Weekend Recipe Warrior

Boy do I have a new delicious dessert recipe for you! Yes, that right a dessert!! Thought I'd switch it up a little bit tonight and give you an amazing sweet treat...Believe it or not this recipe only takes about 10 minutes to prepare and yields the most amazing brownies I have ever had. This sweet treat has no flour, no sugar, no eggs and no baking!!! That's right...no baking!!! I had some dates that I wanted to use and before I knew it I was tasting an amazing chocolaty treat!! Give them a try and let me know your thoughts..... Chocolatey No Bake Brownies Ingredients: 2½ cups loosely packed pitted dates - I used Medjool pitted dates 1 1/2 cups walnuts 6 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract 2 tsp water 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 cup cacao or cocoa powder 1/4 cup pure maple syrup or agave 2 tbsp canola oil 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract Preparation: 1. Place dates, walnuts, 6 tbsp cocoa, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, water, and salt in a food...

I'm back!!! Happy Monday to all!! 😊Took some time off to practice new recipes with my new chef style slide in!!! Talk about turning up the heat...low is the new medium and medium is the new high and high is the new singe your eyebrows!! So since I'm turning up the heat ..I thought I'd start off with a Spicy Chick-fil-A chicken breast copy cat recipe I found. The critics, my husband, son and grandson, love it and said it's better than the real thing! I have experimented with both chicken thighs and chicken breasts with this recipe and I much prefer the thighs, but you can use whichever you like. I also made it a little more carb friendly by using almond flour in place of the regular flour.  Spicy Chick-fil-A Ingredients: 2 large chicken breasts cut in half length wise 1/2 cup pickle juice mixed with 1/2 cup water 2 cups flour or almond flour 1/3 cup powdered sugar 3 tsp paprika 2 tbs black pepper 2 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1 1/2 tsp chili powder 1 tsp...

Happy Thursday!! Today's recipe is a sauteed shrimp over creamy polenta. Polenta has always been one of my favorite dishes. When I was younger, my grandmother used to make this all the time for me and my sister. In those days we called it fried cornmeal mush. Doesn't sound so good but it was really tasty. The creamy polenta (corn meal) is refrigerated until firm and then fried in a pan with butter until it's a crispy golden brown. What could be better than that!!  So here is my quick sauteed shrimp and creamy polenta recipe.  Poletna (Corn Meal Mush) Ingredients: 3 cups water 1 c yellow or white corn meal 1 tsp salt chopped chives - optional Preparation: 1. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. 2. Add salt and corn meal - stirring constantly3. Cook until thickened, usually about 15-20 minutes 4. Place in bowl, add sauteed shrimp (recipe below) and garnish with chives. Sauteed Shrimp Ingredients: 1 lb shrimp - washed and deveined 2 tsp butter salt and p...

Today we hit over 1000 page views so let's celebrate with some Macadamia Nut Crusted Chicken!!! While eating at Kona Grill on Friday night, I had the most amazing salad with chicken. After doing some digging I found a copy cat recipe for the chicken. I like quick and easy recipes so I made a few tweaks. To speed up the cooking process I use thin sliced chicken breasts. If you choose to use the regular chicken breast, after browning both sides, bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. Whether you choose to use thin or regular chicken breast, fry or bake, this dish will turn out absolutely delicious!! You can serve this dish by itself, with your favorite side or cut it up and add it to yesterday's recipe, Oriental Salad with Sweet Soy dressing. Either way, be sure to make plenty because it will not last long....   Kona Grill Macadamia Nut Chicken Ingredients: 8- 4 oz skinned and deboned thin chicken breast slices 1/4 c macadamia nuts - c...

Hope everybody has had a great weekend! Today's recipe is so delicious it will become one of your favorite go to dishes. I chose to cut all my veggies so it took me about 2 hours to finish this dish. There is a lot of julienning/chopping but you can take a short cut! 😉 Instead of julienning the Napa cabbage, red cabbage and carrots you can buy the bagged coleslaw veggies and do a quick chop. This will save you about one and a half hours of prep time. You may even be able to buy the red bell pepper and green onion chopped as well. The sweet soy dressing  has a perfect balance of salty and sweet that goes great with the veggies!  It only takes about two minutes to make. I also added crushed ramen noodles, shaved almonds and macadamia nut crusted chicken ( recipe will be on tomorrows blog ) for an added crunch. Oriental Salad - makes about 6-8 servings Ingredients: 1 head nappa cabbage - julienned 1 small head red cabbage - julienned 1 small head green ...

