First the good stuff...Recipe #15 Queso Fundido a la Nelson :)
It is something I was first introduced to while studying abroad in Monterrey, Mexico! I could not get enough of this stuff (served with homemade flour tortillas.) Yum! The "authentic" queso fundido is made with queso chihuahua and chorizo. Queso Fundido a la Nelson is made with the cheese I could find in my predominately non-Hispanic western suburb of Chicago grocery store and Jimmy Dean sausage. This Midwest Mexican (as I refer to my half white/half Mexican self) is happy to try whatever is available to me if it will come even remotely close to tasting like one of my favorite foods.
Ingredients
Batch #1
1/2 package Reduced Fat Jimmy Dean Sausage
1 package (10oz I believe) Cacique Queso Quesadilla (it was the only "Mexican melting cheese" the lady assisting me could find)
Batch #2
1/2 package Reduced Fat Jimmy Dean Sausage
2 cups shredded Queso Chihuahua with seasonings (I checked one other part of the store and found Queso Chihuahua but it was shredded instead of in a cube and had seasonsings, but given what I was making, I figured it was ok.)
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Cook the sausage according to the package.
3. If your cheese is in a solid cube/circle/square, cut it into 1 inch pieces. Line the bottom of a 7x11 baking dish with the cheese. If it is shredded, you can just spread it out evenly in the dish.
4. Place the cooked sausage on top of the cheese and spread evenly throughout the dish. (I only used half and then refridgerated the remaining for the second batch.)
5. Place the dish in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is all melted and bubbly.
6. Enjoy with tortilla chips, fritos or corn or flour tortillas!
Results
Delicious!!! I personally liked the second batch better, but my husband liked the first batch. So, the conclusion is you can make great queso fundido with various "Mexican melting cheeses" and sausages whether it be chorizo or Jimmy Dean. :) I will definitely be making this again. It will probably become a regular during football season!
Recipe #16 - Haystacks
This is one of my husband's favorite desserts. Given his birthday was last week, I figured I should make him a batch. There are SEVERAL recipes out on the internet. I checked out a few and then simplified it to 3 ingredients.
Ingredients
1 package chow mein noodles (about 6 cups)
1 11oz package of butterscotch chips
1 cup of peanuts
Directions
1. Melt the butterscotch chips in a microwave safe bowl. I put them in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each time until they were all the way melted.
2. I then threw all of the noodles and nuts into the bowl of melted butterscotch and mixed until everything was well coated.
3. Spoon the mixture in little clumps (heaping TBSP size) onto cookie sheets. It took me two cookie sheets to use all of the mixture.
4. Place the cookie sheets with the haystacks into the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Enjoy!
5. Store the leftover haystacks in the refrigerator.
Results
Yum!! They were so good that we ate them all during the weekend before I remembered to take any pictures! This will also be a recipe that will be repeated several times in our house.
Recipe #17 - Homemade Taco Seasoning
Going back to the roots of this blog, I learned on Pinterest that the store bought taco seasoning I have been using almost every single week is probably not the healthiest thing I could be serving my family. I decided to try one of the homemade taco seasoning recipes posted on Pinterest.
Recipe inspired by Homemade Taco Seasoning - Do It Yourself from www.wholenewmom.com.
Ingredients
2 TBSP chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 TBSP cumin
2 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
Original recipe also calls for 1tsp paprika and 1/2 tsp oregano, but I didn't have those in my cupboard, so I omitted them.
Directions
1. Mix all of the ingredients together.
2. Cook meat (I used Jennie-O ground turkey) per package instructions.
3. For every 1lb of meat, use 2 TBSP of seasoning mix and 3/4 cup of water. Once the meat is cooked, add the seasoning mix & water to the pan with the meat.
4. Let the meat mixture simmer until some of the water evaporates and it is the saucy consistency that you desire.
5. Enjoy the meat mixture with taco shells or on nachos (as my husband did) or in a taco salad (like I did)!
Results
It didn't taste exactly like the stuff I buy from the store, but it was definitely a good alternative. It was a little bit spicy for my taste, so I would play around with the ratio of the spices next time. There are several other recipes for homemade taco seasoning out on Pinterest and the web in general. I will keep trying combinations until I find my favorite one!
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