Cafe Rio Pork, Salad Dressing, and Pico

If you are from Utah, you probably find yourself from time to time craving some Cafe Rio. For me it is their pork tacos or salads. When I came across this recipe I went into it a little skeptical, but it is so good that you don't notice whether its the real thing or not. You have to try this recipe!!!

Pork

Ingredients

• 3 - 4 lb pork roast
• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 1 small can green chilies
  
• 1/4 can coke or Dr. Pepper (3.0z I used Caffeine Free Dr. Pepper. DO NOT use diet)
• 1/2 jar salsa (I used plain old pace picante sauce)
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 jar Red Taco sauce

Directions

Put onion and pork into crock pot for 6 hours. Drain the liquid and the onions, clean the pot a bit, and shred up the pork. Put the pork back into the crock pot along with the other ingredients and cook for an additional 3 hours (I put mine on the 8 hour setting and let it cook 3.5 hours)

Sorry, all pictures are of leftovers; I forgot to take them day of

Cafe Rio Dressing (makes a lot. You could easily half this recipe and have more than enough dressing)

• 1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
• 3 tomatillos (remove papery skin), rough chop
• 1 cup mayo
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup (or more) cilantro, rough chop
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp green Tabasco sauce
• juice from 1 lime

Dump everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate in air-tight container.

Pico De Gallo

• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro, minced
  
• 1/2 sweet onion, minced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
  
• about 1/3-1/2 cup vinegar (use your best judgment)
  
• salt and pepper

Mix it up really well and refrigerate. (I forgot the onion and it was still good. Next time I'll remember it and add a jalapeno).


Jordan doesn't like chunky tomatoes so I put it in the blender and it was excellent that way as well.


Lime Cilantro Rice

• 3 cups water
• 3 cups instant rice
• juice from 1-2 limes
• chopped cilantro

Boil water and lime juice. Add rice and cilantro, cover and remove from heat.

Additional Ingredients

• Uncooked tortillas (This is a must!!!! You can find them at Costco or your regular grocery store in the refrigerated section.)
• Lettuce
• Sour Cream
• Black Beans
• Cheese
• Avocado
• Tortilla Chips

Cook your tortillas (usually 30 second s per side), put meat, salad dressing, pico, rice, sour cream, black beans, cheese, avocado, and lettuce on. Enjoy with a side of chips and salsa!

Sweet and Sour Meetballs

This recipe isn't that healthy but it sure is good! Everyone in our house loves it (Hubby just informed me he would give it six out of five stars) and there are hardly ever leftovers! I don't know of anyone who made these except my mom and I was lucky enough to have her send it to me days before her passing so its definitely comfort food to me.


1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cut rolled oats
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 cup onion finely chopped
3/4 tea salt
Few grains pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup milk

Combine all ingredients; mix well. Form into balls, each about 2 inches in diameter.
Place in casserole dish in a single layer.
Cover with sauce (below)

Sauce:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp prepared mustard
1/4 c barbecue sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
Combine all ingredients and blend thoroughly.
Pour over meatballs

350 degrees
30 minutes

Serve over rice

Ultra Lowfat Lasagna

This recipe was delicious! Hubby gave it 4 out of 5 stars but I would give it 5 myself!

Ultra Lowfat Lasagna*

Ingredients:
Nonfat nonstick cooking spray
1/2 pound ground turkey breast
1 jar (26 ounces) lowfat pasta sauce (2 grams of fat or less per 1/2 cup serving)
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
3 tablespoons dry onion flakes
2 cloves fresh garlic, pressed
2 teaspoons parsley
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 of fell pepper, chopped fine
1 carton (16 ounces) 1-percent cottage cheese (I couldn't find 1% so I used skim)
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg product
6 oven-ready lasagna noodles
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup fat-free sour cream
1/3 cup fat-free Parmesan cheese
salt and black pepper

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Spray skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Brown ground turkey breast, then add pasta sauce, mushrooms, onion flakes, garlic, parsley, oregano, and bell pepper. Simmer and stir occasionally over low heat for about 10 minutes.

