Mexican Pizzas

Mexican pizzas

Ingredients
1/2 pound Ground Beef, or Ground Turkey
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 15-oz can Vegetarian Style Fat Free Refried Beans
4-9-inch flour tortillas
1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
2 cups Lite 3 Cheese Blend
2 green onions, chopped
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup Extra Large Black Pitted Olives, sliced


Instructions
1.Preheat oven to 350°F.
2.Place meat, onion and garlic in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until beef is evenly browned. Drain off grease. Season the meat with chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper.
3.Coat 2 pie plates with non-stick cooking spray. Place one tortilla in each pie plate and cover with a layer of refried beans. Spread half of the seasoned meat over each tortilla and then cover with a second tortilla. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
4.Spread half of the salsa over the top tortillas. Top each pizza with half of the cheese, tomatoes, green onions, and olives. Return the pizzas to the oven, bake until the cheese is melted, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Slice each pizza into 4 pieces and serve

Happy Eating, Donna

BBQ Time!

I love a good BBQ. I love the smells, the food and the people. People just seem happier when there is something on the grill and it's a sunny day. Well, since I figured it was the last holiday weekend of the summer coming up I would write a post with some BBQ recipes on it. I know that you have your favorites but wouldn't it be great to try something new. So if you are looking for something different to put on your grill then you have come to the right place. I have scoured the internet looking for 'not your everyday grilled fare'.

Beef, Chicken, Pork, Fish & Seafood, Vegetables, Desserts, and Sauces
Click on a link to jump there or just browse through all of them. Enjoy!

BEEF
Drunken Steak - doesn't mean you will be.
Marinated Flank Steak - I might just have to try this one!
Garlic-Mustard Grilled Beef Skewers - I'm not a huge Bobby Flay fan, but these sound delish!
Morracan Rib Roast - How about something Mediterranean?
Summer Steak Salad - For those looking for the lighter side.

CHICKEN
Grilled Chicken with White Barbecue Sauce - will just have to try it one of these days, sounds pretty interesting.
Maple-Mustard Chicken Thighs - This one sounds yummy!
Grilled Buttermilk Chicken - When I make fried chicken I soak it in buttermilk first ;)
Cuban Mojo Chicken With Mandarin-Black Bean Salad - How about a little Cuban flair
Chicken Caesar Burgers - Another different option.

PORK
Tennessee Pork Loin with Nashville Sweet Barbecue Sauce - Sounds good!
Whisky Grilled Baby Back Ribs - I'm not sure if they really are amazing, but they look it.
Cajun Orange Pork Chops - What could be better than Cajun & Citrus.
Pinchos de Cerdo con Salsa de Guayaba (Pork Skewers with Guava Sauce) - wow, what a name!

FISH & SEAFOOD
Baja Shrimp Grilled Pizza - Looks yummy!
Citrus Herb Marinated Halibut - Grilled fish is a good thing, unless it sticks to the grill.
MESQUITE-GRILLED TUNA STEAKS - comes with a Chipotle salsa recipe too.
Grilled Rock Lobster Tails - Lobsters and Grilling makes for a great combo

VEGETABLES
Grilled Vegetables Recipe by Giada DeLaurentiis - There are a ton of vegetables in this one.
Grilled Artichokes - Sounds interesting
Grilled Corn on the Cob - This is a favorite in my house.
PORTOBELLO "BURGERS" - for the vegetarian option.

DESSERTS
Cinnamon Grilled Peaches - sounds like a great ending to a great meal.
TROPICAL FRUIT KEBABS - another great recipe for something different.
Honey Glazed Grilled Plums - A very simple ending to any great meal.

