Tomato and Avacado Pico de Gallo

I LOVE pico de gallo.  More than salsa.  In fact, I'd prefer it to salsa.  I just love the fresh ingredients and chunky vegis.  Mmmmm, I'm drooling a little bit here.  When I made my "cafe rio" salads the other night, I had a problem - I forgot to add the ingredients for my pico de gallo recipe to my shopping list last week!  BAH!  Grrrr... So, I had to compromise.  I had an avacado and a tomato.  That's it.  Okay, I can work with it.  So, this is what I came up with and LOVED it!

Tomato and Avacado Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:
1 avacado, cubed
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and cubed
1/2 tsp. lime juice
1 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. onion powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour.

Fruit Dip

You guys are getting a bunch of recipes today, mainly because we are moving into a new home soon and I am trying to clean up my kitchen as I pack.  So, that includes going through my recipes and consolidating them into one place - this blog!  One day, I hope to print all of these out into a blog book.  Wouldn't that be something - I am having a Bree Van de Kamp moment here (see Desperate Housewives if you don't know what I am talking about).  Anyway, I don't remember where I got this recipe, I wish I could credit it to the original author, but I can't.  But it's a great fruit dip that compliments practically anything - apples, oranges, berries, etc.  Easy too! 

Fruit Dip

Ingredients:
8 oz. whipped topping
7 oz. marshmallow cream
3 oz. cream cheese

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl combine the frozen whipped topping, marshmallow cream, and cream cheese.  Mix until smooth and serve chilled.

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Pumpkin Spread

Does anyone else buy out the canned pumpkin that always goes on clearance after Thanksgiving? We are huge fans of pumpkin, any time of the year! So I am always looking for good recipes to use with all that pureed pumpkin sitting in my pantry. Here's a good one, really yummy with a good thick piece of warm bread.

Pumpkin Spread

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1. Beat all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

Makes 1-1/2 cups

Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing

Welcome to my new recipe blog! I came up with the name as I was cooking like a M-A-N-I-A-C yesterday. Where did I get it? I'm always teasing my husband that he only married me for my cooking (since he loves it so much). :)

To celebrate the new blog, I'm posting two recipes for the Cafe Rio grilled chicken salad. Here are two recipes: the salad dressing is an update, the pico de gallo is new (and SO yummy on the salad!).

Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing

Ingredients:
16 oz. bottle of buttermilk ranch dressing
4 tomatillos, peeled
1/4 bunch cilantro, washed and dried
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. green Tabasco sauce
1 lime, juiced

Directions:
1. Pour ranch dressing into large bowl of food processor. Add remaining ingredients. Process until mixture is smooth.
2. Pour into a container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
3. Pour over salad when ready to eat.

Makes 2 cups salad dressing

Pico de Gallo

Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:
3 large tomatoes, diced
1/2 bunch cilantro, washed and minced
1/2 sweet onion, minced
1 green pepper, minced
1/3 cup vinegar
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Combine ingredients in large tupperware container and shake to combine.
2. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
3. Shake container once more before serving.

Makes 3 cups

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Honey Butter

Whenever I make my dinner rolls, I like to serve honey butter with them. They are so good warm and just slightly sweetened with this butter.

Honey Butter

Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup honey

Directions:
1. Beat butter and honey together until light and fluffy.

25 Days of Christmas Recipes - Caramel Dip

Okay, so I stole today's recipe from a scrapbooking blog I visit: Scrapbook Ideas. It's a recipe for caramel apple dip. Wish I had known about this sooner, I may have handed these out this year! Here's what Jess Gordon says:

"Here’s an idea I have been wanting to try ever since I saw it on Kayla's blog last year around this time: homemade caramel dip! I was amazed that you can make this great treat right in the can without ever even opening it :). You just remove the labels from some cans of sweetened condensed milk, put them into a deep pot, and completely cover them with water, then boil them for three hours (adding water when needed). The milk turns into a caramel-y type sauce - who knew?? But I learned after the fact that it can be dangerous because the cans will exploded if the water level drops below the tops of the cans! Good thing I remembered to keep adding water :)!!! Despite the risk, I will be making more of these - I tested some, and it is YUMMY!

Here’s a gift basket idea: Decorate cans of homemade caramel dip (I used printed papers from Chrstmas Heart), add some apples, candies and bags of nuts and you have a sweet gift to be enjoyed by all … I hope ;)!"

Awesome Guac

I love guacamole - I love it on tacos, fajitas, salads, you name it! Avacados are so good for you too. The only problem is, I don't like the premade stuff you buy at the store. Not enough avacado for me. So, I've created my own recipe. It's had some tweaking, some testing, and some lovin'. Here's my final version. I use my Kitchenaid to make it so that it's nice and creamy and every ingredient has been incorporated.

Cat's Guac (a-mole)

Ingredients:
2 avacados
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
1 Tbs. lime juice
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. chile powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper

Directions:
1. Slice and pit avacados. Place in food processor with cilantro. Pulse to chop.
2. Place remaining ingredients in processor and puree until combined. Refrigerate left overs.

Yates Secret Burger Sauce

Jon came up with some KILLER ideas for our burgers tonight. We love In-and-Out burgers, so he decided to do his best to imitate them. First, we toasted the buns (butter each side of the bun, then place it on a hot griddle - if you do it in the toaster, it'll dry out!). Next, we added onion powder, salt and pepper, and marjoram flakes to the hamburger and grilled them on medium-high heat. We added sharp cheddar cheese and bacon to the mix, a little sliced tomato and spinach leaves (lettuce is on the way out at our house). But, the special ingredient is our mock-up of their sauce:

Yates' Secret (yet, not so secret) Burger Sauce

Ingredients:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup Miracle Whip
2 Tbs. ketchup
1 Tbs. steak sauce
1/4 cup horseradish sauce (we like it with a KICK!)
1/3 cup diced dill pickles

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Add more ingredients and salt/pepper to taste. Spoon over burgers.

Tzatziki

Tzatziki

Ingredients:
1 pt. plain yogurt (It's best if you use Greek Style)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium cucumber, peeled, cut lengthwise, and seeded
1 Tbs. vinegar
1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. dried dill weed

Directions:
1. Mince the cucumber. Gather up the cucumber and squeeze to drain the excess water.
2. Add the garlic to the cucumber. Mix together, then add the olive oil and vinegar. Stir to separate the cucumber and garlic.
3. Spoon the yogurt into a medium bowl. Add the garlic/cucumber mixture. Add salt and dill weed. Stir until everything is evenly distributed.
4. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving.