Chorizo-Calabaza Tacos

Chorizo-Calabaza Tacos

Start to Finish 25 mins

Ingredients:
1 pound ground pork
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
1 1/4 cups thinly sliced zucchini (1 medium)
1 cup salsa
2 teaspoons ground pasilla or ancho chile pepper
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano or regular oregano, crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 6-inch corn tortillas, warmed
Chopped onion
Snipped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
Shredded queso Oaxaca or crumbled queso fresco

Directions:
1. In a large skillet cook pork and the 1/2 cup chopped onion over medium heat until browned, using a wooden spoon to break up pork as it cooks. Drain off fat. Add zucchini, salsa, ground chile pepper, oregano, cumin, and cinnamon to pork mixture in skillet. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, until the liquid becomes a saucelike consistency (but not soupy )filling and the zucchini is tender.

2. Serve pork-zucchini mixture in corn tortillas. Top mixture with additional chopped onion, parsley and cheese.

Makes: 12 servings Serving size: 1 taco Yield: 3 cups meat

Mole Pork Flautas

Mole Pork Flautas

Prep 35 mins Cook 8 mins

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh or frozen whole kernel corn
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved, or chopped tomatoes (2 medium)
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons canola oil
8 ounces lean boneless pork
Nonstick cooking spray
1 15 ounce can reduced-sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons bottled mole sauce
8 6 - 7 inches whole wheat or white low-carb flour tortillas

Directions:
1. Thaw corn, if frozen; drain well. In a medium bowl combine fresh or thawed corn, tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, and 2 teaspoons of the oil. Set aside.

2. Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into 1/2-inch pieces. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat skillet over medium heat. Add meat; cook until brown. Add beans, broth, the water, and mole sauce. Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Using the back of a wooden spoon, slightly mash beans.

3. To assemble flautas, spoon meat mixture along one side of each tortilla. Roll up tortilla; secure with wooden toothpicks. Lightly coat outsides of flautas with cooking spray.

4. Using paper towels, wipe out skillet used to cook meat mixture. In the skillet heat 2 teaspoons of the remaining oil over medium-high heat. Add four of the flautas. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes or until brown and crisp on all sides (remove toothpicks as needed). Remove from skillet and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining 2 teaspoons oil and the remaining four flautas. Serve flautas with corn mixture.

Makes: 4 servings Yield: 2 flautas and about 1/3 cup corn mixture each

Banana Walnut Bread

Banana bread is easy to make-just a few simple steps-and irresistible to eat. We recommend making a few extra loaves, wrapping in plastic, and freezing. Thaw at room temperature for an hour and you'll have fresh banana bread ready to go by the time everyone wakes up. Freezing individual slices works well, too.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed with a fork (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a liquid measuring cup with a spout and set aside. Lightly brush a 9- by 5- by 3-inch loaf pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand-held mixer) until light and fluffy. Gradually pour the egg mixture into the butter, while mixing, until incorporated. Add the bananas (the mixture will appear to be curdled, so don't worry), and remove the bowl from the mixer.

With a rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the nuts and transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool the bread in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Turn the bread out of the pan and let cool completely on the rack. Wrap in plastic wrap. The banana bread is best if served the next day.
 

Starwberry Jam Tarts

Strawberry Jam Tarts
Yield 30

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup salted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup strawberry jam, seedless
Powdered sugar for dusting

Heat your oven to 350F and have ready an ungreased mini-muffin or mini-tart pan.

In the bowl of a food processor combine the flour, sugar, milk, vanilla, and butter. Pulse until the mixture forms a ball.

Turn the dough out into a floured board and form into a log. Divide the log in half and divide each half into 15 pieces.

Place a ball of dough in the cup of a mini-muffin pan and, using a dough tamper or your fingers, press down until the dough reaches the top if the cup.

Spoon about one tablespoon of jam into each tart shell, making sure the tart shells are not too full.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tarts are golden brown and the jam is bubbling.