SAUCES
Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce - a personal favorite.
Neely's BBQ Sauce - Memphis Style from Down Home with the Neely's
Peach-Mustard BBQ Sauce -I am very willing to try this sweet & savory one!
Sweet & Tangy BBQ Sauce - sounds sweet enough

Even if you don't discover that 'it' recipe that your mouth is watering for just check out these sites for more great recipes.
Food Network
Barbecue University
Delish.com
AllRecipes.com
Cooking Light
Also, if you have a Pinterest account, come on over and check out my Grilling board.
Happy Eating, (and have a Safe Holiday weekend)
Donna

Pears On My Mind

I was strolling around Pinterest today and came across a recipe for Pears in Puff Pastry Dough. It just looked so good and rustic. I like rustic looking desserts. :)
It's something that I have always wanted to do. I've never had Dessert with pears and I like working with puff pastry so this looks right up my alley. I figured that since Pears were coming into season next month why not share with my fans on my Facebook page. I also figured that I would list them all here so that you have them for future references.
You are welcome to come by and post your own pear recipes and I will add them to this list. Or just leave a comment.


Pears in Puff Pastry Dough - the one that started this 'pear' journey.

Caramel Pear Dessert - Yum, just Yum!

Gluten Free Chocolate Pear Crepes - You had me at chocolate.

Gingerbread-Pear Dessert - Nothing says Fall like gingerbread anything.

Fiesta Pear Dessert - Fried Cinnamon-Sugar Tortilla, do you really need more?

Candy Caramel Pear Dessert - This one is really interesting.

Fall Fruit Pear Dessert - Easy and Simple, what more do you want?

Pear Custard Pie - Another one that looks simple and easy.

Caramelised Pear and Ricotta Dessert - Cheese & Fruit!

and last but not least head on over to Roxana's Home Baking she too has a list of Pear and Apple Desserts.

Don't forget to head over to my facebook page or leave a comment and share your own recipes.

Happy Eating, Donna

Spicy Pasta Skillet

We just had this for dinner and boy is it good.

It's called the Spicy Past Skillet and the recipe can be found here.
I did however double a few of the ingredients because I didn't think that it would feed our family of 5 plus leftovers for hubby's lunch the next day. I was wrong, but this is what I did. I doubled the broth, cream, rotel and pasta. It worked. It came out so good that the kids liked it and we had enough for all of us to have for lunch the next day. I can't wait for you to try it. Let me know what you think of it.

Believe it or not this is all we ate. I'm beginning to think that it was too much with a salad and a vegetable.

I think that I will try chicken next time. I will let you know how it turns out.

UPDATE: I made it with chicken and it was just as good. I also made it for my vegetarian daughter. I cooked the chicken separately then made the dish without the meat and used vegetable broth, after the noodles were cooked I took out her portion, then stirred in the chicken added the cheese as usual and viola! Vegetarian and Chicken versions.

Happy Eating, Donna

Taco Seasoning Mix

Did you know that you can make your own Taco Seasoning? Sure, just mix up the spices and store in an air tight container. I keep mine in a canister with a sprinkle top lid. I'm not one to measure too much so I just sprinkle it on whatever I'm cooking.

1 T chili powder
1 T ground cumin
1 T garlic powder
1 T onion powder
1/4–½ T crushed red pepper


Just put all ingredients together and mix it up. I usually double the recipe as it doesn't make that much. Now you have your own seasoning without all of that added salt.

Also if you are looking for other mixes to make there is a huge list of them here.

Happy Eating :) Donna

How to Crochet a Heart

Ok, really who knew it was that simple? I've been trying to make one of these and for the life of me it is a struggle for me to get it right. You can find it here. Now that I have the hang of it I will be making a ton of them. Barrette anyone?

Decorated Burp Cloths

I found out that my daughter's best friend's mom was having a baby so I wanted to do something nice for her. I don't really know her that well, but I like doing things for other people. My daughter said that she was having a girl so I went to work.

I started off with a pack of white cloth diapers and a bottle of Rit dye. I thought Fushia would be a good color. I then dyed them. Then I washed them.


I measured how in the middle area of the diaper where I was going to put the material. Length and width.


Then I took my material that I was going to use to decorate it with and measured 1/4 inch down and ironed it.


And along the sides.


Then pinned it into place.


I always pin a lot.


Then just topstiched all the way around.






And there you go. Cute, right?


I made a few of them. Getting more and more creative with each one.


Maybe next time I will try ruffles.