El Dorado Casserole

Every two years our family gets together for a family reunion.  This year we were so happy that cousins Pat and Dan, along with their daughter Trish and Russ (husband) were able to join us.  They traveled from Oregon to Utah to be with the family.

For Patti's night of cooking, she decided to make a family recipe - El Dorado Casserole.  This casserole is great - a wonderful recipe for family night!

Here are the ingredients:

1 pound hamburger, browned and drained
1 package taco seasoning
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1 can black olives, sliced
1/2 pint cottage cheese
1 pint sour cream
2 cans mild diced green chilis
1-1 1/2 pounds cheddar cheese
1 bag Dorito chips

Add the taco seasoning, tomato sauce and olives to the browned meat.  In a separate bowl, combine the cottage cheese, sour cream and chilis.  Grate cheddar cheese and place in a bowl.  Crush Doritos and place in a bowl.

Spray 13x9 inch baking dish and layer as follows:

Doritos
Meat mixture
Sour cream mixture
Cheese

Keep layering with cheese ending on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Patti served this casserole with fajitas, although the casserole is a meal in itself!  Enjoy!

Meaty, Hearty Chili

During the family reunion, Julia, my niece, made the gang her famous chili. This was a very hearty chili, with a little kick to it. It was very good and a meal to itself!

Julia and her beautiful family!

Here are the ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef
Spice Mix: 1/2 teaspoon each - ancho chili powder, chipotle chili powder, oregano, granulated garlic, cumin, onion powder, salt, and paprika
1/2 pound chorizo
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 large can tomato sauce
1 can each: corn, pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans

In a large pan, saute onion. Add ground beef and brown. Add spice mix and chorizo. Deglaze the pan with chicken stock. Add the tomato paste and tomato sauce. Cook for one hour. Add the cans of corn and beans.

Tried and True Recipes #19

What a great week!  The recipes were fantastic - I'm so glad to get back to blogging, but I must admit, the baby is taking up a lot of my time.  This weekend I was busy with the baby, experimenting with making baby food for him, and doing some other canning projects.

You guys posted some great recipes this week!  Here are a few of my favorites:

Mini Strawberry Tarts With Lemon Glaze by The Chef Next Door

Taco Casserole by The Pin Junkie

Strawberry Bacon and Grilled Chicken Quesadilla

by Living Better Together

Time for a new week!  Don't forget to grab a button! 

Remember the rules:

1. Link up a family recipe or craft
2. Please follow my blog - I'll follow you back
3. Please link to this post in your blogs-there is a button on my sidebar to make it easy
4. No spam, contests or giveaways please
5. Please note that by linking up your posts and projects you are giving me permission to use your photos in the featured posts and possibly on my social media outlets. All photos will be linked back to your sites and your posts
6. Visit at least two of the links and comment on the page so the blogger knows you visited

Have fun!

Spicy Spanish Chicken

My sister Karrie cooked dinner for the gang one night during our family reunion.  She cooked a delicious spicy chicken dish that had all of us going for seconds!  Here are the ingredients:

8-10 boneless chicken thighs

2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can rotel tomatoes
1/4 pound ground chorizo
Parsley
3 ears of corn, shucked or 1 can corn
1/2 green, red and yellow bell peppers, chopped
1 cup green olives, chopped
Sherry - 1/2 cup
Chicken Broth - 1-2 cups
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 Anaheim chili, chopped
1 tablespoon each:  paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, cumin

Salt and pepper the chicken.  Grill the chicken thighs until they are about halfway cooked.  They will finish cooking in the oven.  Put the chicken in an oven proof pan and set aside.

Saute the carrots, celery, garlic and onion with a little olive oil.  Salt and pepper.  When soft, add to the chicken.

In the same sauce pan, cook the chorizo.  When the chorizo is cooked, add the canned tomatoes and the rotel.  Let that simmer for 5 minutes.  Add the corn, peppers (bell and hot), green olives, and spices.  Add 1 cup chicken broth and 1/2 cup sherry.  Let that simmer for 10 minutes.  If the moisture boils out, add a little more chicken broth.

