Mini Tostada Appetizers

This afternoon I semi browned a pound of ground beef for our weekly or bi-weekly Taco Night. I added garlic, a packet of Pace Picante Taco Seasoning, and a small can of green chilis. Dumped that in my crock pot and left it there to cook for the rest of the day, while I shampooed my carpet, did my banking, returned some stuff to WalMart. Somehow I forgot to eat some lunch. So, not wanting to spoil my appetite for dinner, I used up some of Mission Round Tortilla chips, I bought for 97 cents a bag (Thank You VONS) to make Mini Tostada Appetizers!

Mini Tostada Appetizers

Mission Tortilla Rounds (pick some perfect ones)
a can of refried beans
seasoned ground beef
shredded cheese blend
sour cream
guacamole
salsa

This is real easy. Heat your beans and beef. Take your perfect tortilla rounds. Spread a little of the beans onto the chip. Sprinkle with a little bit of the cheese. Spoon a little ground beef on top of that. Nuke in the micro for a few seconds. Top with a little more cheese, sour cream, guacamole and salsa if desired. Eat them and Enjoy them. I know I did and they were YUMMY!

Apple Cinnamon Chimichangas

This recipe is similar to Food Network's Ingrid Hoffman's Apple Chimichangas. She uses a pear and an apple. I used fuji apples. Check out her recipe at http://www.foodnetwork.com/. You won't be disappointed. Below is what I used to make tonight's dessert for Sunday dinner. No complaints!

Apple Cinnamon Chimichangas

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 large cored fuji apples, no skin, sliced
1/4 cup tequila
1/4 cup triple sec
8 tortillas
2 cups canola oil

Powdered sugar
Cinnamon sugar
1/2 Fat Dryers Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Melt your butter in a large skillet. Add brown sugar and cinnamon to butter and stir. Stir and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Add your sliced apples and cook them for about 5 minutes or until they softened a bit. Add the alcohol and continue to cook another 5 minutes.

Wrap your tortillas in a paper towel and nuke for a minute until they are soft. Spoon 1/2 cup or so of the apples onto your tortilla. Fold it like a burrito and fix the side with a toothpick. In a smaller frying pan, heat your canola oil. Fry each chimichanga until crispy and golden brown. Transfer them to a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon sugar. Serve hot with a scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice cream. Drizzle some of the syrup from the apples on top of chimichanga and ice cream. ENJOY!

Sponge Candy, Honeycomb, Sea Sponge aka. REALLY GOOD LIGHT AS AIR CANDY

I first stumbled across this stuff in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. I was there for a wedding. On one of the last days, it was rainy, I was staying at the St. Paul hotel and I suited up and headed out umbrella in hand and walked a couple blocks to the store filled with sugar...

Candyland. If you are ever in Minnesota's Twin Cities, I highly recommend you go there. If you are flying, plan to have an extra suitcase to fill with your sweet loot! Check out their website www.candylandstore.com.

When I returned home, I enjoyed tasty popcorn and the sponge candy! When the sponge candy ran out, I had withdrawls and then I went cyber surfing to find a recipe. This website is amazing. Truly amazing and it doesn't stop with sponge candy. There are lots of recipes. If you have time and like fudge, they have fudge types I have never even heard of. The site is www.thatsmyhome.com/general.sponge.htm

That's My Home's Sponge Candy

1 cup sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 T. vinegar
1 T. baking soda

Combine sugar, corn syrup and vinegar in a heavy saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Then cook to 300 degrees F or to the crack stage. Remove from heat and stir soda in quickly as it will froth up almost double or triple in size. Pour into a buttered pan. Cool and break into pieces.

Candyland covered their sponge candy with dark or milk chocolate and WOW. This stuff is amazing!

I have made this with light corn syrup and brown sugar. Very good anyway. I am going to try it with honey one of these days. They call it honeycomb... hmm?

CROCK POT Pork Tenderloin Spaghetti Sauce

Say that fast a few times, never mind. I picked up a pork tenderloin from Sam's Club a while ago and froze it. I left it in the 'fridge to thaw. I opened the package and realized there were two tenderloins. Last night, with one of them, I made Rob's Pork Chops and Rice. I altered the recipe a bit by using chicken broth instead of water in the rice. It was good. With the other, I made CROCK POT Pork Tenderloin Spaghetti Sauce! The meat cooks all day in the sauce and WOW is it ever good. Very tasty, meaty and just plain delish!

