Fajita Pasta Bowls Recipe

I didn’t think that this would be quite as good as it is, but I’m tellin’ ya, I could eat it at least once a week.

• 16 ounces egg noodles
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 1/2 cup Fajita Marinade
• 2 teaspoons Tapioca Starch (or corn starch)
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
• 4 chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1. Cook vegetables in 1 tablespoon of oil until tender. Remove from skillet and keep warm.
2. Add remaining oil to skillet and cook chicken until cooked through.
3. While chicken is cooking, start cooking the pasta. Most egg noodles just need about 7-8 minutes, so they should be finished at the same time.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream, fajita marinade, tapioca starch, lime juice and spices.
5. When chicken is finished, add veggies back to the skillet and then add drained egg noodles.
6. Fold in sour cream mixture and keep cooking just until heated through.
7. Serve with lime wedges.

Hot Artichoke Dip Recipe

It’s almost holiday time so that means it’s time for me to start making artichoke dip. Everyone loves it. Set it out with some garlic bread, melba toasts or even just a box of wheat thins and watch it disappear.

• 2 large cans artichokes, drained and chopped
• 2 cups mayonnaise8 ounce package cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon Tony Cachere’s seasoning OR
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce (like Red Hot or Cholula) OR
• 1 teaspoon Tobasco sauce

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Mix all ingredients in a 2 quart casserole dish
3. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.
4. Serve right out of the oven.

French's Crunchy Onion Chicken Recipe

Seriously, I saw this simple recipe in a magazine ad and thought, “Hmmm… Maybe?” I mean, I love chicken and I love those crunch little onions (I can sit and eat them straight out of the can and they’re easily my favorite part of green bean casserole!) so this recipe should work, huh?

• 1 1/3 cups French’s French Fried Onions
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 beaten egg

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Crush the onions in a bag.
3. Dip the chicken in the egg and then coat in the onion crumbs.
4. Bake 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Moist Banana Cake Recipe

Freeze a cake right out of the oven? Yeah, sounds crazy, but give it a try. I’ve made this cake and skipped the freezing part and it makes a huge difference. Freezer = super duper moist. No Freezer = still good, but not quite as moist and good. It also makes the frosting easier. I’m one of those impatient types that always tries to frost a hot cake.

• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3-4 bananas)
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 3 cups flour (cake flour works best but all-purpose turns out just fine)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup softened butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• Cream cheese frosting
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
2. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 cake pan.
3. In a small bowl, mix mashed banana and lemon juice.
4. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt.
5. Cream together the butter sugar and vanilla, then beat eggs in one at a time.
6. Alternately fold in flour and buttermilk, a little of each at a time.
7. Fold in banana mix.
8. Pour batter in the cake pan and bake for one hour or until toothpick or knife inserted in center comes out clean.
9. Remove from oven and cool in the freezer for 30 minutes.
10. Frost cooled cake and sprinkle walnuts over top.

Eggless Blueberry Muffins Recipe

These are egg-free and you can make them vegan by omitting the butter and using soy or olive oil margarine or oil instead. These can be made in the toaster oven. (That’s where I always make them). Makes 6 muffins.

• 1/8 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup blueberries (can use frozen or canned)

1. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix together melted butter, soy milk, applesauce and vanilla.
3. Add sugar and mix well.
4. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing only until the flour disappears.
6. Gently fold in blueberries.
7. Pour equal amounts into muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray and bake for about 30-35 minutes (may take longer depending on your toaster oven.)

Lime Chicken Wraps Recipe

• 2 cups cooked chicken, in strips or cubes
• 2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 cup corn
• 1 1/2 cups red and green pepper strips
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
• 1 cup baby spinach leaves
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 6-8 whole wheat flour tortillas
• Lime Vinaigrette

1. Put cooked chicken in large storage container with lime vinaigrette and allow to marinade at least 2 hours.
2. Whisk together mayonnaise and sour cream in a small bowl.
3. Lay tortillas out flat and spread with mayonnaisse / sour cream mixture.
4. Layer ingredients on tortillas evenly and in this order: chicken, spinach leaves, pepper strips, onion, tomatoes, corn.
5. Top with remaining marinade if desired, roll wraps up and serve.
6. If I’m in a hurry, I’ll use a can of Ro-tel, well drained, in place of the tomatoes and I will substitute part of the lime juice in the vinaigrette recipe for the Ro-tel liquid. Spices it up a bit.

