Lion's House Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Here ya go Julie!

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate (2 blocks), melted
2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips, semi-sweet

Prepare two 8x4 inch loaf pans by greasing and flouring or by lining with parchment paper. Melt unsweetened chocolate and set aside. Wash and grate zucchini; set aside. Measure flour, salt, soda, baking powder, and cinnamon into a bowl, stir, and set aside. Place eggs in mixing bowl and beat. Add the sugars, oil, melted chocolate, and vanilla; beat until creamy. Add the zucchini and stir together. Mix in dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and mix in. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.

I've made this a few times and it's divine!!!

Meals for the family on the go...

I don't think I would have ever picked up this book on my own but a friend told me about it. I love to cook but not necessarily what my family likes to eat. Often I hear, "can't you just cook normal food mom?" Anyway - so far every recipe I have made from this book my kids have enjoyed. The recipes are easy and the list of ingredients short compared to most of my books. We are always on the go. I've read so many different ideas for keeping family dinner intact in a busy home and this seems to work best for us - even if it sometimes 9:00 at night :( The reality of having children who play high school sports.

Tex-Mex Egg Rolls w/ Creamy Cilantro Sauce

I just KNOW your mouth is starting to water already. I made these little babies for the Olympic Opening Ceremony barbecue/celebration we had last month. Get it? China...Eggrolls? However, (at the time) I was in the mood for some Mexican food so wallah...problem solved!

DELICIOUS is all I'm going to say...

Ingredients:

1 (5 ounce) package yellow rice (I bought the packet that you just heat in the microwave for 60 seconds...save you tons of time)

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound ground hot pork sausage (I used Reduced Fat mild or you could substitue with chicken)

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (14.5 -ounce) can Mexican style diced tomatoes, undrained

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

6 green onions, finely chopped

1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix

28 egg roll wrappers (these are usually found near/in/or by the produce section)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

4 cups peanut oil (I used Canola oil...much healthier)

Instructions:

Cook rice using 1 teaspoon salt. Cool completely

Cook sausage in a skillet over medium heat, stirring until it crumbles an is no longer pink; drain well. Let cool.

Stir together rice, sausage, black beans, and next 4 ingredients in a large bowel. Spoon about 1/3 cup of mixture into center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold top corner of wrapper over filling, tucking tip of corner under filling; fold left and right corners over filling. Lightly brush remaining corner with egg*; tightly roll filled end toward the remaining corner, and gently press to seal.

(*I used water instead of egg)

Pour oil into heavy Dutch oven (I used my wok); heat to 375 degrees F. Fry egg rolls, in batches, 2 or 3 minutes or until golden. Drain on wire rack over paper towels. Serve with Creamy Cilantro Sauce. Devour immediately!

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Creamy Cilantro Sauce:

2 (10-ounce) cans Mexican-style diced tomatoes

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese softened (I used Fat Free)

2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves (about 1 bunch)

1 cup sour cream (I used Fat Free)

3 garlic cloves, minced

Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

(for the health cautious...you could probably bake these in the oven instead of frying. I'm going to try that next time)

another love

Okay, so besides the Twilight series, I am going to blog about another love, FOOD!

2 Things, soy banana shakes and cinnamon rolls.

I make this shake practically every morning. I just love it!

1 banana (or 2 if they are small)

crushed ice

about a cup or so of Vanilla Soy Milk

a dash of cinnamon

mix in blender, it's yumm-o!

(even if you don't like soy milk, you gotta try this!)

And here is an awesome recipe I found for Cinnamon Rolls from Paula Deen

Dough:

1/4-ounce package yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup scalded milk

1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

1/2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan

3/4 cup sugar, plus more for pan

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

3/4 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans, optional

Glaze: 4 tablespoons butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 to 6 tablespoons hot water

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar,

melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices.

Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

I will be enjoying these tonight around 8pm if anyone local wants to join in the gooey goodness!

YUMMY - Mango Tacos!!!

So for some reason the other day I flipped on a cooking show on discovery health. The name of the show is 'Just Cook This, with Sam the Cooking Guy'. I thought the couple of recipes I saw him do sounded good and even more were easy! I like easy yummy stuff. I found his website and he had some great recipes that I am going to try.

Anyway, I saw him make this one and it looked so good. I finally gave it a whirl a week or so ago and both Steve and I loved it!!!!

Fresh Mango Tacos
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
6 small flour tortillas
2 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream
2 ripe mangos, peeled and diced small
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Honey

Combine cinnamon and sugar—mix well. Lightly butter each side of the flour tortillas and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Place tortillas in a preheated non-stick pan and cook on both sides until lightly brown. Remove to plates and top each with vanilla ice cream and some mango.

