The Texican Burger

It's Memorial Day weekend folks!  Everyone is getting there boats ready, grills out and drinks iced down for the long weekend!  Do ya'll have big plans?  My town has quite the agenda planned.  Every Memorial Day weekend they have RiverFest.  A festival that takes place on the river that is jammed packed with live music and big name bands, as well as many more activities.  The festival is wrapped up with the annual fireworks display on the river.  What's going on in your neck of the woods?

Are you having a big cookout or are you keeping it low key with just a few friends and family?  We're staying more on the low key end of the spectrum.  This weekend is not only Memorial Day, it's also my brother's birthday!  Happy birthday, bub!  We're getting together this weekend to hang out and celebrate him, and I'll be bring the sweets, of course...peanut butter pie which is his favorite!  We may watch a fireworks show , but other than that we'll just enjoy a nice, long weekend!

Salsa Verde Stacked Chicken Enchiladas

I think it's safe to say that we enjoy Mexican food at least once a week, whether we go out to eat at our favorite local restaurant or I make it at home.  I have a weakness for the stuff; it's amazing, delicious, full of flavor and so incredibly satisfying...and the margaritas with salt don't hurt anything either!  When I'm planning my weekly menus, I try to plan between 3-5 easier meals to make during the week and 1-2 more tedious, time consuming meals for the weekend.  I try to make as much use of what little time I have once I get home, and the last thing I want to do is spend 3 hours in the kitchen after I get off work.

This recipe helps me accomplish serving a delicious, healthy and satisfying meal to my family without keeping me in the kitchen for hours.  To make the meal assembly even faster, I boiled and shredded the chicken Sunday afternoon then stored it in the refrigerator until I was ready to use it.  Once the day came to make these stacked enchiladas, it was simply a matter of chopping a few items then layering the ingredients and baking.

Banana-Rama Coffee Milkshake

It's spring and summer is right around the corner!  Are you ready?  Summer sun. BBQ's. Trips to the lake. Vacation at the beach. Camping.  Baseball games, etc. It will all be here before ya know it!  With all those fun activities comes the hot summer sun, as well.  And while there are many ways to try to stay cool and beat the heat; slurping down milkshakes, smoothies and icees is at the top of my list.  There's nothing better that a cold, ice cold drink to help cool you down on a hot summer day.

I love ice cream, and I have just as big of a weakness for coffee.  I don't wake up and want coffee each and every morning, I wake up and neeeeeeed coffee every morning.  If I haven't had my coffee you can pretty much render me useless.  My mind doesn't start functioning until it's had some "go juice"!  I know there are a lot of you out there that feel my pain and are in the exact same boat.

Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese-Bacon Lovers Style

Macaroni and cheese is one of my all time favorite foods.  There's just something so satisfying, so comforting about a big ol' bowl of noodles covered is gooey, cheesy goodness.  My love for the cheesy stuff has trickled down to my little man too.  If you ask him what he wants for lunch or supper, 3 out of 4 times he'll say macaroni and cheese.  He's a fan, to say the least.

Bacon.  Oh, bacon.  I love the stuff.  I'm a sucker for the salty, crispy strips of goodness.  This is another love and weakness of mine, and this too has been passed down to Tucker.  If you make him a bacon biscuit for breakfast he'll quickly pull the top off the biscuit, remove the bacon and inhale it and then instantly ask for more bacon.  If he smells the stuff cooking, he's in the kitchen like lightening holding his hands out and just waiting for a piece of warm bacon to chow down on. 

Weekly Meal Plan

Menu for May 12-18, 2013

Briskett with onion puree, butter beans, creamed corn and rolls
Steaks, grilled corn on the cob, salads and yeast rolls
Open faced bacon, tomato, avocado and fried egg sandwiches on Texas toast
Leftovers
Loaded hot dogs, french fries and baked beans
Leftovers
Cheeseburger taquitos, coleslaw, and other side TBD

BTB: Homemade Dulce De Leche

Dulce De Leche has been gaining popularity over the past year and has been making more and more appearances in numerous recipes.  What the heck is Dulce De Leche?Where in the world do you get it?  Well, dulce de leche is a thick, rich, caramel-like sauce that has recently made it's way to the states from Argentina.  Where does one find this rich, caramel sauce?  While it is becoming more readily available in normal supermarkets, it still may be hard to find in some areas.  I have seen it in several different stores in my hometown, but when I went to visit my parents (who live in a smaller town) I have yet to find it on any of the grocery store shelves. 

But never fear, if you are one of the ones who lives in a smaller town with limited access to "specialty" ingredients, I have the answer for you!  You can still make all of those delicious recipes that call for dulce de leche, because you can make your very own right in your home.  Even better, it just takes two simple ingredients that can be found in any supermarket and a little time.  All you need is sweetened condensed milk, Kosher salt, a shallow baking dish, a roasting pan or casserole dish, and aluminum foil.  A few simple ingredients and tools that make a delicious sauce!

Easy Salsa Verde

Green and pink are my all time favorite colors.  But let's focus on green for a minute, shall we?  Looking around right now I spot several things that are green; my wallet, my carryall bag, and my planner.  So, it's quite obvious to any passersby that I'm fond of green, lime and avocado green to be exact!  Green is just a happy color; it's bright, refreshing, fun and it's also closely associated with the onset of Spring and Summer which are happy and fun too.  Other than flowers and plants, one of the first things I think about when Spring roles around is being outside.  Cookouts. Baseball games. Float trips. Being at the lake. Or just being out is the back yard, I love it all. 

When I think of cookouts, bbqs, or any other outdoor parties I think of easy foods to bring or serve.  One of my favorite easy appetizers are dips.  They are versatile, most of them take little to no time to assemble and they can sit out with no maintenance.  Lately I've been on a salsa kick.  I mean I have a weakness for salsa anyway, but lately it's been more intense than normal.  I'm a sucker for it, what can I say?  I love all salsas, but lately I've been addicted to the green stuff.  My favorite color!  No, I'm not addicted to it because of the color...although that does hurt.  I love the flavor of it!