Balsamic, strawberry chicken Caesar salad

Preheat oven 450'

Place thawed chicken in tin foil lined glass dish. Rub balsamic vinegar all over chicken breast. Bake 10 minutes, flip chicken and bake 8 more. 

Slice and serve over Caesar salad, add strawberries. 

Chicken with pesto, tomato, mozzarella, and parm cheese

Preheat oven 450'

Line glass dish with tin foil

Place thawed chicken in dish and rub with pesto, then top with sliced tomato, then mozzarella cheese, then parm cheese and bake 18-20 minutes. 

Slice chicken and serve over pasta

Bake chicken

I recently learned how to bake an easy chicken that is nice and juicy instead of boiling it for pot pie, enchiladas, tacos or whatever...

Preheat oven to 450'

Line glass dish with tinfoil

Place thawed chicken on tinfoil and rub with olive oil, salt and pepper or whatever  seasonings you like

Bake 10 minutes then flip and bake 8 more minutes. Done!

Carraba's Bread Dip Spice

Thanks Holly!

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried rosemary

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried parsley

1 tsp. granulated garlic

1 tsp. minced garlic dried

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or as needed)

Add all ingredients to extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy with bread!

Orange Julius

Thanks Holly!!

1 cup Orange juice concentrate

2 cups milk or half water

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

8-12 ice cubes

Blend together.

Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad

Thanks Paula for the recipe!

1 cauliflower

1 broccoli

1 red pepper

3-4 green onions

1/2 - 1 cup grated cheese

1 jar Hormel bacon bits

Sauce:

1 cup miracle whip

1/2 cup sugar

1 T. lemon juice

Cut vegetables into small pieces and combine in bowl. Add grated cheese and bacon bits. Mix sauce ingredients and pour over vegetables (may not need all of it.)

Cafe Rio

This summer the wives made dinner for ALL the guys in the office. It was Cafe Rio style. Here are some of the recipes that were used!

Tomatillo Dressing Cafe Rio

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch (Buttermilk style)

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup mayonaise

1-2 tomatillos, peel

1/2 to 1 garlic clove, minced

1/3 buch cilantro chopped

1 tsp lime juice

6 slices pickled jalapenos.

Blend ingredients together in blender. More mayonnaise may be added if too thin. Keep refrigerated.

Lime Rice

In a sauce pan, saute:

2 T butter

1 yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic minced

In a large pot, bring the following to a boil: (I just throw all of these ingredients into a rice cooker and it works just great – you don’t need to boil the rice in a pot.)

3 cups rice

6 2/3 cup water

8 tsp bullion (I usually use Swanson’s chicken broth if I have it.)

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

2 tsp cumin

2 small cans diced green chilies

1 T lime juice

1/2 t salt

Green Sauce

4 TBSP butter

1 med onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large can green enchilada sauce (I use Las Palmas brand, which can be found at super Wal-mart)

1 can chicken broth (14-16 0z)

3-4 TBSP flour

In a large sauce pan, melt half of the butter (2TBSP) and sauté garlic and onions until they are almost clear (add garlic more toward the end, so it doesn’t burn). Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, add the chicken broth and flour, mix until lumps are out. Add the remaining butter to the garlic and onions, once melted stir in the chicken broth/flour mixture (make sure to stir continuously while adding so the four doesn’t burn on bottom of pan). Then add the can of green sauce, mix and stir. Cook on med to med-high heat for about 10 mins. Simmer on Medium for about 30 more mins. (If you have time and it makes the flavor stronger b/c it reduces and starts to be more condensed). Stir often while on simmer.

SWEET PORK ( a variation on Café Rio Pork recipe) Kim Sadowski

4 pounds pork roast
1/3 cup water
1/8 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup green chili sauce (La Costena is a good brand)

1 can El Pato tomato sauce (jalapeno variety – green label)

1 6 oz. can of regular tomato sauce

2 T. Canola oil

1 large sweet onion – diced

6 cloves of garlic - pressed
½ to ¾ cups brown sugar

Place the pork, 1/3 cup water, garlic salt, salt, and pepper, in a *crock pot. Cook slowly for 6 hours. Remove pork and cool for 30 minutes. Set aside liquid. Shred pork and set aside.

Strain the liquid from the pork and put in a freezer-safe container. Place in freezer for about an hour to allow oils and fat to separate and rise to the surface. Once oils and fat have risen to the top and solidified, remove and discard. Set aside drippings for use later.

Sauté onion in Canola oil until tender. Stir garlic into onion and sauté lightly for one minute. Add tomato sauce, green sauce, 1 ½ cup of broth and brown sugar. Simmer for 3 minutes until all ingredients are mixed well. Add pork and simmer on low for 20 minutes. Serve pork in warm freshly-made flour or corn tortillas and garnish as desired.

* You can also cook pork in covered roasting pan in oven if you prefer. If you choose to cook it in the oven, cook at 250 degrees for 4 hours.