Drizzle with a little honey and add a squeeze of lemon.


Seriously ladies, this is super yummy and really easy!!!! I hope you all enjoy

DELICIOUS LEMONADE!

It takes a little extra work to throw this together, but it sure is worth the effort. I crave it everyday!!
Happy Summer Everyone!!

Lemonade
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

2 cups sugar
1 cup hot water
2 cups fresh lemon juice
1 gallon cold water
1 lemon, sliced
Mint sprigs, for garnish
In a 1 gallon container, place sugar and hot water, and stir until sugar dissolves. Add lemon juice and cold water to render 1 gallon. Stir until well mixed. Pour lemonade over glasses of ice, squeeze slice of lemon on top of each, and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Cheater Chicken and Pesto Rolls

The below recipe was found on Good Morning Utah. My friend, Shauna, made this for our Bonko night last week. I am making it tonight for dinner. I found EVERYTHING I needed at Super Target, including the rotisserie chicken. If you love Italian food like me, you will LOVE this recipe. It is to die for!

Cheater Chicken and Pesto Rolls

Cheater Chicken & Pesto RollsRecipe prepared by Angel Shannon, http://www.cookingwithangel.com/

INGREDIENTS:
2 tubes of buttermilk biscuits (10 count each)
3 Tbs of your favorite pesto
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
3 Tbs roasted red peppers, chopped
2 Tbs Black olives, chopped
Fresh Parmesan Cheese
Marinara or Alfredo Sauce
PREPARATION:Lay biscuits on floured countertop to form a 9 x 11-in rectangle (4 biscuits down, 5 across.) Using flour as needed, press biscuits together well.
Blend pesto into the cream cheese and spread mixture over entire surface of dough. Distribute chicken evenly over pesto cream. Sprinkle chopped peppers and olives over chicken.
Carefully roll up from the long end and gently compact as you go. With seam side down, slice into 12 equal sections. Place slices, on their sides, into greased 10-inch round pan or cast iron skillet. Drizzle lightly with sauce and sprinkle with parmesan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees.

The Best Dip Ever!

I LOVE Kraftfoods.com, and found this most amazing dip ever.



Cheesy Spinach and Bacon Dip

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
1 lb. (16 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, cut up
1 can (10 oz.) ROTEL Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained
8 slices Bacon, crisply cooked, drained and crumbled
COMBINE ingredients in microwaveable bowl.
MICROWAVE on HIGH 5 min. or until VELVEETA is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after 3 min.


Okay, so when I made it, I also added extra cream cheese and about 1 tsp. of chopped garlic. I microwaved it and then when it was all mixed, I just put it in my crock pot for warming. I am not kidding when I say this dip far exceeded my expectations!

GREAT RECIPE

I know there are 100 recipes out there for Chicken Enchiladas, and I myself have tried several different recipes, but this, by far, is THE easiest and THE yummiest I've tried.

1lbs cooked, shredded chicken

1 1/2-2 small cans diced green chilis

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I use sharp)

10-12 flour tortillas

1 cup milk

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 cup chicken broth

Mix shredded chicken, chili's and half the cheese together well. Divide between tortillas and roll up. Place in baking dish. Stir together milk, soup, broth and remaining cheese. Pour over tortialls, cover and let sit in the fridge AT LEAST 1-2 hours. Preheat oven to 350 and bake for uncovered for 30-40 minutes.

****THE LONGER THE ENCHILADAS SIT IN THE SAUCE THE BETTER THEY ARE***

(I usually prepare them the day before I serve them)

So we had these last night for dinner and YUMMY! This by far was my best batch and I served them with guacamole, whole wheat rice, salad and fiesta corn and tortilla chips. It was so delish. I even had left overs for lunch today.

HAPPY COOKING!

It Works and is SOOOOO Yummy!!

Oh my gosh has it ever been a long time since I last posted on here! Time sure does fly!
Anyway, a few weeks ago I saw Jessica Seinfeld on Oprah talking about her book "Deceptively Delicious". I thought it was such a great idea so I ran out and bought a copy of it! With the craziness of my life I didn't use it even once until this week and let me tell you how great it is! The other night I made Meatloaf (for the record I'm not a meatloaf fan) with mashed potatoes and it was SOOOO good. The Meatloaf had pureed carrots in it and the potatoes had pureed cauliflour. My kids chowed and had no idea I had snuck Vegi's into their meal. My older two do pretty well with eating fruit and vegis but my younger two, especially me five year old, are BRUTAL!! It was so great to see them eating everything I served them and say how good it was.
Tonight I made Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs with pureed pinapple and sweet potates in them. Once again the kids had NO IDEA there was healthy stuff in their food and it tasted fabulous!
So if you have children who give you a hard time with eating the healthy stuff, try this, you'll love it!

