Build Your Own Nachos Night

Today we finish eating the Sopa de Fideos for lunch and when dinner time came we didn't want something too heavy. My husband said he wanted nachos, so we made our famous build your own nachos bar. Well is not so much a bar when I'm the one serving them, but I think you get the idea. We do like making a build your own nachos bar when we play poker with friends. Which now that I mention we haven't had in a while. This recipe is also great for when you have left over meat, or in a tight budget.

Ingredients:
1-2 Bags of Tortilla Chips
2 cups of Refried Beans
1/2 lb of Ground Beef
Salt
Nacho Cheese
Sour Cream
Guacamole
Canned Jalapenos

Directions:
Brown meat and season it to taste with salt. If you have refried beans at home awesome, if you don't you can use the can ones. Heat up the nacho cheese. I usually buy the big tin can nacho cheese because I like to store the rest in sandwich plastic bags and freeze them for whenever we want some. Once meat, beans, and cheese are warmed is time to assemble the nachos. Start with some chips on the bottom then add some cheese on top then add some more chips then layer the cheese, beans, ground beef. You can put a dollop of sour cream and guacamole. You can spice it up with some jalapenos. If you want you can add tomato or onions.

Sopa de Fideos

My husband woke up not feeling so good. Before he went to work he asked me to make him something to help his stomach. I made him a Sopa de Fideos or vermicelli soup to help him feel better. One of the reasons I love making this soup is because is easy to make, has a few ingredients, and a brings back great childhood memories. So when you are feeling sick or you want something to warm you up, I highly recommend you try this recipe. I'm sure you will love it.

Ingredients:
1 lb Stew Meat
4 tbsp Oil
3 medium white Potatoes
2-3 Carrots
1 large Zuchini
1 bag Vermicelli  or Fideo that come precut in small pieces
1 Garlic clove
4 qt of Water or 16 cups of water
1- 8 oz Tomato Sauce can
Chicken Flavor Boullion to taste
Cilantro
Salt to taste

Directions:
Prep all the vegetables before you start cooking. Cut all vegetables into 1/2 inch cubes. Also have water ready to add to pot. Cut the stew meat into 1/2 inch pieces and put in in a pan with the oil and garlic to cook. Add salt to meat as it cooks. Once all the juices are gone and the meat begins to brown set aside. Remove garlic clove. In the same pot that you will use for the soup, add 2 tbsp of oil and add the vermicelli. Keep an eye on the vermicelly and keep stirring so it browns evenly. You want the pasta to be a nice golden color. Now you are ready to put it all in the pot. Add meat, tomato sauce, and water to vermicelli. Once it starts to boil add the vegetables, cilantro and bouillion. I think I add about 6 tbsp to mine but you should start with less and keep tasting the soup to make sure you have it to your liking. Once all the vegetables are cook remove from heat and is ready to eat this should take about 15-20 minutes.

Sonoran Style Hot Dogs

Today I won't cook dinner because we were invited to a dinner party so this is what I made for lunch. Sonoran style hot dogs! This is the hot dog that I grew up eating is so easy to make but so different than the typical American hot dog. So when you feel like trying something with flavors south of the border, why not try

Ingredients:
Hot Dog Bun
Beef Franks
Roma Tomato
White Onion
Ketchup
Mustard
Mayo
Avocado

Directions:
You can either boil, grill, or saute your frank. Then warm up the buns on the skillet. Dice tomato and onions. Once you have all the ingredients ready you can start assembling the hot dog. So inset frank in bun then top it with tomato and onions then lightly cover with mayo. Then add the slices of avocado on top and finish it with mustard and ketchup. If you like a like of a kick to your hot dog you can definitely add jalapenos on top of one on the side to bite on. Enjoy :)

BBQ Chicken with Red Potato Salad

Today I had a very interesting day, my mother in law came over at the same time I had to get ready to go to my job interview. It was a bit of a chaotic mess since she was using the computer in my room while I was trying to get ready. But, things went as planned and I make it to the interview. Hopefully they liked me and I get the job. On my way home from the interview I started thinking of what to make for dinner. I wanted to eat something different that we haven't had in a while and voila! BBQ chicken with red potato salad came to mind. Hope you enjoy this recipe as my family did.