After the mixture has simmered, add everything together, with the chicken and vegetables already in the pan.  Add the remaining chicken broth and place in a 350 degree oven.  Cook for 40 minutes.  Serve on top of faro, rice or other grain to soak up the great juice!

Enjoy!

Roasted Beet Salad

While on vacation, my family takes turns cooking for the entire group.  This year there was about 25 of us.  That is a crew to feed but we were up for the challenge!

My sister Karrie started us off with a wonderful yellow beet salad.  Her husband Art grew the beets himself!  Karrie roasted the beets in the oven, with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

After removing the skins, Karrie sliced the beets and layered them on a dish.  She then added some fresh goat cheese, and fresh herbs.  Last, Karrie added a fruity vinaigrette to make it pop. 

Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fruity vinegar (I'm going to try this with my cranberry pear vinegar that I purchased)
Salt
Pepper
Fresh herbs-basil and parsley

Look on the counter!  Karrie had too much wine and spilled her dressing all over!  It was hilarious!

Enjoy!

Vacation Treats!

Just wanted to share some of the great things I picked up on my travels.  From farmer's markets, to the wild huckleberries of Wyoming, I found some great food items!

My family loves wine.  I think it is ok - I'll drink a sweet wine every once in a while.   My family gave me a couple of bottles of wine.  Thanks Diane for the Quinta de Gomariz and thanks to Karrie for the Soft Huckleberry Wine.

My sister Karrie has also learned how to make her own vinegar-guest post soon!  Thanks for the red wine vinegar and Montana honey from Julia!

In Utah, my sisters and I found this great store (Mountain Town Olive Oil) that made vinegar and oils.  The store had some great spices as well.  I bought some Cranberry Pear Balsamic Vinegar, Vanilla Beans, Fleur de Sel and Black Truffle Salt.

At the farmers market, I scored some lemon pepper linguini and Vanilla-Fig Balsamic vinegar from Pappardelle's. Heber Valley had some great Cherry Rhubarb Jam.  I also scored some great garlicky Sicilian Sauce from Grandma Sandino's.

Traveling to Wyoming was great.  Apparently huckleberries are a big thing in that part of the country.  I picked up some huckleberry lip balm, huckleberry jalepeno jam, wild huckleberry syrup and wild huckleberry licorice.

In Jackson, I found this great store called Vom Fass.  This store was similar to the one in Park City, Utah.  It specializes in vinegars, oils, spices but also makes liquors and other spirits.  At this store, I picked up some almond oil and sour cherry vodka!

It was a great trip.  I can't wait to make some great recipes from these goodies.  If you are familiar with any of them and have some tips, feel free to share!

J.

Tried and True Recipes #18

Hello to all!  It has been 3 weeks since I've posted - I just got back from a long vacation.  My mother and I traveled to Utah (from Missouri) with two 14 year olds, an 11 year old, a 9 year old and a 6 month old baby!  Yes, we are crazy!

We met the rest of the family in Utah and had a family reunion.  It was so much fun to see everyone.  On the way back to Missouri, we stopped in Yellowstone and went to Mount Rushmore.  I love traveling in the car and seeing everything this country has to offer.

Of course I was able to scrounge up some great family recipes on the trip and have so much to share!  Stop by the blog this week- I hope to share some of the recipes and tid-bits I picked up on the trip!

Back to the party!   Next week I'll be back to featuring my favorite recipes.  Don't forget to grab a button! 

Remember the rules:

1. Link up a family recipe or craft
2. Please follow my blog - I'll follow you back
3. Please link to this post in your blogs-there is a button on my sidebar to make it easy
4. No spam, contests or giveaways please
5. Please note that by linking up your posts and projects you are giving me permission to use your photos in the featured posts and possibly on my social media outlets. All photos will be linked back to your sites and your posts
6. Visit at least two of the links and comment on the page so the blogger knows you visited

Have fun!