Makin' You Crave Monday

Welcome to this week's edition of Makin' You Crave Monday!  

This week, I'm sharing my Pico de Gallo Salsa - so easy, fresh, & flavorful!

Here are my favorites from last week.

Peanut Butter Cup Deep Dish Cookies from Something Swanky

Lime Shrimp Salad from Dishing with Leslie

Flank Steak Roulade from My Road to Savings

Now, on to this week's party!

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Menu Plan Wednesday

This week when working on my weekly menu, I had the goal to not spend a single dime on any meat and instead to shop from my freezer and use up the meat I have stockpiled in there from my local butcher's reduced section. It's amazing how much you can acquire in your freezer in such a short time.

Here's what we're going to be eating for dinner this week:

Baked Ham (I bought 2 hams at Easter & froze one - cheaper this way!), Pineapple Casserole, Salad

Green Chile Stew in the Crockpot & Cucumber Avocado Salad

Cheddar Bacon Pork Chops, Creamy Gouda & Garlic Potatoes Au Gratin, Green Beans, Mama's Buttermilk Biscuits

Lasagna, Salad, & Olive Garden Breadsticks

Ham & Bean Soup (with the leftover hambone & ham - SO good!)

Bacon Ranch Burgers & Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries

Authentic Steak Tacos with Pico de Gallo

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Pico de Gallo Salsa

It's summer time, and that means that there is a ton of beautiful fresh produce in season.  I have so many recipes that I pull out this time of year, but I think my very favorite is homemade pico de gallo.  I grow tomatoes, jalapenos, & cilantro every year - so it just seems like the perfect thing to make to use it up too.  And, we sure do eat it up.
Pico de Gallo is not hard to make at all, and it really 'makes' a variety of Mexican dishes.  Like my steak tacos.  And, my pork tacos.  Plus - there's always just scooping it up with a tortilla chip for an awesome snack.
It's quite simple actually too.  Start off with your tomatoes - dice them up into petite bits and let them sit in a strainer basket (or colander) over a large bowl. This allows some of the excess juices off the tomatoes.  

Oh, and don't make the mistake of throwing away the tomato juice that drains off.  That's good stuff there - and I'm all about not wasting anything.  It's great to use in a marinade, in a juice or smoothie, or even as extra moisture in a recipe.  I actually use it in my pork tacos (recipe coming tomorrow) to help keep the pork moist while simmering.

While you have your tomatoes draining, dice up your onion, jalapeno, & cilantro.  

That's leftover chopped pork in the picture for pork tacos.  But don't put pork into your Pico de Gallo.  Please.

Once the tomatoes are done being 'juiced', mix it all up in a large bowl.  Then, squeeze the juice of one lime on top and give it another stir.  And, I have to add in that if you don't have one of these nifty lemon/lime juicers, you're missing out.  I am in love with mine, and it gets way more juice out than my hands - and it's just a fraction of the price of a traditional juicer.

Let it sit in the fridge, covered, for a good 30 minutes before serving for the flavors to marry a little.  
Fantastic stuff there, I tell ya.  And pretty too.

Store it in the fridge in an airtight container - and if you see you haven't used it all in about 48 hours (as if that's even possible) - just throw it into your food processor or blender, and make it into a restaurant style salsa, and can it. When my garden is really overflowing, I do this first thing and make several batches to can to enjoy in the winter.  Yummers.

Pico de Gallo Salsa

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(printable button at bottom of post)
Ingredients:

• 4 medium to large vine ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 2-4 jalapenos, minced (use accordingly to how hot you want it)
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped (about 1.5 cups, or suit to your taste)
• 1 lime, juiced

Instructions:
Place the diced tomatoes into a strainer, or colander, over a large bowl.  Let 'drain' for about 30 minutes.  Reserve the juice for another use, if desired.  In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, & cilantro.  Squeeze the juice of 1 lime on top, and stir.  Cover, and let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes for flavors to marry.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 48-72 hours.  You can also put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender for more of a 'restaurant style' salsa, and it's great for canning purposes this way too.







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Makin' You Crave Monday

Welcome to this week's edition of Makin' You Crave Monday!

This week, I'm sharing my healthier take on a traditional tater tot - Zucchini Tots!  And, I think I actually prefer the zucchini one to the potato one.

Thanks to all who shared recipes last week.  Here are my favorite three.

White Chocolate Vanilla Bean 'Cheesecake' from The Kitchen Cookie

No Bake S'mores Casserole from My Kaotic Kitchen

Creamy Chicken & Bacon Pasta from With a Blast

I can't see what all is shared this week!

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Zucchini Tots

Tater tots are on most kids favorite foods list, but honestly - they just aren't the healthiest option.  This recipes takes the flavors of the classic tater tots & infuses that flavor into a much healthier alternative - shredded zucchini. Zucchini is a mild vegetable, and takes on the flavors of whatever you pair with it, making it the perfect substitution when making a healthier tot for your tot.

