Sauteed Corn and Bacon

My little brother came over this weekend and barbecued with my husband. They have both been wanting to try grilling beef ribs. We've made pork ribs several times, but never beef. Since they wanted a nice manly dinner of ribs, I made this sauteed corn and bacon, and some biscuits for them. I also added a salad, but they didn't eat any of that. So here is a side dish to accompany any manly dinner.

Ingredients:
1/2 a small onion, chopped
3 slices bacon, diced
1/2 bag (8 oz.) frozen corn
salt
pepper
2 green onions, sliced (optional)

Preparation:
In a skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate, and set aside. Remove all but about 1 Tbsp. of bacon grease from the pan. Cook the onions over medium-high heat until tender. Once cooked add the corn, salt and pepper, and the bacon and continue to cook until the corn is hot. Once finished, garnish with green onions and serve hot!


Not the best picture, but you get the idea.

Little Nummies

Oh my gosh I just came across the cutest food website! It is called Little Nummies and it is all about making food appealing to little ones. I don't know if you have picky eaters, but this is sure to help, and even if they aren't picky you can make lunch time so fun. Seriously, there so many darling ideas! Here are a few of my favorites:







Okay, now go check out Little Nummies!

Homemade Deep Dish Pizzas

On Sundays I like to make dishes that involve Nate. It is one day that we get to cook together, and I really enjoy that. I feel like pizza is a fun dish and I don't know why I don't make it more often. I saw this recipe over at Kimmy's Kitchen. I didn't change a single thing. This recipe is by far the best homemade pizza we've made! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 1/3 – 3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. yeast
1 cup warm milk
2 tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Preparation:
In your mixer combine the flour, salt, and yeast. Mix well. In a separate bowl combine warm milk, sugar and olive oil. While your mixer is on low, slowly pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. Let the machine knead the dough for 5 minutes. Put in a greased bowl and let rise. After dough has doubled in size put dough on lightly floured surface and divide in half. Roll each half into a 7 inch circle. Place over your knuckles moving the dough around in a circle so that the middle is thinner than the sides. Put 1-2 Tbsp olive oil in the bottom of pan. Spread the olive oil evenly throughout the pan. Place the dough into an 8" or 9" cake pan and press out to the sides of the pan, trying to avoid getting the oil on top of the dough. You need enough so that it will fry the bottom of the dough. Let the dough rise 10 minutes. Then put on your favorite toppings. Bake on bottom rack of oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

*Just for reference- my dough took just over an hour to double in size. I was really nervous cooking the pizzas on the bottom rack, but they were perfectly cooked at 20 minutes. So good!

Watermelon Smoothie

Nate's favorite fruit is watermelon. I am always trying to get him to eat more fruits and vegetables, so when I saw this recipe I knew we had to try it. I saw this idea over at Recipe Shoebox.

Ingredients:
3 cups cubed seedless watermelon
1 cup crushed ice
1 cup watermelon, raspberry, or lime sherbet
4 tsp. lime juice

Preparation:
In a blender, combine the watermelon, ice, sherbet, and lime juice; cover and process for 30 seconds or until smooth. Stir if necessary. Pour into chilled glasses. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Churrasco Style Steak and Vegetable Kabobs

This dinner was so good! We ate this with a salad for dinner, a nice carb-free dinner! My husband served a church mission in Brazil for two years and he grew to really love their churrasco, their version of barbecue style cooking. Churrasco is usually cooked on a spit over an open flame. We adapted and grilled our kabobs, but they are still so good! I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

Ingredients:
1 lb. steak
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
rock salt
8-10 kabob skewers (depends on how much you want on each skewer)

Preparation:
Cut steak into evenly sized cubes. Sprinkle rock salt over the meat and let marinate for 4-6 hours. Once finished marinating brush all the salt off. Soak the skewers in water for 20 minutes before using. Assemble your kabobs with steak, onion, and green peppers. Grill on a hot grill until the steak is at your desired doneness.

*Nate put a little seasoned pepper on them just before cooking, I prefer these without the pepper.


This is my husband, so excited to grill some kabobs!

