California Tacos

Ok people, prepare to have your socks knocked off.

These are the best tacos.  EVER.

I love tacos.  So when a friend introduced me to this recipe I was seriously thrilled.

Everyone we make these for agrees with me on how wonderful they are.

I really can't say enough...

Do you get the picture?

They are GOOD!

Ok, you start with the meat, seasoning, and marinade.

The best meat is skirt steak. 

(We've used a different cut before and the results were not as good.)

The marinade:

This Goya Mojo Criollo can be kind of tricky to find. 

It will be in the Hispanic food isle of your grocery store, if you are lucky. 

You may be able to have your grocer order it for you.

If it's not there you might have to go to a Hispanic food market.

(Trust me it's worth it.)

 The seasoning, which would actually be the first thing to go on the meat, is Banditos Blend from the Oak Pit BBQ Co.

This stuff is amazing.  It would be great on all kinds of bbq'd dishes. 

For info on how to get this seasoning click here. 

Ok, so you rub on the seasoning, put the skirt steak in a ziplock bag and pour in the marinade.

You want the meat to be covered with marinade once the bag is sealed. 

Then stick the bag in the fridge and let sit over night.  

About 30 minutes before you want to eat remove the meat from the bag and place it on a pan or platter. 

Sprinkle another layer of Banditos Blend seasoning on top.

Flip the meat and sprinkle more seasoning on the other side. 

Grill the meat about 15 minutes, turning about half way through. 

You want the outside to get a little crispy. 

Those charred black edges are my favorite. 

The center can be slightly pink, or not, however you like it.

(See that blackened piece at the back there? 

I snatched that as soon as it was cut, yummy!)

Put your meat on a cutting board and slice it about 1/4 ot 1/2 inch thick. 

Make sure you slice across the grain! 

To serve:

Heat up tortillas, flour or corn.

Place a few strips of steak on it. 

Top with your favorite taco toppings...

As long as your favorites are:

guacamole or sliced avocado

cilantro

fresh squeezed lime juice

I also like:

cheese

sour cream

salsa

and this hot sauce. 

We served these with black beans and fruit salad. 

If you choose not to order the seasoning mentioned above, you can substitute something else.

Some that we have tried are Pappys, and Grill Mates Cowboy Rub. 

They still tasted great. 

Also, the left over steak is great in burritos, or for breakfast with some eggs, the possibilites are pretty much endless. 

Melting Snowman Cookies

I made these for a Christmas party last month. 

They turned out really cute and they tasted great!

I'm sure everyone has seen these on pinterest.

Obviously I didn't create these... I'm not that creative.  Just a great copy cat.

Anyway, I used this sugar cookie recipe, from the Our Best Bites blog. 

It's the best sugar cookie I've ever had!

And the royal icing from Bake at 350. 

Her recipe was easy to follow and SO good! 

To cut out the cookies I just used a knife, to get random shapes, more like a melting puddle would be. 

For decorating I used some stiff butter cream for piping on the arms, bows, ear muffs, buttons, etc. 

The eyes and mouths I did with some edible markers. 

Way cute, fairly easy, super fun, and delicious!

Buck-Eyes

My sister-in-law hails from the great state of Ohio.

(I've never been there, not really sure if it's great or not.)

However, Ohio does have buck-eyes. 

Which were the inspiration for someone to come up with this recipe.

Which made its way to my family about 20 years ago, via my sister-in-law. 

I loved making these as a child and now I have my own little girl who loves to help!

Start by crushing up some rice krispies. 

 I like to to do it in a ziplock bag. 

Less mess.

Mix the butter and peanut butter with the rice krispies. 

Doesn't have to be fully mixed. 

Then sift in the powder sugar. 

You don't want lumps. 

Then mix and mix.

You'll have to use your hands. 

Mix until it's all incorporated, like this...

Then roll small bits into balls. 

About 1 1/2 Tbs to 2 Tbs each ball.

Depends on how big you want them. 

(Smaller balls equals higher chocolate to peanut butter ratio.)

(Wink wink)
Place the balls on wax paper or foil and in the fridge to set. 

Melt about 12 oz of chocolate in a double boiler. 
I add about a tsp of crisco to make the chocolate set again once it is melted.

Use a tooth pick, or long skewer to dip the balls in the chocolate. 

(What makes these babies look like buck eyes is the top not being covered in chocolate.)

Place the buck eyes in the fridge again to set the chocolate. 

Then eat. 

Or give them away as a gift, or at a cookie exchange. 

Everyone will love you for them!

Buck Eyes

 1 cup peanut butter (I use creamy)

1 cup crushed rice krispies (measure them after the crushing)

1 stick butter- softened

3 cups powder sugar (sifted, if lumpy)

-Stir the first 3 ingredients together a few times, then add the powder sugar.  Mix till fully combined.

-Form into balls, and let set in fridge.

-Melt 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate and about 1 tsp crisco over double boiler.  Dip set balls into chocolate, not fully covering with chocolate.  Place back on wax paper or foil. 

-Set in fridge again. 

Egyptain One-Eyes

Weird name?  Yes. 
Really yummy?  Yes. 
Fun to eat?  Yes. 

