Chile Colorado Burritos

I love Mexican food but since our favorite "hole-in-the-wall" Mexican restaurant moved and became too "Americanized" we haven't been able to find a place we like.  This recipe is every bit as good as any burrito that we've had in our old favorite restaurant and much better than the burritos we've found since.  It's easy to make but tastes like you've been slaving over the stove all day.  Even my kids love it; which is a huge plus.

• 1 1/2 to 2lb stew meat or other beef cubed (top sirloin is great)
• 1 large can mild red enchilada sauce (amount isn't too important but you need at least 19oz)
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1/2 can re-fried beans
• 5-7 burritos size flour tortillas (I recommend using the raw tortillas that you cook yourself.  They taste so much better)
• 1c+ shredded cheddar cheese

Put the beef, bouillon, and enchilada sauce into a crock pot and cook on low for 7-8 hour or until the meat is very tender.  

When the beef is done (very tender and flakes when stirred) taste and add more salt if desired.  Heat up the refried beans in the microwave and put your oven on broil.  In a casserole dish, lay out a tortilla.  Place on tortilla about 1/2c of the meat, drained with a slotted spoon, and a spoonful of beans.  You can add a little shredded cheese also if you want to.  Roll into a burrito (tucking the sides in) and lay in your casserole dish.

When you've rolled all of your burritos, pour some of the remaining enchilada sauce from the crockpot over the burritos to cover them.  Sprinkle with some cheese. 

Broil until the cheese is bubbly, about 2-4 minutes.

Source: Food Pusher

Antipasto Pizza

Homemade pizza is a staple in our home.  With our busy schedules I don't always have time to make a big meal but I also don't like how unhealthy and expensive it is to order pizza. Although the kids are happy to always have pepperoni and cheese pizza, it has started to get old for the adults.  So I'm always trying find new toppings for our pizzas.  This Antipasto pizza really hits the spot for us grown-ups.  I especially love the fresh basil on top.  I cooked the basil with the pizza but I think it would taste even fresher if you sprinkled it on after you pulled the pizza out of the oven.

Serving size: 1 slice   Calories: 303   Total Fat: 14g  Saturated Fat: 5g  

Cholesterol:  36mg    Sodium:  971mg   Carbs:  26g  Protein:  19g

Nutritional information is approximate depending on the crust and sauce you use.

• 1 prebaked 12" pizza crust
• 3/4c pizza sauce
• 2c (8oz) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2c roasted sweet red peppers, julienned
• 1/2c marinated, quartered, artichoke hearts, drained
• 1/4lb thinkly sliced hard salami, julienned
• 1/4lb sliced deli ham, julienned
• 1/4c minced fresh basil

Place the crust on an ungreased pizza pan.  Spread the sauce over the crust; sprinkle with 1c cheese.  Top with the red peppers, artichokes, salami, and ham; sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake at 450' for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Sprinkle with the basil.

Source:  Taste of Home

Bacon-Jalapeno Cheese Ball

This year my husband and I hosted the Superbowl party at our house.  Of course I wanted to try a bunch of new recipes for the event.  Unfortunately, some of them didn't turn out all that great and I won't be making them again but this cheeseball was delicious.  Because the jalapenos have been cored and seeded, there is almost no heat.  It was great and everyone loved it but next time I think I'll leave a few seeds; I like a little heat.

Bacon-Jalapeno Cheeseball

• 6 slices of bacon, cooked - I recommend you bake it
• 1/4c pecans, chopped
• 8oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2c shredded cheddar cheese
• 2T chopped parsley
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4t ground cumin
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1t lime juice
• 1/2t Worchestershire sauce (I ran out of this so I substituted Soy Sauce.  Worked great)
• 2 jalapenos (ribs and seeds removed), finely chopped and divided
• crackers (for serving)

Cook the bacon in the oven until crispy.  Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.  Allow to cool, then crumble and divide in half.

After the bacon is done cooking, preheat the oven to 350'F.  Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and toast for 5-7 minutes, or until fragrant.

In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, parsley, garlic, cumin, cayenne, lime juice, Worchestershire sauce, half of the minced jalapenos, and half of the crumbled bacon until well combined.  Season the mixture to taste with salt.

On a large plate, stir the toasted pecans, remaining minced jalapenos and remaining half of the bacon together until evenly distributed.  Shape the cream cheese mixture into a ball (the mixture will be sticky.  I found it was easier to shape if I just barely wet my hands first).  Roll the ball in the pecan mixture until coated on all sides.

Cover the ball and refrigerate for at least and hour before serving.

Source: Tracey's Culinary Adventures

Construction Cake with "Construction Tape" inside

When my, then 2 year old, asked for a bulldozer cake for his 3rd birthday, I immediately thought of a 9x13 cake with sprinkles and a truck sitting on top.  Can we say BORING!?!  

