Pasta Salad

My friend Sher just shared this recipe she made up on Facebook. If I don't post it here, I'll never make it. But it looks delicious.


1 box rotini pasta (she prefers Rainbow)

Cook pasta, rinse in cool water until cooled.

Add:
1 can whole olives
1 container grape tomatoes
1 sliced cucumber
1 cut up red onion, add desired amount
1 container feta cheese

Mix together with enough Italian salad dressing to coat everything.

Also suggested, mozzarella cheese and cut up pepperoni.

Carne Asada

I had some requests to explain how to make this. It's pretty easy if you have the right ingredients, similar to a steak. This recipe was verbally given to me by my friend Fernando Morales Llan.

It is great for a BBQ, but you need to make completely different sides (beans, rice, etc.)

Here is what you need:
3-4 lbs of the Ranchero cut of meat
      *I usually get this from a Mexican Market. But if you don't have one, it is just flank steak thinly cut. About 1/2 an inch or slightly less.

Carne Steak and Meat Seasoning. I get this at the Mexican Market, but I've seen it at Walmart and Winco.

Directions:
I sprinkle the seasoning over the steak, covering it completely and let it marinate overnight.

The next day I grill the meat until it's cooked. Since it's so thin, it doesn't take long. I let it sit, for a bit, then I slice the meat and it's ready for tacos.

I serve it with Queso Fresco cheese (I get this at the Mexican Market deli.)

I also put salsa on it.

Grandma's Potato Salad

This recipe came from my Grandma. This is my favorite recipe and it's so much easier when I make this with an Instant Pot.

Original Recipe:
10-12 potatoes
1 dozen eggs (I usually do 18)
1/2 red onion

--Boil potatoes whole until fork-tender. Hard boil eggs. Peel potatoes while still warm. Dice potatoes and out in large bowl. Peel eggs and cut up and put in bowl. Add onions. Make sauce and add potato mixture. Salt and pepper to taste.

Sauce: 1 quart mayonnaise, 2-3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar. Mix and add to potatoes.

Instant Pot Adaptation:
I bought two Instant Pots just to make this recipe.

Cook eggs using the 6-6-6 method. Put the desired amount of eggs on trivet and a cup of water in Instant Pot. Start on manual for 6 minutes, NR 6 minutes, then put in ice bath for 6 minutes.

Put potatoes in other instant pot with trivet for 15 minutes, with one cup water, QR.

Cheesy Italian Tortellini

This is a recipe I got from my mom. The ingredients on this one can add up really quickly, but it tastes REALLY good. I use this one sometimes when I want to impress someone.

1/2 lb. ground beef (I use turkey)
1/2 lb. Italian Sausage (I prefer not spicy for this recipe)
1 container (15-oz.) refrigerated marinara sauce* (I prefer Buitoni brand)
1 can (14 1/2-oz.) diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings, undrained**
1 package (9-oz.) refrigerated cheese tortellini (I prefer Buitoni brand to anything else.)
1 cup shredded mozzarella or pizza style cheese (4-oz.)

Break beef and sausage into large pieces in a 10-inch skillet. Cook over medium heat about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until brown. Spray inside of 4- to 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Mix beef mixture mixture, marinara sauce, and tomatoes in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 8 hours. Stir in tortellini; sprinkle with cheese. Cover and cook on low heat setting about 15 minutes longer or until tortellini is tender.

4-6 servings.

*To make your own marinara sauce: Saute 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped onion and green pepper in olive oil. Add 2 1/2 cups canned tomatoes (or fresh), 1/2 tsp. oregano and 1 Tbsp. chopped parsley. (If using fresh tomatoes add 1/2 tsp. salt.) Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (FOR THE RECORD: I have never made this sauce recipe because I think it sounds gross.)
**A can of plain-diced tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasonings can be used.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

This recipe is from the food blog, the Girl Who Ate Everything. It's a great "fancy" dessert.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs

Filling:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 large box (5.1 ounces) vanilla instant pudding
• 3 cups milk

Topping:

• 1 8 oz . container cool whip (just enough for a thin layer. I don't use the whole container) or one batch of homemade whipped cream
• chocolate syrup or homemade chocolate sauce

1. Instructions:
2. Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9"X13" glass baking pan.
3. For the Eclair Crust: In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. Mixture will be very wet. *If the sides of your pan are too greased you won't be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides so make sure to just lightly grease. No big deal but I like the crust to go up the sides a bit.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown (Mine only took 25 minutes.) You may want to check it occasionally-you don't want to overcook the crust, it will ruin the cake! Remove from oven and let cool (don't touch or push bubbles down).
5. For the Filling: Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl. In separate bowl make vanilla pudding by beating the pudding mix and the milk for 3 minutes and put in the fridge until set. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly add pudding to cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in fridge.When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in. Top with layer of cool whip however thick you want it. Serve with a drizzle of chocolate syrup. *If you want to make this even better use homemade whipped cream.

Guava Cake

I'm not sure where this recipe came from, but we've had it for about 20 years.

1 pkg. white cake mix

1 can frozen concentrate guava juice, mixed with only 2 cans water (NOT PREMADE)

Bake according to package directions, substituting guava juice for water.

Frosting

8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 small pkg. Cool Whip

In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla and beat in. Slowly fold in the Cool whip and refrigerate until ready to use.

Gel Guava Topping:

2 cups guava juice

½ cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

In a medium saucepan, bring the guava juice and sugar to boil. Make a paste out of the cornstarch and a small amount of water. Remove guava juice from heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Return to heat and bring back to boil and boil for one minute. Cool in refrigerator.

Assembly:

To assemble cake: Ice the cake with all of the cream cheese mixture. Glaze the top of cake with guava gel. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Barbara's Baked Beans

After messing around with this recipe, I've concluded that this is the best combo of ingredients to get the best taste.

Need:
2 Cans Bush's Baked Beans
1 Bottle Bull's Eye BBQ sauce
Liquid Smoke

--In a bowl combine the 2 cans of beans. Then add the Bull's Eye and Liquid Smoke to taste. It is better to use at least half the Bull's Eye and only a little bit of the liquid smoke. Use no more than a tablespoon of liquid smoke. Using too much will cause the beans to be runny. Mix together and bake in oven @ 325 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours in the oven.

Overnight Blueberry French Toast

   12 slices day-old bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
    2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
    1 cup fresh blueberries
    12 eggs, beaten
    2 cups milk
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1/3 cup maple syrup
    1 cup white sugar
    2 tablespoons cornstarch
    1 cup water
    1 cup fresh blueberries

Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with remaining bread cubes.
In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.
In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter, and pour over the baked French toast.