PS-there is another book out there that is VERY similar to Jessica's book. Apparently hers was published first and they even tried to get Oprah to do a show about it. Of course because the author wasn't a celebrity, Oprah said no... anyway, you can imagine the issues about that! Anyway, either book is great and helps kids eat healthier!

Beans, beans

Hey ya'll,

I've been kind of a slacker on this blog lately, but after a great conference weekend, with yum food I thought I'd share one of my favorites. Sorry, not in time for conference but this recipe is good ANY TIME.

Bean Pico
1 16oz. can black eyed peas (rinsed & drained)
1/4 C. thinly sliced green onion
1/4 C. diced red pepper
2 Cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs. EVOO (extra virgin olive oil for you non-watchers of the food network)
2 Tbs. Cider vinegar
2 Tbs. Salsa

Add the following to taste:lime juice, hot sauce, salt, pepper, cumin, celery salt, and any other spices you like.

Chill all ingredients and then add Cilantro - fresh, chopped finely - just before serving.

I like to serve these with key lime tortilla chips (a delicious meal on their own by the way), but since I'm trying to LOSE weight, I've been eating it alone, on lettuce or with some whole grain crackers.

Enjoy!

ps. Louise - I didn't realize that you were Louise (used to be Coomb) from Calgary. I saw your blog and just wanted to say hi! I'm Thomas Glenn's younger sister.

(Oh and by the way, for those of you who do know my older brother Thomas, he just announced yesterday that he will be performing at the MET next year!! NYC baby! We're thrilled for him. He's performing in an opera called Dr. Atomic. It seems to be taking the world by storm - he'll be performing it in Chicago this December/January. Here is a link to his site: http://www.thomasglenntenor.com/)

Conference Weekend!

The muffins. That's all I have to say. Angie and Julie can attest to these muffins. This is what conference weekend was all about when we were in college. That, and sleeping through the whole thing. These are the most amazing muffins you've ever tasted. And I took the liberty of getting the recipe from my mom for you girls to enjoy...Mandella, I am making them Sunday morning and will run some over to you...you'll love me for it!

Conference Muffins:
2 cups boiling water
4 cups bran cereal (All Bran or Bran Buds)
1 pound pitted and chopped dates (ick) OR 2 cups raisins
5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
5 tsp baking soda
1 cup crisco
2 cups sugar
4 beaten eggs
1 quart buttermilk
2 cups bran flakes
1/3 cup molasses

You'll need a huge bowl for this one. Makes 6 dozen muffins! But trust me, if you share with neighbors, they'll be gone!
Pour boiling water over bran cereal and raisins. Sift dry ingredients together. Cream shortening and sugar; add eggs, hot bran mixture, dry ingredients, molasses and buttermilk. Add the 2 cups of bran flakes cereal. Mix just enough to combine. Baked in greased and floured muffin tins or line with cupcake liners at 400 degrees for 15-20 mintues. Batter can be stored in a covered container in a fridge for up to 6 weeks! Bake any amount as desired!

I was gonna overnight these to Angie and Julie, but then I thought you might have more enjoyment making them on your own. My tonsils better be healed by Sunday so I can eat these!

Yummy Dinner

I already posted this on my personal blog, but wanted to share it with you all. Any kind of Thanksgiving meal is a favorite of mine!

I don't usually watch Rachel Ray. Something about her totally bugs, but I'm not sure what it is exactly. Today, however, I ended up watching her show (mainly by accident - wasn't paying attention to what was on) and found the yummiest dinner recipe. It was so good, I had to share! And, to top it off, there is enough to make dinner for the next night (a Thanksgiving-style shepherd's pie).

Turkey-Stuffin’ Meatloaf With Scallion Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

Ingredients
· 7 tablespoons butter, divided
· 1/2 large onion, cut into small dice
· 3 pieces celery heart, cut into small dice
· 1 bay leaf
· 2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
· Salt and freshly ground black pepper
· 1 bag stuffing cubes (I used the cornbread flavor and they were so good!)
· 2 quarts chicken stock, divided
· 2 pounds ground turkey
· 2 eggs
· 2 1/2 pounds (about 4 to 5 medium-size) peeled Idaho potatoes
· 1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
· 1/2 cup milk
· 1 small bunch scallions, chopped
· 1/4 cup flour
· 1 pound green beans


Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 3 tablespoons of butter. When the butter is melted, add the onions, celery and bay leaf to the skillet, season with poultry seasoning, salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook until the veggies are tender.
3. Add the stuffing cubes to the skillet and mix in about 2 to 3 cups of chicken stock to moisten. Take the bay leaf out of the skillet, remove the skillet from the heat and let the mixture cool, about 5 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, mix the ground turkey, eggs and cooled stuffing mixture. Form the meat mix into 2 long loaves on a baking sheet (or in bread pans, like I do). Drizzle them with olive oil and cook in the oven for about an hour, until brown and cooked through (165ºF internal temperature), about 45 minutes.
5. Once the turkey loaves are about half way done, start the sour cream and scallion potatoes: Add the potatoes to a medium-size pot of cold water and boil until tender.
6. While the potatoes are boiling start the gravy: Add the remaining four tablespoons butter to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted, add the flour and cook for about a minute. Whisk the remaining 6 cups of chicken stock into the skillet with the butter and flour mixture, and cook until thickened and bubbling, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside half the gravy for tonight’s meat loaf and mashed potatoes and reserve the other half for the Shepherd's Pie.
7. Heat a pot over high heat with enough water to come one inch up the side of the pot. Once boiling, add the green beans and cook until tender, 3-4 minutes. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the water from the pot and mash up the potatoes with the sour cream, milk, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Once the potatoes are mashed, stir in the scallions.
8. Serve one of the loaves of meatloaf and the potatoes with the green beans alongside. Save the second meatloaf for Shepherd's Pie.


Bon Appetit!

Low Fat Pumpkin Cookies

Okay Ladies...its been a while since I've posted but I've been in "Fall" baking mode for the last week so here is one of my families faves.

1 15 oz can of pumpkin

1 box of spice cake mix

1 bag of chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate but whatever floats your boat)

Preheat oven to 400. Mix pumpkin, cake mix ( just the powder--you DO NOT prepare the cake mix) and chocolate chips together. Place spoonfuls on greased cookie sheet and cook 10-15 minutes depending on your oven and cookie sheet. ENJOY!

They also make great mini muffins.

Olive Garden Soup

Inspired by "Zupas" in Alysha's post, here is a recipe for my favorite soup ever - Olive Garden's Zuppa Tuscana. This recipe is so amazingly close that we hardly dine out for it anymore. I've got another recipe for their salad (dressing included), but I haven't tried it out yet. Hope you enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
1-2 lbs spicy Italian sausage (not in the casings - found packaged like ground beef)
3/4 cups onions, diced
10 slices bacon
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. chicken bouillon powder (or 2 cubes, crushed)
2 quarts water
5-6 medium potatoes sliced up and then halve the slices
2 cups kale leaves sliced thinly (spinach can be substituted)
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream (try fat free half and half)
parmesan cheese for garnish

Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Place sausage links on a sheet pan and bake 25 minutes or until done. Cool, then cut in slices, then halve the slices.
Put onions and bacon in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until the onions are almost clear. Remove bacon and crumble.

Add garlic to onions and cook one minute. Add bouillon powder, water and potatoes. Simmer 15 minutes.

Add bacon, sausage, kale and cream. Simmer 4 minutes and serve. Garnish with parmesan cheese.

Buon appetito!

The best banana bread recipe ever!!!

Okay, so I might be biased, but my sisters, my mom, and my mother-in-law have all thrown away their recpies for banana bread after they tasted mine. It's seriously amazing. In fact, I am eating another slice as we speak!

2/3 cup real butter (unsalted)
1 1/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
dash of vanilla
3-4 brown bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
2 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add each egg, one at a time. Add vanilla and mashed bananas. In a different bowl, mix the dry ingredients and alternate adding them into the wet mixture with the sour cream (1 cup dry mix, then 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 cup dry mix, sour cream, 2/3 dry mix). Bake in 2 pans for 45 minutes or until done at 350 degrees!

You can also substitute the bananas with zucchini (call me if you need some, i have them growing out my ears) or peaches, or cherries, cranberries, etc...)

A Few Good Recipes

So most of you know, I am all about eating (my size shows it sadly enough). Here are some good and good for you recipes.

