Keto Chicken, Bacon, Guacamole Salsa Casserole aka “Clean the Fridge” Casserole for 4 people

INGREDIENTS:

• 2-2 1/2 cups of “cooked” chicken.  I used left over rotisserie and chopped into bite size pieces.
• 6-8 slices of cooked bacon…I lean towards LOTS of BACON
• Assorted veggies that were in the fridge that I needed to use up..Brussel Sprouts, sliced, assorted colorful peppers, chopped, broccoli, chopped..you can use spinach, kale, onions you name it…and I sautéed them all together in a pan with bacon grease because you need to cook the veggies
• 1 tbs of mince garlic that I added to the sautéed veggies along with some of my favorite seasonings…your choice!
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese…or you can use whatever you have on hand! I saved 1/2 of cheese to put on top
• 1 cup of Guacamole Salsa that was staring me in the face but the recipe from “Wholesome Yum” suggested a ranch dressing…to time consuming to make and I cut it with 1/4 c of sour cream to make is less spicy (tho if it were just for me, I would not have cut it) and saved about 1/4 c to put on top along with the cheese.

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. PREHEAT OVER TO 375 degrees
2. Mix ALL the ingredients into a large bowl and mix **reserving 1/2 cup of cheese & 1/4 c of salsa
3. Transfer to an 8×8 greased baking dish…
4. Top with extra salsa and cheese and in the oven it goes, uncovered
5. Should be ready to eat in about 20 minutes, when cheese is melted and it is bubbly!

THANK YOU Wholesome Yum for your recipe!!! It was delicious and this fed 4 people

 

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Mexican Street Corn

Let’s give your summer Corn a “lift” from the boring melted butter and use mayonnaise with Mexican seasonings, instead !!!! I had 5 ears but picked the 3 best and this is what I used for 3 ears

INGREDIENTS :

• 3 ears of corn
• 1/4 c of Avocado Oil ( or whatever oil you have on hand
• 1/2 c mayonnaise (Hellmann’s or Best West NOT Miracle Whip!)
• 1 TBS Chili Powder
• 1 Jalapeño, seeded and minced ( If a Gringo, leave out)
• 1/2 c  Cojeta cheese or Feta…no big difference, crumbled
• I used seasoned Salt…just look at your spices and be adventurous!

DIRECTIONS: LIGHT THE Bar-B-Que

 

Remove corn from husk and I picked the best 3 and made sure they were clean

Take oil and brush over each ear of corn

Set in pan or directly on fire on high heat and roast turning frequently so it does not burn. About 15-20 minutes.

Mix together your ingredients into the mayonnaise

Start getting excited !!!

After Corn is grilled, lather them with the Mayonaise mix

Then top with the cheese, minced jalapeños and cilantro and enjoy each and EVERY morsel !!!!

Finger Licking, GOOD !!!

Mango, Black Bean and Cauliflower “Rice” Salad

 

Since I have so much Cauliflower Rice on hand I was looking for recipes…and low and behold a frind comes by and brings me 2 mango’s!! Why?? I haven’t a clue. So I found this easy recipe at tastefulventure and had everything g on hand, so I made it !! It was quite good !! The sweetness of the mangos and then the squeeze of a full lime, for the dressing !! And it is sooo easy…well except for cutting the mango !! That is  for in itself!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 head of cauliflower chopped and put in food processor to rice consistency and THEN PUT IN MICROWAVE for about 4 mins and stir, and put in fridge to cool.
• 4-5 green onions chopped on an angle to look pretty
• a bunch of cilantro chopped (about 1/2 c or more depending on how much you like cilantro !!
• 1 TBS minced garlic
• kosher salt to taste..don’t be shy
• 1 large lime, juiced..(that means, squeezed)
• 1can Block beans drained & rinsed
• 1/4 c of red, OR orange OR whatever color pepper you have…I even used jalapeño…( or mix, it’s up to you !!)
• 1 mango peeled, cored and chopped !! And that, my friends requires that maybe you should google how to do it because it is a slippery son of a gun !!
• 12 grape tomatoes cut in half.

DIRECTIONS

Here is the Cauliflower cooked and cooled. I then added the green onions and the cilantro and jalapeño and stirred it up.

I then took the mangos, beans, orange peppers& tomatoes and arranged the ever so pretty so you would get the idea!!

Then I added the garlic and squeezed the lime all over it, added salt and stirred !! And this is how it ended up. Now mind you, this is half the recipe, seeing that it was only me, eating it!

