Spanish Rice

I absolutely LOVE Spanish rice, but I'm the only person in the house who does. I rarely make it due to this fact! But tonight I made some Enchiladas from http://mamaandbabylove.blogspot.com/2011/01/recent-freezer-meals.html and I wanted Spanish Rice to go along with them... so I started looking and didn't find exactly what I wanted, so I created this....which is quite possibly the best Damn Spanish Rice I have ever had!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 Cup chopped onion
• 1/4 Cup Green Pepper chopped
  
• 2 Tbsp Jalapeno diced
  
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup chunky salsa ( I used Medium, not too hot, just right!)
  
• 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 1 handful of frozen corm (or fresh... or canned... I dont discriminate! )
  

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, & peppers, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Mix rice into skillet, stirring often. When rice turns translucent (dont over brown), stir in chicken broth, tomato paste, corn and salsa. Bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 25 minutes,remove from heat and let stand another 5 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed mostly, but not all, you dont want dry Spanish Rice! YUCK!!!!

Hibachi Steak

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 1 zucchini, sliced into spears
  
• 1 medium onion, sliced into chunks
  
• 1 (8-ounce) package sliced mushrooms
• 1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak

Sauce Mix

• 1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Directions

Use large skillet and heat to around 350 degrees add 1 Tablespoon of oil, When the oil is hot, add the vegetables and cook, stirring continuously until the vegetables are cooked, but still crisp, about 5 minutes. While the vegetables are finished, transfer them to a bowl and put off to the side, now heat the other tablespoon of oil.

Cut the steak into thin slices, and cook until browned on all sides, about 4 to 5 minutes.

In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and cornstarch and set aside.

Add the steak, along with any accumulated juices, to the pan with the vegetables. Stir the soy mixture into the vegetables and steak and cook until the sauce has thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve over Fried Rice or Noodles

Ranch Dressing

My hubby ran out of Ranch Dressing last night, and I dont know about your house, but Ranch Dressing is used to dip EVERYTHING in at my house, so running out, is a huge deal! Money is tight this week, and I really didn't want to run to the store for more Ranch (because as we all know, when you run to the store for one thing, you end up $70 later with crap you didn't really need) So, I had some fresh chives, and sour cream on hand... I began my search for a Ranch Dressing Recipe!! And I found one!!!

Here we go! Its so easy, you will never buy it again!

1 Cup Mayo
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
a few chives finely chopped
a clove of garlic mashed into a paste (I'll talk about this in a minute)
1-2 teaspoons of dill (I added more, I LOVE dill)
1 tablespoon of white vinegar
Milk to thin it to desired consistency
Salt and pepper to taste

First, lets combine the sour cream and mayo (not miracle whip!!!) Put aside, prepare your garlic clove by removing the skin, now, take a little bit of sea salt, and sprinkle over the clove of garlic, now use a fork and begin to smash the clove. This will take a minute or two, just be patient, its worth it! ;-) Chop your chives and add your fresh ingredients to your bowl. Add vinegar and mix. Now add milk to thin it all out. At this point you could add onion powder or salt and pepper... I used white pepper so it wouldn't show in the white of the dressing, it just depends on what you are looking for in your dressing.

Remember this is your dressing, you can do whatever you wish! If you like it spicey, you can add some Cheyenne Pepper, you can use 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 buttermilk!

You can use ALL dried spices if you dont have fresh, thats ok too!!!


The most important thing to remember, is that it doesn't reach full flavor for a few hours!! It will taste pretty bland at first... dont keep adding things! Let it sit... if after 2 hours its still bland, go ahead and add!

Like Oxi-Clean? Do it homemade!

Ok, I LOVE OxiClean, but I'm not a fan of the price... and if your like me, you know that Oxi-Clean can be used for EVERYTHING from carpets, to furniture, to laundry, which means it goes fast! :-) SO why not make it at home, and save a ton of money while your helping out the earth by "going green" (for those that know me, this isn't my biggest concern, but the saving money is!!! lol).