Adults will love these too, especially when paired with my chipotle ranch sauce.  I created a lightened up version of my delectable sauce though for pairing with this recipe.  So, you can choose to serve it with the original chipotle ranch sauce, the new lightened up version, or heck - don't use it at all and just pull out the ketchup, or whatever else you like to dip your tots in!

Taking care to press the zucchini mixture down in your mini muffin tins makes them nice & crispy - because no one likes a soggy tot.  Unless you're weird, which is still ok - because I never make any claims to be normal myself - or sane. -wink-

Feel free to experiment with this recipe a little too.  Like the spice?  Add some cayenne.  Love garlic?  Add more!  Don't like cheddar? Use another cheese! Customize it for your tastes, you won't hurt my feelings any.  
I have made these for many years now, and not trying to toot my own horn or anything - but they're awesome.  I actually would much rather have a helping of these than tater tots.  
You won't even know these are made with zucchini, so serve them up to your kiddos and sneak those veggies into them.  Don't worry, your secret is safe with me.  

Recipe card created by Life Around Home. Recipe by Mrs Happy Homemaker.

Zucchini Tots

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(makes 2 dozen tots)created by Mrs Happy Homemaker & shared with Life Around Home
Ingredients:

• 1 cup shredded, peeled zucchini (about 2 zucchinis)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 egg
• 1/4 Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• paprika to garnish

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients.  Spray 24 mini muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray.  Using a small spoon, evenly distribute the zucchini mixture among the cups - filling about halfway & pressing the mixture down a little with the back of the spoon.  Sprinkle with paprika.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Serve with chipolte ranch sauce, if desired (recipe to follow).
For the lightened up chipotle ranch sauce, combine 1/2 cup fat free ranch dressing, 1/3 cup olive oil mayonnaise, & 1-2 chipolte peppers in adobo sauce in a food processor & puree until smooth.  
**The original version of my chipolte ranch sauce is found here.





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Makin' You Crave Monday

Ok, so I am way late on posting this - the latest I've ever been.  We've had a run of sickness in our house including a trip to the ER last night, so in all honesty - I totally forgot about putting his up until now. We're back home now, no worries to my readers!  Thanks for understanding though!!

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Pourable Snack Containers from Creamer Bottles

{photo credit}

I usually make my own coffee creamer, but sometimes I do buy the store bought stuff when I have coupons that make it free (I love super double coupon events!).  I think my favorite thing about the store-bought creamer is recycling them into really clever snack containers.  

You can put a variety of snacks inside, and it makes me feel like I'm being all green and stuff.  

We recently brought one to a picnic at the park, filled with cashews & peanuts.  

So, next time you buy a bottle of store-bought creamer, don't send that container off to the landfill.  Wash it out, and turn it into a useful place to store snacks.

Do you re-use & re-purpose anything?

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Easy Shrimp Scampi(ish)

This is a favorite dish here in our household.  Wonderfully tasty & incredibly easy.  I don't want to call it shrimp scampi, because technically it's just not. But it sure tastes pretty darn similar to it.  So, we refer to it as 'Shrimp Scampi-ish'.  We're just so clever here in the Mrs. home. 

This is a go-to dish because of how fast it is to prepare.  Plus, it's only 3 ingredients!  I always have shrimp in the freezer because our local grocery store routinely puts them on sale BOGO.  When they do, it's when I stock my freezer with these tasty crustaceans.  

You can make this dish in the oven (as shown) or stove top in a skillet. Personally, I like large e-z peel shrimp done with the skillet method the best just because I love the sear that it puts on the shrimp.  However, I'm certainly not opposed to the oven method, which I'm profiling here.  Either method you decide to use, it's going to taste fantastic!  The only difference is the sear you get.

Place 1 stick of butter in a large baking dish & place into a preheated 400 degree oven.  Alternatively, melt the butter in a hot skillet.

Once the butter is melted, dump in 1 to 1.5 pounds of shrimp.

Sprinkle on 1 pack of Italian dressing mix (you can also make your own if you wish).

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the shrimp is done (it will be pink). Alternatively, sear in a hot skillet on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.

Shrimp Scampi-ish
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Ingredients:

• 1 to 1.5 pounds raw shrimp (peeled or unpeeled, up to you)
• 1 0.7oz package dry Italian dressing mix (or make your own)
• 1 stick unsalted butter

Instructions:

For oven method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place the stick of butter in a large casserole dish & stick it in the oven to melt completely.  Remove; add the shrimp. Sprinkle on the Italian seasoning. Return to the oven & cook for 12-15 minutes, or until shrimp is done (should be pink).

For the stove top:

Preheat a large skillet on medium-high heat.  Add the butter to melt.  Once melted, add the shrimp.  Sprinkle on the Italian seasoning, & cook for 5 minutes before flipping.  Flip the shrimp & cook for an additional 3-5 minutes - or until the shrimp is done (should be pink).

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