Tomatillo Cilantro Rice

This is a little concauction that I came up with last night, and I must say- it turned out pretty dang good!!

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked rice (not minute rice)
cooking oil
1 tomatillo, pureed
1/2 medium lime, juiced
1/2 medium lime zest
1/4 poblano pepper, seeded and pureed (may skip this or sub with any other pepper including jalapeno)
1-1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 chicken bullion cubes, dissolved
6-8 sprigs of cilantro, remove leaves and chop fine
1 Tbsp minced onion
salt
pepper

Directions

Fry rice in sauce pan with cooking oil (just enough oil to coat rice) on high heat. Fry rice until golden brown, stirring constantly.

Measure the amount of liquid that your particular rice calls for (mine is a 2:1 liquid:rice ratio) using lime juice, tomatillo puree, poblano pepper puree (puree these together) and chicken bullion.

Side note--I hate microwaving food, so to dissolve the bullion cubes, I will typically add just enough water to cover the top of the cubes in my pyrex measuring cup and microwave that small amount of water for about 1-2 minutes until cubes are dissolved. Then add other liquids to measuring cup and top off with water to reach desired liquid amount. Add lime juice and chicken bullion first in case your tomatillo puree is more than the required liquid amount.

Add liquid, minced onion and garlic to rice and cook according to package directions. 3 minutes before rice is done cooking sprinkle cilantro and lime zest over the top. Once rice is fully cooked, fluff with fork and salt and pepper to taste.

Now, I made up this recipe from memory of what I did to make it. So if there is something too vague or missing, let me know! :)

Foil Vegetables on the fire (or grill)

This was a saved post and it looked complete so I hope you don't mind Nicole, but I am publishing it!

Colorful Veggies in Foil
Ingredients:
1 zucchini squash, chopped into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 yellow squash, chopped into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 lb. mushrooms, quartered
1 pkg. cherry or grape tomatoes
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
2/3 c. Kraft Zesty Italian dressing
Parmesan Cheese

Wash and cut all veggies. Toss with dressing to coat. Attach 2 pieces of foil together by folding edges 3 times. (like if you were sewing a hem) Dump all veggies onto foil.
Fold sides up over the ends of the veggies.
Close top by bringing last 2 sides together and "hemming" the last 2 pieces together. This is how it looks when it is done.
I cooked mine on coals in a firepit. The coals or briquettes should be grayish. This means they are hot enough to cook the food. We used really dry firewood and it took about 30-40 mins. to get them hot enough. To be safe, plan on an hour.Place foil dinners directly on hot coals. Cook about 6 minutes per side. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese and serve.

I got this recipe from Kraft Foods' Food and Family Magazine, recipe can also be found online: http://kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/sensational-foil-pack-vegetables-106267.aspx

You can also cook them on the grill. Cook 3-4 minutes, then flip over and cook another 3 mins.

*This same meal we also had foil dinners.

Market Street Potatoes (on a budget)

My favorite side dish is the Market Street Potatoes that Market Street serves with their brunch. However last year I came across the recipe and made it, but it cost over $20 just in the cheeses that the recipe calls for. So this is my fake and cost effective version of it. although definitely not the same, still pretty good.

Serve with breakfast or dinner!
serves 6-8 people

Ingredients:

4lbs red potato cut into large bite-sized pieces
3-5 green onions chopped
2 oz cream cheese (optional) diced
sour cream
grated cheddar cheese
real bacon bits to taste

Take washed and chopped potatoes and mix with enough sour cream to generously cover all the potatoes. I used about 1/4 of the tub, but the more you add, the better!! Note: to reduce cooking time microwave the potatoes for 6-10 minutes before mixing with other ingredients. Then mix in green onions, cream cheese, bacon, and a couple hand fulls of cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper, garlic, season salt or whatever you have in your cupboards. Top with a generous helping of cheddar cheese. Bake covered in pyrex @ 350 until potatoes are soft. (If you don't microwave first that will be at least 90 minutes)