Chalupa and taco seasoning

Before I got married, my sisters gave me a really nice bridal shower. In the invitation was a card to bring a recipe for the bride. So, this is the recipe that my Mother in Law, Pat wrote out for me. It was Carl's favorite meal that his mom made when he was growing up. Ive had it a couple times when Pat made it, but I had no idea how EASY this is. And its so tasty! Pretty much anything served over Fritos chips would be yummy, but this is a really great, hearty, satisfying meal. You could probably sub beef or chicken in this and it would turn out really good. Pat's recipe calls for taco seasoning and since I didnt have any in the pantry that day, I got a recipe for it off of allrecipes.com and made my own! It was tasty and could easily be used in place of the taco seasoning envelopes you buy in the spice aisle in your store. Also, this recipe says to cook in a pan on the stove, but I threw everything into the crockpot and it came out wonderfully.

Chalupa (Pat Cunningham)

2-3lb boneless pork loin roast
1 lb pinto beans (soak overnight or bring to a boil, cover and turn off heat and let set 1 hr, drain and rinse beans)
2 packets of taco seasoning (or your could easily make your own)
1 can diced green chiles
salt to taste
1 bag of Fritos chips
grated cheddar cheese
sliced green onions
sour cream

In a large pot, add roast and beans. Cover with water and add taco seasoning mix and green chiles. Cook all day, take the meat out and let it cool, then shred it and return it to the pot. Simmer with top off to thicken it a bit. Serve over Fritos chips and garnish with cheese, green onions and sour cream.


Taco Seasoning (from allrecipes.com)

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.

Good times and finger foods

I have to apologize to my readers and fellow bloggers about my lack of blogging lately. I really did think that as Fall arrived, Id be on a fall baking and blogging spree. Its just not the case. I have been so busy with other things that arent nearly as fun as cooking. I promise that soon I will be back on the bandwagon.

Last week, we had dinner at a good friends house and they introduced us to these yummy gems. I think these are one of the best appetizers Ive ever had. I made them tonight for my family and we ate them up in about 5 minutes. I was wishing Id made more. But in all actuality, Im glad I didnt, as these are fattening and full of everything we dont want to be eating too much of. I got this recipe from my good friend, Beth. She got it from recipezaar.com and the original recipe is here. Beth served it to us with a yummy honey mustard sauce that is so easy to whip up and just perfect with this dish.

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts with Honey Mustard dipping sauce (adapted from recipezaar.com)

For the chestnuts:

3 cans sliced water chestnuts
1 lb bacon
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Mix the soy sauce with the brown sugar and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Marinate the water chestnuts in the soy sauce mixture for at least an hour. Cut the bacon in half crosswise. Take 3 slices of marinated chestnuts and wrap a half slice of bacon around each stack of 3. Secure with a toothpick. Place in a large baking dish that is sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.

For the dipping sauce:
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup mustard

Whisk the honey with the mustard until well combined. Serve immediately.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Well, I am on a Sweet Baby Ray's kick this week, I guess. I decided to make some pulled pork today and I am so glad I did. It is really easy and quick and tastes SOoooooo good! I had this in the crock pot this morning, and the kitchen cleaned up and then dinner was a breeze!

2 lbs boneless pork loin chops (any thickness works)
1 bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
salt and pepper

Salt and pepper both sides of the chops. Brown in a little oil on both sides. Put chops into crock pot and pour 1/2 bottle of BBQ sauce over it. Turn the chops over to coat both sides. Cover and cook on low about 5 hrs. Take the chops out of the crock pot and let them sit for a bit until they are cool enough to handle, then shred them with a fork. They should fall apart really easily. Return the shredded meat back to the crock pot and stir with the sauce and juices that are there. Then add the rest of the bottle of sauce and stir. Cook on low or warm setting another couple hrs, or until ready to eat. Serve on soft buns.

Grilled BBQ Pork Chops

I don't usually like pork chops very much because they always turn out dry for me. Well, today I used a little different method of cooking them on the grill and these turned out so good. They are the juiciest chops Ive ever made on the grill. Its also the first time I tried out Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and it is fabulous! I think its the best BBQ sauce Ive ever had! Honest. I saw that Albertson's had the sauce on sale for $1 a bottle, so I grabbed one and I think I will go back tomorrow and grab a couple more! This was so quick and easy. I am definitely going to try out some other grilled pork chop recipes, now that I know how to cook them so they don't lose all their juice. I also cant wait to try out a BBQ pulled pork recipe with this sauce. YUMMY!

1-2 lbs of boneless pork loin chops, trimmed and 1 1/2 inches thick
salt and pepper
1 cup Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce

Let your chops sit out at room temp for 30 minutes or so, to warm up a bit. This helps them to cook faster and more evenly. Heat up a gas grill on medium high heat. Salt and pepper both sides of the chops, then brush with some BBQ sauce...all over. Just slather it on. When the grill is hot, put the chops onto the hottest part of the grill and let some great grilling marks sear onto both sides, about 2 minutes per side, with the grill open. Move the chops to the coolest part of the grill and slather with some more sauce then cover, turning once. 3-4 minutes per side, or till done.

Test with a meat thermometer and when the chops are at 145 degrees internally, they are perfectly cooked. Once done grilling, immediately put them on a plate and cover them with tin foil and let them rest for 10 minutes. This gets all those yummy pork chop juices to redistribute....making a delicious tender chop! Enjoy.

Schnitzel

From Everyday with Rachael Ray

Earlier when I made this, I had the pork chops out on the counter defrosting alittle. I decided to take my kids for a quick walk so I put the cutting board with the chops into the oven because my dog, Dude loves to steal food off the counter. When I got home, I go to make the Schnitzel and I preheated the oven like the recipe says. I forgot to take out the chops! Doh! I realized this pretty quickly, I figured the damage was about as much as happens when something defrosts in the microwave too long. They ended up being good, even if they were precooked in the oven a bit.

1 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

2 large eggs

1 tsp hot sauce (I used Franks Red Hot)

1/2 cup of flour, on a plate

One 1-lb pork tenderloin cut into 8 pieces and pounded flat

1/2 cup olive oil

1 lemon cut into wedges

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a wide shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs, parmesan and 2 pinches each of salt and pepper, set aside. In another shallow bowl, beat the eggs with the hot sauce. Turn each piece of pork in the flour, then the egg mixture, then the crumbs to coat well, then transfer to a plate.

In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup oil over medium heat. Add 4 pork cutlets and cook until golden-brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with 1/4 cup olive oil and the remaining cutlets. Serve with lemon wedges.