Roquefort Pear Salad

Sorry for all the posts lately! I figure I gotta post while I am on this cooking kick.
I brought this salad to our Thanksgiving celebration yesterday. Thought I would share because it turned out soo yummy!
INGREDIENTS
1 head leaf lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
3 pears - peeled, cored and chopped
5 ounces Roquefort cheese, crumbled
1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and diced
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup pecans
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
In a skillet over medium heat, stir 1/4 cup of sugar together with the pecans. Continue stirring gently until sugar has melted and caramelized the pecans. Carefully transfer nuts onto waxed paper. Allow to cool, and break into pieces.
For the dressing, blend oil, vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, mustard, chopped garlic, salt, and pepper.
In a large serving bowl, layer lettuce, pears, blue cheese, avocado, and green onions. Pour dressing over salad, sprinkle with pecans, and serve.

Lime Fish Tacos

This recipe is for the Fish lovers out there. I like seafood, but hate the high price of some fish. Tilapia fish is a great inexpensive alternative. Its healthy, cheap and you can make this scrumptious meal with it. To keep this meal on the lighter side I used fat free sour cream, corn tortilla's (which are also inexpensive) and fat free mayo. Hope you like!

INGREDIENTS
1 pound tillpia fillets
1 garlic clove, minced
7 teaspoons lime juice, divided
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons reduced fat sour cream
2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
1 dash hot pepper sauce
7 (8 inch) flour tortillas, warmed
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 cup chopped fresh tomato

DIRECTIONS
Remove skin from fish and cut fish into 1-in. cubes. In a nonstick skillet, saute garlic in butter and 5 teaspoons lime juice for 30 seconds. Add fish and pepper. Cook for 6-8 minutes over medium heat until fish flakes easily with a fork.
Meanwhile, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, hot pepper sauce and remaining lime juice. Place as spoonful of fish on each tortilla. Top each with lettuce, tomato and sour cream sauce; fold over.

French Dip Sandwiches

If your hubby is like mine (loves steak and anything beef) then hes bound to like this. Dan likes it. Its also pretty easy to do which is good for wifey too.

2-3 lbs beef sirloin or london broil, etc

1 can Campbells Beef Consome'

I can Campbells French Onion Soup

I can water

Cook in crock pot for 5-6 hrs on high

or 8-10 hrs on low

Shred beef and serve with juice from the crock pot on yummy sandwich rolls. You're supposed to dip the sandwich in the juice when eating, but i'm sure you all knew that.

reeses peanut butter BROWNIES

this is my SIL recipe. YUMMY!

Bake 2 Betty Crocker mixes as directed in a 11x17 pan.
Bake until fork is clean.
Cool.
Frost with 1 can Pillsbury chocolate fudge frosting.
Cut up 24 Reeses peanut butter cups into small pieces.
Sprinkle them over top of frosting and gently press into frosting.
Drizzle with 1/3 cup peanut butter (softened in microwave in quart size freezer strength Ziploc bag)
Then drizzle with 2 Hershey chocolate bars (softened like PB)
Let cool/set before serving. Easier to cut if refrigerated first.

Variations:
mini M&M's | chocolate curls (use a vegetable peeler or cheese grater on Hershey bars)
Oreos | white chocolate
Turtle: chocolate chips | pecans | caramels
German Chocolate: german chocolate frosting | toasted coconut | chocolate chips

German Pancakes

I made these this morning to start off our Saturday. I love to mix things up from just the plain ole' pancakes or french toast, so I decided to make these. They are super easy, and most everyone should have these ingredients in their pantry. The Creamy Syrup recipe goes great with this, and I topped these pancakes off with some frozen peaches I thawed in the microwave. It was splendid! Hope you like...

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1/8 teaspoon salt
pinch of cinnamon & nutmeg (optional of course!)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (175 degrees C). Melt butter in a medium baking dish.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, milk, eggs and salt. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
Bake on center rack in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Recipe and photo provided by: allrecipes.com

Lighter Chicken Pot Pie

This is from Martha Stewart's site, I love this lighter version of chicken pot pie. The crust is the best part, light flakey & tasty!

Serves 4
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves (12 to 14 ounces each)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 carrots, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups low-fat (1%) milk
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas, thawed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 phyllo sheets (each 12 by 17 inches), thawed
Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt and pepper. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast (avoiding bone) registers 165 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly; discard skin and bones. Shred meat, and set aside.
While chicken is roasting, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan over medium. Add carrots, onion, and thyme; season with salt and pepper, and cook until carrots are crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add flour, and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually add milk, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a simmer and thickens.
Remove from heat; stir in peas, lemon juice, and chicken, and season with salt and pepper. Pour filling into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.
Stack phyllo on a work surface. Using a paring knife, cut out an 11-inch circle from the stack; discard trimmings. Stack 2 circles on work surface, and brush gently with 1 teaspoon oil; repeat with remaining circles and oil. Place phyllo stack over filling, and press down about 1/2 inch from the edge so phyllo fits inside rim of pie plate. Bake until golden and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Let potpie cool 15 minutes before serving.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I have made this recipe twice already! Its fantastic and I always seem to have all these ingredients on hand in my kitchen. I got it off of this amazingly creative girls site. She also has alot of other yummy recipes on there as well..
Anyways, take a look:
http://armellejewelry.blogspot.com/2007/09/sweet-sour-chicken.html