I found this cake tutorial Fredellicios and decided to try it out.  While I love how the cake is decorated, my favorite (and most stressful part) was the cake itself.  I knew the theory behind what I was doing but it wasn't until I cut into the cake that I knew it had worked.  And now you're probably wondering what was so great about the inside of the cake, so let me show you ...

Construction Tape!!!

Seriously, didn't it just turn out so cute.  Sorry for all the crumbs but I quickly took the photos while party guests were waiting for their slices.

Construction Cake

• 1 8" round White Cake, colored yellow
• 1 8" round Chocolate Cake, colored black
• 3 batches of Buttercream Frosting with Chocolate
• Oreos, crushed
• Candy Rocks
• Small construction truck

I could type up all of these directions but Lauren, over at Fredellicious has done such a great photo tutorial, I thought I would just link to her site for this post.

This is the link for her Slanted Cake tutorial

and this is the link for her Construction Cake

Bottom Layer of my cake

Top layer of my cake

He absolutely loved his cake.

Yeah!!! The stripes worked

Buttercream Frosting

Buttercream Frosting

• 1/2c (1 cube) butter, ROOM TEMPERATURE
• 1 1/2c powdered sugar
• 1t vanilla
• 1-2T milk
• 4oz Chocolate chips, melted (optional)

Cream the butter.

Add the powdered sugar, 1/2c at a time, mixing until it's fully incorporated before adding more.  It doesn't look like it will mix in right away, but just keep mixing and scraping the sides as needed, it will come together.

Once all the sugar is added, add the 1t vanilla (and the chocolate if you're using it), then mix on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

This frosting is pretty thick as is, I like to use it like this for piping cupcakes and decorations.  But, if I'm going to frost a cake, I will add some milk to get a better spreading consistency.  This frosting is also good on sugar cookies.

This recipe doesn't make a whole lot (about the same as a container from the store) but it is really easy to double or even triple of you need a lot.

Source: Fredellicious

White (almond) Cake

Here's the recipe for the white cake I used in my Construction Tape cake.  I colored mine yellow to match but without food coloring, you'll get a nice white cake.  Also, even though this is called "white cake", I think a better name for it would be called "Almond Cake".  The almond extract in it gives this recipe a really good flavor and I got plenty of complements on the taste, when I served it, but it's not the traditional flavor of a white cake.

White (almond) Cake

Makes 2 8" round cakes

• 1c milk, room temperature
• 3/4c egg whites (about 4), room temperature
• 1 1/2t almond extract
• 1 1/2t vanilla extract
• 1 3/4c cake flour
• 1/2c all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4c sugar
• 4t baking powder
• 1t salt
• 12T (1 1/2 cubes) butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350'F and prepare 2 8" pans with spray and wax paper.

In a bowl, combine the milk, egg whites and extracts and whisk together with a fork.  Set aside.

Sift both flours together, add sugar, baking powder and salt.  Mix together on low speed with a standing or hand mixer.

Add the butter a little bit at a time, and mix together until it's all moist crumbs.

Reserve 1/2c of the egg/milk mixture, and add the rest to the dry ingredients.

Mix on medium speed with a standing mixer, using a paddle for 1 1/2 minutes.

Scrape the sides of the bowl, then add the rest of the milk mixture, and mix to combine, for at least 30 seconds.

**If you are adding color, be sure to add it before you start baking**

Divide evenly into the 2 pans, and cook for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick in the middle comes out clean.

Let cakes sit in the pans for about 3 minutes, then invert them onto wire racks, remove the wax paper, then invert then again and let cool completely.

Source: Fredellicious

Chocolate Cake

Originally I was going to make one post that included 2 cake recipes,  2 frosting recipes and a cake decorating tutorial.  I decided that was probably a little too much to include in one post so I'm breaking each piece up individually.  Unfortunately, all my photos are from when a made one cake so you'll have with them and use your imagination, a little.  

This recipe is for the black stripe in the cake pictured above.  I used Hersey's Special Dark cocoa powder and black food coloring to get the cake so dark.  If you aren't trying to turn your cake black, you can use whichever cocoa powder you like the best.

Chocolate Cake

Makes 2 8" cakes

• 1 1/3c flour
• 1 2/3c sugar
• 1/2c cocoa
• 1 1/3t baking soda
• 2/3t salt
• 2/3c oil
• 2/3c sour cream
• 1c water
• 4t vinegar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350'F and prepare your pans with cooking spray and wax paper.

Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  Whisk to combine.

Add the oil and the sour cream - this will be thick.

Gradually beat in the water.

Add vinegar and vanilla and blend.

Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide evenly into 2 prepared pans, and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let sit for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack, remove the wax paper, and invert again onto a wire rack to let cool completely.

***Note - while this recipe tastes really good, it is a bit sticky.  I found that the best way to handle inverting it back-and-forth was to cover the wire rack (and my hands) with plastic wrap.  The cake won't stick to it and you'll have a lot less grief because the top of your cake won't be stuck to your hands.***

Source: Fredellicious