In medium bowl, combine cottage cheese and egg product, and stir.

Spray 11x7 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray. Place on layer of oven-ready noodles on the bottom. Add half of meat mixture, then add another layer of noodles. Pour cottage cheese mixture in next. Add a layer of grated fat-free mozzarella cheese and then sour cream. Add another layer of noodles and top with the remaining meat mixture. Top entire casserole with Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.

Makes 8 servings (My serving didn't scoop up nicely, my Dad did it and has no feeling in his hand, but each serving is PLENTY of food!)

Nutritional information per serving
266 Calories
26.4 g Protein
32.3 g Carbohydrate
3.1 g Fat
1.12 g Saturated fat
24 mg Cholesterol


Diabetic exchanges: Starch, 1.5; lean protein, 2; vegetable, 2

I served this with salad, french bread, and a glass of skim milk. This brought the whole meal's calories to just about 600!



* From "Real Food for People with Diabetes" by Doris Cross with Alice Williams

Paprika Chicken

I tried this recipe on Sunday and it was a pretty big hit.

Paprika Chicken*

1/3 C flour
1 T paprika
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
Nonfat nonstick cooking spray
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3 oz each)
1 large onion, chopped
2 1/2 C fat-free chicken broth
1 chicken bouillon cube, dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup light sour cream
2 T flour

Mix 1/3 cup flour, paprika, salt, and pepper. Spray large skillet well with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Coat chicken breasts in flour mixture and brown on both sides in heated skillet. Cover chicken breasts with chopped onion. Pour 1 cup chicken broth and the bouillon over chicken and onions. Cover skillet and reduce heat to low. Simmer until chicken is done, 20 to 30 minutes.

Place cooked chicken on hot platter. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups chicken broth and sour cream to drippings in skillet. Stir well over medium heat. Use a whisk or fork to stir in 2 tablespoons flour. Continue stirring until thickened. Pour over chicken. Serve over rice.

I also served rolls and peas with the meal and it rounded it out quite nicely. I didn't check to see exactly how many calories the entire meal had, but it was around 500.

Here is the nutrition information for the chicken alone.

272 Calories
7.2 g Fat
31.4 g Protein
3.19 g Saturated fat
19.1 g Carbohydrate
85 mg Cholesterol

Diabetic exchanges: Lean meat, 4; starch, 3/4

Hubby score: ****




*Recipe from "Real Food for People with Diabetes" by Doris Cross with Alice Williams

Shepards Pie

Again, from my Mama's recipe book. We had this on Wednesday and Hubby DEVOURED it!

Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped (not needed if you use Beefy Onion soup mix)
3 tablespoons four or cornstarch
1 enveloped beefy mushroom or beefy onion soup mix
2-3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt or beef bouillon granules to taste
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cans green beans
5-6 cups mashed potatoes
2 cups grated cheese

Method
►Brown beef and chopped onion together until onion is transparent and beef is well browned (browning helps create the flavor and color of the dish).
►Add salt or beef bouillon granules to taste.
►Remove from heat and stir in flour or cornstarch and dry soup mix.
►Add 2 cups water.
►Return to heat, bring to a boil; boil 2-3 minutes.
►Add additional water, as needed to create desired consistency of gravy

►Place gravy mix in bottom of 9x13 casserole or baking pan.
►Drain green beans and scatter over top of gravy.
►Spoon mashed potatoes over top and gently spread to form a crust.
►Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake at 350⁰ for 30-45 minutes or until hot, bubbly and cheese is melted.


NOTE: I personally prefer fresh mashed potatoes, but instant mashed works fine. If making fresh, use approximately 6-8 medium to small potatoes or about 6 cups diced potatoes.

Hubby Score * * * * *

Russian Chicken with Feta Cheese

-Allrecipes.com

I'm a sucker for a good sauce recipe. I took some adjusting liberties with the directions on this one. It's supposed to serve 8 but if you consume sauce like I do (or save the remaining to top upon other things), it may be much less.

