Shredded Beef Taquitos

This recipe was inspired by Mel the beloved's baked chicken taquitos.  I had cooked a two pound roast in the crockpot (I believe it was tri-tip roast, though I don't know that it would really matter), and we ALWAYS have a ton of left overs when I make a roast.  The night after the roast (which was cooked with cream of mushroom soup and dry onion soup mix and was perfectly wonderful and tender), I reheated the meat with a packet of taco seasonings and we ate tacos.  And we still had at least 2 cups of perfectly taco-tasty shredded beef.  I thought...."self, I wonder if mel has a beef taquito recipe?" Oh no she didn't!  But, she DID have baked CHICKEN taquitos and that's where our story continues....anyway here's the recipe.  It was SO GOOD.  I never EVER have used corn tortillas, but this was absolutely delicious and made me think, hey, I should find more recipes that call for corn tortillas.  AND I LOVE that this recipe was made from left over meat!  I love when you can make something new from something that would probably be thrown out in a couple of days!

2 C shredded beef previously taco seasoned
1/4 C green salsa
4 ounces softened cream cheese
1 T fresh lime juice
1 green onion finely sliced
1 C grated monterey jack cheese
small yellow or white corn tortillas
sea salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix softened cream cheese, green salsa and lime juice. Stir to combine and then add green onions. Add beef and cheese and combine well.
<You can prepare this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.>
Working with a few tortillas at a time, place 3-4 between two damp paper towels and microwave for 30-45 seconds, until tortillas are soft and pliable and don’t crack while rolling. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture on the lower third of a soft tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. Then roll it up as tight as you can. It totally makes a difference when you microwave them with the damp paper towels.  Don't skip that step. 
Place filled taquitos seam side down on the baking sheet, making sure they don’t touch each other. When ready to bake, spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and lightly sprinkle some sea (coarse) salt on top.
Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown. Serve immediately. Taquitos can be dipped in anything you like.  I mixed some of the left over green salsa with sour cream and it was dreamy.  Brian tried it dipped in regular salsa and liked that too!  It made plenty for a delicious lunch the next day too!

If you want, you can bake them for about ten minutes, take them out and cool them, then freeze them on a baking sheet for an hour, bag them, and you have insta-taquitos at your fingertips!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

YUM. You know it's going to be good when your 2 year old wont stop eating the dough, even before all of the ingredients are added. I love that they learn the essentials in life at such an early age. Yet another hit from Mrs. Mel.

*Makes 2 1/2 dozen

1 stick butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup of smooth or chunky peanut butter

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 sup granulated sugar

1 large egg

3/4 Tablespoon milk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In electric mixer bowl, combine the butter and peanut butter and beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy.

Add the brown and white sugars and mix until well combined.

Add eggs and mix for 1-2 minutes, until the mixture is combined and light in color.

Add the milk and vanilla and mix.

Add the dry ingredients and mix just briefly. While there are still large spots of flour, add the chocolate chips and mix until the flour is completely mixed in and the mixture is well combined. Let the cookie dough sit for 15 minutes before scooping onto the baking sheets. It will firm up as it sits.

When ready to bake, scoop tablespoon sized balls of dough onto baking sheets about 1-2 inches apart to allow for spreading as they bake. Bake for 10-11 minutes, do not over bake. Leave cookies on the sheet for 2-3 minutes after baking before removing them to a cooling rack. This will help them to set up and be firm enough to transfer without having them over bake in the oven.

Baked French Toast

The Winegar side all headed town for our annual trip to St. George to see the parade of homes. Mama Winegar assigned each couple a meal and I was in charge of breakfast one day. I liked this one off of Mel's Kitchen Cafe because it takes hardly any preparation and you can do all of it the night before so the morning of all you have to do it throw it in the oven. Be aware that the bread needs to soak in the egg/milk/brown sugar mixture up to 8 hours so plan ahead!

