Green Beef Enchiladas

There are a couple of recipe magazines that I like to read and Taste of Home is one of them.  They have some fun contests and I love to see which recipes are the Grand Prize winners.

This enchilada recipe won a Southwestern dish contest and I couldn't wait to try it out.  I took one look at the ingredients for the sauce and wished I had thought of it myself.  Genius.

These were really tasty and I can't wait to try this sauce out on chicken enchiladas.

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced (I used 2)
3/4 cup salsa
1 Tbs. cornmeal
2 tsp. chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
salt/pepper to taste
12 corn tortillas, warmed
shredded cheese

Sauce:
1 1/2 cups frozen white corn, thawed
1 (4 oz) can green chilies
1 cup fresh cilantro
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
salt/pepper to taste

*Saute beef, onion and garlic until beef is no longer pink.  Remove from heat and stir in salsa, cornmeal and seasonings.  Spoon about 1/4 cup of meat mixture down the center of corn tortillas, sprinkle some cheese and then roll up and place seam side down in a 9x13 greased pan.
*Put all of sauce ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well blended.  I think I blended the sauce too long because in the magazine picture, it wasn't so green and you could see bits of cilantro.  Spoon over enchiladas and top with more cheese.  Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 5-10 more minutes.

The original recipe calls for ground turkey, flour tortillas, and olives on top.

Rice Krispie Bunnies

I have to give a shout out to our mother who got all cute and crafty on us this Easter and made these delicious bunnies.

Just when you think you know someone, they surprise you with  mad craft skills.

Good job, Grandma Lana!  The kids loved it.

*I don't know exactly how she did this but I'm going to take a guess...

Rice Krispie treats shaped into bunnies
Dipping chocolate
Sticks
Frosting
Cute little candies

Malted Robin Egg Cookies

I know Easter is over but I just had to post this recipe.  When it comes to Easter candy, Robin Eggs are hands down my favorite.  I usually buy them right when they appear on the grocery store shelves after Valentine's Day and don't stop eating them until long after Easter.  That's right, I stock up before Easter is over so that I can eat them long after the holiday ends. Yes, I'm that obsessed.  So, a few days ago, it hit me:  Robin Egg Cookies!  Why had I not thought of this before?!  I decided to use my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and add malt powder and crushed Robin Eggs.  I then googled it and apparently lots of other people have thought up this concoction too.  Anyways, they turned out delicious, chewy and perfect for Easter!!  So cute and colorful.

Malted Robin Egg Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup malted milk powder
3 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips
2 cups robin eggs

Cream butter and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Add dry ingredients and chocolate chips.  Place Robin Eggs in a ziploc bag and seal.  Crush candy eggs with a rolling pin.  Add Robin Eggs to dough and mix until combined.  Scoop onto cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for 11 minutes.

Creamy Berry Goodness

I would like you to meet my new favorite recipe.

I'm not even sure what it's called, but I have fallen in love.

My gorgeous and talented cousin/friend, Amy, brought this to a book club date night that we had a few weeks ago and I was sold on the first bite.

It's one of those things that you taste and then say...

What is in this?  This is so good!  How do you make it?

Thank you, Amy, for sharing this recipe and changing my life forever.

Just look at that deliciousness and tell me you don't want a bite right now.

Frozen mixed berries (I used two smaller bags from Walmart)
1 tub Cool Whip*
1 large container of vanilla yogurt (I used Stoneyfield french vanilla)
1 small package of cheesecake pudding mix

Pour berries into a large bowl.  Add the Cool Whip and yogurt and then sprinkle on the pudding mix.  Stir together really well until it's all combined and looks pretty.  Chill before serving.

*I made whipped cream instead of using Cool Whip.  I bought a small carton of whipping cream and whipped it up until it was stiff.  I only sweetened it a little (2 Tbs. of sugar) since the yogurt is sweet.

Reese's Pieces Cookies

 My husband LOVES Reese's Pieces.  He can down a bag of them in a matter of minutes.  I, on the other hand, don't fancy those peanut butter candies much.  Don't get me wrong, if they are in front of my face, I will certainly eat them.  I just wouldn't choose them for my treat.  Give me some almond M&M's instead.  But being the loving wife that I am, I bought a bag of the Reese's Pieces baking bits to make cookies for my hungry husband.  I used the recipe on the back of the bag.  End result:  soooo good!  Seeing that I've eaten 4 cookies already today, they are better than I thought they would be.  They are chewy and moist and I love the hint of peanut butter from the Reese's Pieces.  Forgive me Reese's Pieces for doubting you!

Reese's Pieces Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 cups oatmeal
2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips (I added these just because)
1 bag Reese's Pieces baking bits

Cream butter and sugars.  Add eggs and mix well.  Add vanilla, dry ingredients and Reese's Pieces.  Spoon onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 11 minutes.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every where I look, people are browning their butter.

