In the meantime

A few weeks ago we went to Mongolian Grill with some friends.  I'm not a huge fan of stir-fry stuff, but when you have a whole smorgasbord of meats, vegetables, and sauces to pile onto your dish to then be fried in front of you, this stuff is pretty tasty! Our garden is doing quite well these days--we've harvested a handful of deliciously red tomatoes, savored cilantro in everything that we can add it to, laughed about our "English Zucchini" (according to Isaac) actually being cucumber, identified a handful of watermelons (or are there also some cantaloupes in that mess of vines?) that have set on, and picked a handful of sugar peas almost every day. With all that said, I'm needing to use the peas that are starting to add up... Annnnd that's when Mongolian Grill gave me an idea: why not google "Mongolian Grill sauce recipes"??  And guess what? I found a website with a ginormous list of recipes for Asian sauces that look similar to the dozen or...

This is a {cheater} recipe for the meal my good friend Christiana and I made for our senior meal at Cornerstone Bible Institute.  This meal was what made Isaac say {in his mind} “I’m going to marry this girl!” {Well, not in so many words, but he sure did like it!} Because I made the original meal close to 4 years ago and haven’t made it since, the recipe got lost somewhere in all my computer files.  But…I remember the gist of how the recipe went, so here’s what I came up with the other day as an imitation to that original killer, spicy hot recipe that burned all the way down to the stomach, but oh, was it ever good! - Chipotle Chicken : 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips 1 egg 1/4 - 1/2 cup milk 2-3 teaspoons chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (if you happen to get chunks of pepper, just make sure it is finely chopped! Mix together in a shallow dish.  Set aside. 1-2 c. flour Salt and pepper Paprika (optional) thyme/parsley/oregano (...

Ok, I just ran across a link on Pinterest that has Mexican recipes galore!  Wow...they look so yummy!  Here's the link: http://menumanaged.blogspot.com/search/label/Mexican .

I like coffee.  But I’m not a connoisseur, so here’s my disclaimer for this post about a coffee drink I like to make:  I don’t think I’ve ever bought coffee beans, I don’t own a coffee bean grinder or any kind of french press or drip thingys, and rarely do I even buy fancy-flavored coffee grounds (so I’m really not too picky about my coffee.)   If you are a connoisseur,  you’ll probably puke if you read too much further in this post, so you should quit reading right now before you start thinking “How in the world can she even call that ‘coffee’?!?” (If you aren’t already thinking that!)  I do realize I’m probably greatly outnumbered and in an incredibly small minority of the earth’s population.  But I really don’t care. Anyway, for those of you who aren’t picky about your coffee, here’s a recipe from Taste of Home’s June/July 2014 issue.  I’ve enjoyed making this drink during hot summer days when I want some coffee but also want somet...

Ok, I know summer is just starting, but if you’re starting to look for ways to use up cucumbers, I have a recipe you gotta try.  It looks like an incredibly healthy dish and a prime candidate for a “ladies’ get-together,” but just wait and see.  You may be surprised! The Ingredients: 3/4 to 1 whole cucumber 4 oz. cream cheese 2-3 Tablespoons minced onion Seasoned salt to taste The Process: Peel the cucumber.  Grate the cucumber into a medium-sized bowl (or a food-processor if you have one.) Drain off as much liquid as you can.  Mince the onion (if you cry, just remind yourself that it’s worth it!) Cut about 4 ounces of softened cream cheese into 1/2-inch chunks. Combine and mix onions, cream cheese, and seasoned salt with grated cucumbers.  Use whatever utensil you need to use in order to get the cream cheese blended together with the other ingredients – just a spoon won’t do the trick.  (I just use a fork, but a pastry blender might also work. A food...

 I mentioned in my previous post a few favorite Christmas foods, so here are a couple of the recipes! ************************************************ Up until a couple weeks ago, I thought it was normal to make your own summer sausage.  Only after Isaac expressed much surprise at the fact that I had actually just made summer sausage did I realize that it must just be something that you do when you live in Brazil and you don’t have summer sausage readily available at the store!  This recipe is what I grew up with and has always been my favorite kind of summer sausage!  I had never made it myself until this year but it is so incredibly easy that anyone can do it! Summer Sausage 2 lbs. ground hamburger 2 T. Morton’s tender quick (can be found in the grocery store next to regular table salt) 2 t. black pepper 1/8 t. garlic powder or garlic cloves 1 ½ t. liquid smoke ½ t. mustard seeds ¼ c. water (If the hamburger is exceptionally lean, add 1-2...