Ingredients:
1 bottle of you favorite BBQ sauce
2 lbs Chicken thighs
8 small Red Potatoes
3 hard boiled Eggs
1 bunch of Scallions
1/2 a Pickle
1/3 cup Mayo
3 tbsp yellow Mustard
1 canned Jalapeno
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Start by putting the potatoes to boil since they are going to take almost as long as the chicken. Then fire up the grill and put it on low to medium otherwise you will burn the chicken. Trim any excess fat from the chicken and add salt before putting on the grill. Next put the 3 eggs to boil. A very easy way to boil eggs to perfection is to put them in a pot, add water and make sure that they are not overcrowded. Once you see a rolling boil then you turn it off and wait 10 minutes and voila perfect boil eggs. Next chop scallions and a little bit of jalapeno and pickle and put in the container where you later will add the big chucks of potatoes. Check on the chicken and turn it so it can cook on both sides. Once the eggs are done peel them and dice them in small pieces and add them to the scallions. Very important to not overcook the potatoes so they won't turn into mashed mess. Take them out and rinse them in cold water or a container with water and ice to shock them and stop the cooking process. Then I chop them into 8 pieces and put them with the scallions. By this time you need to take out the chicken out of the grill and add the BBQ sauce. I find it easier to turn off two of my burners and let just one on so the chicken can cook with the BBQ without burning. Leave on the grill for another 5-10 minutes. During this time you can finish up the potato salad by adding mayo, mustard, salt and pepper to taste.

A simple recipe with stuff you most likely would have in your refrigerator or very inexpensive to get.

Breaded Chicken and Green Bean Dinner

Today was one of those days that inspiration was no where to be found. I took a long time to decide on the menu for our family dinner. However, I closely surveyed our fridge and pantry to help create a wonderful dish the whole family would love. What I came up was Caesar salad to start and as our main meal, breaded chicken breast with green beans and Alfredo rotini. The kids loved it and they finish everything on their plate. Hope your family would enjoy this meal as well.

Ingredients:
Caesar salad- I used the a package of Dole ready light Caesar salad
1 pkg frozen green beans
1/2 medium red onion or white onion thinly sliced
4 tbsp butter or margarine
1 pkg rotini pasta
1 jar of  Ragu Alfredo Sauce or whatever sauce you like
1 Chicken breast thinly sliced
1 egg
1-2 cups of bread crumbs
oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Salad just follow direction of package but wait until the end to put this together so lettuce doesn't get soggy.
Green beans- Add butter to a skillet and let it melt then add slices of onions salt and pepper to taste. Once onions are almost transparent add the frozen green beans and stir. You can lower the heat and add salt and pepper to taste when you see that they are almost done. This should take about 10 minutes. Make sure you don't overcook them. You want them to be cook but still crunchy.
Pasta- Put a pot of water to boil. Once you have a rolling boil add salt and then pasta. It takes about 9-11 minutes. I prefer to cook it for 9 then drain it. To the same pot then I add the Alfredo sauce and drained rotini.
Breaded Chicken. Cut chicken breast in thin slices long wise. Then dip them in the egg and later on the bread crumbs. Then add chicken to a pan with oil . Leave chicken for only a couple of minutes and then turn and leave on pan for another couple of minutes since the chicken is pretty thin and you don't want to overcook.

Chicken and Shrimp Paella

What do you pair good news with? With great food of course! Today I got a call from one of the many places I applied. I was so happy that I wanted to make something really special so we can celebrate. So I cook Chicken and Shrimp Paella. I love this dish because is a one pan dish and is all about comfort food with an international flair.

Ingredients: 
1 Chicken Breast cut into 1 in pieces
10-12 Shrimps peeled and cleaned
1 bell pepper
1 gold pepper
1 red pepper
1/2 small red onion
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp Saffron
1 cup frozen peas
2-1/2 cups Jasmine rice
32 oz Chicken stock
1 lemon
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste


Steps:
Add Olive oil to pan then add garlic and red onion and cook for a couple of minutes on medium high heat. Then add chicken a little bit of salt and pepper and let them cook. Once Chicken is almost cooked add peppers. Once peppers look like they are becoming soft add rice and saffron and chicken stock. Make sure you stir well so the saffron can be evenly distributed and add salt and pepper to taste (at this point you could add paprika if you desire or crushed chili pepper). Please let the rice sit don't stir any more. Reduce heat to medium high. When the stock is halfway reduced add shrimp on top and the frozen peas.

Over all this dish would take anywhere between 30-45 minutes to prepare. Once all the stock has been absorbed add lemon juice and let it sit for another 10 minutes. You can pair it with a great wine and serve it with a nice bread and a lemon wedge.

I hope you enjoy it. My family sure did : D