Coconut Rice

Ingredients:
2 cups jasmine-scented white rice ( I just used regular rice)
2 cups coconut milk
1 3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon canola oil ( for rubbing in pot)
Optional - 1 teaspoon white or brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon coconut flavoring
2 Tablespoons toasted coconut
1. Rub oil onbottom of deep-sided pot
2. Place rice, coconut milk, water, and salt in the pot on medium/high heat - Stirring well
3. Add sugar and flavorings if desired. Con tinue stirring until rice mixture begins to boil. Stirring keeps the rice from sticking and burning.
4. Once mixture is boilin stop stirring and turn heat to medium/low. Place lid askew on the pot to allow steam to escape.
5. Cook 15-20 minutes or until almost all liquid has been absorbed.
6. Turn off heat, but leave pot on burner. Cover pot with lid and let rest 5-10 minutes. It will have a sticky texture.
7. When ready to serve, fluff rice with a fork. Place toasted coconut on top of each serving if desired.

Angel Food Cake with Peach Cream and peaches

Ingredients:
1 angel food cake
2 8-ounce cartons peach fat-free yogurt
1 4-serving-size package sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
1 8-ounce container light whipped dessert topping
Peaches
Directions:
For the peach cream, stir together yogurt and 1/4 of the pudding mix until smooth. Gradually add remaining pudding mix to yogurt, stirring until smooth after each additon. Fold in whipped topping. Serve the cake with peach cream and peaches.

You can also use lemon fat-free yogurt and serve with strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries.

Fish Tacos & Pinto salad

We love fish tacos and these are right up there with the best. The first time I even heard of fish tacos was about 10 years ago and we were eating dinner with Stacy and Randel in Austin. Stacy ordered them and I remember saying, "Yuk" She said you should try them. I took one bite of hers and I was hooked. We have them at least once a month. You can use about any rub that you have on hand. That makes it about a 15 min. meal if you already have the rub. Cooking Light 2010

Ingredients for Crema:
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 Tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
3 Tablespoons reduced fat sour cream
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garli clove, minced
Ingredients for Tacos:
1 teaspoon ground cummin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 pounds talapia
Cooking spray
8 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cabbage
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. To prepare crema, combine the first 8 ingredients in a small bowl, and set aside. To prepare tacos, combine cummin and next 5 ingredients (through garlic powder) in a small bowl, sprinkle spice mixture evenly over both sides of fish. Place fish on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425 degrees for 9 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Place fish in a bowl, break into pieces with a fork. Heat tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish evenly among tortillas; top each 1/4 cup cabbage and 1 Tablespoon crema. Yield: 4 servings

Pinto Salad
Combine 1 cup diced plum tmatoes, 1/2 cup diced yellow bell pepper, 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro, 1/4 cup minced seeded jalapeno pepper, 2 Tablespoons lime juice, 2 teaspoons olive oil, 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and 1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed, stir well.  I add an avocado in mine.

Marinara Sauce

This is the marinara Sauce that I make for anything from polenta to pasta.  Definitely a go-to marinara sauce recipe.  Comes from Giada De Laurentiis - FoodNetwork
Ingredients:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (32 oz.) cans crushed tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves
In a large casserole pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute' until the onions are translucent, about 10 min. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Saute' until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 min. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. ( The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.) I makes more than we need for a meal so I divide it in 1/2 and freeze part of it. The night I want to use it, I take it out of the freezer to thaw. I sometimes put it in batches in the food processor to make the sauce smooth.

My Mama's Waffles

 Tonight we had breakfast for dinner.  Sometimes, that just sounds better than anything I can think to have. 

Ingredients:
4 eggs, separated
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Beat 4 egg whites until stiff. Set aside
Mix 4 egg yolks, 1/4 cup oil, milk, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Fold in egg whites by hand. Pour in waffle grill and cook until desired browness. Serve with your favorite syrup or jam.

My mama used to make these often. I have always loved her waffles and have a hard time ordering them at a restaurant because they are too hard. I could easily have these 2-3 days a week. But then I would probably gain about 20 pounds I don't need.

Maggie's Beans

My daughter-in-law's mother makes some amazing beans. She makes one batch for our daughter, Stacy and the rest of her family and she makes one batch for the rest of our family that likes hot, but not as hot as she likes it. I will give you her recipe and then in parenthesis what I do.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of pinto beans ( I use 1 pound)
Maggie buys loose beans not prepackaged so she can find the new beans. Lighter colors are fresh and clean the darker ones are older and not as fresh ( I buy packaged beans)
1 finely chopped medium size onion
4-5 finely chopped medium size tomatoes very ripe
3-4 chopped jalapenos - chopped small ( I use two)
3-4 chopped serrano peppers - chopped small ( I use none)
1 chopped habanero pepper just in case the others are not hot enough (I use none)
1 lb package of bacon ( I use 1/2 package)
1 bunch cilantro, everything even the stems she says that is the tastiest part
salt to taste
Clean and rinse beans. Put beans in a 5-6 quart pot and fill with water. If it's bigger it's o.k. because when you pour in all the ingredients you need room so it won't overflow. Plus you want plenty of water because that will end up being the tastiest part of the beans. Set it to high until they come to a boil and then set to medium-low. Beans will cook for an hour to and hour and a half until they are tender. Mae sure to look over them throughout to make sure they have plenty of water. Add water as needed to make sure they are covered. While beans are cooking prepare the other ingredients.
Chopbacon in small pieces and cook in aseparate pan. Once the bacon is crispy add chopped onion and chopped peppers. Leave the bacon greese in pan to saute' them. Then add chopped cilantro and continue cooking. Add in finely chopped tomatoes and cook for 5 min. If there isn't enough oil from th bacon, just add 1/4 cup of cooking oil so everything gets cooked well.
When bens are tender, pour everything rom the pan with bacon ingredients into the beans. After 5 minutes, taste to see how much salt is needed. The bacon will add salt so be sure to taste. The longer they cook, the tastier they get.

Thanks Maggie, we love your beans even though we tame them way too much for your taste.
Next, I want your salsa recipe. It is amazing.

Bread Pudding

I make this for Wed. night church dinners often. It makes more than Jud and I can eat, and it is always gone at the end of the dinner.  It doesn't need any kind of sauce, but my mother usually made a lemon sauce for it.   Sometimes instead of toasting the bread in the toaster, I just cube the bread and put it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 min. then I pour the butter over the top.  This was a recipe I got from my mother, Barbara Brown. Don't know where she got it.


Ingredients:
10 slices of toasted bread
2 sticks of butter - melted
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups milk
nutmeg for top

Break toasted bread into bite-size pieces and put in a pan with melted mutter. Stir until butter is soaked into bread. Beat eggs, and add sugar, milk, and vanilla. Put bread mixture in a 9" X 13" pan and pour egg mixture over the bread mixture. Mash down so the egg mixture will soak into the bread. Sprinkle top with nutmeg. Bake 400 degrees - 45 min. Turn off oven and let it finish browning to the color you want.