I had to leave Mexico so I brought Mexico to me

Hey all! I just got back from Mexico yesterday and I was in the mood to bring a little bit of the Mexican culture back with me. First, I wanted to make something that was Mexican but I had enough Mexican food to last me a while (hahahaah ok for a few days) so what do I turn to??? Good ol casserole. But before I get to that, I want to share some awesome purchases that took place in MX. I was in Mazatlan, MX with is right across the sea from Cabo. There was so much to do as far as eating, shopping, nightlife, and most of all relaxing. We stayed at Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay Resort & Spa. It was BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!! I did not want to leave. They had a pottery painting area where you could buy all sorts of bowls, platters, vases, piggy banks, toothbrush holders, soap dishes, etc. They all had a black outline of different designs and you painted inside the lines. The awesome workers would outline your painting and add an extra touch to it then was covered with a clear coat. Every one's turned out GREAT!! I thought this was such a great idea for all ages to participate in while lounging around. And you have something to bring home. These were my finished products...

I just loved them!! So of course I wanted to use them right when I got home, which I did!! So my next purchase was blown glass wine glasses. As a wedding gift, I got some really cool confetti blown glass serving pieces. I wanted the wine glasses but they were not available at Townsend House. So I went on a search in Mazatlan...... and I had to have them!!

Lee's birthday was on Friday (yes I was in MX on his birthday but I did get a pedicure while I was there to celebrate!) and I wanted to cook him dinner tonight. Since I'm still in my Mexican mood, I decided on Chicken with a Flair. OK people!!! This is SO good!!!!!!!! It was very easy and just yum. It has spicy Doritos, rotel, and cheese.. I could eat just those combined! This one is a crowd pleaser. The recipe came, again, from Laura Bowman but she got this recipe from her Mom, Melissa McElroy. Every time I have been to her house, she ALWAYS has the best hors d'eouvres. I have not had anything bad come from her.

So for starters, I bought Trejo's chips, salsa, guacamole and pico de gallo. Need I say more?

Now the Chicken with a flair.....

4 cooked chicken breast, chopped small
1/3 c milk
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can of rotel
1 lb of Velveeta, cubed
1 c of shredded cheddar cheese
1 12 oz pkg of Spicy Dorito chips, crushed
pepper

Cook chicken in oven with butter and salt/pepper for about 35 minutes at 375. Chop.

Preheat oven to 350. In a greased 13x9 in baking dish, layer the bottom of dish with crushed Doritos (setting aside a handful to add to mixture; optional). Mix the remaining ingredients except cheddar cheese. Pour over Doritos and top with cheddar cheese.

Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and back an additional 20 minutes.

I served with black beans and a salad. Refried beans are good as well. ENJOY!!

Potato Casserole

This recipe came from Laura Bowman. She always has good recipes to share! I added a few things here and there but mostly it is hers. You can serve this with almost any meal! Laura serves it with steaks and I have served it with Christmas dinner and breakfast. It is a delicious cheesy dish and anything with cheese must be good. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

1 bag of frozen hash browns, thawed
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 cup of sour cream
2 cups of shredded Colby Jack cheese or cheddar cheese
Dash of garlic powder
salt/pepper, I use a LOT of pepper
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup chopped onions, optional
2 cups of corn flakes, crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cream of chicken soup, sour cream, cheese and onions. Add THAWED hash browns.

Add mixture to greased 13x9 in baking dish. Top with crushed corn flakes and drizzle melted butter over corn flakes.

Bake 35-45 minutes or until done. I try potatoes out of the middle to make sure it is done. Enjoy!!

Hot Pizza Dip

I made this for my book club on Friday night and it was delicious. It is from allrecipes.com (they have great recipes!!)  It is like.... pizza on a chip!! Literally. I also took some to a birthday party last night and it was a hit... again. So if you like pizza, you will LOVE this. Just try it, I promise it will not disappoint you. This recipe called for onions and bell peppers but I opted for green onion and no bell pepper. So add whatever pizza toppings you like. Also, mix the cream cheese mixture (with dried ingredients) a day or 2 earlier so the spices can set in.