It seems to be the latest trend in baking and I am all about butter so I had to try it out.  

When it comes to fashion trends, I am usually about a year behind.  I have never caught up since having my first baby 12 years ago.

Baking is a different story.  

If something doesn't work out, nobody has to know about it.  Well, lucky for you, this brown butter cookie worked out just fine and had a great flavor and texture to it.

I got the recipe off of Picky Palate so you know it's a good one because that girl knows her goodies.

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 bag chocolate chips

*Place butter in a saucepan over medium heat, swirling pan to melt.  Once melted, watch carefully.  It will foam, then boil, then little brown bits will start to form around the sides and bottom of pan.  Once butter turns a golden brown, remove from heat.  Transfer to a glass bowl and let cool for 5 minutes.  Mix both sugars together then add the brown butter, eggs and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add dry ingredients and then chocolate chips.  Scoop onto cookie sheet and sprinkle tops with sea salt.  Bake for 9-10 minutes at 375.  Let cool for 5 minutes on pan before transferring to cooling rack.

Shish kabobs

Spring has finally sprung hear in Utah which means it is time to BBQ. Oh how I love summer foods. This is a family favorite, and would be a fun Easter dinner. I guess a good indicator that these are good is that every single time I make them at a BBQ, some calls and asks me for the recipe. My husband will eat ten kabobs before I make him stop. Not kidding.



Here he is sneaking a bite, while wearing his favorite jersey.

Just cut up a bunch of your favorite vegetables; bell peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and then pineapple (I usually soak this in a little brown sugar for an extra delicious kick). Sometimes we just make all pineapple kabobs, it tastes like you are at Rodizio Grill.
The key to these yummy kabobs is the marinade. You can make this with any kind of steak (our favorite is rib eye) or chicken.

Meat Marinade for the Kabobs
½ cup apple juice
¾ cup sugar
½ soy sauce
½ cup oil
1 clove garlic
½ t ginger
½ onion chopped

Marinate meat as long as desired (a least an hour). While these are marinating soak skewers in water for at least a half an hour. Cut in strips and put on a skewer with the veggies and pineapple then grill on the BBQ.
Here is a fun side to stick with the kabob theme;
If you want to continue even more with the kabob theme you can make strawberry shortcake kabobs by just cutting up some angel food cake and strawberries and throw them on a skewer. Then dip them into whipped cream. Really you can cut up and put just about anything on a stick, we have also done breakfast kabobs, get creative! Happy Spring!

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

 I'm a big fan of Pioneer Woman, as I'm sure most of you are.

Her recipes are family-friendly and she uses real ingredients that are easy to find.  Plus she gives away tons of awesome stuff.

When I saw this recipe on her website, I knew immediately that it was going to become a favorite at our house.  Anything involving ground beef, noodles, and cheese is sure to be a winner around here.

1 1/4 lbs. lean ground beef
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
salt/pepper
8 oz. egg noodles
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup sliced green onion (I left this out)
1 cup grated sharp cheddar

*Brown beef in a skillet.  Add tomato sauce and salt and pepper.  I used quite a bit of freshly ground pepper.  Let simmer while you prepare the rest.  Cook noodles according to package.  Drain and set aside.  In a separate bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese.  Add some freshly ground pepper.  Add to noodles and stir.  Add green onions and stir.  Grab a casserole dish and begin by adding half the noodles.  Then add half the meat and half the grated cheese.  Repeat with noodles, meat, cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350.

Salt Dough

A couple of Sundays ago, my kids found a big craft book in the playroom and decided they wanted to make crafts.

I might as well tell you right now that I am not one of those crafty moms that has a craft room or even a craft closet.  Crayons, markers and watercolors are about the extent of my craft supplies.

So we looked through the book and finally found something we could make with what we had on hand.  

Salt, flour, oil and water.  I can handle that.

Emery made a caterpillar and a bowl.  Then one of the boys broke the caterpillar.

Walker made a bowl and a bowling ball.

Wyatt made a chocolate chip cookie, a bowl, and a ball for his tiny bowl.  Tucker wasn't into the project and gave his dough to Wyatt.  He must have gotten my craft genes.

Salt dough:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups salt
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1/4 cup water

*Mix the flour, salt, oil and water into a soft dough.  You will need to add a little more water as you mix it up.  Knead the dough on a flat surface until it is smooth and stretchy.  Then model the dough into any shapes you want.  Put all your dough shapes on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 350.  Let cool completely and then paint them in fun colors.  We used some poster paint that Emery had from her birthday.  I think any kind of paint would work fine.