Cool in the pan for 30 minutes before removing to a rack to cool the rest of the way.

Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

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Caldio: Mexican Beef Stew

I learned to make this while visiting a friend in El Paso. I've seen it spelled a few different ways - Caldeo, Caldio, Caldillo. But no matter how you spell it it spells DELICIIOUS!

Ingredients:
2 lbs Beef Roast, cut into pieces
2 TBSP cooking oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
1/4 cup cold coffee (optional)
8 cups water-more as needed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
2 pounds potatoes, cut to bite size
8 Green Chilies, roasted, peeled and chopped
3/4 Cup of Taco Sauce
Butter
Tortillas or Crusty Bread

Directions:
Heat the oil over medium high heat in a 4 quart dutch oven. Add the meat in batches, browning each batch quite well. When the last batch is done browning remove and allow to drain. Add the onions. Cook for about 5 minutes or so then add the garlic, cook and stir for a minute more. Add all the meat back to the pot, then add the coffee and water to deglaze the pan. Scrape all the good browned bits up. Add the salt and pepper then cover and simmer for 2 hours. Check on the meat occasionally making sure it never cooks dry, add more water as needed to keep a soupy consistency. After the meat has stewed for several hours and is nice and tender add the taco sauce and the potatoes. Add more water as needed to cover the potatoes. Chop the chilies and
add to the soup. Simmer for another hour. Ladle soup into bowls along with a teaspoon of butter. Serve with flour tortillas or thick crusty home baked bread.

Homemade OxyClean

Save money on laundry booster with this recipe for homemade OxyClean.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide
1/2 cup baking soda

Mix together and soak laundry in it for 20 minutes to overnight and then wash as usual. Or you can just skip the water and pour the peroxide and baking soda directly into the wash with your laundry soap and wash as usual.

Family Guide to Groceries under $250 a Month

The average family of 4 in the United States spends more than $700 a month on groceries alone.

In the “2012 Family Guide to Groceries under $250 a Month" the author outlines how and where to cut grocery expenses to get spending under control while opening the consumers eyes to little known dirty manipulation tactics employed by retailers to seduce unsuspecting customers into spending sprees.

For many people struggling to maintain a budget, the cost of groceries is the only major expense in their control that can be drastically reduced without feeling a negative impact on their lifestyle. Liss explains in detail how to make simple changes that will not only pinch pennies, but help pinch Benji’s too!

Get the e-book for only $3.49.

Family Guide to Groceries under $250 a Month

Sinful Chocolate Cake

This is my FAVORITE cake! It is so rich and decadent it is sinful!

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
3/4 teaspoon fine salt
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1/2 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup Greek-style yogurt (you can substitute sour cream)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels
Powdered sugar for dusting

Chilaquiles Breakfast Casserole

This is a real crowd pleaser! I first had Chilaquiles at a fancy wine bar in phoenix for breakfast about a year ago, seemed like a good hangover cure for sure! Here is my version of this yummy dish!

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
4-5 C tortilla chips - stale is fine!
10 large eggs - but only use 4 yolks
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 (4-ounce) can mild chopped green chiles
1 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 C shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 C shredded pepper jack cheese
1/2 C prepared green salsa verde
sour cream, optional

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat a rectangular 2-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Lightly crush the chips and spread half of them into the bottom of the baking dish.

Whisk the 10 eggs (remember only 4 yolks!), milk, chili powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl until well combined. Stir in the chopped chiles, chopped cilantro, and 1/4 cup each of the cheddar and pepper jack cheeses; pour into the pan. Spread the remaining chips over the egg mixture. Bake until the casserole is set, 20 to 25 minutes.

Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of each cheese and continue to bake until the cheeses are melted and the casserole is set in the center, about 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Serve with the salsa and, sour cream, if using.

NOTE: if you don't have tortilla chips you can substitute corn tortillas. Leave them out overnight to dry out and cut into triangles.