Hawaiian Tacos

A friend and co-worker of mine shared these fabulous tortillas that her mother-in-law brought her.  These are the real deal tortillas and I searched the Internet for something amazing to make with them, although it was tempting just to warm them up and eat them straight. 

This dinner was ready in under 15 minutes and is perfect for one of those nights when you are tempted to just drive thru somewhere.  If you have 15 min. to wait in a drive thru line then you have time to make these amazing tacos!

Adapted from source:Taste and Tell

Ingredients:
Tortillas
1 lb ground pork
1 cup BBQ sauce
Mango Salsa - I took the easy way and bought mango salsa already prepared in the produce section. 
Or, you can make your own - Mango Salsa

Instructions:
1. Brown the pork and when it is finished drain.
2. Add the BBQ sauce to the pork and warm
3. Heat each tortilla by adding a bit of butter to a skillet and heating tortillas 1 by 1 on each side for 15-20 seconds.
4. Add the pork and mango salsa to each taco and enjoy!

Zucchini Breads

I have TONS of zucchini from my garden this year.  I have started shredding it and freezing it for more zucchini recipes in the future.  Here are a couple of zucchini breads I made recently.  Both delicious!


Walnut Zucchini Bread
Source: Food Network

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup water

2 cups grated zucchini

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in.
2. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.


Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Source: Taste of Home

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
3 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups shredded peeled zucchini

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and baking powder; gradually beat into sugar mixture until blended. Stir in zucchini. Transfer to two 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans coated with cooking spray.
2. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each).

French Onion Rigatoni (aka French Onion Soup Macaroni and Cheese)

My love of caramelized onions is well known to anyone reading this blog.  I always have them on hand and I am continuously in search of more recipes using caramelized onions.  Well, Mac and Cheese with caramelized onions sounded like a match made in heaven!  Yum!  This recipe takes a bit of work, but it is really good!

Source: 30 days 30 ways mac and cheese

Ingredients:3 pounds yellow onions (7-8 medium), peeled and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
3/4 pound rigatoni pasta
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
1 cup no salt-added beef broth
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white or black pepper
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) grated Wisconsin Emmentaler Cheese, divided
2 slices white bread, torn into pieces
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

Instructions:(Skip to the next step if you have caramelized onions already prepared)
Place the onion slices and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide, thick-bottomed sauté pan and
cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally and always spreading the onions out evenly
over the surface of the pan. Continue to cook the onions over medium heat for almost two hours,
scraping and deglazing the pan with a little bit of plain water as necessary. Once the onions are
cooked down to about 2 cups, remove the pan from heat and let the caramelized onions cool.


Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large pot of water, cook the pasta just until al dente,
rinse it thoroughly with cold water, drain well, and set aside.


In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the all-purpose flour, milk, beef broth, salt, and ground pepper. Continue to whisk the mixture over medium heat. When the sauce thickens up to the consistency of custard sauce, remove the saucepan from heat. Whisk in 1 cup of the grated Emmentaler cheese while the mixture is still hot; set aside.


Grease a ceramic or glass 9x12x3-inch baking dish; set aside. In a food processor,
pulse together the bread, the remaining olive oil, the remaining Emmentaler and thyme leaves until the mixture resembles coarse meal.


In a large mixing bowl, mix together the pasta, the cheese sauce, and the caramelized onions,
making sure the onion pieces are distributed evenly. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.  (This is the perfect time to take a taste test!)

Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture all over the surface of the pasta mixture. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the pasta is heated through.

S'mores Cookies

These are seriously good.  Shortly after college I had a roommate who loved s'mores so much that she would roast marshmallows over candles in our apartment....True Story!   The best part of these cookies is you can make just 1 or 2 or a whole batch.  I started with just a couple cookies and now I want to make more :)

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients:
Graham Crackers
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (or you can make your own)
Mini Marshmallows
Hershey chocolate bars

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Lay graham cracker squares side by side on baking sheet.
3. Place 2 tablespoons of cookie dough on each graham cracker square (so half a sheet).  Press dough down so that it adheres to the cracker.
4. Bake for 5 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and top each cookie with several marshmallows (4 or 5), pushing them into the dough as well.
6. Bake for 5 more minutes or until cookie looks brown around the edges and the marshmallows are nice and gooey.  Remove and press one Hershey rectangle into each "cookie". 
7. Cool on wire rack and enjoy.

Artichoke and Parmesan Wontons

I originally found a picture of something similar on pinterest and when I clicked, the blogger did not provide the recipe.  After a bit of searching, I found this recipe and gave it a try.  These tasted great, but needed a bit of color - I may try adding a little roasted red pepper next time.

Source: Salt Lake City Fox 13 News

Ingredients:
1 package fresh square Wonton Wraps
1 14 oz can Artichoke Hearts (not marinated), and quartered
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
1 cup Mayonnaise
1 cup Sour Cream
1 small Shallot, finely minced
1 Garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed
¼ tsp Tabasco sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Place one wonton skin in each cup of 2 mini muffin pans and gently press to form a cup. Bake 5 – 7 minutes until just starting to turn a pale golden color. Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit.

3. In a food processor with steel blade attached combine artichoke hearts, ½ cup parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, shallot, garlic and Tabasco sauce. Process on pulse setting until combined but small chunks of artichoke remain.

4. Spoon about 1 Tbsp of artichoke mixture into each wonton cup then top with more freshly grated parmesan cheese. Return to oven and bake until cups turn nicely golden brown and warmed through.

5. Carefully remove to serving platter and serve warm or at room temperature.