Deep Dish Mexican Pizza

My kids love tacos and corn bread, so when i found this recipe it seemed like a natural combination. This is great for left over taco meat.

Preheat oven to 400
Cornbread-
1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup corn meal
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk
1/4 vegetable oil
2 egg whites or 1 egg beaten

Toppings:
Anything you would put on a taco-
I put taco meat, sliced olives, diced tomatoes, 1 cup of shredded medium cheddar cheese.

Mix the corn bread ingredients and pour mix into a greased 11" (deep) oven safe skillet, (I put mine into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake corn bread for 15 min. Remove from oven and put the toppings on with the cheese last. Put back in the oven and bake an additional 5 mins. Remove and serve with salsa and sour cream.


If you don't want make cornbread from scratch use 2 boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix. For those of you with smaller families, try 1 box of muffin mix in a 9in square pan.
I make 2- 9 x 13 pans for my family of 7.

Orzo with Parmesan and Basil

This is a fabulous side dish that goes well with chicken or any other meat you want. Plus, it is easy!

Photo courtesy of http://www.andreasrecipes.com

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cups orzo pasta
2 (14oz.) cans chicken broth
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped or 2 Tbsp. dried
Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions:
Melt butter in pan. Stir in orzo and saute until slightly browned. Stire in broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed--about 15 minutes. Mix in parmesan cheese and basil. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 8.

Banana Bread

This is the Best Banana Bread! It is from my friend Pamela, and I always use this recipe.

Banana Bread

2 1/2 C Flour

1 1/2 C Sugar

1 1/2 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 1/2 - 2 C bananas (about 3)

3/4 C buttermilk or 3 T powdered buttermilk and 3/4 C water

1/2 C shortening

1 t vanilla

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. (also buttermilk if using pwdr). In another bowl, mix mashed bananas, buttermilk (or water if using the powder, shortning and vanilla. Add banana mix to dry mix. Add eggs and beat on med. speed for 2 min.

Pour batter into greased and floured bread pans. Bake for 40-50 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on racks and store in gallon size ziplocks.

Note: I LOVE powdered buttermilk! I don't ever use it except for this recipe and if I use the powdered, I can have it on hand and not have to run to the store. Also, butter flavored crisco sticks are the easiest to use, cut and measure. No mess. I also make these into muffins. They bake in 30 - 35 min and are 130 cals per muffin.

Cheese-Garlic Biscuits

This is my friend Melissa's recipe for biscuits. They are really fast and easy, and I think that they taste just like the kind that you get at Red Lobster. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 c. buttermilk baking mix
2/3 c. milk
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c. butter
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Combine baking mix, milk, and cheese with wooden spoon until soft dough forms. Beat vigorously for 30 seconds. Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 450 for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Combine melted butter and garlic powder. Brush over warm biscuits. Makes 10 to 12 biscuits.
Sorry that there isn't a picture! I'll put one up soon.

Calzones

On a trip back from St. George we stopped at a little place in Cedar City called Bruno's
It's actually connected to a gas station... but I got a calzone there and it was so yummy!
I played around a little and this is what I came up with:
This recipe makes about 10 medium size calzones.
(It can be done with one person but goes really fast with a helper)

Make half a batch of bread dough (or make a whole batch and use half to make a loaf of bread, faux foccacia or bread sticks - more details on that later)

Allow dough to rise once before you cut it into 10 even parts.

About 15 min or so before dough is ready chop and prepare the toppings you want in your calzone. (cheese, Ham, pepperoni, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, peppers, olives, spinach, onions, artichoke hearts, BBQ chicken ... whatever you like or have on hand) Set it aside.

Preheat oven to 400.

Roll each dough ball into a thin circle. I like to lift and turn the dough as I go (I use a little pam on the counter and my rolling pin for my first one but the dough should not be sticky). Rolling it thin makes for a crispy crust and also allows it to cook quickly. It sould be about the size of a small plate.

Spray a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with pam and place the dough on the pan. ( I stretch it a little more here too). Put the desired toppings on one half in the middle, keeping it away from the edge. Wet your finger (you could use a pastry brush) and wet the edge of the calzone.

Stretch the other half gently over the top and press to seal the calzone.
Note: I tried to make these with sauce inside but could never get them to seal well, so now I serve sauce on the side.


If you want to identify what is inside you can use a fork to make initials in the top. When the pan is full, spray the whole thing with Pam and bake at 400 for about 13 min, until golden brown.

You can see in the picture at the top that I wanted to try once again to put the sauce inside - and it leaked...

These are great for a meal on the go as well as snacks.

Note: If you have two people, one can do the rolling while the other fills and seals.

Tips on storing veggies

This came from a recent Deseret News article shared by my Sweet heart:

Storage tips Not all produce should be stored in the same place, according to an August 2008 Cook's Illustrated article.

These should go in the front of the fridge where temperatures are warmer: berries, citrus, corn on the cob, melons, peas.

These do best in the crisper's humid environment: Artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chiles, cucumbers, eggplant, fresh herbs, green beans, leafy greens, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, peppers, radishes, scallions, summer squash, turnips, zucchini.

Store anywhere in the fridge, provided it's not freezing: Apples, cherries, grapes.

Leave these on the counter, as they are subject to chill-injury: Apricots, avocados, bananas, kiwis, mangos, nectarines, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapple, plums and tomatoes.

Keep at cool room temperatures to prolong shelf life: Garlic, onions, potatoes, shallots, sweet potatoes, winter squash.

Hawaiian Haystacks

I love this because you can please anybody with it!

2 c. white rice (or brown)
2 large chicken breasts, boiled & shredded (I just use a can of chicken)
1 can cream of chicken soup

Topping Ideas:
Chow Mein Noodles
Shredded Cheese
Tomatoes
Corn
Peas
Water Chesnuts
Pineapple
Celery

Cook rice according to directions. Set aside. Combine cream of chicken soup with 1/2 to 3/4 c of water or milk according to desired sauce thickness. Stir in chicken and simmer on low heat. Put toppings in separate bowls.

When it is time to eat, each person builds their own "haystack" by taking a scoop of rice, pouring some chicken mixture on top, and adding whatever toppings desired.