1 French bread baguette
6 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 stick plus 1 teaspoon butter
2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained (I used a bag of frozen mixed berries and it turned out great. I'll bet fruit that is in season would be even more awesome though)

Butter a 9×13 baking dish. Cut 1 1/2 inch slices from the baguette and arrange in one layer in the dish (about 6-8 slices). Whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup brown sugar in a large bowl and pour evenly over the bread. Refrigerate mixture, covered, until all liquid is absorbed by the bread, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

When you are ready to bake and serve, preheat oven to 350 F. Spread pecans evenly in a shallow baking pan and toast in middle of oven until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Toss pecans with 1 teaspoon butter. OR you can toast the pecans in a skillet in one layer over medium heat, stirring often. Toss with 1 teaspoon butter. (I did this the night before to save time the morning of.)

Sprinkle pecans and blueberries evenly over bread mixture. Cut remaining 1/2 stick butter into pieces and heat with remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar in a small saucepan, stirring, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Drizzle butter mixture over bread and bake mixture
30 – 40 minutes or until any liquid from blueberries is bubbling.

Makes 6 generous servings.

Poor Man's Stroganoff

I had my regular stroganoff on the menu for tonight but Mel's Kitchen Cafe posted this recipe so I had to try it. I'm glad I didn't wuss out and stick with what I was used to. According to Jake, bacon....good. Mushrooms.....good. He even helped out by chopping the onions and garlic and boiling the noodles. I love that man-o-mine.

1-2 teaspoons olive oil
6 ounces turkey bacon, diced
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 ½ pounds lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 medium red or yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
¼ cup flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 or 1 1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
½ teaspoon paprika
1 cup sour cream, light or regular
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried

Cooked egg noodles or rice, for serving

In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 1-2 teaspoons olive oil and saute diced bacon over medium heat until crispy. Transfer bacon to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside, leaving any grease/oil in the pan. Add sliced mushrooms to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, for about one minute (if the pan is too dry, add a teaspoon of oil as needed). Add salt. Continue cooking until the mushrooms are softened and have given up most of their juices. Transfer them to the same plate as the bacon.

In the same skillet, brown the ground beef or turkey with the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. Drain the grease.

Stir in the flour and tomato paste to the meat mixture and mix to combine well. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 1 minute. Add the beef broth and bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking to combine all the ingredients. Simmer vigorously for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is slightly reduced and thickened. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and paprika. Cook until flavors blend, about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add sautéed mushrooms and bacon back to the skillet. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the sour cream, mixing well to avoid lumps. Stir in the parsley. Serve over egg noodles or hot, cooked rice.

Quick and easy breadsticks

I was drawn to these breadsticks I found over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe because she said that:

1)they are fast (no long rising times!),

2)they are versatile (use what spices you have on hand!) and

3)they are really hard to mess up.

Can't go wrong there! Here's my adaptation for my little family.

*Makes about 10 breadsticks*

3/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter, melted (for the baking sheet)

Mix all ingredients (except melted butter) in a large bowl or electric mixer and knead for three minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread melted butter onto an 11X17-inch baking sheet. Roll out the breadstick dough about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick and cut into strips with a pizza cutter. Twist slightly if desired and place about 1/2-inch apart on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with garlic salt, herbs of choice and parmesan cheese. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown.

Slow Cooker Hot Fudge Peanut Butter Pudding Cake

This recipe is brought to you by one of my favorite food blogs, melskitchencafe. It has hot fudge AND peanut butter so I knew it had to be Jake's birthday dessert tonight! It was SO yummy, and SO rich. I don't love chocolate all that much, but those who do LOVED this recipe.

*Serves 6

Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup smooth or chunky peanut butter
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Topping:
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ cups boiling water

Vanilla ice cream for serving

Coat a medium round or oval slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center, add the milk, oil, and vanilla, and stir in widening circles, gradually incorporating the dry ingredients, until you have a smooth batter. Stir in the peanut butter. The batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the crockpot.

To make the topping, in another medium-size bowl, combine the cocoa, and sugar; pour in the boiling water and whisk until smooth. Gently pour over the batter in the cooker; DO NOT STIR. Cover and cook on HIGH until puffed and the top layer is set, 2 to 2 ½ hours.

Turn off the cooker and let it stand, covered for 30 minutes before serving.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.