Happy Tuesday!! Today is our three week blogging anniversary so I decided to spice it up a little. On the menu tonight we have a very easy crockpot comfort meal....Spicy 15 Bean Soup with Jalapeno Sausage. When I make this dish it makes me smile because it reminds me of my Dad. He was like a "Soup King". Dad made the best soups ever!! You name it and he could make it from scratch. A bite of his French Onion soup would take me back to the days living in Europe. A slurp of some Minestrone soup and I would be on a gondola floating down the Grand Canal in Italy!! If I wanted to take a trip to Mexico, no problem...a bowl of his Southwest Cabbage soup would do the trick! So today's blog is for my Dad, the Soup King. I grew up on this bean soup recipe....well kinda.....I had to spice it up a few notches. I also used the crockpot instead of the stove top method. Remember, if you don't like it spicy, add regular sausage and diced tomatoes. You can also leave out the slic...

Happy Monday!! I can't believe tomorrow will be three weeks since I started this blog! Time sure does fly when you're having fun!!! Hope you and your family are enjoying the recipes as much as we do. I've gotten several recipes from friends that I can't wait to try and blog about. If you have a favorite recipe and pictures you'd love to share, please email or text me! 😊 My family loves shrimp so today's recipe will not disappoint. Normally I don't use wine when I cook but there are a few exceptions, red wine spaghetti and shrimp in a white wine garlic sauce.  There is no need to go and buy an expensive wine to cook with. The best rule of thumb is, if you drink it you can cook with it! The alcohol in the wine will cook out and you will only be left with the flavor. I chose an orange moscato, made in Fredericksburg, because the orange flavor goes great with the garlic, butter and shrimp. You can serve this dish with either pasta, or my favorite, creamy pole...

Well, the weekend is almost over and it's time for menu planning and my Sunday cook-a-thon! We celebrated this weekend with a crawfish festival in New Braunfels so next week's menu is going to be dedicated to....that's right seafood!!! I love all types and cooking styles of seafood. Grilled, boiled, fried and even, yes, raw. 🍣 My top favorites are ahi tuna, shrimp (yes, I think I'm a mermaid because I even eat the tails!) and crab. The recipes I'll be highlighting next week are black sesame crusted ahi tuna, Argentinian red shrimp in a white wine garlic butter sauce, crab cakes with a lemon dill sauce and a family favorite shrimp and pea salad. Come and see me tomorrow for the best  black sesame crusted ahi tuna. This delicious easy recipe takes about 20 minutes to prepare but your friends and family will think you slaved all day in the kitchen!!  But wait a minute, before you go I have to tell you about a great product that will make your cook...

What a great day!!! While doing my normal weekly grocery shopping, I found the best deal ever at Sam's Club!! I'm sorry I love my HEB but this deal was too good to pass up! Two 18oz jumbo tubs of Cool Whip for......$0.51!!! That's only $0.25 a tub!! A savings of over $3.00 per tub! All I can say is...thank goodness for chest freezers!! 😊 So after I got home and unpacked my trunk full of cool whip, I decided to make,,,you guessed it a cool whip dessert! Now normally this dessert is packed with way too many calories to mention, but I decided to do a slim down version that has only 100 calories per serving! That's over 50% less calories than the normal recipe. If you like chocolate, pecan shortbread and cream cheese this is definitely your dessert! To make it almost calorie free, I used fat free cream cheese, low-fat milk, sugar free chocolate pudding and of course Cool Whip. One of the best things about this recipe is you only have to bake the crus...

I'm so happy today I decided to make it a double recipe Saturday!! Most of you who know me know I love to cook but I also love to bake. Well, today was a I feel like baking day! I told my husband I was making this muffin recipe, which I actually created last year, and he said, "Oh, those sound really gross! Cinnamon with bananas and chocolate chips...yuck!" Now, keep in mind this was not the first time I made these. The last time I made them he ate 3 jumbo muffins the first day!! So I began to make them in the oven and he comes running down the steps, "What smells so good! You didn't tell me it was THOSE muffins you were making". Really (ShakingMyHead).....Well, anyway, here is the recipe and a picture. I hope you enjoy! Banana Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Streusel Muffins Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 4 bananas, mashed 3/4 c white sugar 1 egg 1/3 c butter, melted 1/4 c chocol...

