Taquito Enchiladas

 I love to cook, and I love to cook from scratch.  I've been known to grow my own herbs, dry them, use them to make my own ranch dressing mix and then prepare said mix into fresh ranch dressing.  It's very rewarding to start with some seeds in the early spring and end up with a fresh homegrown salad topped with homemade dressing.  You know what else is rewarding?  Spending the day catching a big fish.  Spending the day hitting golf balls.  Spending the day sitting on my patio enjoying a cold beverage or reading a good book.  On those days I am the complete opposite of homegrown and homemade.  Those days are made for recipes like Busy Day Casserole or  Slow Cooker Mississippi Meatball Subs. This is another one of those recipes, perfect for a busy day, or a school night (school has started back - ugh) Literally 4 ingredients, about 5 minutes of prep work and 40 minutes in the oven for a hearty meal that is surprisingly delicious.  I'll have to admit Mr. Devilish Dish was slightly skeptical when he saw me buying canned chili.  (The HORROR - as he makes his own award winning version.)  I said, "Trust me on this, we aren't going to the trouble of making a batch of chili from scratch to pour over frozen taquitos." Not that I don't love his chili, but this recipe didn't need it.  The canned worked just as well and the point of this whole recipe is EASE.  Try this one soon when you need a night off from the kitchen.

Hot, bubbly, and most importantly
only 4 ingredients and super easy.

Line a greased baking dish with frozen taquitos.

Add chili and spread to cover taquitos.

Next add the can of enchilada sauce.

Cover with the package of cheese.

 I like to serve this with a chopped lettuce and 
tomato salad and salsa.  That's what my mom
always served with Mexican casseroles.

TAQUITO ENCHILADAS

1 Package Frozen Taquitos (Approximately 20) Your choice - we used the beef style in corn tortillas (they were the skinnier ones and turned out great)

1 (15.8 oz) Can Chili (We used Wolf Brand - beans/no beans your choice)

1 (15 oz) Can Red Enchilada Sauce

1 (8 oz) Package Shredded Cheese (Mexican, Cheddar, Colby Jack - any is fine)

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.  Place the frozen taquitos in the baking dish.  (Mine wound up kind of stacked which was okay because I was using the skinnier ones.  If you have thicker taquitos, go for a single layer.)  Spread the can of chili evenly over the taquitos.  Pour the can of enchilada sauce over the chili layer.  Top with the package of shredded cheese.  Bake in the oven for approximately 40 minutes or until the taquitos are cooked through, the casserole is bubbly, and the cheese is melted.  

Blistered Shishito Peppers

 Last night for dinner, Mr. Devilish grilled a steak and we enjoyed a salad with HOMEGROWN lettuce AND tomatoes from our garden, AND HOMEGROWN Shishito Peppers.  He even made Homemade Ranch Dressing for our salad. Why the need for ALL CAPS? Why am I SHOUTING?  Well you should know I do not have a green thumb and I am super proud of our garden this year.  We have enjoyed BLT sandwiches with Cherokee Purple tomatoes at least twice a week for the last month.  I told him, "If you'd let me live in the country and have animals like I want we could have grown LITERALLY everything on this plate."  Which is a lie, if I had cows I would probably name them and love them like I love our dog Elli.  Anyway, I wanted the best preparation for the shishito pepper harvest so a quick consult with my brother-in-law who is a CHEF in New Orleans and I knew exactly what to do.  If you aren't familiar with shishito peppers, they are a small, slender green pepper, typically mild, and from East Asia.  Sometimes they have them in Asian restaurants as an appetizer.  Sometimes I see them at the grocery store, and definitely at the Asian Market.  They have a sweet, bright flavor and you just hold the stem and bite the whole pepper off and enjoy.  Most of the time they are not spicy, and I say MOST because once in a while you get a HOT one.  This experience is known as "Shishito Roulette" which has happened to me three times.  Shishitos are so delicious in flavor though, the risk of an occasional hot one is well worth it.  

Fresh from the garden and ready for Roulette.

Getting the wok "screaming hot"

Pour in the fresh peppers

They will sizzle like crazy.  BE CAREFUL
and wear an apron!

Stir constantly, keep them moving.
Remove to a bowl, toss with lemon juice 
and seasoings.

Enjoy! I'm so proud of our garden harvest.

BLISTERED SHISHITO PEPPERS

Shishito Peppers
Oil for frying
Juice from half a lemon
Flaked Sea Salt to taste
Red Pepper Flakes to taste

Preparation (According to Chef Jeff)

Place a small amount of oil in a wok.  "Get the wok SCREAMING HOT" Dump in your fresh shishito peppers and stir constantly until the skin starts to char and blister.  Place in a bowl and add lemon juice.  Toss and sprinkle with sea salt and red pepper flakes to taste.  Pour on to a platter and serve.

