Arroz Con Leche (Sweet Rice)

This is so good and creamy! 


1 cup white rice
2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon flour
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream or half & half
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)


Put rice, water, and butter in a pot and bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. While the rice is cooking, combine milk, flour, egg, sugar, vanilla in a bowl and whisk together. When rice is done cooking, uncover and add the milk mixture to the pot and stir to combine. Bring heat up to low and cook for 15 minutes, stirring every couple minutes. Add raisin and cinnamon if you wish. Let cool slightly, add cream and enjoy!

Serves 4. 

YUM Salted Crumb Coffee Cake!

This crumb-y coffee cake is absolutely delightful! Moist yet crumbly, this cake is so good! And the salted crumb topping makes it that much more yummy!

Salted Crumb Coffee Cake


Cake:
12 tablespoons sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/3 cup sour cream
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon course kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons vegetable/canola oil (this ensures a moist cake!)
Crumb Topping:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon course kosher salt


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
Combine the butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Make sure the butter gets crumbled well into the mixture. (Using your fingers is probably the best way to do this.)
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (3 min). Add the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream. Mix until well combined. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix until thoroughly combined, then add the oil and mix for a few more seconds. Spread half of the cake batter into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Then sprinkle with half of the crumb topping. Then spread the remaining cake batter. Finally, sprinkle the rest of the crumb topping evenly over the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes. (Use the toothpick test to make sure cooked through). 


Enjoy ;)

Mmmm..Potluck Tuna Pasta Salad

Make this pasta for a potluck or on Sundays to have lunch to take to work throughout the week. It's quick, easy, and tastes great! My kids love it!

Tuna Pasta Salad


1 lb. small shaped pasta (shells, radiatore, bowtie, etc.)
11 oz. pouch chunk light tuna in water
1 1/2 - 2 cups mayonnaise
3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 cup cubed cheddar or colby-jack cheese
5 green onions, sliced
salt and pepper to taste


Cook pasta according to package directions; rinse, drain, and cool. Add tuna, mayonnaise, peas, cheese, green onions, and salt & pepper. Put in refrigerator til ready to serve. 


*If you make this the day before you may need to add a little more mayonnaise before serving because the pasta tends to soak up the mayo and the salad becomes a little dry.

Chewy Sugar Cookies!

My kids love sugar cookies and so do I! These are wonderful, chewy sugar cookies..the trick is not to bake them too long or they'll come out crisp instead of chewy! Try them you'll love them :)

Amazing Sugar Cookies

2 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon course salt

1 cup butter, softened (I nuke 2 sticks for about 30 seconds)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
2 tablespoons buttermilk
colored sugar crystals for the tops (be creative! we used blue and red mixed together)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and vanilla. Then gradually add  dry ingredients to butter mixture. Finally add the buttermilk once the dough starts to come together. Use a cookie dough scoop and then drop one side of the dough ball into the sugar crystals, then slightly press down onto an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake for 7 minutes. Make sure not to over bake!


Enjoy ;)

Mom's Apple Crisp

My mom always made apple crisp as I was growing up. I'm from a small town where apples are plentiful in the fall. Every year they would have the "Velarde Apple Fiestas." From this came an assortment of apple desserts. My mom said she got the recipe from there many years ago and it has been a staple at our family gatherings ever since! Mmmm..I'm having a piece as I blog! Enjoy :)

Mom's Apple Crisp



Topping: 
1 1/2 cup oatmeal
2 cups flour
1 1/2 brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans


Mix all the ingredients together until crumbly. Set aside. 



Filling:
12 yellow apples
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 - 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar


Peel and slice the apples. Place the apples in a pot with two cups of water and cook for 15 minutes. Drain the water from the apples reserving one cup of the juice. Place the apples and the one cup of juice back into the pot. Add the lemon juice, pineapple, flour, cinnamon, sugar, and butter. Stir and cook for about 5-7 more minutes. Then place the apple filling in a glass 13x9 baking dish. Sprinkle all of the topping over the apples and bake  for 30 minutes until crust is nice and golden. 


Mmmm...enjoy! 

Awesome Chicken Nuggets Recipe

This recipe for chicken nuggets was taken from Paula Deen and boy is it good! She uses crushed sour cream and onion potato chips as the breading and it gives such an awesome flavor! My kids ask me to make these all the time, a definite must try! By the way, don't skip the sauce, it really makes the dish!

Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce


1 bag sour cream and onion potato chips (crushed as fine as you can get them so they will fully coat the chicken)
3 chicken breasts, cubed (or you can use chicken tenderloins)
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Honey mustard dipping sauce, recipe below


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the eggs and milk in a shallow dish and also put the crushed chips in a separate shallow bowl. Make a little assembly line. Take the chicken, dip in the milk and egg mixture, then press into the chips to coat really well. Place the chicken in a single layer on a cookie sheets. Drizzle the tops of the chicken with melted butter. Bake for 25 minutes. 


Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce


3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
juice from half a lemon
1 teaspoon horseradish (I use the creamy kind from Kraft)
1-2 tablespoons orange juice


Stir together the mayonnaise, honey, mustard, lemon, and horseradish. Then stream in the orange juice to thin out the sauce to the consistency you like. Place in refrigerator until ready to use. 


*This recipe was tweaked a little from the original (I increased/decreased ingredients to what worked for me). You can find the original recipe on food network: 
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/chicken-nuggets-with-honey-mustard-dipping-sauce-recipe/index.html

Grandma's Apricot Bars

So my grandma is famous for her baked goodies but infamous for not measuring her ingredients, which makes it hard for me to replicate and archive! However, I got this one down pretty good! These are the best crumbly apricot bars you'll make at home! Mouth watering just thinking about them!

Apricot Bars

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

¾ cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 cups apricot preserves (you can try any fruit preserve, I just prefer homemade apricot when available)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift flour, baking soda, salt together. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add flour mixture and blend well. Press half mixture in bottom of 13x9 inch bar pan. Spread jam and then sprinkle with remaining flour mixture.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden.

Enjoy :)