Banana Crumb Muffins

Whenever I have brown bananas lying around, I always make banana bread.  But this time I decided to make muffins.  I know, I'm crazy like that!  I found this recipe on Allrecipes. It got 5 stars so I knew it would be a winner!  The muffins turned out sooo good.  Moist with lots of banana flavor.  And the crumb topping was the icing on the cake!  Or muffin.

Banana Crumb Muffins

1/3 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3 bananas, mashed (I used 4)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups flour

Crumb Topping

1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs. flour
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbs. butter, softened

Cream butter, sugar and egg.  Add mashed bananas and dry ingredients.  Mix well and pour into greased or lined muffin pan.  (I use a cookie scoop to spoon the batter into the muffin cups.  So easy and less mess).  Mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon together.  Cut in butter to make a crumbly mixture.  Sprinkle on top of muffins.  Bake at 375 for 15 - 18 minutes or until done.

Malia's Amazing Brownies

Our friend, Malia, sent us this brownie recipe to try after I said I wasn't in love with the last brownie recipe that I tried.

Not only is Malia the most hysterically funny person you'll ever meet...she is also a culinary student and she loves to cook and bake.

I knew I could trust her recipe and I absolutely loved the way these tasted.  I think it's the combo of dark and milk chocolate that does the trick.

Thanks, Malia, for sharing this recipe with us!!

3/4 cup butter (I used unsalted)
4 (1 oz.) squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
2 cups sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla
5 eggs
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt

*Melt chocolates and butter in microwave (stirring every 30 seconds) or on stove until smooth.  Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes.  Add sugar, vanilla and eggs.  Mix well and add flour and salt.  Bake in a 9x13 for 30 minutes at 350.

Saucy Chicken

Do you ever look on the back of food items for recipes?  I do and I've actually found some pretty good ones.  This is one of them.  It was on the back of the Yellow Mustard bottle.  I was a bit skeptical but it was seriously so good!  And sooo easy.  The chicken was full of flavor and so tender.  I love a good and easy chicken recipe!

Saucy Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2/3 cup Ranch dressing
1/3 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup brown sugar

Mix dressing, mustard and brown sugar then pour into a ziploc bag.  Add chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes.  Remove chicken from marinade and place in a baking dish.  Pour remaining sauce over chicken.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until done.

Betty Makeover!!

We are so excited about our new look here at Becoming Betty!

A Big Betty thanks to my talented friend, Shauna, who took our ideas from our heads right onto our blog.

We love the way it turned out!!

Check out Shauna's blog here and her etsy shop here.

Really cute stuff.

Thanks for your help, Shauna!!!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Don't you just love berry season?

Just when I start to get tired of apples and oranges, the berries come out in full swing.  I love them all and I especially love when they are on sale!

My mother-in-law got a smokin' deal on a big case of blueberries a couple of weeks ago and sent me home one day with 6 boxes.  We kept two in the fridge to eat and I froze the rest for smoothies.

Then I found this recipe and was so excited to try it out.  It was really good and my frozen blueberries worked perfectly.

I made lemon drizzle as an option to put on top.

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canola oil
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup honey (I used brown sugar)
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 cups blueberries

*Beat eggs.  Stir in milk and oil.  Mix in remaining ingredients, except blueberries, until moist.  Add blueberries and mix.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.  Makes 24 muffins.

Lemon drizzle (not pictured):
fresh lemon juice
powdered sugar

*Squeeze a large lemon and then add powdered sugar, stirring constantly, until smooth and thick enough to drizzle.

Yummy Cookies

I came across this recipe months ago, and have been thinking about it ever since.  I mean who doesn't love a cookie with Dove chocolate in it!  I couldn't wait to make them.  I loved the crunch that the Just Bunches cereal gave to it and the Dove chocolate is simply divine.  Everyone loved these cookies!  Another yummy cookie to add to my collection!  Made my day.

picture from plainchicken.blogspot.com

Yummy Cookies

-1 cup butter, softened

-1 & 1/2 C sugar

-1 & 3/4 C brown sugar – packed solid

-4 eggs plus 2 yokes

-5 C all purpose flour

-2 t baking soda

-2 t salt

-1/2 t cinnamon

-3 t vanilla

-1 t kahlua (I didn't use this)

-1/4 C milk

-1 C Just Bunches cereal or some kind of granola

-1 bag of Dove dark chocolates-chopped

-1 bag of Dove milk chocolates-chopped

-2 C m&ms

Instructions:

1. Cream butter and sugars with a mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes.
2. Add eggs and yokes, continue beating.
3. Combine all dry ingredients in in a large bowl.
4. Add to the creamed mixture a cup at a time.
5. Add vanilla, kahlua and milk.
6. Add chocolates, m&ms and Just Bunches, mix until well blended.
7. Chill dough for at least an hour before you bake.
8. Bake at 350 for 9-12 minutes. 

Recipe from mugsandpugs.wordpress.com