Summer Crab Salad

We were at the Farmer's Market, and we got some of the freshest ingredients to go into this summertime salad. Yum!

Summer Crab Salad

1 bunch spinach (washed and cut)

1 bunch Romaine lettuce (washed and cut)

4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

16 oz. chopped crab meat

2 radishes (grated)

12 oz can mandarian oranges (drained)

4 oz. craisons

8 oz. mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)

3 tomatoes (large diced)

Add all ingredients into large mixing bowl and toss till well blended. Serve cold with French bread, croutons, and your favorite dressing.

Mexican Meal

Here are four recipes to put together a Mexican Meal.

Steak Chimichangas

By David Huston

1 1/2 lb steak

Taco Seasoning for rub

2 tablespoons Olive oil

6 flour tortillas

8 oz. shredded Mexican cheese

1/2 cup Salsa (your choice of heat)

Rub steak with taco seasoning and let sit for 2 hours. Heat a skillet to medium high add oil and cook steaks to medium rare. Remove from pan and let rest for 10 minutes. Cut into dime sized cubes and place into  a mixing bowl. Add Salsa and mix well. Divide cheese and steak into 6 portions and place each portion on a flour tortilla. Roll with both ends folded in and place toothpick through tortilla to prevent from unwrapping during cooking. Deep fry each chimichanga 5 minutes at 375 degrees. Drain, remove toothpicks, and serve hot.

Queso

By David Huston

1 lb. Velveeta cheese

1/4 cup milk

1 red pepper (diced)

1 tomato (diced)

2 tablespoons Taco Seasoning  - See recipe below

In a double boiler add milk and cheese, melt till smooth, add other ingredients and reduce heat on boiler to low and let cook 15 minutes. Serve hot

Mexican corn salad

By David Huston

1 8 oz. bag of frozen corn (defrosted)

1/4 cup sour cream

3 tablespoons taco seasoning

1 Tomato (diced)

1 green pepper (diced)

2 stalks celery (diced)

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl and refrigerate before serving.

Taco Seasoning

By David Huston

10 T Chili Powder

3 t Garlic Powder

3 t Onion Powder

3 t Crushed Red Pepper

3 t Oregano

2 T Paprika

5 T Cumin

3 T Sea Salt

3 T Pepper

Combine all ingredients, store in air tight container.

Silent Sunday

Cheesy Bacon Mashed Potatoes

It was just my son and I for dinner last night, he had requested some cheesy bacon mashed potatoes. This was pretty easy to make. 6 potatoes peeled and diced, boiled until soft. Once drained, I added about 2 T butter and enough milk to make potatoes the consistency I wanted for mashed potatoes. Add about a cup of shredded cheese and chopped bacon. That's it.

The meat dish with it was a concoction of chopped beef, onions, herbs, tomato soup, and sour cream. Both were delicious.

Silent Sunday

Hawaiian Chicken Recipe

Here is another recipe submitted by my husband. He must of had Hawaii on his mind when creating this. This is chicken breast stuffed with tropical fruit, wrapped in bacon.

Hawaiian Chicken
By David Huston

2 Boneless Chicken Breasts

1 small can pineapple tidbits 

1 mango

4 slices regular cut bacon

paprika

salt

pepper

Cut mango into small pieces, place in mixing bowl. Add pineapple and mix well. filet chicken breasts about 3/4 way through. Stuff chicken with fruit mix and wrap 2 bacon strips around each breast. Place on baking sheet and season with spices. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until chicken breast reaches 160 degrees internal temperature.

And to make you wish you were in Hawaii....

Blue Monday

We had bought these at Sam's Club for the burrito/ enchilada fund raiser at our church.

Silent Sunday

Mint Fruit Puffs

Here is another recipe from my husband, he made this up one day for dessert. This is really tasty! the fresh mint really accents this fruity pastry.

Go ahead and top this with whipped topping!

Mint Fruit Puffs
By David Huston

4 sheets frozen puff pastry dough

2 peaches

2 bananas

1 lb. strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 bunch fresh mint

In a mixing bowl finely chop all fruit and mix well. In a blender chop mint leaves and sugar until mint is finely chopped. Add sugar mix to fruit, stir in and refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Thaw pastry dough. Spread out pasty dough and cut each sheet into quarters. place 2 full Tablespoons of fruit mix (drain excess liquid) onto the center of each square (should be 16 squares). Fold each square in half to make a triangle shape. Crimp edges to seal pastry. Place triangles on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. use a egg wash to "paint each triangle and lightly sprinkle sugar on top. Bake 350 degrees for 20 -25 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 16 pastries.  

Meat And Pasta Bake

 This dish was pretty much "make what I had available" dish. It did turn out to be a hit.
  I used a recipe in my cook book as an inspiration.

This dish has:

8 ounces of rotini noodles
1 pound of ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 10 3/4 ounce can of cream of mushroom (or celery, or onion) soup
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sour cream
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 T fresh chopped parsley
10 oz mixed vegetables (I used green beans , because that is what I had)
1/4 cup of crushed rich round crackers
   ---a.k.a. Ritz Crackers

Cook pasta according to package directions
Cook ground beef, and onion. Drain fat from beef.
Add soup, cheese, cream, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, and vegetables.
Add pasta to the beef mixture. Cook in a cover 2 qt casserole dish at 375 degrees for 30 minute. Uncover and the crushed cracker on top. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes more or until thoroughly heated.

Silent Sunday

Crabby Mac And Cheese

I have always been a fan of macaroni and cheese, we have a Seafood Macaroni and Cheese recipe, here is another version. This one has bacon in it. Everything goes with bacon.

Crabby Mac and Cheese

By David Huston

8 oz. Bacon (cooked crisp, drained, and crumbled)

1 lb. elbow macaroni (cooked al dente)

12 oz. crab meat (chopped)

8 Tablespoons Butter

8 Tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 Teaspoon salt

1 Teaspoon Pepper

1 Tablespoon Paprika

4 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Bread crumbs

Cook bacon, Noodles, and chop crab meat and set aside in large mixing bowl. On stove top for sauce: melt butter, then add flour, pepper, salt, and paprika, whisk until smooth. Add milk and cream, simmer till thickens. Add cheese, simmer and stir until smooth. Add to noodle mix and stir well. Pour into 2 qt. casserole dish, cover with bread crumbs and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Let stand 5 minutes, serve hot.