Wednesday is Wine Day!! Well....red wine spaghetti day! I saw this recipe on a Food TV show, Giada at Home ,    a few years ago. It looked so easy to prepare, looked delicious and got rave reviews so I decided to make it. This dish is so tasty that it has become one of my husband's favorite meals. Even if you are not an avid  wine connoisseur,  you'll love this pasta. By reducing the red wine, all the alcohol is cooked out and you are left with the robustness of the wine. This recipe takes about 45-50 minutes to prepare and amkes about 4-6 servings. I'm sure you can add your favorite veggies to the dish and that will only enhance the flavor. I'd love to hear your variation of this simply amazing dish! Spicy Red-Wine Spaghetti Ingredients: Kosher salt 1 pound spaghetti  1/4 c avocado oil  3 large cloves garlic, chopped  1 large shallot, halved, thinly sliced into strips  1/2 tsp dried crushed red pepper  1 750ml b...

Happy Monday!! First day back after a long weekend at the beach enjoying the sun, surf, sand and the seafood. Since it's the first day back I decided to do a very easy delicious dish that a friend at work told me about. Thanks Sue and The Pioneer Woman ! If you love shredded pork, Dr Pepper and spicy peppers this is the recipe for you. Basically you put all the ingredients in a pot and cook 6-8 hours in a low temp oven. How much more no fuss can you get! I served these delicious shredded pork sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls, with a side of onions, pickles and homemade coleslaw. I used Hawaiian rolls because the sweetness of the rolls really brings out the spice of the pork. Honestly, this is so good you can use any bread, bun, roll, tortilla or just serve it in a bowl by itself and your family and friends will love it! 😋 J udging by the oohs and aahs by my husband and son, this dish will be a regular!   Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork Ingr...

Happy Wednesday!!! I love vegging out and watching Food TV on the weekend. A few weeks ago I was watching Valerie's Home Cooking and saw the amazing recipe I'm talking about today. How many of you love fries and who doesn't love jalapenos! Well, you're gonna love this....jalapeno fries with roasted garlic (not just plain garlic, but roasted garlic) ranch dip. Now, if you're not a fan of jalapenos (although I don't know why) you can use zucchini or green beans in place of the peppers. The recipe is easy to make but does take a little time, so be patient. You really need to watch out though, my family was eating this up as fast as I was making it!!   Roasted Garlic Ranch Ingredients:   1 large head garlic, top third cut off 1 tsp avocado oil   1/4 c buttermilk    1/4 c mayonnaise    2 tbs sour cream    Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper    1 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives...

Welcome back!!! Yesterday I served the spicy grilled pork chops and spaghetti squash. I only posted the spicy pork chop rub recipe so today I'm sharing my quick and easy spaghetti squash recipe. Spaghetti squash is such a versatile veggie. If you are trying to cut down on the pasta, you can serve it with your favorite sauce on top and it's delicious! 😋 The recipe I used is so simple, it will be cooked and on your table in less than 15 minutes!! You can't get much quicker than that for an amazing "pasta" dish. Remember, you can change up the spices to your liking. 🙂 Spaghetti Squash Ingredients: 1 spaghetti squash 2tbs parmesan cheese 1tbs butter Chives Salt and pepper to taste Preparation: Wash outside of squash and poke holes in the skin all around squash using a fork. Place on microwave safe dish and cook on high for 6 minutes.* Turn squash over and microwave for another 6 minutes.* Test to see if done. To test- Carefully push the top of the squ...

Happy Monday!!!! It's such a beautiful day outside I decided to grill! ☀️ 🥘  It is one of my favorite ways to cook, especially since we switched from charcoal to propane. Grilling with propane is just like having an amazing outdoor kitchen and adds that extra touch of flavor to any food!! Today I'm cooking a spicy grilled pork chop with a side of spaghetti squash (come back and see me tomorrow for this recipe) 😉 . Spicy Pork Rub Ingredients 2 tbs avocado oil 1 tbs chili powder - I use New Mexico chili powder 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp oregano 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper Preparation Mix all ingredients together and rub on pork chops. Cover and refrigerate for an hour. After an hour, place on hot grill and grill until temp is 165. I grilled mine about 4 minutes per side.

