BBQ Sauce

This sauce is to die for! So yummy!

1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
½ c corn syrup
½ c water
1 c diced onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cup prepared BBQ sauce

In a large sauce pan, combine sugar, butter, corn syrup and water. Bring to a boil and continue boiling until the mixture reaches softball stage. Add remaining ingredients and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes.

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

Thanks for the Recipe, Natalie. Can't wait to try it!!!

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

Green Chile Chicken Burrito

I found this recipe and I'm SUPER excited to try it out. Best part is, I already have all these ingredients!

Crock-Pot Green Chile Chicken Burrito

1 can- cream of mushroom
1 can- cream of chicken
1 can- green chilies
4-5 chicken breast
1 can of green enchilada sauce
1 bag-Jack cheese

Throw can of mushroom, cream of chicken, green chilies, and chicken breast together in the crock-pot and cook on low for 5 hours! shred the chicken the last hour!

Fill the tortilla with chicken, (sour cream if you like) and cheese! Roll up like a burrito and spread the green enchilada sauce over the top..... Than top it with cheese- throw in the microwave to get the cheese melted on top- Ready to eat! Enjoy!

Famous White Bean Soup

This recipe is from Andrea. Sounds yummy! Thanks, Andrea. Can't wait to try it!

Famous White Bean Soup

3 can great northern beans, drained

1 sweet onion chopped

3 cloves garlic chopped

1 t cumin

1.t coriander

1 T oregano

1 can corn

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup lime juice

1 cup water

2 cans chicken broth

1 lb chopped chicken

Saute chopped onion and chopped garlic in oil. Cook and chop chicken. Add together all other ingredients and simmer for half hour. Add more lime juice to your liking. Serve with tortilla chips and sliced avacado.

Cafe Rio Pork Salad

Cafe Rio has to be one of my favorite stops, but after having the twins, I've been having withdrawals. (Too bad they don't have a drive through). I found this recipe and LOVED it.

SWEET PORK

1-2 lbs pork tenderloin
2 cups fresh Salsa (I used the one you get a costco)
1 cup brown sugar

Mix sugar and salsa, pour over pork. Cook in crock pot for 8 hrs. on low. When done shred with two forks and return to juice in crock pot and allow liquid to absorb.

CILANTRO-LIME RICE

1 c. uncooked rice (long-grain, white rice)
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.


BLACK BEANS

2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c. tomato juice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

DRESSING

2 cups mayo
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2-1 bunch cilantro
2 TB water
2 TB vinegar
1 jalapeno pepper
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt

*Blend all ingredients together in blender

Serve with lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, cheese, fried corn tortilla strips

HINT:
I made a BIG BATCH of the pork cuz my husband is a huge pork fan. We used the leftovers for sweet pork quesadillas. yum!

Alfredo Sauce

I'm addicted to the Olive Garden's Alfredo sauce. I get it every time I got to the OG so I can dip it in their yummy bread sticks. This recipe is quick and easy and taste pretty similar. Not all that healthy, but oh so good.

Ingredients:
1 pint heavy cream
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons cream cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese - (to 3/4)
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Cooking Directions:
In a saucepan combine butter, heavy cream, and cream cheese. Simmer this
until all is melted, and mixed well. Add the Parmesan cheese and Garlic
powder. Simmer this for 15 to 20 minutes on low. You may wish to season
with a little salt and pepper. It has been made with half-and-half, but
heavy cream is preferred.

Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup

Tried this recipe out and it turned out pretty good! I like it because not only is it yummy, it's healthy.

Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup

HINTS:
*I added a couple cloves of garlic for a little more flavor.
*Use olive oil instead of butter (more healthy)
*I only added 1.5 cups of cheese instead of 3 cups, again, to make it more healthy

Pretzel Salad

I got this recipe from a colleague of mine. Now, my mama would argue that this is DEFINITELY not a salad, it's more like a dessert. It goes great as a side dish at a BBQ, potluck, whatever. Whenever I bring it to a potluck, I get lots of compliments and requests for the recipe.

