marinated grilled asparagus

I had grilled asparagus a while back at one of the restaurants here in town and it was to die for. I decided to buy some asparagus for the first time and try grilling it myself. I've been trying to incorporate different kinds of veggies in my diet, and asparagus is loaded with vitamins. If only it didn't make your pee smell funny. lol! This marinade turned out really good.

Ingredients

• 1 pound asparagus
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I omitted just because I forgot lol)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced 
• Cooking spray

Preparation

• Prepare grill.
• Snap off tough ends of asparagus. Combine all ingredients except cooking spray in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal and marinate for 30 minutes. Remove asparagus from bag, and discard marinade. Place asparagus on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 5 minutes on each side or until asparagus is done.

Just a tip for grilling: Instead of placing each individual asparagus on the grill rack, thread them onto bamboo (or metal) skewers to keep them from falling in between the holes. Some people recommend putting a skewer through the top and bottom, but when I tried this mine started to snap in half so I just threaded it through the bottom of each one. Should look like a little fence when you're done :) Or you could use a grill pan, I've resorted to this method the past few times, much easier.

dad's mexican steak & chorizo fajitas

Every time Tony and I go and visit my padre in Mexico, he makes this fajita dish for us. I'm pretty sure it's just something he concocted one day at random. It's marinated steak, chorizo (a very flavorful pork sausage with many seasonings), mushrooms, poblano peppers, onions, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Top it with sour cream and some homemade guac and YUM! I can't even begin to tell you how much flavor this dish has, you'll never want regular fajitas again! Mine turned out a little bit spicy because of the type of chorizo I used. If you can find fresh chorizo from a mexican grocery store, BUY IT! You add it to everything and it tastes soo good.. chicken, eggs, you name it! This recipe ended up making 4 servings worth of food. Enough for leftovers the next day!

 Ingredients:
- 2-3 marinated steaks (I bought montreal seasoned ribeyes and marinated them in a "Jack Daniel's Mesquite flavor EZ Marinade bag" for 6-8 hours, this marinade was delicious!)
-1 package chorizo (I found this at our commissary near the Bratwurst and sausages, the package I bought had 4-5 tiny sausages in them, some are just 1 big sausage)
- 2 onions, quartered then sliced
-2 poblano peppers, seeded and diced
- 5-7 cloves of garlic
-8 oz canned mushrooms, drained
-dash of Worcestershire sauce
-tortillas
-sour cream & Guacamole (optional)

 Directions:
-Grill marinated steaks just enough to brown/sear them on each side. You don't want them cooked thoroughly or else they will end up overcooked at the end. Set steaks aside. (You could also pan sear them using a large skillet if you don't have access to a grill)
- Peel the casing off of the chorizo, and cook in a large skillet over medium to medium high heat. (Make sure it's ground up with a spoon like you would do with hamburger meat.) Once cooked thoroughly set aside.
-Drain some of the chorizo grease then add in onion, peppers, garlic, and mushrooms to same skillet and sautee over medium heat until nice and soft. While veggies are sauteeing, dice up your steaks into tiny bite-sized pieces.
-Add chorizo to skillet and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-Add diced steak to skillet, 5-6 shakes of Worcestershire sauce, and let simmer for 20-25 minutes. This is where your steak will finish cooking, it should be nice and juice by the time it's done, not overcooked. I made that mistake the first time and overcooked it, turned out too dry haha.
-Add fajita mix into a tortilla and top with sour cream and guac. Dig in!!

crockpot chicken taco chili

Seriously, this is by far one of my favorite dishes to make. I made this recipe the other day so Tony could have something to take for lunch at work. I hate when they work him 12-13 hour days, but on a positive note I get to experiment with my cooking ;) It definitely tastes better the 2nd and 3rd day, when the chicken has had time to soak up some of the extra juices...then again chili is ALWAYS better the 2nd day! I'm sure this recipe would be good with ground beef or turkey too.

1 onion, chopped

1 16-oz can black beans

1 16-oz can kidney beans

1 8-oz can tomato sauce

10 oz package frozen corn kernels

2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies

1 packet taco seasoning

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp chili powder

24 oz (3-4) boneless skinless chicken breasts

chili peppers, chopped (optional)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro  (I omitted this as I HATE cilantro. Blegh!)

Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with fresh cilantro. Also try it with low fat cheese and sour cream.

-One change I did make while making this recipe is I boiled my chicken before I put it in the crock pot. I don't like the taste of the "chicken juice" that comes out of raw chicken when you cook it (weird I know lol), so I preferred to boil the chicken and shred it before placing it in the crockpot. It also reduced the cooking time greatly

robert's BBQ sausage and veggies

My father-in-law is responsible for this super easy and super tasty dinner. He is by far the best griller/smoker/BBQer I've ever met. One day I hope to be almost as good as he is ;).  I didn't actually watch him make it, but I saw sausage, BBQ sauce, and veggies and attempted it myself. I'm sure he smoked the sausage or something because he's just that good.