CROCK POT Pork Tenderloin Spaghetti Sauce

One 28 oz can Diced tomatoes
One 28 oz can Trader Joe's Marinara Sauce
1 Tbs. Italian herbs
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 Tbs. Minced Garlic
1 Tbs. Lawry's Garlic Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper
A few shakes Red pepper flakes if you'd like
One Pork Tenderloin (trim fat)

Sprinkle Garlic salt on the bottom of your CROCK. Place tenderloin on garlic salt, sprinkle remaining garlic salt on pork. Crack some pepper on the tenderloin. Dump diced tomatoes and marinara sauce on top pork. Add remaining seasonings and stir. Set CROCK POT on low and cook for most of the day. Tenderloin will break apart when you stir sauce after a day worth of cooking.

Boil Pasta of your choice and serve pasta with your delicious CROCK POT Pork Tenderloin Spaghetti Sauce! We had it over Spaghetti tonight and it was FANTASTIC!

Fantastic Guacamole

I was not always a fan of avocado. Yep, sad but true. I have a bit of an allergy to the bumpy black skinned chloropyhl filled mass of deliciousness. Occasionally, my mouth swells when I eat it. Same goes for honeydew and kiwi fruit. It must be a verdant thing.

Anyway, as I have grown and matured in the ways of the taste buds..

I love Guacamole. I'd like to say I make it all by myself. Well, I cut the avocado and remove the seed and scrape the green goodness from the skin, but I use a mix. I do, use a mix. It is Fantastic! They sell it spicy and mild. I have tried both and LOVE both. The seasonings in the packet are amazing. The Guacamole is so good. When people eat it they go nuts and say it is the best.

So below is the not so secret ingredient for Fantastic Guacamole

FANTASTIC GUACAMOLE

Two large ripe avocados
One packet McCormick's Produce Partners Great Guacamole Spicy or Mild Seasoning Packet

Simply follow the directions on the back and enjoy.

Red Rice

When in Kansas, I made Red Rice to go with Flautas for dinner. In the past I have used salsa but my Sister suggested tomato paste. I have not used tomato paste much. But the Red Rice was amazing.

Red Rice

1 1/2 cups white rice
2 Tbs butter
Half a can of tomato paste
Garlic Salt
Pepper
3 cups chicken broth

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and add rice. Stir. Cook on medium to high heat to coat rice with butter and toast it a bit. Add tomato paste and seasonings. Stir. Add broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Serve with whatever you'd like. It is very tasty!

Produce A Plenty From Tom's Farm in Corona, California

I spent a week in Kansas with my sister and her family. What a wonderful week and I was lucky enough to meet my newest niece. She is the sweetest little bundle of girlness. Flew in Friday morning. I rushed straight back to work to spend two hours in traffic coming from LAX airport. Holiday weekend 1:30pm GRIDLOCK. Made it to work with like 10 seconds to spare. I worked until 9, came home packed again and left early Saturday morning to Glen Ivy's Hot Springs in Corona, California.

WOW. I needed the spa treatments and the R and R. I work really long days, sitting mostly and my body was gets really tweaked. Glen Ivy was great. I am still detoxing. On the way to the Hot Springs is this really great point of interest. Tom's Farm. My friend and I decided we would check it out Sunday before heading home. OMG. The produce in the market was amazing. I saw things I have only heard about. I wish I had my camera, because if I had it you would see pictures of the most amazing produce in California. Okra, rhubarb, fennel bulbs, ginger...

Tom's Farm has a market. I came home with a cart full of produce and other goodies.

With the red and black plums I will make a Pork Tenderloin with Plum Sauce.

With the peaches I will make a hot and crusty Peach Cobbler.

With the pickling cucumbers I will make Refrigerator pickles.

The grapes will be eaten and enjoyed.

The fresh green beans were turned into Dilled green beans tonight. YUM!

The yellow and white corn was boiled and served with butter and salt and pepper tonight. YUMMY!

The Roma Tomatoes will turn into bruschetta, and salsa, and a fantastic accompaniment to a sandwich.

SPONGE Candy. OH my my. This stuff is amazing. The first time I tasted it, it was in St. Paul, Minnesota at the Candyland Store. Tom's Farm's Candy store is amazing too!!!

They even had a huge selection of GLUTEN FREE products.

If you are ever in Corona, California you must visit. It is located at 23900 Temescal Canyon Rd. Their website is www. tomsearms.com

I will post some of the recipes from the above mentioned items in the next couple of weeks.