Thursday, August 15, 2013

Nacho Cups

I hesitate to post my silly little Tex-Mex "snack", given that Annette has posted the best Mexican-style recipe in the family already.  In case you missed her recipe for green enchiladas, you should check it out here:

Our Favorite Green Enchiladas

Many in our family joke that we must have Mexican heritage as much as we love to eat Mexican food!  This little "recipe" (We all know it's just nachos in a cup-shaped chip. lol)  I came up with is easy, quick, flexible for your tastes, and of course YUMMY!  You can have it as a snack or add to it to make it part of a quick meal.  Play with it and enjoy!

Nacho Cups

Ingredients:

Tostitos SCOOPS 
Can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
Salsa of your choice
Shredded Mexican Cheese


Of course this is SUPER SIMPLE ~

Line a cookie sheet with foil (I use non-stick.)
Place SCOOPS in a single row.
Put a few beans in each chip.
Drop a bit of salsa over the beans.
Cover with grated cheese.
Bake in a heated oven until cheese has melted.

Voila!


Optional add on toppings:
  
 avocado/guacamole (Our personal FAVE!)
chopped green onion
sliced olives
diced tomato
sour cream 
taco meat  

Like I said - easy, peasy, but sometimes that's just what we need on a busy evening or for a quick kid-friendly lunch!  As always, make them your own and enjoy :)

   
 


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Melt In Your Mouth Jalapeno Cornbread (Really)

Well it's been forever since we've been in touch with you all!  What can I say...life gets busy sometimes. The recipe I'm (Annette) sharing with you today is a TRUE family favorite.  Beth loves loves loves it when I make this cornbread for her.  She's not as big of a cornbread fan as I am, but, makes exception when it comes to this recipe.

First, I have to give you a little background story.  As Beth and I have told you in previous conversations, we originally came from the country.  Cornbread was a big staple in our household.  I learned how to make it homemade when I was 11 years old. I'm 8 years older than Beth, so many nights I cooked our dinner when we came in from school. The poor child had many nights of cornbread and black-eyed peas, canned from our garden. It's a wonder she will even entertain the thought of cornbread cooking in her presence.  Anyway, she's always excited when I whip up a pan of this hot skillet of goodness. One of the biggest tricks to great homemade cornbread is a good, seasoned cast iron skillet.  I have had the same skillet for let's just say many years. ;) When we grew up and left home our Daddy made sure we left with a sharp knife and a cast iron skillet.  Kind of a unique parting gift, but, very normal coming from our sweet Daddy. ;) He made sure we left with something that would be memorable and useful. He was right.
Now this recipe has a few semi-homemade products in it, but, requires a lot of love put into it.  Maybe that's why mine is so good.  I love food a lot! ;) I feel this is a must-do recipe so please give it a try.  Your family and friends will rave over it! Well, here goes! 

 Melt In Your Mouth Jalapeno Cornbread

Ingredients

1 Box Jiffy Cornbread Mix
1 Bag of Martha White (Gladiola) Mexican Style Cornbread Mix
1 1/3 cup of Buttermilk
2 Lg Eggs
1 can (15 oz) cream style corn
1/4 cup whole kernel corn (I use frozen corn as it seems a little more crisp.)
1 lg finely chopped jalapeno
4-5 cloves thinly sliced garlic (this will literally melt during the cooking process)
8 slices of cooked bacon (I cut the bacon up in small pieces with my scissors and fry them in a small sauce pan.  Then I drain off the excess fat.)


Now for the story...

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl whisk your eggs and buttermilk together. Then add your 2 cornbread mixes and combine until it's fairly smooth (it will have a few lumps in it).

Add your garlic, cream style corn, whole kernel corn, jalapeno and bacon to your bowl.  Take a paper towel and generously grease your cast iron skillet.  Pour your cornbread mixture into your skillet and cook for approximately 25 minutes or until top is good and brown.  When you take it out of the oven let it rest for about 5-6 minutes before you cut it.


Voila!



I sure hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!  It's one of those recipes that goes with lots of different meals, and as my Daddy would say...it will stick to your ribs! LOL! I certainly hope to hear how you all enjoyed the cornbread.  Please take some time and let us hear what you think.
As always, Beth and I hope you and your family have an awesome week! Please take that much-needed time to sit down at the table and enjoy good food and conversation with the ones you love the most.  Until next time...