Anyways, for this recipe the BBQ sauce is what makes this dish. Plus all of the peppers are so colorful haha! I have the pleasure of being from one of the most famous places for BBQ and sauces. If you can't find a really great bottled BBQ sauce, experiment with making some homemade. The sauce I used is from Wal-mart back in Texas, I'm not really sure where all they carry it. This BBQ sauce is seriously the shiz. Will probably end up buying more online, this bottle won't last long around here. Now onto the cooking!...

Ingredients:
-a few tbsp of olive oil
-assorted bell peppers, sliced (I used 1 green, 1 red, and 1 orange)
-1 medium red onion, sliced
-1 package of smoked sausage, sliced (I used smoked turkey sausage, can't taste the difference but much healthier!)
-Your favorite BBQ sauce


Directions:
Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in bell peppers and onion, and sautee until nice and soft. Add in smoked sausage and cook until heated through (you could grill it instead for the extra flavor). Add in BBQ sauce and let simmer for 5-10 minutes..The amount of BBQ sauce is your preference really, I added enough to thoroughly cover all of the food and then maybe a little extra ;)

seven layer dip

Every once and a while Tony asks me to make dip with my homemade salsa. This recipe is a pretty basic seven layer dip with a lot of room for change, so adjust it to your liking. Seriously though, learning how to make your own salsa would benefit you for this recipe. ;)

1 package taco seasoning mix

1 can fat-free refried beans (I prefer a can of black beans, if you use black beans put the taco seasoning with the sour cream/cream cheese mix)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat kind)

1 (16 ounce) container light sour cream

1 (16 ounce) jar salsa, preferably some homemade salsa ;)

1 bunch chopped green onions

1 small head iceberg or romaine lettuce, shredded (I used chopped fresh spinach leaves)

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

-In a bowl, blend the taco seasoning mix and refried beans. Spread the mixture onto a large serving platter.  

-Mix the sour cream and cream cheese in a bowl. Spread over the refried beans. 

-Top the layers with salsa. Place a layer of lettuce, cheese and green onions. Feel free to add olives, bell peppers, whatever else you like!  

pioneer woman's stuffed mushrooms

My favorite stuffed mushrooms on the planet come from the Double Musky here in Alaska. These mushrooms from the Pioneer Woman take a close second and boy are these things good. I made these a few weeks ago for a house party, and they were ALL gone within 10 minutes! You won't be disappointed if you make these, trust me! :) I did tweak the original recipe a little for my liking and added some garlic butter (minced garlic and melted butter) over the top of each shroom after cooking, it's well worth it! If you want step-by-step pictures on this recipe, check out Pioneer Woman's link above, she has some great photos!

Ingredients:

24 ounces, weight White Button Mushrooms  (I used crimini mushrooms)

⅓ pounds Hot Pork Sausage (I used hot turkey sausage)

½ whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced 

4 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced 

⅓ cups Dry White Wine 

8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese (I used reduced fat)

1 whole Egg Yolk 

¾ cups Parmesan Cheese, Grated 

Salt And Pepper, to taste

Directions:

-Wipe off or wash mushrooms in cold water. Pop out stems, reserving both parts.
-Chop mushroom stems finely and set aside.
-Brown and crumble sausage. Set aside on a plate to cool.
-Add onions and garlic to the same skillet; cook for 2 minutes over medium low heat.
-Pour in wine to deglaze pan, allow liquid to evaporate.
-Add in chopped mushroom stems, stir to cook for 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. -Set mixture aside on a plate to cool.
-In a bowl, combine cream cheese and egg yolk. Stir together with Parmesan cheese.
-Add cooled sausage and cooled mushroom stems. Stir mixture together and refrigerate for a short time to firm up.
-Smear mixture into the cavity of each mushroom, creating a sizable mound over the top.
-Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
-Allow to cool at least ten minutes before serving; the stuffed mushrooms taste better when not piping hot.

easy texas chili

My dad taught me this recipe a few years back when I was first learning how to cook. It's super easy and doesn't take many ingredients. Perfect for that cold lazy day! 
I used to use ground beef for this recipe, but I've been on a ground turkey kick lately, and it tastes the same as using beef but it's healthier for you. This chili is even better the next day so feel free to make it ahead of time!

Ingredients:
1-1.5 lb ground turkey or beef (I used turkey)
1 fresh jalapeno, diced (or canned if unavailable, canned is spicier)
1/2 an onion, diced
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can hot Rotel (or mild/medium if you don't want it too spicy) 
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 can  kidney beans, drained
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 can of water
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
tomato paste (if it needs thickening)

Directions:
In a large pot or dutch oven, cook turkey, jalapeno, onion, and garlic until meat is cooked all the way through. Add Rotel, beans, tomato sauce, water, and spices to pot. Simmer on low for 3-4 hours, the longer the simmer the better! If you're in a hurry though, omit the water and simmer for 1 hour.