Fiesta Dinner Recipes

Here are the recipes from last nights Christmas dinner.  Enjoy!

Fajitas (serves 16)

Marinade

1/4 c Lime Juice

1/3 c water

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

4 cloves crushed garlic

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp liquid smoke flavoring

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp pepper

1. In a large resealable bag, mix all ingredients.

 2. Place 2 pounds of chicken (approx 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts) in bag with marinade and refrigerate at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

3. Remove chicken from marinade and grill over med heat, 4-5 minutes per side until nearly done, but slightly pink to avoid drying meat. Baste with marinade as it cooks to keep flavoring meat. Cut chicken in strips. (May freeze chicken at this point in order to prepare meat ahead of time).  In a large skillet, sauté desired amounts of onions, peppers in oil or butter just until tender . Add chicken. Salt minimally, meat will flavor vegies. Allow to warm through and finish cooking meat- 4 minutes or so. Serve on 4 inch flour tortilla with cheese, sour cream and other desired toppings.

Spanish Rice (serves 25)

1/4 c oil

1/4 c chopped onion

3 c uncooked white rice

4 c chicken broth (this is a little more than 2 cans, I just add more water or some of the bean juice)

2 c favorite salsa (needs to be somewhat juicy)

1 can pinto beans (drained and rinsed- May use black beans)

1 c frozen corn

1. Heat oil in large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, cook until tender (approx 5 min).

2. Mix rice into skillet, stir often until it browns. Stir in chicken broth and salsa. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until all liquid has been absorbed.

3. Stir in beans and corn and leave on low heat until heated through. Do not overcook or rice will be sticky.

Fruit Salad (serves 20)

20 oz canned pineapple tidbits, drained

3 red delicious apples, cut into chunks

1 pound grapes, sliced in half, (approx 2 cups)

4 bananas, sliced

2-11 ounce cans mandarin oranges, drained

1 small box Jell-o Instant pudding- lemon flavor

1. Make sure pineapple and oranges are well drained. Mix all fruit together in a large bowl, sprinkle lemon pudding powder over fruit as you stir, making sure all fruit is coated. You may not want to use all the powder, just enough to coat fruit. Cover with plastic and chill 2 hours.

Mexican Fried Ice Cream 

(Makes 32-40 balls, depending on size of ice cream tub)

 1 gallon or 5 qt tub of Ice Cream (which ever you can find in lg tubs)

4 c crushed  frosted cornflakes

2 c granulated sugar

8 tsp cinnamon

1. Place 1/2 c scoops of ice cream on a wax-paper lined baking sheet, forming into a ball. Freeze 1 hour or until firm.

2. In a shallow bowl or pan, combine cornflake crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Roll ice cream into crumb mixture to coat. Freeze until serving.

Speed method- requires 2 people

1. Freeze ice cream very firm, remove from freezer and let stand 5 - 10 minutes just until it softens enough to scoop balls.

2. First person makes semi-rounded ice cream scoops of approx 1/2 c size and place in cornflakes. May not be round and symmetrical. Second person rolls and coats ice cream well and then form into round ball. One person scoops, one person coats ice cream and forms into ball. Place on cookie sheet and re-freeze.

Serve with hot fudge and fresh whipped cream

Hot Fudge Sauce (Makes approx 3 cups)

5 Tbsp Cocoa

3 Tbsp Corn Starch

2 c granulated sugar

dash salt

1 c evaporated mile

1/3 c corn syrup

1 stick butter

2 tsp vanilla

1. Combine dry ingredients in a med sauce pan.

2. Add evaporated milk and corn syrup, stirring to mix well. Bring to low boil for 2-3 minutes until thick.

3. Remove from heat, Add butter and vanilla. Sit and cool. (May be stored at room temperature in plastic container. Lasts 3-4 weeks). 

Bee's Best

Click on this link:  Bee's Best  

to get a copy of Bee's handwritten cookbook that was shared in our October 2010 Relief Society meeting.

Red Velvet Cake

Here's another delicious recipe from Maria.

She didn't get to make it during our activity but she highly recommends we all give it a try.

Red Velvet Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting


1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 bottle (1 ounce) McCormick® Red Food Color
2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) round cake pans. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire rack.


Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
1 box (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar

For the Frosting, beat cream cheese, butter, sour cream and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Fill and frost cooled cake with frosting.

MMMMM! Being Thankful!

Every year seems to mosey along until Halloween. And then, for some reason, everything jumps into high gear, as if we're in a race to finish out the year. Why this always surprises me, I have no idea.

Well, I am thrilled to have the Thanksgiving season upon us. I love it. I love all of the wonderful things associated with it. (Even though the stores pass right over this most wonderful holiday and have been selling Christmas things for several weeks.) I love to pull out cozy clothes. I drank my first hot chocolate for breakfast this morning while up the canyon with my mother for a retreat. Looking around at the majesty of the mountains, with a little bit of snow hiding beneath the trees reminded me that in just a few weeks fall will be over. Our seasons are fleeting, so we need to love them for the few moments we can. I am grateful for little moments where I am reminded of all of the things I have been blessed with. I hope we can slow down for a moment and remember what we've been blessed with.

