MAPLE WALNUT BLONDIE (APPLEBEE'S COPYCAT!)

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• Sauce:
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 ounce cream cheese (2 tablespoons), softened
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
2. In a bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and walnuts. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and brown sugar with a mixer. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour mixture a little at a time until combined. Stir in white chocolate chips. Spread into the 8x8 pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until center passes the toothpick test. I like mine a little on the gooey side. Remember right out of the oven they may seem gooey but once they cool they set up more.
4. Serve warm with ice cream and Maple Butter Sauce.
5. For the Maple Butter Sauce: In a small bowl add the butter, powdered sugar, cream cheese, and maple syrup. Blend with a mixer until smooth.
6. When ready to serve, heat the maple butter sauce for about 30 seconds in the microwave and pour over warmed blondie and ice cream.
Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything

SHRIMP SCAMPI

3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup butter, cubed

¼ cup olive oil

1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

¼ cup lemon juice

½ tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. dried oregano

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

¼ cup dry bread crumbs

¼ cup minced fresh parsley

Hot cooked angel hair pasta

In a 10 inch ovenproof skillet, sauté garlic in butter and oil until tender.  Stir in the shrimp, lemon juice, pepper, and oregano; cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until shrimp turn pink.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and parsley.  Broil 6 inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until topping is golden brown.  Serve over pasta.  Yield: 4 servings

CREAMY WHITE CHILI

1 pound skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½ inch cubes*

1 medium onion

1 ½ tsp. garlic powder

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 cans (15 ½ oz. each) great northern beans, drained**

1 can (14 ½ oz.) chicken broth

2 cans chopped green chilies

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. pepper

1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream

½ cup heavy whipping cream

In a large saucepan, sauté chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink.  Add the beans, broth, chilies, and seasonings.  Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.  Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and heavy whipping cream.  Yeild: 7 servings

ENJOY!! J

*I have substituted the chicken breasts for a few cans of chicken. ** I sometimes add an extra can of great northern beans.

BROCCOLI CHEESE SOUP

Broccoli & Cheese Soup 
4-6 servings 

Ingredients:


1 1/2 cubes butter
2-3 bunches of chopped broccoli
1/2 c. flour
3 14oz. cans chicken broth
2 c. heavy cream
8 oz. Velveeta
1/2 t. salt 








Directions:

1. Melt butter in saucepan and add chopped broccoli.

2. Heat on high for 3-5 min then stir in flour.

3. Gradually add chicken broth while stirring.

4. Cover and simmer for 10 min.

5. Stir in heavy cream..

6. Carefully (hold lid on blender, the heat WILL pop it off) blend soup and pour back into pot.

7. Heat and add Velveeta.

8. Salt to taste.

PUMPKIN BREAD

(this recipe makes either 2 large loaves or 8 mini loaves)

• 3 cups sugar
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 t. soda
• 1/2 t. nutmeg
• 1 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. cloves
• 1 1/2 t. salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 2/3 cup cold water
• 2 cups pumpkin
• 1 cup chocolate chips (optional, but recommended)

Bake at 350 degrees. If using a large loaf pan, bake for about an hour. And, if using mini loaf pans, bake for about 40 minutes. Poke a toothpick in the center of your loaf, when it comes out clean, it's done.

STUFFED PEPPERS

Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan
(Makes 4 large stuffed green peppers, recipe created by Kalyn when her market had a great sale on peppers!)

1 C long-grain brown rice (I used Uncle Ben's Brown Rice, but any long-grain rice will work.)
4 large green bell peppers, bottom trimmed, cap end cut off and diced, and seeds removed
1 large onion, diced
2 tsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
2 links turkey Sweet Italian Sausage (or other sausage of your choice. Use diced mushrooms instead of sausage for vegetarian version.)
1/2 tsp. ground fennel
1/2 tsp. dried Greek or Turkish oregano
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Cook rice according to package directions, or using a rice cooker. (Rice can be cooked ahead and used in this recipe later.)

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Trim bottom of bell peppers so they have a flat surface to stand on. Cut off a fairly generous amount of the stem end of peppers, then remove seeds. Place hollowed-out peppers in a baking dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray or olive oil. (A dish that's close in size to the peppers will work best.)

