Citrus-Pomegranate Quinoa Salad

Recipe by Our Best Bites

Ingredients:

1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1/2 medium red onion, minced
1/4 cup fresh minced cilantro or parsley
1 cup pomegranate arils
1 can garbanzo beans or great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water or chicken (or vegetable) broth
1-2 avocados, cut into small cubes (depending on how much you love avocado and how big the avocados are)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Dressing:1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 medium orange)
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 medium juicy lemon)
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1/2 medium juicy lime)
2-3 teaspoons sugar, honey, agave, or Splenda (just add it to taste)
2 tablespoons pure olive oil
1/2 heaping teaspoon kosher salt
A few cracks of freshly ground black pepper
1 clove minced garlic

Instructions:

Whisk together dressing ingredients and set aside.

Combine diced cucumber, minced onion, chopped cilantro, pomegranate seeds, and drained and rinsed beans in a large salad bowl. Toss with quinoa. Drizzle the dressing over the mixture and toss to combine, then chill until ready to serve. Before serving, add diced avocado and eat immediately. Makes 6-8 main dish servings and 10-12 side dish servings.

All credit given to Our Best Bites  food website. Very delicious dish, its a good one to try. 

Spicy Mahi Mahi and Mango Tacos

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 pound mahi mahi, rinsed and patted dry, cut into bite- size chunks
• 1 large ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon chopped red onion, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon seeded, chopped fresh red chile
• 2 teaspoons virgin coconut oil
• 4 (8- inch) whole-wheat tortillas
• 1 ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and coarsely chopped
• Lime wedges, for serving

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of the lime juice, 2 tablespoons of the orange juice, the garlic, chili powder, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.
2. Add the fish and gently stir to coat.
3. Let stand for at least 10 minutes, or cover and place in the refrigerator for up to 4 hours.
4. In the meantime, in a medium bowl, combine the mango, onion, cilantro, chile, and remaining 1 tablespoon each lime and orange juice. Stir gently until well combined.
5. Set aside in the refrigerator if you are marinating the fish longer than a few minutes. Let stand at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before serving.
6. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the fish and its marinade and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, turning frequently, until the fish is opaque.
7. While the fish cooks, wrap the tortillas in damp paper towels and microwave on high power for 30 seconds.
8. Gently fold the avocado into the mango mixture.
9. Divide the fish evenly among the tortillas. Divide the mango mixture among the tacos, spooning it on top of the fish. Serve with lime wedges.

Nutritional information

• Calories: 405.2 kcal
• Fat: 13.9 g
• Protein: 26.8 g
• Carbohydrates: 43.9 g
• Sodium: 409.2 mg

This Mama’s tips

• If you cannot find (or afford) mahi mahi, tilapia is a good substitute.
• Personally I prefer corn tortillas over whole wheat. Not only do they taste better, but they’re more authentic. But Jillian wants you to avoid starchy vegetables like corn, so I completely understand why she uses whole wheat tortillas instead.
• I’m shocked that there’s no cilantro in this recipe! In the The Master Your Metabolism Cookbook, Jillian writes that it’s a “form of natural chelation therapy, helping to detox the liver and remove heavy metals from the body.” Whatever the case, you cannot have fish tacos without cilantro, so add some!
• If you can’t find virgin coconut oil, use olive or grapeseed oil instead.

Bandito Sauce

must be a utah thing never heard of it but had it at RS

kinda taco salady 

Bandito Sauce

1 lb. hamburger

1 small onion chopped(I also added peppers)

2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. oregano

2 Tbs. chili powder (I think it needs more)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tsp. sugar

1 small can tomato sauce

1 small can tomato paste

1 cup water

1-2 cups cooked rice/Quinoa(The night before we had russian chicken we had

leftover rice that I had added part Quinoa in it when I cooked it, was good)

Brown hamburger with onion and peppers add seasonings and sauces and water. 

Let simmer 30 min. Add rice.  We put olives and red kidney beans in it also.  

If your going to freeze the meat you should probably not.

I think it would be ok to leave the rice in though.  

Let it come to room temp. before you bag and freeze.

Serve with chips(I used tortilla but I've heard some use corn chips and mix it altogether), 

chopped lettuce, salsa sour cream, chopped tomatoes, olives, kidney beans, cheese.

This would serve 8-10

Baked Potato slow-cooker soup

I went to  Mama loves food to find this wonderful baked potato soup that
is made in the crock-pot the recipe she has there is quite a large one so
I suggest you down size it for your family. Its one of those fix it and
pretty much forget it kinda dinners.  It was easy and everyone
liked it!

Dump dinner

Ok this is my version of the Dump dinner that is going around, saw it on pinterest.
sorry we didn't take a picture but its real easy to do
Most of these amounts should be varied by how many your serving

dump a bag of frozen chicken in your crock-pot
dump in a bag of frozen corn
dump in a can of black beans
dump in 1-2 cups of salsa
dump in 1 can of cream of chicken soup(reduced fat) add 1tsp of cumin and 2 TBL
taco seasoning in the can and mix before you dump.
dump one 8oz cream cheese cubed

Let it cook on low all day or high half the day you can shred or chunk it
or leave the chicken whole

I made rice to go with it kind of a mexican rice
brown in olive oil-1/2 onion, 2 grated garlic cloves and I had green peppers and a
jalapeno I chopped and added them.  Add 1 1/2 cups of rice brown a little add 3 cups
of water I added 2TBL tomato paste simmer on low or till done.
You can serve with tortilla chips, tortilla's and a little cilantro.
Was good!