What a great weekend spent with family! We did a little shopping, talking and lots of cooking! I remember growing up, my Mom cooked for us every night, all while working fulltime!! She made the most delicious meals and amazing desserts!! One of my favorite foods that she made was potato pancakes! Well, you guessed it...potato pancakes for dinner tonight! This recipe is so easy to prepare yet tastes like it took hours.. Potato Pancakes Ingredients: 10 medium potatoes (I use Yukon gold), peeled and diced 1c all purpose flour 4 eggs 1 tsp baking soda - stops potatoes from turning brown 1.5 tsp salt pepper to taste Preparation: Heat oil in a pan over medium heat Put all ingredients into blender and blend until liquefied (should look like pancake batter) Place a scoop of potato pancake batter in hot oil Fry on one side until you see bubbles forming on top and then flip over and cook until browned. Place pancake on paper ...

Happy Friday!!!! The weekend has finally arrived 😊 . I took the day off to travel to see my mom, sister and grandson. My mom and sister said they wanted challah bread. So I did the only thing I could think of...call my Aunt. My Aunt, who is an amazing baker, gave me her secret recipe (yes, that's right, sorry I can't post it).  I have made bread and rolls from scratch several times but have never attempted challah. I was a little worried because I wasn't in my own kitchen, have never made this type of bread and have never tied bread in knots!! Ok, so here it goes...two hours later we have challah knot rolls!. Wow, that wasn't so bad! They came out sweet and delicious!! The picture below are the rolls I made using my Aunt's recipe. However, the recipe you see is different but uses almost the same ingredients. If you have never baked bread before, you will find this recipe much easier than most bread recipes. Tips:  One thing to remember when preparing the ye...

Hope you all have enjoyed this weeks recipes!!! Tonight I'm using the left over ground beef from Tuesday's lettuce wraps to make homemade sloppy joes. My kids have always loved sloppy joes and this recipe won't disappoint!! I know you usually serve this on a bun, but since my son is eating low carb, I use low carb tortillas baked in the oven until crisp. The recipe below uses the ingredients my family likes, but remember you can add your families favorites!!! 😋 Sloppy Joes Ingredients 1 lb ground beef 1 8oz container tomato sauce 1/2 c low sugar ketchup 2 green onions chopped 1 tbs garlic powder - more or less to taste 1 tbs onion powder - more or less to taste 2 tbs worcestershire sauce Preparation Brown ground beef Add remaining ingredients and simmer on low for about 5 minutes. Enjoy!

Happy Wednesday!!!! Today I was thinking about our upcoming trip to Port Aransas and decided to make scallops. I love scallops but they can be a little tricky making them. I found a super easy solution!!! I get a microwave bag put broccoli, you can use any veggie, and frozen scallops inside. Before sealing the bag, I put some pieces of garlic butter on top. Seal the bag and microwave for 7 minutes. Your cooking time may vary so start with 5 minutes, check them and then add more time if needed in one minute increments so you don't over cook them. I like my scallops a little browned... put scallops in a hot pan with some of the garlic butter from the bag and sear them on each side for a minute. Plate your scallops and broccoli and you have another easy delicious meal!!!

Today was a gloomy day outside but it was bright and shiny in my kitchen!! Tonight's dinner, Spicy Beef Lettuce Wraps, was requested by one of my friends at work. Leticia, this one's for you! I really love quick, easy delicious recipes and this one is all that and more! You use one pan, it takes less than 30 minutes to make AND it tastes 100% better than take out!! I used beef this time but have also made this recipe using ground chicken, ground turkey or minced up fully cooked or grilled chicken breasts. I have found that butter lettuce works best but you can use romaine, iceberg or any other lettuce you choose. To me the best recipes are the ones you can experiment with and make them your own! If you make this recipe, I'd love to hear how it turned out and what ingredients you changed. Please feel free to share pictures of your dish! Spicy Beef Lettuce Wraps Ingredients 2 teaspoons avocado oil 1 pound lean grou...