Yesterday Jocelyn and I were talking about her obsession with Snackwells Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies and how they discontinued them. We googled it online and found the recipe! We both challenged eachother to make them, and folks...they REALLY do taste like the real thing! And for 13 of them to be 100 calories...count me in. Here's the recipe:

Makes 12 Dozen bite size Cookies
1 egg white
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 tablespoon shortening
1 1/2 tablespoons egg substitute
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon plus a pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Beat the egg white until thick. Add the granulated sugar to the egg white and continue beating until the mixture forms soft peaks. While beating, add the brown sugar; corn syrup, shortening, and egg substitute. In a separate bowl, combine the flour; salt, baking soda and baking powder: Combine the dry mixture with the wet and mix well. Add the chocolate chips and incorporate them into the dough. Divide the dough in half; then roll each portion into a long, thin Jog about the same diameter as a nickel and wrap each in plastic wrap. Put the dough into the refrigerator and chill) it for a couple hours (you may also use the freezer for roughly half the time if you're in a hurry). When the dough has thoroughly chilled, remove each log of dough from the plastic wrap and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place slices on a cookie sheet coated lightly with nonstick spray about 1/2-inch apart, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the cookies turn light brown. Nutrition Facts: Serving Size 13 cookies Total servings 11 Fat (per serving) 3.3g Calories (per serving) 105

The dough will turn out really gooey, like peanut butter...so I have no idea how they were able to roll it into a log. Joce tried to put it in the freezer and that kinda worked, but I just rolled it into a fat log and threw that into the fridge. They are so yummy!

Here's another recipe if you're searching for something to make for dinner. We call it French Dressing Chicken which I grew up on. You can make it totally low fat too!

3-4 Chicken Breasts (un-cooked)
1 box Uncle Bens Wild Rice
2/3 cup white rice
1 can of cream of celery soup (i use the healthy request kind)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (healthy request)
1/2 cup milk (skim)
1/2 cup french dressing (fat free)
slivered almonds
parmesan cheese.

In a 13 by 9 inch pan, put the wild rice and seasoning packet in (uncooked). Add extra white rice. Place chicken breasts (or you can use tenders) on top of the rice. Mix in a bowl the 2 soups, milk, and dressing and pour over chicken. Top with almonds, cheese, and foil. Cook in a 350 degree oven for 2 hours. Serve warm. You might also want to use minute rice to make sure it's cooked all the way through with the rice. It's seriously SOOOOOO good! We had it last night.

Orange Julius

My visiting teacher (and friend) saw that I got a brand new, shiny blender and she gave me the recipe for an Orange Julius smoothie. I made it for dessert on Sunday...and Monday... and everyone loved it. So, of course, I thought of the WKTGS ladies and couldn't wait to pass it on! If you already have this - sorry! If not, please enjoy!

1/2 can frozen orange juice concentrate
3/4 c. milk
3/4 c. water
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
15-20 ice cubes
Blend together and serve. Serves 4.

P.S. Just read about "imprinting" in Eclipse. CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Copycat

So I know I've already posted this on my family blog, but since most of you are new to me, I thought I'd post it again. Here are the recipes for Cafe Rio/Costa Vida food. I make this, and then you can buy the dressing from there, and also get your own uncooked tortillas from Costco or wherever. Enjoy.


Café Rio Pork
3 lb. pork roast
16 oz. salsa
1 can of Coca Cola
2 cups brown sugar
water

Fill your crock pot with just the roast, and fill it half way with just the water.
Cook on high for 5 hours.
Take the pork out after the 5 hours, and drain the liquid.
Cut the roast into 3 or 4 sections and place back into the crock pot.
Puree the salsa in the blender and transfer to a bowl.
Add the Coke and brown sugar and mix.
Pour over the roast and cook on high for 3 more hours.
Shred with a fork.

My recommendations:

I also added ½ pack of fajita seasoning, 1 can green chilies, and about 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning during the last hour of cooking. Also, when it was done cooking, I drained out all the liquid and reduced it in a saucepan so it was thicker. With my additions, it tasted AMAZING!


Also, here's the recipe for the dressing, rice, chicken, and homemade tortillas:


Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Dressing
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch
1 cup mayo
1 cup cilantro, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tomatillos - peel off paper, chop
1/3 - 1/2 cups buttermilk, to consistency you want
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

Put in blender and mix.

Homemade tortillas
3 C. flour
1/2 C. veggie or olive oil
1 1/8 C. luke warm water
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Mix all ingredients and knead. If too hard to knead, add a little water but if too sticky add a little more flour. Let stand for about 10 minutes. Makes about 12 small balls. Flatten each by rolling them out and then cook them in a frying pan.**I usually have 2 frying pans going at once so they all get cooked faster

Café Rio Rice
3 c water
4 t chicken bouillon
4 t garlic –minced
½ bunch cilantro
1 can green chiles—or equivalent fresh
¾ t salt
1 T butter
½ onion
3 c rice (see note)

Blend cilantro, green chiles and onion together in food processor. Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered 30 minutes.

Cafe Rio Chicken
1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves garlic—minced
5 lbs chicken breast

Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour.