does not take long at all) then two of the steps are out of the way.
The cook the bacon and boil some eggs. Cut up whatever veggies you want in it and then when comes dinner time you can just throw it all together!


Enjoy!!! :D

Cheesecake Bars

I love a good cheesecake. But let's face it, cheesecake is a time consuming, difficult thing to just whip up whenever I feel like it. But I do still love it. And so when I saw this recipe for cheesecake bars, I was ecstatic.
Getting the cheesecake flavor in a more personal serving size?
Easier to make?
Still just as tasty?
Yes, please! 
When I made these, I ate them every night. And so did my hubby. And we took some to some folks. And we still had some leftover. And I couldn't feel guilty because it needed to be eaten, right? Of course, right. :)
And you know what else? These bars are fantastic with strawberry sauce. Just sayin'.

Cheesecake Bars
Recipe from The Sister's Cafe

Ingredients:

Base:

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

Filling:

1/4 cup sugar

8 oz. cream cheese, softened (Low-fat cream cheese is fine in my opinion. But if you don’t usually like it, stick with the regular)

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp milk

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 egg

 

Directions:

Heat oven to 350. In a small bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Combine flour and walnuts or pecans with creamed mixture. Reserve 1 cup for topping. Press remainder into bottom of ungreased 8″ or 9″ square pan. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned.

In a small bowl, blend sugar and cream cheese until smooth (if using fat-free cream cheese, mixture will be kind of lumpy, but it will cook up just fine). Add milk, lemon juice, vanilla, and egg. Beat well. Spread over baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake at 350 for 23-27 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator. Makes 12 small bars.

Tuesday With Tierra! (Fish Tacos)

Hello All!! Isnt it a beautiful Tuesday?! Finally! Well I just realized I am in Utah so maybe it isnt nice in Idaho.
Anywho, now I used to think fish tacos sounded horrible... who would combine fish and mexican food?! Well i finally decided to try one at Rubios and wow! I fell in love and became an addict on where to find the best fish tacos! Then I thought... well why dont I learn to make my own?! What a brilliant idea! The tricky part was finding a recipe that had the White Sauce that I have noticed on most the Fish Taco's I have eaten... cause most people just use tarter sauce, and I did not want tarter sauce.
Finally, I found an amazing recipe on Allrecipes.com So when I find a recipe on the internet I also read a lot of the reviews to get what other people suggest when making it.
So i will begin by giving you the original recipe and then tell you what I did.

Original Fish Taco Recipe by Allrecipes.com
prep time: 40 min cook time: 20 min ready to eat: 1 hour

You will need:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup beer (the alcohol will cook out, I did find some places that said you can use club soda instead, but that the yeast in the beer is what the key thing is)
  
• 
  
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, minced (i did not use this)
  
• 1 teaspoon minced capers (i did not use this)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed (i used 1/2tsp of parsley instead, dill weed is expensive)
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 
  
• 1 quart oil for frying
• 1 pound cod fillets, cut into 2 to 3 ounce portions (i used tilapia instead, its cheaper and was fantastic)
  
• 1 (12 ounce) package corn tortillas (i used white corn tortillas cause i like them better)
  
• 1/2 medium head cabbage, finely shredded

Directions: (in the picture: this was our line up of things, fish cut up, dipped in flour, dipper in beer batter, into deep fryer, and out onto plate lol)

• 
  

Directions

1. To make beer batter: In a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Blend egg and beer, then quickly stir into the flour mixture (don't worry about a few lumps).
2. To make white sauce: In a medium bowl, mix together yogurt and mayonnaise. Gradually stir in fresh lime juice until consistency is slightly runny. Season with jalapeno, capers, oregano, cumin, dill, and cayenne.(or season with just the things i did and make this earlier in the day and refrigerate, helps the seasonings to blend together)
   
3. Heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

1. Dust fish pieces lightly with flour. Dip into beer batter, and fry until crisp and golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Lightly fry tortillas; not too crisp. To serve, place fried fish in a tortilla, and top with shredded cabbage, and white sauce.
2. I also got some fresh salsa and sliced up limes for the fish tacos.
   