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 t dried parsley
1/2 t dried basil
a pinch of Italian seasoning
a dash of garlic powder
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1 c shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup of pizza sauce (I bought the small jar and used the whole thing... It's about 1 1/2 c)
2 oz pepperoni, chopped
2 T black olives, sliced (I used a small can)
1-2 stalks of green onion, chopped

In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese and spices. Spread the mixture in a 9 in dish. Sprinkle 1/2 c of mozzarella and 1/2 c of Parmesan cheese over cream cheese. Spread the pizza sauce over cheese. Add remaining cheese then top with pizza toppings. Cover, microwave for 5 minutes or bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Serve hot with bread sticks or tortilla chips.

The King Cake

The King Cake.... It is one of my favorite things about Louisiana. You can't go wrong with cinnamon dough, cream cheese filling (or any filling for that matter), and icing with sprinkles. What a great combo right?! Last year I decided to make a king cake from scratch. I used yeast, let it rise, knead, let it rise, etc. It was dry and it was not what I was hoping given the amount of time I put into it. I decided never again. I found a recipe in my Mardi Gras to Mistletoe cookbook that called for cinnamon rolls and forming them into a circle. Well I wanted something a little more king cake looking than that so I googled easy king cakes. I found one on eHow.com that sounded so perfect and it was! It was very easy and it really taste like a king cake! I made it last weekend and I decided that it is important to let dough to get room temperature. I only used 2 rolls so if you want a bigger cake, use 3 containers of cinnamon rolls. This one will WOW people when you tell them you made it. And you don't have to tell them how easy it was! As I was making my cake, I thought about how this amazing cake came about??  Some of you may not know so thought I'd share....

Epiphany, celebrated in European countries, marks the coming of the wise men who brought gifts to the Christ Child. Epiphany is also called Little Christmas on the Twelfth Night, and is celebrated twelve nights after Christmas. People from all of the world celebrate Epiphany by exchanging gifts and feasting. A very popular custom that is still celebrated is the making of the "King's Cake" which represents the three kings who brought gifts. A plastic baby is baked inside the King Cake, and the tradition is whoever receives the baby in their piece of cake must buy the next King Cake or throw the next party. King Cakes are made of a cinnamon filled dough in the shape of a hollow circle. The cake is topped with a delicious glazed topping and then sprinkled with colored sugar. The three colors of the sugar are Purple (representing Justice), Green (representing Faith) and Gold (representing Power). Today the King Cakes are baked with a wide assortment of fillings inside the cake. King Cake is the preferred dessert and snack in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Hundreds of thousands of King Cakes are eaten in New Orleans during the Carnival season. Many are shipped throughout the U.S. for those displaced New Orleanians longing for a taste of Mardi Gras. In fact, a Mardi Gras party wouldn't be a Mardi Gras party without a King Cake. 


I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did. I  had a piece this morning and it was GREAT the next day!!

Things You'll Need:

2 Rolls Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, room temperature

1 c. Powdered Sugar

8oz. pkg of Cream Cheese

2 tsp. flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. milk

Green, Yellow, and Purple food coloring

1 cup regular granulated sugar (I went to cake supply store and found purple, yellow and green)

One miniature baby doll (found in the craft section at Walmart) or coin (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Pull all the raw Pillsbury dough out and roll into one big ball. Knead. Roll out flat onto a large cookie sheet, so that you have one large rectangular sheet of pastry dough. I let dough get soft so I can push and mash it out to an even layer. It may take 10 minutes to do so.

Prepare the cake filling. In a separate bowl mix cream cheese, confectioners sugar, flour, vanilla, and milk on high speed until well blended. Spread filling on top of the pastry dough.

Add the plastic baby (or coin) anywhere on the pastry once the filling is completely spread.

Make the dough into a "snake" shape that is flat by folding it in half. Pinch edges, making sure to completely seal the filling. Twist the dough and form a ring. Set aside.