Foil Pack Mexican Chicken and Potatoes for Two Recipe

My mom used to always throw a bunch of whatever she had on hand in foil, wrap it up and throw it in the oven. Sometimes it turned out well, sometimes (depending on what was in the fridge or pantry) it turned out really weird. This recipe turned out pretty good. The potatoes were tender and the juice looked like a lot coming out, but it was like a flavorful gravy to drag your chicken around in and both plates were clean at the end of the meal. Yum.

• 2 medium potatoes, peeled if desired, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 1/2 onion, sliced thin
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
• 4 tablespoons salsa
• ground coriander
• salt and pepper
• Cooking oil spray
• Lime wedges (optional)
• Sour cream (optional)
• Cilantro (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Tear off two sheets of foil in 1 foot lengths and lay side by side and spray with cooking oil spray.
3. Divide the chicken, jalapenos and onions between the sheets, arranging in the center.
4. Sprinkle with coriander, salt and pepper and lay chicken breast on top of potato pile.
5. Sprinkle cheese over each breast and then add 2 tablespoons of salsa on each.
6. Close foil by rolling up all edges, but leave some room inside for heat and steam to circulate.
7. Place both packs on a cookie sheet and bake for about 30 minutes or until chicken is done.
8. Cut a slit in the top to vent and slide entire contents onto a plate.
9. Serve with lime wedge, sour cream and fresh cilantro on the side, if desired.

Rice Noodles with Chicken, Carrots and Brussels Sprouts Recipe

This recipe takes a few steps and pots, but when you put it all together, it’s really worth it.

• 1/2 pound rice noodles (I like the flat ones)
• 1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 15 Brussels sprouts, each cut in half
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced very thin
• 1 tablespoon chili sauce (not that sweet Heinz crap, but like the hot cock sauce you see at Asian restaurants. OK, I laugh every time I say that. It’s like I’m 12 or something.)
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped

1. First, boil a large pot of water and then remove it from the heat.
2. Add the rice noodles to this pot of water and and let them soak for about 20 minutes or as long as it will take to make everything else…
3. Take 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter and heat in a skillet on medium heat.
4. Add Brussels sprouts, cut side down on one side of the pan and pile carrots up on the other side.
5. Cover and lower heat to medium low.
6. Do not stir or remove cover for about 15 minutes or until sprouts are tender and caramelized on the bottoms.
7. After 15 minutes, add garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes more, making sure not to burn garlic, then remove from heat and set aside.
8. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok or skillet over medium high heat and add chicken. Stir fry until completely cooked.
9. Add soy sauce, chili sauce and brown sugar, stirring until all the sugar is dissolved.
10. Drain noodles and add them to the wok or skillet along with the carrots and Brussels sprouts and stir fry together until everything is coated and uniformly heated.
11. Top with green onions and serve with more chili sauce if desired.

I’ve made this with a variety of veggies including onions, broccoli and asparagus.

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 8 ounce package softened cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Beat all ingredients until smooth.
2. Frost cooled cake, bread or cupcakes.
3. Goes great on chocolate cake, carrot cake, spice cake or banana bread.

Lime Vinaigrette Recipe

Have you looked on the back of your salad dressing bottle lately? I can’t believe how many unpronounceable ingredients some of them have. If that’s not your cup of tea, try this simple lime vinaigrette.

• 1 tablespoon lime zest
• 1 cup lime juice
• 3 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1. Whisk all ingredients together in a salad bowl.
2. Add salad ingredients (greens, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, green onions, carrots, whatever floats your boat…) and toss until all is coated well.

Fajita Marinade Recipe

• 1/2 c. olive or canola oil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup vinegar (try different kinds for different flavors)
• 1/4 cup lemon or lime juice
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. Mix all ingredients in a large storage container
2. Add meat and allow to marinade for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.