Spicy Southwest Chicken

INGREDIENTS
1 tomato, quartered
1/2 onion, cut into chunks
1/4 jalepeno
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 C. soy sauce
1 TBS lime juice
1/4 C. cilantro

2 1/2 lbs. chicken  (I like to cut my chicken breasts horizontally into cutlets.)

DIRECTIONS
Put ingredients in blender until smooth.  Add  marinade to a bag.  Add chicken.  Let marinade for desired time. (at least 30 min.)  Then cook on a grill, or you can bake them at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. (much better grilled!)

FREEZER DIRECTIONS:  Thaw, marinade, and then grill.

Serving Suggestions:
-corn on the cob or a fresh garden salad
-Spanish Rice  (see recipe below.)
-fresh fruit
or
- serve chicken grilled and sliced on top of a Southwest Salad with greens, corn, black beans, tomatoes, avocados, and ranch dressing.

SPANISH RICE

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup uncooked white rice
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cups water
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles
• 2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Heat oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Saute rice, onion, and bell pepper until rice is browned and onions are tender.
2. Stir in water and tomatoes. Season with chili powder and salt. Cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.

Roast Beef Sandwiches

Roast Beef Sandwiches - July

roast beef deli meat
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
shredded Pepper Jack cheese
hoagie buns

Saute onions and green pepper in 1 Tbsp. olive oil.  Slice beef in strips and add to vegetables when vegetables are almost crisp-tender.  Slice hoagie buns and arrange meat/vegetables on buns.  Add cheese.  Broil until cheese is melted. 

Side Ideas: salad (green, potato, fresh fruit, etc.), corn, green beans

SHREDDED SWEET PORK FOR CAFÉ RIO SALADS
1 3-4 lb pork roast       
1 can coke
3 cups salsa (I like La Victoria)
1 cup brown sugar

Place roast in a crock pot with the coke and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours. Drain off coke and shred meat. Combine salsa and brown sugar and toss with pork. Let simmer in crock pot for another hour on low.

CAFÉ RIO RANCH

1 1/3 cup sour cream            4 Tbl salsa verde
3/4 cup mayonnaise              2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 bunch cilantro                 1/8 tsp Tabasco
1 pkg Ranch dressing            juice of one lime

Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Store in fridge. It taste better if you make it the day before and let the flavors blend.

SALSA

4 Roma tomatoes Chopped into small pieces
½ of a White Onion Chopped fine
1/3 bunch Cilantro leaves, chopped
½ of a lime squeezed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon Seasoned Pepper Blend

Mix all ingredients together and let set a little while before you eat


CAFÉ RIO RICE

3 cups water                             1 can green chilies
4 tsp chicken bouillon              3/4 tsp salt
4 tsp garlic minced                   1 Tbl butter
1/3 bunch cilantro                    ½ onion, diced
1 1/2 cup rice

Blend cilantro, green chilies, and onion in blender. Bring water to boil. Add all ingredients. Simmer 30 minutes. (I just put everything in my rice cooker, I do not blend the cilantro, green chillies, and onions).       

To make your Cafe Rio Salad, fry the tortilla until lightly golden brown. Thaw and reheat the shredded Pork (you can do this in a crock pot, or on your stove top), place warmed pork on top of tortilla, then add black beans (I do one can of black beans and one can of water and heat on stove top use a slotted spoon to dish out beans), rice, cut up romaine lettuce, and top with dressing. (I usually buy one head of cilantro and divide into three parts, using some for salsa, some for the rice and the rest for the dressing).

Pork Egg Rolls & Pineapple Won Tons

Egg Rolls:

1 lb sausage
1/2 head of cabbage
1-2 TBL of freshly grated ginger
1 to 2 cloves of fresh garlic (grated or diced very thin)
4 green onions (diced)
Zuchini
Squash
Carrots
Celery
and ANY other veges you have available
Salt
Pepper
1 TBL of Sesame Oil
1 TBL of Soy Sauce

Brown Sausage with garlic and ginger in a LARGE skillet. Once brown, drain fat. Cut Cabbage in thin bite-size pieces. Grate all the other veges.  Put in cabbage and veges. Your pan will be overflowing with veges, but they will cook down quickly. Add Sesame Oil and Soy Sauce and Salt and Pepper to taste.  Place filling in wraps and deep fry until golden brown.

I know these are not great directions, but I learned to make these egg rolls from an sweet older Asian lady nearly 12 years ago.  She had no recipe, and I have modified her instructions over the past 12 years to suit our family taste.

Pineapple Won Tons

1 pkg of Cream Cheese
1/2 can crushed pineapple
3-4 green onions diced


Add the above ingredients together.  Make sure you squeeze out ALL of the pineapple juice before adding it to the cream cheese mixture.  Put in won ton wraps and deep fry until golden brown.

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: 

You will need egg roll wraps & won ton wraps.  Defrost the filling for the egg rolls and the won tons. Because cabbage has a lot of water, you will have excess water in your bag. Cut the corner tip of the bag and squeeze out the excess water. Use a spoon to fill the middle of the egg roll/won ton (It doesn't take much filling).  Fold the egg roll/won ton using the instructions on the package.  You will need to use a cup of water to create a seal on the egg roll/won ton.


SIDE DISHES:

We always serve the above with soy sauce for dipping and rice.  We also have the following salad with the other half of the head of cabbage and left over pineapple:

Chinese Cabbage Salad:  (Adapted to use the extra's from making the egg rolls/wontons)

1/2 head of cabbage
1 can of mandarin oranges (drained)
1/2 can of pineapple  (drained)
1 pkg of Ramen noodles broken up
1/2 cup of oil
1 T soy sauce
1/4 c vinegar
3 T sugar
1 pkg of flavor mix from Ramen noodles
(If I have any, I put some almonds or sunflower seeds in as well)

Place cabbage, oranges, pineapple, and noodles in bowl. In separate bowl, mix oil, soy, vinegar, sugar, and pkg of Ramen flavor mix together. Pour over cabbage and serve.

BBQ Ribs, July, Jen Kempton

Thought I was way ahead of the game when I bought the meat and now I see that the new ladies to the group beat me to it already.  Sorry ladies, I tried.  Anyway, they can always stay in the freezer an extra few weeks, right???

BBQ Ribs

5 lbs boneless pork ribs

salt and pepper to taste

2 c. catsup

2-4  tsp Tabasco Sauce  ( I used 2 in the meal, add more if you like a kick)

1 tsp allspice

1-1/3 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. vinegar

1/4 c. dried onion

Place ribs in a single layer in a large pan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  Cover tightly with foil and bake at 250 for 6-8 hours.  Drain all juices/fat.  Trim as desired.  Combine remaining ingredients and pour over ribs.  Bake, covered tightly, for another 2 hours.  ( I froze these after putting the sauce on them, so thaw and bake at 250 for 2 hours)  Happy eating!!

We love these ribs with rice or baked potatoes and a big salad.

July- Brown Sugar Pork Ribs

Brown Sugar Pork Ribs
 3lbs boneless pork ribs
 1 onion, chopped
 2 cloves garlic, minced
 3 T butter
2 T soy sauce
3/4 cup lemon juice
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
 1 cup brown sugar

 Place ribs in crockpot.  Cook on high 3 hours. Drain. Cook onion and garlic in butter until soft. Add remaining ingredients.  Pour over ribs. Cook on high 2 more hours.  Remove from crockpot. Allow to cool.  Place in gallon freezer bag. Label and freeze.

To serve: Thaw. Heat until hot throughout. Serve with rice.
Thanks for letting us substitute!!!!
 Sharee & Maren

Ham & Cheese Braided Loaf

4 tsp. yeast (1 heaping Tbsp.)
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup mustard or sour cream (I used mustard, but if you don't have it, or don't like it, sour cream works)
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cups flour + 2 additional cups flour
2 Tbsp. dry ranch dressing mix (I've used regular ranch dressing with a little less mustard or sour cream if you don't have the mix on hand)
deli meat (ham, turkey, or whatever you prefer)
cheese (the recipe calls for Swiss, but I used a colby-cheddar mix)
1 egg, whisked

Mix yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, and 1 tsp. sugar together.  Let sit a few minutes.  Add 3/4 cup warm water, mustard, sugar, salt, butter, and 2 cups flour.  Mix.  Add additional 2 cups flour.  Roll into a rectangle directly on greased cookie sheet.  Add meat and cheese down the center.  Cut edges into 1-inch strips up to the meat and cheese.  Roll in ends and "braid" strips.  (Don't worry - sometimes it looks really pretty, and sometimes it just doesn't; the girl the recipe came from says sometimes she just cuts the strips and kind of slops them together for a random look.)    Brush with egg.  Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 25 minutes.

**For your frozen loaf:  Make sure you begin thawing it first thing in the morning!