Nacho Bake

What You Need

1 pkg. (12 oz.) VELVEETA Shells & Cheese Dinner

1 lb. ground beef

1 pkg. (1-1/4 oz.) Taco Seasoning Mix

3/4 cup Sour Cream

3/4 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided

3/4 cup Salsa

1/2 cup coarsely crushed tortilla chips

Make It!

Heat oven to 400°F. Prepare Dinner as directed on package. While Macaroni is cooking, cook meat with taco seasoning as directed on package.

Stir sour cream into prepared Dinner. Spoon 1/2 of Dinner mixture into 8-inch square baking dish; top with layers of meat mixture, 1/2 of Cheddar and remaining Dinner mixture. Cover.

Bake 15 min.; top with salsa, remaining Cheddar and crushed chips. Bake, uncovered, 5 min.

Christine's Brownies

My para-educator made these brownies and I thought they were SUPER yummy and the recipe was a must.

1 cup marg.
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs
1/2 to 1 cup nuts (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 375

Melt margarine, remove from heat. Add sugar and cocoa. Add eggs, beating well after each.

Add flour, salt, vanilla, and nuts. Bake in well greased 9x13 pan, 25 to 30 min. Enjoy :)

*If you like your brownies REALLY rich or prefer a dark chocolate flavor, try making the recipe I have posted titled "Best Brownies Ever"...but I must warn you, you must eat with ice cream to help wash it down, it is just that rich! This recipe is perfect for your step above a betty crocker box.

French Toast Casserole

Found this recipe on my friend, Tracy's, Blog. Looks delish! Can't wait to try it! Thanks, Tracy!!!

Ingredients

• FRENCH TOAST
• 1 loaf Crusty Sourdough Or French Bread
• 8 whole Eggs
• 2 cups Whole Milk
• ½ cups Whipping (heavy) Cream
• ¾ cups Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
• Topping
• ½ cups All-purpose Flour
• ½ cups Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 1 stick Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces
• Fresh Fruit (optional)Fruit (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Grease 9 x 13-inch baking pan with butter. Tear bread into chunks (or cut into cubes) and evenly distribute in the pan.

Mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread. Cover tightly and store in the fridge several hours or overnight.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add nutmeg if desired. Add butter pieces and but into the dry mixture until mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a Ziploc in the fridge.

When you’re ready to bake the casserole, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove casserole from oven and sprinkle crumb mixture over the top. (If you’re using fruit, sprinkle on before the crumb mixture.) Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture. Bake 1 hour or more for a firmer, less liquid texture.

Scoop out individual portions. Top with butter and drizzle with maple syrup.

Prince WIlliam's Grooms Cake!

Found this on Oprah's site...may have to try this one of these days...

Servings: Makes one 6-inch round cake (8 portions)

Ingredients

• 1/2 tsp. butter , for greasing
• 8 ounces Rich tea biscuits
• 4 ounces unsalted butter , softened
• 4 ounces granulated sugar
• 4 ounces dark chocolate , for the cake
• 1 egg

• 8 ounces dark chocolate , for coating
• 1 ounce chocolate , for decorating

Directions

To make cake: Lightly grease a 6" x 2 1/2" cake ring and place on a tray on a sheet of parchment paper.

Break each of the biscuits into almond-size pieces by hand and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until the mixture starts to lighten.

Melt the 4 ounces of dark chocolate and add to the butter mixture while constantly stirring.

Beat the egg into the mixture.

Fold in the biscuit pieces until they are all coated with the chocolate mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake ring. Try to fill all of the gaps on the bottom of the ring because this will be the top when it is unmolded.

Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

To coat and decorate: Remove the cake from the refrigerator and let it stand while you melt the 8 ounces of dark chocolate.

Slide the ring off the cake and turn it upside down onto a cake wire.

Pour the melted chocolate over the cake and smooth the top and sides using a palette knife.

Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature.

Carefully run a knife around the bottom of the cake where the chocolate has stuck to the cake wire and lift it onto a tea plate.

Melt the remaining 1 ounce of chocolate and use to decorate the top of the cake.

Asparagus

Lemon Balsamic Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients:

*I didn't measure anything. I just used about half of one of the bundles we got and just dumped the other ingredients until it looked good to me.*

asparagus

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

fresh squeezed lemon juice

salt

pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash your asparagus and cut 1-1 1/2" off the bottom of the asparagus. Put the asparagus, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a Ziploc bag. Shake the bag until the asparagus is evenly coated. Put on a cookie sheet and cook in the oven for 7-10 minutes, turning the asparagus half way through the time. ENJOY!

tortillas

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons lard
• 1 1/2 cups water

Directions

1. Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Mix in the lard with your fingers until the flour resembles cornmeal. Add the water and mix until the dough comes together; place on a lightly floured surface and knead a few minutes until smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
2. Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Use a well-floured rolling pin to roll a dough ball into a thin, round tortilla. Place into the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly and golden; flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side. Place the cooked tortilla in a tortilla warmer; continue rolling and cooking the remaining dough. -allrecipes.com

Gaucho Chimichurri Sauce Recipe

Preparation time. 20 minutes

3/4 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/2 cup (packed) basil and oregano leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup inexpensive balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

About the herbs. The parsley and garlic must be fresh, but the other herbs can be dried. You can substitute or mix in thyme, cilantro, rosemary, even mint for the basil and oregano. But not for the parsley. And just because cilantro looks like parsley doesn't mean you can substitute it. I'm talking to one particular reader right now. You know who you are.

About the paprika. If you can get smoked paprika, use it. But taste it first. If it is hot, as it often is, cut back on the crushed red pepper flakes. Remember, not everyone likes it as hot as you do.

If it is too acidic for you, just whick in more oil.

Do this
1) Remove the thick woody stems stems from the herbs leaving behind the tender stems. Measure the herbs by packing them into a measuring cup first, and then rinse in a colander to get any dirt off. Shake off the extra moisture, but you don't have to get the leaves perfectly dry.

2) Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pulse until the green parts are small bits pushing down any leaves that crawl up the sides. You don't have to make this sauce homogeneous, chunks are OK.

3) Grill the meat and spoon a small amount of sauce over the top or on the side when you serve it. Not too much, it is strong, and we don't want to cover that great steak taste. People can always add more if they want. And there's a good chance they'll want.