A Totally Awesome 1980s Party

 I am a true 80's kid.  You know...Generation X: Raised on hose water and neglect.  Literally.  Commercials came on right before the evening news and said, "It's 10 o'clock, do you know where your children are?" Television had to REMIND our parents to summon us home for bedtime.  It was truly a different time, and if you know you know.  We loved it.  Now I have my great nephews, the Littlest Devils making me kind of a pseudo grandmother.  A really cool Gen X grandmother.  You know Mr. Devilish Dish and I love live music.  In the last year we've seen Adam Ant, Psychedelic Furs, The Church, Duran Duran, Rick Springfield, The English Beat, Wang Chung, Paul Young, John Waite, Toto, Christopher Cross and Men at Work.  (Not including countless Red Dirt and other genres, but this is an 80's post!) Take me back!  Anyway, now that I am a cool Gen X G-ma, I saw these adorable personalized beaded bracelets.  I wanted them with the Littlest Devils names on them but they were kind of pricy.  You know I'm a crafty girl, so I landed upon the idea to make some custom bracelets (think those Swiftie style bangles) and it reminded me of the good 'ol days when we made friendship bracelets.  I remember in 10th Grade, I had a class with Mr. DD and he asked me to make a friendship bracelet for him.  Mind you he was NOT my boyfriend at the time.  He was just one of the cutest boys in the whole school and a very preppie golfer-type.  I remember spending hours at the craft store putting together the exact combination of embroidery threads to make him the ultimate preppie boy friendship bracelet.  Apparently it worked because we've been together over 30 years now.  Since I am still an 80s girl at heart, the night I decided to try my hand at creating the beaded bracelets, I invited over some crafty friends and decided to make a true 80's themed feast.  Not only did we create some totally awesome bracelets and have some good food and good laughs, we turned on YouTube and found some videos with assemblages of old 1980's commercials.  It was hilarious hearing, "Where's the Beef?" and "Mikey Likes It."  I hope this inspires your next get-together for some 80's themed fun!

Here's the full spread.  This was so much fun 
planning and putting together.

No 80s party is complete without some glow
necklaces and bracelets.

Remember the Sea Monkeys? My mom would NEVER
let me have those.  We enjoyed Shrimp Cocktail with
Mr. Devilish Dish's SPICY COCKTAIL SAUCE.

I made a small "charcuterie board" and cut a brie
cheese to look like Pac-Man.  I just added some salami,
crackers and fresh grapes.

The hardest part of the whole night was hollowing
out a cabbage for the "Cabbage Patch" relish tray.
Just ranch dip served in a cabbage with some
fresh veggies.

Remember hitting the mall for an Orange Julius?
Not only do I have a recipe for the DRINK HERE,
but I have a FRUIT DIP that tastes exactly like the
original drink.  We enjoyed that with fresh berries.

I added a bowl of candy and glow sticks.
Most of the candy I found at Dollar Tree.
Pop Rocks and Ring Pops were the thing
back then!

I hope you get some inspiration for your own 80s party.  This was kind of a spur of the moment event, but I know I will use these ideas in the future.  This could be the beginnings of a great costume or birthday party.  

Jalapeno Popper Cucumber Salad

We have been big fans of new salad recipes around here this summer.  I love the Cucumber & Sweet Pepper Salad and the Apple & Manchego Cheese Salad.  In the past I have made Jalapeno Popper Potato Salad, which is the Devilish Nephew's favorite.  It is always a huge hit at tailgate too.  Just a different twist on the standard potato salad. Now we have a twist on the standard cucumber salad.  I made this one a few weeks ago when we went to visit said Devilish Nephew and he really liked it too.  It goes with anything, but we really enjoyed it with a traditional barbecue including smoked ribs.  It evolved over the few times I've made it and we finally settled on this recipe.  You could even include some diced, cooked bacon for the true jalapeno popper effect.  I haven't tried adding that yet, but I may when I make this for tailgate this football season.  It's already on my list of tried and true recipes that I know a crowd will love.  It is easily made ahead of time too, for convenience.  I do all of the chopping and prep, and make the dressing.  Then I combine everything when ready to serve so the cucumbers don't get too watery.  The amount of dressing it takes is not much, because you just want the cucumbers to have a light coating.  That keeps this salad light, refreshing and fairly healthy.  Give this a try soon, it's a light and tasty twist on an ordinary cucumber salad!

A light and refreshing twist on a cucumber salad.
This has lots of flavor and crunch!

Prep your salad ingredients ahead of time,
and make your dressing.  Then combine when
ready to serve.

Garnish with green onions, sliced fresh jalapeno peppers,
and everything bagel seasoning for extra crunch.

JALAPENO POPPER CUCUMBER SALAD

For the Salad:

2 English cucumbers, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, very thinly sliced, or seeded and diced
4 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated

For the Dressing:

4 Tablespoons Chive & Onion Cream Cheese
1 Tablespoon Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon soy sauce

For the Garnish:

1 green onion - green part only, sliced
1 small jalapeno, thinly sliced
Everything Bagel Seasoning to taste

In a large salad bowl, combine sliced cucumbers, red onion, jalapeno and cheddar cheese.  Set aside.
With a hand mixer, blender or small food processor: Combine cream cheese, yogurt, garlic powderk, smoked paprika, sea salt and soy sauce.  Mix until well combined.  (This mixture will be thick - not runny like a traditional salad dressing.) 

