Taco Salad with Homemade New Mexico Queso

Recipe From: Cathleen Burns and Caitie Bump  **Pinky's Special**
Salad- Cut up lettuce and pile on pinto beans, smashed chips, ground beef and queso!
Pinto beans- Wash beans.  Place half the bag in a crock pot filled with water.  Add garlic salt for seasoning.  Cook for 3 hours on high or until no longer hard.
Ground beef- cook beef, add taco seasoning and continue cooking per directions on back of taco seasoning package (I use Taco Bell seasoning)
Queso- **Pinky's Special** On medium heat in a Teflon pan, melt 1 stick of butter (1/2 C) and add 1/2 onion finely chopped.  Add 1C whipping cream and one 1lbs package of Velveeta Cheese (cut up in small squares).  Add several small cans of chopped green chile (depending on how spicy you want the queso.  I use 2 cans for medium spiciness. You can also use frozen Bueno Chile or a jar of THICK green chile salsa). Cook until thick (about 15 minutes).  Make sure you stir queso often so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
Total Time: 30 minutes
Rating:
The Pink Chef- 10
Hubby Rating- 10
Presentation- 8
Dishes- 5
Left overs- 4
Changes I made while cooking:  I used cabbage and lettuce for the salad
Thoughts while cooking:  "MMM this queso reminds me of Mom!"
Impressions while eating:  "This queso really makes this dish!"
Changes you can make:  You can use cut up taco shells or Frito's (something we called Plato Loco in New Mexico when I was growing up).  You can use ground turkey instead of beef for less calories or you can add sour cream for more calories =)  I would not use cabbage again.
Ingredients to use later in the week: 1/2 onion, whipping cream, pinto beans, lettuce, chips

Since this dish is pretty healthy you can make this salad nice and big!
Add lot's of lettuce and beans and just enough queso for taste....unless
you want to slather on the queso and make it taste even better ;-)

Bump's Weekly Review (4/18-4/24)

Happy Easter!  He has Risen!

This was a very successful week for my recipes!  Everything I made was really good!  Stephen did a lot of grilling.  Again, we have SO many leftovers!  Anyone want to come over for dinner???

This last week was filled with organizing and getting ready for the move (although we still have a long way to go!).  Easter was spent eating good food and hanging out with good friends!  I felt Kelsey hiccup for the first time...it was amazing!  She is still too little for Stephen to feel her =(  He really wants too!  I feel her most when I take a bath and at night in bed.

I'm going to go through the pantry and decide what recipes I should make this week (going to try and use all of the ingredients up before we move).  This will include taco salad and Jambalaya!  No sweets this week since I ate about a months worth of sweets on Easter morning Cinnamon Rolls!  

The baby shower is this Saturday....I can't wait!  We are going to use our new video camera and also take lot's of pictures that I will be sure to post!  My mom flies in on Friday...wahoo!  Can't wait to see her!  

Easter morning...21 weeks pregnant!  

  

Bacon Cheddar Deviled Eggs

Recipe From:  Allrecipes.com
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bacon-Cheddar-Deviled-Eggs/Detail.aspx







Total Time:  1 hour
Rating:
The Pink Chef- 8
Hubby Rating- 9
Presentation- 8
Dishes- 4
Leftovers- 10+
Changes I made while cooking:  I boiled the eggs the night before and made the "inside" part about 7 hours before we ate them. I added Paprika for decoration.
Thoughts while cooking:  "ewww I hate the smell of eggs!!!"
Impressions while eating:  "These deviled eggs are way better with bacon...but then again, what isn't way better with bacon?"  "I can't taste the cheddar"
Changes I would make: I would make these right before you eat them otherwise they get a little slimy (If you have read my other posts you know that I hate slimy eggs!!!).  I would add more cheddar so you can taste it.
Ingredients to use later in the week:  Mayo, bacon, cheddar cheese, mustard

Famous Yeast Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe:  Cathleen Burns **Pinky's Special**







These Cinnamon Rolls are famous in our family!  They take a long time, but are totally worth every minute (and why we only make them on special holidays...although Stephen claims they should be made on all holidays including "Childhood Obesity Awareness Day" haha).  They are probably your entire days worth of calories....but SOOO worth it!

"Mom's Baking tip: always use jumbo eggs"