- cooked chicken breasts (diced, sliced, or in halves- any way seems to be fine. 1-2 pieces works great, but the original recipe called for 8 breasts- yikes.)

- 2 tbs. butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbs. flour
- 1/4 cup vodka (white grape juice or water can substitute)
- 1 tbs. tomato paste
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Place cooked chicken pieces into a 9x13 baking dish- set aside.
Melt butter in a wide frying pan, stir in garlic and onion and cook until onion begins to soften. Stir in flour (cook about 5 min.) then add vodka/grape juice and simmer & stir on med-high heat constantly until heated through. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer 20 min (they say 20- I say until it's heated through.)
Pour sauce on top of chicken and put in oven preheated to 350F. Cook for 20 min. or until browned on top.

This is great with mashed potatoes, but pasta or rice would be great as well.

HUBBY SCORE: * * * *

Mashed Potato Quesadilla

- AllRecipes.com (plus improvisation)

Probably not very good for you, but very good.

- 2-4 medium potatoes, mashed
- 6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
- 1/2 onion, sauteed
- frozen corn, cooked
- flour tortillas
- shredded Cheddar cheese
- soft butter
- sour cream
- salsa

Stir up the mashed potatoes, bacon, corn, onions, and a fistful or two of cheese. Butter one side of tortillas lightly, and sandwich the potato spread between sides not buttered. Grill in pan like a grilled cheese sandwich. Dice up with pizza cutter, dollop with sour cream and salsa, and serve.

This quantity makes at least 4 decent sized quesadillas, but 1 is enough to feed two people- don't let your eyes get bigger than your stomach. With the potatoes in there they're quite filling.

HUBBY SCORE: * * * *

Chicken Costa Brava

-Allrecipes.com

I adjusted this based on how it worked for us last night. I'm sure you COULD put 10 chicken breasts in there, but as there's only two of us, we added one BIG one diced up. This also would taste awesome without the chicken for the vegetarian at heart. :)
This is also a good way to use up leftovers, as it's got all sorts of random stuff you might find in your fridge.

• 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks
• 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast (diced in chunks or strips)
  
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, quartered (or in strips)
  
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes (I used a leftover tomato half)
  
• 2 cups black olives (or one can- I cut them in half too)
  
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• salt to taste

1. Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Sprinkle with salt.
2. In a large frying pan, brown chicken in oil. Combine cumin and cinnamon, and sprinkle over chicken. Add garlic and onion; cook until onion is soft. Add reserved pineapple juice, tomatoes, olives, and salsa. Cover, and simmer 25 minutes. (Yeah right- I didn't simmer for 25 min! 5-10 min. was just fine...)
   
3. Mix cornstarch with water; stir into pan juices. Add bell pepper, and simmer until sauce boils and thickens. Stir in pineapple chunks, and heat through.
4. Serve over rice.
   

I LOVED the diverse mix of flavors, and Picky #1 who's not such a fan of mixing his food, actually loved it too. (YAY!) It tasted kinda like a Hawaiian haystack offshoot, but with more veggies. We'll be making this again soon.

HUBBY SCORE: * * * *

Black Bean Burritos

First off, someone is going to have to teach me the ways of the blogging world... I've never been officially initiated and I don't really know how it works.

Second, can I please just say how amazing the captions are below the faces of the brothers. I laughed for five minutes when I read Ty's cause... oh wait! True story. Ever since that day I have always tried to put everything away before Tyler gets home so he can't figure out what ingredients I cook with.

ANYWAY! Onto the food. I tried this recipe yesterday and I thought it was really good. I let Tyler rate it and he gave me 4 stars, but we are newlyweds so take that for what it's worth. Also, be warned that I tend to make up a lot of my own recipes so I'll try to let you know if they are tried and true or some of my own ideas... understandably I think that could sway the decision to try it or not. This one happens to be one that I just kind of made up on my own.

INGREDIENTS

* 4 (10" round) tortillas
* 1 sweet onion, chopped
* 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
*1 (15oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
* 2 T minced jalapeno peppers
* 2 T garlic salt ( I added a lot more, but I am notorious for adding ample spice)
* 1 1/2 t chili powder (once again, I added more so I guessed how much would be normal)
* 1 t salt
* 3 T chopped, fresh cilantro
* 1-2 c Spanish rice with tomatoes
** 4 T sour cream OR 4 T cream cheese
Directions

1. Wrap tortillas in foil and bake for 350F for 15 minutes.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place onion, bell pepper and jalapeno in skillet and cook for 2 minutes. Pour beans into skillet and cook for another 3 minutes, while adding garlic salt and chili powder.

3. Stir cilantro and rice into mixture

4. Spread cream cheese or sour cream onto tortilla. Be careful not to get too close to the edges, or it will be hard to fold.

5. Spoon mixture evenly down the center of the tortilla and fold.

Beef Stroganoff

Mama Kris had a bad experience with beef stroganoff so the boys have never really had it. Mr. Picky Two was up for trying it and now it is one of his favorites. Its easy and delicious.

Ingredients:

Round Steak* (or if you want a super fast easy meal, buy the already cut stew meat - its a little more expensive per pound but cuts out the most tedious part of the preparation)

1 can french onion soup

1 can cream of mushroom

Milk

Wide Egg Noodles


Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut steak into strips about 1/4" thick and brown. Once browned, combine french onion soup, cream of mushroom soup, the browned meat*, and one can of milk in a sauce pan. Bring to a low boil (if you want the sauce thicker, add flour or corn starch until the desired consistency). Spray Pam on a casserole dish and pour sauce into dish. Place in oven for 30 minutes. While sauce cooks in the oven, boil a package of wide egg noodles according to the directions on the package. Once sauce and noodles are cooked, spoon sauce over noodles and enjoy!

Serve with: Green beans, and rolls (our pickies love their rolls - at least mine does.)

Hubby Score: * * * * *








*for you vegetarian types, you can leave the meat aside and let your husband add it to his sauce later, or leave it out completely, it will still be yummy.

Tamale Pie

-From my Mom (out of a Healthy Heart Cookbook)

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 can beef broth (chicken broth okay too)

Combine cornmeal and 1/2 cup broth in large saucepan. Boil remaining broth and stir into cormeal mixture. Stir over medium heat until thickened. Press into a greased baking dish (line the sides and the bottom). Set aside.

Spaghetti sauce (up to a whole jar)
1/2 lb hamburger meat
1/4 cup onion
2 cups corn (or 1 frozen bag)
black olives (up to a whole can)
1 tbsp. chili power
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes (one can)
1/3 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
1/2 red bell pepper (optional)
grated cheese (cheddar works well)

Combine listed ingredients except for cheese and simmer 5 minutes stirring gently. Spoon mixture into lined baking dish, top with cheese.

Bake 30 min. at 350F. Serves 8.

Oddly enough, no tamales are in this recipe at all. Still quite good, though.

HUBBY SCORE: * * * *

Bratton's Clam Chowder

- "Monsieur Bratton", from my Mom

3/4 lb. minced clams (2 tins)
1 cup onions, chopped fine
1 cup celery, chopped fine
1 quart half & half *
1/2 tsp. sugar
3/4 cup butter (I do 1/2 cup)
1 cup potatoes, diced fine (2-4 potatoes)
3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Drain clams from juice and pour over vegetables in pot, add enough water to cover vegetables. Simmer until tender (about 20 min.) Melt butter in large saucepan then add flour. Add cream and cook until smooth and thick (stir often with a wire whisk). Add vegetables and clams (add vegetable water to stretch soup out.) Season with salt, pepper, and sugar. Simmer for a few minutes to heat clams through.
Serves 6 large bowls.

* I've tried with different cream combinations in a pinch (sour cream & milk, etc) All turn out okay. Even straight milk seems to work fine. Just depends on how thick you want it.


HUBBY SCORE: * * * *