Monday, August 24, 2009

Potato Salad

I used to always make my grandmother's potato salad recipe. It was always my favorite. Then one day, we went to a neighbor's house and she has a potato salad with some herbs mixed in. It was so delicious. So I thought to combine the two and YUM! A great potato salad was born.

Ingredients

3 lbs red creamer potatos boiled, cooled, and peeled (I boil mine then remove the peels when they cool)
1/2 cup mayo
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 bunch parsley
4 green onions (scallions or you could use chives)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut potatos into large pieces (so they won't break apart when mixing, otherwise you will wind up with mashed potato salad)
2. Finely chop green onions and parsley (I use my food processor) and add to the potatoes
3. Add mayo, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper and fold together.

Thats it. It is that easy

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Chicken Enchiladas

My mom used to make this for us all the time. I used to love the recipe so much that I would ask her to make it for me on my birthdays. She got the recipe from the back of a Campbells Cream of something soup (either chicken or celery) and adapted it a little bit. The recipe below is the adaptation as I cannot seem to find the original that was close to hers.

Chicken Enchiladas

1 can cream of chicken soup (I use the low fat)
1.5 cups sour cream (I use the low fat)
1 pound cooked chicken breast cubed
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 onion diced
1 can chopped green chiles
Tortillas (you can use low carb to make this a low carb meal)
Shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F

1. Combine soup and sour cream in medium sized bowl
2. Saute diced onions until translucent and soft.
3. Add chili powder to chopped onions and cook for a few seconds until fragrant.
4. Add chopped chiles, chicken and half of the soup/sour cream mixture. Stir to combine and allow to heat through, then remove from heat.
5. Fill tortillas with mixture and place in baking sheet seam side down. Spread the rest of the soup/sour cream mixture over the top. Sprinkle with cheese.
6. Cover pan with tin foil and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until cheese is melty.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Coconut "Cream Pie" Pudding Parfait

We had the in-laws over for dinner last night. Just like my hubby, they are a family of picky eaters. I had to take this, the fact that my husband is on a low carb diet, and the fact that I didn't have many ingredients in the house into consideration when deciding what to make for a dessert. I checked the pantry and I had a box of Sugar Free Cook and Serve Vanilla Pudding. I had a half bag of coconut, cool whip and graham crackers....and viola...coconut "cream pie" pudding parfaits were born. They were SO delicious. The MIL brought over a cake from Publix and I tasted both and actually preferred the parfait.

Coconut "Cream Pie" Pudding Parfait

1 box cook and serve vanilla pudding
2 cups milk
1/2 bag of sweetened coconut flakes
3 graham crackers smashed into crumbs
Cool whip

1. Combine vanilla pudding and milk in saucepan and prepare per directions on the box
2. When finished heating, add coconut to pudding and stir to combine. Allow to cool
3. In dessert glasses (I used wine glasses, so any pretty glasses you have will be fine) layer ingredients....graham cracker crumbs then pudding, then cool whip, more graham cracker, pudding, cool whip and top with leftover coconut flakes.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Mahi Mahi Tacos

I love tacos and seafood. I have had some pretty good fish tacos at certain restaurants and some not so good ones at others. While I was at my mom's house watching my brothers I thought it would be perfect time to try to make them myself. My brothers love seafood and are not picky eaters at all (unlike my hubby), so I got to make some recipes that I don't usually make at home. These tacos turned out so good. I made a whole bag of Mahi Mahi (frozen from Sams Club) and the entire bag was gone (only 3 people eating). You could certainly substitute your favorite fish, but I prefer a firm white fish like Mahi (yum grouper would be great too). If you are on a low carb diet, you could also use low carb tortillas to make this fit.

Mahi Mahi Tacos

2 lbs Mahi Mahi
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
Tortillas
Shredded cabbage (you can use lettuce instead, the cabbage is a little crunchier)
Shredded cheese (we used cheddar)
Salsa (or you could use tomatoes)
Any other of your favorite taco toppings

1. Preheat oven to 350 (or go by directions on bag). Place Mahi Mahi on baking sheet.
2. Combine spices and olive oil in small bowl. Brush on Mahi Mahi filets
3. Bake Mahi Mahi filets until flaky. Use package instructions for timing.
4. Put Mahi Mahi in tortilla and top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Ice Cream Sundaes

We had some friends over this weekend for a barbeque. I was very short on time (last minute party) but wanted something yummy and easy for dessert. Our friends were bringing their 2 children so I also wanted something appealing to them. I decided to have ice cream sundaes.
I bought 2 different flavors of ice cream (vanilla and chocolate). In one of those divided chip and dip servers I put all different toppings. It was a hit! Everyone had so much fun putting whatever (and however much) toppings they wanted. Here are the toppings I used.

Maraschino cherries
Chocolate Chips
Crumbled oreo cookies
Sliced Strawberries
Toasted Coconut
Brown Sugar Pecans
Whipped cream
Chocolate syrup

I know there is no cooking involved here (I did make the brown sugar pecans, but didn't love the recipe as no brown sugar stuck to the pecans, so I won't bother you with it here), but since it was so easy and everyone loved it...I thought I would share the idea.