Place the ring on a nonstick cookie sheet. Bake your King Cake 25-30 minutes or until done.

While baking, dye the icing that comes with the cinnamon rolls. For this, separate icing into 3 bowls, evenly distributed. Add a few drops of your choice of food coloring (green, yellow or purple) in each bowl, making three different colored icings. When cake comes out of the oven, use the icing to decorate in Mardi Gras traditional food colors: Yellow, Purple and Green. Sprikle sugar on top of icing while still warm.

ENJOY!!

Honey Garlic Pork Tenderloin

This recipe came from Mardi Gras to Mistletoe by the Shreveport Jr League (my favorite cookbook ever). I really liked this recipe. It was different and it had a good flavor!!! We had friends over when I made this and they were VERY impressed. I really like pork and it can be made so many ways. So I try to make it as many ways as possible. This recipe called for simple ingredients that you usually have on hand. I used the bottle lemon juice and it was just fine... I served with cabbage, Zatarain's long grain wild rice (which is my favorite!) and bread. I don't have a roasting pan so I took pan (deeper than a regular cookie sheet) and place a rack over it. It fit right on top so it was basically the same concept. Broiling this pork really adds great texture to it. I loved how it had a little crunch to it. Now on to the recipe...


Marinade and Pork
1/2 c Creole mustard
1/2 c honey
2 T lemon juice
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 t salt
2 t pepper
2 lbs pork tenderloin


Honey-Creole Sauce
1/2 c Creole mustard
1/3 c mayo
1/4 c honey
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t pepper


Marinade and pork: Mix the creole mustard, honey, lemon juice, garlic, salt/pepper in a large shallow dish or sealable heavy-duty plastic bag. Add the pork and turn to coat. Cover or seal tightly and marinate in the refrigerator for 3 to 10 hours, turning occasionally; drain.


 Place the pork on a lightly greased rack in a foil-lined roasting pan. Broil 6 inches from the heat source for 5 minutes (I broiled for a little longer and I turned the pork; just watch it). Roast at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest portion registers 160 degrees (I found that it took closer to 25-30 minutes but this is depend on the size of pork loin). Let stand for several minutes before slicing.


Sauce: Mix the creole mustard, mayo, honey, lemon juice and pepper in a bowl until of a sauce consistency. Serve the sauce with the pork.

Easy Deer Spaghetti

Here is another venison recipe. I have a freezer full so I need to get on these recipes. This is one that I just throw together. Nothing tricky to it, I just add whatever I have on hand. So make it your own. And of course you can use turkey or ground meat.


1 lb of ground venison
1/2 c onions (I pour however many frozen onions I want)
1 small can of mushrooms (or fresh ones)
a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
salt/pepper
garlic powder
Italian seasoning
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
Pasta of choice


Brown meat and drain. Add onions, mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, and seasonings. Cook until onions are clear. Add jar of sauce and simmer until heated. Cook pasta. Serve with salad and bread. I serve mine with broccoli or green beans when I don't have salad.

Apple Brickle Dip

Hey friends! Here is yet another fantastic recipe that I got from Libby. It is SO GOOD!! I know she likes to make it a lot during the summer. But there isn't a bad time to make it. I've made it for a baby shower, girl gatherings and Christmas parties. When Libby first made this for me, we were in Ruston. We were literally in the kitchen eating it with a spoon!! Just try it... You won't be disappointed. I mean look at the ingredients.... you can't go wrong! Oh and sorry about the picture with the already eaten dip. I tried to get in there to take a picture and it was already going fast!! It was perfect for Christmas party with the green and red apples. Enjoy!


8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 t vanilla
1/2 10 oz pkg almond toffee bits (Heath bar bits)
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c sugar
1/4 to 1/2 a small pkg of chocolate chips
Gala and Granny Smith apples


Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla. Fold in chips and refrigerate. I make it the night before and add more Heath bits on top right before serving. Slice apples and coat with Fruit Fresh or lime juice.