When ready to serve, toss the cucumber mixture with the dressing mixture until the cucumbers are coated.  Then add the green onions, everything bagel seasoning and a sliced fresh jalapeno for garnish.

Road Trip Snack Box Gift Idea

We have soooo many birthdays in the month of September.  My brother-in-law, father-in-law, Little Devil, Devilish Nephew, Mr. Devilish Dish, plus several close friends.  Now combine that with Christmas shopping a mere three months away and I'm always out of ideas.  I love a good theme gift like my fun "CHOCOLATE Lab" gift from years ago, or the PATRIOTIC BIRTHDAY BAGS I made for my mom and aunt and while back.  I made this gift for my father-in-law this past Father's Day, but the idea could be easily adapted for any occasion.  My in-laws are professional road trippers.  They have great friends in Arkansas that they visit several times a year.  We were struggling to come up with a good idea for his Father's Day gift when I stumbled upon these neat treat boxes at Hobby Lobby.  I sent Mr. Devilish Dish a screen shot and said, "Father's Day idea activated."  We went to our local Winco Grocery Store because they have an awesome bulk section of nuts, candies and other treats and bought all kinds of tasty treats to fill the separate chambers.  Of course the gift could have stopped there, but I'm extra and I need to zhuzh up everything I get my hands on.  I found a Hot Wheels car that is the same model as their car and made a couple of cute gift tags to tie on to complete Papa Bear's Road Trip Snack Box.  What little boy (even 77 year-old boys) don't love a race car? That way he had some tasty snack for his drive to Arkansas, and a neat box he can refill for future trips.  I know I will recycle this idea for future gifts, and I hope it inspires you for your gift giving occasions!

Here's the completed Road Trip Snack Box - 
it turned out so cute!

We added chocolate covered sea salt popcorn, 
limoncello almonds, macadamia nuts, M&Ms and more!
Thanks Winco!

Here's my supplies all gathered and ready to go.

I used double-sided tape to add the car to the 
little road strip tag.

Here it is all tied on and ready to roll!

ROAD TRIP SNACK BOX SUPPLIES:


One divided snack container with lid
Assorted snacks to fill the container
Hot Wheels Car
Gift tag or card
Scissors
Twine or ribbon
Hole Punch
Double-Sided Tape

 

PS: Here's the road strip I used to create the tag
for the Hot Wheels Car to drive on.  Right-click and 
save to your computer and print onto cardstock. 
Attach your car with double-sided tape.

Asian Dumpling Salad

As I've said before, I'm a sucker for an Asian Salad.  Mr. Devilish Dish abhors sesame oil and cilantro and those are two of my favorite flavors.  So on the rare occasion he is out of the house at dinner time I usually opt for something with those ingredients.  My go-to has always been my Asian Chopped Chicken Salad and sometimes I opt for Cucumber & Sweet Pepper Salad. If he is out of town for a long time, then I go all out and make Thai Beef Salad, Copycat PF Changs Lettuce Wraps, and his least favorite:  Egg Roll in a Bowl. Now there's a new favorite in the Asian Meal Rotation for when he leaves town - Asian Dumpling Salad.  This is so good, and hearty with the addition of some delicious steamed dumplings.  The best part is it's one of those semi-homemade meals.  I don't feel as guilty because I'm not eating take-out, BUT I'm not cooking away in the kitchen just for myself.  It is the best of both worlds.  A hearty meal that doesn't require too much work in the kitchen and I get to enjoy all the sesame oil and cilantro I want when Mr. DD isn't here.  

This is soooo good.  The dressing is
similar to a really good dipping sauce
for the dumplings.  The perfect combination.

When ready to serve, toss the dressing and 
salad ingredients together.  Add the golden
brown steamed dumplings.  Toss them to ensure
they get a coating of salad dressing.

Enjoy as is or serve with Crab Rangoons
or Egg Rolls if you want a fuller meal.

ASIAN DUMPLING SALAD

For the Dressing:

4 Tbsp Soy Sauce
4 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
4 Tbsp Chili Oil
2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
1 Clove Garlic, minced
2 tsp Ginger Paste

For the Salad:

1 Small Head of Romaine Lettuce, very thinly sliced (think chiffonade style)
1 Carton Cherry Tomatoes, halved
1 Large Cucumber, halved and sliced
1 Bunch Green Onions, chopped (green part only)
1 Handful Fresh Cilantro, chopped
1 Package Frozen Asian-Style Dumplings (choose your favorite flavor)
salt & pepper to taste

In a bowl whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili oil, sesame oil, sugar, garlic and ginger.  Set aside.  This will be your salad dressing.  

In a large salad bowl combine the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, green onions and cilantro.  Toss together and set aside.

Prepare the dumplings according to package directions - or Simply fry them in a pan in a small amount of oil until golden brown.  Add 1/4 cup of water and cover with a lid to steam for approximately 5 minutes.  When the dumplings are done, remove them from the heat.

Pour the salad dressing over the lettuce mixture and toss.  Add the steamed dumplings, tossing to coat with dressing and serve immediately.