I also wanted to share one of my FAVORITE Thanksgiving recipes.

Sweet Potato Soufle

3 cups cooked and mashed yams
1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 t. vanilla
1 stick butter (1/2 cup) (softened)
Mix these ingredients with an electric beater until fluffy. Pour into a buttered 9 1/2 x 11 pan. Top with:
1 cup brown sugar, well packed
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup butter - softened
1 cup pecans
Combine ingredients and sprinkle over sweet potato mixture. This recipe works well doubled or tripled for large groups (but don't double or triple the topping). Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

What are you thankful for?

Autumn Memories

Do you ever just let your mind wander to see where it might take you? Sometimes my mind sees fit to surprise me with a journey back through a memory. I had that pleasure this weekend where we ran into old friends. It was wonderful to catch up on years gone by, how our children have grown, and hear about things from a neighborhood more than ten years ago. It jogged an autumn memory.

Our block consisted of homes where EVERYONE knew each other. It was quite diverse: young single people renting basement apartments, widows who had lived on the street for more than 50 years, large families, and families with a few very young children like myself. Religion was not a factor on our block. We were a block family. Each fall our block party was a gathering of treats, Little Caesar's pizza, and cider. We would talk until it was too cold to endure. A block favorite was the Azimi's Pumpkin Cake. It was always gone before dinner began. Last night I made Azimi's Pumpkin Cake for a gathering at my home. Just as I remember, there are no leftovers.

Azimi's Pumpkin Cake

Cream: 2 cups sugar, 1 cup oil

Add: 4 eggs, 2 cups canned pumpkin

Mix well. then sift together and add: 2 cups flour, 1/4 t. salt, 2 t. soda, 2 t. cinnamon.

Mix well and bake in a greased and floured tube pan. (I only have a bundt pan and it works just fine.) For a light colored pan, bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours and for a dark pan, bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove and cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: 1 stick butter, 1 8oz pkg cream cheese, 2 t. vanilla, 1 1/2 c. pwd sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.

If you use a large can of pumpkin, you'll have about 1 cup of pumpkin leftover and you would never want to waste that...so, here's how I use it. On my other "it's ok it's fall" recipe. When we lived in La Canada Flintride, California, my great friend and visiting teaching companion, Jeanne Mackay gave me this recipe. My kids beg for it. This was breakfast the next day. :o)

Jeanne Mackay's Pumpkin Muffins

1 c. pumpkin

2 eggs slightly beaten

3/4 c. sugar

1/3 c. oil

1 1/2 c. Bisquick

3 rounded t. pumpkin pie spice

Mix all ingredients until moist. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes for regular sized muffins. Yield: 12 regular sized muffins. Works well as bite-sized mini muffins. One batch is never enough.

Stuffed Peppers

As the harvest season begins to draw to a close, some of us are still picking tomatoes, squash and peppers. If you are a "pepper picker" here is a great stuffing.

STUFFED PEPPERS (GREEN, RED, YELLOW, ORANGE)

1 1/2 cups tomato juice (or V8)
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 T chopped onion
1/2 lb. lean ground beef, uncooked
1/2 cup grated cheese (or to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
4 peppers

Place tomato juice, rice, and onion in a pan over low heat. Cover and simmer until juice is absorbed (about 20 minutes). Combine rice mixture with ground beef, cheese, salt, and pepper and fill peppers (slice off tops and seed). Place in covered casserole or pan and bake at 300 degrees for one hour.
I usually double the batch and pile it around the peppers in the pan, as my family likes more stuffing and less pepper.

Fragrant Orange Chicken with Scallion Mashed Potatoes

Fragrant Orange Chicken
1 chicken, cut in 10 pieces or 4-5 chicken breasts ($6.50)
zest and juice of 3 oranges ($1.00)
1/4 cups honey
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. finely minced garlic (.10)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and black pepper
2 Tbsp cilantro - in season

1. Place the chicken in a large bowl. Combine remaining ingredients and marinate 2-4 hours.
2. Remove chicken 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place chicken in pan, pour 2/3 cup of the marinade into the pan.
3. Bake chicken, basting frequently, for 1 hour.
4. Transfer to a platter. Strain pan juices into a small saucepan and boil until thick. Pour sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with scallions. Serve with scallion mashed potatoes.
Serves 4: 590 calories, 19g carbs, 53 g protein, 156 mg cholesterol and 32 g fat.

Scallion Mashed Potatoes
2 pounds russet potatoes ($1.00)
4 Tbsp butter (.40)
1 cup milk (.30)
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 bunch scallions, cut 1/4 inch

Peel and boil potatoes. Mash all ingredients together.

Serves 4: per serving: 460 calories, 49g carbs, 29g protein, 80mg cholesterol, an 19g fat.
Total cost: $9.96 (including potatoes)

Sue Newbold