The night before:  Mix 4C flour, 3.4oz of INSTANT vanilla pudding, 1/2 C sugar, and 2 tsp salt.  On stove heat up 2C Vit D milk (if you're gonna go big...go all the way!) until it's warm (not hot!).  Make 2 pkg's dry yeast with sugar addition to insure yeast will rise (see back of pkg) in a small bowl.  In a new bowl  mix 2 beaten eggs, 1/2 C oil, and 1/2 C sugar.  Mix warm milk in.  Mix flour mixture in a little at a time.  Mix yeast in.  Add 3C flour (1C at a time).  Let rise 1 hour (I usually let it rise at least 3 hours).  Break dough into two balls.  Roll ball out and spread enough melted butter to lightly moisten dough.  Sprinkle a large amount of cinnamon sugar and brown sugar.  Roll into a burrito shape.  Slice into 1-2 in. individual pieces (vertically).  Place on ungreased pan.  Cover and put in fridge over night.
The morning you want to eat them:  Take pans out, uncover, and let rise for 20min-1 hour to rise again.
When ready to eat:  Cook at 350 for 15 min (slightly doughy on inside).
Icing:  Beat 3C powdered sugar, 1/3 C soft butter, 1.5 tsp vanilla, 2 tbs Vit D milk, and a dash on salt.
Total Time: Prep the night before is 2-3 hours including time to let dough rise, time to rise in the AM 20min-1hour, and cook time is 15 min.  Total of 4 hours and 15 min.
Rating:
The Pink Chef- 10
Hubby Rating- 10
Presentation- 10
Dishes- 7
Leftovers- 10+
Changes I made while cooking: I greased the pans even though the recipe said "place on ungreased pans"...I should not have doubted my Mom!!!  They stuck a little to the pans =(
Thoughts while cooking:  "This is so worth the work!"  "This isn't the same without a house full of family"
Impressions while eating: ....there are no words for these!!!  AMAZING!
Changes I would make:  Do NOT grease the pan!
Ingredients to use later in the week:  flour, yeast, milk, powdered sugar

Spicy Sausage Shepherd's Pie and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Recipe From: Rachael Ray and Allrecipes.com







Shepard's Pie- http://www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes/Spicy-Sausage-Shepherd-s-Pie
Pineapple Upside-Down Cake- http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pineapple-Upside-Down-Cake-VII/Detail.aspx
Total Time: 1 hour
Rating: 
The Pink Chef- Shepard's Pie 8 and Pineapple cake 10
Hubby Rating- 9 and 9
Presentation- Shepard's Pie 5 and Pineapple cake 9
Dishes- 8
Leftovers- 5+
Changes I made while cooking:  I did not use horseradish in the Shepherd's Pie (only because I could not find it in the store...where do they keep that stuff?), I added cheese to the Shepard's Pie for the last 15 min of cooking and garlic salt, I did not use cherries on the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (b/c I do not like maraschino cherries...I know, I'm the only person on the planet that doesn't like them haha).
Thoughts while cooking: "I hate chopping things."  "I have never cooked anything in a iron skillet in the oven before....can you put pans in the oven that have non-stick stuff on them?"
Impressions while eating: "This tastes much better than it looks!"
Changes I would make:  The cheese and the garlic salt were a good (and needed) addition to the Shepard's Pie.  The Pineapple Upside-Down cake was perfect!!!!
Extra ingredients for later in the week:  cream, 1/2 head cabbage, garlic cloves

Better Than 'In-N-Out' Hamburgers

Recipe From: Allrecipes.com and Caitie Bump







Sauce- http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Special-Hamburger-Sauce/Detail.aspx
Hamburgers- mix ground beef with dry onion soup mix and shape into patties...yes, that easy!
Total Time: 40 minutes
Rating:
The Pink Chef- 10
Hubby Rating- 9
Presentation- 8
Dishes- 3
Leftovers- 3
Changes I made while cooking: I didn't really make any changes this time
Thoughts while cooking:  "This sauce is a very strange color..."
Impressions while eating:  "This is better than In-N-Out!!!  Why spend the money?"
Changes I would make:  I actually would not make any...this was a great recipe!
Ingredients to use later in the week: Mayo, french dressing, and pickle relish

Snow Covered Crunch Bars

Recipe From:  Allrecipes.com
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Snow-Covered-Crunch-Bars/Detail.aspx





Total Time: 30 min to prep and 1 hour in refrigerator to set
Rating:
The Pink Chef- 6 (has the possibility of being a 10 with changes)
Hubby Rating- 8
Presentation- 8
Dishes- 7
Leftovers- I made these bars as a treat for our Bible Study group so it's hard to judge leftovers, but it probably made about 20 bars (and I cut them in large servings).
Changes I made while cooking-  I did not have sugar cookie mix like the recipe called for, so I used snicker doodle cookie mix (everyone seemed to like it).  I only used 1.5 C of peanut butter (1/2 regular and 1/2 low fat) instead of 2.5 (which was more than enough!).  I had extra chocolate mixture and chex cereal so I made some puppy chow for later with it.
Thoughts while cooking-  "This is getting powdered sugar everywhere!!"  "Stop eating the cookie dough."
Impressions while eating-  "Why is the top part of the bar coming off of the cookie bottom?"
Changes I would make-  I would use white chocolate instead of milk chocolate (I prefer white chocolate in Puppy Chow Mix as well).  I would try and make it with regular sugar cookie mix...but the snicker doodle wasn't bad!  I did not see the step that says "gently press chex mixture onto cookie"....that is probably why the top part of the bar came off of the bottom!  I would for sure do that next time!  I would probably use less chex mix because these bars were so thick they were hard to eat (maybe 4-5 C rather than 6).  Also, I put the bars in the freezer to set because I was running short on time...I wonder if this has something to do with why the top layer separated from the bottom?  I would still only use 1.5 C of peanut butter, however, I would use the full fat kind and not half and half.
Extra ingredients to use later in the week- Powdered sugar and Chex Cereal