Indian Tacos

Growing up in Oklahoma, I remember going to the Fair and counting down the days until the next year.  My main reason besides the carnival and animals was the food.  At the Oklahoma State Fair they sell these tacos, Indian tacos to be more exact.  I love the bread, the chili, and the cheese.  I finally found a good recipe that looked easy as well.  Here's my attempt at Indian Tacos.


Seasoned Hamburger:

1 pound ground chuck or sirloin
Taco seasoning
1 cup refried beans

Frybread:

3 cups flour  (I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon powdered milk
1 tablespoon lard or margarine
1 1/2 cups warm water
Vegetable oil

Grated cheese, as an accompaniment
Chopped tomatoes, as an accompaniment
Chopped onions, as an accompaniment
Chopped green chiles, as an accompaniment
Chopped olives, as an accompaniment
Salsa, as an accompaniment
Sour cream, as an accompaniment

Brown the beef in saute pan over medium-high heat. Add taco seasoning, to taste. Add refried beans. Mix well and set aside.

For the Frybread: Mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and powdered milk. Add lard or margarine and mix. Add water to make dough soft. Refrigerate until use. Dough will keep several days.

In a heavy skillet, heat 3/4-inch of oil to 375 degrees F.

Pat or roll out dough into about 6 (1/4 to 3/8-inch thick) rounds. Slide into hot oil. Puncture once or twice. Fry until golden brown. Flip the dough over and fry other side to golden brown. Take out and drain on paper towels.

Spoon some meat onto hot bread and top with your choice of the following: cheese, tomatoes, onions, green chiles, olives, salsa, and sour cream.


The recipe above is as directed.  I didn't have time to make it as directed, so I just used canned chili instead of the hamburger meat and refried beans.  You can add any toppings.  They were really good and were very similiar to the ones that I had a the fair.

Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars

I still have tons of blueberries my deep freeze.  I was looking for a recipe that was different than a pie or muffin.  This one was very easy and was so good too.  I actually made it to take with us to the drive in movies on Friday night.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat flour)
1 cup unsalted butter (cold butter, use straight from the fridge)
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
zest of 2 lemons (you can also use orange zest instead of lemon zest)

4 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup of sugar
3 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  9x13 pan and spray with nonstick cooking spray
2) In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, flour, salt, lemon zest and baking powder.
3) In a small bowl, whisk the egg and vanilla together until combined.
4) Use pastry cutter or food processor to blend the flour mixture with the butter and egg/vanilla mixture.  (I just used my hand held mixer) Dough will be crumbly.  Pat half of the dough into the prepared pan.
5) In another bowl, stir together 1/2 cup sugar and 3 tsp of cornstarch.  Gently mix in the blueberries.  (I put the sugar/cornstarch/blueberries in a gallon plastic bag as this is how my blueberries were frozen)  Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust.  Crumble the remaining dough over the berry layer.
6) Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is slightly brown.  Cool completely before cutting squares.

Nutrition Facts:
24 servings

Calories - 191.6
Total Fat - 8g
Saturated Fat - 4.9g
Polyunsaturated Fat - 0.4g
Monounsaturated Fat - 2.3g
Cholesterol - 29.6 mg
Sodium - 74.2 mg
Potassium - 43.8 mg
Total Carb - 28.2 g
Fiber - 1.1 g
Sugars - 15.1 g
Protein - 2.1g
From My Baking Addiction: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/lemon-blueberry-crumb-bars/

Corn Dog Mini-Muffins

My kids love corn dogs.  I wanted to find a recipe that was made at home and less processed than the store bought stuff.  These were very easy and also tasted great.  This is a recipe that your toddler can help prepare.  (Thanks Nicole for the recipe)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (you can make your own by adding 1 T of lemon juice to 1 cup of milk)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
4-6 hot dogs (depending on how many hot dogs you prefer)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375.  Spray non stick spray on your muffin pans.  I used a mini muffin pan that makes 12 mini-muffins and then a pan that made 6 regular size muffins.