...Three requirements for getting my kids excited about eating.

(You may know these as Sunshine Toast, or Eggs in a Basket, etc.  We call 'em Egyptian One-Eyes.)

First, choose a cookie cutter.  In honor of the fall season we used a pumpkin. 

Cut the center out of the slice of bread. 

(Make sure your cookies cutter itsn't so big that it cuts the crust of the bread.)

Then butter each cut out center, this will be the 'toast.'

 Also, butter around the edges of the bread with the hole in it. 

Heat a skillet or griddle to about 300 or 325 degrees. 

Spray with a non-stick coating, and put the bread on it. 

Crack an egg in each hole, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. 

Cook for about a minute. 

However long you would normally cook a fried egg, depending on how well you like your yolk cooked.  Then turn them over. 

  The toasts will cook really fast, so don't add those to the griddle until the eggs are almost done. 

These are fine just by themselves, but a slice of bacon goes great with about any breakfast.  :)

And the little peice of toast is perfect for soaking up any yolk that runs out when you cut into the egg. 

Crepes

Crepes

My sister, Kayla, and I used to make these a lot during high school. 

It was fun coming up with different combinations for the fillings. 

Now, my kids LOVE crepes. 

We like to eat these on Sunday nights. 

(If we have a big lunch, this can double as dinner and dessert!)

Some of our favorite fillings are:

(and almost any combination of these works)

sliced strawberries

sliced bananas

nutella

peanut butter

butter

cinnamon and sugar

powder sugar

Fried apples (my mom gave us some from the Cracker Barrel)

and some homemade creamy crepes sauce. 

To make the crepes:

Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend till fully combined. 

You may need to scrape down the sides of the blender and blend one more time. 

Just a few seconds is all it takes. 

Heat a small skillet, coat with a non-stick spray.

Pour about 2 Tbs of batter into the pan. 

Roll the pan around until the batter covers the bottom of the pan.

Let it cook for about 20 seconds, it really doesn't take long. 

Then flip the crepe over with a spatula. 

They will be very thin and can tear easily, so use caution. 

Give it about 20 seconds on this side then remove to plate. 

Add your favorite toppings and roll it up. 

Dust with powder sugar. 

Eat while still warm. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

2 eggs

2 cups milk

1 Tbs sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbs butter, melted

Blend all ingredients in a blender. 

Cook on med heat.  About 20 seconds per side, adjust time as needed. 

This makes enough for my family of 6, with a few left over. 

(And my 6 year old eats about 9!!)

Creamy Crepes Sauce

Probably one of the easiest things you will ever make.

(Sorry no picture, but it will be white, like frosting, but not the exact same consistency.)

Equal parts sour cream and cream cheese.  Beat the cream cheese til smooth, add the sour cream.  Beat together.  Sprinkle in a small amount of powder sugar, start with about tsp.  (Depending on how much sour cream and cream cheese you used.)  Beat again.  Done!

Serve on these crepes.

This is not supposed to be real sweet like a frosting.  Add a small amount of the powder sugar, mix, then taste it and see if you want more.  I'm telling ya though, overly sweet and it will be too much when you add your fruit.

Banana Cream Pie

On my gosh, this pie was divine. 

I used to think a good banana cream pie was made with a box of pudding mix and heavy whipped cream instead of cool whip. 

I've learned my lesson...

This pie is made from scratch, including the cream part. 

The cream is made like a custard with tempered egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk. 

(And a few other ingredients.)

My husband and I have differing opinions on which type of crust a banana cream pie should be made with. 

He likes pie crust, I like graham cracker crust.

Both of us are products of our childhood, in that respect. 

For this crust I used Nilla Wafers. 

And we both loved it!

I found this recipe here. 

Altered it slightly to fit american ingredients. 

Crust

I started by curshing up enough Nilla Wafers to make about 2 cups of crumbs. 

(Very scientific, I know)

Add to that 1/4 cup melted butter and mix with a fork, til fully combined.

Press into bottom of pan. 

For the cream

2 cups milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup corn starch

4 egg yolks

3 bananas

(You will need 2 more bananas and more heavy whipping cream for the top, later.)

Heat the milk, heavy whipping cream, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla.  Bring to a boil.

While that is heating, whisk the egg yolks and corn starch til smooth. 

Gradually spoon some of the hot mixture into the egg yolk mixture.  Whisk them together, slowing adding a little more.  Once the egg yolks are hot, after you have added roughly 1/2- 1 cup of the milk and cream mixture, whisk the egg yolks into the pot with the remaing cream mixture.  Stir constantly.

Cook until very thick.  Keep stirring!

Once cooked, pour through a sieve to keep any lumps out of the pie. 

Chop 3 bananas and stir into the 'custard.'  Pour over the crust and top with some plastic wrap.  Place the wrap directly on the custard, so no film forms.

Let the pie set in the fridge for at least 3 hours. 

Top with 2 sliced bananas. Sweeten and whip some heavy whipping cream, then pipe around the edges.  Any star tip will work to make the swirl. 

 Grate chocolate on top. 

You should definitely make this, and soon. 

UPDATE:  I made this for Christmas with an oreo crust, and it was fantastic!!  :)