Thai Peanut Salad

Thai Peanut Salad Dressing

from: our best bites

1/2 C peanut butter

1 lime, juiced and zested

2 1/2 t sesame oil

1 T seasoned rice wine vinegar

2 T soy sauce

3 T honey

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 T minced ginger

1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro (stems and all)

1/2 C vegetable oil

1/4 t kosher salt*

2-3 t sriracha chili sauce*(I used  Thai Kitchen Sweet Red Chili Sauce)

2-4 T water*

*The need for salt may differ depending on the brand of PB you use. Taste first and then add.

*I use 3 t Sriaracha, but you may want more or less depending on your preference of heat levels. Again, taste first and then add.

*Lastly, the addition of the water is purely for consistency which again, depends on the PB brand you use. Add water until you get the consistency you want, or leave it out completely.

Place everything in a blender and mix until smooth. Makes about 2 cups

I tossed it with some cooked pasta (linguine or spaghetti) blanched broccoli slice carrots and red and green bell peppers... serve cold...grilled chicken would have been really good too...

Pistachio- Crusted Chicken/with Garden Spinach and Spicy Carrots

Prep: 1-1/4 Hours  Bake: 35 MIN Yield: 4 servings
Chicken:
1 large sweet red pepper      1/4 tsp. pepper
1-1/4 cups pistachios            1 shallot, chopped
3/4 cup panko (Japanese)     1-1/2 tsp. olive oil
bread crumbs.
1 cup buttermilk                    2 garlic cloves, minced
4 boneless skinless chicken   1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
halves (6 oz. each)
1/2 cup crumbled goat           1/4 cup minced fresh basil
cheese
2 Tbsp. butter, melted            1/4 tsp. salt

Salad:
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. olive oil
3 cups fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup minced fresh basil

Broil pepper 4 in. from heat until blistered. Rotate pepper a quarter turn. Broil and rotate until all sides are blistered and blackened. Place in a small bowl; cover and let stand 20 minutes. Process pistachios in a food processor until ground. Transfer to a shallow bowl; add bread crumbs. Place buttermilk in another bowl.
Flatten chicken to 1/4-in. thickness; dip in buttermilk, then coat with pistachio mixture. Place on a work surface; top with goat cheese and basil. Fold chicken in half; secure with toothpicks if necessary.
Place in a greased 11-in. x 7in. baking dish. Drizzle with butter; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 35-40 min. or until a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees. Discard Toothpicks.
Discard charred skin from pepper; discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper in a food processor. In a small skillet, saute shallot in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add broth; heat through. Add mixture to the food processor; process until blended.
Whisk vinegar and oil. Add spinach and basil; toss to coat. Divide salad among four plates; top with chicken and pepper sauce.

Spicy Cooked Carrots 
1 lb. carrots                       3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced       2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
Salt                                    1/3 cup crumbled or thinly sliced Feta Cheese
2 tsp. hot paprika               1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
12 pitted and diced black or kalamati olives

Boil carrots in salted water until tender (not soft); drain and rinse with cold water. Slice or dice into small pieces. Smash the garlic with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add paprika, vinegar, and whisk in the oil. Toss carrots with vinaigrette, parsley, cheese, and olives. Taste for salt.

Chicken Taco Salad with Lime dressing

6-8 cups of greens(spinach, iceberg, romaine)
add any veggies you and your family like
cucumbers, tomatoes, shredded carrots, peppers...etc
1 cup olives
1 cup cheese
1 can beans drained and rinsed like black, red, pinto
3 chicken breast grilled, sliced or use a rotisserie chicken
2-3 cups tortilla chips crushed


Dressing:
3TBL vinegar I used rice vinegar
2 TBL oil
1 TBL sugar
1/2 lime juiced I used the whole thing
1 clove garlic crushed
1/4 tsp. salt
mix dressing, drizzle over salad just before serving. 
I think I doubled it to make sure I had enough

Baked Ziti III

This is from allrecipes.com 

Tried and tested very good!

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package dry ziti pasta
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 (28 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
• 6 ounces sliced provolone cheese
• 6 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream (use light or fat free)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• try layer spinach in it also

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown beef over medium heat. Add onions; saute until tender. Drain off fat and add spaghetti sauce; simmer for about 15 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. In a lightly greased 2 quart baking dish, place about half of the pasta; top with a layer of provolone and mozzarella cheese slices. Spread on a layer of half the spaghetti sauce mixture and sour cream.
5. Cover with remaining pasta, cheese and sauce; sprinkle a layer of Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
6. Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until cheese and sauce are bubbly; serve.

Spicy Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Hummus

Ingredients:

1 15oz. can garbanzo beans, drained
1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese
1 4oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained
(or make your own)
3 TBL. lemon juice
1TBL. chopped fresh flat leaf parsley I would probably use more
and maybe even cilantro
1/ 2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Place everything in food processor; blend till smooth, sometimes I needed to
add a little juice from the beans or from the peppers to make it a good consistency.