Add the lemon juice to one cup of milk so it can start to sour into buttermilk.  Melt the butter in a large bowl.  Stir in the sugar, eggs and beat together.  Add the baking soda into the milk and then add to the egg mixture.  Add the flour, cornmeal, and the salt leaving a few lumps.  Let it sit for a few minutes.  (this mixture was a little runny for me, but they turned out great)  Cut the hot dogs into fourths. (I made them into smaller bites since I have a toddler and loves to put too much food in this mouth)  Fill the muffin cups 2/3rds of the way full with the cornbread mix and drop hot dogs in it.  Cover the hot dogs with a little bit of cornbread mix, this will create a surprise when they go to eat them.  Bake for 12-18 minutes or until golden brown. 

Under Construction

I am in the process of moving all of my recipes from facebook to here.  This will give me the ability to add the search option on my recipes.  If you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know. 

Thanks,
Kendra

Skillet Penne with Sausage and Spinach

A friend posted this recipe and it sounded good.  I am not one for vegetables, but thought I should give it a try.  After making this for dinner, I was very impressed.  Andrew had 2 plates full and Christine had a big portion as well.  Even though I am not a fan of any vegetables, I would make this again!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of olive oil (I did not use)
1 pound hot or sweet Italian sausage (I used ground chicken sausage)
3 gloves of garlic (minced)
2 1/4 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
2 1/4 cups of water
8 ounces of penne pasta (2 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and chopped fine (I used sun-dried tomatoes, not in the oil - just dry)
1 (6 ounce) bag of baby spinach
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (I did not use)

Directions:

1) Brown Sausage: Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking (I skipped this step).  Add sausage, breaking it up with a spoon, and cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2) Simmer Penne: Stir in broth, water, penne, tomatoes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Increase heat to high and cook, stirring often, until penne is tender and liquid has thickened, 15 to 18 minutes.

3) Wilt Spinach: Stir in spinach, handful at time, and cook until wilted.  Off heat, stir in  Parmesan and nuts.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve.

from Cooks Illustrated

Hamburger Pie

We have alot of hamburger in our house so I wanted to try something new and fun. All of the ingredients are things we typically have on hand in our house. Andrew and Chris loved this and even had a second serving.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
2 packages (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent rolls
1/2 cup of corn or other veggie (optional - the original recipe did not call for any veggies)
Your favorite shredded cheese

Directions:
Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring often to separate meat. Pour off any fat. Stir the soup in the skillet.

Unroll 1 package crescent roll dough and press on the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Press the seams to seal. Layer half the beef mixture and half the cheese in the pie plate. Repeat the layers. Unroll the remaining dough. Place the dough over the filling and press the edges to seal, if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Inside of Hamburger Pie

Lemon Pasta with Chicken

We really like pasta in our house. Christine wanted to try this recipe. It was very yummy. Andrew had a whole bowl himself.

Ingredients:
1 pound dried penne (I didn't have penne in the house, so I used what I had)
2 chicken cutlets, cut into fingers
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
2 lemons, juiced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions:
Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, until al dente. Drain well.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a large grill pan over medium high and add chicken. Grill until golden and completely cooked. Remove to a plate and slice.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to a saute pan with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and saute until fragrant. Add the cooked pasta and turn heat off. Mix all together.

Remove pasta to a large bowl. Add chicken to the warm pasta and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle in chopped parsley. Add the juice of 2 lemons and mix. Before serving top with Parmesan.

Blueberry Muffin Tops

I love blueberry muffins, but I love the tops the best. My mom gave me a muffin top pan this weekend and after picking all the blueberries I wanted to give the pan a try. I love it. The muffins are so good and even the kids loved them. You can make the recipe into regular muffins or mini muffins if you do not have a muffin top pan.

Ingredients:


1) Special equipment: 2 muffin-top pans, each with 6 (4- by 1/2-inch) muffin-top cups (1/2-cup capacity)*; or regular muffin pans Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2) Place rack in top third of oven.
3) Generously butter muffin pans.
4) Melt butter in a small saucepan over moderately low heat, then remove from heat.
5) Whisk in milk, then whisk in whole egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined well.
6) Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, then add milk mixture and stir until just combined.
7) Fold in blueberries.
8) Divide batter among 12 muffin cups, spreading evenly.
9) Make topping and bake muffins: Use fingertips to combine topping ingredients until crumbly.
10) Sprinkle evenly over batter in cups.
11) Bake until golden, about 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
12) Cool in pans on a rack 15 minutes, then run a knife around edge of each muffin top and carefully remove from cups.
13) Serve warm or at room temperature

recipe from www.food.com3/8 cup unsalted butter (6 tbsp)
1/3 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries (12 oz)