Remove stem part from the pepper caps and trim off any white membrane, then dice pepper caps and the onion into fairly small dice. Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a large skillet, then saute diced pepper and onion for 3-4 minutes, until they are starting to soften but aren't browned. Remove pepper-onion mixture to a bowl, add 1 tsp. more olive oil, then squeeze sausage out of the casing and cook until it's lightly browned, breaking apart with the back of the turner.

Put the onion-pepper mixture back into the pan with the sausage, add the dried spices, and saute 2-3 minutes to blend the flavors. Then add cooked rice and Parmesan cheese, season the mixture with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and cook just long enough to warm, about 1-2 minutes.

Stuff the filling mixture into the hollowed-out peppers, using a spoon to press the mixture down so it's tightly packed into the pepper shell. (A few years ago I stopped pre-cooking the peppers before stuffing, and now I prefer peppers that are stuffed raw.) If you have any extra filling, you can put it in a small ramekin and bake along with the peppers. Bake peppers for 30 minutes, then remove from oven and put a generous pinch of grated mozzarella on top of each pepper. Put peppers back into the oven and bake about 10-15 minutes more, until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve hot.

You can freeze leftover peppers for a month or two, although the frozen peppers will be a little softer in texture (but still very tasty.) I cut them in half top-to-bottom before freezing and freeze two halves in a small baking dish with a snap-on lid.

CAFE RIO SWEET PORK SALAD

Pinto Beans

32 oz. dry pinto beans

12 cups of water

2 tablespoons salt

1/2 onion

3 cloves of garlic (peeled)

In a slow cooker, place the half onion and garlic in the bottom. Pour in the dry beans and add the water and salt. Cook for 5-7 hours or until beans are soft and have turned a light brown color. After you are done cooking the beans, you can remove the onion and garlic.  This recipe can also be cut down if you don't want as many beans and don't plan on freezing the leftovers.

Cilantro Lime Rice

1 cup of Rice

2 cups of chicken stock

3 Tablespoons lime juice

lime zest

1/3 cup of cilantro (chopped)

In a heavy pot, bring 2 cups of chicken stock to a boil. Add lime juice and rice. Allow to cook until rice is soft but not too mushy. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Grate some lime zest over the top.

Slow Cooked Sweet Pork

1 to 4 lbs of pork (shoulder or butt...or tenderloin would work too)
2  15 oz. cans of tomato sauce
2 cups of dark brown sugar
20 oz. Dr. Pepper
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup of cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons of chili powder

In a large bowl combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, Dr. Pepper, garlic cloves, cilantro, and chili powder with a wisk. Place fresh or completely thawed pork into slow cooker. Pour tomato sauce mixture over the top. Cook on high for about 4-5 hours (or until pork easily falls apart).

Remove some of the liquid. (Be careful because liquid will be very hot) Use two forks to shred meat. It should shred easily. If it doesn't, then it needs to cook some more.

Tomatillo Dressing

8 tomatillos cut into large pieces
2 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup of cilantro
1 jalepena pepper (remove the seeds and top)
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch mix
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
3/4 cup mayonaise
3/4 cup sour cream
1/8 cup of Buttermilk

1. In a food processor or blender, blend tomatillos until runny and smooth in texture. Add garlic, cilantro, pepper, ranch mix, hot sauce, and lime juice. Blend.

2. Pour mixture into a glass bowl. Wisk in mayonaise and sour cream until completely combined. Add buttermilk. Stir well. Store in the fridge, tightly covered.

Note: I have found that if you use a food processor for the first part, the tomatillo is chopped up better and there are less chunks of tomatillo in your dressing.  This dressing is good for about 2 weeks in the fridge.

For assembly of a "sweet pork salad"...

Layer the following on your plate...

Hot pinto or black beans

Cilantro lime rice

Sweet pork

Lettuce, tomatoes, cheese

Top with...

Tomatillo dressing, mashed avacado

Yum! I guarantee you will LOVE this and probably eat much more than you should!