Cream together:
1 pkg - 8 oz cream cheese
1 container - whip cream
20 oz crushed pineapple-drained
1/2 cup sugar

Topping:
2 cups crushed pretzels
1 cube melted butter
1/2 cup sugar

*Mix topping ingredients together and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes until crunchy
*Mix the topping into the salad right before serving.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookie Bar

Yes, it's as good as it sounds. I got this recipe from my sister in law, Julie. She is the BEST baker. She seriously needs to open her own bakery. Again SO EASY and SO FAST, yet SO YUMMY! Takes a chocolate chip cookie to a whole new level.

4 cups of your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe
2 packages- 8oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

Instructions:
cream together the cream cheese, sugar and eggs
Grease 9x13 pan
put a layer of 2 cups of cookie dough down
spread the cream cheese mixture on top
crumble 2 cups cookie dough on top

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Best Brownies EVER

I'm normally a Betty Crocker Brownie Mix kinda gal, but when I found this recipe, I knew I had to try it and I was not disappointed. It is SO RICH and SO THICK, you have to have a little vanilla ice cream with it to wash it down. As my sister in law, Ashley would say, "It's a party in my mouth!"

Best Brownie's Ever

• Soft butter, for greasing the pan
• Flour, for dusting the buttered pan
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar, sifted
• 1 cup brown sugar, sifted
• 1 cup melted butter
• 11/4 cups cocoa, sifted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan.

In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.

HINTS:
*Instead of buttering the pan to grease it, I put wax paper in it and then poured the batter on to the wax paper. When I took it out of the oven, I just pulled the wax paper up and put it on a cooling raking. Makes it for an EASY cleanup.

*I used regular salt instead of kosher salt, because really, who has kosher salt just sitting in their cupboard? Not me...

Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

tablespoons margarine or butter (1/4 stick)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 can (13 3/4 to 14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 head (2 1/2 pounds) cauliflower, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup Sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup Pepper Jack cheese

In 4-quart saucepan, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour and salt; cook 2minutes, stirring frequently. Gradually stir in milk, chicken broth, and 1 1/2 cups water; add cauliflower and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes. In blender (with center part of blender cover removed to allow steam to escape), blend cauliflower mixture at low speed in small batches until very smooth. Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted and smooth. Garnish soup with remaining cheese to serve.

HINTS:
*Instead of using pepperjack cheese, you can just use 2 cups of the cheddar cheese.
*BLEND WELL! Mine turned out a little grainy because I didn't blend it well enough.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

I've used this recipe MULTIPLE times and have gotten raving reviews from people. I used it to make 700 strawberries for my friends wedding once and someone even asked where she got them catered from! It's SO FAST and SO EASY. (my favorite way to cook!)

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

HINTS:
* Don't let the chocolate boil or get too hot or else it will harden really fast!

*To make it easier, I don't use toothpicks. I just hold them strawberry by the stem and dip it. Then I lay them flat on a cookie sheet with wax paper on it. It would look more elegant if you let them dry on the styrofoam, but I much to lazy for that.

*My personal additional touch is that I melt white chocolate chips and a tiny bit of oil and drizzle them over the top to make them look nice and elegant.

*I've also used this chocolate recipe for dipping pretzels. At Christmas, I died the white chocolate green to give it a nice holiday touch and handed them out to neighbors as gifts. They were a hit!

My Recipe Blog

When I'm not using my cookbook that my sister in laws made for me, I'm searching the internet for recipes. I only choose recipes that receive 4-5 star rating. I wanted a place to put all my recipes that I've found on the internet so I wouldn't have to search for them every time I wanted to make them. My promise is that I will only post recipes that I absolutely LOVE (because, really, I won't want to make them again if their not the best right?) If you would like to be a contributor to this blog so you can save/share your recipes too, please email me at markandbre at gmail dot com.