For topping
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Blueberry Pie

I've never made a blueberry pie in my life. I wanted to make a pie with the blueberries we picked at the local farm. It turned out really good and was very easy to prepare. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

- 3 to 4 cups of Blueberries - fresh or frozen (without syrup) (3 cups if you like a thin pie, 4 cups if you like it a little higher!)
- 7 Tablespoons corn starch
- 3 Tablespoons water (or grape juice)
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- One 9 inch pie crust (see this page for the world's easiest flour pie crust recipe and directions http://pickyourown.org/piecrust.php!) or you can use a graham cracker crust (http://pickyourown.org/grahamcrust.php) I used a store bought to make it faster though

Spices:
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
One 9 inch deep-dish Pie Plate - (grocery stores sell both disposable pie pans and glass pans. Get the deep type!

Sweetener:
2/3 cup granulated (ordinary table) Sugar

And now, choose the topping you prefer:
Crumb topping (my preference, again):
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter or margarine

Dough topping:
See the pie crust recipe and double it to make extra to roll out as a topping to cover the pie

Directions:

Step 1 - Make the pie crust (I used premade)
Now is also a good time to get the oven preheating to 375 F.

Step 2- Wash the blueberries
Just rinse them in a colander or sieve in cold water, no soap.

Pick out and remove any bits of stems, leaves and soft or mushy berries. It is easiest to do this in a large bowl of water and gently run your hands through the berries as they float. With your fingers slightly apart, you will easily feel any soft or mushy berries get caught in your fingers.

Step 3 - Mix the dry filling ingredients.
Combine the 2/3 cup sugar,, 7 Tablespoons of corn starch in a bowl and mix well! Some people like 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and/or 1/4 teaspoon of allspice, mixed in, also. That's optional, but it is nice!

Step 4 - Mix in the liquids
Add the 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice, and 3 Tablespoons of water (or grape juice) and stir it up.

Step 5 - Add the blueberries to the pie crust
Add the blueberries to the pie crust. Just pour them in! There's lots of air space and it will cook down, so don't worry if they mound up about an inch (2.5 cm) above the edge of the plate.

Step 6 - Pour the liquid mix into the pie
Just pour the mixture of sugar, juice, etc. into the pie all over the blueberries. If it is a gloppy liquid, don’t worry, just pour it somewhat evenly over the top. But it doesn’t take perfection; it will smooth itself out in the oven.

Step 7 - Make and add your topping
If you want the crumb topping, just mix
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
together in a small bowl and sprinkle it over the pie.

If you want to the dough topping instead, roll out a circular section of dough that you made in step 1, to 1/8 inch thick, then place it over the pie. Seal it against the edges with the pie crust, and make decorative slits with a knife.

Step 8 - Put the pie in the oven!
Cook the pie at 375 F (or 190 Celsius) for 1 hour.

Step 9 - Remove when the pie is golden and pie is bubbling
Check to see if it is bubbling and crust is golden brown. If if not, check every 3 or 4 minutes until it is.

Step 10 - Enjoy!
Set the pie on a rack to cool and enjoy! Here is a slice of the finished pie! Serve warm with ice cream. Refrigerate after it is cooled. It easily lasts a week in the fridge.

Recipe is from http://pickyourown.org/blueberrypie.php
This website has tons of recipes, information on local farms, etc. Enjoy.

Stove Top Mac-n-Cheese

I have finally found a great and easy stove top mac-n-cheese recipe. I am not a huge fan of the processed boxed stuff and all of my attempts at crock-pot and oven versions haven't worked out. This was very easy and creamy. The recipe below is enough for a family of 4 to eat as a side dish. If you want it as a main meal, I would suggest doubling.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
6 ounces evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

Directions:

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Return to the pot and melt in the butter. Toss to coat. Whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir into the pasta and add the cheese. Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.

Recipe from the Food Network here.