Bacon Potato Salad

Joe needed a side dish for a BBQ-themed work luncheon.  Once again I decided to pull out some of my Tastefully Simple seasonings for this easy recipe.  This is another recipe I found from the Tastefully Simple recipe database.  We really liked this potato salad, and although the Fiesta Party Dip Mix can be a little spicy, it made this salad delicious.  I don't like spicy at all, and I liked this salad.  Next time I’d use less than a whole onion since I think it was a little overpowering.  All in all, it was a great recipe to try! 

If you don't have Tastefully Simple brand seasonings, you can still play with the ingredients.  You could use a bag of real bacon bits and any fiesta-type seasonings.  The mixture of mayo and other ingredients was really good with this recipe.  

Bacon Bacon Potato Salad

Ingredients
5 large red potatoes (I used Russet since it's all I had.)
½-1 small diced onion (I used 1 whole onion and thought it was too much.)
2 cups real mayonnaise
1/4 cup mustard
1/4 cup Bacon Bacon™
1-2 tsp. dry Fiesta Party Dip Mix™
Ground black pepper to taste

Directions
Boil potatoes in water until tender; cool and dice. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl; fold in potatoes. Refrigerate 1-2 hours. Makes 6-8 servings.

Variations:  The original recipe calls for dill pickle relish.  It would also be good with some diced hard boiled eggs.

I apologize that there is no easy way to make a photo of potato salad look appetizing. 

Recipe adapted from here.

Easy Almond Thumbprint Cookies

Many of you know that I love Tastefully Simple products.  No, I don't sell it but it's not totally out of the question for the future.  Anyhow, I decided to make some cookies using a recipe from the Tastefully Simple website.  They were delicious!  I highly recommend trying out their products.  You can get them online or many craft fairs have a table set up with a consultant selling it.  You can also host a party with friends at your house, and you'll get lots of free product.  (If you are interested in that, let me know.  I know a couple of consultants.)

So...on to the super easy recipe...

Absolutely Almond Thumbprint Cookies Ingredients Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix™ 1 egg 1/2 cup (1 stick) very soft butter Directions Combine ingredients; roll into generous 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheet.   Press thumbprint into each cookie; top with half a maraschino cherry.  Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes 8-10 servings.  You can find the recipe here.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

We have a huge bag of quinoa from Costco, so I began searching for some new recipes to try out on my family.  I also wanted to use up some green peppers that would be going bad soon, so my end result was quinoa stuffed peppers.   I substituted the rice for quinoa and they were delicious!  There are a few classic recipes when I’ll typically pull out my trusty ‘ol Betty Crocker cookbook (circa1971) and this is where I started for the dish. 

A few quick notes before I begin:  1.  My recipe called for 6 green peppers, but I only had 3.  I baked the extra meat/quinoa mixture in a ramekin along with the 3 peppers.   I also didn’t have tomato sauce, so I used a can of crushed tomatoes—worked like a charm.  3.  The recipe called for 2 Tbsp. of onion—I just used the whole onion, chopped.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

What you need:
6 large bell peppers

5 cups boiling salted water

1 lb lean ground beef

2 tablespoons chopped onion  I used a whole onion.

1-1 ½  cups cooked quinoa

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

1 clove garlic, finely chopped  I used ½ teaspoon garlic powder.

1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese (3 oz) I used shredded Parmesan.

Heat oven to 350°F.  Cut thin slice from stem end of each bell pepper to remove top of pepper. Remove seeds and membranes; rinse peppers. Cook peppers in the boiling salted water 5 minutes; drain.

Cook quinoa according to package directions.  I cook mine in broth for added flavor.

Cook/brown beef and onion in medium skillet until beef is brown and onion is tender; drain. Stir in quinoa, salt, garlic salt, garlic and 1 cup of the tomato sauce; heat through.

Stuff peppers with beef mixture. Stand peppers upright in ungreased 8-inch square glass baking dish. Pour remaining tomato sauce over peppers.  Cover tightly with foil. Bake 45 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 minutes longer or until peppers are tender. Sprinkle with cheese.  I sprinkle mine with cheese right before putting back in oven for the last 15 minutes of baking time.

Adapted from the recipe here.

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

Ingredients: 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (You can also use thighs if you prefer.) 1 bottle (12-ounces) favorite Caesar dressing 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese 1/2 tsp. ground pepper 2 cups shredded Romaine lettuce 8 hamburger buns, toasted Directions:  Without adding any liquid or spices, place chicken in a 3-4 quart slow cooker.  (I put mine in frozen.)  Cover and cook on LOW heat for 6-7 hours.  Drain any accumulated liquid from slow cooker and shred chicken with a sturdy spoon or fork.  Pour in 1/2 bottle of dressing, Parmesan cheese and pepper.  Stir together until evenly mixed.  Continue to add dressing until desired moistness level has been reached (for me it was about 3/4 bottle).  Cover and cook on HIGH for 20-30 minutes or until mixture is hot.  Toast the buns, if desired.  Spoon 1/4 cup chicken mixture over toasted buns.  Add lettuce.  Serve immediately.   UPDATE:  If we make this again I will not use any more than half the bottle of dressing or I'd use more chicken.  They were good, but the flavor was over-powering.  I might also add a few stalks of chopped celery into the mixture.  I think that'd give it a nice crunchy texture to the chicken.  Overall, this was very good. Original Recipe found here.

Quinoa & Black Beans

Now that life is back to normal and we’re all back home, I’m back to cooking.  We made a ham in the slow cooker this weekend, and Joe picked his favorite quinoa dish to go along with it.  This recipe was recommended to me by a friend a few months ago.  It’s delicious and super easy.  We used it as a side dish (with lots of leftovers) but it could also stand alone.  I make it without the cayenne pepper, and depending on whether or not I have cilantro on hand, I might leave that out, too…so have no fear if you have to change the recipe a bit.  If you’re afraid try quinoa, or not sure what to do with it, this is a great dish to make for a first-timer!

Quinoa and Black Beans

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon vegetable oil 1 onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth 1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional salt and pepper to taste 1 cup frozen corn kernels OR 1 can corn 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, optional 1-2 cooked chicken breasts, diced or shredded, optional

Directions:

1.	Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and sauté until lightly browned.
2.	Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.
3.	Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.  Fold in the chicken slowly until incorporated. Serve. UPDATE 11/23/15 So I made a few changes this time around and I think it came out even better than before. -I cooked the chicken breasts by boiling them in water.  Cook thoroughly.  When just about done, I poured out 1/3-1/2 of the water and replaced with chicken broth and 1 tbsp salt.  I continued to boil for 5-10 minutes. -I put the chicken in the food processor to get it finely shredded.  Just be careful that you don't pulverize the chicken, turning it to mush.  It should be small, shredded-like pieces. I think this was much better than dicing the chicken.  The flavors all blended together better and it was delicious! -I left out the cayenne and cilantro. -I also used 1 can of corn instead of frozen. Instead of cilantro another option could be to top with green onions finely chopped. I haven't tried that yet though. Original recipe found here.