I hope you enjoy it..!!

Creamy Avocado and Tomatillo Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• 2-3 medium tomatillos
• 1 jalapeño
• 1 small onion, peeled and quartered
• 2 large avocados
• 1 lime, juiced
• handful of chopped cilantro
• salt to taste

The recipe is right here from Closet Cooking (one of my most FAVORITE cooking sites)!!!

 

Your ingredients to cook on the grill. Take off the wrapping from the tomatillo, and peel onion.

Cooked and ready to go in to the food processor…

Grill on a medium to high heat…but don’t leave unattended 

Peel the skin off the jalapeño, and chop the onion and tomatillo

Everything cut and ready to whirl

Add seasoning and cilantro and pulse it..

Now add some Mexican Cream

Like so

VOILA

Make My Own Bacon??? Why Not!!

With the price of Bacon going up and up, and the amount that I seem to consume, it only seemed natural that I would try and make my own Bacon…but, how do it, I didn’t have a clue! And now, thanks to the internet, I researched, watched You Tubes and put my big girl panties on…and took the challenge!!

This process is so darn easy…it’s the PATIENCE of waiting for it to “cure”, that is the difficult part!! So, here we go! And, BTW, I made a Maple Flavored Bacon

INGREDIENTS: (this is for a 3 lb slab of uncured Pork Belly)

• 3 lb uncured Pork Belly
• 5 TBS Kosher Salt
• 5 TBS cracked pepper
• 3 TBS Dark Brown Sugar
• 1/2 c Maple Syrup (not necessary if you don’t want Maple flavored)
• 3/4c Distilled water…don’t ask me why but that’s what the recipe called for!
• 1/2 tsp Morton Quick Salt (this is the “curing salt” and available in grocery stores where the Pink Prague #1 is so hard to find unless you go on line)

First thing you need to do is buy some boneless pork belly! I went to Costco and picked this 9.84 pound slab at $3.69 a pound and came home and cut it into thirds.  The magic number of 3lbs/slab seemed to be what most recipes called for…so that’s what i did!

Next you “score” the fatty part and I vacu-sealed the other 2 and put them in the freezer.

Then gather your ingredients:

Kosher salt, Brown sugar, Distilled Water, Pepper, Morton Tender Quick (the curing salt), and Maple Syrup

Mix it all together, then pour on the slab, cover it in a container like this or a gallon zip lock bag, and put it in your fridge for the next 9 days…turning it over every morning!!

When you have “patiently” waited the 9 days, take the slab of pork belly out of the curing fluids and wash gently, taking off any excess remnants of the curing process, dry with a paper towel then put on a wire rack or a plate and leave UNCOVERED, in the fridge for 24 hours…(yup, more dang waiting…this is when I had to triple my ADD medications!!)

And NOW, DAY 10…FINALLY, it is time to smoke this baby!! I used a Traeger Smoker (thanks to my neighbor) and set the temp to “smoke…stuck a thermometer into it and ONCE AGAIN, “patiently” waited for it to register at 150 degrees, internally, but I must admit, it was not that bad to wait because the aroma “tantalized” every golfer that tee’d up their ball (I live on a tee box)…and it took about 2 hours!

At long last, I removed the long adorned “Smoked Gift from the Pork Gods” and brought it to my kitchen where, freaking ONCE AGAIN (lord Jesus, Mary & Joseph), I had to put it in the fridge to harden it so that cutting it would be easier!!!

I sliced the Bacon and then put it on a large 1″ cookie sheet, lined with aluminum foil into a COLD oven…then set the temp at 400 degrees and in a matter of minutes (about 10-15 to be exact) I took it out and no, it was NOT crispy NOR should it be, but some little burnt areas around the edges…

And proceeded to make the MOST delicious BLT Sandwich on lightly toasted white bread, lettuce and tomatoes….and remember those golfers??? well they came back and wanted their very own BLT sandwiches!! So, that 3 lb slab was gone in a nano-second and the two in the freezer…they are defrosting as we speak!!  SOOOOO worth the “waiting”!!

 

 

 

Bacon Chocolate Cookies a la Chef D2

This will be the easiest recipe I have ever posted!! Just TWO ingredients!! Yes, you read that right..TWO!! Nestles Toll House Cookie tub and either 1 lb of bacon that YOU cook, or 2 c of Kirkland Bacon Crumbles from Costco…for me, I mixed BOTH!!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
2. cook Bacon until nice and crispy, for me that is 20-24 mins (and I ALWAYS START WITH A COOL OVEN)
3. Drain bacon and then chop finely OR use your bacon crumbles…your choice.
4. Put in little bowl and take a TBL of cookie dough and “roll” it in the bacon and then put on cookie sheet. Fill the sheet and put in oven for 12-15 mins depending on how you like your cookies! I like mine “crispy”!!
5. Take out and cool and then VOILA…

Could this be any easier?? No measuring, no fuss, and little mess!!  It may sound like a weird combination, but it IS DEEDEEDEELICIOUS!!!! You have to try it!!!

Let’s start with the #1 ingredient..a tub of Toll House cookie dough!!

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1 pound of spicy Italian sausage or mild sausage depending on your preference.
• 2 cups of a marinara sauce in jar.
• 1/2 cup of Ricotta cheese
• One cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons of fresh basil
• Salt-and-pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS: preheat oven to 400° and put 1 cup of water on bottom of 9 x 13 pan

1. 1 spaghetti squash, cut in half and put in a preheated oven at 400° for 40 to 45 minutes upside down in pan with one cup of water covering the bottom.
2. While that is cooking take 1 pound of spicy Italian sausage and sauté in a pan until cooked and then add 2 cups of a bottled marinara sauce. Mix together adding Italian seasoning to taste and put aside.
3. In a bowl mix 1/2 cup of Riccota cheese with 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. Add seasoning of salt-and-pepper,  fresh basil and put aside

• Once this squash has cooled fluff the filling with a fork, and it will look like spaghetti.
• Next, take your tomato mixture with the sausage and put on top of the fluffed squash. Then, Add the Ricota cheese and mozzarella cheese mixture.
• Repeat with the tomato sauce and sausage then the Ricotta cheese and mozzarella as a second layer.
• Top this with one more layer of the tomato sauce and then add mozzarella cheese on top along with fresh basil.
• Put in the preheated oven for 20 minutes and when it is bubbling turn the oven to the broiler and melt the cheese until it is brown. Make sure you do not burn it.
• Take it out of the oven let it cool for five minutes cut them in half and enjoy!!
• Thank you “celiac in the city” website for this delicious recipe!!!

1. 

IThe Stovetop Pizza courtesy of The Chefs Toolbox

This recipe was all over Facebook and so I thought I would try it…it was great. I have now tried it 3 mores times and have “honed” it…so, after working up an appetite, while fighting the crowds and waiting in line at the opening of Tucson’s Container Store, I came home and had my “photographer & taste tester” , Tonya Schweigert, help me and here are the results!! PLEASE read the recipe, and then read it again. Go gather everything, shred the cheese, have the sauce ready, and get all your fixin’s….AND USE A 10 INCH PAN WITH A CURVED SIDE, NOT A STRAIGHT UP ONE…makes it easier to get it out!!! 

                               

Sweet and Spicy Sriracha Chicken Bites with Bacon

Spicy & Sweet Sriracha Chicken with Bacon & Brown Sugar

INGREDIENTS:  (this fed 6 of us very well)

• 2 boneless chicken breast cut into 1′ bite size pieces
• 1 lb bacon with each slice cut into 3 pieces
• 2 TBS Sriracha Chili Sauce (if you don’t have it, GET IT…one of my favorite condiments!!)
• 2 TBS lime juice
• 1/2 cup of canola oil.
• 1/2 or more of brown sugar on a plate or bowl to roll your chix/bacon wrap

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 degrees

Spray Pam or whatever you prefer on a large baking pan

Whisk the Sriracha, lime juice & canola oil in bowl and then put n gallon size zip bag.

Chicken breast cut into 1″ pieces and marinated in 2TBS Sriracha, 2 TBS lime juice & 1/2 c canola oil. Whisk those 3 ingredients, then pour into a gallon zip lock bag and add the chicken pieces and put in fridge for 30″ to an hour.

Take the bacon and cut each slice into 3. Then take a piece of the chicken, roll it up and then use the toothpick to keep it together. Now, take the Sriracha sauce and brush some on that and then roll in the brown sugar. The sauce helps the brown sugar stick AND gives it a little more kick Place on a greased baking pan and put into a preheated 350 degree oven and cook for 25-30 mins. Put it in the middle of the oven. If you want to add some “crisp” you can turn on the broiler, but keep the oven door, ajar..and DON’T go to far..you would hate to burn these delicious masterpieces!

Then find a really pretty serving dish and watch them vanish in a Nano-Second!!!