Bacon-Wrapped Cheesy Chicken

This recipe is 100% my husband's doing. I was having a really rough day a week or so ago and he told me not to worry about dinner, that he would take care of it. Seriously, Nate is the best husband. This is the dish he made. Thanks again babe!


Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 slices of bacon
shredded cheddar cheese
salt
pepper
poultry seasoning

Preparation:
Rinse and pat dry your chicken. If the breasts are really thick, butterfly them. In between two pieces of parchment paper, pound your chicken out to an even thinness. Season your chicken with some salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Sprinkle some of the shredded inside and then roll it up. Wrap bacon around the rolled chicken. Grill until fully cooked. Enjoy hot!

3 Packet Crock Pot Chicken

This chicken is AMAZING! Oh my goodness, the flavor was great and my chicken came out so tender and juicy. I loved it, and I will most definitely be making this chicken again and again! Do you remember our 3 Packet Pot Roast? Well this recipe is the same idea, except for chicken. I saw the idea over at Fantastical Sharing of Recipes. Make this soon!

Ingredients:
boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I just made two, but you could definitely do more)
1 packet Ranch dressing mix
1 packet Italian dressing mix
1 packet chicken gravy mix
1 cup water

Preparation:
Mix all three packets in the water and stir well. Add the chicken and seasoning/water mixture to the crock pot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours, turning halfway through. Enjoy!



Image updated 03/14/13

We're hoping to adopt, check our profile out at http://adoption.com/profiles/nksmithfamily-1800 and feel free to pass it along!

Baked Chicken and Bean Taquitos

Oh goodness these were so good! Honestly, one of my new favorites. We've made taquitos a ton before, but never this version. This is my favorite way to enjoy taquitos. I saw this recipe over at Recipe Shoebox.

Ingredients:
1 lb. cooked and shredded chicken
1 (16 oz.) can fat-free refried beans
1 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1 cup salsa
1-2 cups shredded cheese (I only used 1 cup and it was perfect)
small flour tortillas

Preparation:
Over medium heat, warm the refried beans and the 1 Tbsp. taco seasoning. Once hot, stir in the chicken, salsa, and cheese and heat through. Warm the tortillas for 10-20 seconds in the microwave to make them easier to work with. Spoon some of the chicken mixture onto the tortilla (if you keep it on the bottom third of the tortilla, they are easier to roll) and roll up. Place filled tortillas on a tin foil lined baking sheet. Cook at 450 for just a couple minutes until the tortillas crisp up a bit. Serve warm with whatever toppings you'd like, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, etc. Enjoy!


Sorry, these photos don't do this recipe any justice!

Sloppy Joes

Sorry for being so absentee lately! My in-laws are moving to Oregon today and we've spent several nights a week the last couple weeks having family dinners with them. I haven't been cooking too much. Things should be back to normal though around here. The other night I made sloppy joes. My brother, sister, and I all looked forward to when my mom made sloppy joes, it was one of our favorite dinners. I haven't made them since I've been married because Nate told me he doesn't like sloppy joes. Well I decided to go ahead and make them anyway and guess what? Nate LOVED them! He ate three for dinner and asked to have again on our next week's menu! I'd say that's a keeper recipe! These aren't a sweet sloppy joe, which is why we like them so much. It is just so good! I hope you enjoy them too! Sorry,no picture this time.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce (you may not use all the sauce, just add until you get the consistency you like)
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced (optional)
1 green pepper, finely diced (optional)
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1-2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
seasoning salt
seasoned pepper
shredded cheese
hamburger buns

Preparation:
In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Halfway through cooking, add the diced onion and pepper and finish cooking. Drain any fat/grease. Turn down the heat and add the chili powder, taco seasoning, mustard, and ketchup. Mix well to combine. Once that is all incorporated add the beef mixture to the crock pot and top will tomato sauce. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 3-4 hours (or until you're ready for dinner), stirring occasionally. Serve on hamburger buns and top with some shredded cheese if you'd like! Enjoy!

-Okay, the seasonings are my best estimate. Just start slowly and add until it tastes good!