3. I served these with some rice.
   

As you can see in the picture the fish was huge for the tortillas, so my second taco i sliced the fish in half, long ways, and it was perfect! Along with the cabbage, white sauce, salsa and lime juice squeezed on there... this was a little piece of heaven!!

Will definitely make these again!! You can even just make the Beer Battered Fish and make homemade fries with it and some tarter sauce. Voila! Fish and Chips! lol My husband liked the batter so much he thinks i should try it on chicken lol We will see!

Enjoy!!!

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Have you ever had Taquitos? Ah, Taquitos, how I love thee. Thou art beautiful and lovely and DE-LI-CIOUS! And oh, so so bad for me. My taste buds love you but my hips hate you. And my heart hates you, too. And my hubby's heart. Actually, all hearts must have love-hate relationships with you because you are so good but so bad. I suppose I'll just only get you on special occasions when I think my heart is up to a bit more artery clogging.
But wait! Our Best Bites is come to my Taquito dilemma rescue! They have discovered a way to bake you in the oven so you are so much healthier and still tasty! Our Best Bites, I think you are my new favorite friend. Well, actually, you aren't new and neither is my love of your deliciousness. So just suffice it to say you are my favorite friend. Next to Taquitos, of course. ;)

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Recipe from Our Best Bites

Ingredients:
1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
 1/4 t chili powder {the recipe originally calls for a teaspoon but I'm a spicy wimp}
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic, or garlic powder
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions
2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated cheese {I actually used a mozzarella/cheddar combo because that's what I had}
small corn tortillas (and actually, flour ones are really good as well)
kosher salt
cooking spray

Directions:

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.
Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it’s soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.
You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.
Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or are coming unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.
Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.
Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.
Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.
Ooh, so creamy and tasty and delicious and not fried! :)

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Isn't it fun to pretend like you are a chef in an Italian restaurant? Especially when everyone {aka - your hubby} raves about your food as if it actually came from an Italian restaurant?  I love it when I cook something that makes me feel like a regular chef. This recipe will hit the spot exactly. It is so so tasty and surprisingly easy. I found it in an old Taste of Home's Cooking magazine I used to have laying around and I am super stoked that I decided to make it. Because now, whenever I feel like being an Italian chef, I have the perfect recipe up my sleeve.
And you know what? This would taste delicious with Tierra's Alfredo Pasta. Mmm, maybe we'll have Italian for dinner tonight. :)

Parmesan Crusted Chicken
Recipe from Taste Home’s Cooking for 2 (Spring 2006), Submitted by: Laura Babberl
Prep: 25 min. Bake: 15 min + cooling
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. garlic powder
1 egg
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. lemon juice

Directions:
In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, salt and garlic poweder. In another bowl, beat the egg. Place the Parmesan cheese in a third bowl. Coat chicken in flour mixture, then dip in egg and roll in cheese.
In a skillet, brown chicken in oil on both sides. Transfer to a shallow 1-at. Baking dish coated with nonstick cooking; drizzle with lemon juice. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until juices run clear.


And because this is Taste of Home and they are awesome, I even have nutrition facts for you. I know, I'm your new best friend. Or maybe not since now you know. Oops.
Nutrition Facts: 1 chicken breast=394 calories, 18g fat (6g saturated), 173 mg cholesterol, 830 mg sodium, 11 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 45 g protein

Parmesan Oven Roasted Asparagus

Have you ever known one of the vegetables that you just haven't had a good relationship with? You know the kind. The ones that always make you want to gag every time you eat them? The ones that just don't taste good. Period. You don't like it. Period.

Asparagus is that vegetable for me.
Or at least, it used to be.
Since discovering this recipe, I've made this several times.
And you know what?
I think I may actually like asparagus.
This is a big deal.

Asparagus was the vegetable that would keep me at the dinner table for hours after the rest of my family had finished eating. We had that rule that you had to eat everything on your plate growing up. And silly me. I'd save the worst part for last and by that time it was cold and even yuckier than usual. And I would sit at my chair. Refusing to eat it. For hours. Honest.
The sad truth is I don't remember whether I ever actually ate that asparagus or if my mom gave in.
All I remember is sitting at the table, tasting that cold asparagus in my mouth before it even passed my lips.

So you see, asparagus and I have had a hate relationship.
I hated it because it was terrible, awful, slimy, icky stuff.
It hated me because I refused to eat it.

And now I'm all grown up and actually eat everything on my plate because I know better. I also know better to eat my least favorite things first, though that's a different story. Anyway, one day we got a big ole' bunch of asparagus in our Bountiful Basket. And I thought, "Oh, really? What am I going to do with this?" See, we have this policy to try everything we get in our baskets, even if it's not something we usually buy or even enjoy. But with asparagus I was on the losing end. How could I bring myself to eat it? And then, as if the angels knew of my plight, a beautiful recipe practically fell in my lap. Well, actually it fell into my blog reader, but you get the idea. And I am forever grateful to Your Homebased Mom for this recipe.

I also just want to say that if you ever eat something you don't like, try cooking it a different way. That could change your mind.

Parmesan Oven Roasted Asparagus
Recipe from Your Homebased Mom

Ingredients:
Asparagus
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Parmesan Cheese
{there are no specific measurements because everything is to taste}

Directions:
Thoroughly wash and dry your asparagus. Cut about an inch or so off the bottom. If your asparagus is particularly thick, I recommend peeling the bottom half of the outer skin off. This helps remove the toughness that can come from asparagus. Place your asparagus in a small bowl and toss with olive oil. Place on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 350 degrees for about 7 minutes {this is the magic time in my oven - any less than that and it isn't done, any longer and it's too mushy - and trust me, you don't want mushy asparagus!}. At about 5 minutes, remove from the oven and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Return to the oven for remaining two minutes. Serve immediately.

Dinner in the Swiss Alps

Raise your hand if you ever need a quick, tasty recipe. {*raising hand*} Raise your hand if you ever get caught up in other more important things - you know, like crafting, blogging, playing - that you forget about dinner. {*Raising hand!*} Raise your hand if you ever have those days where you just don't feel like cooking. {*Raising Hand!!!*} Now, I love to cook. I'm a lover of good food and I especially enjoy my time creating in the kitchen. But even I have days when I just don't feel like cooking. I'd rather spend my time doing something else. This is the recipe I cook up on days like that.
It's so easy it barely counts as a "recipe". In fact, I'm sure my handsome hubby wouldn't call it a recipe. I personally like to call it a "cheater head recipe". So named because it is so delicious that people could be tricked into thinking you spent hours in the kitchen. When it was really only minutes. *sigh* Lovely.
I'll be the first to tell you that I have absolutely no idea why this is called "dinner in the Swiss alps". I haven't figured out the connection to the Swiss yet. Maybe they are uber-amazing cooks who work magic tricks in the kitchen and create amazing delicacies such as this recipe {if you could call it a "delicacy"}. Or maybe they just like delicious, easy dinners, too. :) Or maybe this has nothing to do with Switzerland. Maybe someday I'll figure out this mystery of mysteries. For now, I think I'll just eat it.

Dinner in the Swiss Alps
Recipe from Jessica Smith
Time to cook: approx. 20 minutes

Ingredients:
4 hamburger patties
1 can diced tomatoes with your desired flavor {I'm a big fan of the garlic and onion flavors myself . . . the Italian flavors are pretty darn awesome, too . . . the Mexican flavor gives it a nice kick - if you like getting kicked - which I don't - which is why I prefer the garlic and onion flavors myself}

Directions:
Fry your hamburger patties in a frying pan. Cook just until they are done.
Add can of diced tomatoes. Turn down the heat to medium low. Simmer for 5-10 minutes or until you just can't wait any longer and you must eat it.
Serve with a vegetable or salad and mashed potatoes. Or something else. Anything you eat with these will be amazing.

Variations: if you didn't want to use a can of diced tomatoes that has seasonings already in it, use a regular can of diced tomatoes and add your own seasonings. Or dice up two cups of fresh tomatoes and still use your own seasonings. You know, if you're feeling ambitious.
Seasonings that would be tasty: basil, oregano, cilantro, garlic, onions