7nightsaweek

Cuban Pork Soft Tacos

Delicious! Yum! Try with Mango Pico de Gallo (found at Costco) for a fresh, healthy, delightful meal!

Cuban Pork Soft Tacos

1/2  cup lime juice
1/4  cup water
1/4  cup grapefruit juice
3  cloves garlic, minced
1  teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/2  teaspoon salt
1/2  teaspoon ground cumin
1/4  teaspoon ground black pepper
2  bay leaves
1  3-pound boneless pork shoulder roast
1  cup sliced onion
Vegetable-flavored flour tortillas or flour tortillas

Pico de Gallo or bottled salsa
avocado slices

Directions
1. For marinade, in a small bowl combine lime juice, water, grapefruit juice, garlic, oregano, salt, cumin, pepper, and bay leaves. Trim fat from meat. If necessary, cut roast to fit into slow cooker. With a large fork, pierce meat in several places. Place in a large plastic bag set in a deep bowl or a baking dish. Pour marinade over meat. Close bag. Chill in the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours, turning occasionally.

2. In a 3-1/2- to 5-quart slow cooker place onion. Top with meat and marinade mixture.

3. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 10 to 12 hours or on high-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours.

4. Transfer meat to a cutting board; cool slightly. Skim fat from juices; keep warm. Remove bay leaves; discard. Use 2 forks to gently separate the meat into shreds.  Wrap pork and onion in a warm flour tortilla and top with lettuce, sliced avacado, and pico.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Pico de Gallo: In a medium bowl combine 2 peeled and finely chopped medium tomatoes, 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion, 2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro, 1 teaspoon lime juice, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and dash sugar. Mix well. Cover; chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight. Makes about 1-1/4 cups.

Homemade Samoas

Girl Scout cookies...mmmmm! Make them yourself for a delightful treat you can have year round!

Homemade Samoas Cookies

(a.k.a. Caramel de-Lites)

1 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
up to 2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.
Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat with remaining dough. Alternatively, use scant tablespoons of dough and press into an even layer in a mini donut pan to form the rounds.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. If using a mini donut pan, bake for only about 10 minutes, until edges are light gold.
Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.

While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes about 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.

Chicken with Sourdough Mushroom Stuffing

This is one of the most fragrant dishes I have made...the scent of zesty lemon and inviting sage combined with the taste of sourdough and sweet mushrooms will make your mouth water as it slow cooks all day!

Chicken with Sourdough Mushroom Stuffing

Ingredients
  Nonstick cooking spray
2  tablespoons finely shredded lemon peel
1  tablespoon ground sage
1  tablespoon seasoned salt
1-1/2  teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3 Chicken Breasts
1/4  cup butter
4  cups quartered or sliced fresh cremini, baby portobello, shiitake, and/or button mushrooms
2  cloves garlic, thinly sliced
8  cups sourdough baguette cut into 1-inch pieces (about 10 oz.)
1  cup coarsely shredded carrot
1  cup chicken broth
1/4  cup chopped walnuts, toasted
3  tablespoons snipped flat leaf Italian parsley

Directions
1. Lightly coat the inside of a 5-1/2- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Reserve 1 teaspoon of the lemon peel. In a small bowl combine remaining lemon peel, sage, seasoned salt and pepper. Remove 3/4 of the mixture and rub onto chicken. Place chicken in slow cooker.

2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a skillet; add mushrooms and garlic. Cook and stir 3 to 5 minutes or until just tender. Stir in remaining sage mixture. Transfer mushroom mixture to a large bowl. Add bread cubes, and shredded carrot. Drizzle with chicken broth, tossing gently.

3. Lightly pack stuffing on top of chicken. Cover and cook on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.

4. Transfer stuffing and chicken to a platter.

5. In a bowl combine reserved lemon peel, walnuts, and parsley; sprinkle over chicken.

Enjoy!

Chili with Steak and Beans

Simple as can be, this hearty chili will have your home smelling like you have been slaving away in the kitchen all day!

Ingredients
1 pound boneless beef top round steak
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 14-1/2-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 14-1/2-ounce can beef broth
1 cup chopped onion
1 or 2 fresh jalapeno or serrano peppers, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 15-ounce can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced

Sour cream, cheese

Directions
1. Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into 3/4-inch chunks. In a large skillet heat oil. Brown beef, half at a time, in hot oil. Drain fat.

2. In a 3-1/2- or 4-quart electric crockery cooker combine undrained tomatoes, broth, onion, jalapeno peppers, the 2 cloves garlic, chili powder, brown sugar, oregano, cumin, and black pepper. Stir in browned beef pieces.

3. Cover and cook on high-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours.

4. Add pinto and black beans, lime juice, and garlic. Cook for additional 2 hours (high setting).

5. Top with Sour cream and shredded cheese. Delicious with cornbread!

Enjoy!

The Pioneer Woman's Best Lasagna EVER

If you haven't visited Ree over at The Pioneer Woman Cooks, you are missing out! I tried this lasagna recipe and it is really, really delicious! She even has step by step pictures for those whole are kitchen-challenged!

Visit Ree HERE!

Best Lasagna Ever.

1 pound ground beef
1 pound hot breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean’s bulk)
2 cloves minced garlic
2 14.5 oz cans whole tomatoes
2 6 oz cans tomato paste
2 T dried parsley flakes
2 T dried basil
1 t salt
10-oz package of lasagna noodles (the wavy kind) (boil adding ½ t salt and 1 T olive oil to water) al dente

Mix together:
3 cups lowfat cottage cheese
2 beaten eggs
½ cup Kraft Parmesan cheese
2 T dried parsley flakes
1 tsp salt

1 lb sliced mozzarella cheese

In a skillet, combine 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, 1 pound hot breakfast sausage, and 2 cloves minced garlic.

Cook until brown. Drain off about half the fat (or more, to taste).

After that, add two 14.5-oz cans of whole tomatoes, two 6-oz cans of tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of dried parsley flakes, 2 tablespoons dried basil and 1 teaspoon salt.

Mix together thoroughly and simmer, uncovered, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, boil a 10-oz package of lasagna noodles. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the water, as well as 1 tablespoon olive oil to keep the noodles from sticking. Cook the noodles “al dente” so they’ll still have quite a bite to them. When they’re finished cooking, drain, rinse with cool water, and lay the noodles flat on a sheet of aluminum foil. That way, they’ll be easier to handle later.

While the meat mixture and noodles are cooking, mix 3 cups lowfat cottage cheese in a bowl with 2 beaten eggs. To the cottage cheese, add 1/2 cup Kraft Parmesan Cheese. 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes, and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix together well.

Now, go ahead and build your assembly line: meat mixture, 1 pound sliced mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese mixture, and cooked lasagna noodles. Lay four cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of the pan, overlapping as you go. Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture evenly over the noodles. Then lay 1/2 pound of mozzarella cheese slices on top of the cottage cheese mixture. This particular brand of cheese was cut very thin, so I had to double up the slices to make 1/2 pound. Don’t let this throw you off—some brands are cut thicker, and would only require a single layer of slices. NOTE: I prefer sliced mozzarella, but you can certainly use grated mozzarella if necessary. With the spoon, make a line through the middle of the meat mixture so you’ll distribute it evenly. Spread a little less than half of the meat mixture over the mozzarella cheese slices until it’s evenly distributed. Repeat and finish with meat mixture.
Top with a pretty generous layer of good ole Kraft grated parm.
Now pop it in a 350-degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly. (Alternately, you could cover and freeze it, unbaked, at this point or cover and refrigerate, unbaked, for up to two days before baking.)

Enjoy!