Here is all you need:

1 cup of hydrogen peroxide
2 TBS of WASHING SODA (not baking soda)
a spray bottle
4 oz of white vinegar (optional, but is great for removing smells)

Mix together in your spray bottle and clean away!!! So easy and so effective...if anyone would like to share the science behind it, go right ahead... I just know that it safely removes stains without bleaching out most fabrics (please color fast check in a small area first).

How to make Stock

Ok, so I have had some people question how to make their own stock. Its so easy... first of all, I keep a stock bag in my freezer at all times... what this is, is a gallon sized freezer bag with STOCK written on it that I put all of my ends of celery, my bits of carrots, skins of onions, left over garlic, green pepper stems...pretty much anything veggie related that I was going to pitch!!! I just pop it in the freezer bag and save it for stock! Now, when I have a chicken or turkey...or anything like that, I take the meat off the bone and KEEP the carcass!

I roast the contents of my "stock bag" to bring out the flavors ( I heat my oven to 350, put everything on a baking sheet drizzle with EVOO, season with salt and pepper and bake for 10 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, I put my carcass in a large stock pot and cover with water. Once the veggies are done, I add them to my stock pot. Add seasonings and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, reduce heat and simmer for many many hours (over night is good, I like to give it a good 24hours though for the best flavor) The goal is to get the bone marrow out of the bones.

Once it has simmered and all of the flavors are combined and wonderful, you should be left with a nice dark stock. Strain through a cheesecloth or very fine strainer. Let sit so the fat can rise and it can be easily separated.

Now Beef Stock is a little trickier...
You need to start out with some good sized beef BONES. Bake them at 450 for 30 minutes uncovered... then add your veggies and bake another 30 minutes... remove from the baking dish and be sure to scrap up all of the goodies on the bottom of the pan... now transfer all of that into a stock pot, fill with water, season and bring to a boil, once it comes to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for many many hours. Once again, I recommend overnight, but I would go as far as all day and all night! And why not, your house will smell WONDERFUL the whole time!!! Once it has simmered and all of the flavors are combined and wonderful, you should be left with a nice dark stock. Strain through a cheesecloth or very fine strainer. Let sit so the fat can rise and it can be easily separated.

All Stocks can be stored in the fridge for around a week, or can be frozen. I recommend freezing in ice cube trays to control portions!

Potato Soup

A medium Onion
a few stalks of celery
a couple good sized potatoes
6 tbls butter
6 tbls flour
2 chicken bouillon cubes (or you could just use a good chicken stock in leu of water and chicken bouillon)
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked ham
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream (I totally used more than this)

In a dutch oven or stock pot, sweat the diced onion and celery, season with salt and pepper. Add chopped potatoes, and ham, cover with water. Boil for 10 minutes until potatoes start to get tender. Meanwhile, in a sauce pan or skillet, melt butter and wisk in flour, stir for 1 min, then begin to add milk. once incorporated, add the heavy cream stir for 3-5 minutes until thickened.

Once you have boiled the potatoes with the water and blah blah, reduce heat and add bouillion cubes stir, once they are dissolved add the milk mixture. Cook another few minutes so all of the flavors blend, season with salt and pepper to taste!

It is soooo good!!

Homemade Doggie Treats

Here is a fun recipe that the kids love to help with! The dogs love them and I feel good about giving it to them because I KNOW what has gone into them.

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup powdered dry milk
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. honey
6 tbs. homemade turkey, chicken or beef stock (I use the fatty filmy layer that I scrap off the top of the pot. The dogs LOVE it!!)
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly oil a cookie sheet. Combine flour, dry milk, garlic powder and honey. Cut in meat drippings until mixture resembles corn meal. Mix in egg. Add enough water so that mixture forms a ball. Using your fingers, pat out dough onto cookie sheet to 1/2" thick. Cut dough into squares or if you have a cool doggie biscuit cutter, that would work too, whatever is most appropriate for your dog size. Prick each cookie with fork. Bake 25-30 minutes. Remove from tray and cool on rack. Store in airtight container.

I made these for all of the neighborhood doggies as Christmas Treats!!!